The political atmosphere in the Eastern Capital has been tense since spring.
This is nonsense...whose emperor and most of his court have gone away never to return; a million troops and millions of civilians collapsed on foot; and then most of the world has turned against them, how can they not be nervous?
However, because of the existence of Luokoucang, the people have been able to stabilize a little, which makes the main tension in Dongdu still concentrated on the political level, which is a bit sad.
In other words, in the face of some core issues, other issues that usually seem very serious are not considered a problem.
"Let me count..."
In mid-autumn, in the Ziwei Palace of the Eastern Capital, in the Nanya Conference Hall, Prime Minister Su Wei, who seemed to have suddenly aged seven or eight years, was trying to make a summary after taking charge of the case. "First of all, on the outermost level, several small khans and kings from the western part of the Wu clan came to complain one after another, saying that the Dulan Khan in the east and the Tuli Khan in the central part were meeting together at the Holy Mountain of the Wu clan..."
"Don't think about it. The west is hopeless. We can't reach it across the desert. From now on, the northwest, even northern Shanxi, and even the western part of the northern wilderness will be troubled." One of the Eight Nobles of the Eastern Capital, Duan Wei, Minister of War, commented expressionlessly. "Moreover, this matter has been settled since the Western Tour."
"Then Beihuang was also a little confused." Su Wei didn't say much, just continued to sit there and take stock. "But the matter is neither a big thing nor a trivial matter, but a lot of things... For example, after Yu Shuwen came over, the Seven Demon Guards and the Seven Towns started quarreling again; and because Yu Shuwen died as a sinner, The rewards from the western countries that rescued him last time were not distributed, so they rebelled under the banner of Yu Shuwen; not to mention that, Ning Yuanbo from Guanhai Town sent a message saying that a man suddenly went to Beihai. A great master, said to be Old Master Zhang’s beloved disciple, acted fiercely and treacherously, forcibly seizing land to build a tower, and interfering in government affairs, causing the nearby Weihai Town to suffer greatly.”
"I don't know this person." The real Dongdu, who was watched by the people around him, stayed behind. Zhang Shiben, the youngest son of Master Zhang, immediately showed his hands to confront him. "I really don't know."
"I know, Liu Wenzhou." The great master and emperor's uncle Cao Lin, who had been closing his eyes to meditate, suddenly opened his eyes in the audience and explained seriously. "Old Master Zhang has reported to Jing'an Station a long time ago... I can probably guess what this lunatic is going to do, but if a grandmaster has gone to the ends of the earth, does he need a great grandmaster to catch him? We can only wait for him to do it himself Take Destruction... It is estimated that Beihuang will be severely harmed by him."
"The external things are probably just these two, let's move on to the internal ones..." Su Wei continued to turn over a page and speak as if he didn't hear anything.
"Where are Dongyi and Nanling? Where are the two Southeast Monster Islands?" Bai Hengjin, the Minister of Rites, suddenly asked in surprise. "It can't be that only the Wu Clan and Beihuang are in trouble, right?"
"Of course it's impossible." Gu Yi, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, reminded sternly that this was a man with particularly obvious demon blood. His hair and beard were both yellow, and one of his eyes was blue, but he had grown up in Guanlong since childhood. "But of course the matter he dealt with must be reported directly to the imperial commander... Why must there be an explanation here in the Eastern Capital?"
Bai Hengjin looked stunned and immediately shut up.
"There are two big things outside, and there are three big things inside." Su Wei continued to speak to the document in his hand. "First of all, His Majesty has a decree to send the palace servants, chamberlains, and Jinwu guards from Ziwei Palace to escort the queen, concubines, and princesses to Jiangdu..."
No one said anything, everyone went to see Uncle Cao Huang, but the latter just continued to close his eyes and remain silent.
"Secondly, letters were sent from Jiangdong, Jingxiang, and Bashu, saying that an imperial edict had arrived, requiring that taxes and taxes after the autumn should be sent down the river and handed over to the capital for use, and no longer be transferred to Guanzhong and the warehouses along the river..."
Still no one said anything, but Uncle Cao finally opened his eyes for the second time.
"Third, it's after autumn. The Eastern Border, Hebei, Central Plains, Jianghuai, and the Northern Wasteland mentioned before, as well as Northern Shanxi, a total of thirty-seven counties, towns, states, and guards reported thieves, famines, and requested Regarding tax exemptions and tributes, fifteen of the prefectures and counties bluntly stated that if the bandits could not be suppressed, the autumn taxes would not be paid... A few counties even said that if the court did not suppress the bandits, they would have no choice but to die to serve the country and the king. ”
After Su Wei finished reading, he spread out a large pile of forms and documents and placed them on the desk in front of him. Then he looked at everyone: "This is the specific situation of each county... It has been sorted out. If you want to see it, come and get it yourself." .”
However, no one moved or said a word, and the eyes of the nobles in the hall were increasingly focused on one person sitting there.
That person was the emperor's uncle Cao Lin. He was silent for a moment, but he simply said:
"Let me tell you first! In order to fight against foreign aggression, one must first settle the internal affairs. The Wu clan can just send an envoy to Tuli Khan to make a show of it. Although the eastern and central parts are allied, how to merge with the western part and how to divide and nourish the tribes, the two families are not It's so easy to handle, I guess I have to fight for the top... Not to mention, the fortresses in the northwest are still there, which means that northern Shanxi is a little more troublesome. But there is also Bai Gong there... the real leader of the Wu clan, The big move south will take at least three to five years... let's give it a try in advance."
Everyone nodded one after another, otherwise what else would happen?
"In Beihuang, it's an internal matter on the surface, but it's actually a trauma. Everyone knows in their hearts that the Seven Demon Guards and the Seven Towns have been struggling with each other for hundreds of years, and this time... I just talked about Liu Wenzhou's matter, but it really doesn't matter. The only way... we can only send an envoy to appease Uncle Ning Yuan and the others, and then ask the counties in Youzhou to try their best to coordinate and take care of the seven towns." Uncle Cao continued to make decisions. "And if I don't want to spread the word, why don't you give Uncle Ning Yuan a title of Eastern Guard or Western Guard? Why not directly send troops to help him? Because in Beihuang, we are not afraid of them making trouble, but they are afraid of them twisting into a rope. Really If we work together, no matter whether it is the Seven Demon Guards who have always been dissatisfied with the imperial court, or whether every family in the seven towns is successful, I am afraid they will all look to Hebei!"
The other seven people just nodded... because this was the ultimate truth.
"As for the three internal matters." Uncle Cao Huang's face suddenly tightened, and he took a deep breath before continuing. "Your Majesty wants the queen and princesses to go over, how can we stop him? He is willing to keep a few of the emperor's grandsons, which is already giving him face. They are almost the same as him, and we don't need Xiyuan and Ziwei Palace... let Go to Gao Jiang and move the entire Xiyuan and Ziwei Palace there, as much as you can, and let Gao Jiang himself tell His Majesty about the Babel Tower!"
Everyone remained silent because the resentment in these words was too heavy.
"As for the southern counties..." Uncle Cao continued to respond seriously. "Bashu cannot send money and food to Jiangdu. Bashu must supply Guanzhong. How can we throw money and food on the river for nothing? As for Jingxiang, money and food can be sent there, but craftsmen, mineral deposits, beef tendons and other military supplies must also be sent..."
Some people opened their mouths, but in the end they didn't say anything. Most people still nodded.
"As for why... let's talk about the last thing, which is also the most troublesome thing." Uncle Cao finally gritted his teeth. "The hometown of Dong Qi is in such chaos. There are four or five places where people gather to gather 50,000 people, and there are no fewer than dozens of places where people gather to gather 10,000 people. There are countless other rebels and bandits with more than 1,000 people, and some of them are armed with weapons and armor... Could it be that they are locked up? The gate of Dongdu is left unattended? But Dongdu has no soldiers! What should we do? We must set up another army of our own to come out!"
"How much do you want?" Duan Wei, Minister of War, finally interrupted with his eyelids twitching.
"At least one hundred thousand." Uncle Cao responded coldly. "Without a hundred thousand, how can we suppress the chaos for His Majesty?"
Everyone could hear it clearly, and couldn't help but feel a little moved in their hearts... To put it bluntly, it was just a military victory over the unorganized bandits. The Hejian camp in Youzhou was mobilized to sweep Hebei. It was enough that Jiangdu would also sweep Jianghuai and Jin. There is also a man left in Taiyuan who is recruiting troops to suppress northern Shanxi... So, if it is just the Central Plains in front of him, even if he also protects the Dongdu itself, why do he still need 100,000 troops?
Are these 100,000 soldiers used to clean up the bandits, or are they used to suppress the imperial troops?
Who does this mess refer to?
Why do you, Uncle Cao Huang, suppress others?
"It's too difficult." After a moment, Duan Wei, probably knowing that he couldn't escape, lay down on his seat and sighed. "In several warehouses, there is enough money, food, cloth and silk. The worst is to eat old rice. Just give more cloth and silk as reward. But what is the use of only money and food? Where do the soldiers come from? In the past, we started to serve continuously, recruited soldiers continuously, and continued to recruit soldiers. When we start to station troops, Guanzhong and Shaanluo are also very exhausted, and even faintly unstable. The soldiers alone may be a big problem."
At least more than half of the eight people present were nodding, because everyone knew that what Duan Shangshu said was basically the truth.
"Duan Shangshu is right, absolutely." Cao Lin glanced at the people in the hall and spoke calmly. "But so what? Half of the states and counties in the Wei Dynasty are in rebellion, and the country is about to perish. Isn't it ridiculous to talk about being exhausted? When necessary, even women and children will go into battle, so how can we talk about being exhausted?"
"Then force the army!" Duan Wei sneered. "Cao Zhongcheng has the final say... But people can conquer by force, so what about the ordnance? Don't forget, in the previous Eastern Expedition, all the ordnance and other things were emptied, otherwise the bandits would not be able to easily attack the city and expand."
"Then train again." Cao Lin responded without hesitation. "There's always a way."
"Of course there is a way." Duan Wei immediately replied loudly. "But most of the craftsmen are in Nanyang, and half of the city in Nanyang was captured by the Wu brothers; what's even worse is that there is no iron yet, and the iron is already cast into big gold pillars!"
"Then melt the big golden pillar." Cao Lin still didn't hesitate, and didn't even blink. "Suppress Wu Jingfeng quickly and melt the big golden pillar at the same time... No matter what, a new army must be established here in the Eastern Capital to protect the country of Wei!"
At this point, Duan Wei finally fell silent, and the entire meeting hall became silent.
During this period, Duan Wei and Shangzhuguo Qian Shiying looked at each other several times, Su Wei and Niu Hong wanted to stand up several times, Zhang Shiben wanted to talk to Bai Hengjin several times, but they never dared to really answer the question.
"Don't you have anything to say?" Cao Lin was a little disappointed when he saw this.
"This is Nanya. Before His Majesty left, he entrusted the Eastern Capital to us. I thought there was nothing to say. On the contrary, it would be disloyal not to say anything." At this moment, a person suddenly stood up, but it was the Minister of the Ministry of Justice. Bone meter. "If you don't say anything, let me tell you... Zhongcheng, I have a few words to ask you."
On the contrary, Cao Lin's expression softened a lot, and he even raised his hand politely in a gesture of invitation: "Master Gu, please speak."
"Do you want to request an imperial edict from the Molten Gold Pillar?" Bone Yi asked seriously.
"Yes!" Cao Lin replied proudly. "But the matter is urgent. Just ask for the order and melt it directly."
"That's just acting without asking for orders." Gu Yi sighed.
"Your Majesty has no reason to disagree." Cao Lin replied with a smile. "Why should he oppose something that is beneficial to the country?"
"Okay." Gu Yi continued to ask sincerely. "With the current situation, the army must be recruited from Kansai. However, the people's strength is really exhausted. Should we recruit strong men from the manor of the hero?"
"Of course." Cao Lin suddenly became serious. "With the situation in the country, why do they still keep strong men in the manor? Are they rebelling? This is to use the strong ones to make up for the weak ones in the center! Otherwise, there will be another Yang Shen incident!"
The atmosphere in the hall became more solid.
But Gu Yi hesitated for a moment and continued: "Also, the generals of Youzhou, Hejian, Jiangdu, and Xuzhou camps are all His Majesty's confidants. Even if they don't listen to us, they will only listen to Your Majesty. Leave the bandits in Hebei, Jianghuai, and the eastern border to them; there is also Bai Gong in Taiyuan, who is also what Your Majesty refers to as being left behind. With him, northern Shanxi will be settled... Then only the bandits in the Central Plains and Nanyang are left. One hundred thousand soldiers, isn’t that too much?”
Cao Lin sighed and said: "Gu Shangshu might as well speak more clearly."
"My meaning is clear enough." Gu Yi responded seriously. "Zhongcheng is the emperor's uncle, the great master, and the pillar of the country. His Majesty is touring the south. Naturally, Zhongcheng will be in charge after his death. But if Zhongcheng uses this to compete with His Majesty, how can he be justified? And if it is If you go against everyone else in everything, where will the people's hearts come from?"
"I know that Gu Shangshu is a loyal minister, but I am also a loyal minister." Under the gaze of everyone, Cao Lin fell silent for a moment and simply responded, as if he had been thinking about it and had made a conclusion these days. "Only you only need to be diligent in state affairs and loyal to the emperor. In addition to being a minister, I also have the surname of the country. I also need to be worthy of my ancestors and the late emperor... Therefore, I only want the great Wei Dynasty to last for thousands of generations. Why? Okay, how come... As the saying goes, as long as I am here, I will never allow the Wei Dynasty to be in any danger of overthrowing, and I will not hesitate to smash my body to pieces and ruin my reputation. As for other details, I can be thorough, but that's all."
"I understand." Gu Yi nodded and sat down.
Cao Lin glanced at the other seven people and asked in the audience: "Everyone, among the 100,000 soldiers, who else disagrees?"
No one below Su Wei dared to answer.
"Everyone." Cao Lin continued to look around. "I will take charge of matters in the Eastern Capital for the time being. Is there anyone dissatisfied?"
Still no one answered.
"If anyone is dissatisfied, then be dissatisfied!" Cao Lin suddenly sneered. "But I have to invite one or two great masters, or maybe three or five grand masters to come... That's all right. I will continue to be a tyrannical villain and ask Mr. Yu, who is living idle at home, to come out and go to Jiangdu to assist your majesty in suppressing the rebellion. , how about asking Duke Tuwang to come out and put down the rebellion in Nanyang...?"
Yu Gong is Sima Zheng's master Yu Jiuluo, and Tu Wangong is another military master in Guanlong, Tu Wan Chang Lun. Like Lai Zhan'er, they are both masters in the military, but because of He Ruofu and Gao Li had been living at home for several years because of the case, or because of the suppression of the old minister.
These two people should be the ones relying on the Guanlong clan who are about to make a move, and the ones Duan Wei, Bai Hengjin, and Qian Shiying dare to rely on to maintain a little posture in front of Zhong Cheng.
Therefore, Cao Zhongcheng's move is called coercion and then taking advantage of the situation to draw fire from the bottom of the cauldron.
"I think it's okay." Gu Yi, the only one who jumped out to openly question, suddenly agreed actively.
"I think it's too urgent." Su Wei sighed. "But Mr. Cao has his own position. Moreover, the situation is difficult now. I will never embarrass Mr. Cao and make it impossible for him to do anything."
"That's what I mean too." Niu Hong responded sincerely. "I feel that Duke Cao's actions are not benevolent, including the Du Shui envoy who was arrested yesterday. In fact, no matter how you look at it, they are just a bunch of things. At this time, you should never care too much and lose people's hearts... But now Only Mr. Cao can do things, and I am willing to do my best to help."
Cao Lin nodded slightly and expressed his gratitude to his two old partners: "I will reconsider the matter of the Du Shui Envoy."
Zhang Shiben was the most junior, and immediately stood up in a hurry: "Zhongcheng knows that I have always supported Zhongcheng!"
The remaining three people, Qian Shiying of the State of Zhu, Duan Wei, the Minister of the Ministry of War, and Bai Hengjin, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, became a little uneasy at the same time, but they had no choice but to keep silent.
Cao Lin looked at these three people and knew that today was already the best situation, and it was impossible to push too hard, so he shook his head and stopped caring: "The public opinion in the meeting hall has been announced, let's do it like this! Issue the Nanya Order!" "
With that said, Uncle Cao stood up and left, walking outside... Besides, as a great master, Cao Lin directly took up his true energy and flew outside to easily return to his black tower. He did this a lot in the past. But since the defeat of the Three Expeditions and the Tower of Babel collapsed again, he has been riding a horse in person every day, majestically crossing Tianjie to and from Nanya and Jing'antai.
And on this day, he was no exception because of the current situation.
In this way, under the escort of the second eunuch Xue Liang, Cao Zhongcheng arrived at his loyal Jing'an Tower at noon. Before he returned to the Black Tower, someone came to report that it was the Fulong Guard Chang Inspector and the British Princess Nv Bai. Yousi suddenly came alone, having been waiting for Zhongcheng in the black tower for a long time.
Cao Lin was surprised and doubtful for a moment.
After all, at this time and that time, Bai Yousi used to be a subordinate, but now his position is questionable, just because the incident at Gushui Bank that day really involved too much inside Jing'an Taiwan, and the British official was out of town, Bai Yousi The thought and form are the same as those of protons, so he pretends not to know and treats them indifferently.
Who would have expected that the other party would dare to come alone?
And in this case, as the Grand Master, Emperor's Uncle, and Zhongcheng, how could he, Cao Lin, not enter his own black tower to meet him?
"Zhongcheng, long time no see. Are you still in good health?"
The wind chimes rang, and as soon as they arrived at the tower and climbed to the fifth floor, they saw Bai Yousi waiting here, holding a sword and saluting proudly. The latter was still dressed in the usual plain brocade clothes, with a small warrior crown.
Cao Lin nodded, led Xue Liang past the opponent and a row of black ribbons, and sat back in his seat. Then he calmly raised his head and said, "If Sisi doesn't go and guard the White Tower, how can you come to me when you have time?"
"Report to Zhongcheng." Bai Yousi calmly informed him of his intention. "I heard that Li Ding, a family friend, was framed by Luo Fang and imprisoned because he did not pay bribes. Entrusted by his family, I came here to ask for his release! At the very least, this person should be handed over to the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Punishment for discussion. His behavior on Po Tai was a merit or a fault."
"The reason why he was imprisoned was not just because of the military, nor was he framed." Cao Lin was silent for a moment and said it seriously. "What I heard is that this Li Ding is a close relative of the traitor Zhang Xing. He is imprisoned because of his unauthorized association with Zhang Xing when he was in the east..."
"Zhongcheng is joking." Bai Yousi laughed on the spot. "If we talk about the traitor Zhang Xing's old friend, who in the whole Jing'an Terrace is not? Didn't Zhong Cheng almost become his adoptive father? And if we talk about having a connection with him, I, below, was at Jing'an Terrace by the Gu River that day. Which one of them is not connected? And if I had not understood the righteousness of my subordinates and took the initiative to cross the river to gather together, I am afraid that half of the people in the three groups in front of Jing'an Platform would have rebelled against that guy... Ruo Zhongcheng didn't believe it , why not ask Xue Liang?"
Xue Liang hesitated to speak, but Cao Lin stretched out his hand to signal silence. The latter, after hesitating for a moment, decided to be honest: "Sisi, there are some things that we all know well. No need to say more, I just ask you. , what if I don’t let him go?”
"Then I still want to know, why doesn't Zhongcheng let him go?" Bai Yousi couldn't ask further. "Standards, or tactics, or something else? Some people say that Li Ding was just unlucky because Zhongcheng wanted to suppress Duan Shangshu in order to establish his authority in the Ministry of War and control the Ministry of War, plus Zhang Xing's incident It's true that Zhong Cheng was so stubborn that he bumped into each other, so he used him as a raft, right?"
Cao Lin was silent again.
Xue Liang was impatient and said directly: "Bai Changjian, Your Majesty has gone to Jiangdu. Now only Zhongcheng is in charge of Dongdu as the emperor's uncle. He can do anything in the world. No matter how much you say, Zhongcheng just doesn't want to let go. People, aren’t they enough?”
"If that's the case, then I have something to say." As he said that, Bai Yousi took hold of his Heavenly Sword without hesitation, then slightly clenched his fist with his other hand, raised it and put it on his chest, and asked Xue Bright. "Am I the only one who is strong in the world, Zhong Cheng? Please ask Xue Zhushou for me to ask Zhong Cheng, who said he can do anything in the world? As for Li Ding, I have already promised his family, and I have to let him go today. You have to let it go even if you don’t let it go! So what?”
Xue Liang was stunned... The meaning is very simple. Are you, Miss Bai, threatening a great master?
In his dark tower?
Even if it's because he's afraid that your father will rebel, so he won't beat you to death, but so what if he beats you half to death?
Cao Lin was also surprised for a moment, but when he glanced at Bai Yousi's clenched hand, his expression did not change, but he was suddenly startled, causing the whole tower to ring continuously - without him, as he expected, that one What he holds in his hand should be the Fulong Seal that has several layers of effectiveness.
"Leave the Fulong Seal and hand Li Ding over to the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Punishment for a fair trial!" After a long pause, as the ringing subsided, Cao Lin responded slowly. "Sisi, don't consume my patience."
"Yes, but I must take Li Ding to the Ministry of Punishment first, and then let Xue Zhushou bring the Fulong Seal back." Bai Yousi was silent for a moment, his expression unchanged, and he spoke through Xue Liang, whose expression changed drastically. "But Zhongcheng, please don't underestimate the people of the world. You must know that those who bully the weak will eventually be humiliated...Bai Yousi is just an ordinary person among the people of the world."
"good."
Cao Lin responded calmly, as if he agreed with the other party's plan, but he didn't know whether he meant to agree with the other party's point of view.
ps: Thank you Mr. Circle Bear for another alliance.
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