Blackening starts from the golden years

After hearing Yin Ping's story about Song Yinzhang being summoned by County Magistrate Zheng Qingtian, Yuan Xudong was about to go to the county government office to rescue her. At this moment, two yamen runners came to Zhao's Teahouse. They handed Yuan Xudong an invitation and said very respectfully:
"Sir, the county lord wants to invite you to his house as a guest, so he sent us to pick you up. The carriage is waiting outside."

Looking at the two yamen runners in front of him, Yuan Xudong thought for a moment and nodded in agreement:
"Okay, lead the way."

"Okay, sir, please come this way."

"Ah."

Letting Zhao Pan'er, Sun Sanniang and Yinping stay in the teahouse, Yuan Xudong took his guards, got on the county government's carriage, and followed two yamen runners to the county government. He planned to take this opportunity to trick Zheng Qingtian into helping him so that Song Yinzhang could be released from prison, and then he would take her and her sister Zhao Pan'er to Tokyo, as well as her personal maid Yinping and the homeless Sun Sanniang.

Arriving at the county government office, Yuan Xudong got off the carriage. A yamen runner looked at him respectfully and said:
"Sir, the county lord is handling a case in the yamen. Please go to the backyard room to rest for a while. I will go to the yamen to report."

"it is good."

Yuan Xudong smiled and took him to the side room in the backyard of the county government office. The two yamen runners then left and went to the county government office to report to Zheng Qingtian.

Looking at the quaint room, Yuan Xudong sat on a chair in the middle of the room waiting for Zheng Qingtian to come over. If he guessed correctly, the reason why Zheng Qingtian specifically asked Song Yinzhang to come to the mansion to respond to the summons was probably to entertain him.

……

In the side room in the front yard of the county government office, Zheng Qingtian sat in the main seat, stroking the gold and silver ingots on the table next to him with his right hand. He looked at the county lieutenant Wei Wei who was standing in front of him with his hands hanging down and gave careful instructions:
"Send this copy to Liu Tongpan, this copy to the Chasi, and you must deliver the copy to Xiuzhou in person. There must be no mistakes."

"Yes, sir, please rest assured. I will deliver it safely."

After Zheng Qingtian finished giving his instructions, Wei Wei bowed and said respectfully.

"Well, let's go."

"Yes, I will leave immediately."

Wei Wei bent down and bowed to Zheng Qingtian, then turned around and was about to leave.

"return!"

Zheng Qingtian said in a deep voice.

"Sir, do you have anything else to tell me?"

Wei Wei quickly turned around and walked back, asking Zheng Qingtian very respectfully.

"idiot!"

After a barrage of scolding, Zheng Qingtian pointed at the pile of gold and silver ingots on the table and said angrily:

"Take all these with you. Remember who they are to be given to and how much each person should receive, right?"

"I remember everything. I remember everything."

"Just remember it, go and come back quickly."

"Yes, I resign from my humble position."

After saying that, this time Wei Wei did not forget to pack up all the gold and silver ingots on the table and take them away. Soon he left the county government office with a bag full of gold and silver. After he left, Zheng Qingtian murmured to himself:
"I don't believe that money can make the devil work. If all the officials in Jiangnan come together to take action, who dares to go against us?"

At this moment, a bailiff came to report:

"Your Excellency, the guests you invited have arrived and are being accommodated in the wing room in the backyard."

"Okay, I understand. Go to Cuiyun Tower right now and order a table of good wine and food, and have them deliver it to the mansion as soon as possible."

"Yes, I'll do my humble job now."

The bailiffs outside the door retreated in response, and Zheng Qingtian stood up and walked towards the backyard.

……

At night, the backyard of the county government office was brightly lit.

In the room, Yuan Xudong and Zheng Qingtian were toasting each other. Looking at Zheng Qingtian, Yuan Xudong drank a lot and said with a smile:
"Although there are many factions of all sizes among the court officials, they can be roughly divided into four factions. The first one is the Qingliu faction, headed by Mr. Ke and the Chief Censor Qi Mu. Most of these officials come from famous families and call themselves Qingliu. They are the backbone of the court and do not flatter the superiors or fawn on the officials.

The second-ranked faction is composed of favored ministers who use currying favor with others as a stepping stone to advancement. The leader of the Hou party, Xiao Qinyan, is the envious leader of the Qingliu faction. The Qingliu faction looks down on the flattery of favored ministers, and the favored ministers naturally cannot stand the high self-esteem of these so-called Qingliu faction. The civil servants of these two factions have been fighting openly and secretly in the court for many years and are mortal enemies of each other. It's a fight to the death for both sides.

The third faction is the eunuchs and our Imperial City Bureau. They are considered the emperor's confidants, but the emperor is too kind. The queen has even started to get involved in politics. The eunuchs and the Imperial City Bureau have long been riddled with holes. As long as you have money, you can get them to do things, so it's better not to mention them.

The fourth group is the relatives of the emperor, most of whom are military officers. The imperial court has always valued civil officials over military officials, so most of them are just content to enjoy wealth and splendor. They have high status but no real power, so they are not worth mentioning. "

Although he didn't understand why Yuan Xudong told him this, Zheng Qingtian still flattered him:

"Your Excellency is indeed very insightful. After hearing what you said, I finally understood the situation in the court."

"It's good to see it clearly."

Looking at Zheng Qingtian, Yuan Xudong smiled and said:
"Master Zheng, tell me, which faction do you belong to?"

"I?"

Zheng Qingtian smiled bitterly:

"I am just a small magistrate of Qiantang County. Qiantang County is a remote and poor place. I am not affiliated with any faction."

Zheng Qingtian's words were half true and half false. Strictly speaking, he belonged to the Qingliu faction, but as he said, he was just a small magistrate of Qiantang County. He was considered to be a powerful official in Qiantang County, but in the court, he was just a small local official.

Of course, Qiantang is a special place because it has the Hangzhou Maritime Customs. Zheng Qingtian, as the local chief official, privately lifted the maritime ban and smuggled goods. Behind him was the entire officialdom of Jiangnan. All the local officials in Jiangnan, big and small, benefited from him. Therefore, he had great power in Jiangnan, and almost all officials, big and small, would do things for him. This is the saying that money makes the world go round. Zheng Qingtian used money to weave a huge network of relationships for himself in Jiangnan.

If the imperial court had not sent people to investigate, he could have run rampant in Jiangnan. That's why he dared to wipe out the entire Yang family. Because he had no scruples and felt that the entire Jiangnan officialdom was his people, so what else was he afraid of?
Yuan Xudong roughly understood Zheng Qingtian's mentality, and he smiled and said:

"Mr. Zheng is too modest. You privately lifted the ban on sea trade, smuggled goods, and won over all the officials in Jiangnan. Recently, you wiped out the entire Yang family and killed people from our Imperial City Department. Most importantly, you also killed my people."

Looking at Zheng Qingtian's changed expression, Yuan Xudong smiled slightly and said:

"Master Zheng, tell me, if the imperial court knew what you did, would they exterminate your three clans or kill all nine clans?"

"Sir, have you misunderstood me? I..."

Zheng Qingtian wanted to explain, but Yuan Xudong interrupted him and said:

"Master Zheng, you know who I am. You can find out what you did with just a little investigation. Do you need me to investigate?"

"I……"

After looking at Yuan Xudong, Zheng Qingtian was silent for a while and said:
"I wonder what I can do for you, sir?" "I've said before that we in the Imperial City Bureau can get things done if we have money."

Yuan Xudong smiled slightly. Hearing this, Zheng Qingtian was obviously relieved. It would be fine if he accepted the money. He was afraid that if he didn't accept the money, he would probably send people to kill another group of people from the Imperial City Bureau.

Looking at Yuan Xudong, Zheng Qingtian smiled and said:
"I have a small fortune worth about 100,000 strings of cash, and I am willing to give it all to you, my Lord."

"not enough."

Looking at Zheng Qingtian, Yuan Xudong smiled and said:
"The team of Imperial City Division members you killed came to Jiangnan to investigate the case of the Queen's prophecy. The leader was the commander of the Imperial City Division in Tokyo, Gu Qianfan. His father was the treacherous Prime Minister Xiao Qinyan. He was the eldest son of the Xiao family. Lord Zheng, tell me, when Xiao Qinyan finds out that his eldest son died in Qiantang County, in the Yang Mansion, how will he avenge his son?"

"This this……"

Zheng Qingtian's eyes widened with fear. Xiao Qinyan was the prime minister of the current dynasty, and was trusted by the current emperor and the empress. The empress, in particular, relied on him even more. In addition, the current emperor deliberately favored the empress and did not care even if she interfered in state affairs. This resulted in the empress's party headed by Xiao Qinyan dominating the court. Xiao Qinyan was even more powerful and held many positions. He could even mobilize local officers and soldiers to serve him. He was truly second to none.

The Qingliu faction, the mortal enemy of the Empress's party and the favored ministers, is in decline, so naturally they want to overthrow Xiao Qinyan and the evil Empress who interferes in government affairs. These literati from prominent families are not afraid of the Empress and Xiao Qinyan. They even dare to directly impeach the Empress for interfering in government affairs. However, the current emperor loves his wife too much, and the Emperor doesn't care. What's the point of these Qingliu faction's literati just impeaching?
Of course, it did have an effect. Xiao Qinyan was called a treacherous prime minister, the current queen was called a witch, and even the case of the prophecy was made up by these literati of the Qingliu faction. They also impeached the current queen for being a dancer of humble origin, who concealed her identity by some unknown means to enter the palace and eventually became the queen who ruled the country.

Isn't it ridiculous to let a dancer of humble origin become the queen who rules the country?

The evidence is the "Night Banquet" painted by Master Wang Ai. The "Night Banquet" depicts a night banquet held by Xue Que, the transport envoy of Xichuan Road. The host is in the middle and the guests are on both sides. There are singers and dancers, performing the Huxuan dance and eating camel humps. Master Wang Ai was also there at the time, so he painted this "Night Banquet". The current queen was also drawn in the picture as a dancer in Xue Que's family. Some people say she is Xue Que's concubine. This means that the current queen is not only a woman of lowly origin, but also has lost her virginity long ago. Wouldn't it be a laughing stock for the world for such a woman to be the queen who rules the country?
Therefore, these Qingliu scholars wanted to find the "Night Banquet" to overthrow the queen, and then overthrow all the queen's favorite officials headed by Xiao Qinyan, so that these Qingliu scholars from famous families could help the current emperor manage the court and restore peace to the world.

In the eyes of these literati from prominent families, the world should be managed by people like them. They occupy a seat in the court, and their families are even more powerful and prestigious families in the local area. This is the reason why they are proud and do not flatter their superiors or fawn on the officials. Officials are not subject to punishment, and even if they make mistakes, as long as it is not a serious crime like treason, at most they will resign and go home, and the current officials will not punish them. This is how the officials and literati share the world.

Therefore, even if these scholars and officials impeached the current queen, saying that she was a woman of humble origin and had long lost her virginity, no matter how angry the queen and the emperor were, they would be unable to do anything about these scholars and officials. The most they could do was to find a reason to dismiss her from her post and let her return home.

But the Qingliu faction has complicated connections, and some of them are not afraid of losing their official positions. Even if they lose their official positions, their resources and connections are still there, just like Prime Minister Ke before Xiao Qinyan. He was one of the leaders of the Qingliu faction and was dismissed from the position of prime minister by the government, and then Xiao Qinyan, who was close to the queen, came to power. Even so, old Prime Minister Ke was dismissed from his official position, but his disciples were all over the court. Could the government still dismiss everyone?

The Qingliu School is a role model for all scholars in the world. For example, Ouyang Xu was a child of a poor family. After he passed the imperial examination and became the third place in the imperial examination, he became the disciple of Lao Ke Xiang. This is a mutually beneficial relationship. In the court, without a teacher and connections behind him, how could one get a good official position?
Therefore, these scholars and officials are all forming cliques, and even the current emperor cannot really do anything to them. If he wants to punish them, he needs a reasonable reason. The current queen is a woman of low status and has lost her virginity long ago. Doesn't the emperor himself know this?

Of course he knew that he was the one who arranged for that person to enter the palace, and that the new identity was also fabricated by someone he arranged for. Otherwise, how could a geisha have the ability to sneak into the palace and become the queen?
Of course, the emperor knew that his queen was a dancer in someone else's family and had been someone else's concubine before that, but he did not dare to admit it. He dared to say to those literati, "Don't impeach me. I know my wife was someone else's concubine before." But did he dare?

Of course he didn't dare. The emperor also had to maintain his reputation. He knew that what he did was not good, but he could only play the coward and secretly send people to destroy the evidence. Those from the Qingliu faction sent people to look for evidence, but their people were all killed. They suspected that the evil queen and the treacherous minister Xiao Qinyan did it. In fact, the emperor also had a hand in it, but these Qingliu faction scholars didn't know it. They thought that the emperor must have been deceived by the evil queen and Xiao Qinyan. After all, they really couldn't understand how the emperor could let a woman who had lost her virginity become the queen?

Finally, after Prime Minister Lao Ke was dismissed from office, another representative of the Qingliu faction, the Imperial Censor Qi Mu, came up with a good idea. Didn't you, Xiao Qinyan and the evil queen, kill our people? Well, he sent Xiao Qinyan's eldest son Gu Qianfan to Jiangnan to investigate the case of the queen's loss of virginity. If Gu Qianfan found the "Night Banquet", they would bring down the evil queen and Xiao Qinyan. If Xiao Qinyan killed his eldest son, or if the queen wanted to kill him but Xiao Qinyan didn't, and the two turned against each other, that would also be good, and they would kill each other.

It can only be said that Qi Mu is poisonous. He used the righteousness of patriotism, loyalty to the emperor, and protecting the people of Song Dynasty to control Gu Qianfan, making the latter willing to work for him and serve as an undercover in the Imperial City Bureau. Yes, Gu Qianfan was actually a member of the Qingliu faction, but he infiltrated the Imperial City Bureau and served as an undercover agent of the Qingliu faction, using the intelligence force of the Imperial City Bureau to secretly collect evidence of the queen's party and the lucky ministers and gave it to Qi Mu. However, Qi Mu did not take any action because the evidence was not fatal enough. He wanted to completely eradicate the evil queen and Xiao Qinyan and other queen's party members with one blow.

Gu Qianfan's starting point was good. He loved his country and was loyal to the emperor, and he wanted to protect the people of the Song Dynasty. For this, he did not hesitate to cause a lot of killings and was called a "living devil". However, what he did not know was that he was just a personal minion of certain people. The so-called patriotism, loyalty to the emperor, and protection of the people of the Song Dynasty were just high-sounding rhetoric to deceive him.

Gu Qianfan has always felt that he is a loyal minister of the Song Dynasty. Although his hands are stained with blood, it is all for the country and the millions of ordinary people of the Song Dynasty.

But in fact, he has been eliminating the enemies of the Qingliu faction. It doesn't matter whether these people are good or bad. What matters is that they are enemies of the Qingliu faction and Qi Mu. In this way, Qi Mu used Gu Qianfan to eliminate these people. The best thing is that Gu Qianfan is an undercover agent. Others don't know his relationship with Qi Mu. In this way, only Gu Qianfan's hands are dirty, and Qi Mu still has a positive image of serving the country and the people in the outside world. Everyone thinks he is a good person.

Gu Qianfan is a knife in Qi Mu's hand. When he uses Gu Qianfan to completely eliminate the party behind him, that will naturally be the time of Gu Qianfan's death. The so-called undercover is just Qi Mu's trick to trick Gu Qianfan. His reputation is ruined. If he helps Gu Qianfan to whitewash his identity, then wouldn't his reputation be ruined?

In this power struggle, both Gu Qianfan and Zheng Qingtian are just pawns on the table, and the bigwigs who are playing chess are hidden behind the scenes. However, although these bigwigs are very good at playing the power game and can make the people below run around in circles, this game has a very fatal flaw.

That is, everyone must abide by the rules. For example, if the scholar-officials of the Qingliu faction made a mistake, they would be dismissed from office and go home. They would have the opportunity to work again in the future. For those who are in high positions and have power, if they fail, they would be dismissed from office and go home, but they cannot kill people. If you don't kill me, I won't kill you. Of course, this refers to the big guys. As for the small people under the big guys, it doesn't matter. They can be killed if they want.

At this time, Yuan Xudong came, and he had guns, frigates and armed helicopters. Big shots? Rules? Sorry, except for himself, Yuan Xudong felt that there was no big shot in the world. Even the emperor was not important to him. An armed helicopter could sweep the palace. If there were enough weapons and ammunition, it was not impossible to destroy the country. Of course, it was easy to destroy, but it was difficult to rule effectively. Therefore, Yuan Xudong would not be an emperor. He just wanted the emperor to work for him.

Back to the point, upon learning that Xiao Qinyan's eldest son had died in Qiantang County, in the Yang Mansion, Zheng Qingtian was so frightened that he immediately knelt in front of Yuan Xudong and begged:

"Sir, please save me. I have a fortune worth more than 300,000 strings of cash. I am willing to give it all to you. Please save my life. I am willing to serve you in the future."

"Very good, you are a smart man."

Looking at Zheng Qingtian kneeling in front of him, Yuan Xudong said:
"I'll take 300,000 strings of cash, and you can keep the rest. As for Xiao Qinyan, I'll help you deal with it."

"Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir."

Zheng Qingtian was very grateful, but he was not a fool. He looked up at Yuan Xudong and asked tentatively:

"After all, Xiao Qinyan is the prime minister of the dynasty, and he holds a high position of power. I wonder how you can save me?"

"This is simple."

Yuan Xudong clapped his hands. At this moment, a team of fully armed soldiers broke in. These people were naturally the Knights of Rage that Yuan Xudong had obtained through the system lottery. They were 100 professional mercenaries. He found that these people could be stored in the system and summoned when needed. It was like carrying a 100-man heavy firepower army with him. Now Yuan Xudong's safety was better guaranteed.

Yuan Xudong looked at Zheng Qingtian who was kneeling on the ground in amazement and said with a smile:
"Master Zheng, follow me out. I will demonstrate to you the combat capability of this army."

"it is good."

Zheng Qingtian quickly got up from the ground and followed Yuan Xudong into the yard.

In fact, Yuan Xudong had no choice but to subdue Zheng Qingtian because he had no identity and neither did his subordinates. This required official people to help them fabricate an identity. Otherwise, it would be very troublesome for him to go to Tokyo unless he wanted to rely on force to fight his way there.

But it is unrealistic because he has too few men under him, and weapons and equipment are consumables, and he does not have that many points to redeem them.

Therefore, he could only subdue Zheng Qingtian first, and then use Zheng Qingtian as a link to indirectly rule the entire Jiangnan officialdom by allowing him to privately open the sea ban and smuggle goods to make money. As for the system soldiers, they could only be used as blades.

Once he arrives in Tokyo, he can gradually build up his own power.

Walking out of the room, Zheng Qingtian shouted away several yamen runners who came rushing over after hearing the noise. After they left, Yuan Xudong signaled with his eyes, and saw a soldier carrying an RPG and firing at the rockery in the backyard.

Boom~~
Explosions were heard and flames shot up into the sky. The entire county government office was in an uproar. The same was true for the streets surrounding the county government office. No one knew what was going on.

Looking at the rockery that was blown away, Zheng Qingtian was really stunned. He looked at Yuan Xudong beside him and murmured:

"Sir, what kind of weapon is this?"

"rocket missile."

"rocket missile?"

Looking at Zheng Qingtian who seemed a little confused, Yuan Xudong said:

"Master Zheng, this is our strength. What do you think about us taking the initiative and firing a shot at Xiao Qinyan's carriage?"

"This……"

Zheng Qingtian's eyes lit up. With such a powerful explosion, wouldn't Xiao Qinyan be dead?
However, Yuan Xudong suddenly had another idea at this time. Zheng Qingtian alone had a fortune of more than 300,000 strings of cash, so should he kidnap Xiao Qinyan first?
Soon, Yuan Xudong made a decision. It would be too wasteful to kill Xiao Qinyan directly. So he decided to kidnap him. Xiao Qinyan had embezzled so much of the people's money. Yuan Xudong decided to rob the rich to help the poor, and then use the money to help those poor women, such as buying a few pleasant gardens in Tokyo and let them live happily in them.

……

PS:

Zheng Qingtian will be killed later, so I would like to explain in advance that the big bad guy will definitely die, except for the protagonist. (End of this chapter)