Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 2728 The Capital (81)

Wu Cheng thought for a while and said: "Hiding people is not something that happens in a day or two, so I definitely won't hide them in the meadows and woods. They will probably hide them in a house somewhere."

There are many houses in Nanyuan. There are thousands of houses in the government offices, duty houses and villages alone. There are also hundreds of vacant or abandoned official houses and temples scattered inside.

"If it were me, I would hide people in temples."

Most of the settlements are abandoned, and most of them are now inhabited by lawless eunuchs. Hiding in them is not conducive to keeping secrets, and secondly, it is easy to cause trouble.

There are many people in the government office and on duty, and most of the soldiers on duty are local gangsters, so it is easy for them to leak information.So I won’t hide anyone.

"...The most likely place is the temple in Nanyuan."

"Yuanling Palace?" Li Rufeng shook his head, "That's a palace built by imperial decree. It's not far from Dahongmen. Eunuchs often come and go in the palace. If a cat catches a mouse inside, even the capital will know how to hide people. ?”

"The chief escort doesn't know something. In addition to Yuanling Palace, there are more than ten temples and palaces inside! You only know the most famous ones."

Li Rufeng knew this for the first time and said in surprise: "No one can enter here except the royal family and relatives. What do the monks and Taoists in the temple eat?"

"Originally, it was for the official family." Wu Chengdao, "It's just that the emperor doesn't go to the garden, and life inside is quite difficult. It's a lot of waste. It's safest to hide people inside."

He listed the temples and temples in the garden one by one: Guangdi Temple, Seven Saints Temple, Tutu Temple, Zhenwu Temple, Dragon Temple, Yaowang Temple, Dragon King Temple, Horse Temple, Dizang Temple, Bodhisattva Temple, etc. .If you count carefully, there are probably more than twenty.They were all built one after another by the government.

"This is too much." Li Rufeng frowned, not to mention whether people are there or not. Even if they are, these temples are scattered throughout Nanyuan. It will take a lot of effort to search them all. After a long time, the ticket watchers will definitely be alarmed. people.

"...Most of these temples have no abbots, not even monks or Taoists. If you want to hide the population, wouldn't it be very inconvenient not to have a home?"

Li Rufeng stared at Wu Cheng for a moment and said, "Old Wu, I think you are a very dishonest Taoist priest."

"The tricks of the Jianghu are just like this. Even if you don't enter this door, it will be obvious after seeing more." Wu Chengdao, "Looking at it this way, there are only five temples that can be hidden. The most likely place is the 'Ningyou Temple'."

Ningyou Temple is the Earth Temple.It was built to "sacrifice the God of Haizi Land".If they are in the countryside, they are mostly just brick and stone shrines on the roadside, and the only ones that are exquisite are just a couple of houses.The Tutu Temple in Nanyuan is quite different. It has three couplets at the mountain gate, three couplets in the main hall, five couplets in the back hall, and three couplets in the east and west auxiliary halls.Very impressive.

Because it is a local temple, and the Taoist priest who presides over it was originally a eunuch in the palace, he can still receive some money and rice from the palace chief every month to support it.Its location is not far from the Yingying Terrace. It is in a remote location where no one goes there, but the transportation is very convenient.

"There are also several other temples that are possible. But Ningyou Temple has the best location."

"Sure, let's start the investigation from Ningyou Temple!"

"How many days has it been since we invited Elder Leng here?" Zhou Lezhi suddenly asked.

Liu Zhao was stunned and said vaguely: "It's been almost half a month."

"It's been 20 days." Zhou Lezhi patted his palms with a fan and frowned, "Have you sent the follow-up letter?"

"It's been delivered."

"Why is there still no news at all? Could it be that they don't want Elder Leng anymore?" There was a little anxiety in Zhou Lezhi's eyebrows.

"Guanshan is obstructed, and transportation is time-consuming and laborious. This guy surnamed Wu doesn't dare to make the decision. He has to ask Lingao for instructions before he can make a decision. What's more, this matter is of great importance. The thief Kun may even send someone to take charge of the overall situation. He will come and go. It will take more than half a month. If this matter can be resolved within two months, it will be considered fast." Liu Zhao comforted him.

Zhou Lezhi reluctantly nodded. Geographical isolation is always a big problem, not to mention the inefficient system of the Australians.Major policies cannot be "dictated by the Holy Spirit" and must be discussed and voted on by everyone.On a topic like peace negotiation, if we don't discuss it for ten days and a half, there won't be any results.

Although the master has said many benefits of this kind of group discussion and decision-making, in Zhou Lezhi's view, the internal friction of the Kun thief is extremely serious. If it were not for this weird group discussion system, but there was an "emperor" or "power minister", they would probably We have already reached Jiangnan.Speaking of which, this is also the blessing of the Ming Dynasty.

"Sir, tell me, can this traitor agree to negotiate a peace?" Liu Zhao was quite worried.

"About [-]% sure." Zhou Lezhi said, "The status of the elders is extremely noble, not comparable to that of nobles and powerful officials. As long as Leng Ningyun is in hand, they have to be wary of three points, even if they are perfunctory, they have to show off."

"But……"

"Yes, as far as the imperial court is concerned, this is just hanging on for a while. However, as long as we can survive for a while, things may turn around. There is a fierce internal partisanship among the Kun thieves, and anything can be used to attack each other. Leng Ningyun's matter does not matter. How it will end in the end, I'm afraid the Senate won't understand it if we don't quarrel for seven days and seven nights." Zhou Lezhi smiled contemptuously, "As far as I know, there are quite a lot of people among the bandits who are unwilling to go to war with the imperial court and want to go to Southeast Asia to plunder their children's treasures. . Now that Leng Ningyun has been caught, it is a perfect excuse for them. There is still uncertainty about how this will turn."

"Is this really happening?" Liu Zhao asked in surprise.

Zhou Lezhi nodded: "This is absolutely true. Moreover, although the Kun thieves captured the territory of Guangdong and Guangxi, they spent countless material and financial resources. The military and civilian power have reached their limit, so the discussion of going south is top of mind."

"It is not an exaggeration to say that the current situation of the imperial court is besieged on all sides. However, the imperial court's decrees can still be extended in all directions. If there is a chance to breathe, and there are capable people in the court joining the cabinet, there may be another chance."

"You are right, could it be Mr. Zhang who came to visit the master a few days ago?" "Of course it is him." Leng Ningyun said, "Even though Mr. Zhang does not hold an official position, his power is no less than that of the cabinet minister. Even our warm prime minister has to be polite when seeing him."

"Wen Xiang also means to caress."

"Yes, but he didn't dare to express his position like this." Zhou Lezhi said, "The person he wants to caress the most is probably the emperor himself, but he is determined not to say it."

"Why don't we just ask Prime Minister Wen to contact several ministers and submit a letter together?"

"Prime Minister Wen doesn't dare." Zhou Lezhi said, "This matter will hurt the court's face too much. Prime Minister Wen has made many enemies in the court over the years. If he writes a letter to negotiate for peace, he is afraid that he will be drowned in the spit of the court! But the emperor..."

He didn't say any more, but Liu Zhao knew what he meant.He thought for a while and said, "That's not necessarily true. For seven years since Prime Minister Wen entered the cabinet, the emperor ignored the court's discussion and tried his best to defend him. Everyone said that the emperor was 'suffering from the plague'."

"This time is different from the past. Now Wen Xiang's position is not stable." Zhou Lezhi said, "If Wen Xiang is no longer careful, I am afraid that this position of first assistant will not be achieved next year."

Although Liu Zhao was used to his predictions, his understatement already made him feel in awe - because Mr. Zhou's words had never failed to deal with major events in the court over the years.

"In that case, who else can propose to caress Kun?"

"It doesn't matter who mentions it. The key is that there must be enough support in the court to suppress the main fighting faction. There must also be ministers who can safeguard the peace talks in front of the emperor in the palace - tell me, is this difficult?"

"Doesn't this mean we have to deal with the powerful officials in the palace?"

"That's right." Zhou Lezhi smiled.

"Sir, you have to do what others cannot do." Liu Zhao flattered him.

Zhou Lezhi smiled faintly.He knew that his status in the Wang Yehao Group had been rising over the years - the reason was simply that he could understand the "heavenly book" left by his master.Speaking of which, the actions Mr. Wang is taking now are somewhat related to the contents of the prophecy in the "Book of Heaven".

The Ming Dynasty building will collapse. Once it falls, it will not be a change of dynasty, but the catastrophe of China.

But this cannot be explained to people like Liu Zhao.They are just tools.It was so clear that it frightened them.

Liu Zhao said: "If the thieves take the initiative to propose peace, the court's face will also be taken into consideration. Even if the conditions are higher, the emperor will not be unable to accept it."

"exactly."

While chatting, a young man suddenly ran in and whispered a few words in Liu Zhao's ear.Liu Zhao was stunned and asked: "Really?"

Zhou Lezhi knew that this young man was Xu Yong, a disciple of Liu Zheng, who was born an orphan.He always follows his master on weekdays, and only stays in the capital when he goes to other places.

Xu Yong nodded, then bowed and retreated.

"What's the matter?" Zhou Lezhi asked with concern.Liu Wei is now the commander-in-chief of the operation, and his every move is related to success or failure.

"Liu Zhao didn't send anyone to deliver the letter." Liu Zhao said worriedly.

After Liu Zhao went to Tongzhou, he would send someone to the capital once every three days to deliver messages, exchange information with Liu Zhao, and coordinate actions.

Today is the day to send letters.The distance from Tongzhou to the capital is only forty miles, and those with fast feet can make the round trip in one day.The messenger sets off on horseback in the morning and can reach the contact point in the capital before noon.

By this time the sun was past noon, but the messenger had not arrived.

"Could it be that the messenger was delayed on the way..." Zhou Lezhi said.

"These days, the messenger arrives before noon every time he delivers the letter." Liu Zhao was a little worried. "From the capital to Tongzhou is the thoroughfare at the feet of the emperor. There will be nothing wrong if you rush there in broad daylight."

Having said this, Zhou Lezhi also became a little confused. Liu Zheng was a very cautious person and would never change the agreed things easily.

"I know Brother Liu, he is the most cautious in everything he does." Zhou Lezhi said, "It's just that there are some flaws in his recent actions. I'm worried..."

"I will immediately send someone from Beijing to Tongzhou to make inquiries along the way."

"Is it in time?"

"Go on horseback. We will definitely reach Tongzhou before nightfall!" Liu Zhao said, "Send two more people to go on foot to see if the people in front are missing. It's just that they don't have time to reach Tongzhou in the evening, so they will stay halfway and start the journey tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)