serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 183

Outside Wenyuan Pavilion
Wang Hetang came with a stack of official documents.

He ran into Jia Yucun, the left servant of the Ministry of War who had just come out, and asked, "What's the matter?"

After a moment of silence, Jia Yucun took out the official document from the sleeve of his robe, "The urgent delivery from Huai'an, since July, the Marquis of Zhongjing has fought more than ten battles with Shui Rong in the area of ​​Shuyang. well done.

Now that the rebel bandits of the Water Soluble Department have all retreated to Haizhou, Zhong Jinghou intends to stop the attack and rest his troops.One is to prepare for the next war, and the other is to support Xuzhou City at any time. "

After a pause, "The Ma Shang troops still haven't arrived in Xuzhou."

Wang Hetang was a little annoyed: "What the hell is going on with this Ma Shang! I will issue an official document in the name of the cabinet to urge him." After speaking, he walked into Wenyuan Pavilion and walked to the cabinet's valet.

The cabinet's big case is full of official documents. The first assistant Song Chengliang is ill, and the second assistant Zhang Shangwen is in Jinling. The only one who can replace Song Chengliang to handle the official documents is old Yang Ge.

This is a well-known good old man. He never seeks merit, but seeks no fault.

He stayed in the position of a cabinet bachelor for more than [-] years.

The door was pushed open with a snap, and Wang Hetang walked in.

Mr. Yang Ge raised his head from the pile of official documents. He was wearing an official robe without a cap, and a wide belt was tied on his head, and his face was a bit gloomy.

"What? Are you sick?" Wang Hetang looked at the belt on old man Yang Ge.

Elder Yang Ge: "Headache, half of it is caused by Night Breeze, and half of it is forced by them."

"It really makes no sense!"

Wang Hetang slapped the official document in his hand on the big case, "I have already greeted them and told them not to make trouble anymore, why did it get worse! What are they doing?! Want to force the palace?!"

Yang Ge looked at him: "Your Majesty should be arbitrary."

Hearing this, Wang Hetang fell silent. The emperor is a good man, but he is not a good emperor. He is quite sensitive in character, weak in will, easily influenced by others, and lacks the arbitrariness that an emperor should have.

Elder Yang Ge glanced outside the door of the duty room, and said in a low voice: "This is not a blessing for the country, can you persuade His Majesty, whether the memorial of the Yongwei Battalion's invitation to battle is accurate or not, please approve it as soon as possible. Bai The officials make trouble every day, this is not the solution!"

Wang Hetang: "I can't persuade you! You can't persuade me either. This involves not only the struggle for imperial power, but also the relationship between father and son. One chief assistant is already messy enough, and if someone tries to persuade you, it will definitely add fuel to the fire!"

Elder Yang Ge let out a long sigh, "Tell me, what happened to the Supreme Emperor?"

Wang Hetang: "The Supreme Emperor is going to be bad. He wants to solve all hidden dangers and leave a stable foundation."

Old Yang Ge changed the subject: "There are a lot of official documents under pressure. I don't know what to do if the chief assistant doesn't come. I'll send them to the study later."

At this moment, Qian Shangshu from the Ministry of Officials rushed in like a gust of wind, and said anxiously: "Something has happened! Mei Changwen's son died, and died in the hands of the general of the Yongwei Battalion."

"What!" Yang Ge stood up abruptly.

Wang Hetang also raised his head in surprise.

Qian Shangshu of the Ministry of Officials: "The specific situation is not clear. In the conflict between the two in the Taihe Tower, the street patrol censor said that Mei Changwen's son was beaten to death. Now not only the procuratorate knows, but all the yamen in the capital Know everything!"

Wang Hetang looked serious: "Where is he now?"

Qian Shangshu of the Ministry of Officials: "I heard from some students of the Imperial College that he seems to have gone to Jia's house."

Hearing this, Wang Hetang's expression changed immediately: "Go, go to the study!" He said and walked out.

Qian Shangshu hurriedly followed out.

Yang Ge stood there in a daze, unable to recover for a long time.

This matter is very troublesome. If the person who was killed was an ordinary person, or the son of another official, it would be easy to solve. However, the person who was killed was the son of Mei Changwen, and the matter became difficult to end.

This is no longer a simple homicide case, it involves a struggle between two forces.

Behind Mei Changwen is the Civil Service Group of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Imperial Academy, and Guozijian, and even King Zhongshun, and perhaps now a King of Yizhong County has been added.

Behind the generals of the Pioneer Battalion was the Yongwei Battalion, and even the entire frontier army.

Mei Changwen's son died, so he definitely won't let it go. The other forces will definitely take the opportunity to create chaos. If we want to calm down, we can only kill the generals of the Pioneer Camp to make up for the crime. ?Otherwise, there will be a mutiny.

Elder Yang Ge secretly sighed in his heart. There is still a problem with this matter. In order to reward the pioneer battalion generals who sent them thousands of miles to invite the battle memorial, His Majesty made amendments to Jia Hu's list of merit requests. Lieutenant General, the imperial decree for rewards has been drawn up, so you can't slap the emperor in the face.

The news that the son of Mei Changwen, the censor of the left, was beaten to death in the Taihe Tower by the general of the Yongwei Battalion was like a gust of wind blowing all over the capital, and the whole city was shocked.

Mr. Mei's body was brought back to Mei Mansion by the shopkeeper of Taihe Building. Today coincided with Mei Changwen Xiumu, when he heard the news of his son's death, he rushed out the door like crazy, hugged his son's body and cried until he passed out. After learning that the murderer had fled to Jia's house, he brought his family to Ningrong Street carrying the coffin.

At this time, Ningrong Street was heavily guarded. Thousands of soldiers from the Bingma Division blocked off both ends of the street. Regardless of whether this person is hiding in Jia's house or not, he promised Jia Hu that he would not allow anyone to go to Jia's house to make trouble.

The streets were full of onlookers.

In the distance, a group of young servants from the Mei family came aggressively carrying a coffin. Everyone in the Mei family wore sackcloth and filial piety, crying loudly. Behind them were dozens of officials, and many students from the Imperial College. The few officials who came sooner joined the ranks.

"Line up! Go forward!" Qiu Liang waved his hand!
Hundreds of Bing Ma Si's soldiers lined up in several rows of battle formations, approaching with neat steps.

Mei's team is also moving forward.

The onlookers on the street held their breath and opened their eyes wide.

Finally, the two teams met and both stopped within three feet of each other.

With a livid face, Mei Changwen walked over step by step.

Qiu Liang also went up with a livid face.

The two stood facing each other.

Mei Changwen: "Get out of the way."

Qiu Liang didn't speak, he drew his sword out of its sheath, threw it on the ground, and said calmly: "Whoever crosses this sword will die!"

With a swish, the soldiers behind him all pulled out their waist knives!

Mei Changwen was so angry that his eyes were red: "Okay, Marquis Jingtian, are you the commander of the court's soldiers and horses, or a servant of the Jia family?!"

Qiu Liang's eyes turned cold: "If you don't want to die, go back."

Mei Changwen shouted, "Get out of the way!"

Dongcheng
Prime Minister
The imperial doctor said that the wind cannot be seen, the curtains and windows are tightly closed, the indoor light is dim, the room is filled with a strong smell of medicine, and there is also a decaying smell.

Lying on the bed, Song Chengliang lost a lot of weight and his face was pale.

"Master, take the medicine!"

Song Chengliang's old wife helped him up, put a high pillow on his back, and gave him the medicine.

After taking the medicine bowl, Song Chengliang drank it in one gulp.

Suddenly a ray of light came in directly, and Song Chengliang looked up.

The eldest son walked in excitedly and said, "Father, the turning point you mentioned has appeared." Then, he explained the Taihe Building in detail, and then said: "At present, even if Mei Changwen's The son didn't die at the hands of the general of the Pioneer Battalion, and he had a direct relationship with him.

If this matter is not handled strictly, it will chill the hearts of scholars all over the world if it spreads.Killing the generals of the Pioneer Battalion will definitely cause a mutiny, and other border towns will also be affected! "

After a pause, "Behind Mei Changwen is King Zhongshun, and behind King Zhongshun is the Supreme Emperor. We can use the hands of the frontier army to force the Supreme Emperor to delegate power."

Song Chengliang smiled and nodded: "Yes, you have made progress."

Speaking of this, he pondered for a while, and said: "Now we have two things to do: one is to guide the public opinion in the capital, and let everyone know that Mei Changwen asked his son to provoke the Jia family in order to cling to the imperial power. Because of the quarrel, his son was seriously injured and died. The second thing, you go outside the pass yourself, tell Jia Hu about this, and tell him that the Supreme Emperor wants to kill him."

As he spoke, he whispered a few more words in his ear.

(End of this chapter)