In early April, the back office of Chengzhou Prefecture in Runzhou.
An old Taoist was sitting in the main seat, counting his fingers, and after a long while he said:
"Cao Bin and his family and servants can only walk forty miles a day, and it will take at least five months to reach Jiangnan."
Zhizhou of Runzhou nodded and said:
"At least late May."
The old Taoist asked again:
"He didn't notice anything unusual?"
Runzhou Zhizhou laughed and said:
"Master Bao Tian, don't worry, I have sent someone to give you gifts to test."
"Not only did he not have the slightest suspicion, he also wrote back letters of comfort, discussed friendship with his subordinates, and called him brothers."
"Presumably he is counting on the official to help him open up the situation in Jiangnan official circles..."
As he spoke, he was quite proud and joking, and he felt that Cao Bin was already in the palm of his hand.
The old Taoist nodded and said:
"That's very good. According to the regulations of the imperial court, the summer tax must be collected before June."
"You can ask your officials and servants to deliberately make things difficult for the people, and wait for the Holy Duke to come up and call out."
"In addition, Jiangning Mansion must prepare in advance. It must have this city in its hands before the incident..."
Jiangning City and Runzhou City are the gateways to the south of the Yangtze River. As long as they occupy these two cities, they can rely on the natural danger of the Yangtze River to block the imperial court in the north of the Yangtze River.
Runzhou Zhizhou Road:
"Tianshi, I have already made preparations. As long as Shenggong gives the order, I can control Jiangning immediately."
"Why do we have to wait for Cao Bin?"
The old Taoist shook his head and said:
"It's not that we have to wait for Cao Bin. The saint and my disciple have already brought back the news. The elite of the imperial court are invincible."
"In order to prevent the imperial court from attacking, we must be fully prepared before we can start an attack!"
"Don't alert the enemy before this happens."
The governor of Runzhou said disapprovingly:
"Although the Imperial Guards in the capital far outnumber the two Zhejiang provinces, they are not so terrifying, right?"
Although he was far away in the south of the Yangtze River, he knew more about the situation in the court than the old Taoist.
Moreover, his handle fell into the hands of Manichaeism, and he had completely betrayed the court, making it impossible for him to lie.
But the old Taoist still prefers to believe what the saint and his disciple witnessed with their own eyes.
So he said:
"No need to say more, the Holy Duke has decided to start an uprising in early May!"
In early May, when the government is urgent to collect taxes, the people will be miserable.
With the help of the people's resentment towards the imperial court, Manichaeism could gather enough strength and be more confident in dealing with the imperial court's attack.
Coupled with the fact that the war preparation materials promised by the Liao Kingdom are in place, once the Manichaeans start an uprising, they will be able to sweep across the south of the Yangtze River very quickly.
As long as they occupy Jiangnan, even if the imperial court sends all its elites over later, Manichaeism will still have the power to resist.
Bozhou City, Huainan East Road.
Bao Zheng walked with Cao Bin's family members and walked for more than ten days before they just left the capital and arrived here.
In the evening, Gongsun Ce caught up with three carriages and said with a smile
"Master Bao, my subordinate has handed over the official duties and brought the guillotine over."
"The official personally issued an order to allow you to wear the imperial guillotine."
Although the three guillotines were given to Bao Zheng personally, they also belonged to Kaifeng Mansion.
Now the emperor specifically asked him to bring the guillotine, which showed that he still regarded Bao Zheng as a trusted confidant.
Bao Zheng pondered for a moment, sighed slightly, but didn't say much, just nodded and said:
"So good!"
Seeing that Bao Zheng didn't want to talk more about this issue, Gongsun Ce stopped talking and asked instead:
"Master Bao, Marquis Zhongjing has brought so many family members with him. The journey is slow and may delay official business."
"Should we take the first step?"
Bao Zheng shook his head and said:
"This is a plan to hide the truth. There are rebels in Jiangnan who are planning to rebel."
"Cao Bin has already led his troops to travel day and night to the south of the Yangtze River."
"He is not in the team now. I just want to take care of him to prevent his servants from disturbing the place."
Gongsun Ce was surprised and said:
"Zhong Jinghou accepted bribes from Jiangnan officials in order to confuse those officials?"
As he spoke, he laughed and said:
"Now it seems that Zhongjinghou is becoming more loyal and dedicated, and he has indeed lived up to your expectations."
Bao Zheng said angrily:
"He is cooperating with His Majesty to drive me out of the capital..."
Gongsun Ce burst into laughter, and then persuaded:
"The fight for the crown prince is too dangerous."
"It's a good thing that Mr. Bao can go out of the capital to avoid it."
Bao Zheng said worriedly:
"With the current situation of our country and our country, why should our own safety be precious?"
"I'm just afraid that the Song Dynasty will be in danger."
"Even if Concubine Pan gives birth to a son, she will still be in doubt and the country will be in dire straits."
Seeing that the atmosphere was dull, Gongsun Ce suddenly slapped his forehead and said:
"I forgot to tell you, sir. Guard Zhan asked a friend from the Jianghu to send an invitation to Kaifeng Mansion, saying that he was getting married in his hometown."
Bao Zheng said speechlessly:
"He really knows how to choose the right time. Haven't you heard that Cao Bin is going to Jiangnan to take up his post?"
"He brought most of his family members with him..."
Gongsun Ce was suddenly depressed and speechless. He could only blame Zhan Zhao for his own misfortune.
He is from Wujin, Changzhou, next to Runzhou. He is a stubborn person and tends to hit the muzzle...
Gongsun Ce found that all the good news he told him had turned out to be bad luck, and he felt a little helpless.
I wanted Bao Zheng to be happy first and then tell the bad news. In this case, I could only say it directly:
"Also...Master Bao, someone came to Beijing to file a complaint, saying that Bao Mian was corrupt, perverting the law, seeking wealth and killing..."
When Bao Zheng heard this, he was stunned for a moment, and said with a cold expression on his face:
"Bao Mian is now the county magistrate of Yuyao, Hangzhou, right?"
Gongsun Ce nodded and said:
"But it is."
Bao Zheng suppressed his anger and said:
"Okay, okay, okay, I want to see what kind of outrageous things he did to force people to file a complaint."
"Can't these three guillotines just fail to hit him?"
Gongsun Ce said quickly:
"Perhaps Mr. Bao Mian was wrongly accused. Besides, you have a relationship with your eldest sister-in-law. Your Excellency, you must be careful when reviewing the case."
Bao Zheng said with guilt:
"If he is really guilty, he will never show favoritism... He is just disobeying the trust of his eldest sister-in-law."
"Perhaps I shouldn't have handed him over to Cao Bin for instruction. Bao Mian was born in poverty. How could he withstand the temptation of wealth and splendor?"
April 9th.
Cao Bin personally led his men to travel day and night, covering more than 2,000 miles in only seventeen days, arriving near Yangzhou.
Then, without stopping at all, they immediately sent out ships to cross the river.
Before Runzhou Zhizhou could react, Cao Bin's men rushed into the state government office and captured him directly.
Bao Daoyi still wanted to resist with his sword skills, but his right arm was chopped off by a halberd from the sedan chair.
At this time, Runzhou Zhizhou was completely confused. They did not expect that Cao Bin would come so quickly, so they had to pretend to be confused and said:
"Master Caohou, why is this?"
"You also said you wanted to sworn sworn brothers with me..."
The sedan came forward, with two big cocks in front and back, almost slapping his head off, and cursed:
"You deserve it too!"
Cao Bin slumped down on the chair, fanned himself in the cool breeze and said:
"Tell me, who is your secret agent in Jiangning's mansion!"
"If you say it well, your sister-in-law, niece and so on can live. If you say it badly, you will destroy your whole family!"
Since he entered the official career, he has never worked so hard, so it seems unreasonable not to reward himself...
