Chapter 154 The Capital
Liu Ziqi traveled through wind and rain and rushed all the way to the capital. However, after waiting for more than half a month, he still did not see the Holy Emperor.
Because the Holy Emperor fell ill.
When the big explosion occurred on May 6th, Shengtianzi reacted quickly and was the first to run out of the palace, followed only by Xiao Shunzi, a chamberlain. Xiao Shunzi instinctively opened her arms to protect Sheng Tianzi. There was another big earthquake, and a piece of glazed tile flew out from the roof of the palace and was directly inserted into Xiao Shunzi's forehead. This loyal little chamberlain died in front of the Holy Emperor, and blood from his brain splattered all over the Holy Emperor's head and face. In desperation, Emperor Sheng ran back to the palace again and hid under a table until he was discovered by Li Shizhong who came to rescue him.
At any rate, this earthquake came and went quickly, but the shock it caused in the court was long-lasting. Some of the courtiers were injured and some died, but those who survived took advantage of the situation and continued to fight harder. The biggest blow to the Holy Emperor was the death of Zhu Cijiong, the only prince so far. The Holy Emperor's body has never been very strong. After repeated stimulation, he finally fell ill and has not been in court for more than two months.
The news that Lu Guangyu on the North Road was defeated by Zhang Thief also spread back to the capital. Sun Jie's pursuit has been stopped. As for Zhang's next move, no one knows, but everyone knows that this time they have failed, and Zhang will continue to cause harm to the place for a long time to come.
There was even more chaos in the court. The absence of the Holy Emperor does not mean that all the officials will stop. On the contrary, because there is no referee, all the players will simply end up fighting, oh, well, beat them with their mouths. Everyone was frothing at the mouth, expressing their impassioned and righteous expressions. However, after all, these people have received the same kind of education since childhood, and their thinking patterns are generally the same. They quarrel in the same way. They are all clichés: first, they start with a heartbreaking opening statement, and then they go through the clouds and fog that cannot be hit by eight poles. , and then mechanically apply a general principle, and then everyone proposes a bunch of grand strategies regardless of whether they are feasible or not, and then without exception, all others who are inconsistent with their own ideas are attributed to "villains": differences in administrative management methods must It will always rise to the level of "good and evil are not mutually exclusive". In the end, all arguments will inevitably turn into blaming each other for their personal ethics - well, you are a bad guy with sores on his head and pus on his feet. Bad guys can do good things. Idea!
This logic is so perfect that it is almost impeccable.
In order to show his selflessness, he was the first to recommend Lu Guangyu to Gao Shiyang, who was also the first to report, referring to Lu Guangyu's "greedy for power and reckless advancement, and even being taken advantage of by thieves." Anyone with a discerning eye can tell at a glance that this is clearly an excuse for General Lu: Ability is absolutely no problem. If a person has no ability, how can he dare to "greed for merit", right? Since he is greedy for "merit", loyalty is not a problem! This is the first determination. The next "even" is to summarize the reasons for failure. Failure is the mother of success. Just pay more attention next time. When Mr. Gao excuses Lu Guangyu, he is excusing himself - regardless of his character or ability, the recommendation is correct. The reason why the situation is unfavorable is because of General Lu's carelessness. As for the equipment lost by the dead soldiers and the people who will inevitably suffer from Zhang Hu's abuse in the future... Haha, no one mentioned this at all.
The Ministry of Engineering is responsible for construction and spends a lot of money every year. Master Xiu has a lot of old friends and disciples from the same year. What's the use of you if you don't help at this time? None of the people in the cabinet have any personal grudges against Lord Xiu, otherwise they would not have unanimously agreed to let Lord Xiu lead the army. Who would bite the hard-working old man? Therefore, the final result was that Master Xiu was recuperating at home, Lu Guangyu was temporarily imprisoned, and Eunuch An bought a house and continued to sweep the floor for the Holy Emperor in the palace.
Qiao Nanxing still couldn't get along with Sun Jie. First of all, you and Zhang Thief have been fighting for more than half a year without achieving anything. Is this true? Suddenly a gang of barbarian soldiers came and destroyed the city with one blow? Haha, isn't it possible that...such a strange thing is not worthy of suspicion? I have heard rumors that Sun Shuai was shocked when he heard that General Lu, the North Road repairman, was overwhelming the thieves, so he immediately launched an attack! Then within one day, they conquered Nanjinguan and Baoning Prefecture - with less than a hundred casualties (Ma Qiancheng's native soldiers were not on the list of the imperial military department at this time, and they deserved to die or be disabled, and the imperial court would not admit it)! You are so awesome, why did you leave so early? It would be weird if there wasn't anything fishy in it! Since he was so capable of fighting, how could he be run away by that thief? It's a bit strange that I haven't caught up after chasing him for so many days. By the way, where are Thief Zhang's treasures now? Is there any mystery in it? I am not saying that you are a thief, but can you, Sun Shuai, guarantee that all your subordinates are 100% reliable? To take a step back, Sun Shuai needs to explain carefully whether it took more than half a year to support the bandits!
Wang Qingyuan, the censor of Zuoqiandu, pointed out the "three worries" from a high position: Unexpectedly, the barbarian tribes had such a deep relationship with the Ming Dynasty military town, and they even gave him a few words to help without food or pay. This is one of them. , Bozhou's troubles have just been calmed down, and the two chiefs of She'an are ready to make a move. If, as Sun Jie said, the Shili native soldiers are so powerful, it may not be a blessing to the imperial court. Secondly, after breaking through Baoning, it is said that Sun Jie will general Ku The bank transferred it to Sichuan Province, but it emptied the arsenal of supplies and took most of the stored grain for itself... Although it is somewhat reasonable, if it is said that the picture is explained by Dai Ye - don't forget , I think that when Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty, entered Hangu Pass, he wrote in black and white: "No property can be obtained, women have no luck, this is not a small ambition!" At that time, the great ancestor was also "loyal" to King Xiang... This Third!
Zuo Yizhi immediately jumped out and praised Wang Qingyuan for his foresight and far-sightedness. Before he could finish his words, Mr. Liu Ziqi, who was going crazy, rushed forward and gave him a big slap in the mouth, then punched him on the ground. Mr. Liu doesn't dare to sue his immediate superiors, and he dares not beat you up outside the Meridian Gate for being "zhi" (meaning "value", in ancient Chinese it is written as "zhi"), don't you? Mr. Zuo cursed very hard, and his fists and feet were far behind Mr. Liu, who had built up a good figure by visiting various places for the Holy Emperor all day long. When the other adults understood, they swarmed up and dragged Mr. Liu away. Mr. Zuo had already been I was beaten until my eyes were black and I was rolling on the ground crying...
Soon after, Ma Qiancheng was escorted to the capital. Of course, it is even more impossible for the upright Lao Ma to see the Holy Emperor's face and judge for himself, so he has to be temporarily imprisoned in prison. Before the matter between Sun Jie and Zhang Hu was settled, the adults found a new topic to quarrel with each other. This topic is so important that even the collapse of the sky and the earth cannot be compared to this - a dispute over the country broke out in the court again! The only prince of the Holy Emperor has died, and the news coming out from the palace is that the Holy Emperor's body seems to be getting worse every day! What can we do? Everyone is worried about Ming...oh, well, actually planning for themselves. Some people pointed out that the Holy Lord's younger brother, King Cheng, was already fifteen years old. Logically speaking, at this age, he should have left the capital and become a vassal. However, in extraordinary times, some people refuted it. The Holy Lord was at the peak of the Spring and Autumn Period, and he bowed to the Holy Spirit for a while. There is no need to make a fuss about violating peace. You bunch of traitors clearly have ulterior motives and should all be punished! We have said before that this kind of "support" is related to the future of the entire family. Most of the courtiers have jumped into it, so who cares about Ma Qiancheng? The court was in chaos, and then everyone forgot about the old man in prison!
Until news came from the palace...
In fact, it was not official news. Knowing that the outer court had caused a huge quarrel, Li Shizhong sent two young eunuchs out of the palace to buy sour apricots. Intentionally or unintentionally, someone saw it. It almost took a little more money to buy a set, so everyone knew that two queens wanted to eat apricots recently, so they stopped. However, no one dares to make fun of their own head by talking nonsense about whether they are giving birth to a dragon or a phoenix. In addition, the mortality rate of infants and young children in this era is extremely high. All parties have tacitly forgotten the matter of whether King Cheng will leave the capital and become a feudal lord. "No one mentioned it again.
The Sun family also has deep roots in the court. One evening not long after Mr. Liu entered Beijing, a small sedan, escorted by several servants, knocked on the door of Sun's house. A hawker selling candied haws in the diagonal corner looked up at the grocery store owner who was leaning listlessly on the counter, and quickly exchanged an imperceptible look: It's okay, this is Mrs. Sun's family sedan, it should belong to the old lady or Mrs. Sun. Which sister came to visit? The two spies recognized the sedan chair of the Tang family and the old housekeeper of the Tang family, but it was impossible to know all the servants of the Tang family. One of them was from the Sun family - Sun Jie's personal guard, Chief Shi Erlei!
At three o'clock that night, Er Lei heard the movement outside the wall in Sunzhai's courtyard and whistled softly. Then several people came in one after another from outside the wall, each with a baggage tied to their body. None of them said a word, and they put down their baggage and walked out over the wall again. Even though they were trusted by the Holy Emperor, the home of a general with a lot of troops must be a key surveillance target of the factory guards, so they couldn't be careless.
After Baoning was captured, Sun Jie and Ma Qiancheng lived in the government office. However, they were very busy in those days. Their personal guards only did a quick check to make sure there were no hidden thieves, and no one wanted to rummage through anything. While Sun Jie gathered his army and went north to pursue Zhang Hu, Ishii, who stayed behind in Baoning, felt bored and poked around in the government office. Zhang Hu always thought that Baoning was impregnable, so he didn't hide it seriously. All the gold and jewelery shells robbed from thousands of miles away were discovered by General Shi Shen the next day. Shi Shen will be a few years older than Sun Jie. Like Shangguan Feisheng and several others, their ancestors have lived under the command of the Sun family. Their descendants will also be the same. The fate of each person and family has changed. We are inseparable from the Sun family, sharing prosperity and loss together. This is a typical general group in the Ming Dynasty.
When Sun Jie returned to Chengdu, Ishii handed over the defense to the officers sent by Du Sifu, and naturally brought the treasures he found to see Sun Jie. This wealth came at just the right time. On the same day, Shi Erlei went to Shangguan Fei's cavalry to ask for some good riders. Using the military envoy route opened by the Third Division of Sichuan Province, he led one man and three horses, ventured into Shaanxi, and then rode non-stop all the way. Go straight to the capital. Several people changed into civilian clothes outside the city, and then entered the city through several city gates mixed with the camel caravan and southern caravan outside the city.
The Sun family has stood firm for two hundred years in the Ming Dynasty, relying not only on the bravery of the family leaders in the past, but also on their wisdom. Shi Erlei first found Mrs. Sun Jie's natal family. The Tang family was also a family of military attachés, but the old man worked in the Beijing camp, so there would be no spies from the factory guards at the door. After knowing the purpose of his visit, he put on his servant's clothes and followed Mrs. Tang's sedan into the grandson's house in a grand manner - at this moment, the old lady was worried and came over to see her daughter and grandson, which was perfectly normal.
