A hundred flavors of life

The eight major salt merchants in Yangzhou and the Yangzhou government office were all killed overnight, including women and children, including the magistrate of Yangzhou. The rebel leader Hua Twelve even wrote "Seven Kills of Rebels" on the lobby of the Yangzhou government office. Poetry shocked the world.

The official Zhao Ji was furious. In addition to ordering Lin Ruhai to act as agent for Yangzhou affairs, he also appointed Wang Fu, the censor Zhongcheng, as an imperial envoy to go to Yangzhou to investigate the case.

On this day, the imperial envoy was still on his way south by boat, while Lin Ruhai was reviewing official documents at the Yangzhou government office until it was time to light the lamp.

Hua Twelve and Lin Daiyu arrived at the government office together. The latter, holding a food box in his hand, ran to his father and said:

"Dad, you didn't pay attention to rest when you were feeling better. What time of the day it is, and you're so busy that you can't even think of going back for dinner!"

After saying that, he put the food box heavily on the koan to express his dissatisfaction.

Lin Ruhai frowned slightly: "Why are you so unruly!"

After finishing speaking, he sighed heavily:

"What are you going to do for me as a father? Watch my Yu'er throw stone locks or play with a machete? I'm so worried. I'm such a good daughter, a noble lady, how come she has become like this after not seeing her for a year?"

After Lin Ruhai finished speaking, he glared angrily at Hua Twelve and Lin Daiyu, who had scornful expressions on their faces. Seeing that they both had similar expressions, he sighed heavily again!

Hua Twelve quickly changed the subject: "Uncle, my sister is also concerned about your health. You should rest for a while, eat, take medicine, and pull out the poison again today, so you don't need to pull out the poison in the future!"

Lin Daiyu, who had known the situation for a long time, pretended to be surprised and said: "Brother, are all the poisons in daddy's body cleared?"

Hua Twelve pretended to explain: "That's not true, but after today there will only be some residual poison left, and it will be gradually excreted from the body with the cycle of grains, so it won't do any harm!"

Lin Daiyu pretended to let out a sigh of relief: "I feel relieved now!"

Lin Ruhai was so worried: "You two, stop acting. This conversation sounds familiar to me. Did you say it this morning? If you want to change the subject, can you use a fresh set of words?"

Lin Daiyu's face turned red and she shook Lin Ruhai's arm reluctantly:

"Daddy!"

"Okay, okay, you're going to shake my old bones to pieces!"

Lin Ruhai had no idea what to do with her daughter. She glanced at the pile of official matters on the public case and didn't know how long it would take to deal with it, so she simply followed the good example and said:

"Forget it, sharpen the knife before chopping wood. Eat first, then take medicine."

Lin Daiyu quickly put the food on the table from the food box and served her father.

After Lin Ruhai finished eating, he took a sip of the tea handed over by his daughter, and then Hua Twelve said with deep meaning:

"I was only born to chase deer and kill all the king's ministers to build a golden platform. Chong'er, look at the tone of Hua Twelve's, he has a big agenda!"

Hua Twelve smiled faintly: "I think he was just writing randomly for fun, just boasting, uncle, don't take it to heart!"

Lin Ruhai smiled noncommittally, and then said seriously:

"I heard that a silver ship going to Beijing sank, and 400,000 taels of gold were lost. That gold can be converted into silver and can be used for a lot of things. Now that the official family is at its peak, this Hua Twelve is just trying to show off, but don't do it. What a stupid thing!"

Although Lin Daiyu didn't know that her brother was Hua Twelve, she stayed by her father's side that night. She could still guess some of her father and brother's plans from a few words, and knew that what happened that night was closely related to her father and brother.

At this time, when he heard his father suddenly knocking on his brother, he stood silently and looked at his father and then his brother, his eyes full of worry.

Hua Twelve smiled and said: "What my uncle said is absolutely true. I think those thieves also understand the truth!"

He knew that Lin Ruhai had judged that he had counter-intentions from the Qi Sha poem, and this was half-beating, half-reminding him.

Hua Twelve felt that there was no need to argue about this kind of thing, and there was no need for Lin Ruhai to analyze the general trend of the world.

The current Northern Song Dynasty is the last glorious period before its decline. Flowers are blooming, fire is cooking, and the Western Army has won successive battles against Xixia. At this time, what he wants to say will be that the Song Dynasty will decline in a few years, and Zhao Ji will be arrested. If he left, it would be hard for anyone to believe it.

Simply do more and talk less, be fully prepared and wait for the opportunity.

Seeing that he accepted it humbly, Lin Ruhai finally felt relieved and nodded:

"Dangerous moves in military operations are more risky after all. If it were not the end of the road this time, for the sake of Yu'er, I would not take such a dangerous step with you Chong'er. Now there is a bright future, Chong'er, you are still young and have a bright future. You have to be cautious. Be determined to do things, and think twice before doing anything!”

After saying these words, Lin Ruhai mentioned Wang Fu's visit to Yangzhou again:

"Wang Fu is good at grasping the situation and likes to weigh the pros and cons. Now that the situation is with me, there is nothing to worry about in Yangzhou!"

Hua Twelve knew that this was Lin Ruhai telling him not to worry about what the court would find out, reassuring him, and nodded immediately.

A few days later, Wang Fu arrived in Yangzhou, and Lin Ruhai led Yangzhou officials to greet him. This had nothing to do with Hua Twelve.

However, when Wang Fu launched an investigation into the Yangzhou case, he specifically called Hua Twelve and asked Lin Ruhai about the attack on the Yanzheng Yamen that night.

Hua Twelve had already confessed to Yang Zhi and Lu Da, and his answers were flawless. But at the last moment, something suddenly moved in his heart.

To say that the eight major salt merchants and Yangzhou magistrates were killed in Yangzhou this time, firstly, they were to help Lin Ruhai break the situation, and secondly, they were also trying to get rid of the men in black who attacked the building ships in Huai'an.

At first, Zai Hua Twelve thought that those men in black must be Lin Ruhai's enemies, that is, the people from the eight major salt merchants have not escaped.

But after he destroyed the eight major salt merchants and the magistrate of Yangzhou, he could not find any clues about the men in black in Huai'an, especially the men in black who fought against Lu Zhishen, and the two masters who fought against him. No shadow was seen.

This is very unscientific!

So at this time, Hua Twelve had an idea and planned to divert trouble to the east. Before he resigned, he seemed to have suddenly thought of something and said:

"Sir, I suddenly remembered a clue!"

Lin Ruhai, who was listening, frowned slightly, wondering what kind of trouble this nephew was up to.

Wang Fu said happily: "What kind of clue is it? If it helps the case, I will definitely ask for credit for General Lin in front of the officials!"

Hua Twelve then told the story of the attack in Huai'an that day, and then pointed out the key points. Just after he rescued the birthday gang during the day, someone attacked the boat at night, obviously a group of people.

Lin Ruhai was shocked when he heard this: "How come you haven't told me about this before?"

Hua Twelve confessed: "At that time, my uncle was in poor health. My nephew and sister were afraid that my uncle would be worried, so they hid it!"

Then he connected the two things together, saying that he was retaliated for rescuing Suo Chao and others and ruining the thieves' plan to steal the birthday card.

Finally, he began to throw dirty water and said: "That group of thieves are all highly skilled in martial arts, and they are not like ordinary thieves. I think they are the rebel thieves who can do such a big thing in Yangzhou!"

Wang Fu was entrusted with the important task of imperial envoy by the official Zhao Ji. As a result, he arrived in Yangzhou and could not find any clues about the murder that day for several days. When he was in a hurry, when he heard what Hua Twelve said, his eyes lit up and he said decisively: "Lin The general has done a great job, I don’t think it’s 80% certain, the nail on the chopping board must be this group of thieves!”

Wang Fu doesn't care whether he can find the real murderer. What he cares about is whether he can find a murderer who can win the trust of the officials. The key is to save money and not be able to get things done. If he loses the holy family, it will be a small loss but a big loss.

Besides, if Wang Fu thinks about it, this group of strongmen would even dare to rob Cai Jing's birthday, and it is not impossible to kill officials and rebel. Even if they are not those thieves, they have already committed crimes, and it doesn't matter if they add a few more capital crimes. Big deal or not.

Hua Twelve gave Wang Fu a thumbs up in his heart, "What an official! You nailed it, you nailed it so well!"

Wang Fu had a clue, and with a smile on his face, he couldn't wait to call his police officers who were handling the case. He and Hua Twelve asked clearly about the appearance and characteristics of the strong men, drew pictures, and issued official arrest documents to the various states.

Hua Twelve did not expect that his move to divert trouble to the east would yield results the next day.

The day after the official notice of sea arrest was issued, a merchant ship from Suzhou docked at Yangzhou Pier. After the people on board disembarked, they were interrogated by officers and soldiers as required.

Two of them were very similar to the two people described in the official Haidu document. One was a fat monk, and the other had sharp eyebrows and starry eyes, with a half-inch-long scar on the tip of his eyebrow.

These characteristics, except for the "black scarf mask", are completely consistent with Hua Twelve's description of the shadow pattern.

The officers and soldiers on duty compared the drawings in their hands and thought they were going to take the two people back to the Yamen for further questioning. As a result, dozens of people on the other boat took action at that time. They all took knives, killed the officers and soldiers, and then boarded the boat again and ran in the direction they came from. .

Wang Fu got the news and immediately sent people to hunt them down. Unfortunately, there was no news after a few days, so the chance of catching these people was slim.

But this time, it was not completely fruitless, because the people on the boat were not masked this time. There were many people on the dock at that time, so they recorded the faces of those people. Wang Fu immediately asked people to re-draw the figures, and in Jiangnan Portraits of thieves were posted everywhere, so that someone finally recognized the identity of the thief in the portrait.

The tall and burly monk was called Deng Yuanjue, and his nickname was Baoguang Tathagata.

The one with the sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes and the scar at the tip of his eyebrow was Shi Bao, the number one master of the Splitting Wind Sword in Jiangnan. With the Splitting Wind Sword, there was no opponent in Jiangnan.

It is said that these two people are one of the four guardians of Manichaeism.

Hua Twelve learned about this from Lin Ruhai, and immediately felt that he had found the rightful owner. In the plot of Water Margin, Baoguang Tathagata Deng Yuanjue was similar in stature and strength to Lu Zhishen. There was no winner or loser in the fifty battles. master.

Now when I think back to the strong man in black who fought against Lu Zhishen that night, he didn't look like that.

Then think about the expert swordsman who fought with him on the boat. At that time, Hua Twelve remembered that he had a scar on the tip of his eyebrow. Now he thought that that person was the number one master in Jiangnan, the Wind-Splitting Sword Shi Bao.

However, Hua Twelve sneered at Shi Bao's title of 'the number one master in Jiangnan'. In this Water Margin world, hidden dragons and crouching tigers, he didn't dare to say that he could be invincible in Jiangnan. With Shi Bao's strength, he might as well forget it.

Hua Twelve was a little confused. Why did the Manichaeans attack the ship in Rongguo Mansion?

Could it be that in order to rob the birthday card, we really found the wrong target?

He told this question to Lin Ruhai, who said calmly: "Chong'er, there is no need to doubt it. The men in black who attacked you in Huai'an that night were most likely Manichaeans!"

Hua Twelve looked at Lin Ruhai with questioning eyes, and the latter explained:

"The Manichaeans have always wanted to get involved in the private salt business, but the private salt business has always been in the hands of the eight major salt merchants. Hu Yiannian even controlled the Tsing Yi Gang and helped the eight major salt merchants monopolize the private salt business. As far as I know, the The nuns have tried to get involved in illegal activities several times, but they have all ended in failure."

"Later, some people in Manichaeism realized that the eight major salt merchants could monopolize private salt. The main reason was that they represented the powerful people in the south of the Yangtze River. So a man named Fang La from Manichaeism came to me and said that he wanted to cooperate with me and use the salt government. The power of the Yamen against the eight major salt merchants and the forces behind them!"

When Lin Ruhai said this, his eyes narrowed: "To be honest, I was tempted at the time. If I could use external force to get rid of those salt merchants, it wouldn't be a bad idea to give them some sweetness. But in the eyes of that person named Fang La, I I saw something called anti-bone."

Hua Twelve corrected him: "Uncle, shouldn't you look at the back of your head when you are rebelling?"

Lin Ruhai pointed at Hua Twelve: "You also have betrayal in your eyes!"

"Well, maybe I didn't wash my face this morning. What you saw was my blurry eyes!" Hua Twelve wiped his eyes and never mentioned the treason.

Lin Ruhai ignored him and continued:

"Later, I learned more about Manichaeism and found that they had developed many believers in the south of the Yangtze River. They seemed to have some agenda. I was afraid that it would be easy to drive away tigers and devour wolves, but by then the tail would be too big to lose. If Manichaeism grew bigger, the harm would be even greater. Even those salt merchants simply refused!"

"After that, they came to me twice more, but I avoided them both times. Then there was no news from them. I thought they had given up, but now it seems, hum."

Lin Ruhai's face showed hatred, and he gritted his teeth and said:

"The Manichaeans probably wanted to frame Yu'er up with the intention of harming her. Then I mistakenly thought it was the salt merchants who had done it, so that I had to give in and agree to their request to join forces!"

After Lin Ruhai finished speaking, he slammed the table: "If you dare to attack Yu'er, I will make them look good when I calm down everything in Yangzhou!"

Hua Twelve was startled, but he knew that the Ming Cult was powerful, so he quickly said:

"Uncle, there are many masters in Manichaeism. Deng Yuanjue is not inferior to Luda, and Shi Bao's martial arts is even better than that of Yang Zhi. You must not take action rashly."

On the one hand, he was sincerely interested in Lin Ruhai. He was afraid that his uncle would provoke the lawless desperadoes of Mingjiao without knowing the bounds of heaven and earth, make them angry, and assassinate a court official. For a criminal group that wanted to rebel, it would be nothing. Is it a big deal?

On the other hand, Hua Twelve did not want to confront Fang La so early. He also wanted to keep the Mingjiao to raise tigers for our Song Dynasty.

Even if we deal with Fang La, we must obtain greater military power from the court.

But before Hua Twelve finished speaking, Lin Ruhai interrupted him and said solemnly:

"Chong'er, you are right. Dealing with Manichaeism requires long-term planning. However, judging from the attack on Huai'an, Manichaeism is unscrupulous in doing things. Yu'er, Zhang Yatou and the others may be in danger if they stay in Yangzhou. , you can take Yu'er back to Beijing in the next few days."

Lin Ruhai's decision was unquestionable. Two days later, he forced everyone to board the Rongguo Mansion's boat and embark on the journey home.

Hua Twelve originally wanted to keep Yang Zhi and Lu Da in Yangzhou, but Lin Ruhai in the province was killed by the Ming Cult.

However, Lin Ruhai rejected the proposal, saying that the imperial court had sent experts to protect his safety, so that Hua Twelve could rest assured.

Hua Twelve immediately thought that the people from the Enshrinement Division had arrived. These people were always elusive and could not even be seen when they were not taking action.

Knowing that someone from the Enshrinement Department was secretly following Lin Ruhai, Hua Twelve did not want to stay in Yangzhou for a long time. The province saw some flaws, so he happily agreed to return to Bianjing.

Before boarding the ship, Lin Ruhai and Lin Daiyu told her that from now on they would just visit Jia Mu during New Years and holidays, and that they should not have any contact with her at ordinary times.

This was the intention of the Lin family to distance themselves from the Rongguo Mansion.

Ever since Lin Daiyu learned about the Jiangnan Zhen family's alliance with the eight major salt merchants to attack her father, and Jia Mu also knew about it and acquiesced, she no longer had any feelings for her grandmother, and she happily agreed after hearing this. .

On the boat, everyone waved goodbye to Lin Ruhai who was seeing off at the dock. When no one could be seen anymore, Hua Twelve turned to Jia Lian who was about to escape into the cabin and said with a smile:

"Brother Lian, how about we chat!"

He plans to deal with the Rongguo Mansion. Now the head of the Ningguo Mansion is his younger brother. If he can help Jia Lian become the head of the Rongguo Mansion, then he can naturally gain the connections of the Jia family in the military and have great control over him in the military power. It is beneficial, but it can also cause trouble for Prince Teng.

Thanks to: 08a, Brother Xiao Xiaohu in the Demon World for the reward, and thanks to the brothers who voted for monthly votes and recommendation votes, thank you very much.