The autumn rain continued, and in the afternoon, Captain Hu Yanhu returned to Dongdu.
There was no time to see family and friends, so I galloped in through the self-built spring gate, headed north on Shangtian Street, crossed Xinzhong Bridge, crossed Chengfu Square, and went straight to the "Island in the Lake" where Jing'an Terrace is located.
It is indeed an island in the lake. This autumn rain obviously has a huge impact. The water system around Jing'an Terrace, which is responsible for the drainage downstream of Ziweigong and Shanglinyuan, has obviously surged and flooded directly to the shore, causing several external bridges to lose their bridge decks. Not only that, the Luoshui water on the road also seemed to have swelled a bit too much... This made Hu Yan a little uneasy, because he had been in Jing'antai for many years, almost when the place was first put into use, and he had never seen anything like this. look.
It’s not like I’ve never seen heavy rain or heavy rain, and it hasn’t been as high as this, right?
"Luoshui is blocked." Bai Shou, an elder on duty behind the bridge, gave the answer easily. “No one has cleared the silt for two or three years.”
"Is the traffic jam so severe?" Hu Yan was even more puzzled. "The river is so wide and deep..."
"It's not just that the Luoshui River is blocked, but also that the ditch leading into the Luoshui River is blocked." Bai Shou said with a bitter smile. "Especially in Xiyuan and Ziwei Palace, no one has taken care of the decorations there. There has been a drought all summer, and the ditches are clogged with dead branches and leaves. As a result, a heavy rain has flooded the entire Xiyuan, and everything is covered with debris. They rushed into the river, and then the water gate in the west of the city was not blocked, but the water outlet in the east was blocked... Jin Wuwei only had three melons and two dates left, and they all went to salvage and clean up debris."
Hu Yan heard it desolately, but knowing the whole story, he didn't ask any more questions. Instead, he honestly went in, tied the horse, and headed to the Black Tower. I don't know if it was an illusion, but the black tower actually looked a bit dilapidated in the autumn rain, and this only deepened Captain Hu's suppressed uneasiness.
After giving his name, he entered the tower. After a while, with the sound of wind chimes, he was summoned and said that Uncle Cao Huang was at the top of the tower. With fear and uneasiness, Hu Yan came here, saluted, and spoke the two messages simply and directly, then he lowered his head and stood in awe with folded hands, waiting for instructions.
Unexpectedly, Lieutenant Hu stood there and was speechless for a long time. He could only hear the rain dripping outside.
After a while, probably because he was really uneasy, Hu Yan raised his head carefully and saw a scene that surprised him - the majestic pillar of the country, the Grand Master, and the Prime Minister of Taichung, Emperor Cao. At this time, his beard and hair were messy, and his eyes were red. He was obviously listening to his subordinate reporting on important military information, but he was actually in a trance, seeming to be just staring at the rain outside.
Hu Yan only glanced at it and then lowered his head.
And this action alerted the Grand Master, who finally said: "I understand... Were you here, Lao Hu, during the first battle in Yancheng?"
"Yes." Hu Yan immediately lowered his head and said again.
"How did you lose?" Although Cao Lin spoke, his movements remained unchanged. "I want to hear your side of the story."
Hu Yan did not dare to neglect, let alone lie. He only told the story of the battle of Yancheng clearly from the fact that he heard that the Huaixi Army was dispatched to support Yancheng in a hurry.
"So it's just God's will?" Cao Lin sighed.
Hu Yan was about to speak but stopped.
"Say what you want to say." Cao Lin finally turned around. "Even old Jing'an, who followed me from the West Capital to the East Capital like you, is unwilling to talk. Who else can I talk to?"
Hu Yan did not dare to neglect, and immediately replied: "To be honest with you, I think God's will is God's will, but the slackness of people's hearts is the most important thing... I just said that the water came out that night. The reason why it was so fast and so urgent is not the same as this year The drought in China and the disrepair of water conservancy are directly related, but in places like Yingchuan, which is close to Dongdu, no one cares about water conservancy maintenance. This is something that I never dared to think about before."
Cao Lin thought of the recent flooding in Dongdu. He nodded in agreement, but then asked, "How can people deal with it?"
Hu Yan responded with silence, as if he hadn't thought of this level, or rather he didn't dare to talk about it.
"Actually, people's hearts are easy to deal with." Cao Lin suddenly smiled. "Some people advised me not to count on Jiangdu. I should help the emperor's eldest grandson as soon as possible and respect the saint as the supreme emperor. Then I will issue an order to let the army from Jiangdu return to the court. Jiangdu's imperial army misses their hometown and will definitely take advantage of the situation and return. Some people say that we can first take the opportunity to grant amnesty to the world and resettle it on the spot. Zhang San can be granted the title of King of Qi, Xiao Hui can be granted the title of Prince of Liang, Duke Ying can be granted the title of King of Jin, and Li Hong can be granted the title of King of Xiliang... Wait until the imperial army comes back and sweep them away first Xiliang, resist the Wu tribe, then go to Xiangfan, go down the river, and annihilate the south of the Yangtze River, then gather the wealth of the south of the Yangtze River, the craftsmen of Bashu, and the military force of Guanxi, seize the land of Jin, and go to Hebei..."
Hu Yan didn't dare to speak anymore.
"But how can things be so simple?" Cao Lin suddenly changed the subject. "Not to mention that the hearts of the people in the hometown of Dong Qi and Nan Chen are gone forever. I am just a grandson who supports the emperor. I am afraid that he may not be able to win the hearts of the people. On the contrary, he has to embarrass the hearts of the people... There are so many rebels now, and the world is known as the four hundred states and counties. , I am afraid there are already two or three hundred people who are good at using weapons and collecting taxes and taxes, but they are as powerful as the Bai family, as sudden as the Xiao family, and as cunning as the Zhang family. None of them have become emperors, or even kings... ...If I were to abolish the establishment first, I would probably break the hearts of the last loyal ministers of the Wei Dynasty and be taken advantage of by others. Li Twelve Lang and others are still thinking simply."
Only then did Hu Yan know that this plan came from Li Qingchen.
Thinking about it, before I left, those elites who were at the peak of Jing'antai's final lineup seemed to be the only ones who were still there now, Li Qingchen and Qin Er, but Qin Er... probably couldn't hold on any longer, that is, Li Qingchen Such an idea would come up.
As for the others, the few eunuchs were mostly brave and foolhardy. It was already remarkable that the first eunuch and the second eunuch could hold up a county. But old people like me had already been worn away by the officialdom of the Eastern Capital before they left. .
At this thought, Hu Yan was somewhat touched, but he forcibly violated his daily philosophy, raised his head, and spoke sincerely: "Zhongcheng, Li Twelve Lang definitely has good intentions... and the situation has reached this point. , they young people are always unconvinced, and often don’t know that one thing affects the whole body.”
"I'm not convinced either." Cao Lin's face became a little more lively, and then he looked at the old subordinate in front of him again. "Since I received the order from the late emperor, I have not had the slightest deviance or slackness for nearly twenty years... Even though my talents and virtues are slightly lacking, my cultivation can be regarded as useful... But since the conquest of Dongyi started seven or eight years ago, things suddenly went wrong. Seeing the situation getting worse day by day, and people's hearts getting worse day by day, I seemed to be powerless to do anything. Why should I be convinced by such a situation? ?”
Hu Yan was silent for a moment, and finally gave up: "Zhongcheng, Zhongcheng felt that it was wrong seven or eight years ago, but I think it was wrong twelve or thirteen years ago."
Cao Lin was slightly startled and immediately asked, "When was that?"
"That was when the imperial court succeeded in splitting the Wu Clan, especially when the western tribes of the Wu Clan were directly attached to it, and the leaders came together to see them." Hu Yan answered seriously. "It was the time when His Majesty issued an order to wrap silk around all the big trees in Dongdu... At that time, I was worried about the betrothal gift because I wanted to propose marriage to my wife. At that time, I thought, I might as well become a thief and steal a few pieces of silk. ...But I don’t dare.”
Cao Lin was silent for a moment, and then nodded with difficulty: "What you said makes sense... I only felt that this matter was inappropriate at the time. It wasn't until I became the head of my own business in the past two years and interfered more in finances and people's livelihood that I realized It’s too bad, because my family, officials, soldiers and civilians are all poor, so how can there be any reason to take out so many things and just tie them to a tree to save face?”
"Then," Hu Yan continued. "I once heard someone say that Zhang Xing decided to rebel because of something else that day..."
"What's going on?" Cao Lin became more serious.
"In Nanchen's hometown, one acre of land was reported as three acres, and three times the land tax was collected. He discovered it when he went to Jiangdu to supervise the autumn tax." Hu Yan also took it seriously. "When I came back, I noticed that his mood was much worse. Later, I heard from other people in the team... It was said that Zhang Sanlang told people in private at that time that since the imperial court had done such a thing and had done it for decades, It is impossible not to do otherwise, otherwise it will be against the law of heaven..."
"Fart!" Cao Lin was still trying to endure it, but when he heard the word "Tiandao", he suddenly shouted loudly. "What qualifications does he have to discuss the way of heaven?! The four supreme beings only dared to discuss it after they became enlightened!"
Hu Yan immediately woke up to the sudden sound of wind chimes, and then kept silent.
Everyone below knows that Uncle Cao has been stubborn from the beginning, which is also an important reason why he became a conservative in Nanya. That is, when he was young, he happened to experience the founding of the Wei Dynasty. He firmly believed that the founding emperor actually raised His eldest brother was the most amazing and powerful person in the world. For this reason, the great master almost unconditionally supported the late emperor's various policies.
The most important one is the implementation of Guanlong-oriented thinking by discriminating and squeezing the hometowns of Nanchen and Dongqi, storing money and grain in large areas, relocating local Ningdan and above masters, including Jing'an Taiwan itself, which regularly inspects and monitors local powerful people. Suppression is essentially based on the same type of thinking.
A bolt of lightning flashed across, and a moment later, there was a rumble outside the Black Tower, and the sound of rain began to rain rapidly again. Uncle Cao Huang also inexplicably extinguished his anger, and instead continued to ask: "Did he really say that?"
"Yes...it should be, right?" Hu Yan was careful.
Cao Lin shook his head: "No matter how arrogant this person is, he is still a little Zhang Shizhao. He can still listen to Zhang Shizhao's words... However, he means this from the perspective of the people of Dongqi and Nanchen. , I also admit that in the current situation of the Wei Dynasty, we can only go back to the time when the three kingdoms stood side by side, and then use Guanlong as the foundation and annihilate the other two kingdoms before we can make great achievements again."
Hu Yan was inexplicably confused: "But, the Wei Dynasty... isn't the most fundamental purpose of the Wei Dynasty to unify the world?"
"Of course."
"But if that's the case...why do you want to indulge in the policy of disintegrating the world and retreating to a situation where the three families exist side by side?" After Hu Yan asked this, he immediately lowered his head.
Cao Lin did not reply to the other party. Maybe he already had an answer in his heart, but he was unwilling to admit it. In fact, after being silent for a long time, the royal master suddenly asked his old subordinate a seemingly irrelevant question: "You Do you know what I visualized when I became an elixir?"
Hu Yan shook his head repeatedly: "The people below have a lot of speculations, but the officials really don't know the truth."
"It's a rope." Cao Lin sighed. "It is a rope that binds people and myself... It is not a law that I tell others in private... I have been tied to the late emperor and the Wei Dynasty for the rest of my life."
Hu Yan was both a little surprised and a little surprised.
"Let's not talk about this anymore... Now that we are here, I am short of manpower, please do me a favor." Cao Zhongcheng continued to give instructions. "I said, you write it and then hang it on the rope hook on the wall in front of me."
Hu Yan naturally bowed his head and said yes.
"Huaiyang Prefect Zhao Tuo, Liang Commandery Prefect Cao Wang, Zhao Commandery Feng Wuyi, Wuyang Commandery Yuanbaocun, Dieyin Commandery Chen Ling, Brazil Commandery Zhao Yan, Lelang Gonggao..." Cao Lin blurted out, He said a dozen names in one breath.
Hu Yan also wrote down a dozen names and local states and counties, and then hung them side by side under the rope hooks on the wall on the top floor of the tower as required. He knew that these people were probably imperial officials who had changed their flags or not. , an independent or semi-independent individual state and county power.
"The second highest ranking officer in Daijun, Mang King Kong of Huaiyang, Chen Kuo, the king of Hengshan, Wang Zhuo, the internal servant of the army, Zhu Zhou of Yiyang..."
These are all rebel armies, occupying an area generally less than or at least the size of a county, and there are actually more than a dozen of them.
"Li Ding from Wu'an County and Xue Ting from Jincheng County." Cao Lin continued. "Hang these two names side by side, then pull off the rope and raise the position, half higher than the other dozen or so."
Hu Yan was suddenly enlightened while doing it.
He had heard of both names. The former was the prefect of Wu'an, but he annexed Xiangguo County on his own. The other was the captain of the Jincheng Guardian Witch Tribe. He originally had three thousand elites, but he annexed two or three counties around Jincheng.
What they have in common is that none of them directly declared rebellion, but they all demonstrated sufficient military literacy, and they all have real powerful forces around them, making it unclear what their true stance is.
Li Ding was flanked by the Deposed Dragon Gang and the British Duke, while Xue Ting was backed by Hexi Li Hong.
"These two people are not people who have lived under others for a long time. They are both young and knowledgeable. They are both people who took the initiative to expand and annex external affairs and succeeded quickly." Cao Lin took the initiative to explain. "Unlike the dozen or so other local officials, whether they rebel or not, they are just holding on to their territory and have no intention of expanding."
Hu Yan nodded quickly, deeply convinced.
"You can tear up the notes from the dozen or so people before." At this moment, Cao Zhongcheng, who was sitting there with his hands on his forehead, suddenly issued another strange order. "Only Mang King Kong remains."
Although Hu Yan was puzzled, he did not dare to neglect and immediately followed his instructions. Soon, only Li Ding, Xue Ting and Mang Kingang, who was half lowered, were left on the rope hook on the wall.
"Bai Yousi in Dengzhou, Du Po Zhen in Huaixi, Wang Daiji in Huainan, Sima Zheng in Xuzhou, Xue Changxiong in Hejian, Li Shu in Jiyin, Xuanding Wei in Jibei, Zhou Xiaoshang in Yiyang, Mrs. Lu in Tingtaocheng, Breaking Wave Sword in northern Shanxi, Jing Xiang, Bai Heng Yuan..." Cao Lin continued. "Hang these names side by side with Li Ding and Xue Ting... let Mang King Kong go."
Hu Yan also wrote these names on them, hung them in a row, and tore off Mang King Kong's name.
Obviously, these are all higher-level people who actually control a wealthy area, with neither large nor small territory.
"Sima Zheng, Wang Daiji, and Xue Changxiong didn't resist, they just tore it up."
"Mrs. Lu is too far away, Bai Yousi...is also a little far away, so I'll tear it off."
Hu Yan removed the last name with mixed feelings.
"Li Hong, Bai Hengqiu, Li Cheng, Zhang Xing, Xiao Hui." Cao Lin named another list of names. "Li Hong, Li Cheng, and Li Ding hang together; Zhang Xing, Li Shu, Wei Xuanding, and Du Pozhen hang together; Xiao Hui and Zhou Xiaoshang hang together; Bai Hengqiu, Bai Hengyuan, and Polangdao hang together. "
】
Hu Yan hurriedly tore, wrote, pasted, and hung.
"Duan Wei, Gu Yi, Qian Shiying, Bai Hengjin, Niu Hong, Su Wei, Zhang Shiben... plus Zhang Shizhao, this old boy will not die easily."
These are the remaining seven of the Eight Nobles of the Eastern Capital and Zhang Shizhao.
"Remove Gu Yi, Su Wei, and Niu Hong, put Bai Hengjin in Bai Hengqiu's place, and the same goes for Duan Wei."
This shows that Cao Zhongcheng believed that Duan Shangshu was also a British citizen.
"The master of the house, Liu Wenzhou, Niu Du Gong, Lai Zhan'er, Tu Wan Chang Lun, Yu Jiuluo, Xue Changxiong, Xiong Bonan, Cao Shiyu..."
These are the surrounding and recently emerged gurus.
"Taoist priest Chonghe, Confucius Nanpo, Grand Governor of Dongyi, Our Lady of Nanling, Grand Commander of Heishui, Qianjinzhu... the British Duke."
These are all great masters! But he only said part of it, and inexplicably there was a British father-in-law who had already written down his name.
"Liu Wenzhou was placed after Master Nanpo, Cao Shiyu was placed after Qianjin Zhu, and all other mentions of master were deleted... Zhang Shiben and Zhang Shizhao were placed after Nanpo Confucius, and Xiao Hui and Zhou Xiaoshang were placed behind Qianjin Zhu."
After being so busy, Hu Yan was already sweating profusely.
Cao Lin finally stood up, walked to Hu Yan's side, and carefully looked at the last remaining notes.
Soon, he spoke again: "The Forbidden Army, the Seven Demon Guards, and the Dongyi Navy are also written on these three notes... The Forbidden Army is behind Sima Huada, and the Seven Demon Guards are behind Heishui Commander. , the Dongyi Navy was placed next to the Dongyi Commander-in-Chief."
Hu Yan immediately made up for it.
"Write the Red Emperor Empress next to the Qianjin Pillar, write the Qing Emperor next to the Governor of Dongyi, write the Black Emperor next to Zhang Xing and Heishui Chief Minister respectively, and write the White Emperor next to the British Duke. Side." Cao Lin's words were cold. "Write Sanhui on the side of Chonghe Taoist priest."
Hu Yan almost staggered.
After finishing the hard work, Cao Lin continued to look at it, and then suddenly stepped forward, tore off the weakest pieces of paper from Li Hong, Li Ding, and Li Cheng, and threw them to the ground, followed by Sima Huada, and then Dongyi Da. The Governor, the old lady of Nanling Holy Mother, and the Great Commander of Black Water... landed together, as well as the Forbidden Army, the Demon Guards, and the Dongyi Navy.
After a while, Taoist Priest Chong and his name were also torn off. This name was too thin.
Just like this, one after another, and soon, there were only four big piles of paper lists left in front of Cao Zhongcheng, namely Ying Gong, Zhang Xing, Qian Jinzhu, Nanpo Confucius... After hesitating for a moment, Cao Lin suddenly put Nanpo's name on it. The master's pile of notes and the British father's pile of notes were hooked together, so that there were only three piles of notes left.
Hu Yan was stunned.
Then, Cao Lin thought for a long time, then took down the pile of notes from Zhang Xing one by one and threw them away, while sighing: "Zhang Sanlang is doing well in everything, but there is no great master fighting for him. Moreover, his Deposed Dragon Gang is too complicated, why can these people gather together to listen to him?"
Hu Yan didn't say anything, but noticed that there were only two piles of notes left on the rope hook in front.
One is the former leader of the True Fire Sect, who is generally believed to be worth a thousand gold pillars; the other is the British Gong Bai Hengqiu who is inexplicably hooked up with the old master Nanpo.
At this time, Cao Lin turned to Hu Yan and revealed his true intention to this old subordinate in the rain: "If the Wei Dynasty is really going to collapse, I will never allow myself to be powerless to watch. Fortunately, I still have a little cultivation." But if you can take action, then follow this order and tie up the key people with all your might and deal with them one by one."
With that said, Cao Zhongcheng tore off the large pile of paper with the words "Qian Jin Zhu" written on it. For a while, only the paper with "British Gong Bai Hengqiu" still fluttering in the wind in the tower.
The rain continued, and Hu Yan felt like he was sweating profusely.
