After cleaning the battlefield, Shi Xiushen hurried into the bedroom to care about the emperor's safety. Although the emperor was hiding behind the screen as always, his calmness could be understood just from his orderly words.
The emperor first rewarded Shi Xiu Shen for his role in protecting the army, and then slowly asked about the specific situation of the rebels, and Shi Xiu Shen answered truthfully.
Therefore, the emperor personally issued an imperial edict: "You will deliver the captured rebels to Dali Temple and hold them in custody according to their crimes." As for the soldiers and generals who have made meritorious services this time, all of them are listed and donated, and they will be rewarded generously. '
Shi Xiushen accepted the order and left the forbidden area with his elite soldiers. That night, he convicted a group of rebels of serious crimes, issued confessions, and waited until noon tomorrow for execution.
Niu Yuan was very angry when he learned that the mutiny had been resolved. He angrily accused Zhang Tian of being incompetent towards Hong Lizhen. However, he also felt that it would be difficult to force the emperor to go to the palace, so he canceled his plans for the time being and left it to Dali Temple to handle it on its own.
Cunzhao, on the other hand, was overjoyed. He just signed a self-examination note with Taisu, saying briefly that "the emperor's misconduct", "heinous crime", etc., and he hurried to the camp to read out the emperor's edict. This serves as a warning to the sergeant. At this moment, the sergeants dared not even complain, and did not even dare to ask for the previous rewards, for fear of getting involved with the rebellious Zhang Tian. The two royal relatives did not forget to send the news to the East Palace to congratulate them, but the prince was not very happy. He lamented that this was just a small escape, and the future would never be easy.
In any case, now that all the turmoil has been settled, Niu Yuan has begun to deal with the aftermath. He made Liu Zhennian listen to his opinions, and talked about the merits of the officials who participated in Yan Wen's impeachment. He made Zeng Liang the Marquis of Xiang, Hong Lishen the Shaobao, and the other ministers allowed them to like and dislike each other, with varying rewards. Regarding the transfer of officials, he also went to war. He handed over the vacant Dali Temple Minister to the Hunan people, and used the Yushitai as his mouthpiece and the lifeline. He replaced him with the prestigious Taiwei Guifu, but because he was a Liu The party, but never participated in the impeachment of Yan Wen, fearing that he would not be used for its own purposes, they replaced all officials below the doctor with their own confidants, making him unable to act independently. Gui Fu was easy-going and didn't care, but the ministers were very dissatisfied with such a move to play with the government's affairs. They were resentful, but they were frightened by Niu Yuan's temporary prestige and consciously kept their mouths shut.
Compared with these things, everyone was obviously more concerned about filling vacancies in Zhongshu Province. Letter after letter was sent to the provincial station, recommending talents to Niu Yuan, or asking Niu Yuan to make a quick decision, the list goes on and on. Hong Lizhen saw that public opinions could not be violated, and he earnestly advised him to make up for the vacancies. When Niu Yuan was full of ambition, he disagreed and advised him: "Young Master, don't worry too much. What do these rotten scholars who talk about words and words know about national affairs? Duke Liu wants me to dominate the affairs by myself. If I add some officials, When you come in, you have to talk as usual, which is not only against the Prime Minister's order, but also annoying. I am in charge of my own affairs, like an arm and a finger, wouldn't I get twice the result with half the effort? Yan Wen's disaster is still before our eyes, and we have to observe it. "He immediately rejected everyone's suggestions and insisted on going his own way, and no one could do anything about it. On his way to court that morning, officials other than Liu Zhennian all bowed to him. Only then did he truly feel the joy of having real power. Let's enjoy it for a while first and do the rest later, he thought.
In the damp dungeon, the candlesticks had been drying for a long time, and water kept dripping from the roof, making a snapping sound on the bottom filled with sewage, which was particularly clear and sweet. Lying in a cell, Wu Sixing reluctantly fell asleep with this sound every night.
He was still half asleep when he heard the prison iron door clang and several plates of food appeared in front of him.
"Meat!" He looked at the plate of food in surprise. There were several pieces of blackened meat in it.
Wu Sijing climbed up with difficulty, shook out his wet clothes, grabbed the meat and ate it, gnawing crazily like a wild wolf.
"My Lord Bishop," the people outside said in foreign languages, "I forgot to tell you that today is Lent."
"What?" Wu Sijing suddenly raised his head, and the meat residue still near his mouth fell down and hung at the end of his beard. He saw that it was a sturdy Western man with a sword at his waist.
"Who are you?" he asked hastily.
"I am a member of your race, and I am here to rescue you sir." He smiled gently and pointed at the remaining meat in the bowl, "You have already violated the precepts, and you don't miss this one bite."
"You know, I don't know the time at all in prison, so I don't know what day the fast is! You also deliberately brought meat... I ate it, it seemed like mutton... did you want to tease me?" He closed his eyes in horror. He opened his eyes, clasped his hands and prayed, but still did not forget to lick the meat between his teeth and swallowed.
"I heard from the jailer outside that you haven't been able to eat for many days, so I bought it specially to satisfy your craving."
"Anyway, thank you." He leaned over and reached out of the iron railing, wanting to shake hands with him; the man endured the foul smell on Wu Si Jing's body, shook his hand in response, and then retracted.
"They already regard me as a sinner who fooled the emperor, and the people at the firearms factory also watched me in trouble. How can you save me?" Wu Sixing asked with his mouth wide open.
"Bishop, I came here to rescue you on the order of the king. Before that, someone told the king about your experience. The king was kind-hearted and planned to take you back and continue to serve as a teacher without any exemption. Suffer in this prison.”
"Go back to China?" Wu Sijing shook his head and curled his lips, "I have worked hard to learn Chinese for several years. If I go back, wouldn't it be all wasted and useless? If I get out of prison, I can still promote the teachings here, which would be great."
The man said in embarrassment: "I'm afraid the Chinese officials won't allow you to live here."
"If it doesn't work, I don't want to go back... Can I settle in Nanyang?" He asked again.
The man knew that Bishop Wu was not honest and regarded wealth as his life. He had to do business on this sea, so he did not provoke him and said solemnly: "The court here does not agree, and I have no choice. I can only do it. It’s about doing your best.”
"Okay," Wu Sijing nodded, "Then I'll wait for your good news."
The man stood up, said goodbye to Wu Sijing, and slowly walked out of the prison corridor.
He had just walked outside when the weather was very sunny and the sun was shining directly into his eyes, which made him uncomfortable. The Westerner rubbed the corners of his still sore eyes and said to the jailer at the door: "I want to see your superior!"
The jailer looked at him with vigilant eyes: "You, what do you want to do?"
"Wu Sijing is an important person in this country. I am here to rescue him from prison on the orders of the country's leader!"
