Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 235: I'm Not Satisfied (1)

The corpses of the three Khitans were placed in old man Zhang's yard, and Zhong Twelve cursed, "Unlucky, stop for two days before we talk. I didn't kill them, so why should I bury them?" , Zhong Twelve can save as much as he can.He searched for another two days, maybe the other family members would bury the three bodies.

Not everyone believed that the Khitan people would definitely come to take revenge. After dark, some people took a chance and returned to the village.Zhong Twelve is one of them.Outside the village, the newly sown crops are growing well. "If these idiots never come back, wouldn't I become a rich man?" Zhong Twelve thought to himself, he found dozens of coarse porcelain bowls and dishes in the old man's house next door, porcelain But good thing, the Zhong family originally only had clay pots and bowls.The Eight Immortals Table and the Grand Master's Chair, which I had taken a fancy to earlier, were also moved across the courtyard wall.

Seeing his yard full of good things, Zhong Twelve was quite proud, but also regretful: "Unfortunately, the pretty widow of the Zhang family was taken away by the robber woman." Just thinking of this, his wife Wu shy He asked anxiously: "Master, are the Khitan people really okay?" Zhong Twelve was feeling regretful, when he heard this, he rolled his eyes and scolded angrily: "You ask me, who should I ask, bah, bad luck !" After being yelled at by him, Mrs. Wu immediately stopped making a sound.Zhong Twelve turned to the side and clasped his hands together and muttered: "Bodhisattva bless you, Bodhisattva bless you."

Perhaps the Bodhisattva did not hear his prayers. In the middle of the night, a heavy rain of horseshoes broke the silence, followed by the shouts of Khitan guns. The hounds barked as if they were mad. He got close to the crack of the door, only to hear a "bang", the door was kicked open, and Zhong Twelve fell to the ground together with Wu Shi behind him.Three or four vicious Khitans rushed in, the scimitar reflected on the torch, which dazzled people's eyes, Zhong Twelve only heard Wu's crying loudly: "The head of the house, the head of the house." His heart trembled, Just after struggling a bit, he was hit hard on the head, and the blood flowed suddenly.The Khitan people pushed him and Mrs. Wu to the courtyard of the Zhang family, and a dozen other villagers also stood timidly in the courtyard.

An official Khitan came up to him, holding a whip in his hand, looked at Zhong Twelve as if he were looking at an ant, and asked sharply, "Who killed Senior Officer Xiao?" Yi Bai's knees gave way, and before he could kneel down and beg for mercy, he kicked him in the stomach. Zhong Twelve staggered and fell to the ground, vomited out his bile with a bang.The Khitan man was relentless, he raised his whip while cultivating, and whipped his head over his head, but he didn't pay any attention to Zhong Twelve's answer and begging for mercy.

Border inspector Xiao Zhengxi was transferred from Shangjing not long ago. It is said that he was the queen's cousin, but he died in this small, desolate village for no apparent reason.The murderer has already fled, and after a day's work, he may have entered the border of the Kingdom of Jin, and he will never be able to chase him back.The Khitan commander knew that he couldn't get anything out of these people, so he just vented his anger.In the end, the twenty or so Han people could only be tied behind the horses and brought back to the camp, and they had to give an explanation to their superiors.

In this way, Zhong Twelve was taken from one Khitan village to another, all the way west, and finally arrived at the prison of Xianping Mansion.It was related to the case of the murder of Xiao Zhengxi, the younger brother of the queen's family. Although no one from Shangjing had come to question him, the Xianping Mansion had never dared to kill him like this, let alone let him go.Zhong Twelve has been staying in the prison like this, both physically and mentally weak and numb, and he doesn't even remember his wife Wu Shi who doesn't know where she is. Maybe it's this kind of state of mind that makes him He lingered on like a dark prison cell infested with cockroaches, bedbugs and rats.Until one day, a dark-faced official walked around the prison twice, and picked Zhong Twelve out from among a bunch of prisoners.

"When you get here, you are doomed." The official's voice made people uncomfortable, "But you are very blessed." He seemed to be mocking, his voice was like two pieces of rusty iron rubbing, "The imperial court Useful for your place." Zhong Twelve obediently lowered his head, his mind was empty.

At this time, in a side courtyard in Tokyo Da Nei in the Song Dynasty, the most favored Tong Gonggong in front of the officials was personally teaching a group of new eunuchs who entered the palace. He took the tea from the young eunuch and sighed: "These palaces There are tens of thousands of slaves and maidservants in the house, and they only serve the official family. In this life, not to mention serving the official family, even if you take a look at it from a distance, it is a blessing from the three lives." Tong Guan put down the teacup and warmed the hair Jin wiped his hands gently, stared at his eyes, and said in a deep voice: "This servant in Baiyu Palace, no matter whether the official is in front of him or not, cheers up the miscellaneous family. The miscellaneous family has seen blood in battle. , if I see the half-hearted, cheating, cheating, I will not forgive you." After speaking, he threw the towel, and under the awe-inspiring eyes, Shi Shiran walked out of the courtyard.

Back in his home signing room, the confidant eunuch handed over a letter, Tong Guan was shocked, as if there was a huge wave inside, but his face remained calm, he waved him away.It has been several years, and he has almost forgotten the things he experienced in the Liao Kingdom. Yelu Dashi has never looked for him, but the news from the Liao Kingdom makes Tong Guan nervous all the time.He always wished that that experience was a nightmare he had sent, but this letter, which was signed by the original agreement, clearly reminded him who is the master he is loyal to.

After a long time, Tong Guan took a deep breath. After he calmed down, he took out a silver paper knife and opened the letter. He took a book of [-] Tang poems, compared them, and took a deep breath. He sent over a dozen people, and he had to find a way to arrange for these people to be purified, or even enter the palace.The letter stated that these people did not know his identity.But when it comes to the critical moment, Tong Guan can use them, and let them do some things that are inconvenient for Song people with the mark, and they can silence them after using them.

Even though that person was thousands of miles away, he still tightened the iron chain around his neck. "The rules for purifying yourself are stricter than recruiting troops. You have to arrange more than a dozen people at once, and you have to guard against the troublesome guys in the court." Tong Guan's face was gloomy, thinking Burn the letter to ashes.

The first person Tong Taiwei said was short-sighted was Chen Dong, who had just entered the court.Relying on the superiority of the official family, this upstanding figure in the limelight almost always makes trouble for Tong Guan.Fortunately, although the officials have the intention of invigorating the court, they have won the emperor's mind in employing people. They not only use Zhao Zhifu, Shao Wu, Qin Hui, Chen Dong and others to do things, gradually clean up the old officials of the former court, but also use Liang Shizhong and Tong The body faintly restrains these important ministers of the foreign court.So no matter what Chen Dong said, please repel Liang Shizhong, please behead Tong Guan, the officials will suppress him.

At this moment, at the residence of Zhu Bona, the military governor of Wuchang, Chen Dongzheng is playing chess with Zhu Sen.Both of them have experienced many great events in the past few years. Compared with when they were in Taixue, both of them seem to be a bit more famous Confucianism in the world.This chess game has been played for a long time, and the black and white chess pieces are densely scattered all over the board. The key to the negative lies in the life and death of a big dragon in the belly of Heizi.Chen Dong frowned and calculated the chess move, picked up a sunspot with his right hand, and tapped it lightly.Zhu Sen, on the other hand, looked indifferent, as if he didn't care about winning or losing.

The big dragon in the middle belly can't make two eyes, but the black and white chess pieces in the middle belly are getting denser and denser, and there is almost no place to play. Chen Dong's brows are getting tighter and tighter, and his breathing is getting faster and faster. This chess piece seems to have turned into countless redundant officials, occupying the positions from the six central departments to the prefectural and county offices, leaving no place for the Qingliu scholars who want to cheer up. After pondering for a long time, Chen Dong finally With a long sigh, he threw the chess pieces heavily on the chessboard and pushed the scales to admit defeat.

Looking at his annoyed expression, Zhu Sen packed up the chess pieces and said with a smile: "Mr. Zizhan once said that he is glad to win and also happy to lose. Brother Shaoyang is too disappointed." Chen Dong shook his head and sighed: "Play chess!" The joy lies in fighting for every inch of land, otherwise it would be meaningless." He paused, and suddenly said: "When the court is employing people, can't you and Brother He stay and help me?"

Although he was regarded as an upstart in the imperial court by the people of the world, he has been quite unhappy in the past few months. Although he has not lost his spirits just because of this, he is no longer as energetic as he was when he first entered the imperial court.Although Zhu Sen has no intention of official career, his colleagues in the Neo-Confucian Society are the most distinguished, staying in Bianjing is a great help invisibly.

Zhu Sen sighed, and said: "Shaoyang suddenly has the leisure to come to me to play chess, it really is something else. But, Brother He and I made an appointment to guard the tomb of our mentor for three years, we settled down to accept disciples, and taught the Confucianism of 'nature' I have to be ashamed of Brother Chen's kindness." He stood up while speaking, and arranged the chessboard and chess pieces neatly.They are both members of the Li Society, and unlike Chen Dong who cares about the world and doesn't care about the details, Zhu Sen and He Fang both study the science of "nature" and reason, and behave in a regular manner, making sure that their words and deeds do not violate the way of a sage.

Seeing Zhu Sen's determination to go, Chen Dong was helpless, and said in a deep voice: "Everyone has their own ambitions. Brother Zhu and Brother He made this great wish. If the world can be widely blessed by the master, it will be a great thing." He seemed to think of something, and said in a low voice, "There are many people in the world who are interested in profit, but few are interested in virtue. Brother Zhu, going to the southeast is probably not much easier than going to the court."

Zhu Sen nodded, and said with a light smile: "This is not something that took place overnight." He paused, and said in a deep voice, "The people who worry today are not that people in the world are interested in profit but not good at virtue, but that the scholar-bureaucrats are incorruptible and rare. Disgraceful, claiming to be the imperial court but actually seeking personal gain."