Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 376 A secret message came from the capital
Outside Jinling City,

Pier Guards Camp,

Eunuch Zhao of the Zhao family hurriedly opened the letter. Above it was a secret letter from Dai Quan, the internal minister, urgently sent to him from the capital.

After reading it,

Zhao Si kept pacing back and forth in the house with a cold face, while Xiao Guizi waited at the door, not even daring to breathe.

Eunuch Zhao stopped and asked,

"Where is Lord Hou?"

"Going back to Godfather, the Marquis went to Hanshan Temple with his soldiers, horses and family members. He has not returned yet, but not long ago, the Marquis and his wife came back. I think the Marquis will be here soon."

Mr. Zhao's father-in-law Zhao was anxious, thinking about the secret letter given by the emperor. This was really difficult to handle. The timing was not right. Moreover, as the internal minister said, it would be better to find some scapegoats and kill them and confiscate their homes. But who should they look for?
"You, immediately ask the commanders of the Forbidden Army, Tang Zheng and Pang Encheng to come to the camp, and then notify Ji Qianhu and Li Qianhu to stand by."

"Yes, godfather."

After Eunuch Zhao saw the people leaving, he sat on the chair next to the table, slapped the table hard with his hand, and said:

"These damn things, even if the Za family wants to protect you, you still need to see what the Marquis wants,"

Zhang Jinyu led his troops galloping along the official road, followed by Ning Bian and his soldiers to the gate of the camp. He just welcomed several generals and thousands of households, and asked;
"Why are you all here? What's the matter?"

"The last general Pang Encheng has met the Marquis,"

"General Tang Zheng has met the Marquis."

"Li Yun, who holds the humble position of Imperial City Secretary Qianhu, has met the Marquis,"

"Ji Yunhui, who holds the humble position of Imperial City Secretary Qian Hui, has met the Marquis,"

When the four people saw him, they all dismounted from their horses, ran over, and immediately knelt down to salute one after another. They were extremely sincere. Zhang Jinyu was very satisfied with the horse, gave him a little support, and said,

"Get up, we are all our brothers. Have everyone in the Forbidden Army received money?"

The four of them stood up to express their thanks, and the leader of the Forbidden Army, Tang Zheng, replied;

"Thank you for your great kindness, Lord Marquis. All the brothers have received their salary, and no one has been left behind. I am here today with the order from Eunuch Zhao to gather at the camp. I don't know what happened?"

Zhang Jinyu thought about it for a while, and then something happened after walking for a while. Eunuch Zhao is a master who will not let go of the eagle before he sees the rabbit. If he can make him take action, the news must have come from the capital.

"Well, it's good to get the money. Brothers and I have been tired for a long time. It's appropriate to get some money to supplement the family income. You must remember that this money is a favor from me. If you know who You dare to take your money, don't blame me for not remembering the old relationship, let's go over together and see what happened?"

Tang Zheng responded quickly,

"Yes, Lord Marquis, I don't dare. The brothers have received a lot of money. If anyone dares to touch this money, I won't bother you, Lord Marquis. I will chop him alive."

Zhang Jinyu got off the horse, stretched out her hand and patted Commander Tang's arm. Without saying a word, she took the lead to go to Eunuch Zhao's boat, followed by several people.

Got on the boat,

I saw Xiao Guizi waiting anxiously on the deck. When he saw everyone coming, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed to Zhang Jinyu.

"Slave Xiao Guizi, I would like to send my regards to the Marquis,"

"Get up and answer the question. What happened to Eunuch Zhao?"

"Thank you, Lord."

The little eunuch got up in panic, then came over, held his hat, and replied;
"Back to the Marquis, my godfather got a little impatient after receiving a secret letter from the capital. He kept looking for the Marquis, but the Marquis went to Hanshan Temple early in the morning, so he was delayed. My godfather I was anxious to get angry, so I hurriedly summoned them to come first."

After speaking, he glanced back and looked at a few people.

Zhang Jinyu looked at the little eunuch leading the way with his head down and smiled.
"It's my fault, please walk faster."

On the top floor of the building boat,

entered the door,
Zhang Jinyu saw Eunuch Zhao sitting there with a sad and irritated face at a glance, and asked with a smile,
"Brother Zhao, is there anything else that can trouble you?"

Zhao Si looked up and saw Zhang Jinyu standing at the door. He jumped up from his chair excitedly, with an excited expression on his face, as if he was shouting with a cry;
"My Lord Marquis, you are here. The Za family has been waiting for a long time."

Zhang Jinyu shook his head and walked in with the generals. The people behind him all paid tribute to Eunuch Zhao, but Manager Zhao ignored them. Instead, Zhang Jinyu waved his hand to them and signaled to stand aside. Then everyone stood up. Stand on two sides.

"Have a sip of tea and take a break first. Brother Zhao, please tell me clearly. What's being said in the capital?"

Zhao Si poured a cup of tea himself, then took out the secret letter from his sleeve and put it on the table, saying: "Master Marquis, come to drink tea. This letter is from the Governor. Because of Master Lin's matter, the Emperor is furious. , so anyone who is involved with the Wang family, the Governor means to kill, but only officials of fifth rank and above, the Governor means to let them go."

Zhang Jinyu first brought the tea, blew it, drank half the bowl, moistened his mouth, and then picked up the secret letter on the table and read it. It was nothing more than cleaning up a group of related people. In order to ensure the stability of Jiangnan, the fifth grade and above Do not move.

Isn't this just taking off your pants and farting? It's unnecessary. Zhang Jinyu left the letter on the table without saying anything, but Eunuch Zhao felt cold and asked urgently;
"Master Hou, is there anything wrong?"

"What do you think? If you are above the fifth rank, catching and killing officials and minor officials will arouse resentment. I will not interfere in this matter. Brother Zhao will take care of it."

After reading the letter, Zhang Jinyu knew that this matter was not flattering. Those who had the right to participate were not fifth-grade or above, and the rest were targets ranked above.

Zhao Si's face darkened, he came over and said;
"Master Marquis, how can you not ask? This is all counting on you. None of the brothers under my command know what Master Marquis is like. Why don't you write some lists and I will give the order?"

As Zhao Si spoke, he pointed at the people below. Zhang Jinyu raised his eyes and saw that the four of them were looking at him eagerly. It's time for me to get rich.

If you can't move to the fifth level, then start from the fourth level, go directly to the inner study room, and take out pen, ink, paper and inkstone.

Zhang Jinyu took a brush and dipped it in some ink, and wrote down a few official positions on the paper. Eunuch Zhao came over to see who the Marquis had written.
I saw written on the paper: Zuo Chunfang Zhongyun, Guozijian Siye, hall director, principal, Ducha Yuandushi, experience, Dali Temple left and right temple prime minister, Taichang Temple Manhan Temple prime minister, Tongban, Tutong Judgment, waiting, a large piece of paper, these are only the official positions of the sixth rank, including civil servants and yamen, and the sixth rank has not been written yet.

When Eunuch Zhao saw this, he immediately knelt down and wailed;
"Master Marquis, stop joking and spare the lives of the Za family. If the Za family does this, I'm afraid they won't be able to go back alive, but the emperor's life is difficult."

"Haha, you're kidding. Brother Zhao, please get up quickly. The civil servants must not move lightly or move still. Does Mr. Zhao have any ideas?"

Zhang Jinyu laughed and tore up the paper. When Zhao Si saw it, he wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeves, stood up, and said tremblingly,
"Master Marquis, you have gone too far with this joke. The Zajia family can't bear it. If they kill civil servants, the Zajia family thinks that killing them will serve as a warning to others, including the general judges and the subordinate officials below. They have handled all the cases, and they may not know about it. There are also those idiots." The little official of the family, just take it down, what do you say, Lord Marquis?"

Zhang Jinyu looked at Eunuch Zhao who was speaking eloquently. Isn't this a good idea? He was still pretending to be pitiful. Zhao Si was a little embarrassed. He wiped his sweat with his sleeve and sat back.

Tang Zheng, who was standing at the bottom, looked confused and walked out of the queue;
"Master Marquis, Grand Eunuch, do you have anything important to report?"

The two were discussing the list above. General Tang came out to speak and attracted their attention. Zhang Jinyu asked;
"What's the matter, say."

"Back to the Marquis, since you and the Grand Eunuch left Jinling City, the next day the general followed the order and took the prisoner to the Qinhuai River in Jinling City for execution.

Unexpectedly, there were bandits who robbed the execution ground. Although they were prepared in advance, many brothers were injured. However, the bandits also suffered many casualties. Later, when they saw that they could not do anything, they retreated.
The action was extremely swift. After the execution of the general was completed, there were reports in the city that there were evil ghosts demanding their lives, saying that the marquis killed too many people and harmed Tianhe. "

Zhang Jinyu was drinking tea, her hand holding the tea bowl paused, and then she suddenly put the tea bowl still on the ground. The tea bowl shattered with the sound, and she said angrily,

"You are so courageous, you dare to rob the law field, and what kind of injustice is there to ask for your life? How can I say this? Where did it come from?"

"Hui, Lord Marquis, it came from the prefect's yamen. The death happened at Bailu Academy in Beishan, Jinghu. The person who died was a student of the academy. As for the person who robbed the law field, his physical skills will be no less than those in the imperial city. A person who serves as a secret guard.

Especially the day before the Marquis came back, the river in the city was colder than in previous years. This may be due to the cold spring this year. However, there was a rumor in Jinling that it was because the innocent souls had entered the river, so the yin energy remained and became even colder. "

When Tang Zheng saw the Marquis getting angry and throwing the tea bowl, he was frightened and told the story briefly, along with some strange things happening in the city in the past few days.

Zhang Jinyu was angry at first, and the shit basin was tied to his head when people left, but now it's a bit funny, he is full of yin energy, and those people still use the city's water for washing and cooking, which is nonsense.

"It's a joke. If there are really evil spirits and wronged souls, then the people in the city won't need river water. What will they eat and drink?"

"What the Marquis said is true. The general sent special people to see the rivers in the city. Ordinary people still carry water and chop firewood every day, and their food and drink expenses are still the same. They do not dare to touch the river water because of the so-called evil souls. , a lot of that water is connected to the old palace, so there is nothing wrong with the general sending people to frequently fetch water for cooking."

General Tang didn't believe it even more. They were all rebellious, and they were killed by himself and his men. If an innocent soul came, they would be killed again at worst.

"Master Hou, what shall we do?"

Eunuch Zhao was restless and asked anxiously. Zhang Jinyu was undecided. He originally wanted to settle down and prepare to leave Jiangnan when the emperor received the letter. He never expected that he would be put on the same page in the end. In this case, I am afraid some people still don't believe it. This prince's sword is not good for calling.

Open your eyes,
I made up my mind to deal with a group of people and went back to my old job of confiscating houses. I picked up a brush and wrote down a list, among which Jia Wenfu, the ninth room of the Jia family, was on the list.

"General Pang, immediately lead the 1 Wu Xiang Guards to block the four city gates and prevent anyone from leaving."

"I will take orders at the end."

"General Tang, lead the Tengxiang Guard Infantry with 5000 troops and immediately cooperate with the two Qianhu to arrest people."

"I will take orders at the end."

"Ji Qianhu and Li Qianhu, each of you will lead a thousand people from the Imperial City Division to kill people and confiscate their homes according to the list."

"Yes, Lord Marquis, I humbly accept my order."

"Ningbyon, assemble 5000 troops from the Tengxiang Guards, 5000 troops from the Pioneer Battalion, and 5000 troops from the Guards Army to enter the city immediately, blockade the streets and alleys, search for suspicious persons, and invite all fifth-grade officials encountered to return to their homes and stay there. Let’s all get ready!”

"Yes, Lord Hou."

(End of this chapter)