While Chen Yongfu and Yang He were discussing how to defeat the enemy, Magistrate Lin, who was kicked out of the lobby by Yang He, was entertaining several close colleagues in a restaurant.
Although there was already a turmoil outside Kaifeng Prefecture, the happy and comfortable life of the wealthy people in the city did not seem to be affected much.
"Brother An Ran, you are the only one left, hurry up and take a seat." Magistrate Lin enthusiastically greeted the Kaifeng Prefecture General Magistrate to come to the table.
The visitor hugged the other two people on the table, then walked to the empty seat on the left side of Magistrate Lin and sat down.
Magistrate Lin stood up with a wine pot and personally filled a glass of wine for Tong Magistrate Yu Anran. At the same time, he said: "Brother An Ran left the Governor last. I wonder if the Governor had any instructions after I left." ?”
The two guests at the same table also pricked up their ears at this time.
Neither of them were officials, so they had no chance to participate in the discussions chaired by Yang He.
However, since they can dine at the same table as the magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture, they are naturally not from ordinary families. They are all families who have produced Jinshi and Juren.
He also has a certain status in Kaifeng Mansion and can be said to be a representative figure among the local gentry.
"It's the same things that Futai said before he left, but after I left, the Supervisor left Chen Zhijun alone, presumably to discuss with Chen Zhijun privately." Yu Anran briefly talked about what happened after Magistrate Lin left.
But he did not mention Cui Changshi of the Zhou Palace.
But if he didn't mention it, how could Magistrate Lin forget about Cui Changshi? He asked directly: "After I left, did Cui Changshi leave any words?"
"Cui Changshi was ordered by His Royal Highness King Zhou to meet with Governor Yang in order to relieve the siege of Kaifeng City as early as possible. The government knows these things." As he said that, Yu Anran looked at Magistrate Lin.
When some things were discussed, the other party was also present, so he had no intention of hiding anything about it.
It's just that the other party didn't ask, he pretended not to know and didn't tell, but if the other party asked, he naturally had no intention of hiding it.
"So His Highness King Zhou has promised to support the governor with part of his money and food?" Magistrate Lin asked nervously.
Yu Anran nodded and said: "Cui Changshi should indeed have paid some money and food before leaving."
"Great." Magistrate Lin excitedly slapped the table with his hand.
The wine cup on the table was full of wine, and a lot of it fell onto the table.
Yu Anran said: "It is indeed a good thing. With the support of His Highness King Zhou, the pressure of defending the city can be reduced a lot."
"No, no, no." Magistrate Lin waved his hand and said immediately, "His Royal Highness the King of Zhou should not pay for food himself. The defenders in Kaifeng City are soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty, not the soldiers and horses of a vassal king. The vassal king himself What is the nature of spending money and food to support the army? The court will never allow any vassal king to do this."
Hearing this, Yu Anran looked at the upright Magistrate Lin in front of him with a look of surprise.
If you want to defend Kaifeng Fucheng, you need enough defenders and a lot of money and food. He doesn't believe that the other party doesn't know this.
Although it is inconsistent with the law to support the defense of the city with money and food from the Zhou Dynasty, it can relieve the pressure of defending the city. However, the other party chose to use this point to make the case, which was obviously mixed with personal interests.
"Brother Anran, do you think what I said is reasonable?" Magistrate Lin looked at Yu Anran with a smile.
Yu Anran hesitated for a moment and said: "Although what I said is reasonable, the current situation is different. There are hundreds of thousands of people in the city and nearly 20,000 troops in the city. As long as the rebels outside the city are not beaten back for one day, the people in the city will be destroyed." People can't leave the city, and the consumption will continue. Governor Yang and the others can't just wait and eat."
He tried to persuade Magistrate Lin to change his mind.
Now is the time when the rebel army is pressing forward, and he doesn't want to see his side lose its own strength due to internal fighting.
"Having said that, the imperial court will never allow the vassal king to interfere with the army. Brother An Ran, for the sake of you and me as colleagues for many years, it is better not to go all the way to the dark side. There is no future for following Yang He." Prefect Lin Even the supervisor stopped calling Yang He and directly called Yang He by his name.
Yu Anran glanced past Magistrate Lin and looked at the other two at the table.
Only then did he figure out why Magistrate Lin invited these two instead of others.
Because both of these two families have some connections in the capital, and one of them is an official in his family.
It is said that if officials come forward to impeach Yang He, the governor of Henan, they will peel off a layer of Yang He's skin even if he does not die, and will never make him feel better.
"Brother An Ran, there's no need to read, these two are the ones I specially invited." Seeing An Ran reacting, Magistrate Lin said with a smile, "Brother An Ran, these two have heard what he said. Even if I don't do anything, those Ming Dynasty A loyal man will never watch the King of Zhou become disloyal."
"Wouldn't it be good to do this?" Yu Anran began to waver in her heart.
Although he knew that what Magistrate Lin and others did was of no use to the defense of Kaifeng City, the most important thing for an official was to protect himself first. If he got too close to Yang He and others at this time, there was no guarantee that he would not be liquidated by the court in the future.
Magistrate Lin raised his glass and said with a smile: "There is nothing wrong with this. Brother An Ran did this for the sake of the court, so that thieves would not take advantage of the loophole. He deserves the approval of the court."
"Five Dynasties Rivers, Mountains and Winds"
As he spoke, he raised the wine glass in his hand in front of An Ran.
Yu Anran hesitated for a moment, but finally chose to raise his glass and clink it with the glass handed over by Magistrate Lin, and then drank it all in one gulp.
"Haha, okay, Brother An Ran will be one of our own from now on." Magistrate Lin laughed and drank the wine in one gulp, and he put the wine glass back on the table.
"You two, don't just drink and eat."
A squire at the same table warmly greeted the two of them with their dishes.
Yu Anran put down his wine glass, looked at Magistrate Lin and said, "Yang He is also the governor after all. The court now needs him to suppress the rebellion in Henan, so it may not be that easy to move him away based on this alone."
The Battle of Henan was at a critical moment. Although he chose to side with Magistrate Lin, he was not optimistic that Magistrate Lin would successfully remove Yang He, the Governor of Henan.
"President Yu Tong is worrying too much." The round-faced squire next to him picked up a wine pot and filled the wine glass in front of Yu Anran. He said, "Yang He has suffered successive defeats since he entered Henan. There are voices of dissatisfaction with him in the court. Already spread throughout the court, in fact, even if we don't give him a push, he won't be able to stay in Henan for long."
Yu Anran was surprised when he heard this.
He didn't think that the other party was deceiving him with lies. In fact, there were rumors that some important officials in the court were dissatisfied with Yang He, even here in Henan Province.
If Jinshang hadn't suppressed these dissatisfied voices, Yang He might have been arrested and returned to Beijing.
"Brother An Ran understands this time! It's not that I want him to leave Henan, but that someone in the court doesn't want him to stay in Henan." Magistrate Lin picked up a piece of carp meat with a kuai and put it into his mouth.
