Great Han Empire

Chapter 268 The situation changes suddenly
Accompanied by Wang Fendi, Li Hong rode his horse into the city slowly.Wang Fen was very enthusiastic and introduced the history and allusions of Yecheng to Li Hong along the way, but as soon as he turned into the main street, Wang Fen's face suddenly turned down.

Both sides of the streets in the city were densely packed with common people. When everyone saw Li Hong appearing in the procession entering the city, they unanimously uttered a loud cry: "The leopard...the leopard is here..."

Li Hong's heart became hot, he hurried forward, and raised his hands to salute the welcoming crowd on both sides of the street.

"leopard……"

"Hello, my lord..."

As the emotions of the people became higher and higher, the cheers became louder and louder, and it was very lively.

Wang Fen turned to stare at Xu You beside him, and asked in a low voice, "What's going on? Who leaked the news?"

Xu You and several of his colleagues looked at each other in blank dismay and helplessness.

"Order the soldiers of the personal guards to clear the way ahead, and anyone who dares to charge will be killed!" Wang Fen ordered loudly to Cao Hanfang, the governor of the government office.

"Master Lin...Master Pan..."

Lin Xun and Pan Ta heard the shout and hurried forward on horseback.

Li Hong only brought Li Wei, Zhao Yun, Jiang Wu, Pang De, Hu Ding, Qi Shen and thirty Tiqi into the city for the banquet, and the rest were Yuan Shu and officers from the Changshui Camp.In order to ensure Li Hong's safety, Wang Fen specially asked Lin Xun and Pan Ta's two army commanders to accompany him with [-] strong soldiers in case of accidents.

At this time, more and more people in Yecheng gathered on both sides of the street, shouting, firecrackers, gongs and drums, one after another, deafening.

"My lord, please tell me..." Lin Xun and Panta bowed and said.

"The two adults each led soldiers along both sides of the street to prevent the crowd from rushing into the street and causing riots. Also, pay attention to those who behave suspiciously, lest you be stabbed, hurry, hurry..." Wang Fen shouted, "Anyone who rushes into the street will be killed!"

This is the second time that Li Hong has felt the feeling of being loved by the people, and the ups and downs in it made him feel mixed.What are these kind-hearted people praying for?It is nothing more than peace and food and clothing, but such a small wish has now become an unattainable luxury for the common people.This is the enlistment of the declining Han Kingdom.

Li Hong asked himself, he did not do any tangible good for these people, he felt that he was not qualified to enjoy this kind of honor, he was ashamed, he neither brought them eternal peace, nor solved their perennial problems Food and clothing, in the thunderous shouts of the people, he suddenly felt that he had to do something for them, at least to keep these simple and kind people away from the flames of war and hunger.

The crowd suddenly became agitated, and people on both sides of the street ran desperately in the crowded crowd, shouting fiercely and fearfully.The government guards who cleared the way ahead got off their horses one after another, yelled loudly, rushed into the bustling crowd, and chased and arrested those who behaved suspiciously.

Zhao Yun and others who followed Li Hong immediately rode forward and surrounded Li Hong. Li Wei was also wrapped up among the Tiqi warriors, and the speed of the team suddenly accelerated.

Just when people's eyes were attracted by the noisy crowd on both sides of the street, a man broke through the guard team on the left side of the street effortlessly, and rushed towards Li Hong at high speed amidst everyone's screams.

Surprised, Li Hong hurriedly grabbed the black panther, and at the same time reached into his bosom to grab the small black axe, ready to strike sharply at any time.

Zhao Yun and Jiang Wu yelled, and rushed to Li Hong from left to right.Pang De violently kicked the horse's belly, and the horse suddenly accelerated and flew towards the coming people like lightning.

The man running down the street stopped suddenly.This person is in his 30s, of medium build, with a white face and short beard, elegant and handsome.He stood proudly in the street, with a calm expression, and there was not even a trace of panic on his face.He looked at Li Hong, clasped his hands and shouted: "Under Song Wen, I have grievances to report!"

Almost at the same time, Lin Xun and Pan Ta noticed a person suddenly appearing in the middle of the road. They were so surprised that they shot an arrow without even thinking about raising their hands. "Hoo..." The two long arrows roared away from the left and right directions.

Li Hong shouted without hesitation: "Ling Ming, protect him!"

Wang Fen, who was following behind, saw the person coming, and immediately looked horrified, and without thinking, he raised his hand and screamed: "Kill him...kill him..."

When Lin Xun and Pan Ta heard Wang Fen's cry, they immediately drew their sabers and galloped towards them.

The long arrow arrives in an instant.

Seeing that the rescue was too late, Pang De had no choice but to throw the saber in his hand in the air, and at the same time yelled at Song Wen: "Get out of the way..."

Song Wen acted as if he didn't hear it, and turned a deaf ear to the long arrows shot from both sides. He lowered his head and slowly took out a roll of bamboo slips from his pocket.

Two long arrows shot left and right.

The saber flew over, and the long arrow on the left hit the shining saber with perfect precision, making a sound of "Dang...".Arrows fall, knives fall.

Pang De watched another long arrow about to shoot into Song Wen's body, desperate and helpless.

Just at this critical moment, a black light flashed through the air.

"Boom..." With a sound, the sharp long arrow suddenly changed its flight direction and shot straight into the ground in front of Song Wen's feet, leaving only a white arrow feather shaking violently in the wind.Then Pang De saw a spinning small black ax suddenly ejected in the air, and then drew a beautiful arc in the air, slashing fiercely into the ground behind Song Wen, until it sank into the handle.

Li Hong shot at the most critical moment.

Song Wenyi was not afraid, he raised the letter above his head with both hands, and shouted: "My lord, I have grievances to report."

Pound arrived on a galloping horse.Lin Xun and Pan Ta raised their swords to kill them.The three swords intersected, making the sound of gold and iron clashing like beads.

Zhao Yun rode up on his horse, stabbing horizontally with his long spear, like a dragon leaping into the air, straight into Lin Xun's chest.Lin Xun was horrified. With a roar, he chopped it off with all his strength. "when……".Lin Xun groaned miserably, his tiger's mouth burst, and his saber bounced, almost flying out of his hand, while Zhao Yun's long spear was not affected at all, and still pierced his chest.The moment the spear penetrated the leather armor, it stopped suddenly, as if the spear itself had stopped there, motionless.Lin Xun broke out in a cold sweat, his face was ashen, and he didn't dare to move.

"My lord has an order not to kill innocent people in vain!" Zhao Yun said coldly, "Back off!"

Panta looked down at the saber with several gaps in his hand, and then at Lin Xun who was still in shock, a flash of fear flashed across his face.He quietly pulled Lin Xun, and the two quickly steered away.

Seeing this thrilling scene, the crowd watching all around burst into applause suddenly.

Wang Fen was dumbfounded, speechless for a while, when he saw Li Hong and his party approaching Song Wen on horseback, the murderous aura in his eyes suddenly grew.

Li Hong looked at Song Wen, shook his head and said with a smile, "You are so courageous, you dare to do such a thing, aren't you afraid of lying dead on the street?"

Song Wen smiled lightly and said, "As long as your lord reads this scroll, it doesn't matter if I die?"

"What grievance do you have?"

"Jizhou Inspector Wang Fen Wang unreasonably accused my teacher of adultery with the yellow scarf thief, not only imprisoned my teacher, but also confiscated all the property of my teacher's family. This month Dingmao Day (that is, the 21st) the emperor issued a decree to amnesty the world , but Mr. Wang ignored the amnesty order and refused to release him, which resulted in my teacher’s unjust death in prison, and his body has not yet been buried.” Song Wen said loudly, “This book records that Mr. Wang, the governor of Jizhou, framed 27 wealthy families in Jizhou. Confiscated the evidence of perverting the law with a total of 27 million yuan from these [-] wealthy families. Please check carefully, punish the traitors, and return the innocence of my teacher and all those who have wronged."

Li Hong is overjoyed.

He was worried that he could not find evidence that Wang Fen broke the law.If I have evidence that Wang Fen violated the law, I can make Wang Fen feel in danger and feel desperate, and then I will use the military funds to push Wang Fen to a corner and force Wang Fen to do something desperate, so that I can do it in one fell swoop. Capture him, thereby destroying his plot to rob and kill the emperor.

The matter in Jizhou is different from Xiliang's corruption. If you don't handle it well and make things out of hand and delay your Majesty's return home to worship ancestors, then you will not only offend your Majesty and the Queen Mother, but also be raped by those gangsters in the court. People take advantage of the opportunity to add insult to injury, and at that time, they will be besieged on all sides, alone and alone, and the consequences will be disastrous.

What makes Li Hong even more uncomfortable is that if Cao Cao's words are true, and he cannot destroy Wang Fen's conspiracy before His Majesty arrives in Jizhou, then he will be to blame for death.Once Wang Fen's conspiracy succeeds, not only the lives of His Majesty and the Queen Mother will be at stake, but the Han Kingdom will also fall into chaos and war. Li Hong dare not even think about the serious consequences arising from this.

Zhao Yun leaned over and took the scroll of letters from Song Wen, and handed it to Li Wei who hurried forward.Li Wei quickly scanned the ten lines at a glance.

"My lord, we can go back to the camp." Li Weixi smiled and said in a low voice, "Let Master Yuan take care of the banquet. He likes eating, drinking, playing and having fun the most."

Li Hong understood.

"Zifeng, Lingming, protect Mr. Song, let's go back to camp."

Wang Fen stepped forward, apologized repeatedly, and said with a smile: "Your Excellency, you are frightened, you are frightened, the government office is in front of you, and we will be there soon..." Then he pointed at Song Wen who was glaring at him, and said angrily, "This man is a Madman, he was stimulated by the death of his teacher some time ago, so he has been crazy, adults must not believe his nonsense."

"Come here..." He didn't wait for Li Hong to speak, and waved to the attendants behind him, "Arrest him and put him in prison."

"Wait a minute..." Li Hong smiled coldly, raised his hand and said, "I'll take this person home first and ask."

"My lord, you are visiting Jizhou for the important event of His Majesty's return home to worship ancestors. The schedule is in a hurry, so how can you have time to ask about such trivial matters?" Wang Fen said with a smile: "Your Majesty has not managed Jizhou well, so I made adults laugh. This kind of trivial matter Of course, it will be handled by the Jizhou Mansion, I think we should lock him up first." Wang Fen specially emphasized the word "Jizhou Mansion", which meant to remind Li Hong not to meddle in his own business.

Li Hong lowered his face and asked, "This righteous man accused you of framing 27 rich families in Jizhou. He not only arrested them and ransacked their homes, but also ignored the emperor's amnesty order and refused to release them. Is there such a thing?"

Wang Fen shook his head and said helplessly: "Sir, this man is a lunatic, how can you believe what he said? I am a member of the court, and you don't believe what I say, but you go to believe a lunatic's nonsense, I don't understand what your lord means? Does your lord have a prejudice against me?"

Li Hong glanced at him, and suddenly smiled and said, "Your Excellency, you are overthinking. This lunatic said that you ransacked your home and confiscated [-] million yuan in property. I am very interested in this matter. You know, I have always hated corrupt officials and will never show mercy." .”

Wang Fen smiled bitterly with an innocent face.

"My lord, is there such a thing?" Li Hong asked.

Wang Fen raised his hand calmly and said: "My lord, I can swear that there will be absolutely no false accusations. These 27 wealthy households have no law, and they have conspired with ants and thieves. The evidence is convincing. Your lord can send someone to investigate and verify. The officials must try their best to assist in order to clarify the innocence."

"This trip to Jizhou is in a hurry, so the inspection will be avoided. I don't have time to delay here." Li Hong waved his hand and said, "I think so. I'll take this person back to ask about the situation. If he's not crazy, say It's true." Li Hong suddenly turned cold, and said coldly, "If your lord is corrupt and perverts the law, colludes with ants and thieves, and plots wrongdoing, you will die."

Wang Fen did not show any weakness, and looked at Li Hong coldly, looking very angry.

"Let's go..." Li Hong roared, and took the lead to ride away.

=====================

Song Wen Biaozi Changfeng, born in Jiangzhou, Yizhou.Li Hong was surprised when he heard that he was from Jiangzhou, Yizhou. He smiled and said to Li Wei: "Tang Yun is from Jiangzhou, and Lin Xun in this camp is also from Jiangzhou. Now I just grab anyone on the street. He is still from Jiangzhou, so it can be seen that Jiangzhou is a treasure land with outstanding people, a good place." Li Wei laughed and said: "Yizhou is a land of abundance, of course there are outstanding people."

When Song Wen was young, his father served as a small official in Bohai County, Jizhou, and his family moved to live in Bohai County.His teacher Jiang Yi used to be the prefect of Bohai County, so Song Wen served in the county government for many years.A few years ago, Jiang Yi wrote a letter to persuade the emperor to eradicate the traitor, but he was framed by the traitor and imprisoned. After being amnesty, he was able to go home exonerated.This time, Jiang Yi was framed by Wang Fen and imprisoned. Because of his old age and frailty, he couldn't stand the toss, so he died in prison.

"If it wasn't for the wealth of his family, Mr. Jiang wouldn't have died unjustly in prison." Li Wei covered his eyes and sighed, "It's all caused by money."

Song Wen was sad and silent.

"Did Wang Fen act recklessly when he took office, taking money and breaking the law?" Li Hong asked.

"That's not true." Song Wen shook his head and said, "Whether Mr. Wang used to be a man or an official, he had a good reputation. He suddenly went against the grain and did such a thing that angered both humans and gods, which is what happened in the past two months."

Li Hongruo realized something.

He looked at Song Wen and said: "Brother Changfeng, you have offended Wang Fen, it is very difficult to save your life if you go out now, in my opinion, you should stay with me for the time being."

Song Wen said with a desolate expression: "I have made my wish, it doesn't matter whether I live or die."

Li Hong patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Brother Changfeng was still full of pride just now, why did he become so discouraged in a blink of an eye? In a few days, let's see how I will avenge you."

======================
After Li Wei sent Song Wen away, he immediately returned to the big tent.

"My lord, in this way, what Cao Cao said is true." Li Wei said, "Didn't His Majesty suddenly decide to go back to his hometown of Hejian Country in Jizhou to worship the ancestors two months ago? Wang Fen must have received His Majesty's imperial decree." Only then did he come up with the idea of ​​hijacking the emperor and eradicating traitors. To accomplish such a big thing, the most important thing is the army and money. At present, Wang Fen has received the help of the yellow scarf ant thief to solve the problem of the army. What he wants is money. For money, he seems to have no good way, but to accumulate it through extortion and extortion. As a result, something went wrong."

"If this matter is used to impeach him, firstly, it will take time, and secondly, it will require a lot of evidence, which is troublesome." Li Hong said with a smile, "However, it is more than enough to use this matter to frighten him."

"Scare?" Li Wei asked back, "What's the use of scaring, of course we have to blackmail him. What he lacks is money, and we will use this to blackmail him. If he is in a hurry, he will naturally find a way to do it." To deal with us, as long as he makes a move, he will die."

"Zhong Yuan, look at him like that, he's old and cunning, it's not easy to drive him into a panic."

Li Wei nodded solemnly, without making a sound, and after a while, he said: "I think Wang Fen is either crazy, or has someone else to rely on."

"How to say?" Li Hong asked.

Li Wei said: "Look, Wang Fen only has more than 2 people in his hands, but he is so whimsical. He wants to hijack the emperor with such a small number of people. Is it possible? You and I think it is impossible, and of course he will not be so stupid. I think it is false that he hijacked the emperor, but it is true that he caused the world to be disrupted."

"Whether Wang Fen hijacked the emperor, killed the emperor, or established another emperor, what did he bring to the Han Dynasty? It was chaos, which was better than the chaos of the Yellow Turban Rebellion."

"As soon as something happens to the emperor, the great general in Luoyang will immediately support the great prince as the new emperor. Now, the great general and the family bureaucrats are eyeing the traitors and will devour them at any time. Think about it, the great general will miss it." Is this a chance?"

"Now I understand why Cao Cao told us this news. He wanted to save his family's life. As long as we kill Wang Fen in Jizhou and break their tricks, the emperor will be safe and sound. The emperor is fine, just rape and eunuch. Survive, and the Cao family will naturally live more comfortably."

"Zhong Yuan, do you mean that Wang Fen relies on the general?" Li Hong looked around and asked carefully in a low voice.

Li Wei looked at Li Hong in surprise, and said with a smile, "I didn't say that."

Li Hong glared at him, and said: "If this is the general's trick, and the first prince ascends the throne smoothly, how can the world be in chaos? You don't think the Yellow Turban Army still has this strength, do you?"

"Why not?" Li Wei asked back, "Last year, the imperial court not only did not waive Jizhou's taxes, but also increased Jizhou's taxes due to the Xiliang War. As a result, more people were forced to abandon their homes and go to the Taihang Mountains." , do you know about this?"

Li Hong shook his head.

"Wang Fen and a group of Jizhou bureaucrats are doing harm to others by reporting good news instead of bad news for their own self-interest. In the past few days, I have heard privately from people in various counties and townships that there are at least a million people gathered in Taihang Mountain." Li Wei He whispered, "It is said that there are 30 to [-] people in Heishan, Hanoi County alone."

Li Hong sighed, and said: "That is to say, if Wang Fen's treacherous plan succeeds, the world will definitely be in chaos."

"Yes." Li Wei said, "Whether Wang Fen's treachery succeeds or not, the world is bound to be in chaos. You see, the Xianbei people have amassed an army of 10,000+ on the border thousands of miles away in northern Xinjiang. What do they want to do? The Karasuma people in Youzhou and the Huns in Bingzhou are all about to move, and none of them want to take a few bites while the Han Kingdom is dying?"

"He Jin, a pig butcher, what does he know? What do the selfish bureaucrats in the court know? Which one of them is working hard for the thousands of miles of my great Han country?"

Li Hong looked at the impassioned Li Wei, and said with a smile: "Zhong Yuan, you are excited again, if you continue talking, you won't be persuading me to rebel again, right?"

"My lord was joking." Li Wei blushed and coughed twice, trying her best to hide the embarrassment in her heart.He actually had this intention in his heart, but he didn't want Li Hong to explain it to him.

Li Hong laughed loudly, shook his head and said, "Zhong Yuan, don't mention this again. Your idea is to make the people of the world live a better life, but I don't have the ability. Just look at the Yellow Turban Army. , This thing that changes the world is simply not something that people like you and me can do with tens of thousands of troops. You think too simply."

"Okay, let's talk about the matter at hand." Li Hong patted Li Wei's shoulder affectionately and said with a smile, "At the beginning, fortunately, I didn't listen to your words and killed you, otherwise today's matter will be troublesome. This kind of thing It’s not like fighting, there are many things involved, and I don’t really understand, without you by my side to give me advice, I’m afraid I’ll suffer this time.”

"A grown-up has outstanding intelligence, how could such a trivial matter trouble you?" Li Wei laughed.

"Don't talk about flattery." Li Hong said, "We don't care about the future, and we don't care what Wang Fen relies on. What we have to do now is to drive Wang Fen into chaos. What are you going to do next? manage?"

"When your lord was patrolling the camp today, he told you that the military funds have been brought to the camp. I think the officers and soldiers are looking forward to it, and they all want to get the military salary as soon as possible." Li Wei said, "The next step, my lord must first Stay in the Yecheng camp for a few days. Wang Fen will definitely be in a hurry when he sees that the lord has not left and the military funds are not given to him. If he comes to ask for money, we will force him to send food and clothes. Otherwise, the military funds will be withheld. With enough food and clothing, the soldiers will be fed and clothed, and they will be grateful to the adults. At this time, the adults can consider handing over the military funds to Wang Fen."

=====================

(End of this chapter)