Although Xu Xianzong lost food in Peach Blossom Valley and fled back in a hurry with only a few people, Xu Xianzong was not too worried. Even if he will be questioned when he returns to Anyi, when he enters prison, he will initiate connections and use money to pave the way. When the time comes, countless people will protect him.
Xu Xianzong here is full of expectations.
Anyway, it’s just a bit of hardship. It's worth enduring a little hardship in exchange for hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.
Xu Xianzong was leisurely and his life was quite pleasant. Even if it was close to Anyi, heavy rain made it difficult to go on the road. Xu Xianzong still went on the road wearing a raincoat and a bamboo hat.
When a group of people arrived at the city gate, they saw a large number of red-armored riders at the city gate.
Xu Xianzong didn't take it to heart. The Red Armor Cavalry was powerful, but it had nothing to do with him and couldn't control him.
Xu Xianzong entered the city in a big way, but as soon as he reached the city gate, he saw the red-armored cavalry at the gate coming up to him and surrounding him. The leader is named Zhou Pu, who is Zhao Hu's deputy.
He is not Zhao Yuan's godson, but his godson, and Zhao Hu's godson.
Zhou Pu said: "Xu Xianzong, come with me."
Xu Xianzong said in a deep voice: "What's the matter?"
Zhou Pu said: "You will know if you go to the Red Armor Cavalry. Let's go. If you don't cooperate, we will kill you without mercy."
brush!
Xu Xianzong's expression changed slightly.
He was confused.
He lost food and fodder on the front line. Even though the news had been sent back, it was not the Red Armored Cavalry who should have come to get him.
The nature of the red-armored knights is different.
Xu Xianzong was confused and asked: "Zhou Pu, if you want to arrest someone, you must have an explanation, right?"
Sonorous!
Zhou Pu's sword was unsheathed, showing murderous intent, which was daunting, and he said: "Are you leaving?"
"I'll go, I'll cooperate."
Xu Xianzong was afraid and spoke quickly.
As Duke Cheng, he relies on the legacy of his ancestors. To say that he himself has been on the battlefield is not worth mentioning. That is to say, he came from a wealthy family and was related to King Ning, King Lu and others, so he was more popular in Anyi.
Facing the red armor cavalry, he was still blind.
Zhou Pu captured Xu Xianzong and ignored the other accompanying soldiers.
These little minions are meaningless.
Zhou Pu led people to ride towards Chijia. At the same time, he arranged for people to inform Zhao Hu that he had captured the person.
This is convenient for Zhao Hu to inform Xu Changjie.
When Zhou Pu led his people back to Chijiaqi Prison, Xu Changjie came right after him.
Xu Changjie was very old, and he looked even more depressed and haggard. He walked up to Xu Xianzong and stared at Xu Xianzong with cold, bone-chilling eyes.
Xu Xianzong still didn't know what happened.
He knelt on the ground with a plop and said loudly: "Master Shangshu, you have to make the decision for your humble position. Although I was robbed by bandits on the front line and lost all my food and grass. But as soon as I returned to Anyi, Chijia It would be too much for the Cavalry to arrest me directly and join the Red Armor Cavalry."
Xu Xianzong was talking, but he still had some doubts in his heart. Xu Changjie was busy with his affairs, so he came to Chi Jiaqi's prison so soon.
How is this going?
For a moment, a bad premonition spread in Xu Xianzong's heart.
Xu Changjie looked at Xu Xianzong in front of him and felt angrier than ever before. He raised his hand and slapped him down.
Snapped!
There was a loud slap.
Xu Xianzong was a little confused. Why did Xu Changjie hit him?
Xu Changjie gritted his teeth and said: "Xu Xianzong, tell me why you stole food from the Anping warehouse, and even the food sent to the front line for the soldiers, you were so greedy that you wanted to devour it. Has your conscience been eaten by a dog? ?”
brush!
Xu Xianzong's heart changed drastically.
How did Xu Changjie know?
Xu Xianzong knew that the matter was serious and could not admit it, because once he admitted it, it would be a serious crime. Xu Xianzong shook his head, looking puzzled, and immediately asked: "Master Shangshu, I don't understand what you said."
"You are hopeless."
Xu Changjie was angry, flicked his sleeves, and ordered: "Bring Kong Yifu here."
The men of the Red Armor Cavalry captured Kong Yifu directly.
Today, Kong Yifu is covered in blood, his clothes are in tatters, and there are several signs of burns from the soldering iron. When Kong Yifu was arrested earlier, he was confused, but he was stubborn and refused to explain.
However, after being tortured together, Kong Yifu couldn't hold on any longer and finally gave in. In addition, the people from the Red Armor Cavalry said that Yue's shop was empty and there was no one left, so Kong Yifu fully explained everything. matter.
When Kong Yifu saw Xu Xianzong, his voice was hoarse and he said bitterly: "Mr. Cheng Guo, I have hired everything. Xu Shangshu already knows what you have done. Everyone in Yue's shop has disappeared and cannot be found. People."
Xu Xianzong was also confused.
Yue's shop is empty. How is this possible? We have always been in contact?
Xu Xianzong murmured: "Impossible, this is absolutely impossible. Why, why is this happening?"
Xu Changjie said in a deep voice: "I came to see you not because I want to hear what you have to say. I want to ask you, as the Duke of Xia State, why do you want to devour the court's money and food when Xia State has never treated you badly? Don't you know that this time? The war is related to the life and death of the Xia Kingdom. If this battle fails, the Xia Kingdom will be in dire straits. Do you know?"
Xu Xianzong originally planned not to admit it.
However, Kong Yifu had already confessed, so he naturally lost the confidence to compete.
Xu Xianzong knocked his head on the ground, banging his head on the ground, and said quickly: "Xu Shangshu, I was deceived by the people of Qin State. I was bewitched. I am willing to pay the money to forgive my sin, and everything I get will be given to me." pay."
Xu Changjie's expression remained unchanged and he continued: "I ask you, why do you want to swallow up the food of Xia Kingdom?"
"It's my lard that has deceived my heart, and it's my greed that is too greedy. Please show mercy to Xu Shangshu."
Xu Xianzong was frightened and said quickly: "Xu Shangshu, I was deceived. This Kong Yifu is the one who contacted me at the beginning. It was Kong Yifu who contacted the businessmen of Daqin."
"You guys, just wait to die."
Xu Changjie flicked his sleeves, turned around and left.
He actually just wanted to ask again, if there were any more questions? Just meeting people, listening to their words, and watching their actions made Xu Changjie completely disappointed and had no other ideas. He left the Red Armor Cavalry and went straight to the Imperial City.
He is going to see the emperor.
He wanted to report to the emperor, because matters involving food could no longer be avoided.
Xu Changjie entered the palace and saw Li Chongfu in the main hall. He knelt on the ground like a jade pillar toppling a golden mountain, and knelt on the ground with his head: "Your Majesty, this old minister is stupid and incompetent, and has ruined countless grains of our Xia Kingdom. Please forgive me."
Li Chongfu rubbed his swollen temples and asked, somewhat confused, "Xu Qing, what are you doing?"
Xu Changjie said: "Your Majesty, the regent is incompetent in government affairs, so that the grain in Anpingcang was hollowed out by King Ning, King Lu, Xu Xianzong and others and sold to merchants in Da Qin. The grain in Anpingcang was transferred to Qin The country has gone."
"In addition, I didn't know who I was, so I chose Xu Xianzong to escort the grain team to the front line. Unexpectedly, Xu Xianzong was so selfish that he directly sold grain to Daqin merchants for money, so that another batch of grain was lost."
"All this is Da Qin's plan."
"The Qin State arranged for people to come to Anyi to seduce, so that Xu Xianzong, King Ning, and King Lu betrayed the Xia State. Your Majesty, the old minister is incompetent, and the old minister does not know people well, which has caused our Xia Kingdom to fall into trouble. Please ask your Majesty to hold me accountable."
After Li Chongfu heard this, his eyes widened.
The bloodshot eyes revealed deep anger.
Li Chongfu believed that Xu Changjie could not betray, but what happened today caused great losses to the Xia Kingdom.
"You are extremely incompetent."
Li Chongfu scolded sternly.
"I am incompetent, please forgive me."
Xu Changjie was quite disheartened. He suffered a huge blow this time.
Without even thinking about it, Li Chongfu planned to order the execution of Xu Changjie. This Xu Changjie was such a waste and failed to live up to his trust. However, Li Chongfu swallowed his words as soon as he spoke, because after Xu Chang stepped up, who would maintain the overall situation for him next?
This is very troublesome.
In the Xia Kingdom's court, someone is needed to take charge of the overall situation.
On normal days, Li Chongfu would not hesitate. Now Xia Kingdom and Da Qin are at war on the front line. The situation is so big that it is difficult for the others to take charge of the situation.
Now, Xu Changjie must be kept.
Li Chongfu wanted to execute Xu Changjie in his heart. The problem was that the rest of the people in the court, on the one hand, Li Chongfu did not understand him well enough, and on the other hand, many of them were not as capable as him.
Not processed for the time being.
Keep Xu Changjie alive first, and then execute Xu Changjie when the war is over.
Li Chongfu made a decision instantly and said: "Xu Changjie, I will deal with your crime after the war with Da Qin is over. In addition, if it involves Xu Xianzong, King Ning and King Lu, they will directly confiscate their homes and all the people involved in the case will be punished." Punished to death."
"Your Majesty is holy."
Xu Changjie knelt his head on the ground and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Anyway, I can still continue to do things.
Li Chongfu waved his hand and said: "Get out of here and reflect on it."
"The guilty minister resigns!"
Xu Changjie stood up, bowed respectfully to Li Chongfu, turned around and left.
Li Chongfu was so angry that he gasped. After a while, he looked at Zhao Yuan and asked: "Zhao Yuan, the loss of food in Anpingcang and the front line will definitely have an impact on the front line. In this case, do you think you can Can we defeat Da Qin?"
Zhao Yuan bowed and said: "Your Majesty, Lieutenant Qi is a famous general on the battlefield, and he will definitely win this battle. Furthermore, Xu Shangshu, who has received His Majesty's grace, must have done meritorious deeds, known his shame and then acted bravely. I think he will raise the funds properly." forage."
Li Chongfu said: "I hope so."
His eyes were deep and filled with murderous intent. It's just that he himself is a little depressed mentally and his physical condition is not very good.
Xu Changjie returned to the Shangshu Office of the Ministry of Personnel and directly mobilized people from the Ministry of Punishment to arrest King Ning and King Lu, and at the same time sealed the Xu family, Prince Ning's Mansion and Prince Lu's Mansion.
Xu Changjie was still not reassured by all the arrangements, so he once again arranged for people to rush at an accelerated speed of 800 miles to pass a letter to Qi Feixiong on the front line, asking Qi Feixiong to persist with all his strength, and the subsequent food and grass would be sent as soon as possible.
After doing all this, Xu Changjie breathed a sigh of relief.
Next, he searched the Xu family, Prince Ning's Mansion and Prince Lu's Mansion. The three major families must have a lot of money and food. By investigating and dealing with these three major families, a large amount of money and food can be obtained. They can first support Qi Feixiong, and then slowly purchase and raise food.
When Xu Changjie relaxed, the news spread and soon reached Lin Feng's hands.
Lin Feng learned that Xu Xianzong was imprisoned, and that Prince Ning's Mansion and Prince Lu's Mansion would be executed by confiscating their homes. There was nothing unexpected about this situation.
However, Xu Changjie was still in power.
This is not good for Da Qin.
Xu Changjie is capable and prestigious. Xu Changjie will ensure the stability of everything in the court. Lin Feng's original intention was to detonate public opinion after the news came out, overthrow Xu Changjie, and make the emperor replace someone else with power.
Without Xu Changjie, it will be easier to deal with Xia Guo.
Unexpectedly, Li Chongfu, who had been ignorant all his life, actually became wise for once and was not dismissed or even executed by Xu Changjie.
Yingwu sat below and said slowly: "Master Hou, we are operating the food in Anpingcang and stealing the food transported to the front line. Although it is said to be against Xu Xianzong and others, in fact, it is to disrupt public opinion and bring down Xu Changjie. If the emperor doesn’t deal with Xu Changjie, I might as well arrange for people from Heibingtai to assassinate Xu Changjie.”
"No, it's inappropriate."
Lin Feng shook his head and answered.
He looked serious and said in a deep voice: "First, Xu Changjie is the official secretary of the Xia Kingdom, the head of the hundred officials, and naturally there are guards around him, so the assassination may not be successful. Second, in the past, when I assassinated Yan Wuji and others, that was Revenge is my personal hatred, I set a trap to kill them, no one can say anything."
"The two countries are at war. If we assassinate Xu Changjie, the nature will be different."
"We in Da Qin ordered people to assassinate Xu Changjie. Xia Guo can also arrange people to assassinate officials in Da Qin. In this way, both of them will be injured.
"Under normal circumstances, until the end of the madness, it is impossible to directly adopt an assassination strategy. Otherwise, you assassinate the people under my command today, and I assassinate the people under your command tomorrow. Everything will be chaotic."
"At least Da Qin cannot be the first to assassinate. If we don't do this, we are also protecting our Da Qin officials."
Lin Feng said solemnly: "Even if it is a war, we will use all possible means, but there must be a certain bottom line."
Ying Wu muttered: "How merciful a woman is."
Lin Feng said: "It's better to have a bottom line. This is not a woman's kindness. There are rules. Even a fight is within a reasonable range. Of course, we can't control what others do, at least we can't be the first to do so ourselves."
Ying Wu said in a deep voice: "Then, what should I do according to the Marquis? The current method is to further spread the news that Xu Xianzong, King Ning and King Lu are involved in the sale of grain. Now the Xia Kingdom's court has copied King Ning, King Lu and Xu family, even if we release the news, the impact will be small. If Xu Changjie doesn't deal with it, the situation will not be chaotic."
Lin Feng turned his eyes, glanced at Huan Suzhi and Cui Yuantu, and said, "Uncle Cui, Brother Huan, what should you do?"
Huan Suzhi said sternly: "I agree with Lord Hou's analysis. We can use scheming and plotting to kill people, and we can deal with Xu Changjie. Assassination cannot be adopted directly. To deal with Xu Changjie at present, we can only start from other aspects. This While in Anyi for a while, I found two pieces of news. Perhaps, this can help us."
Lin Feng said in a deep voice: "What news?"
Huan Su's way: "The first news is that after Xu Changjie replaced Yan Wuji in charge of government affairs, he set things right and dismissed many Taoist people. After all, the emperor loves to practice Taoism. There are countless Taoist temples in Anyi, and there are fake Taoists everywhere."
"For this reason, Xu Changjie dismissed many fake Taoist disciples and ordered the Taoist sect to hand over the annexed land. Countless Taoist disciples were constantly punished because Xu Changjie brought order to the chaos. This is Xu Changjie's fault."
"This is also something the emperor doesn't like."
Huan Suzhi talked eloquently and said in a deep voice: "The second piece of news is that Xu Changjie has always regarded himself as clean and honest in the Xia Kingdom. His residence in Anyi is also ordinary and extremely clean. But the news I gathered through Heibingtai, It was discovered that Xu Changjie’s hometown was in Runan, and he had invaded land wantonly, at least as much as 200,000 acres of land.”
"The Xu family's disciples, domestic slaves, etc. did not treat the common people as human beings, and killed and wounded people wantonly. They complained and were hated by countless people."
"People throughout Runan are resentful."
"The Xu family is very powerful in Runan. People only know about the Xu family and don't know about the emperor. They all say that the Xu family is the local emperor in Runan."
Huan Su said: "Before, we here did not expect that the emperor would re-appoint Xu Changjie after the Anpingcang incident. Now, we will use these two incidents to arrange for people to contact and impeach Xu Changjie."
"The news reached the emperor. The emperor is a Taoist. When he heard about Xu Changjie's treatment of the Taoist sect, Xu Changjie couldn't stand on his feet."
"Suppressing Taoism is a blatant violation of the emperor's cultivation of Taoism."
"This is the emperor's fault."
Huan Su said: "In addition, what the Xu family did in Runan is also Xu Changjie's problem. Even if the emperor doesn't kill Xu Changjie and saves Xu Changjie, it is still worth it."
Cui Yuantu praised: "Huan Suzhi's suggestion is excellent. Lord Marquis, I agree."
Lin Feng thought for a while and said slowly: "Now in the Xia Kingdom's court, the only person who has a grudge against Xu Changjie is Tian Qin, the imperial censor. This person has the possibility of taking action. First, in the early years when Yan Wuji was around, Tian Qin Qin relied on Yan Wuji, but he never really surrendered."
"That's right. After Yan Wuji's fall, Xu Changjie liquidated Yan Wuji's people in the court. He did not remove Tian Qin, but still kept Tian Qin."
"Second, Tian Qin's father, Tian Haoran, once served as a censor in the court. In the past, Tian Haoran impeached Xu Changjie's favorite disciple Yan Zhihui, so that Xu Changjie was angered. Tian Haoran was dismissed from office and died of depression."
"Although many years have passed, this is also the reason why Tian Qin took action."
During Lin Feng's stay in Anyi, he had been thinking about the situation in the court, and he was familiar with the situation of the officials in the court.
"No, it's still not enough."
Huan Suzhi said in a deep voice: "The situation mentioned by the Marquis is not sufficient for Tian Qin to take action. For Tian Qin to take action, on the one hand, it is driven by interests. After impeaching Xu Changjie, Tian Qin can take revenge and will definitely get benefits. It can also win over some marginalized people who were under Yan Wuji’s command in the past.”
"These outer people, who are not the core of Yan Wuji, will gather around Tian Qin because of Tian Qin's actions."
"On the other hand, there is also coercion."
"As for Tian Qin's situation, when I learned about the structure of the Xia Kingdom, I also knew his details. Tian Qin has a twelve-year-old son. His son's generation is the fourth generation of the Tian family, which is extremely precious."
"I suggest kidnapping Tian Qin's son. Instead of harming Tian Qin's son, we will use his son to force Tian Qin and tell him that if Xu Changjie is not impeached, or even if Xu Changjie is not dismissed by the emperor, his son will be killed."
"With the motivation of profit and the coercion, it's a two-pronged approach."
Huan Suzhi's eyes were sharp.
When he made a plan, he considered the worst-case scenario and could not think of the better.
Cui Yuantu's eyes showed approval.
sharp!
Huan Suzhi's suggestion is really powerful.
This is an old trick.
Cui Yuantu said: "Master Hou, I agree with the arrangement of kidnapping Tian Qin's son. This is the most appropriate arrangement."
Ying Wu echoed: "Master Hou, I agree too."
Lin Feng said: "You all agree, then the plan is set. But remember to win five, you can't hurt Tian Qin's son."
Ying Wudao: "Don't worry, Mr. Hou, it's no problem."
Lin Fengdao: "Regarding Xu Xianzong, King Ning and King Lu, we still need to continue to spread the news. But the key to the news is not that these people are greedy, but to focus on the lack of food. We are in Anyi, and we need to further Disturbing the market will cause prices in Anyi to become chaotic."
"Here!"
Ying Wu bowed and responded.
Hei Bingtai was about to take action, so he left in a hurry to arrange follow-up matters.
Lin Feng was discussing with Huan Suzhi and Cui Yuantu, because the next step was to overthrow Xu Changjie. As long as Xia State does not have Xu Changjie to support him from the rear, Qi Feixiong on the front line will not be able to hold on for long.
