scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 64

On the evening of the day when Shang Wanyi was left in Wu Yingxiong's mansion, Fatty Lu arranged for Lin Tianqing, who secretly met Kang Mazi, to finally return to Wu Yingxiong's mansion. Fatty Lu and Wu Yingxiong, who are so good at observing words and expressions, can't judge what is in his heart and how things are going.But what the old man said to Wu Yingxiong made Fatty Lu and Wu Yingxiong suddenly realize.

"Master, good news, good news." This is what Lin Tianqing said to Wu Yingxiong, "I went out to meet friends today, and several friends in the imperial court tried to improve this old man, saying that Li Tianyu, governor of Shuntian Prefecture, was handling the case of the murder of priest Nan. Ineffective, perfunctory, and full of ugly behaviors, the emperor's Longyan was furious, and he has decided to give up his plan to promote Li Tianyu to be the governor of Yunnan!"

"Really, this is really good news?" Wu Yingxiong asked with surprise on his face, "Is this news reliable? Li Tianyu has no way to be the governor of Yunnan. Who has the hope to take over?"

"The news is absolutely reliable!" Lin Tianqing said with a smile on his face: "It was my long-time friend of the Ministry of Punishment, Han Shangshu Hao Weina Hao Tang, who personally told this old man. It is absolutely unmistakable. As for who will replace Li Tianyu as the governor of Yunnan, it is a matter of decision." I don't have the exact information yet—but Tangguan Hao reckons that the old man might not be able to waste the money you spent earlier, my son."

"Really? Congratulations to Lin Zhongcheng for the humble position." Fatty Lu would also play tricks, and immediately stepped forward to salute, and said respectfully: "Lu Yifeng, the humble prefect of Qujing County, pays respects to Mr. Lin Zhongcheng, the province's prime minister."

"Lord Lu, you are polite, please hurry up." Lin Tianqing smiled until his eyes were narrowed into two slits, and said with a smile: "Master Lu, don't rush to call that, there is only hope, a little bit of hope, and it hasn't been settled yet. , not really settled."

"As long as there is hope!" Wu Yingxiong said resolutely: "Lin Shibo, since this matter has a turning point, we have to do our best to fight for it. How about this, you go to the court to do activities and try to take down this key position. If you need anything about silver, just ask."

"Your Majesty, I have spent more than 5 taels of silver on you for this position, how dare you continue to spend your money?" Lin Tianqing blushed with a rare guilty conscience, and hurriedly postponed it resolutely. A look of complete ignorance of the ins and outs of the matter and the background behind the scenes.

After chatting for a while, Lin Tianqing got up and said goodbye and went back to the room. Fatty Lu also said goodbye, and went back to the room with Lin Tianqing to rest.On the way, Fatty Lu had to lower his voice and ask Lin Tianqing: "Lin Zhongcheng, the emperor promised you to be the governor of Yunnan again?"

"Not sure, but it's close." Lin Tianqing also lowered his voice, and replied: "That's what the emperor said. He first praised the old man for his loyalty to the country, and then mentioned Li Tianyu's involvement in the case of Nanfufu. How disappointing his performance is, let the old man be prepared. After this year, the emperor will consider letting the old man use his spare heat and assign him an important job again. ——Lord Lu, thank you for your introduction, if not Help me, how could the emperor say such a thing to the old man?"

"Senior Lin, you're being polite, this is just the effort of this junior." Fatty Lu agreed in a low voice, and then asked: "Then when the emperor asked about the situation of Yungui's military salary, how did you answer, senior?"

"This old man will go to Yunnan and Guizhou to be an official, so of course I will answer according to the figure you pointed out, Mr. Lu." Lin Tianqing said in a low voice: "However, this old man didn't dare to insist that it is 350 million taels. There are two Yunnan-Guizhou military salaries, one is 400 million taels, and the other is 350 million taels, the specific amount of military salary reported to the imperial court, the old man does not know."

"Senior Lin is clever, the answer is really tactful." Fatty Lu praised, but he was thinking in his heart—is this old man's words reliable?Did he really answer Kang Mazi like this?
"By the way, Master Lu, there is one more thing you have to be careful about." Out of gratitude to Fatty Lu, Lin Tianqing kindly reminded, "When the emperor's interview with the old man was about to end, a eunuch went to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to report to the emperor. It is said that Shang Zhixiao, the second prince of Prince Pingnan, and Shang Zhili, the third prince, are seeking to see him, and they want to sue Mrs. Lu for abducting their little princess from Prince Pingnan’s mansion into the mansion of Prince Pingxi’s son. I don’t know the specifics of the decree to meet Shang Zhixiao and Monk Zhili.”

"Thank you, Senior Lin, for your guidance. This junior will be careful." Fatty Lu smiled, bid farewell to Lin Tianqing, and went back to their rooms to rest.

Of course, Lin Tianqing honestly went back to his room, excited and restless, while Fatty Lu turned around, and soon returned to the study room in Wu Yingxiong's house, which was the most closely guarded. I have been waiting for a long time.As soon as he entered the door, Fatty Lu immediately repeated Lin Tianqing's words to Wu Yingxiong without saying a word, and reported the good news to Wu Yingxiong.

"So, Yifeng, your plan is going smoothly. As long as the court and the emperor believe that 350 million taels of silver is our trump card for military pay, things will be much easier." Wu Yingxiong is not stupid. He quickly pondered and asked the same question as Fatty Lu, "But, is this old bastard Lin Tianqing telling us the truth? Did he report the figure of 350 million to the emperor?! If not, then there is a big problem Already!"

"My lord, this is something that cannot be proven. We haven't been able to put our hands into the Hall of Mental Cultivation yet." Lang Yanshu, who is usually very taciturn, rarely spoke, and said in a deep voice: "Speaking of which, my lord really shouldn't be in front of Mr. Lin at the beginning." The face said that our military pay limit is 250 million taels."

"I'm too regretful now." Wu Yingxiong rubbed his temples, thinking to himself, why didn't I see Lin Tianqing's wolf-heartedness back then?Although 250 million taels of silver is not the real trump card of Pingxi Palace, it is money, and it is related to whether Pingxi Palace will tighten its belt next year or not!

"Don't worry, my son." Fatty Lu said calmly, "I've done some careful planning just now, and I've already figured out a way to verify whether Senior Lin has lied or not."

"What way? Tell me quickly." Wu Yingxiong sat up straight.

"It's very simple. I'm going to steal a letter from the son's study and dedicate it to the emperor." Fatty Lu said darkly: "A letter from the prince to the son, there are two main contents in the letter. One is that the prince told the prince that because King Pingnan, King Jingnan and Sun Yanling have all proposed to the court to increase their salary, the pressure on the Pingxi Palace has been greatly reduced. On the issue, we can make a small concession, and we can make an appropriate concession of 350 million taels on the basis of 20 million taels, so that King Pingnan, King Jingnan and Sun Yanling can be the first birds."

"In the second paragraph, the lord ordered you to increase your efforts to buy the royal censor Wang Xu for future use. This paragraph can be written vaguely, as long as it is revealed that the lord has already sent a sum of money to Wang Xu through your son. That's it."

"Why did you write this second paragraph?" Wu Yingxiong asked suspiciously: "I understand the meaning of the first paragraph. From the side, I can verify that what Lin Tianqing said is true. I don't understand the second paragraph. Xu gave money? Why did you frame him like this?"

"My lord, this year's San Francisco discussion of pay is rooted in that bad boy Wang Xu!" Fatty Lu said angrily: "If he hadn't impeached the prince in the first half of the year, he would have jumped out to be the emperor's gunman and accused us Ping Xi The military salary of the palace is huge, why does the emperor ask us to renegotiate the salary at the Pingxi Palace?"

"But will it be effective to say so?" Wu Yingxiong asked: "After Wang Xu impeached our Pingxi Palace, he was immediately promoted to Zuodu Yushi. This is enough to prove that the emperor trusts him very much. It is so easy to be banned all at once." Inverse? Besides, Wang Xu is a clean and honest official, a well-known upright official in the government and the public, if we say that he is corrupt and accepts bribes, will the emperor believe it?"

"Don't worry, my son, I have already considered it." Fatty Lu said plausibly: "My son probably doesn't know about it, because of the assassination of the priest Nan, Mingzhu, the most popular person in front of the emperor, took over as Minister of the Ministry of punishment. The Metropolitan Procuratorate investigated the case. Weichen came into contact with Mingzhu that day, and found that Mingzhu, in order to close the case as soon as possible, directly pointed the finger at Yang Guangxian, the chief supervisor of the Qintian Supervisor, and Wu Mingxuan, the deputy supervisor of the Qintian Supervisor, who were the most suspected. It was not enough to resolutely oppose it in name, and a conflict broke out on the spot."

"Mingzhu's success in his youth is a time of great success, but Nan Huairen's case involves Ao Zhongtang. Given his character and the current situation, he absolutely dare not investigate Ao Zhongtang. In order to gain prestige and favor, In order not to leave behind an argument of ineffectiveness, I privately speculated that he must be determined to push Yang Guangxian and Wu Mingxuan to deal with business! In this way, Wang Xu, who insisted on handling the case according to the law, would definitely become a thorn in his side. Handing in the letter is equivalent to stuffing a musket loaded with gunpowder and bullets into Mingzhu's hand, and Mingzhu will never let Wang Xu off!"

"As for the investigation of Wang Xu's evidence, it's easier to do this—my lord, find out the bank notes issued by the bank thousands of years ago in the tent, and let Yang Qilong sneak into Wang Xu's house overnight and hide it in a secret place! Once it is exposed at that time, it will immediately become an ironclad proof that Wang Xu will be killed!"

"As for Wang Xu, my son, you must not soften your heart. Since he impeached our Pingxi Palace this year and spent a lot of money on the army, he will still dare to impeach our Pingxi Palace next year and the year after! If you kill him with a stick, you will have endless troubles...Huh?"

After talking endlessly up to this point, Fatty Lu realized that both Wu Yingxiong and Lang Yanshu's faces had changed, and they were both staring at him in astonishment.Fatty Lu couldn't help being surprised, and asked: "My son, Mr. Lang, why do you look at the humble job like this? Is there something wrong with the humble job?"

"No, nothing?" Wu Yingxiong finally came to his senses, quickly wiped off his sweat, and murmured in his heart that fortunately this kid is from Pingxi Palace, and he is still loyal to my father—if he is an enemy of our Pingxi Palace, Then Pingxi Palace will be miserable.After muttering, Wu Yingxiong said again: "Yifeng, your intentions are very good, and your method is also good, but there is one thing, my father and king do not have such a letter. If you forge one, what if you reveal your flaws?"

"That's easy." Fatty Lu said without even thinking about it: "Mr. Lang can write a letter like this first, and just copy a copy and hand it in. At that time, I can say that if I steal the letter, I'm afraid you will find out, so I'm just in a hurry." Copy one."

"That's an idea." Wu Yingxiong nodded, and after thinking for a while, Wu Yingxiong pondered again: "But Yifeng, have you thought about the consequences of doing this? Your letter has been delivered to the emperor. If that old bastard Lin Tianqing didn't lie You, what you told the emperor was indeed 350 million taels of silver, then everything is easy to say, and it can further prove that Lin Tianqing did not tell lies to the emperor. But if that old bastard Lin Tianqing did not tell us the truth, but told the truth to the emperor It's 250 million taels—"

Speaking of this, Wu Yingxiong paused for a moment, and said solemnly: "Yifeng, what will be the consequences at that time, have you considered it clearly? You said in front of the emperor before that you don't know the minimum salary of the Pingxi Palace. If you don't send this letter Send it up, even if Lin Tianqing didn't tell us the truth, the emperor will think that you don't know the truth, and those who don't know are not guilty—but if you send it up with such a letter, if there is any accident, you will immediately expose your deliberate intentions. The crime of beheading the king!"

"Thank you for your concern." Fatty Lu said in his heart that if he doesn't flatter now, when will he do it again?He bowed his hand to Wu Yingxiong, and said solemnly: "Please rest assured, my son, of course I have considered the dangerous consequences, and I have also considered the countermeasures! Although I am not sure about the countermeasures prepared by me, but in order to repay the prince, the son and the second prince For the kindness of knowing you, Mr. Mao Xia’s kindness for teaching, for the military salary of the Pingxi Palace in the coming year, and for the food and clothing of the Yunnan and Guizhou soldiers in the coming year, this humble job is willing to risk his life! To test the real intention of the emperor for the son!"

"Besides, this is the last contribution that the humble official can make to the prince in the matter of salary negotiation." Speaking of this, Fatty Lu paused, and said more seriously: "The prince ordered the humble official to assist the prince and the court to discuss the salary. Today It’s already the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, and in a few days on the second day of the Lunar New Year, you will be in the palace to discuss the salary! At that time, the low-ranking officials will not even have the qualifications to go to the court to discuss the salary. I can't do it! So I have made up my mind, I must do this last thing for the son, and fulfill the prince's order!"

Wu Yingxiong stared at Fatty Lu. Fatty Lu's eyes were firm and he didn't even blink.After a long time, some tears flickered in Wu Yingxiong's eyes, and then he said softly: "Yifeng, you are indeed a treasure bestowed by heaven to my father! You go, after the matter is completed, the Pingxi Palace and this son will never let you down, even if the matter No, Pingxi Palace and this son will not treat your family badly."

Fatty Lu got up to salute, Wu Yingxiong helped Fatty Lu up with tears in his eyes, and shook hands with Fatty Lu solemnly, then ordered Lang Yanshu to follow his plan immediately, and wrote a letter in Wu Sangui's tone according to the content of the letter dictated by Fatty Lu. Fatty Lu copied the fake letter.But at this moment, Fatty Lu's weakness of not being able to write with a brush was fully exposed. The crooked writing was uglier than a dog's painting, which made Fatty Lu lose face.

Fortunately, Fatty Lu was picked as a talent. Wu Yingxiong already knew this, so Wu Yingxiong just smiled and suggested: "Yifeng, after this matter is over, you have to find a master to handle the official documents for you."

"Your Majesty has taught you the lesson, and the lowly position has already planned this." Fatty Lu said with a wry smile: "I just couldn't find a suitable one, so I just let it go for the time being. But it's okay, such an ugly word, doesn't it just prove it When a lowly official steals a book, the time is urgent, do you write it in a hurry? If you hand it in neatly and neatly in block letters, and you say that you copied it secretly, will the emperor believe it?"

…………

After making a decision, Wu Yingxiong summoned Yang Qilong overnight after preparing the letter full of lies, and handed him a stack of carefully selected bank notes, and asked him to arrange people to sneak into Wang Xu's house overnight and hide the stack of bank notes.In the morning of the next day, Yang Qilong personally sent the news, reporting to Wu Yingxiong that the task had been successfully completed.Only then did Fatty Lu hold the determination that the wind is rustling, the water is cold, and the strong man will never return once he is gone. He took the letter to Suo'etu to ask for an interview, and asked Suo'etu to see Xiao Mazi for him immediately, and presented it confidentially. played.

Suo'etu's actions were also very fast. At noon, Fatty Lu secretly entered the palace under his arrangement, and came to the Hall of Mental Cultivation again to present this letter to Xiao Mazi.Contrary to Fatty Lu's expectations, Xiao Zhuang and La Gu Su Ma, the treacherous old witches, appeared with Xiao Mazi in the Hall of Mental Cultivation again.But when Xiao Mazi, Xiao Zhuang and the others read the ghost painting talisman, before Xiao Mazi could speak, Xiao Zhuang laughed.

"Lu Yifeng, you are really loyal to your Prince Pingxi! Yesterday you arranged Lin Tianqing to enter the palace with countermeasures, and today you personally come to Aijia to play with Jiang Gan in front of Aijia. You are really a fool when you are Aijia and the emperor." ?”

(End of this chapter)