Zhang Xing and Li Ding, two smart men, couldn't think of any ideas. Bai Yousi couldn't see them at all, and Qin Bao could only continue to observe the development of the situation with some anxiety.
And then, things turned out to be more and more biased and intense.
No one can resist the wrath of the saint, or in other words, everyone, like Zhang and Li, knows the price of the sage's anger, and everyone does not want to be the price - this leads to the search for the source of the rumor. In the process, excessive punishment and plundering will inevitably occur, followed by natural attacks and false accusations.
Inevitably, it is inevitable that some of the Bei Ya's father-in-laws would be particularly self-righteous - they really thought that the rumors were aimed at people like them.
For a time, everyone in the entire Western Inspection Team was in danger. It was unknown how many people were dismissed from their posts and investigated, and how many palace officials, guards, and soldiers were dismissed, or even imprisoned or executed.
In this case, even Zhang Xing, who had the skin of Jing'antai to isolate Beiya, was summoned by some father-in-laws for "spreading rumors", but instead because of the behavior of Duke Niu at the scene, Appearing and scolding accidentally escaped death.
It can only be said that after such a comparison, Niu Du Gong's pattern will be revealed.
The huge team stopped at the foot of Lishan Mountain, only a few dozen miles away from Daxing, but they could not advance at all. Nanya Xianggong, who had already entered Daxing in advance to prepare for the arrival, and the left-behind and general managers in Guanzhong were completely confused and hurriedly sent out Sima Changying. Xianggong and Xianggong Yu Changji came to ask, but they got the sage's unsparing statement - he would never leave until this matter was investigated and cleared, and he would wait at Lishan Mountain.
Everyone was completely helpless, and the rumor investigation work became more and more severe and the scope became wider and wider.
Three or five days later, before June arrived, there were already fifty or seventy people dead, and all of them were hung together at the foot of Lishan Mountain... It was hot in summer, and when the corpses were hung up, flies would immediately cover them. The stench was noticeable within two days.
This is only within the Western Inspection Team, and according to some of the confessions, they purchased it somewhere, and heard the rumors while drinking with the local officials somewhere. It is conceivable that under the pressure of the Ministry of Punishments, the local authorities may also The pursuit continues, and then a large number of prisons are launched.
At this time, Zhang Xing finally let go of his last worries and decided to divert trouble to the west - after all, this was no longer a case, but a political turmoil.
"Sanlang is in such good spirits."
The weather was hot. When Wang Daiji, a member of the Ministry of War, entered a room on the edge of the back mountain palace of Lishan Mountain, he was already sweating profusely and his clothes were all wet. After seeing the simple food and wine on the table in the room, he was even more excited. Slightly surprised. "How do you get food and wine? How do you find such a nice and clean place?"
"Thank you, Xiao Zhou." Zhang Xing didn't even get up. He just sat there, raised the wine bottle, and poured the wine first, but it turned out to be blood red, as if it was a rare wine. "His father had an old unit for many years, and he served as the second Ying Yanglang general on the left wing in the middle base army. This is where he is stationed..."
Wang Daiji naturally knew Zhou Xingfan's background, so he just nodded and looked back at the door again, only to find that Qin Bao, who invited him, stayed outside without entering, and there was no trace of Xiao Zhou. He knew inside that the other party had something to say, so he Just come forward and take a seat.
Immediately, Zhang Sanlang put down the wine bottle, and Wang Daiji went directly to drink wine, but the wine did not enter his throat. It was actually ice-cold red wine, which immediately refreshed his heart and spleen. Then he shouted "Hello" on the spot regardless of his appearance.
Zhang Xing, who was opposite him, smiled and poured another cup for him. Wang Daiji was also unceremonious and immediately poured it over for another drink.
This happened again and again, no matter how many drinks he drank, his yellow beard was stained with red. Only then did Wang Yuanwai Lang stop for a moment, and then let out a long breath of sultry air.
Zhang Xing finally raised his hand and said with a smile: "Brother Ninth, is this a good rain after a long drought? In the end, my timely rain in domestic affairs is better than your timely rain in military affairs."
"Sanlang, if you say that, I won't admit it." Wang Daiji held the cold wine glass and shook his head in reply. "You can be free now, but I am so busy because the father-in-law in Beiya is reorganizing the army with resentment, and the people who want to be entrusted are the heroes of the Fifth Army... Even if you want to be busy, you can't. Come outside to the army.”
Zhang Xing also picked up the wine glass, but he seemed to be smiling.
"Sanlang, please tell me if you have anything to say." Seeing this, Wang Daiji felt something was wrong, so he hurriedly took a chopstick of vegetables and urged him.
"I have a few things to ask Brother Wang Jiu." Zhang Xing finally calmed down slightly and put down his wine glass. "Let's do it one by one, don't rush... Tell me, how should this rumor case be concluded?"
"How can we get married?" Wang Daiji also looked a little depressed when he heard this. "Can we really find the exact source of this kind of rumor? If we find out, no one will believe that he is the first one, right? It's just to investigate, to kill, to make the saint breathe such a bad breath... when The saint who killed feels comfortable, and the saint who investigated feels it’s okay, then the case can be closed...Don’t you know this truth?"
"Brother, of course I think so too." Zhang Xing nodded: "But I still want to ask, Brother Wang is out there, does he have any real clues about this matter?"
"Really not." Wang Daiji shook his head. "Now we can only confirm that the Guanzhong area probably spread widely after Shengjia entered Tongguan, and he probably made his fortune between Huayin and Zhengxian... But it's hard to say, because there are several documents from local official reports saying that , there seems to be this rumor in the east of Tongguan, and the local officials there have stepped up their inquiries."
He sighed in his heart, but on his face Zhang Xing did not comment, but calmly changed the question: "Brother Ninth has worked so hard these days, how much benefit have you received?"
Wang Daiji quickly drank a drink, then shook his yellow beard and laughed dryly: "What did Sanlang say? How about this kind of thing...how to measure the benefits?"
"That's right." Zhang Xing held his chin and said thoughtfully. "It's nothing more than a humble background and no cultivation, so I have to try my best to make friends with heroes to pave the way for future promotions... How can we measure the benefits?"
Wang Daiji instinctively wanted to deny it, but how could he not know that the other party had always behaved in the same way as him, without any intention of ridicule, and this time he specially asked him to drink in a remote house in the back mountain and meet in private, so he must have something of real interest to say.
So, after thinking about it for a while, the foreign minister of the Ministry of War just held his chopsticks and asked: "Do you have anything else to ask, Sanlang?"
"Yes." Zhang Xingfu poured another glass for the other party and continued to ask. "I want to ask Brother Wang, what kind of person do you think the saint is today?"
Wang Daiji was finally startled, then immediately put down his chopsticks and said solemnly: "A saint is naturally a saint. Under the three radiances and four emperors, he is the supreme on earth! Otherwise, how can we call him a saint?"
"Well said!" Zhang Xing suddenly laughed and then responded. "What I want is Brother Ninth's words."
Wang Daiji thought that the other party was looking for him to vent his dissatisfaction and complain about the saint. At this time, he was surprised when he heard this, but when he thought that the other party was Zhang Sanlang, who was famous in the Eastern Capital after all, he could reject Cao Huangshu in the upper ranks, he could rely on the Yitian Sword in the middle, and he had rich friends in the lower ranks. , a hero with wide knowledge, he can manage well whether he is in Jinyi Patrol or Fulong Guard, and there is Huaiyou League outside to wave his hand... He even dares to fight... Such a person has always felt that his future life is to be feared, how can he be like that today? So stupid, easily revealing his sincerity in front of himself that can be used as an excuse?
As soon as he thought about this, the well-known military officer Wailang became cautious: "Sanlang, what exactly are you asking?"
"Don't worry, let me ask them one by one." Zhang Xing put away his smile and continued to ask questions with an expressionless face. "Since Brother Wang Jiu respects saints so much, let me ask a redundant question... You have been stuck in the position of fifth-rank member of the Ministry of War and Legal Affairs for several years. You are only one step away from the fifth-rank official who has entered the palace, but you have never crossed over. In the past, have you ever been tired of your heart? And how can you be envious when you see Mr. Zhang Han rising three times in five days, reaching the peak of his ministers?"
Of course I'm tired of it!
Of course I am envious!
Wang Daiji was speechless in his heart, but he was cautious after all, so he looked at the other person's face. Although his mind was spinning, he didn't miss a word in his words: "Zhang Sanlang, don't play riddles. What do you mean?"
"If there is an opportunity now for Brother Wang Jiu to obey the saint's wishes and vent his anger on the saint's behalf, would you be willing to follow the example of Mr. Zhang Han and risk offending his colleagues?" Zhang Xing didn't do it either. Cover up again. "In exchange for a jump in career?"
Wang Daiji said nothing.
"Or in other words, after the battle between Nanya and the Saint, the situation has become very clear. No matter how many heroes you make, no matter how famous you are, it is useless to make the Saint happy. That makes you give up on making friends with heroes in the past. Are you willing to take the lower-level route and cater to the highest-ranking saint in exchange for an official career?" Zhang Xing waited for a moment and saw that the other party didn't speak, so he simply said it more openly. "If you say yes, let's continue. If you say no, just think that I, Zhang San, have lost my mind today and we are just here to have a drink."
The face of Wailang, a member of the military department opposite, twitched, and he tried his best to look straight and sighed: "Zhang Sanlang thinks too much... It is the duty of a minister to serve the saints, and to make friends and know heroes, it is to be warm-hearted... This There is no conflict between up and down.”
Zhang Xing also pretended to be pretentious: "I knew that Brother Wang Jiu was a happy person, but unfortunately, I just asked... There is no sure good thing for Brother Wang to share the saint's worries, and then he entered the palace like a fish into the sea."
"It would be weird to be completely sure that an official from a poor family could get into the house in one fell swoop. Otherwise, why would I have wasted so many years? Even Li Ding, who came from such a background, wouldn't have been stuck here for many years. Really?" Wang Daiji also laughed on the spot. "Sanlang, if you have any ideas, you might as well say it openly... Look, there is no one else here except you and me. Even if it comes out of your mouth and enters my ears, even if it is a rebellious word, I can't complain. "
Well, wasn't he the one who just expressed his loyalty to the saint?
"Okay." Zhang Xing shook his head inwardly, with a sincere look on his face. "Actually, the reason is very simple. It just depends on whether Brother Wang Jiu has the courage...Does Brother Wang Jiu remember that before Zhang Wenda's death, the Ministry of Punishment Prison was robbed?"
"Of course I remember." Wang Daiji was already a little anxious, but he still managed to stay calm.
"How similar was it then to now?" Zhang Xing sighed. "The saint was also furious and pursued the whole city... However, as for those of us under Jing'an Tower, everyone knows that if we only talk about the one or two cities that we are responsible for, the possibility of finding the fugitive is too small. On the contrary, It’s all in vain because people are starving because of the blockade, but the higher-ups want you to attack the whole city, blockade the city, work hard and work hard...Does Brother Wang Jiu know how I responded at that time?"
"How did you deal with it?" Wang Daiji asked sincerely.
"I told my Miss Bai, who was still on patrol at the time, that the superiors want to see your hard work and ask you to use ruthlessness in your work. In this case, instead of blocking the market for a long time and starving innocent people to death, it is better to be ruthless. Select the strong men in the workshop and kill a lot of them!" Zhang Xing laughed in response. "Kill until there is a river of blood and a mass of bones. The top will be satisfied, the bottom will avoid trouble, and you can still make a fortune in the middle..."
"You mean..." Wang Daiji's heart moved slightly, as if he had caught something, but he couldn't figure it out for a while. "It's about..."
"I mean..." Zhang Xing picked up the already hot wine in front of him and brought it to his mouth, but it turned cold. After drinking it down, he sneered slightly. "We know very well where this rumor came from. We know that we are destined to find no real criminal. We just want to kill people and bleed to let the saint calm down... Instead of continuing to torture like this, let the palace people, the army sergeants, and even... Innocent people shed this blood along the way, why not let noble people bleed?"
"Noble..." Wang Daiji instinctively felt ridiculous. "Are noble people so prone to bleeding?"
"Of course the noble man's blood should not be shed." Zhang Xing put down his wine glass and said something expressionless. "But when the blood of a noble person is shed, it is easier for the saint to calm down, because in the saint's place, one pound of the blood of the noble person is probably worth the lives of ten civilians or patrol soldiers; secondly, have you ever thought about the saint himself? Who does your heart want to see bleed more?"
Wang Daiji was silent for a moment, then asked slowly: "Do you think the saint's true heart would rather see the noble bleed?"
"It must be so." Zhang Sanlang pressed the table firmly.
"Why?" Wang Jiulang pinched his yellow beard and asked, he was really confused.
"Because in the eyes of the saint, ordinary soldiers and ordinary people are actually worse than grass and grass... Then I dare to ask, since the saint wants to see people bleed, why would he care about grass and grass?" Zhang Xing calmly asked. "A cut off head is just grass juice to a saint, isn't it? Sometimes, taking it to the extreme to despise it can actually avoid some specific malice."
Wang Daiji was unable to refute.
After thinking for a moment, he still hesitated: "Having said that, your blood is not easy to shed. If it doesn't work, you will lose your life."
"I have to ask the saint, have you long wanted to see some people bleed?" Zhang Xing's tone was erratic. "Brother Ninth?"
"Hey." Wang Daiji, who started to think wildly, answered blankly.
"I don't understand military affairs and personnel affairs, but during this trip to the west, does the saint intend to replace the general managers in Guanzhong and Longxi on a large scale?" Zhang Xing asked seriously. "There are even rumors that the saint is planning to directly remove all the governors in Guanzhong?"
The general manager of the state is a legacy of history. In layman's terms, it means setting up a general manager in a strategic location, which actually controls multiple states and counties, and grabs military and financial resources to facilitate strategic response. After the Wei Dynasty eliminated more than 80% of the enemies in the surrounding areas, except for a few general governors along the East China Sea, the remaining more than 30 general governors were actually equivalent to the upper levels of prefectures and counties, and were directly subordinate to the central government's first-level military and political institutions. .
It is a typical historical issue.
"Yes." Wang Daiji came to his senses and answered immediately. "Everyone knows what the saint means...and I won't hide it from you. We have had many private discussions with the Ministry of War. They all feel that the saint's western tour is not only to remove the governors in Guanzhong, but also to connect with Hedong and Jingxiang. , Bashu and other surrounding governorate states were gathered together."
"Do you think it can be done?" Zhang Xing asked seriously.
"It should work." Wang Daiji answered calmly. "The imperial court has gone through many twists and turns in the past few years, but after all, it has just been unified..."
Zhang Xing nodded. Although it has nothing to do with today's topic, this is the problem... Before a dynasty or empire falls, there must be something special that blinds the eyes of the ruling class and makes them ignore some problems.
In the case of the Wei Dynasty, according to Zhang Xing, the biggest and core problem now is that the people in the hometown of Dong Qi and Nan Chen have been subjected to harsh tax exploitation, so that the foundation of the entire empire, that is, the people are struggling on the line of life and death. The whole country looks extremely strong from the top down, but the foundation at the bottom has been tightening and cannot stop shaking.
However, perhaps because in the past few hundred years, it was mainly the clans, powerful men and military leaders who objectively guided the historical process, no one in the ruling class was willing to face up to this most serious issue.
In their eyes, there are nobles, powerful people, foreign invaders, and gods, but there are no ordinary people at the bottom who are as obedient as water.
What happened to the water? Can it still sink the ship?
At the same time, the superficial trend of unification also made most people feel that this empire and this dynasty were different from the previous separatist regimes.
Hundreds of years of division and war have made people think that no one is willing to rebel unless they are forced to do so.
Therefore, the saint can work hard, always feeling that nothing will happen, and always feeling that he will not push people too far.
The people below feel a little pain, but they still can't help but think that the situation in Wei Dynasty, where the rising sun is red, will definitely not collapse easily, so it is better to endure it.
Looking back at the situation, even Zhang Xing didn't think that no matter how many twists and turns there were when the saint came to withdraw from the governor's state, there would be no real resistance. But on the other hand, something similar to the withdrawal of the vassal state, and the withdrawal of the vassal state in a place like Guanzhong, will definitely have twists and turns.
"Will there be any twists and turns?" He was thinking wildly in his mind, so Zhang Xing asked a question to which he already had an answer.
"It will definitely happen." Wang Daiji seemed to have realized something, and his tone became gloomy. "They have been stewards for several generations, and they are all relatives of the emperor. They were born as the direct sons of the steward of Shangzhu Kingdom. I have also been the steward of Shangzhu Kingdom step by step. Naturally, I take everything for granted... Sometimes, you I really feel that the gap between noble people is like the gap between a dragon and a donkey... Zhang Sanlang, I understand what you mean, let's join forces, you are inside and I am outside, we can do this!"
Zhang Xing smiled and said nothing.
"What do you mean?" Wang Daiji didn't answer.
"My wife is my wife, and my brother Wang Jiu is not. But in the end, my brother Wang Jiu came to submit the letter himself, and I didn't show up." Zhang Xing answered candidly.
"Then I have to ask." Wang Daiji was silent for a moment, then clasped his hands to look at the other person. "In that case, why do you still come up with such an idea? Or on the other hand, since you have come up with an idea, why don't you do it yourself instead of coming to me?"
"I told Brother Ninth not to laugh at me." Zhang Xing hesitated for a moment and said it sincerely.
"nature."
"I was born in the North. When I was young, I really worked as a farmer. I was not even from a poor family. Therefore, I have always been extreme. I feel that when hail falls from the sky, it is better to let the people at the top suffer the hail than to let the people at the bottom suffer. The noble people will come to bear with you."
Zhang Xing has something to say.
"As for why I don't do it myself, it can be said in one word, pretentious... Although I have come up with ideas and have evil thoughts, I still feel that this is blaming innocent people... Those noble people, one by one, are elsewhere. They all deserved to die, but I'm afraid there is really no evidence that they sent people to spread this rumor. Therefore, if I did it myself, Bai Changjian and your close friends with higher backgrounds like Li Ding from the Ministry of War would all be killed. Look at me differently. I just saw more and more corpses on the road down Mount Li, and I couldn’t help it."
Wang Daiji nodded, and then couldn't help but laugh, because he also understood the former truth very well, and the latter reason was also consistent with his previous understanding of Zhang Sanlang - smart, courageous, and daring to fight, but still a little young Human childishness.
How should I put it? It’s understandable.
And at this point, the other party is actually a little more mature than before. At least he has taken a substantial step. In a few years, after a few more years of wasting or polishing in the officialdom, he will become as useless as himself. Any psychological burden is gone.
"Well, of course I trust Saburo, but I don't tell secret stories." Wang Daiji nodded at the table and asked calmly. "Sanlang, you have been waiting for so long and watching indifferently for so long. There should be a suitable candidate, right?"
"It is not necessary to select the exact candidate." Zhang Xing replied with a sigh. "But I think as long as Cao Cheng, the general manager of Yongzhou, led by Duke Mu, is included in your report document, the saint will be happy to believe it."
"That's right." Wang Daiji thought for a moment and felt that he had nothing to say. "The saint has wanted to get rid of this last cousin who led the army for a long time... We just helped whip the carriages and horses... Not only have we saved many innocent people, I guess that as a relative of Cao Chenghuang, he will not even shed blood. No need... Thinking about it this way, it's a great merit, but it's just a pain for the nobles."
At the end of the sentence, Wang Jiulang couldn't help but proudly curled up his beard.
Zhang Xing, on the other hand, was silent at this moment and said no more - he knew that although he had never been a good person, after today, he would become even less of a good person.
But it should be effective and cause less bleeding.
PS: Good morning
