After leaving the British palace, Wang Wenzuo returned home. Cui Yunying greeted him and served him attentively. Wang Wenzuo saw his wife's thoughts and said with a smile: "You want to ask me about Brother Lu?"
"Actually, that's not the case!" Cui Yunying lowered her head in embarrassment after her husband revealed what was on his mind.
"Haha!" Wang Wenzuo smiled: "I'll tell you the truth! Whether Brother Lu can escape this time depends partly on me and partly on himself!"
"Why do you say that?"
"It's very simple! I saw the person he offended today, and it's hard to talk to him!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "He should have to suffer some hardships in prison in a short time. If he can't hold himself in there and talks nonsense, If he can't speak, no one can save him; if he can be a sensible person, then when the time comes, he can see the light of day again!"
"Then Wu Minzhi doesn't even sell your face?" Cui Yunying was surprised. Ever since she met Wang Wenzuo, even if she encountered big troubles, Wang Wenzuo could easily resolve them. Over time, she subconsciously There was an illusion that her husband would be successful for a hundred years, but this time Wang Wenzuo frankly admitted that she had been rejected in front of him, and she suddenly panicked.
"Except for your two majesties, this one really doesn't need to sell anyone's face in Chang'an City!" Wang Wenzuo smiled: "I really don't know how to be a junior official if I don't come to Chang'an City!"
"I really don't come to Chang'an City, I don't know how to be a junior official!" Cui Yunying murmured and repeated Wang Wenzuo's words, and sighed: "It's really like this, sir, if you don't tell me, I haven't paid attention to it. When I was in Qingzhou, I felt that The governor of a state is a very powerful official, but when you come to Chang'an, you can easily see a fifth-rank official, who can't even talk or do anything!"
"That's natural. The governor is the king of a state. He can decide all matters in the state with a single word. Don't look at the officials in Chang'an City. They are all dressed in purple with red belts and jade belts around their waists. They look very impressive. , but in fact it can’t decide anything, it’s just a hollow glutinous rice ball!”
"Hollow glutinous rice balls! Hahahaha!" Cui Yunying couldn't help but laugh when she heard Wang Wenzuo's analogy. She patted her husband's arm: "Sanlang, what you said was so vicious, and all the civil and military officials in the court were scolded. Besides, you Aren’t I also an official in Chang’an, so am I also a hollow glutinous rice ball?”
"Of course!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Although I am a third- and fourth-grade official now, I am actually not as good as when I was in Baekje and Japan. In Baekje and Japan, I could make thousands of people's heads fall to the ground with just one glance, but in Chang'an , I have to be careful even if I kill a dog!"
"Everyone else wants to come to Chang'an or Luoyang, but husband, you want to go to Japan or Baekje!" Cui Yunying sighed: "Then tell me, how sure are you that you can fish him out?"
"We don't know yet!" Wang Wenzuo shook his head: "We won't know until the whole thing is clarified in a few days, but I have already sent people to take care of it. Lu Zhaolin should be better off in prison!"
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Guangdefang, Jingzhaofu Prison.
Just after the first watch, the prison yard seemed very quiet, only the sound of the watchman's banging could be heard from time to time outside the cell wall. But the silence tonight was very different from the past. Before dusk, more than a dozen Wuhou came to the prison. Some were hanging swords and some were holding wooden sticks. They were sitting in the small side room inside the prison gate. The room used for interrogating prisoners was always lit. Light, people are constantly coming and going. On weekdays, some prisoners' family members who often come to deliver dinner are allowed to come in and stand in the courtyard because their fellow guards are from Chang'an. Some of them can even walk directly outside the prison cell's iron window. But tonight, those who deliver food, regardless of adults or children, are blocked outside the gate, and the food they hand in must be checked.
In a separate room in the backyard, the small oil lamp was very dim because of the colored lights. With the moonlight shining through the hemp paper covered with the iron window lattice, we could see that there was a small bed, a small table, and a Stools, and a charcoal brazier on the ground. There was a person lying on the bed, fully clothed, making no sound, as if he was asleep. After a while, the heavy shackles clattered. The man suddenly sat up from the bed, sighed angrily, and spoke from between his teeth: "I never expected that I, Lu Zhaolin, would be like this!"
The words that suddenly burst out were so low that he could only hear them himself. He jumped off the edge of the bed, used a light stick to pluck out the lanterns, and stretched the lanterns longer. It was much brighter in the cabin. He used iron chopsticks to push the pile of ash in the basin to reveal the red charcoal, then added a few pieces of black charcoal under the red charcoal and piled it up again. There was a red fire in the brazier, and the four rooms became a little warm. He took a few steps in the small room. Every time he took a step, the shackles clattered. He didn't want to hear the sound of his shackles, so he sat down on the small chair and listened to the outside of the prison wall for a moment, before falling back into the chaotic frenzy of thoughts.
Lu Zhaolin has been in jail for a few days. Due to his poetry name and his status as a member of an aristocratic family, his treatment is actually quite good. He is held in solitary confinement and is provided with a brazier, a bed, a table, and a stool. But what Zhou Xing said to him that night made him even more upset. After he was imprisoned, the only person who came to visit him was the house slave. The house slave told the story of going to Wang Wenzuo's house to ask for help, and secretly gave the dozens of dollars to Lu Zhaolin, saying that he could please relax. , General Wang Wenzuo will come forward and you will be rescued sooner or later.
The slave's words did not bring much hope to Lu Zhaolin. He thought that although Wang Wenzuo held a high position and had a good face in front of the prince, he only had a one-sided relationship with him. Moreover, the case this time was quite serious, and it even involved a struggle between the queen and the clan veterans. Lu Zhaolin knew that this was no small matter. He had heard a lot about the Queen when he was working as a pawnbroker in Prince Deng's Mansion. Anyone who disobeyed her, no matter what her origin or identity, would be put to death quickly. If he was involved in this kind of thing, he would most likely not be able to escape. He remembered what Zhou Xing said when he left. He obviously wanted to cling to him and frame others, but he didn't want to betray his conscience, and he became more and more anxious.
Lu Zhaolin was just thinking about what he should do when he suddenly heard the iron lock on the door ringing. When he turned around, he saw it was Wang Laowu. This skinny old man in his fifties was the boss of Guangdefang. He is good at geography, and has been working in the prison since his grandfather's time. Everyone in the government office is familiar with him from top to bottom, and others call him Lao Wu. After Lu Zhaolin got the money from his slave, he gave the man five strings and then got a quilt and a brazier.
"Lao Wu!"
"Shh! Keep your voice down!" Wang Laowu made a silent gesture: "Mr. Lu, someone outside asked me to send you a message. Someone is already trying to rescue you. Don't talk nonsense to others. It will ruin things. !”
Lu Zhaolin perked up after hearing this and quickly grabbed Wang Laowu's hand: "Who asked you to pass on the message? Is it Prince Deng or Minister Hao?"
"Master Lu, don't ask anymore!" Wang Laowu waved his hand: "Anyway, he is a big shot with great eyes and hands. As long as you don't cause trouble in there, you will be able to get out of here sooner or later, do you understand? And everyone in the prison has a lot of people. Take care of it, you won't suffer much here. Okay, there are a lot of eyes here, so the villain will go out first!" After that, he waved his hand, and a cloth bag was brought in from outside. Before Lu Zhaolin could ask questions, Wang Laowu then left.
Lu Zhaolin opened the cloth bag and found a roast goose inside. He couldn't help but feel happy. He hurriedly tore open the roast goose and ate it. After three times, he ate everything, then lay down on the bed and fell asleep.
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Wang Wenzuo rode through the square gate and walked along the street south of Dongshi towards the East Palace. As the de facto commander of the Sixth Army of the East Palace, Wang Wenzuo had many responsibilities, but after all, his official position was still the Right Guards of the East Palace, so he still visited the Yamen occasionally.
"Wang De, how did you do what I told you the day before yesterday?" Wang Wenzuo asked.
"Did your Majesty say you should take care of the prison guards?" Wang De quickly replied: "I have already found someone, a prison chief named Wang Laowu. Three generations of my ancestors have been begging for food in the prison. He is very familiar with her from top to bottom. His subordinates asked him to treat Lu Zhaolin better, send him some wine and meat from time to time, and then pass on messages to tell him not to talk nonsense!"
"Okay!" Wang Wenzuo nodded with satisfaction and asked, "Is Wang Laowu tight-lipped?"
"It's not necessarily true that this old man is strict!" Wang De said with a smile: "But if I tell him, he will definitely be strict with his mouth. If not, I will help him be strict!"
"Okay, okay, okay!" Wang Wenzuo couldn't help laughing when he heard this. This Wang De is one of Cao Wenzong's registered disciples. He was originally a famous evil boy in Chang'an. This time he came back with Wang Wenzuo. Unexpectedly, he was sent here. Used.
The group came to the East Palace. The political system in the early Tang Dynasty still retained traces of the clan-king politics during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. Not only did the prince have a high position, but he also had a detailed and small court around him. Not only were there various civil and military talents, but there was also a detailed and detailed team. Custodes. This is the famous Ten Guards of the East Palace. Its organizational structure corresponds one-to-one with the famous Sixteen Guards of the Nanya Forbidden Army: the left and right Zongwei leads correspond to the left and right leading generals of Nanya; the left and right Yuhou leads are responsible for day and night patrols inside and outside the East Palace. Fa corresponds to General Jinwu, the left and right officer of Nanya. The left and right prison gate commanders are in charge of the gates and correspond to the left and right prison gate generals; the left and right inner commanders are responsible for leading the preparation and service of Qian Niu in the East Palace, corresponding to the Qian Niu generals; and the prince's left and right guard commanders: control the political orders of the East Palace soldiers, staffs, and feather guards, and are the general Lead the armies.
Among these ten rates, the left and right prison rates and the left and right inner rates are composed of Yuan Cong heroes and the disciples of Menyin. The rest of the left and right Zongwei rates, the left and right Yuhou rates, and the left and right guards are composed of government soldiers. They work in farming in peacetime and in war. When he was a soldier, his general commanded about 50,000 soldiers, and at the same time, there were about 8,000 to 10,000 soldiers, so there is also a saying that the East Palace has six rates. In other words, there were about 8,000 to 10,000 troops under the direct command of the Prince of the East Palace in Chang'an at the same time. Of course, so many troops could not be all around the East Palace, but were dispersed and deployed in their respective defense areas like the Nanya Forbidden Army.
"See the right guard rate for your humble position!"
"Everyone is exempt from the gift!" Wang Wenzuo looked at the dozens of officers with bright armor and bows in front of him, and nodded with satisfaction. Many of these people are the children of meritorious officials. No matter what they think in their hearts, at least on the surface they are still the same. It's passable, but it saves one's energy.
"I have been ordered by the Crown Prince to lead all the leaders in the East Palace, but I have little talent and little hope, so I am really scared! You are the heart and soul of the country, and you must serve with loyalty and service to live up to your kindness!"
"Yes!" Everyone responded in unison.
"Then let's count the numbers of each army first!" Wang Wenzuo said: "Let's start with my subordinate army first!"
As soon as Wang Wenzuo finished speaking, there was silence in the room. He seemed to feel a strange atmosphere. He thought his accent was too strong and his subordinates were all from Chang'an and did not hear him clearly, so he repeated: "First, count the troops led by the right guard of the East Palace. The number of people, then the left guard rate, the left and right Zongwei rates, the left and right Yuhou rates! Let’s count the left and right gate rates and the left and right inner rates tomorrow!”
"General!" An officer walked out of the ranks, bowed his head and said, "The right guard cannot count today!"
"Can't count?" Wang Wenzuo frowned: "What do you mean? Didn't I send someone to tell you in advance? Today we have to count all the armies. Didn't you receive the news?"
"No!" The officer lowered his head and said, "I have received the news, but the soldiers are currently on other missions, so they cannot be counted!"
"Any other mission?" Wang Wenzuo was stunned: "What mission? Who gave the order? Why didn't I know?"
"No, it's an order from the Ministry of Works!" the officer replied: "There is a project to be built, and five hundred people have to be borrowed, and it will take seven or eight days to get them back!"
"Five hundred people? The project is going to be built?" Wang Wenzuo frowned. He had also heard that Beijing often dragged soldiers from various places to do hard labor and used them as free labor, but he did not expect that it would fall to him. Although I was very unhappy, I could only suppress the anger in my heart. After all, you can't quarrel with the staff just after taking office, right?
"You should step back first! Wait for them to come back and then count them!"
"Yes! Thank you, General!" The officer hurriedly returned to the ranks.
"What about the left-back rate?" Wang Wenzuo asked, "Can we count and review it now?"
"You deserve to die for your humble position. Zuowei was also loaned out 300 people by the Ministry of Works!"
"Okay? What about the left and right guards? Have you been loaned out too?"
In this way, Wang Wenzuo asked the questions one by one. Finally, he was surprised to find that among the ten rates under his command, except for the left and right prison rates and the left and right inner rates, which were composed of the children of meritorious officials and disciples of the family, the other six rates were more or less Some of them were borrowed free labor, some of them had seven or eight hundred people, some of them had one or two hundred people, and the total number was about two thousand.
After the officers retreated, Wang Wenzuo could no longer hold back the anger in his chest and cursed loudly: "What do these bastards think this is? A free labor camp? These are the elite soldiers of the East Palace, the prince's personal guards!"
"Sanlang, keep your voice down! Otherwise, it won't be good if the outside world hears it!" Cui Hongdu whispered.
"Keep your voice down!" Wang Wenzuo's face flushed with anger: "Your Majesty asked me to take inventory of the military affairs of the palace. I thought I should be more careful, but who knew that the walls of the East Palace were hollowed out!"
