(Two chapters in one!)
"Fashan, you want to hand over Wanghe to your second uncle? Then do you also want to tell your second uncle the purpose of our trip?"
Li Yu asked cautiously.
Ye Minglei's words in the early morning, coupled with Wang He's collusion with the county government clerk, made her feel that the current situation in Guancheng was complicated and confusing, and there was a sense of calm before the storm!
"Miss Li Yu, take a look at this first! I bought it when I came back!"
Ye Fashan shook his head and did not answer Li Yu's question directly. Instead, he took out a roll of paper from his sleeve and handed it over.
"What's this?"
Xiao Yu'er took it and after seeing the content clearly, he couldn't help but look surprised, "Zhengzhou Daily~? Fashan, this... who is so bold and dares to privately print the newspaper?"
Since Li Er sent Yu Shinan and others to review and supervise the content of "Datang Daily", "Datang Daily" was officially nationalized. Although the court did not issue an explicit regulation, it is indisputable that local states and counties are prohibited from publishing newspapers privately. fact, after all, the court wants to control public opinion!
But now, a newspaper similar to "Datang Daily" has appeared in Zhengzhou. This is simply shocking! What does the governor of Zhengzhou want to do? Or what does the Cui family want to do?
Ye Fashan said in a deep voice: "Let's take a look at the content~!"
Li Yu followed the instructions and lowered her head to read carefully again. The more she looked, the more surprised she looked. "Datang Daily" has three sections: "Literati Interaction", "Current Affairs News" and "Talk about Jianghu", and "Zhengzhou Daily" However, the Daily only has a section similar to "Literati Interaction", which is full of articles on classics and meanings by great Confucians!
What shocked Xiaoyuer was not this, but the content of those articles:
"When today's emperor is in an unfair position and kills his brother and imprisons his father, heaven and earth will not tolerate it!"
"The false emperor Li Shimin is of Hu people's blood, and he has disrupted the foundation of our Han people. He should be punished by both humans and gods~!"
"Occupying brother and sister-in-law violates human ethics and destroys the fundamental principles of society. Everyone in the world should abandon her!"
"The descendants of the Yan and Huang people and the Han people should rise up, destroy the tyrants, restore order, and return the world to the common people~!"
The titles of these articles alone were shocking enough, let alone the contents. Li Yu couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat!
"Fa Shan, someone wants to incite the people of Zhengzhou to rebel~?"
Putting down the newspaper, Li Yu's face turned frighteningly white. After a moment, she looked at Ye Fashan and asked.
She initially decided to come to Zhengzhou, but she thought that Wei Zheng had been retaliated by some corrupt officials, and she wanted to investigate. However, she never expected that the water in Zhengzhou was so deep, and someone wanted to rebel. This would break the sky. What a hole!
Ye Fashan's expression was not much better. His eyes were like lightning, he looked at Li Yu and said word by word: "It's not that someone is inciting the people to rebel, but in Zhengzhou, with the Cui family, from top to bottom, something is brewing." This is a coup! My second uncle asked us not to go out for the next two days this morning, so I guess they must have taken some action in the past two days!"
Li Yu's expression changed, and she felt a wave of panic in her heart, "Fashan, do you know how long this "Zhengzhou Daily" has been published?"
Ye Fashan said with a gloomy face: "I asked the bookstore owner, and he said that a month ago, there was a "Zhengzhou Daily" in Guancheng County. The content in it was quite satisfactory at first, but later, there were a lot more criticisms of His Majesty and criticism of the government. The articles are all written by famous Confucian scholars in Zhengzhou. These famous Confucian scholars often have disciples all over the country and have great influence. In addition, there are many Confucian scholars giving lectures in Guancheng County this month, and the contents of their lectures are all They are all criticizing the Holy One.
As the saying goes, three people make a tiger, and those scholars have always had a high reputation among the people. Nowadays, many people in Zhengzhou have considerable ill will towards the court and His Majesty. As long as there is a little instigation from a caring person, these people will Will become the vanguard of the noble family's rebellion against the imperial court! "
Xiao Yu'er looked horrified. She staggered back two steps and said, "If this is true, what should we do? Also, where is Wei Zuocheng now? Will he be harmed by them?"
"I don't know! But I plan to go to the Governor's Mansion tonight. Time waits for no one. We must find out the whereabouts of Wei Zuocheng as soon as possible! But before that, I have to talk to my second uncle!"
"Fashan, do you want to tell Uncle Ye the full purpose of our trip?"
Ye Fashan sighed helplessly and said: "Take a step first and take a look!"
Xiao Yu'er also sighed sadly and said: "I didn't expect that the old lady of the Cui family has become smarter now. Last time in Chang'an City, Mr. used the fierce public opinion to drive the old lady of the Cui family back to his ancestral home in Zhengzhou. Now , Old Master Cui used public opinion to incite the people to directly rebel against the court!
Although using the land of Zhengzhou to rebel against the entire Tang Dynasty is tantamount to hurling an egg against a stone, and they won't have much chance of winning, these people who are coerced by public opinion will have to pay with their lives for the ambition of the Cui family. Who knows how many people will die by then. People~! "
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In the evening, Ye Minglei came back from the county government office. As soon as he entered the door, he was invited to the backyard by Ye Fashan.
Ye Fashan told Ye Minglei that Wang He secretly went to the county government office in the morning to report.
When Ye Minglei heard the news, his eyes became serious. After a moment of silence, he said, "Here comes someone!"
"master!"
At this time, two powerful servants came in, and they bowed.
Ye Minglei ordered with cold eyes:
"Drag the Wang River down to the sinking pond!"
"Master, have mercy! Master, please have mercy! I know my mistake! I will never dare to do it again!"
Wang He was tied up like a rice dumpling at the moment. Hearing that Ye Minglei was about to sink him into the pond, he immediately struggled violently and begged for mercy.
"Take it down~!"
Ye Minglei was unmoved and said coldly.
Only then did the two servants react and quickly dragged Wang He out!
"Master! I know I was wrong! Spare my life! Spare my life! Hahahaha! Ye Minglei, if you kill me, you won't live long! The county magistrate and the registrar will avenge me! Revenge!"
Outside the house, Wang He's pleading and vicious screams were getting farther and farther away. At this time, Ye Minglei turned around, looked at Ye Fashan with stern eyes, and asked: "Fashan, you came to Guancheng this time not just to visit your second uncle. Right~?"
Although it was a good thing for Ye Minglei that Wang He was caught by tip-off, the person who arrested Wang He was Ye Fashan. Under normal circumstances, how could Ye Fashan follow a domestic slave, so there is definitely something fishy in this.
Ye Minglei has been in official circles for a long time, how could he not think of this~?
Under his eyes that were as if they were real, Ye Fashan nodded slowly and said: "Second Uncle guessed it right! Fashan came to manage the city not just to visit you! But before telling the truth, I want to ask Er Uncle, in your heart, who is the biggest, the Cui family or the Holy One~!"
After saying that, Ye Fashan's eyes stared at Ye Minglei's face without blinking.
Ye Minglei frowned deeply and his expression changed, "Fashan, why do you ask such a question?"
"Second uncle, don't hide it from me! Although Fashan doesn't fully understand the current situation in Zhengzhou, he still knows a little bit! As an official of the imperial court, you must know that things like "Zhengzhou" are taboo, let alone this Those classic articles above that instigate the people and rebel against the imperial court!
At this point, Fashan wants to know, second uncle, which side do you want to be on? Should he go with the flow and betray the court, or should he expose the rebels and turn the tide? "
As Ye Fashan spoke, he took out the newspaper from his sleeve, and Ye Minglei's face suddenly darkened.
Xiao Yu'er next to him was also extremely nervous. If Ye Minglei chose to be on the opposite side of the court, then both of them would probably die today.
Ye Minglei's expression changed for a while, and after a long while, he finally said: "Fa Shan, my second uncle can't stand on either side now! I'm just a small county magistrate. I have no soldiers and power. If I stand on any side, my family will be destroyed." Fate! Since you have already guessed some things, Fashan, I will tell you everything today!
Since the old lady of the Cui family was deported to Zhengzhou in the first month, Wei Zuocheng, in accordance with the imperial edict, carried out a comprehensive inspection of the illegal things committed by the Cui family's children over the years. However, the Cui family has been entrenched in Zhengzhou for many years and has long been deeply rooted. Wei Zuocheng insisted on going his own way, and was vigorously opposed by the lower-level officials. , although they dare not openly challenge Wei Zuocheng, but they can still do it secretly!
However, Wei Zuocheng had such a strong character, how could he tolerate the people below him who were always disobeying him. With the power granted by the Holy Emperor, he successively dismissed the county magistrates of five counties in Zhengzhou. For a while, everyone in the officialdom of Zhengzhou was in danger!
Just when Wei Zuocheng was about to attack the Cui family again, on the 15th of last month, a group of bandits near Meishan, numbering hundreds of people, sneaked into Guancheng County in batches and suddenly broke out, injuring thousands of people. The county is in chaos! Pan Zhenyue, the governor of Zhengzhou, urgently ordered six thousand state troops to enter the city to kill the bandits!
After the riot was calmed down, Wei Zuocheng disappeared, and all the imperial troops who followed Wei Zuocheng were killed. The governor was very angry when he learned that, and ordered the state's soldiers and horses to block the city. No one was allowed to enter but not to leave! "
Li Yu and Ye Fashan couldn't help but widen their eyes when they heard this. They never expected that so many things had happened in the past few months since Wei Zheng arrived in Zhengzhou!
"Crazy! These people are crazy! They dare to collude with bandits and murder important officials of the imperial court! This is a serious crime against the nine tribes!"
Li Yu looked horrified, and as smart as she was, she understood almost instantly where those so-called bandits came from. It was just that the Cui family wanted to make Wei Zheng, the stumbling block, disappear, and deliberately colluded with the bandits to create chaos!
But Wei Zheng was the dignified Minister Zuo Cheng, one of the imperial officials whom Li Er relied on most. The Cui family dared to do this, which shows that they were ready to rebel against the imperial court!
Ye Minglei shook his head and said: "If even Miss Li Yu can see it, how can others not see it? How can I not see it? But the Cui family is powerful, and together with the Zhengzhou governor, they blockade the county, so the news cannot spread at all. go out!
This month, Governor Pan ordered the Guancheng County Government to organize manpower to establish the editorial department of "Zhengzhou Daily". The content in the newspaper was written by his retainers. The editorial department was only responsible for typesetting and printing, and the retainers of the governor's office wrote the content. You must have seen the article!
In addition, they will also send great scholars to give lectures in various counties and cities, preaching that His Majesty's position is unfair, cruel and immoral. Not only that, the entrances to all official roads in Zhengzhou are guarded by state soldiers and horses, just to prevent people from leaving Zhengzhou to go to the capital. Tell the truth.
I am just a small county magistrate with no troops and no power. At such a critical moment, what else can I do besides protecting myself wisely? If he rebels against the imperial court along with the Cui family, he will definitely end up with his reputation ruined and his family confiscated and exterminated!
After all, although the Cui family is powerful in Zhengzhou, it is difficult to compete with the imperial court. Failure is only a matter of time! But if I oppose the Cui family and inform the court, the whole Ye family will die immediately without a burial place!
Therefore, I can only help no one at the moment, and do my best to shirk those who can shirk the relationship, and estrange the relationship with them as much as possible! In this way, even if the court blames me afterwards, I will only lose my official title, but the dozens of people in the Ye family will be able to survive! "
Ye Fashan and Li Yu couldn't help but feel silent after hearing this. It turned out that Ye Minglei, a bystander, although he did not hold great power, he had always been like a mirror and wanted to see through the situation in Zhengzhou! And what he asked for was very simple, he just wanted to save the lives of his entire family!
"Second uncle, you are right to choose Mingzhe to protect yourself at this time, but have you ever thought that when the Cui family is really going to cause trouble, how will they tolerate a subordinate who is wavering on both sides? Anyone who achieves great things will make a plan before acting, let alone a rebellion. Fashan can guarantee that the Cui family will force you to state your position before taking action on such a big matter. How should you handle yourself at that time?"
In the room, after the three of them were silent for a moment, Ye Fashan looked at Ye Minglei and said in a deep voice.
Ye Minglei's face suddenly turned extremely ugly. Obviously he had not thought of this. Perhaps, although he had thought of it, he was still paralyzing himself with a sense of luck. To put it bluntly, he was escaping!
"Fashan, you have grown up! But in this situation, what can I do? Either way, it is death. It is better to delay for a while, maybe there will be a glimmer of hope! If you agree to the Cui family now or turn against the Cui family, Then there will be no room for maneuver from now on!"
Ye Minglei said with a painful look on his face.
He is really in a dilemma now. If he directly sides with the Cui family now, he will definitely not be able to escape when the court settles the accounts afterwards. If he directly turns against the Cui family, then he will not be able to escape now! So instead of just dragging it, he is still dragging it!
"Uncle Ye, instead of sitting back and waiting for death, why not give it a try? Maybe there will be a glimmer of hope?"
At this time, Li Yu stood up and said.
Ye Fashan opened his mouth and wanted to stop him, but Li Yu gave him a reassuring look in return, and then looked at Ye Minglei with a serious look on his face.
Ye Minglei then formally looked at Li Yu. After a moment, he narrowed his eyes and said, "Miss Xiao Yu'er, your identity should not be simple, right~?"
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