"Mother, my cousin is here to save you."
Hearing Xiaotao's voice, Queen Mother Pan suddenly jumped up, opened her eyes, and said in disbelief:
"Who? Gong Liangchen?"
Xiao Tao nodded happily, holding a food box and said:
"It's him. He pretended to be a chamberlain and said he had something important to discuss with you. He also brought something to eat. Let him come in?"
Queen Mother Pan’s eyes narrowed and she said:
"He wasn't caught? What's more, he's just a weak scholar. How could he enter the palace?"
Xiaotao said hurriedly:
"A hero rescued him, and Xiao Jiang escorted him to help him enter the palace."
Seeing that Queen Mother Pan was still confused, Xiao Tao quickly said:
"I have forgotten that when Xiao Jiang was discourteous in front of the Empress Dowager, it was you who begged him to save his life,"
At this time, Queen Mother Pan's eyes were extremely bright. She pondered for a long time before shaking her head and saying:
"No, send him away quickly."
Xiaotao nodded, looked at the food box and said:
"Then these foods..."
Queen Mother Pan swallowed her saliva and said:
"Let it go for now, wait until you can't hold on any longer!"
Xiao Tao went out for a while before returning:
"Mother, he's gone."
"He said he would come again. If the empress has something urgent to do, she would inform him through Xiao Jiang's escort..."
Just when the Queen Mother Pan was looking forward to Cao Bin's early return to Beijing, in fact, he had already been found in Yancheng by Lao Taishan Pang Ji, urging him to quietly set off by land.
Now we have passed Yingzhou and are only three to five days away from Bianjing.
He rounded up the officials and salt merchants in Huaidong and arrested the Marquis of Yangzhou. There was no resistance anymore.
Coupled with the perfect system, there is no need for him to be in charge personally. He will slowly wait for the completion of various salt farms, leaving only Xia Laodao, Yang Zhi and others to keep an eye on them.
In addition, Yang Bajie did not return to Beijing with him for the time being because she was pregnant and could not travel.
In the evening, as soon as Cao Bin moved into the rich manor that Yan Qing had managed in advance, "Swallow spies" from all walks of life swarmed in.
While reading the news in the capital, Pang Ji shook his head at Cao Bin who was enjoying the massage and said:
"Liu and Wang are really greedy. Not only did Wang Yanling personally take over the Song Dynasty Bank, he also placed many people in the Jiangnan states where Juncai is your foundation."
"If you delay for a few more days, I'm afraid even Di Qing will be captured by them, and by then there won't even be a place for you..."
As he said this, he felt a little confused:
"Also, the will in the old lady's hands is really difficult to deal with. Even if it is false, you have no legitimate reason to attack."
Cao Bin smiled and said:
"Don't worry, father-in-law. Isn't it just a fake imperial edict? I will just write him a hundred of them."
When he was sent to Xixia in the early years, he had drawn out calligraphy masters from various countries. As long as the materials were available, it was easy to imitate the imperial edict of the late emperor.
Moreover, neither he nor Pang Ji believed that the will in Wang Yanling's hands was true.
As for the will, it was left to Empress Dowager Pan. Empress Dowager Liu already had a criminal record. The late emperor was deeply jealous of her, so how could she be allowed to supervise the country?
The first thing the late emperor had to do was to keep the throne of his own flesh and blood. As for Pan's usurpation of the throne, that was a matter for later. It was already well known that he could leave enough checks and balances.
He is not a god, nor is he an arrogant person who thinks he knows things like a god. He will never add any extravagance to Wang Yanling's will and leave a legacy to Wang Yanling, a double-edged sword that can hurt others and hurt himself.
Cao Bin was not surprised that the ministers did not question the authenticity of Wang Yanling's will in court. The situation was stronger than others. On the one hand, they did not dare or did not hesitate to question. There were also some people who would consider the so-called overall situation, and there was no lack of success.
Pang Ji looked at Cao Bin in surprise, a little speechless, but he had to admit that Cao Bin always had some crooked ideas with great results.
Thinking about the scenes of decrees all over the capital, he couldn't help but sweat a little. This must be considered a historical precedent in the Song Dynasty...
Just as he was talking, a "Swallow" from the North came in to report:
"Master Marquis, there is news from the swallow next to Princess Chang of the Liao Kingdom. The princess plans to go south to join the Marquis. Please allow the Marquis to give her permission."
Cao Bin nodded, waved his hand and said:
"Let Shi Qian take people to the capital of Liao Kingdom and plan this matter personally."
"In addition, I sent someone to send three thousand repeating crossbows to Dong Xiang of Qingtang, ordered the chambers of commerce across the Yangtze River, Huaihe River and Shaanxi Province to withdraw from the Song and Xia mutual trade market, ordered Zhu Heng to conduct military exercises in Hengshan, and asked Yanzi to send a painting of Xingqing Mansion to the Queen Mother of Xixia map."
Seeing this, Pang Ji shook his head slightly:
"A beauty is a disaster, she's just a foreign princess. Why bother putting all this effort into it? I'm afraid I might offend the Liao Emperor."
Hu Sanniang, who was rubbing Cao Bin's shoulders, couldn't help but nodded slightly, and she agreed with Pang Ji's idea in her heart. She was also a little unhappy with those foreign women, but Cao Bin laughed and said:
"My cheap mother-in-law from the Liao Kingdom has been too honest recently. This time I just gave her some eye drops in front of the Liao Emperor to let her understand that power is the most secure in her own hands..."
Pang Ji couldn't help rolling his eyes when he heard this. It's really unlucky to be your mother-in-law. Fortunately, that woman is not his wife.
At this time, a loud shout suddenly sounded outside, and the shout of Marquis Yangzhou came from the yard next to him:
"Marquis Zhongjing, I want to see Marquis Zhongjing. I have something to say to him."
At the same time, the sedan chair also shouted:
"Why do you think so? Shut him up. If you disturb the young master, I will twist your heads off."
Cao Bin was stunned for a moment and then casually ordered:
"Bring him here, I want to hear what he thinks."
After a while, the Marquis of Yangzhou was escorted into the room. This man was a little arrogant. Although his hair was unkempt, his waist was straight. He looked at Cao Bin and said:
"Master Cao, there are great changes in the capital now, and I have many friends in the court who can help you."
"Why don't you let me go, and you and I can work together to bring order to the chaos and take charge of the court?"
Cao Bin glanced at him, took a sip of tea and said with a smile:
"That's it? Anything else?"
Seeing him stunned in the room, unable to recover for a moment, Cao Bin waved his hand and said:
"If you didn't call me, I would have forgotten about you. Take you out and chop you off, so as not to bring you a burden and trouble."
When the Marquis of Yangzhou heard this, he was stunned and struggled wildly in disbelief:
"Cao Bin, you dare, I have the iron certificate of alchemy, I am hereditary, you can't kill me..."
At this time, he could no longer maintain his dignity, his feces and urine flowed all the way, and tears flew everywhere.
When Cao Bin heard this, he couldn't help laughing:
"Even the current grand master was killed in the palace, what kind of little Karami are you? Since you don't follow the rules, why should I be restrained? Whoever wants to scold me should scold Wang Yanling and the old queen first."
As the saying goes, if you use benefits to make a friendship, if the benefits are exhausted, you will scatter.
Maintaining a group must be profitable, but the core members cannot be friends simply for profit. What Yangzhou Marquis has attracted is just some outsiders.
Now that he has lost power, he has lost any use value for a long time. People are eager to draw a clear line with him, and Cao Bin doesn't think highly of those outsiders...
