country

The next day the heavy snow was still falling, and there was no intention of stopping at all. The glazed roof of the palace was also covered with white snow, and the eunuchs in the palace had to go up and clean it up.

Overlooking the capital, there is a vast expanse of whiteness, mixed with gold bricks and white tiles, and there is a trace of coldness in the atmosphere, and the magnificent Qianlin Temple is even more chilly in the bones.

In the Qianlin Palace, His Majesty the Emperor was wearing a golden crown, looking coldly at His Highness's courtiers.

On both sides of the main hall, civil and military ministers lined up in two rows. The smooth marble hall exuded a faint cold atmosphere. The ministers all lowered their heads, and their hearts were more or less trembling.

The battle between the princes a while ago has made everyone feel His Majesty's murderous spirit, that kind of decisiveness, cruelty, and ruthlessness, which made everyone fearful.

After Emperor Deqing ascended the throne, although he has always governed the country strictly and had a gloomy temperament, it is really the first time since he ascended the throne that he punished his officials on a large scale like last time. Many ministers even felt that His Majesty seemed to have waited a long time for that explosion. , the most powerful man, seems to have been waiting for an opportunity to clean up a group of people.

His majesty's murderous nature became more and more serious, and his hostility became more and more serious. Every court meeting made the officials tremble with fear. They wondered if his majesty would take the knife again.

The officials observed the words and expressions, and they could already see that His Majesty's complexion and mood are very bad today.

Emperor Deqing sat on the dragon chair, took a memorial from the eunuch beside him, and said with a sneer: "My good subjects all say that the country is peaceful and the people are safe, and I have been living in the lies you fabricated. Great!"

As soon as the emperor said this, the hearts of all the officials were chilled for a while, they knelt down together, and said respectfully: "I am afraid, I am guilty, please forgive me!"

Emperor Deqing sneered and said: "It's good to know that you are guilty." After a pause, he said indifferently: "I think you all know about the affairs of the household department. Great Chu has never appeared since the founding of the country, but I did not expect it to be born under my nose. Hehe, is this because I am incapable of governing the country, or are you slack in your work?"

"The ministers are guilty!" The ministers panicked.

Emperor Deqing raised his hand and motioned the ministers to stand up. After the ministers Xie En got up, he said coldly: "Chen Shangting's family has been dispatched to the border. The Ministry of Punishment and the Kyoto Prefecture have not found any clues so far. Our Great Chu State Treasury The theft of official money has become the biggest hidden danger, what can all the ministers do?"

Mo Yi, Minister of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, and Wei Shantai, Governor of the Kyoto Prefecture immediately stepped out, knelt down on the ground, and respectfully said: "I have neglected my duty, please be punished by the Holy One."

Emperor Deqing said indifferently: "It will be a matter of time before you are punished, and you don't need to rush to plead guilty."

Mo Yi and Wei Shantai knelt down on the ground, not daring to speak. At this moment, a white-bearded minister came out and said calmly: "My humble minister, Li Zifu, please give me a tribute. Built by the tribe, there are many organs and they are extremely strong. Ordinary people must not be able to cross the threshold. This time, the treasury silver was stolen. According to my opinion, it is inseparable from the Gongsun family. Only the members of the Gongsun family can crack the mechanism and enter the treasury. .”

Everyone knows that this Li Zifu is the Royal Envoy of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the two chiefs of the Metropolitan Procuratorate together with Tan Ziqing, the censor of the Zuodu. One is to develop various poison weapon mechanisms. This old man looks kind, but he won't blink when he kills people.

Emperor Deqing stared at Li Zifu, and said indifferently: "Aiqing means that the robbery of the treasury silver was done by the Gongsun family?"

Li Zifu said calmly: "I'm not sure, but I believe that, except for the Gongsun family, no one can unlock the mechanism of the Ministry of Finance's treasury."

Immediately another person came out from the group of officials and said respectfully: "I agree with Li Yushi's opinion, and I implore the Holy One to send someone to summon City Lord Gongsun for interrogation."

Everyone knew that this was Sima Feng, the censor of Yushitai.

Emperor Deqing let out an "oh", stroked the beard under his jaw, and said calmly: "All the ministers, do you also think that this matter has something to do with Gongsun City?"

Immediately, many people seconded the proposal, but they saw that one person was listed in front of the group of officials. It was Lan Wuqing, a scholar of the Imperial Academy, and said respectfully: "My lord, I dare not agree with Li Yushi's opinion. I think that this matter It has nothing to do with Gongsun City."

Emperor Deqing looked at Lan Wuqing and asked, "Why did Lan Qing say that?" Looking at Wei Shantai and Mo Yi who were kneeling in front of the hall, he said coldly, "Not yet."

The two ministers hurriedly thanked each other and returned to the queue.

Lan Wuqing said calmly: "Your Majesty, although I have lived in the temple for a long time, I do know a little about this Gongsun City." After a pause, she looked around and said slowly: "I think you all know that our household department The bank was built many years ago when the Gongsun family was grateful for His Majesty Yangwu’s grace, so they invited Ying to come forward and built this important place with many institutions. In terms of reason, how could the Gongsun family violate the original righteousness and steal the bank to take the silver? ?”

Li Zifu immediately said: "Scholar Lan's words are wrong. There are so many capricious villains in this world. How can you be sure that the Gongsun family will not do such an unrighteous thing? The most important thing is that this Gongsun family organization, except People of the Gongsun tribe, who else can crack it? Even if the officials of our household department are dispatched, they can only control it according to the mechanism passed down from the beginning, and they can't see the whole picture at all, let alone other people? University scholar Lan, have you ever thought about this? "

Lan Wuqing shook her head, and said flatly, "Li Yushi doesn't need to worry, it won't be too late after I finish talking."

Emperor Deqing frowned and said: "Li Qing, you just listen to Lan Qing's reasoning."

Li Zifu hurriedly said: "My minister obeys the order."

"Gongsun City has been built at the foot of Kunlun Mountain since the end of Qin Dynasty. Since then, it has been isolated from the world, like a city-state independent of the world. Dynasties have changed, and the years have passed. The Gongsun people have lived in Gongsun City in seclusion for generations, living a life of seclusion. , and have never participated in power struggles in the world. As far as I know, there is an iron rule among the Gongsun people, that children in the clan are not allowed to be officials throughout their lives, and they are not allowed to participate in world strife." Lan Wuqing His eyes flickered, and he said eloquently: "Although Gongsun City hides from the world and is independent, they are also afraid of being abandoned by the world. Record what you saw and heard in a book and hand it back to the special institution in Gongsun City. Our Majesty Yangwu met this kind of children and helped him, so there is the Treasury of the Ministry of Households."

More than half of the ministers in the court did not know the details of Gongsun City. Even if a small number knew about such a strange place, they knew very little about it. At this time, Lan Wuqing said that everyone was listening.

Lanwu Qinggui is a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy of the Great Chu State. He is erudite and talented. He knows the past and the present. He is full of talent. Most of the people in the court believe what he said.

Emperor Deqing sat on the dragon chair, and seemed to be listening very seriously, with a strange light shining in his sharp eyes.

Lan Wuqing paused for a moment, and continued: "They don't participate in the power struggle in the world, so naturally they won't be born to commit the crime of stealing official money. The most important thing is that the Gongsun family is self-sufficient in Gongsun City. Self-sufficient, never doing business with the world, what is the use of taking this money? Not to mention such a huge amount of official money, even if they have unparalleled magic skills, but if they want to transport it back to Kunlun Mountain Gongsun silently I'm afraid it's more difficult than ascending to the sky, so I judged that this matter must have nothing to do with the Gongsun family."

What he said is very reasonable, especially the last one. If Gongsun City wants to transport the silver, it may be more difficult than climbing to the sky. So when Lan Wuqing finished speaking, most of the courtiers nodded frequently, I just feel that what Lan Wuqing said is very reasonable.

Emperor Deqing narrowed his eyes, turned to Li Zifu and said, "Li Qing, what do you think of Lan Qing's words?"

Li Zifu pondered for a while, and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, the possibility of the Gongsun family's participation in this matter is very low, but...!" Next, who else can crack the mechanism of the Gongsun family."

Emperor Deqing shook the scripture in his hand, and finally said: "This is the scripture that Teng Xifeng passed into the palace in the early hours of this morning. Do you want to know what it said?"

All the ministers looked at each other, and then at the Zhezi, with doubts on their faces.

"Xuanyuan Qiu!"

Emperor Deqing called lightly.

Immediately a person came out from the right column, knelt down on the ground, and said respectfully: "The minister is here!" Xuanyuan Chousheng was burly and domineering, with tiger eyes and lion nose, and an extraordinary aura. It is more powerful to defend Luo Wuyan.

Emperor Deqing handed the booklet to the eunuch beside him, and said indifferently: "Give it to Xuanyuan guard to have a look."

The eunuch took the notebook, hurried down to the palace, and handed it to Xuanyuan Chou, Xuanyuan Qiu took it suspiciously, opened the notebook under the suspicious eyes of the officials, looked carefully, and his bearded face suddenly changed color , lost his voice: "Qing...Qing Lianzhao...!"

The officials were taken aback, looked at Xuanyuanchou, and then at their emperor.

Emperor Deqing didn't confuse everyone for too long, and he said slowly in that low and majestic voice: "Late yesterday night, five people with bamboo hats sneaked into the empty warehouse of the household department. There were more than ten people guarding there, when they met five bamboo hat men, Xue Shitou led the crowd to kill three bamboo hat men, and two of them fled away."

The ministers were even more surprised. Tan Ziqing, who was among the ministers, frowned, looking quite surprised.

This Xue Shitou has recently received the kindness of His Majesty the Emperor and served as the deputy general guard of the Habayashi Camp. When the officials talked about it in private, they all envied Xue Shitou's good luck.

In the eyes of most people, Xue Shishitou is nothing more than a coincidence. Firstly, it is good luck, and secondly, His Majesty the Emperor intends to support him. , thinking in his heart: "It seems that Xue Shitou really has some skills."

Emperor Deqing said calmly: "The way those five people sneaked into the bank of the household department, are they all under the protection of the garrison camp?"

Xuanyuan Qiu was full of anger at this time, but he showed no signs of panic, prostrated himself on the hall, and said loudly: "I am guilty, please forgive me."

Many people instantly cast sympathetic glances at Xuanyuan Chou. Xuanyuan Chou had not been in the garrison camp for a few days, but he committed a crime similar to that of his predecessor Luo Wuyan. Knowing that this is the time when His Majesty the Emperor is murderous, it seems that Xuanyuan Qiu can't escape bad luck.

Xuanyuanchou is an upright person, he does not belong to any faction in the court, he can reach today's status, it is entirely because of his hard work bit by bit, this is very different from Luo Wuyan.

Compared with Xuanyuan Chou, Luo Wuyan's ability is much worse. Luo Wuyan was able to become a garrison battalion because of the Empress Dowager.Only because Luo Wuyan's family has followed Yong Guogong for generations and is loyal, and Yong Guogong is the Queen Mother's natal family, so Luo Wuyan was slowly promoted.

When it comes to martial arts and real talent, Luo Wuyan is far behind Xuanyuanchou.

It was also because of this that Xuanyuan Qiu's dereliction of duty this time, he didn't think that someone in the court would speak for him, and he pleaded with His Majesty the emperor, and he also had a death wish in his heart.

Before Emperor Deqing could speak, a man in black court uniform came out suddenly. Many ministers didn't need to look at this man's face to know that it was Tan Ziqing, the censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Tan Ziqing was the leader of the underworld, and it just so happened that the court uniform of Zuodu Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate was also pure black, which added a sense of weirdness to the solemn and solemn court hall.

When he came out suddenly, everyone was taken aback. This old guy had never pleaded for anyone before, so he came out this time to plead for Xuanyuan Chou?

After Tan Ziqing came out, a look of satisfaction flashed in Emperor Deqing's eyes, and he heard Tan Ziqing respectfully say: "My Majesty, as far as I know, the Xuanyuan guard has been wearing armor for a while, and he has come to various places to inspect and discipline him." He is strict and tries his best to guard the main roads everywhere without any slack. He has never even had a good night's sleep, and just continues to patrol for a few hours every day. He is loyal and dedicated. This rebellion Sneaking into the empty warehouse, although the defense battalion is guilty of dereliction of duty, but the key is that Qinglian who sneaked into the empty warehouse has a high level of demon skills, so they will succeed.

Xuanyuan Qiu was taken aback, unexpectedly, at this moment, this ghostly Zuodu Yushi would come out to speak for him. He has a strong personality and is extremely upright. Tan Ziqing pleaded for him, and he immediately looked at Tan Ziqing, showing gratitude.

Emperor Deqing pondered for a moment, then finally nodded and said: "Xuanyuanchou, although you have no major faults, you are always responsible for the demon sneaking into the empty warehouse. I will punish you with three months' salary, and you will be flat."

Xuanyuanchou couldn't be more grateful, thinking that so many important officials of the imperial court have been beheaded due to mistakes, and if they were matched, he was only fined for three months. .” Got up and retreated into the queue.

Emperor Deqing said coldly: "Qinglian demon sneaked into the empty warehouse for what purpose? All the ministers, does this matter have anything to do with Qinglianzhao?"

Li Zifu frowned and said: "Your Majesty, in this way, could it be that Qinglianzhao has masters who can decipher Gongsun's mechanism?" After a pause, he said loudly: "Qinglianzhao intends to rebel and needs a lot of money. Could it be that this group of monsters His idea hit Guan Yin?"

Emperor Deqing said sternly: "I have passed on my decree to order all the state governments to do their best to suppress Qinglian monsters. If the suppression is not effective, they will be dismissed from office immediately. Those who kill more monsters will be rewarded for their merits."

Deqing Emperor's few words are bound to trigger a frenzy of suppression and killing in the Great Chu Kingdom.

"Wei Shantai, Moi!" Emperor Deqing said coldly again, and the two officials rushed out and knelt down, and Emperor Deqing said coldly: "I don't care what method you use, within ten days, if there is no official Silver news, you take your family to Mobei by yourself."

Going to Mobei is naturally a match.

The two senior officials were cold all over, and said respectfully: "This humble minister leads the order."

Emperor Deqing leaned on the dragon chair, his sharp eyes swept over the terrified ministers of His Highness, and finally said: "This time, Xue Shitou, the deputy general guard of the Yubayashi Battalion, acted calmly. Identity is really a great achievement, Xuanxue Shishi goes to the palace!"

At present, the eunuchs passed it down layer by layer, and Xuanxue Shitou came to the palace.

Not long after, the ministers heard the loud sound of the marble slab outside the hall. It was the sound of war boots stepping on the marble. The ministers couldn't help but looked out of the hall, and saw a general in gold and silver helmet striding forward. Walking towards the hall, he is majestic, like a god of war.

When Xue Poye was waiting outside the Qianlin Hall that day, the officials met him once. Seeing you again now, I feel a little familiar, but the second and fourth princes among the officials had strange expressions on their faces. Just glanced at it, then turned around.

Xue Poye came striding forward without any fear. Although his face was a little tired, he still looked quite heroic.

The battle last night made Xue Poye extremely conflicted. Before calling him to the palace, his mind was in chaos. After all, he personally killed the brothers in the meeting. How can he explain to Qing Lianzhao in the future?

Entering the hall, I saw the gilded pillars in the vast Qianlin Hall, the smooth mirror-like ground reflected my own shadow, and there were gold decorations everywhere. , but it is a tall dragon altar. On the golden dragon altar, a low white jade railing surrounds it. Two lifelike bronze cranes, one on the left and the other on the right, sing and sing. In the middle is an incense stove with green smoke in it. Curly, emitting bursts of heat.

In the middle of the Dragon Altar, there was a huge golden dragon chair. On the dragon chair, a man in a yellow robe and a golden crown sat on it. Because the distance was too far, he couldn't see his face clearly for a while.

Under the guidance of the eunuch, Xue Poye entered the Qianlin Hall. Xue Poye lowered his head according to the rules, and walked quickly. Only when the eunuch stopped, did he follow the eunuch's previous instructions, knelt down on the ground, and said loudly : "Xue Shishitou, the deputy general guard of the Weichen Yulin Battalion, kowtow to my emperor, long live, long live, long live!"

Only a voice said slowly: "Xue Shishitou, raise your head!" The voice was so majestic, Xue Poye heard it in his ears, and his whole body shook, only feeling that the voice was very familiar.

He raised his head and looked at the dragon chair, only to see that he was no more than ten meters away from the dragon chair, and the emperor on the dragon chair was looking at him with a slight smile.

"It's...it's you...!" Xue Poye cried out when he saw the emperor's face.

The officials were stunned for a moment, and immediately the eunuch in charge shouted in a sharp voice: "Xue Shitou, you are so courageous, at the Golden Luan Hall, why don't you and I plead guilty!"

Many ministers thought to themselves: "This young general is really losing his temper. How can he call the Holy One with the word 'you'? He really deserves to die. I don't know if the Holy Spirit is angry or not?"

Xue Poye stared blankly at the emperor on the dragon chair, only felt that the world is so big and full of surprises, and some things are really unbelievable, this is the third time he has met the man on the dragon chair.

Once in Hexi Marsh, this man was dressed in a yellow robe, eating the so-called "human flesh" with himself; The story has only finished the first half, and there is still a part that has not been finished.

I saw him three times today in the Golden Luan Hall.