Troubled times: Start practicing spiritual practice by taking care of your sister-in-law

With Geng Songfu closing the door to visitors and asking for leave from the court, he did not attend the court meetings for seven consecutive days. The Geng Party, which was so powerful before that it could shock the court and the public with just a stomp of its feet, collapsed like a mob in just a few days.

Most of the officials who thought they were Geng Party members and attached to Geng Songfu had the idea of ​​switching sides. In these days, they kept contacting the main figures in the "Jiangnan Party" and "Jiangdong Party".

The Geng Mansion, which was once crowded with people, became extremely deserted.

This made the vendors doing business not far from Geng Mansion sigh that the world is fickle.

On this day, Geng Songfu, dressed in an official robe, came out of the mansion, but there was no trace of loneliness on his face. He sat on the sedan chair and headed towards the palace.

...

In the imperial study in the palace.

Chen Mo received a secret letter from Wu Changlin, the eldest brother-in-law of Chuanhai.

The secret letter explained that since the Maritime Customs took away the Nangong family's port, the Nangong family was obedient on the surface and cooperated with the work of the government, but secretly, they continued to smuggle behind the Maritime Customs. The total value of the seized goods alone exceeded one million taels. In addition to those that were not seized, it is conceivable how much the Nangong family smuggled.

Chen Mo frowned and looked at the secret letter in his hand with bright eyes. He could still tolerate the above.

It can also be understood that although the port of Chaoping County was "privately built" by the Nangong family and was illegal, the Nangong family also invested a lot of real money, making the current Chaoping Port almost like a cash cow. The court said it would accept it, and it had to take the route opened by the Nangong family. How could the Nangong family not have some resentment?

Therefore, as long as the Nangong family does not oppress the people, Chen Mo can turn a blind eye to the Nangong family's behavior in the early period of the new dynasty.

Wu Changlin's approach also satisfied Chen Mo. He just criticized the Nangong family with words, but did not do anything serious.

But the content of the second half of the secret letter was what Chen Mo could not tolerate.

Wu Changlin found out that the private army of the Nangong family responded to the call of the court and disbanded the private army on the surface, but secretly, Wu Changlin suspected that it was transferred.

Because Wu Changlin did not find out where these disbanded soldiers went in the end.

The reason why it is suspected is that Wu Changlin has no evidence.

In addition to these, the news sent back by the Fish Scale Guards who left the port said that two years ago, a small country called Boliu overseas was suddenly overthrown by someone. In the end, it was found that this matter was related to the Nangong family, but again, there was no actual evidence.

Later, the Boliu country, whose regime was overthrown, kept sending people to the waters around the Gu Luo country, making a lot of trouble, as if looking for something, and many people died.

Every once in a while, dozens of bodies would float up in that sea area.

"Bo Liu country, looking for someone?"

Chen Mo couldn't figure out the connection between the two, so he put the doubt aside for the time being. However, he would never allow the behavior of disbanding the private army in public but transferring and secretly raising the private army.

He picked up the brush beside him, tapped the ink on the inkstone, and wrote back to Wu Changlin in person.

Just then, Jia Yin's voice sounded outside the imperial study: "Your Majesty, Geng Ge Lao is here."

"Let him in quickly." Chen Mo paused slightly, his face showing joy, and said quickly.

Soon, Geng Songfu, with white hair, a slightly hunched back, and a bright red official robe, walked in quickly: "Your Majesty, I am Geng Songfu, and I pay my respects to your Majesty."

"Quickly, please excuse me." Chen Mo stood up, walked around the desk and came to Geng Songfu, made a gesture of support, and said with a smile: "My dear Geng, you are finally in court. I can't live without you. Do you know how much I hope you can come to the palace to share my worries these days?"

As he said this, Chen Mo glanced at Jia Yin who was about to leave, and said: "Come here, give Geng a seat."

Jia Yin responded and hurriedly brought a chair for Geng Songfu to sit on.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Geng Songfu bowed, but did not sit down immediately. Instead, he first explained the reason why he asked for leave and did not come to the court. Finally, he apologized to Chen Mo: "Your Majesty, I am guilty."

Chen Mo was stunned, and he had a guess in his mind. He smiled: "What crime have you committed?"

"I have not taught well, and I have not restrained my wife. I let my wife's brother, in my name, form a clique for personal gain, deceive the superiors and the subordinates. Please punish me for my crime." Geng Songfu bowed.

Chen Mo looked at the sincere and serious old man with bright eyes. His expression paused. After a moment of silence, he chuckled and said: "I know what you want to say."

Chen Mo shook his head: "I have known about this for a long time, and I know that this matter has nothing to do with you. You don't need to blame yourself.

Besides, as the head of all officials at that time, you also need to use people. Even if no one stops you, there are people who flatter you. This is human nature."

For this kind of private party, Chen Mo thought about governing it at the beginning.

But after thinking about it carefully, I found that this kind of thing can never be stopped.

Where there are people, there will be rivers and lakes.

Just like where there are interests, there will be gangs.

What he has to do is what all monarchs must do, that is, to balance and let them compete in a healthy way, rather than completely suppressing them.

Because people's hearts are complicated, and because you don't know, the people who are re-supported will definitely do better than the previous ones.

People have private feelings, and those who have no selfish desires are saints.

And saints are hard to come by in thousands of years.

Geng Songfu shook his head and said respectfully: "They are all people around me. If I could have noticed it earlier, there would not be such a thing as forming a clique for personal gain. I am guilty of negligence, please punish me, Your Majesty."

Chen Mo: "..."

He is an interesting person. I don't even want to pursue him, but he rushed to deliver it.

Chen Mo smiled and said: "My dear minister is a meritorious and important minister of the Great Wei. How can I bear to punish you? Besides, I just abolished the Secretariat and the Prime Minister, and transferred you to the newly established cabinet as a university scholar. People outside said that I was heartless and ungrateful. If I punish you again, I don't know how people outside will talk about me.

My dear minister, you don't want me to fall into an unkind and unjust place, right?"

"Your Majesty..." Geng Songfu choked a little, knowing that His Majesty was trying to exonerate him. In the end, thousands of words were reduced to one sentence: "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Speaking of which, the reason why Geng Songfu was able to do this step

Because he is old and has no ties, he cares about his innocence.

If he allows the "Geng Party" to develop like this, his end will not be much better in the end, and even the red book and iron certificate cannot protect him.

Of course, he is not a saint.

If Nanhua is pregnant with his child.

Or Nanhua is not given by His Majesty, but the woman he loves, and the two have a deep relationship.

He will also be partial.

He will not sit idly by and watch the "Geng Party" fall.

He will not come to ask for punishment.

...

Time flies.

Unknowingly, more than a month has passed.

Since then, the Wei Dynasty has entered the eleventh month of the first year of Zhenghe. The autumn has retreated, the cold winter has arrived, and the temperature has dropped particularly quickly.

It feels like I had to go out to cool off with my bare chest yesterday. After only one night, I was still shivering in my cotton jacket.

The war in Shufu.

It has also come to an end.

Shufu, in the prison in the army.

The armor on Yang Xian's body was already tattered and covered with dried blood, but there were no obvious scars on his body. The blood was not Yang Xian's own.

Yang Xian's half-black and half-white long hair was already messy and fluffy, and his face was also covered with dust. His whole body exuded a stench mixed with sweat and fishy odor.

It was winter, so the stench did not spread.

He just sat in the cell covered with hay, without handcuffs and leg irons, and he was tied with ropes, his face was full of loneliness and resentment.

The two jailers guarding him couldn't help but whisper to each other when they saw him like this, saying, "He is the Marquis of Hongdu County, and his daughter is the Concubine Zhao of His Majesty. He is in a high position, but he has to raise his own troops, rebel against His Majesty, and now he is a prisoner. What is he trying to achieve?"

"That's right. Even the previous rebels Huai Wang, Chong Wang, and Lu Sheng were not His Majesty's opponents. Where does he get this confidence?"

"But the national teacher is also powerful. I heard that the national teacher took him down in less than ten rounds and sealed his cultivation."

"Don't you think about it? How can His Majesty appoint him as the national teacher if he is not powerful?"

Yang Xian raised his eyebrows. Although his cultivation was sealed, he still had the perception of a top-grade warrior. He could hear what the two were whispering. He couldn't help but feel an endless sadness in his heart.

I felt that such a small person dared to talk about me now.

At this moment, the sound of chains rattling outside the cell was heard, which shocked Yang Xian. The two soldiers stopped talking and looked in the direction of the sound. When they saw the person coming, they immediately went to meet him.

Wu Yanqing walked in with a group of personal guards and said to the soldiers who came to meet him: "Open the door."

The soldiers who came to meet him responded immediately and opened the prison cell.

"What are you doing here?" Yang Xian didn't look happy and looked indifferent.

"I'm here to bring some food to the Marquis of Hongdu County."

Wu Yanqing walked into the cell, followed by two personal guards. One of them held a chair and asked Wu Yanqing to sit down.

The other one held a food box in his hand and placed it in front of Yang Xian, then opened the food box and took out the food inside one by one.

There were fine wine, roast goose, roast duck and even bear paws, which could be said to be very rich.

Wu Yanqing waved his hand and asked the two to leave first, then picked up the wine pot, poured a glass of wine for Yang Xian and handed it to him, saying: "This is the fine wine that His Majesty gave me before the expedition. I didn't have time to drink it along the way. Try it?" Yang Xian was not afraid. After taking it, he drank it all in one gulp. After saying that it was a good wine, he handed the wine glass to Wu Yanqing, as if asking for another glass. Wu Yanqing also satisfied him and poured him another cup. Then he looked at Yang Xian and said, "Your Majesty is kind and has given you opportunities several times. This time, he even asked Empress Zhao to accompany you to persuade you. Why is the Marquis so stubborn?"

Yang Xian drank the wine in his cup again, looked up at Wu Yanqing, and answered in a questioning tone: "All of this in Shufu was hard-earned by me, but now he wants to take away everything from me with just a few words. How can it be so easy?

Not to mention, he is an ungrateful person. I promised my daughter to him and sent troops to help him fight against King Huai and King Chong. I didn't ask him for any reward afterwards. I just wanted to keep my own piece of land, but he didn't agree and killed them all. How can I let such a bastard get his wish easily?"

As he spoke, Yang Xian became furious.

"The Marquis was still alive more than a decade ago. Now the times have changed. The general trend is the unification of Zhongzhou. If the Marquis wants to resist the general trend, it is undoubtedly a futile attempt. Your Majesty is a wise and capable monarch, and he will never allow anyone to hold his own troops and resist the court."

Wu Yanqing poured another glass of wine, but did not hand it to Yang Xian. He still poured it in front of Yang Xian and said, "What's more, the Marquis sent troops to help Your Majesty at that time to fight against the King of Huai and his people. He must have his own calculations.

If the King of Huai and his people won the battle at that time, would the Marquis still help Your Majesty?"

Yang Xian did not listen to Wu Yanqing's words, but looked at the wine he poured in front of him. He was startled and stared at the sumptuous food and wine in front of him. He said in a slightly relaxed but inquiring tone: "Such a sumptuous meal, is it the last meal of the execution?"

Seeing that Wu Yanqing did not answer, but had a tacit expression, an unspeakable fear surged in his heart.

In fact, the reason why he rejected Chen Mo's many "opportunities" and confronted the court was because he had a fluke in his heart, thinking that he had contributed to Chen Mo's success today, and his daughter was Chen Mo's woman.

He thought that Chen Mo would not send troops, and even if he did, the worst result he thought of was imprisonment, and he had never thought of death.

Now that he expected his end to be death, Yang Xian's face changed.

"What are you going to do? I want to see His Majesty, I want to see Concubine Zhao, Qingqing, Qingqing." Yang Xian shouted.

"So the Marquis is also afraid. Unfortunately, it's too late." Wu Yanqing said in a calm tone.

After speaking, he took out a small porcelain bottle from his arms, poured it into the wine pot just now in front of Yang Xian, and said: "I'm afraid that Concubine Zhao can't see the Marquis at this time, and His Majesty has no time to see you."

After speaking, he stood up, turned his back, and said: "Come here, serve the Marquis of Hongdu County on the road."

Although His Majesty did not explicitly say that he wanted to kill Yang Xian.

But Yang Xian's daughter is the emperor's concubine Zhao after all. If the emperor issues an order to execute Yang Xian, there will be a rift between the emperor and the concubine Zhao.

Rather than that, he will be the villain.

And with his status, he is not afraid that the concubine Zhao will pester the emperor to blame him later.

It is better to make Yang Xian afraid to commit suicide, to prevent future troubles, and to save the outside world from gossiping about the emperor.

But after this was said, no one dared to move for a short time, including Wu Yanqing's personal soldiers.

After all, Yang Xian's status is not ordinary.

Wu Yanqing frowned and shouted: "Do you want this general to do it himself? Why don't you serve the Hongdu County Marquis on the road!"

This time, a personal soldier moved.

Forced the poisoned wine into Yang Xian's mouth.