The neighing of the war horse woke Wang Wenzuo from his short sleep. He opened his eyes, and the gray morning light was streaming into the house through the window. He stood up, walked to the window, and looked out. He saw only a dozen people. The knight was dismounting in the square in front of the Zoroastrian Temple. The leader was Jin Renwen. He quickly wiped his face, straightened his clothes and walked out.
"Brother Renshou!" Wang Wenzuo cupped his hands and said, "How is the situation now?"
"Let's go inside and talk!" Jin Renwen waved his hand to signal his subordinates not to step back, grabbed Wang Wenzuo's arm, walked side by side with him, and said in a low voice: "The situation in the city has almost stabilized. !」
"That's great! Thank God!" Wang Wenzuo smiled sincerely: "Can my people and I go back?"
"Don't worry yet!" Jin Renwen whispered: "The city has settled down, but is the real trouble about to begin?"
Wang Wenzuo's expression changed slightly: "Are you talking about things in the palace?"
"Not bad!" Jin Ren asked, "When I just came out of the East Palace, I happened to meet Li Yifu."
"Li Yifu? Mr. Li?"
"Well, that's him!" Jin Renwen whispered: "What a pity, if it hadn't happened this time, he wouldn't have been able to sit on the phase for long!"
"Why do you say that?"
"Since you are familiar with that old man Liu Rengui, you must have heard of his reputation, right?" Jin Renwen showed an intriguing smile.
"Of course I have heard of it. This person will be "famous" in the history books of later generations! Wang Wenzuo cursed, but said: "I heard that Prime Minister Li is a bit narrow-minded!"
"More than being narrow-minded, this Li Yifu is a dangerous villain!" Jin Renwen's evaluation was more direct: "But villains also have their advantages. There are some things that gentlemen are unwilling to do, disdain to do, and dare not do. , but the villain is different. As long as he is given enough benefits, the villain can do anything! Therefore, Li Yifu can be used a lot, but cannot be used frequently. He must be put away after use, otherwise there will be endless troubles. The emperor The queen also understands this truth, so I said he couldn’t sit in phase for long!”
"Brother Renshou means that because of this incident, Li Yifu has become useful again?"
"That's right!" Jin Renwen said with a smile: "It saves effort to talk to a smart person like you, Sanlang. If I am not wrong, the emperor will use Li Yifu again, and he will use it severely for the last time!"
Wang Wenzuo let out a long sigh. He was very convinced by Jin Renwen's analysis. This person's special identity allowed him to obtain many high-level secrets that others could not touch. He was also extremely smart, and his judgments were naturally very accurate. But according to what he said, Li Yifu will definitely do many things that the emperor wants to do but cannot do, and he doesn't know how many people will suffer.
"But no matter what, these have nothing to do with you and me!" Jin Renwen found a chair and sat down. He pointed at Wang Wenzuo: "Also, Sanlang, you have made great achievements this time. The emperor and the queen value you even more. !」
"Ah!" Wang Wenzuo's face changed slightly: "Will you leave me in Chang'an?"
"I'm not sure about this!" Jin Renwen shook his head: "Who can guess the saint's thoughts! If you want to know, I can help you find out next time you enter the palace!"
"Then thank you so much, Brother Renshou!"
"Why do you and I need to say "thank you"? "Jin Renwen smiled and said: "It's done, it's done! According to me, if you really want to stay in Chang'an, you will probably stay in the East Palace. After staying for a year or two, you still have a chance to go to the border areas. After all, people like you are so familiar. The court doesn’t have many talents for side affairs!”
"If that's the case, that's all it can do!" Wang Wenzuo sighed.
"What do you mean it can only be like this? You are talking as if the East Palace is a bad place. The Crown Prince of the East Palace is the crown prince of a country and the future emperor. How many people have begged grandpa and grandma to come but they still can't come. You still seem to be suffering a big loss. generally!"
"That's not true!" Wang Wenzuo said with a bitter smile: "It's just that I really want to go back to Baekje and don't want to stay in Chang'an and get involved in those things. Brother Renshou, you all know that!"
"I understand! Okay!" Jin Renwen stood up: "I'm going to go to the fourth gate of the south gate for inspection now.
, you stay here first, I will send someone to replace you later! "
"By the way, I have one more thing here!" Wang Wenzuo then remembered the previous incident of Hei Te Changzhi shooting the intruder, and recounted it to Jin Renwen: "Brother Renshou, this was the situation at that time. It was at night that the group was very domineering, so I had no choice but to let Hei Te Changzhi shoot one person to scare them off, what should I do?"
"These dog slaves!" Jin Renwen scolded: "It doesn't matter, it would be troublesome if this matter fell on others, but you are not afraid. After all, the emperor also knows that you are guarding the West City with your servants, and the lawsuit will be filed. You won’t suffer in front of the Emperor! At most, let Dong Palace come forward and say a few good words for you!"
"It feels so good to have someone up there!" Wang Wenzuo thought to himself. He sent Jin Renwen out of the workshop and then returned to his residence. He lay down on the bed without taking off his coat and soon began to snore heavily.
————————————————————————————,
Daming Palace.
In the pavilion of the platform garden, the emperor and the queen were eating breakfast while watching two graceful deer playing not far away. The thick purple curtain blocked the cold north wind, and the heat from the earth dragon blew away It was warm in the pavilion, like a spring day.
"Come here, untie the curtain on the south!" Li Zhi said solemnly: "I want to see what's going on in the city now!"
"According to the order!"
Because the Daming Palace is located on Longshou Plain, its position is higher than the entire Chang'an City. Here, the emperor can overlook the entire city: the narrow and winding alleys and the wide and straight Suzaku Street, temples and barns, shabby houses and palaces. , gardens and ponds, burned markets, rising smoke columns. Outside the city wall are the vast plains, the wide Wei River, the towering plains in the distance and the green Zhongnan Mountains, patches of orchards, and vast fields. Sitting in this high garden, everyone will feel like a god living on the top of a sacred mountain.
"Your Majesty, there are no more fireworks over there in the West Market!" Wu whispered.
"Yeah!" Li Zhi nodded. He didn't need his wife's explanation. He could see clearly the current situation in Chang'an. After dispatching various armies into the city, the riot itself was no longer a problem, but the army itself was a huge problem for Chang'an. losses, not to mention the huge blow to his reputation caused by the riots.
"Send the order, and the man who captured Liu Weili alive will be given an official position in the Zhu Kingdom!"
"Shangzhu Kingdom?" Wu was stunned when he heard this, and immediately realized that Li Zhi hated the leader of the thieves to the extreme. Just executing him was not enough to vent his hatred. It was obvious that he wanted to torture Liu Weili to intimidate potential thieves. Rebel.
"Your Majesty! This is the memorial sent to you!" A eunuch came forward holding a stack of memorials.
"Put it here first!" Mrs. Wu pointed to the corner of the table, then she picked up the top copy and started flipping through it. Just after reading two lines, her breathing became heavy.
"Your Majesty, please read this memorial!"
Li Zhi glanced at his wife, took the memorial and started reading it. As he read the lines, his back subconsciously leaned forward and got closer to the memorial. In the end, without waiting to finish reading, he jumped directly to the final signature: "With Liu Renyuan, the governor of Fangzhou?"
"Your Majesty, this is Liu Ingui who offended Li Yifu and was demoted to Baekje for meritorious service!"
"Yes, yes, that's him, I remembered it!" Li Zhi patted his thigh: "The strong man in white was nine feet tall and held a golden sword in his hand to rise from the east. However, Luoyang Mu turned a blind eye to such obvious evil words and ignored them, and the result was that Such a catastrophe. But an old man recuperating in Luoyang is required to report to the court. What is the use of such a dead person? The order is sent: Liu Renyuan, the governor of Fangzhou, is summoned to Chang'an to meet with the widow. Luoyang Mu is dismissed from office and handed over to The three justices will punish you!"
"Your Majesty, from what I have seen, I am afraid that this evil rumor is not unique to Luoyang. We should order the officials from all over the country to investigate it strictly, and we must get to the bottom of it!"
"Yes, add the Queen's words!" Li Zhi said to the attendant drafting the edict.
The minister drafted the edict very quickly, but in a blink of an eye, it was finished. The emperor previewed it and sent it to the Political Affairs Hall. Maybe it's because the excitement just now consumed too much energy.
Li Zhi let out a long sigh, raised his head and said, "Awu, what do you think "this strong man in white is nine feet tall and holds a golden sword in his hand and rises from the east" means? Who is it referring to? "
Wu opened her mouth and didn't know how to answer for a moment. It was obvious that although Li Zhi criticized these two sentences as nonsense, deep down in his heart he was still quite wary, or he didn't dare to believe them. To put it bluntly, at the end of the Sui Dynasty, folk singing "Peach and Plum Song" (Peach and Plum, floods circle Yangshan. Peach and Plum, Mo Langyu, yellow swans fly around the mountain, wandering in the garden.), which aroused the extreme fear of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, thinking that Someone surnamed Li will usurp the world of Yang surnamed, so they massacred the ministers surnamed Li in the court. Many important ministers surnamed Li lost their heads inexplicably, but unfortunately Li Yuan was missed.
Later, after Li Yuan established the Tang Dynasty, some people said that Li Yuan's surname was Li and he was granted the title of Duke of Tang. In ancient times, Emperor Yao was first granted the title of Tao and later moved to Tang. Therefore, in ancient times, the two names Tao and Tang were called together, and Tao was also named Tang Gong. Through "peach", flood can also be interpreted as abyss, so the song "Peach and Plum Song" refers to Li Yuan. Both Tang Gaozong and Empress Wu knew about this matter. In their opinion, there was some kind of mysterious power that could ensure that these nursery rhymes and prophecies would come true. This made them neither dare to believe nor disbelieve.
Seeing his wife's appearance, Li Zhi didn't know what she was thinking. He sighed and said, "Forget it, Ah Wu, ask the Ministry of Personnel to count the officials with the surname Liu among the sixth-rank and above officials in the imperial court and send them a copy!"
In the next few days, Wang Wenzuo lived the decadent life he had dreamed of for many years - just like a real ruling class of the Tang Dynasty, he had good fruits and delicious food every day, had concubines and maids, shot hunting and threw lu, and had a lot of fun. Very happy. Anyway, after such a big event, no one with eyes in Chang'an City would accuse him of being unworthy of his official position. On the contrary, the upper class society in Chang'an City unanimously believed that this man had general knowledge and knew how to advance and retreat. He was a rare wise man and sage. To put it bluntly, everyone was frightened by Wang Wenzuo's ability to cause trouble. He had only been in Chang'an for a few days and he had already created such a big loophole. This disaster star should just concentrate on eating, drinking, whoring and gambling, otherwise the city of Chang'an will be ruined tomorrow morning. It’s not necessarily possible to dismantle it for him.
Of course, Wang Wenzuo didn't know how he was perceived by everyone. He never left the house or took a step forward, and he concentrated on enjoying life in Jin Inwen's mansion. If he wanted to return to Baekje, he didn't know how long it would take to have such a chance. Waiting for enjoyment, it is natural to have a good time before leaving; if you are left in Chang'an, you will not be short of these few days to engage in political struggle after that. To be honest, Wang Wenzuo really doesn't want to have any more complications before his appointment. It's best to just stay at home.
In sharp contrast to Wang Wenzuo's style, Jin Renwen became a very busy man during this period. He traveled between various mansions and the palace, shuttled between banquets, and sometimes attended four or five banquets in one night. At the banquet, if he hadn't been a man, Wang Wenzuo would have called him a social butterfly. However, his running was not in vain. Wang Wenzuo was able to get a lot of important information from him, so that he would not become a blind person.
"Saburo, I have two pieces of news, one good news and one bad news. Which one do you want to hear?"
"Good news, bad news?" Wang Wenzuo put down the sheep in his hand, looked at the dusty Jin Ren and asked, "Then let's hear the good news first!"
"Your Majesty summoned Liu Rengui yesterday and praised him very much. He heard from the Ministry of Civil Affairs that he will stay in Chang'an!"
"Oh? It would be great to have such a thing!" Wang Wenzuo laughed. After all, Liu Rengui was also a comrade who fought side by side in Baekje. At such an old age, it is better to stay in Chang'an than to continue to drink in Baekje. The northeast wind is stronger: "Are you going to be promoted?"
"That should be the case. I heard that he is going to be the imperial censor!"
"Doctor Yushi?" Wang Wenzuo touched the back of his head: "This seems a little wrong? Forget it, it's just a promotion after all! Where does Mr. Liu live now? Tomorrow we will prepare a generous gift to come to congratulate you!"
"Don't rush this now. It's not too late to wait until the edict comes down!" Jin Renwen said with a smile.
"Yeah, what about the bad news?"
"Bad news? Liu Renyuan might be transferred back?"
"Transferred back? This is not bad news, right?" Wang Wenzuo laughed, but he quickly saw something from Jin Renwen's solemn face: "Transferred back for punishment? Why?"
"Criminal punishment is not enough
! Jin Ren asked in a deep voice: "Sanlang, do you still remember the piece of paper you pulled out from among the pieces of paper in Liu Weili's brazier?"
"The one you pulled out? Are you talking about those prophecies?" The smile on Wang Wenzuo's face disappeared: "But what does this have to do with Liu Renyuan?"
"First, his surname is Liu; second, Baekje is in the east!"
puff!
Wang Wenzuo almost spit out a mouthful of old blood: "Because of this? How many people in the world are named Liu? If you put it this way, then Liu Qi is also named Liu, and Hebei is also east of Chang'an!"
