scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 65

In order to verify whether Lin Tianqing was telling lies, and to fight for the interests of the Yunnan-Guizhou army as much as possible, Fatty Lu resolutely risked his beheading and brought a letter full of nonsense into the palace to test him out.Unexpectedly, after reading this letter, the old witch of Xiaozhuang immediately threw the letter full of ghostly symbols drawn by Fatty Lu on the dragon table, and sneered loudly, "Lu Yifeng, you are really loyal to your Prince Pingxi! Arranging Lin Tianqing to enter the palace yesterday was a countermeasure, and today he personally came to Aijia to play with Jiang Gan's book stealing, are you really a fool when Aijia and the emperor?"

"My minister is wronged!" Fatty Lu knelt down with a plop, his forehead pressed against the ground, and he shouted tremblingly: "Lafayette Mingjian, I really don't know what you are talking about!"

"Lu Yifeng, you are indeed very courageous." Xiao Mazi sneered and said, "When your majesty met yesterday, Lin Tianqing had already told me the truth. The reason why he entered the palace to report to me the minimum salary of Prince Pingxi's mansion was someone. Carefully arranged countermeasures! The real minimum salary of the Pingxi Palace is not 350 million taels! Lu Yifeng, what do you have to say now?"

"Your Majesty, Master Lin really said that?" Fatty Lu raised his head in surprise, and asked dumbfounded: "Master Lin betrayed the Pingxi Palace, is it someone's deliberate plan?!"

"Lu Yifeng, now that things are going on, do you still want to continue acting?" Aunt Su Ma also spoke, and said with a half-smile: "Master Lin came to his senses quickly and took the initiative to confess his crimes. Are you guilty? The emperor may consider to spare your dog's life if you take the action early and honestly."

Xiao Zhuang, Lagu Su Ma and Xiao Mazi spoke to each other, pointing out Fatty Lu's sinister intentions and vicious intentions mercilessly, and scolded Fatty Lu until his face was so fat that his face was so shameless, his fat belly was like sifting chaff, and his mouth kept talking. Yelling, "Lafayette, I am wronged! Aunt Su Ma, I am wronged! Your Majesty, I am wronged! Even if I have eaten the guts of a leopard, I will not dare to bully you!"

"You still have the face to complain?" Aunt Su Ma sneered and said, "Since you are wronged, how can you explain Lin Tianqing's words? Say it!"

"This..., this...." Fatty Lu was completely speechless.

"Slave dog, you still refuse to plead guilty even now?" Xiao Mazi lowered his face and slapped the dragon case and shouted: "Come here, push this deceitful Lu Yifeng out of the Meridian Gate and behead him for public display!"

"Cover!" Li Xu, who was guarding the entrance of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, was the first to happily agree, and was the first to rush into the Hall of Mental Cultivation. He pressed Fatty Lu's fat head on the ground, and laughed wildly in his heart: "Fatty man, You have today too!" Cao Yin, Lang Tan and other young guards also swarmed up, picked up Fatty Lu and walked out.

"Your Majesty, spare your life, spare your life!" Fatty Lu struggled desperately, crying and begging for mercy.But how could Fatty Lu with such a small body be able to struggle against Li Xu, Cao Yin and other young bodyguards who practiced Buku every day, even with all the strength they could bear, they couldn't struggle.But when he was about to be carried to the entrance of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Fatty Lu’s cries for mercy suddenly stopped, and he shouted like he had just woken up from a dream, "Your Majesty, I understand! I understand everything! Your Majesty, I understand everything!" The minister is guilty, the humble minister is guilty!"

"Slow! Drag him back." Xiao Mazi finally stopped talking.Li Xu, Cao Yin and the others over there were greatly disappointed, but they also had to drag Fatty Lu back to the original place. Then Xiao Mazi asked: "Lu Yifeng, you said you understand, you are guilty?"

"Going back to the emperor, I understand, I'm guilty." Fatty Lu cried loudly, "When I was dragged to the gate of the main hall just now, I suddenly understood everything! It turns out that I was tricked, and King Pingxi He sent Mr. Lin to use countermeasures, the minister didn't know it, fell for him, and introduced Mr. Lin Tianqing to the emperor, and then the minister was deceived again, and went to the study of the master to steal a piece of paper. Dedicating a fake letter to the emperor almost missed the emperor's important event! Just say, this letter from Prince Pingxi was not delivered sooner or later, but it happened to be delivered to the capital yesterday evening, and it happened to be sent to the capital by Weibo. I saw the messenger... and after a long time, it turned out that someone deliberately lied to me."

"This minister deserves to die! This minister is guilty! This minister is confused! This minister is stupid! I was taken advantage of by others, and this minister is guilty! Please spare your life, the emperor, please spare your life!"

Fatty Lu was crying and shouting, crying to death, the pear blossoms were raining, it can be said that those who hear it are sad, and those who listen are weeping.Here, Xiao Mazi, the old witch of Xiaozhuang and the others remained calm, they just exchanged glances with each other quickly, Xiao Mazi made another case, and roared: "Bold slave, you still dare to quibble now? Come on!" Let me ask you, what kind of person is Zuodu Censor Wang Xu Wang, how can he accept bribes from others? You are a dog slave who deceives the emperor and pretends to be arrogant, but you dare to frame loyal officials of the court, what crime should you deserve?!"

"You should die, you should die!" Fatty Lu slapped himself twice, and said with a mournful face, "I dare not lie to the emperor. When I secretly copied letters, I found it incredible to copy this paragraph——Wang Xuwang My lord, he is a loyal official of the Qing Dynasty, how could he accept bribes from others? It’s just that the minister saw this passage, so he didn’t dare to copy the truth and report it to the emperor! Now that I think about it, the minister must have been tricked by others , was taken advantage of by others, unintentionally fell into other people's tricks, I deserve to die, please spare my life, please spare my life!"

"Accidentally fell into other people's tricks?" Aunt Su Ma grinned and said, "Lord Lu, you are so good at debating, let me ask you, how well guarded is Wu Yingxiong's study, and you are a seven-year-old who borrowed in his mansion?" Officer Pin Zhima, who neither knows how to climb walls, nor sneaks up at night, can sneak into his study so easily, copy his confidential letters swaggeringly, and then leave swaggeringly?"

"Going back to Aunt Su Ma, I don't know how to jump over walls, but I can inject sweat medicine." Fatty Lu quickly took out a small porcelain bottle from his arms, and explained: "The situation at that time was like this, and I can't help you. When we were together with Prince Xi, it happened that the prince's messenger delivered this letter to the prince, so I was moved and wanted to steal this letter and present it to the emperor. It happened that Weichen had this bottle with him He used the sweat medicine as an excuse to eat supper, went to the kitchen to find an opportunity to put the sweat medicine in the night snack of the Wu family who was on duty in the backyard, and fooled them all, so the humble minister was able to go into the study to copy the letter."

Xiao Mazi winked at Li Xu and Cao Yin, the two guards understood, took the porcelain bottle, opened it for inspection, and finally said to Xiao Mazi reluctantly: "Your Majesty, it is indeed a Jianghu thief. I like to use sweat medicine."

"You are an imperial official, what are you doing with the sweat medicine on your body all the time?" La Aunt Su Ma asked persistently.

"Back, back to Aunt Su Ma, this is Weichen..., this is Weichen..." Fatty Lu hesitated for a long time, and then said with his fat face flushed: "This is what Weichen uses when looking for women. It's a bit ugly, and the girls don't like it very much. Later, Wei Chen asked his family servants Liu Zhen and Liu Xu, who were born in the Jianghu, to get this medicine, and keep it with you at all times, and use it when you have a chance... "

"Bold slave, dare to rape a commoner girl!" Xiao Mazi laughed back in anger.

"Your majesty, please forgive me. This minister is only planning to use it, but he has never used it on the girls." Fatty Lu hurriedly called out his grievances.

"Even if you think about it!" Xiao Mazi turned his face with pockmarks, and shouted: "Put this dog slave under arrest and let him deal with it!"

Li Xu, Cao Yin and others followed the order and dragged Fatty Lu out of the Hall of Mental Cultivation and temporarily detained him, who was begging for mercy.On the other hand, Xiao Mazi turned to the old witch of Xiaozhuang and said, "Grandmother, are you being too caring? Lu Yifeng risked his life to steal this important letter for me, which is enough to prove that he is really loyal to me. You Why do you still insist on testing him?"

"This letter is too important, and this Lu Yifeng is too slippery. Grandma has to be more careful." Xiaozhuang pondered and said, "Your Majesty, do you think this letter is true?"

"Grandson is a little skeptical." Xiao Mazi also pondered: "It stands to reason that Wu Sangui asked Wu Yingxiong to make appropriate concessions in the first paragraph. Wu Sangui, Wu Sangui wants to bring misfortune to the east, this is very normal. But I don’t understand the second paragraph. I know who Wang Xu is. He is as clean as water and as clean as a mirror. Liang, how could he accept Wu Sangui's huge bribe?"

"There are only two explanations." Xiaozhuang held up two fingers and said word by word: "One is that this letter is all fake, it is a countermeasure used by Wu Sangui and his son to defraud huge military pay and frame political opponents! Another explanation is , this letter is all true, Wu Sangui's plan to ask for 350 million taels of military pay is true, and Wang Xu is also a very well-disguised white-eyed wolf, clean and honest on the surface, but secretly taking bribes and taking bribes behind his back, arrogating the grace of God!"

"Lafayette, is there any possibility of half-truth?" Aunt Su Ma interjected, "Is the matter about the military salary true? Is the matter about Wang Xu false?"

"Confused!" Xiao Zhuang scolded: "Wu Sangui has eaten too much to support himself, why write a half-truth and half-fake letter to his son?"

Fatty Lu is really good at grasping and analyzing the enemy's psychology. When Xiaozhuang said this, he suddenly shuddered, and thought: "If this letter is fake, Wu Sangui and his son only need to mention the military salary. Why did they deliberately mention Wang? Xu's matter? This kind of extravagance is not showing flaws? Wu Sangui and his son will make such a mistake? Could it be that this letter is absolutely true?"

Thinking up to this point, Xiao Zhuang couldn't help asking Xiao Mazi: "Grandson, how is Ming Zhu leading Wang Xu and Li Tianyu to investigate the assassination of Nan Huairen?"

"It's a mess!" Xiao Mazi said angrily: "Mingzhu reported to his grandson today that he summoned Yang Guangxian and Wu Mingxuan, the most suspected suspects in this case. The focus of the case is on the missing Oboi bodyguard, but in the current situation, does Mingzhu dare to investigate deeply on Oboi? Now the case is at a standstill, and I don’t know how long it will take to find out the truth.”

Of course Xiao Zhuang understands why Mingzhu dared not investigate Aobai, but when he heard Wang Xu insisted on investigating Aobai, Xiaozhuang was annoyed that Wang Xu didn't know how to adapt and disregarded the overall situation, so he inevitably had some suspicions, " Could it be that Wang Xu deliberately wanted to confuse the water? Judging from various indications, this old man, Oboi, was still standing with the Ai family and the emperor when it came to negotiating salary, and they were all thinking about how to do as much as possible. Cut Wu Sangui's military pay and save money for the court and the treasury. If Wang Xu gets his wish and muddles the waters, implicating Nan Huairen's case on Oboi, and Oboi and the emperor completely break up, then Wu Sangui is not..."

Thinking of this, Xiao Zhuang couldn't help feeling creepy, thinking that if this is the case, then this Wang Xu is really covering up too much, the traitor is like loyalty, the real traitor is like loyalty!

"Grandmother, what are you thinking of?" Seeing Xiao Zhuang's silence for a long time, Xiao Mazi couldn't help asking anxiously: "Do you think this letter is true or not? Is Lu Yifeng loyal or traitor?"

"For a while, it's hard for grandma to make a judgment." Xiaozhuang said in a deep voice, "But this time, grandma thinks that Lu Yifeng is loyal to your grandson. Even if this letter is fake, he must be. I don't know the truth, just being used by others. After all, if he sent a false letter on purpose and showed some flaws, it would be the danger of his head falling to the ground. Wu Sangui didn't have much kindness to him, and it was impossible to offer him a price worse than your majesty. The high price was bought from him, and he wouldn't be able to take such a big risk for Wu Sangui."

"Let's just say, how could a loyal and honest minister like Lu Yifeng do something wrong to me?" Xiao Mazi came to a conclusion that made him regret after he made a case for the dragon.

"Lafayette, what about the authenticity of this letter?" Aunt Su Ma asked: "Although the military salary mentioned in the letter is the same as that reported by Lin Tianqing to the emperor, it also reveals the importance of Wu Sangui's plan to make appropriate concessions." News. But if it is said that Wang Xu is a corrupt official who took money from Wu Sangui, slaves will be the first to not believe it!"

"Su Ma, do you still remember when Li Zicheng invaded Beijing?" Xiao Zhuang said slowly: "At that time, in order to raise military salaries to deal with Li Zicheng and our Qing Dynasty, Chongzhen asked ministers for salaries. , but when Li Zicheng invaded Beijing, when he put a knife on their necks, they handed over the silver faster one by one. This is a common problem of Han people, and it is also a common problem of all officials!"

"Grandma, so you suspect that Wang Xu is just a treacherous hypocrite who really took Wu Sangui's money?" Xiao Mazi asked nervously.

"Whether Wang Xu collects money or not, it doesn't matter whether he is a corrupt official." Xiao Zhuang sneered and said, "There are still fewer corrupt officials in the court? Suo'etu, Mingzhu, Duikana, Wu Liuyi, which one of these?" Isn’t the family a mountain of gold and silver? Can they support such a large family business only by their salaries and rewards? So, corrupt officials are not terrible, the key is where the corrupt officials’ buttocks sit—if they sit in the wrong place, even A real honest official is more terrifying than a hundred corrupt officials!"

It seems that some great genius said that the imperial palace and brothels are the most hypocritical places in the world. Xiao Mazi grew up in this kind of place, so he is naturally used to being greeted and sent, hypocritical, face-to-face A set of talking about people talking about others, plus Xiao Zhuang and Lagu Su Ma's many years of political teaching, Xiao Mazi, who is quite talented, immediately heard some of Xiao Zhuang's overtones.After thinking about it carefully, Xiao Mazi couldn't help but exclaimed: "Grandmother, do you mean that Wang Xu has been bought by Wu Sangui? Now you plan to use the case of Nan Huairen to provoke a discord between me and Oboi, and to destroy I and Oboi's plan to cut Wu Sangui's military salary will benefit Wu Sangui as a fisherman?"

"The Ai family is just skeptical at the moment and thinks there is a possibility." Xiao Zhuang nodded.After careful consideration, Xiao Zhuang picked up Fatty Lu's letter, found the division between the first paragraph and the second paragraph, and carefully tore it apart from the middle.At the end, Xiaozhuang handed the first paragraph to Xiao Mazi, and ordered: "Son, how to do this, you copy the first half of this letter, and give the copy to Wang Hongzuo and Marsay (Kang Mazi's six-year householder) Ministry of Han Manchu), and asked them to formulate a figure for the military salary allocation of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces according to Wu Sangui's minimum military salary, as our minimum salary limit."

"Grandson understands." Xiao Mazi agreed, and asked again: "Then what about the original? Give it to Obai?"

"No, the originals are for Shang Zhixiao and Geng Juzhong." Xiaozhuang replied calmly.

"Wonderful!" Xiao Mazi said happily: "Shang Zhixiao and Geng Juzhong saw Wu Sangui's plan to betray them in this way, so they must have the idea of ​​swallowing Wu Sangui alive, and they must have made a major concession on the issue of salary!"

"Give the second half to Mingzhu." Xiao Zhuang handed the second section to Xiao Mazi, and said in a dark tone: "Let Mingzhu secretly investigate whether Wang Xu has committed bribery or not. If there is, then you are welcome. These days , Oboi has clearly strengthened the control of the Gyeonggi army, and most of the court is his henchmen, under such circumstances, we can no longer provoke Oboi."

"Grandmother is thoughtful, and grandson understands." Xiao Mazi nodded solemnly - he has not been in power for less than a year, and most of the power of the court is still in the hands of Oboi. It is suicidal.

"Grandmother, what about Lu Yifeng?" Xiao Mazi asked again in embarrassment: "This kid risked his life to present such an important letter to me, and I still want to scare him. What should I say?"

"Su Ma, I'll leave this matter to you." Xiao Zhuang ordered La Aunt Su Ma lightly, "Go and explain to Fatty Lu that the Emperor and Ai's family have to be more careful about such a big matter. He understands the difficulty of the emperor and Aijia, let him forget it like the Suo Mintai incident last time, and don't mention it when he sees the emperor."

"And your majesty, Lu Yifeng's loyalty is commendable, you should give him some rewards, just give him a flag, seal an official position in the Ministry of Internal Affairs secretly, let him and Lin Tianqing go to Yunnan, and give that old thing Wu Sangui Keep an eye on it."

........................

After returning to Yunnan, when Fatty Lu told Liu Xuanchu about the thrilling trip to the palace to present books, Liu Xuanchu not only did not praise Fatty Lu, but became furious and scolded Fatty Lu bloody, "Confused You know that even if the imperial court only pays the prince 250 million taels of military pay, the prince can accept it, why would you take such a big risk to enter the palace to offer fake books? Do you know that if Lin Tianqing sells you in advance, you will be sure You won't be able to leave the palace alive! Gamble your life and wealth for a little money, are you qualified for great things?"

"Teacher, the student knows that this move is very risky, but the student took this risky move because of his certainty." Fatty Lu calmly said with a smile: "The student had already figured it out at the time, no matter whether Lin Tianqing betrayed the student or not, Kang Mazi Neither the Empress Dowager nor the Empress Dowager will kill the students, and will let them go."

"Why?" Liu Xuanchu asked in surprise.

"Men, please think carefully." Fatty Lu said slowly, "If Lin Tianqing really betrayed the student, why would the emperor and the empress dowager kill the student when the student presented the fake book? Killing the student is equivalent to telling the prince and the prince, Lin Tianqing has already sold them, and has completely turned to the court. The court is also completely worried about the prince and the prince, so they are willing to exchange an insignificant seventh-rank magistrate like a student for a vital second-rank Yunnan Governor? Are they worth it?"

"Besides." Speaking of this, Fatty Lu smiled even darker, "If they show hostility towards the prince and the prince, and really push the prince and the prince into a hurry, are they not afraid that the prince and the prince will completely fall for Oboi? And Ao Bai Please join hands to fight against them? So the students dare to conclude that even if Kang Mazi and the empress dowager know that the students are offering fake books, they will not kill the students to scare the snakes, they will just pretend to be the trick, and let the students leave in a big way!"

"Don't hide it from my mentor." Fatty Lu said to the stunned Liu Xuanchu with a smirk, "Actually, as early as the empress dowager's first sentence, accusing the student of stealing books by Jiang Gan, the student already concluded that Lin Tianqing did not Sell ​​the student—otherwise, would the old hag still need to bluff the student? Just pretend to be fooled, and when the time comes, it will be more beneficial for her and Kang Mazi to catch the prince by surprise?"

(End of this chapter)