Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 676 Today's Prime Minister's Mansion
After Ye Chen left the capital with his people, the Huaxia Weifu remained in the Great Song Dynasty mainly divided into four major groups.

The Nan Mansion led by Liu Jinyuan is entrenched in the Jiangnan area. In addition to the thousands of members of the Dajiang Gang, there are also some gangs in the Jiangnan area secretly controlled by the Dajiang Gang.

The West Mansion led by Huang Louping is mainly located in Northwest Two Roads and Chengdu Fu Road. In addition to organized spies and assassins, there are also huge peripheral forces that Huang Louping has developed over the past two years, the largest of which is the Escort Bureau. , it can be said that the Xifu led by Huang Louping has secretly monopolized the industry of the Western Escort Bureau of the Great Song Dynasty.

The main force of the Northern Mansion controlled by Xiao Xiuming is instead in the Khitan territory. In the past two years, as Xiao Xiuming's position in the Khitan has changed and his status has been continuously improved, the dark forces in the Northern Mansion have also developed rapidly and are well hidden.

In addition to the power of these three branch offices, there is also a huge business empire under the Department of Internal Affairs, which is managed and controlled by Zhou Xin, Feng Gang, and Wu Zhiyuan, which spreads all over the streets and corners of the Song Dynasty.

In addition to the above, there are also some pivotal forces centered on Kyoto.For example, the Cao Gang led by Zhou Jie controls the private water transportation of the entire canal north of the Yangtze River, with tens of thousands of gangs.Shiwa controls half of the underground forces inside and outside Kaifeng City, dominated by the Beggar Gang.

It is conceivable that among the above-mentioned forces, except for the Beifu located in Khitan territory, the other forces will inevitably become the targets of mad revenge by His Majesty the Emperor and the court after the Emperor Song detoxifies.

Therefore, when Ye Chen left, he had already issued a secret order to Liu Jinyuan, Zhou Jie, Shiwa, Zhou Xin, Feng Gang, Wu Zhiyuan and others, telling them to start shrinking their powerful manpower, and let the exposed manpower start to enter a latent state Or transfer back directly to the Northwest.

Shiwa carried out Ye Chen's order very thoroughly. More than 1000 beggars from the beggar gang who were exposed on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival left Kaifeng and went to other places. Disband directly, break up into parts, or leave, or integrate into the underground forces secretly controlled by other Shiwa.

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Zhao Pu's Prime Minister's Mansion is still his former mansion. Originally, in the period of the first emperor, apart from the imperial palace, the most magnificent and luxurious mansion in Kyoto was Jinwang Mansion.However, since Zhao Dezhao ascended the throne as emperor, Zhao Pu has not been constrained by Zhao Guangyi and Ye Chen, and has completely become a powerful minister who is under one person and above tens of thousands of people.Especially compared to the fear and respect for Zhao Kuangyin, Zhao Pu may be a little loyal to Zhao Dezhao, but he doesn't have much fear and respect, and some are just contemptuous.

This time, Zhao Pu has no other checks and balances. Although he is strong in assisting the king, An Lishu, assistant government affairs, and setting national policies, his greedy nature of money and luxury is also unscrupulously exposed.In just two months, the prime minister's mansion was undergoing major repairs. It is said that only [-] pieces of golden nanmu, worth a thousand gold, were transported from Chengdu Fu Road at one time.Therefore, now the prime minister's mansion has far surpassed the previous Jinwang mansion, and has become the most magnificent and luxurious mansion in Kyoto except the imperial palace.

Of course, there are many more officials who come to the Prime Minister's Mansion every day than before, so that the originally open street in front of the Prime Minister's Mansion has become extremely crowded.It has even surpassed the Little Sweet Water Lane in the night and the Daxiangguo Temple when Wan Xing burns incense.

It is conceivable that there are more than a hundred court officials and local officials every day, together with their companions, and as many vehicles and horses, it would be no wonder if the street in front of the Prime Minister's Mansion was not blocked like a sewer after a heavy rain.Even since Zhao Dezhao came to the throne, it has been like this every day, without exception.

However, unlike the chaos and noise of Daxiangguo Temple in Xiaotianshui Lane and Wanxing burning incense at night, no matter how many people are in front of the Prime Minister's Mansion, it is very quiet. Everyone must hold their breath and walk lightly like a civet cat. .

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On September [-]th, as Zhao Pu returned home from the palace after discussing with His Majesty about the loss of the five northwestern states, officials who wanted to pay homage to him came one after another, parked their chariots and horses at the street corner, and asked the servants to go up and hand them over. I got the door post and waited at the door.

When the sun was setting, another burly man with more guards than servants passed through the crowd expressionlessly and squeezed towards the side door of the Prime Minister's Mansion

Many people mocked and looked back at the owner of the servant who had just arrived at the entrance of the alley---a young man dressed as a wealthy businessman. Fu Na really saw the devil.

However, everyone in front of the prime minister's mansion really saw a ghost. This strong man servant was not as flattering to the prime minister's house as the servants of other officials' houses, and he did not hand over a piece of silver or a money bag. Very rudely handed the owner's name card to the door at the side door, without saying hello.However, a moment after the doorman walked in to make an announcement, a middle-aged man dressed as a scholar followed the doorman and quickly walked out of the door.

There were many officials who knew the middle-aged scribes, and there was a commotion immediately, and the voice of whispering, like a honeycomb that had been poked by someone, suddenly buzzed

"It turned out to be Li You."

"Li You, is it Li You, one of the Seven Wenjuns in the Prime Minister's Mansion?"

"That's right, it is Li You, one of the seven most respected staff members under the Prime Minister's sect."

"Who is that young man? It's actually Li You who came out to greet him?"

Under the guidance of his servant, Li You quickly walked through the crowd, and the officials who were facing him gave way one after another, with humble smiles on their faces, and hundreds of pairs of eyes followed Li You's figure until the place where he stopped was just now. The young man who sent the servant to deliver the greeting card.

Everyone looked at the young man, but no one recognized him. Instead, an official's guard whispered to his master: "This man is nicknamed Fang Fang, his name is very earthy, Shi Wa, and he is the overlord of the underground forces in Kyoto. Legend has it that it is the minion of King Xiangfu."

"It's the minions of King Xiangfu, so that's how it is."

"Since this person represents King Xiangfu, it's nothing if Mr. Li You came out to greet him in person."

"I heard that King Xiangfu mobilized [-] Dangxiang cavalry to capture the five prefectures as soon as he arrived in the northwest. I don't know if this is true."

"I just returned to Beijing from Jingzhao Mansion today, so I can testify that this matter is absolutely true. Smack... King Xiangfu's terrifying tricks, he has already controlled the Dangxiang Bashi at some point."

"It's a pity, if the late emperor does not die, with the trust between Ye Chen and the late emperor, the Hengshan area of ​​the Dangxiang clan will sooner or later become our Great Song territory."

"Hmph! That Ye Chen's wolfish ambition has obviously been planned for a long time, but the late emperor didn't dare to reveal it."

"Okay, no matter whether King Xiangfu was forced to rebel, or he had planned it for a long time, what's the use of talking about it now."

"I don't know how His Majesty will deal with it?"

"Hmph! His Majesty's life is in the hands of King Xiangfu, what else can he do with it?"

"King Xiangfu made it clear that he wanted to tell the imperial court and His Majesty that Yinzhou, Xiazhou and Lanzhou are not enough. He also needs to think about the five states. His Majesty's poison has not been cured yet, so how will the army in the northwest be attacked?"

"I heard that Gao Huaide was so angry that Ye Chen couldn't afford it. I don't know if it's true or not."

"Hmph! You don't know that Gao Huaide was not angry at King Xiangfu, but was injured by the killer of Huaxia Weifu."

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The officials on this side chatted passionately in low voices, and Shiwa, who was chatting casually with Li You on the other side, faintly heard these people talking about their own chief envoy, and glanced at them coldly, making nearly half of these officials look slightly pale. Change, and then lower their heads, or turn to one side, but the group of scholar-bureaucrats has never lacked people with backbone, and they are the most proud group of people. Even if many people stare back at Shiwa.

There was a sneer at the corner of Shiwa's mouth, and she looked away without looking too much.

Hundreds of pairs of eyes looked angry or sad as Li You led Shiwa in through the side door, all with extremely complicated expressions.

Li You took the ten children to the side hall where the guests and hosts sat down, and asked people to go in and inform Zhao Pu.Li You continued to exchange pleasantries with Shiwa enthusiastically.

Li You said with a smile: "I heard that at least half of the gangs in the underground forces in Kyoto have the final say. I wonder if this is true or not?"

Shiwa's expression remained unchanged, and she said calmly: "It's all rumors in the market, sir, don't believe it is true."

Li You took a deep look at Shiwa, seeing Shiwa's denial, he stopped talking about it and talked about other things.

Not long after, a servant came in and said, "Master is already waiting in the study, please come over."

Shiwa was led into the study, but Li You did not follow.

In the study, there were two people, besides Zhao Pu, there was another person standing in the shadow of the corner. As soon as Shiwa entered the door, he instinctively turned to look at this person, because he felt danger from this person, this kind of danger It was like a poisonous snake suddenly appeared in front of a normal person.Shiwa once felt this feeling in Lian Jicheng.

Shiwa knew that as long as His Majesty's poison was not cured for a day, she would be safe in Kaifeng, including the Prime Minister's Mansion and the Imperial Palace.As for this unknown expert... Ever since the Commander-in-Chief ordered the killing of more than 20 ministers of Zhao Guangyi's lineage a few months ago, Jianghu warriors and experts have become popular, and their value has skyrocketed. Officials, who don't have a master by their side.As Zhao Pu, it is normal to have a master who is not weaker than Lian Jicheng by his side.

Shiwa withdrew her gaze and looked at Zhao Pu behind the desk.This is the first time that Shiwa has met such a powerful prime minister at such a close distance.

According to legend, the high-ranking prime minister looks very ordinary, but his eyes are very deep, but his expression looks a little tired.

After saluting and sitting down, Zhao Pu said straight to the point: "King Xiangfu wants to grant himself five more states?"

Shiwa nodded and said, "My lord is wise, the commander-in-chief really wants these five states."

(End of this chapter)