Delong

Chapter 183 The Knight's Walk (13)

Since spring, the political atmosphere in the Eastern Capital has been tense.

This is nonsense... Whose emperor took most of the court and never returned; millions of troops and millions of civilians collapsed just walking; then most of the world turned upside down, how can we not be nervous?
However, because of the existence of the Luokou warehouse, the folks have been able to stabilize a little bit, so that the main tension here in the Eastern Capital is still concentrated on the political level, which seems a bit emotional.

In other words, in the face of some core problems, other problems that usually seem serious are not considered problems.

"Old man, let's count..."

In mid-autumn, in Ziwei Palace, Eastern Capital, and in the meeting hall of Nanya, the Prime Minister Su Wei, who seemed to be seven or eight years old suddenly, was trying to make a conclusion after the main case. "First of all, on the outermost layer, several little khans and little kings from the western part of the Wu tribe came to report one after another, saying that the Dulan Khan in the east and the Tuli Khan in the middle will meet together at the holy mountain of the Wu tribe..."

"Don't think about it, the west is hopeless, and we can't reach it across the desert. From now on, the northwest, even northern Shanxi, and even the western part of the northern wilderness will be troubled." One of the eight nobles of the Eastern Capital, Duan Wei, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, commented expressionlessly. "Also, after the west tour, this matter is a foregone conclusion."

"Then the Northern Wilderness is also a bit chaotic." Su Wei didn't say much, just continued to sit there and take stock. "But the matter is not a big deal, nor is it a trivial matter, but a lot of things... For example, after Yu Shuwen came over, the Seven Guards and the Seven Towns once again got into trouble; and because Yu Shuwen died as a sin, The rewards from several Western families who rescued him last time were not distributed, so they rebelled under the banner of Yu Shuwen; This master, who is said to be the beloved disciple of Old Master Zhang, has acted fiercely and treacherously, forcibly seizing land to build a pagoda, and even interfering in government affairs, and the nearby Weihai Town has suffered greatly."

"I don't know this person." The authentic Dongdu, who was watched by the people around him, stayed behind, and Zhang Shiben, the youngest son of Mr. Zhang, immediately threw up his hands. "I really don't know."

"I know, Liu Wenzhou." Cao Lin, the grand master and emperor's uncle who had kept his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes and explained seriously. "Old Master Zhang has reported to Jing'antai a long time ago... I can probably guess what this lunatic is going to do, but if a grandmaster runs to the ends of the world, do you need a great grandmaster to catch him? He can only wait for him Destruction... is that Beihuang is estimated to be terribly harmed by him."

"The external matters are probably these two, let's move on to the internal ones..." Su Wei continued to open a page to speak as if he hadn't heard anything.

"Where's Dongyi and Nanling? Where's the second island of the Southeast Monster Clan?" Bai Hengjin, Minister of Rites, suddenly asked in surprise. "It can't be that only the Wu Clan and the Northern Wilderness have something to do, right?"

"Of course it's impossible." Gu Yi, Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice, reminded him sternly that this is a person with a particularly obvious demon bloodline, with yellow hair and beard, and blue eyes, but he grew up in Guanlong since childhood. "But the matter there must be directly submitted to Yujia...Why do you have to have an explanation here in Dongdu?"

Bai Hengjin suddenly shut up as if suddenly.

"There are two major events on the outside, and three major events on the inside." Su Wei continued talking to the Chinese book in his hand. "Firstly, it was His Majesty's will to send Ziwei Palace servants, servants, and Jinwu guards to escort the queen, concubines, and princesses to Jiangdu together..."

No one said anything, everyone went to see Uncle Cao, but the latter just kept his eyes closed.

"Secondly, it was Jiangdong, Jingxiang, and Bashu who sent a letter saying that there was an imperial decree requesting that taxes and taxes go down the river after autumn and be handed over to the capital of the river for use, and no longer be transferred to the warehouses in Guanzhong and along the big river..."

Still no one said anything, but Uncle Cao finally opened his eyes for the second time.

"Thirdly, after autumn, the Eastern Territory, Hebei, Central Plains, Jianghuai, together with the Northern Wilderness mentioned before, and Northern Shanxi, a total of 37 counties, towns, prefectures, and guards have reported thieves, famines, and demanded tax relief. Fifteen states and counties bluntly stated that if the bandits could not be suppressed, the autumn tax would not be handed over... A few counties even said that if the government did not suppress the bandits, they would have to die to serve the country and the king. "

After Su Wei finished reading, he spread out a large stack of forms and documents, put them on the case in front of him, and looked at the crowd again: "This is the specific situation of each county... It has been sorted out, everyone wants to see you come and get it .”

However, no one moved, and no one said anything, but the eyes of the nobles in the hall turned more and more focused on one person in the seat.

That person, that is, the emperor's uncle Cao Lin, was silent for a moment, but he simply said:

"Let me tell you first! If you are fighting against the outside world, you must first secure the inside. It is enough for the Wu tribe to send an envoy to Tuli Khan to make a show. Although the eastern and central regions form an alliance, how to merge the western part and how to divide the tribe? It's so easy to handle, I guess we have to compete... Not to mention, the fortresses in the northwest are still there, that is, northern Shanxi is a little more troublesome. But there is also Bai Gong there... The real Wu clan is the leader, It will take at least three to five years to go south in a big way... let's put it aside for now."

Everyone nodded their heads one after another, what else could they do?
"In Beihuang, on the surface, it's internal affairs, but it's actually trauma. Everyone understands in their hearts. The Seven Guards and the Seven Towns have been tossing and tossing for hundreds of years. It's not bad this time... Liu Wenzhou's matter was just mentioned. The only way...is to send an envoy to appease Uncle Ning Yuan and the others, and let the prefectures of Youzhou coordinate with the Seven Towns as much as possible." Uncle Cao Huang continued to make decisions. "And let me say something that is not easy to spread. Why don't you give Uncle Ning Yuan the name of guarding the east or west? Why don't you just send troops to help him? Because in the Northern Wilderness, they are not afraid of making trouble, but they will be twisted together. Really. If we work together, it doesn’t matter whether it’s the Seven Demon Slayers who have always been dissatisfied with the court, or whether the families of the seven towns have achieved success, I’m afraid we’ll all have to look to Hebei!”

The other seven people just nodded their heads... because this is the ultimate truth.

"As for the three internal affairs." Uncle Cao's expression tightened suddenly, and he continued after taking a deep breath. "Your Majesty wants the queen and princesses to go, can we stop it? It is already a way of saving face if you are willing to keep a few emperors and grandchildren. Almost all of them are the same as him, and we don't need Xiyuan and Ziwei palace... let Go, Gao Jiang, move the entire Xiyuan and Ziwei Palace there, as much as you can move, and let Gao Jiang talk to His Majesty about Tongtian Tower by himself!"

Everyone still remained silent, because the resentment in these words was too heavy.

"As for the counties in the south..." Uncle Cao continued to be serious. "Bashu can't be sent to Jiangdu. Bashu must supply people in Guanzhong. How can they throw money and food on the river for nothing? As for Jingxiang, money and food can be sent there, but military supplies such as artisans, mines, and tendon must also be sent..."

Some people opened their mouths, but in the end they didn't say anything, and most of them were still nodding.

"As for why... let's talk about the last thing, which is also the most troublesome thing." Uncle Cao finally gritted his teeth. "The old land of the Eastern Qi Dynasty is in such a mess. There are four or five places where [-] people gather, no less than a few dozen places where [-] people gather, and there are countless rebels and bandits with more than [-] people, and there are even armored ones... Could it be locked up?" Don’t care about the gates of the Eastern Capital? But there are no soldiers in the Eastern Capital! Then what should we do? We must raise another army of our own!”

"How much?" Duan Wei, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, raised his eyelids and finally interrupted.

"At least one hundred thousand." Uncle Cao replied coldly. "Without one hundred thousand, how can we suppress the chaos for His Majesty?"

Everyone heard it clearly, and they couldn't help but feel a little bit of agitation... To put it bluntly, it was just that the unorganized bandits were overwhelmed in the military. The Hejian camp in Youzhou was mobilized to sweep Hebei enough, and Jiangdu would naturally sweep Jianghuai and Shanxi. There is also a Taiyuan staying in recruiting troops and trying to suppress northern Shanxi... So, if it is only face to face in the Central Plains, even if it is added to protect the Eastern Capital itself, how can we need [-] soldiers?

Are these [-] soldiers used to clean up the bandits, or to suppress these court soldiers?

Who is this mess referring to?

Why do you, Uncle Cao, suppress other people?
"It's too difficult." After a while, probably knowing that he couldn't escape, Duan Wei lay down on the seat and sighed directly. "In several warehouses, there is enough money, food, cloth and silk. It's a big deal to eat old rice. Give some cloth and silk as a reward. But what's the use of only money and food? Where do the soldiers come from? Before the continuous service, continuous recruitment, continuous As soon as the troops were set up, Guanzhong and Shanluo were also very exhausted, even faintly unstable, and the number of soldiers alone may be a big problem."

Among the eight people present, at least half of them are nodding, because everyone knows that Duan Shangshu is telling the truth.

"Duan Shangshu is right, absolutely right." Cao Lin glanced at the few people in the hall, his tone calm. "But so what? Half of the states and counties in the Great Wei Dynasty are rebelling, and the country is about to perish. Isn't it ridiculous to say that you are tired? When it is necessary, even women and children have to fight, so what is tiredness?"

"Then force it!" Duan Wei sneered. "Cao Zhongcheng has the final say... But people can be recruited by force, so what about armaments? Don't forget, before the Eastern Expedition, all armaments were emptied, otherwise those bandits would not have easily attacked the city and grown stronger."

"Then train again." Cao Lin replied without hesitation. "There is always a way."

"Of course there is a way." Duan Wei immediately raised his voice to reply. "But most of the craftsmen are in Nanyang, and half of Nanyang's city was taken down by the Wu brothers; what's more terrible is that there is no iron yet, and the iron has been cast into big gold pillars!"

"Then melt the big golden pillar." Cao Lin still didn't hesitate, not even blinking his eyelids. "Suppress Wu Jingfeng quickly, and melt the big golden pillar at the same time... No matter what, here in the Eastern Capital, we must form a new army to protect the country of the Great Wei!"

At this point, Duan Wei finally kept silent, and the entire meeting hall became silent.

During this period, Duan Wei and Shangzhu Guo Qian Shiying looked at each other several times, Su Wei and Niu Hong wanted to get up several times, Zhang Shiben and Bai Hengjin also wanted to speak several times, but they never dared to really answer the words.

"Don't you have anything to say?" Seeing this, Cao Lin was rather disappointed.

"This is Nanya. Before His Majesty left, he entrusted us with the Eastern Capital. I thought there was nothing to say, but if you don't say it, you are disloyal." Bone instrument. "If you don't say anything, then let me say... Zhongcheng, I have a few words to ask you."

On the contrary, Cao Lin's expression softened a lot, and he even raised his hand politely, making a gesture of invitation: "Shang Gu, please tell me."

"Do you want to ask for an imperial decree?" Gu Yi asked earnestly.

"Yes!" Cao Lin answered boldly. "But it's a matter of urgency, just melt it down while asking for the order."

"That's doing it without asking for it." Gu Yi sighed.

"Your Majesty has no reason to disagree." Cao Lin replied with a smile. "Why does he oppose something that is beneficial to the country?"

"That's good." Gu Yi continued to ask sincerely. "In the current situation, conscription must be recruited from Kansai, but the people's strength is exhausted, should we recruit strong men from the manor of heroes?"

"Of course." Cao Lin suddenly looked down. "In this situation in the country, why do they still keep the strong men in the manor? Rebellion? This is to take the strong and make up for the weak in the center! Otherwise, there will be Yang Shen again!"

The atmosphere in the hall became more and more solidified.

But Gu Yi hesitated for a moment, and continued: "Also, the chief generals of Youzhou, Hejian, Jiangdu, and Xuzhou Daying are all close friends of His Majesty. Even if they don't listen to us, they will only listen to His Majesty. Hebei, Jianghuai, and the bandits in the east are left to them; there is also Bai Gong in Taiyuan, who is also left behind by His Majesty, and he will be stable in northern Shanxi...The only remaining bandits in the Central Plains and Nanyang, One hundred thousand soldiers, isn't that too much?"

Cao Lin sighed, "Gu Shangshu might as well make his words clearer."

"My meaning is clear enough." Gu Yi answered seriously. "Zhongcheng is the uncle of the emperor, the great master, and the pillar of the country. His majesty's southern tour will naturally be handed over to Zhongcheng to preside over it. But if Zhongcheng uses this to compete with his majesty, how can it be justified? And if Everything is contrary to the princes, so where does the human heart come from?"

"I know Gu Shangshu is a loyal minister, but I am also a loyal minister." Under everyone's gaze, Cao Lin was silent for a while, and simply responded, as if he had thought about it and made a conclusion these days. "Only you only need to be diligent in the affairs of the state and be loyal to the emperor. In addition to being a minister, I also have the surname of the country. I also have to be worthy of my ancestors and my ancestors... So, I only want the great Wei for thousands of years, how can I Well, how come...the so-called as long as I have one day, I will never allow Da Wei to be in any danger of being overthrown, and I will not hesitate to break my body and ruin my reputation for this. As for other details, I will be considerate if I can be considerate, but that's all."

"I understand." Gu Yi nodded and sat down.

And Cao Lin glanced at the other seven people, and asked in the room: "Everyone, one hundred thousand soldiers, but who else doesn't think so?"

Below Su Wei, no one dared to answer.

"Everyone." Cao Lin continued to look around. "For the matter of the Eastern Capital, I will take care of it for the time being. Is there anyone dissatisfied?"

Still no one answered.

"If someone is dissatisfied, let's be dissatisfied!" Cao Lin suddenly sneered. "But I have to invite one or two great masters, or three or five masters to come to be dissatisfied... that's all right, I will continue to be a domineering villain, and invite Yugong, who lives at home, to go out of the mountain and go to Jiangdu to assist His Majesty in suppressing the rebellion , please spit Wanggong out of the mountain to suppress the rebellion against Nanyang... how about it?"

Yugong is Sima Zheng's master Yujieluo, and Tuwangong is another military master in Guanlong. Because of the case of He Ruofu and Gao Li back then, or because of the suppression of veteran officials, they have been living at home for several years.

These two should be the reliance of the Guanlong tribes who are about to make a move, and they are also the reliance of Duan Wei, Bai Hengjin, and Qian Shiying who dare to maintain a little posture in front of this Zhong Cheng.

So after Cao Zhongcheng's move was called intimidation, he took advantage of the situation to draw his salary from the bottom of the pot.

"I think it's okay." Gu Yi, the only one who jumped out to question publicly, suddenly agreed.

"I think it's too urgent." Su Wei sighed. "But Mr. Cao has Mr. Cao's position. Moreover, the situation is difficult now. I will definitely not make things difficult for Mr. Cao and make Mr. Cao unable to do things."

"That's what I mean too." Niu Hong replied sincerely. "I think Mr. Cao's behavior is unforgivable, including the Dushui envoy who was arrested yesterday. In fact, no matter how you look at it, it is something that is speculative. At this time, you should never care too much about it and lose people's hearts... But now Only Cao Gong can do things, and I am willing to do my best to assist."

Cao Lin nodded slightly, and expressed his gratitude to his two old partners: "I will reconsider the matter of the Dushui envoy."

Zhang Shiben had the lowest qualifications, and immediately got up in a hurry: "Zhongcheng knows, I have always supported Zhongcheng!"

The remaining three people, Zhu Guo Qian Shiying, Minister of War Duan Wei, and Minister of Rites Bai Hengjin, felt a little uneasy at the same time, but they had no choice but to keep their mouths shut.

Cao Lin looked at the three people, and knew that today was the best situation, and it was impossible to force them too much, so he shook his head and stopped thinking about it: "The public opinion of the meeting hall has been made, so let's do it like this! Issue the Nanya Order! "

After saying that, this Uncle Cao immediately got up and left, and walked outside... Besides, Cao Lin, as a grand master, directly draws up his true energy, flies outside, and can easily return to his black tower, which he did a lot in the past. But since the defeat of Sanzheng, Tongtian Tower collapsed again, he rode a horse every day, grandiosely crossing the Tianjie, going back and forth between Nanya and Jing'an Terrace.

And on this day, he was no exception due to the current situation.

In this way, under the escort of the Second Taibao Xue Liang, Cao Zhongcheng arrived at his loyal Jing'an Terrace at noon. Yousi suddenly came alone, and had been waiting for Zhongcheng in the black tower for a long time.

Cao Lin was surprised for a moment.

After all, at this time and at that time, Bai Yousi used to be a subordinate, but now he has doubts about his position, just because the incident at the Gushui Bank really involved too much inside Jing'an Tower, and the fact that the British government went out of the town, Bai Yousi Thinking is like a proton, so he pretended not to know and dealt with it coldly.

Who would have thought that the other party would dare to come alone?

And that being the case, how could he, Cao Lin, as a grand master, uncle of the emperor, and prime minister, not enter his own black tower to meet him?
"Zhong Cheng, long time no see, are you still in good health?"

The wind chime rang, and as soon as he came to the tower and climbed to the fifth floor, he saw Bai Yousi waiting here holding a sword and saluting. The latter was still dressed in the usual plain brocade clothes with a small warrior crown.

Cao Lin nodded, led Xue Liang past the other party and a row of black ribbons, and sat back in the seat, then raised his head indifferently: "Sisi is not going to guard the White Tower, how can I come to this old man when I have time?"

"Report to Zhongcheng." Bai Yousi calmly informed him of his intention. "I heard that Li Ding, a family friend, was framed by Luo Fang because he didn't pay bribes, and was imprisoned innocently. He was entrusted by his family and came here to ask for release! At the very least, he should be handed over to the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Punishment, so that the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Punishment can discuss it." Whether his behavior in Po Toi was meritorious or not."

"The reason why he was imprisoned was not just because of the military, nor was he framed." Cao Lin was silent for a moment, and answered seriously. "What the old man heard is that this Li Ding is a close relative of the traitor Zhang Xing, and he was imprisoned this time because he had colluded with Zhang Xing without authorization when he was in the Eastern Territory..."

"Zhong Cheng was joking." Bai Yousi laughed on the spot. "If you talk about the old friend of the traitor Zhang Xing, who is not in the entire Jing'an Terrace? Didn't Zhongcheng almost become his adoptive father? And if you talk about hooking up with him, you will be in Jing'an Terrace by the Gushui that day. Which one is not related? And if I, my subordinate, hadn’t understood the righteousness and took the initiative to cross the river to gather together, I am afraid that half of the people in the three groups in front of Jing’an stage would have rebelled against him... If Zhongcheng doesn’t believe it Why don't you ask Xue Liang?"

Xue Liang hesitated to speak, but Cao Lin stretched out his hand to signal silence, and the latter, after hesitating for a while, decided to be honest with each other: "Sisi, there are some things we know very well, so there is no need to say more, I just ask you , what if the old man doesn’t let him go?”

"Then I still want to know why Zhongcheng doesn't let him go?" Bai Yousi couldn't ask in time. "Fa Du, or strategy, or something else? Some people say that Li Ding was just unlucky, because the Zhong Cheng just wanted to suppress Duan Shangshu in order to establish his prestige in the Ministry of War, control the Ministry of War, and Zhang Xing's matter It’s true that Zhong Cheng’s Geng Jie bumped into each other, and that’s why he was used as a raft, isn’t it?”

Cao Lin was silent again.

Xue Liang was impatient, and flashed out directly: "Bai Changjian, your Majesty has gone to Jiangdu, and now only Zhongcheng is in charge of Dongdu as the emperor's uncle. Everything in the world can be done. No matter how much you say, Zhongcheng just doesn't want to let go." Man, isn't that enough?"

"If that's the case, then I have something to say." As he spoke, Bai Yousi held his Yitian Sword without hesitation, then slightly clenched his fist with the other hand, lifted it up and put it on his chest, and asked Xue Bright. "A strong man in the world, is Zhongcheng the only one? Please ask Xue Zhushou to ask Zhongcheng for me, who said that he can do everything in the world? I have already promised his family about Li Ding, and I have to let him go today. If you don't let it go, you have to let it go! So what?"

Xue Liang was dumbfounded... The meaning is very simple, are you Miss Bai threatening a great master?
In his dark tower?

Even if you are afraid that your father will be rebellious and it will be difficult to deal with it, so it is not easy to beat you to death, but so what if you are beaten half to death?
Cao Lin was also surprised for a moment, but when he glanced at Bai Yousi's clenched hand, his face remained unchanged, but he was suddenly startled, which caused the ringing of bells all over the pagoda to ring continuously—no one else, as he expected, that hand What he has in his hands should be the Fulong Seal that does not know how many layers of effect it has.

"Leave the seal of Fulong, and Li Ding will hand it over to the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Punishment for a fair trial!" After a long pause, as the ringing of the bell subsided, Cao Lin responded slowly. "Sisi, don't waste my patience."

"Yes, but I have to take Li Ding to the Ministry of Punishment first, and then ask Xue Zhushou to bring back the seal of Fulong." Bai Yousi was silent for a moment, his expression unchanged, only said through Xue Liang whose expression changed drastically. "But Zhongcheng, please don't underestimate the people of the world. You must know that the strong bully the weak, and they will eventually be humiliated... Bai Yousi is just an ordinary person among the people in the world."

"it is good."

Cao Lin responded calmly, as if he agreed with the other party's plan, but he didn't know if he meant to agree with the other party's point of view.

PS: Thank you Master Xiong for another alliance.

(End of this chapter)