Chapter 43: Legalism is easy to open
If the first two factors might have made Tuo Ba Feng less determined to kill Zhang Chenglie, it was Tang Qirui who really made him realize that he could not kill Zhang Chenglie this time.
Under the guise of coming to the capital to be King Qin, this guy transferred the entire town's soldiers and horses from Muma City to the capital without any orders, set up a posture in the South Garden of the Royal Hunting Ground, and held a huge "King Qin Exercise", with cannons The roar could be heard even in the palace.
What chilled Tuo Ba Feng the most was that the tens of thousands of imperial guards guarding the capital turned a deaf ear to this. They couldn't even find the general, let alone send troops to suppress it.
Tuo Ba Feng and Gong De's conspiracy to murder Zhang Chenglie was originally an extremely confidential matter, but before they could put it into practice, Zhang Chenglie disappeared mysteriously. Then rumors of Zhang's murder spread in the capital, foreign ambassadors intervened, and then Tang Qirui Nanyuan Chen Bing...
When things have developed to this point, no matter how slow Tuo Ba Feng is, he understands that Zhang Chenglie cannot be killed.
It's not that I don't want to, but I can't, because many people don't want Zhang Chenglie to die.
When this idea arose in Tuo Ba Feng's mind, he had a vague epiphany, looking up to the sky and sighing: "Destiny will come or go, and people's hearts will turn against me. It's really not something I can control."
For a moment, his mood waned, and he completely gave up his intention to kill Zhang Chenglie.
In the cold palace, Ma Yufeng was nailed to a stake without any body parts. An expressionless executioner held a sharp knife and skillfully cut off a piece of flesh as big as a fingernail from his chest. The pain made Ma Yufeng quack. Yelling.
The pain was so severe that Ma Yufeng wanted to open his mouth to curse, but only a string of untuned notes came out of his mouth. It turned out that before the execution, Ma Yufeng's orchid tongue had been completely cut off.
"Nine hundred and eighty-two!" the eunuch nearby shouted loudly.
Outside the cold palace, Empress Dowager Gongde was leaning on the phoenix chariot, her eyes slightly closed, as if Ma Yufeng's beast-like howling was like beautiful music, which made her mesmerized.
Originally, Queen Mother Gongde wanted to kill Zhang Chenglie to establish her authority, but now that Zhang Chenglie ran away, her methods could only be used on Ma Yufeng, who could not escape.
To be honest, compared to Zhang Chenglie, Queen Mother Gongde was more taboo and afraid of vicious slaves like Ma Yufeng who killed their masters. You must know that these people stay in the palace every day, serving the emperor, concubines, princes and princesses in their daily life, and secretly even dare to poison the emperor.
Although Jing Xian was just a puppet emperor, he was the legitimate Ninth Five Emperor of the Daqing Dynasty. He was actually poisoned to death by a powerful eunuch in broad daylight. What a terrible thing.
The first thing Empress Dowager Gongde did when she first took charge of the government - to kill Zhang Chenglie was extremely unsatisfactory. This made her feel the crisis and worried that one day she would die in an unknown manner like Emperor Jingxian, so she decided to kill Ma Yufeng. Lingchi was executed in the harem, and she wanted to cut Ma Yufeng into pieces with a thousand cuts, so that everyone in the harem and even the entire court knew: I, the Queen Mother Gongde, am not a person who can be slaughtered by others.
Looking at the trembling eunuchs and maids, Queen Mother Gongde understood that her goal had been achieved.
Zhang Chenglie finally saw the edict: "Zhang Chenglie, Minister of the Cabinet of Military Affairs and Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has been repeatedly promoted by the previous dynasties. I have rewarded him again and again, so that he can use his talents so that he can be effective. Unexpectedly, Zhang Chenglie is suffering from foot disease." , walking hard and finding it difficult to fulfill his duties. Zhang Chenglie immediately opened his vacancy and returned to his hometown to recuperate from his illness, as a show of sympathy."
Zhang Chenglie knew that this was the best outcome for "decapitation and genocide" in exchange for "opening a vacancy and returning home". So without saying a word, he immediately packed up his belongings, packed a carriage, and took the whole family on the train back home.
Because Zhang Chenglie knows that he has held great power for many years and has handled many personnel matters. Although he has promoted many people, he has also offended many people, especially the Yan clan royal family. In the capital, it is not safe for just one more day.
You must know that Zhang Chenglie is not a powerful military minister now, but a civilian who has been convicted of a crime. Once the news is over, these people will crush him to death as easily as crushing an ant.
Based on Zhang Chenglie's experience as an official for many years, if he wants to truly avoid the danger of death, the best way is to leave this place of right and wrong as soon as possible.
It's the coldest season at the end of the year, with clouds covering the sky for days and the north wind howling. The heavy snowfall last night set a cold tone for Zhang Chenglie's journey back home.
Zhang Chenglie was sitting alone in the window seat at the back of the carriage, looking at the crows and crows in other carriages filled with people greeting them, while his own carriage was as deserted as the snow everywhere. Recalling the honor and dignity of the past travels, he suddenly felt Mixed feelings.
"The officialdom rises and falls, the tea cools and people leave, it really is nothing more than this!"
Just when Zhang Chenglie lamented that life was like a dream, a middle-aged scholar came staggering alone in the snow outside the station. Zhang Chenglie took a closer look and realized that he actually knew this person.
The person who came was Yi Kai, a member of the Constitutional Compilation and Inspection Office.
When Yi Kai returned from studying in Dongyi, Zhang Chenglie saw his talent and recommended him to the Constitutional Compilation and Inspection Office together with Liu Xingzhi. Although this official was a fourth-rank official, it was actually a sinecure position. To put it bluntly, he was just a lecturer teaching the princes and nobles what constitutional government was.
Throughout his life, Zhang Chenglie liked to form cliques and support his cronies. There were countless frontier officials and military generals who accepted his favor. Unexpectedly, he was in trouble now, and the one who came to see him off was Yi Kai, who had no power. He sighed with emotion. At the same time, Zhang Chenglie actually felt a little excited in his heart.
"Xizi, if you come to see me off at this time, aren't you afraid of losing your official position and your head?" Zhang Chenglie stood up and welcomed Yi Kai into the car, holding his hand and jokingly asked.
When Yi Kai heard this, he sighed and said: "A minister like Zhang Gong who is dedicated to working for Dayan will suffer such a disaster out of thin air. This court has become so rotten that there is no cure. It's okay if this official doesn't do it; As for my Yi-kai head, if they really want it, then take it. At this moment, Yi-kai just wants to give Mr. Zhang a ride and doesn’t care about much else."
Yi Kai's words made Zhang Chenglie's cold heart feel warm. The frustration that he thought was well concealed collapsed instantly. All kinds of emotions came to his heart. He couldn't help but chant a poem: "I originally put my heart towards the bright moon." , but the bright moon shines on the ditch."
"Mr. Zhang regrets it?" Yi Kai's eyes suddenly lit up and he asked with a smile.
"There is no medicine for regret in this world." Zhang Chenglie replied smoothly.
As the saying goes, "The speaker has no intention, but the listener has the intention."
Yi Kai has learned from ancient times to the present, and the identity behind him is a Legalist who travels all over the world. He is by no means an ordinary person who follows the trend. Zhang Chenglie and Liu Xingzhi jointly recommended him to the Constitutional Editorial Office because he had extremely high views on constitutional monarchy.
It's just that Zhang Chenglie and Liu Xingzhi still underestimated Yi Kai.
In fact, Yi Kai not only had a deep understanding of the constitutional monarchy, but also had a complete implementation system. He even believed that he was born for the constitutional monarchy.
