In the remaining night of the fourth watch, half a moon hangs in the east sky.
The moonlight was a little cold, and the light of the sword was even colder, making Zhou Lian and the others tremble with fear.
At this time, these thirteen officials, plus dozens of servants, were forced into a government office courtyard by the murderous guards, and they were desperate.
Zheng Taiqing's legs were so weak under the weight of despair that he fell to the ground, "How could it be like this... We have already entered. Could it be that 800 people can't defeat 200? This is impossible... impossible..."
"Haha, it's impossible. We all overestimated ourselves, but underestimated King Yan. All of this is obviously a trap, just waiting for us to get in."
When death was imminent, Zhou Lian had some enlightenment.
"Set up a trap? What does the envoy mean by this?" Zheng Taiqing's eyes were blank.
Zhou Lian smiled sadly and shook his head, "Actually, I should have noticed something was wrong..."
"With the great status of the King of Yan, he only has two hundred personal guards around him. He does not send his own direct lineage to take over the city defense, and he constantly dispatches troops inside and outside the city to others. This makes us feel that we have an opportunity."
"Now that I think about it, King Yan should have already realized that the left-wing army was unreliable, and even knew about the existence of five hundred private soldiers in the east of the city, but he just couldn't bear to say anything."
"Then, in front of us, he wanted to vigorously investigate female treason and corruption, forcing us to jump over the wall..."
"We thought we were sure of victory, but in fact we took the initiative to stick our necks under the sharpened sword and seek death."
All the officials were very surprised after hearing this, "He...why did he do this? If he really knew everything, wouldn't it be safer to just take us down and investigate?"
Zhou Lian looked up to the sky and sighed, "Because of the major conspiracy case, he can justifiably clean up Fujian officialdom and make the court blameless."
"He must be crazy! There are wars all over Fujian, how can he still dare to tamper with officialdom?" The officials were in disbelief.
Li Zhi, who had been silent all the time, said, "He has a large army, why wouldn't he dare? Since Fujian has been ruined to this point, it is better to tear down and rebuild. And King Yan does not lack the confidence to do so, and now he has a lot of trouble in the southeast. You can make a decision!"
The officials opened their mouths, but they all stopped talking.
"Haha, what's the use of talking about this now?!"
Zhou Lian raised the slender sword and stroked the sword's spine with his fingers, "You will not live if you do your own evil. You and I were blinded by desire, so we destroyed ourselves... That's it, that's it. After decades of living in this world, no matter how famous you are, , no matter the profit or gain, they will all turn into dust in the end."
After saying that, he put the sword across his neck and killed himself.
At this moment, a servant next to Li Zhi jumped over and struck the blade with his sword.
The sword shook violently and fell from his hand. Zhou Lian was shocked and angry, "You bastard! Why do you want to stop me from killing myself!?"
The servant grinned and said, "Even if you want to die, you should die according to the canonical punishment. How can you commit suicide out of fear of crime?"
"You! How bold! Li Zhi, how did you train your servants!?" Zhou Lian cursed but was suddenly startled, realizing the abnormality of this servant, "Wait a minute! Who are you?"
"Hey, I'm Lin Qi, a personal officer of the Military Intelligence Department, paying homage to the Zhou Cao envoy..."
Lin Qi smiled playfully and clasped his hands with his sword, not paying attention to the real servants around him who pointed their weapons at him.
"Military Intelligence Department?" Everyone was shocked and reacted, saying in shock, "Li Zhi!? Did you fucking betray us!?... Qian Lin Nao, kill these two bastards!" Z.br >
"Stop it all!" Lin Qi shouted loudly, causing a group of people's ears to buzz. "Do you want your whole family to be buried with you?"
Everyone paused, and Lin Qi continued, "Why don't you think about why the guards outside the door never attack, and why do I dare to reveal my identity? This is all because His Highness King Yan wants to give you a chance, just look Do you want to cherish it?"
"Stand back!" Zheng Taiqing shouted, getting up and approaching Li Zhi and Lin Qi, "What do you mean by this!? Is King Yan willing to spare our lives?"
Lin Qi shrugged, "I didn't say that, it's just that there are different penalties for treason.
Maybe only I will be killed, maybe the Yi tribe, Zheng Xianshi is a person who has been sentenced to some prison terms, I guess I know better than me. "
Zheng Taiqing nodded subconsciously, because he knew very well that even the Yi tribe actually had different levels, three tribes, seven tribes, and nine tribes. This was a difference of dozens or hundreds of lives.
"He's right. Don't act rashly. Now that the matter is over, don't add any more sins."
Zhou Lian kept looking at Li Zhi in disbelief, "How could it be you?"
Because unlike them who joined the anti-Yan movement half-heartedly, Li Zhi was the representative and executor of the anti-Yan group in Fuzhou. Before, only Li Zhi knew about the private soldiers outside the city.
Li Zhi was so worried that everyone was staring at him, he said sarcastically, "I... I just repented in time and returned to the right path... Don't blame me, even if I don't do this, your conspiracy and corruption will be exposed sooner or later..." …”
Zhou Lian was so angry that he trembled, "If you hadn't fanned the flames and kept adding fuel to the flames, how could we have embarked on the road of no return by raising troops to rebel? At most, we would have been dismissed from office and exiled... You! You bastard!"
Everyone went through every detail of Li Zhi's actions in their minds, and realized that he was responsible for all the key rhythms. They immediately wanted to tear this thief into pieces.
"Li Zhi is a thief, even if we act like a ghost, we will never let you go..."
Li Zhi felt that he was innocent. After all, he couldn't help himself. "You can't say that. If you are pure-hearted, it will be useless no matter how much I incite you. I am just trying to protect myself... No matter how old you are now, Hate me, but I still advise you all to put down your weapons and wait until His Highness comes, so that you can get leniency for your family."
Zhou Lian and Zheng Taiqing looked at each other, with bitter helplessness on their faces, and said at the same time, "Now that things have happened, what can we do? Just listen to him..."
Immediately, everyone slowly put down their weapons, and then Lin Qi blew the brass whistle and called in the guards, completely controlling the situation.
Not long after, Zhao Mengqi slowly came to the courtyard of the government office and said, "Is everything done?"
The servants were all locked up in the room, and the thirteen officials left behind, including Li Zhi, all knelt down to pay homage. "The guilty ministers will pay homage to Your Highness."
Thirteen? Sure enough, it's not a good number.
Zhao Mengqi shook his head and looked at "Judas" among them, "Li Yun has been found guilty and not guilty, please get up."
In fact, Li Zhi was also terrified at this time, fearing that King Yan would silence him. After all, the method used this time was indeed dirty.
He stood up tremblingly, "I am lucky enough to fulfill my mission, but I dare not claim credit."
"Hey, although you have gone astray, merit is merit."
Zhao Mengqi waved his hands and said with a serious expression, "If it weren't for your report, I would never have thought that there were such traitors among the officials of my court. And thanks to you bearing the humiliation and shouldering the burden of working with these traitors, I was able to gain insight into their female perpetrators in time. Plan, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous. For such a great achievement, I will be commended to the imperial court for you."
When Li Zhi heard this, he almost burst into tears. When the people from the Military Intelligence Department found him, they laid out a lot of excuses and threatened him with inducements, so he had no choice but to be a young man.
But he agreed at the time that he would keep it a secret afterwards, so that no unrelated person would know that he had betrayed his colleagues.
But now that he wants to ask for credit from the imperial court, doesn't it mean that the whole world knows that Li Zhi is a despicable villain? How can he still hang out in official circles and scholars?
Li Zhi did not have the courage to protest to King Yan, and after thinking about it, it seemed that it was not entirely a bad thing. At least it showed that King Yan had no intention of silencing him.
As a result, although his reputation was ruined and he became a street rat that everyone shouted at among the scholar-bureaucrats, and he was isolated and ostracized by all the civil servants, he could still live happily as long as he understood his position and firmly held the lap of King Yan. From the water.
Isn't it just to be a loyal dog for King Yan? When the time comes, I will bite whoever is asked. This is also a way to be an official.
In a flash of thought, Li Zhi made up his mind and replied with utmost humility, "It is the duty of a minister to serve the Lord loyally. His Highness's will is the mission of Wei Chen. Wei Chen only hopes to serve His Highness in this life." Solve problems and do your best!"
Haha, this guy is really unruly.
Zhao Mengqi swore, but a smile of approval appeared on his face, "I am very pleased that Li Yunpan has this realization. As long as you work sincerely in the future, I will never treat you badly, and the court will definitely reward you." There is a place for you.”
Even if you look down on Li Zhi's character and even feel a little disgusted, how many truly decent people are there in this world?
This Li Zhi is undoubtedly a pure villain, but he does have some ability to do things, and he has now isolated himself from the scholar-bureaucrat community. If he can control it, he may not be a good sword.
Zhao Mengqi's promise made Li Zhi ecstatic, and he quickly prostrated himself on the ground, "I will serve His Highness even to the death of my subordinates!"
Then Zhao Mengqi asked Li Zhi to stand up and step aside, and then glanced at Zhou Lian and others.
Zhou Lian and others looked at Li Zhi being so groveling and unworthy of a scholar, and they were cursing shamelessly in their hearts. When King Yan looked over, they all immediately kowtowed their heads to the ground.
Zhao Mengqi sighed slightly, "You must all be aware of your crimes."
"The guilty minister knows that those who commit rebellion will be punished by death." Twelve people responded in unison, their voices trembling.
There was a bit of self-mockery on Zhao Mengqi's face, "Although Gu has used some tricks, don't feel that you are wronged in any way. As for the crime that deserves death, it is just empty talk. No matter who it is, you only have one life... Okay, Anyway, you are dead, but I don’t like to kill the whole family at every turn, so as long as you can truthfully confess your crimes and accomplices, you can at least give your family a way out."
Is there anything else that needs to be explained?
Doesn’t Li Zhi, that bitch, know everything about it?
Zhou Lian was a little confused and said tremblingly, "The guilty minister will tell himself all the details of the rebellion. As for his accomplices, they are all here..."
"Not only rebellion, but also your past corruption crimes. It's best to explain every one of them clearly, as well as the ins and outs of the stolen money. No matter who is involved, it's best to be able to tell the truth in detail. Do you understand? "
Zhao Mengqi's intention is very obvious. Not only does he want to make the rebellion a solid case to avoid criticism, but he also wants to kill rabbits, dig deeper into the corruption problem, and then rectify the official administration of Fujian Road.
It is easy to change things from bad to good, and when corruption has become a common practice, it will be difficult for truly honest people to have a place in the officialdom.
In reality, it is basically impossible to completely eliminate corruption. Even if you can really imitate Zhu Yuanzhang and kill people like him, it will not work, but the trend must be reversed.
But if you want to vigorously fight against corruption in ordinary times, it will simply stir up a hornet's nest, and maybe the entire court will have to shut down.
However, the current chaos in Fujian is a good opportunity to break through and stand up again. After all, waving the banner of counterinsurgency can break down many obstacles and interferences.
Zhou Lian, Zheng Taiqing and others understood that King Yan was going to tie rebellion and corruption together and cleanse the Fujian officialdom, which would undoubtedly cause many officials and gentry to suffer.
However, if the Taoist friend is dead but Pindao is not dead, even Pindao will die, but Pindao’s family cannot die.
Therefore, Zhou Lian and others expressed their willingness to confess truthfully, hand over all illegal gains, and confess to other people suspected of corruption and bending the law.
Immediately, Lu Derun took these people down for interrogation, and then Chang Geng came to report.
"...After the remaining rebels outside the city realized that something was not going well, most of them escaped from the city through the east gate and ran into an ambush by the third battalion of the Unitary 3rd Regiment. They were all captured. Those who remained in the city are being hunted."
"Chen Long and Chen Tuiguan were protected by people from the Military Intelligence Department and were safe and sound, but Nie Zhengsheng died in the line of duty..."
"The troops deployed outside other city gates also completed their corresponding tasks, and only a few rebels took advantage of the night to escape."
"but……"
At this point, Chang Geng paused, not knowing whether he should say it or not.
Zhao Mengqi was surprised, "But what? Why are you hesitating?"
Chang Geng scratched his face and said softly, "Zhao Mengguan sent a message saying that Miss Qian is in the camp."
"Qian Duo!?" Zhao Mengqi was shocked, "Why is this girl in the camp!?"
"She probably came secretly with the army.
I have been hiding in the propaganda team. Then I should have seen something happening in the city. I was worried about your safety, so I ran to ask Zhao Mengguan to lead troops out of the camp to rescue you. It is said that he put a knife on Zhao Mengguan's neck to threaten you. But Zhao Mengguan’s second battalion was tasked with staying behind in the main camp, and he couldn’t tell Miss Qian the plan of action. As a result, Miss Qian beat her so hard that she even lost her appearance..."
"Nonsense!" After hearing this, Zhao Mengqi was so angry that his nostrils were filled with smoke, "Go, arrest this lawless girl immediately!"
"Isn't this bad..." Chang Geng was a little embarrassed.
Zhao Mengqi raised his foot and kicked him on the crotch, "Execute the order! Go in person!"
