Zhang Wen looked at the four of them and said with a smile: "Things haven't reached that point yet, don't be alarmist and scare yourself." We rarely see a person who acts as reckless and arrogant as Li Zhonglang, so whether it is the traitor in the court or us, we are a little caught off guard. In fact, Li Zhonglang is young, not deeply involved in the world, has no city, does things impulsively, and his subordinates are also a group of brainless barbarians, which is easy to deal with. ”

Zhang Wen pointed to the mulberry sheep and said: "Boxin always stares at the 50,000 army in Li Zhonglang's hands, and always thinks about Li Zhonglang's proud achievements, but ignores our own strength. Where does Li Zhonglang have an army of 50,000 now? The Northern Army will soon be ordered to withdraw to Huaili, and command will be handed over from General Zhou to Lord Zhen. Xiliang's army is only General Dong is the most powerful, he and Li Zhonglang are facing each other in Luoyang, and they have already turned against Li Zhonglang, and there is no problem of the two joining forces. Although Xu Rong and Lu Yi followed behind Li Zhonglang, their strength was weak, and they did not have any fateful friendship with Li Zhonglang, and the Taiwei Mansion could transfer their troops out when the time was right. Therefore, Li Zhonglang only had 30,000 soldiers at most, plus the wounded soldiers of the Huaili battalion, but 35,000 people. And we have at least 50,000 people at our disposal, which is stronger than Li Zhonglang. Although he has a talisman in his hand, as long as the Son of Heaven decrees, we can completely put him to death. ”

Zhang Wen then looked at Gai Xun and said with a smile: "Brother Yuangu seems to be too worried. Li Zhonglang arrested only some county officials in the early stage, although he is inextricably linked with us, how much valuable evidence can they provide? What's more, these people are really not like words, especially people like Cheng Qiu, who are greedy and vicious, Xiliang people are rebellious, and these people's expropriation and extortion are directly related, whether they kill a group or not, Xiliang should also clean up, otherwise there will be accidents in the future. ”

"Li Hong's arrest of the officials of 2,000 stone is self-defeating. First of all, he violated the law of the Great Han Dynasty, and this alone can punish him for the nine clans. The second is how long can Your Majesty hold out under the siege of our overwhelming concerts and exhortations? His Majesty saw that the entire government and the opposition were opposing Li Zhonglang, and it was not clear who was right and who was wrong. As long as His Majesty relaxes, Li Zhonglang's death time will come. Even if he rebels in Xiliang, it doesn't matter to us. Whoever has the ability will go to Xiliang to deal with it. ”

"Let's take a step back and say, even if Li Zhonglang catches a few Taishou, so what? Could he have killed the entire Xiliang, the entire Guanzhong, and the entire officials of the Great Han Kingdom. To tell the truth, it was useless for him to arrest a few Taishou, just relying on the gang under his command to find out all the problems, it would never be possible. Even if the Son of Heaven supports him, we support him, and even if I lend him all the people in the entire Taiwei Mansion, he can't find out at all in three or five years. ”

"The people involved with these Taishou are from the princes and nobles to the old lords of the world, the relationship is complicated, and the things are intertwined, how can he figure it out? I'm afraid that even if the Son of Heaven comes in person, it won't be over in the end, right? ”

"Li Zhonglang doesn't understand things in officialdom, it's a pity. He thought that with His Majesty as a backer, he could do whatever he wanted, but in fact, this was the most wrong and mindless idea. He sighed rather regretfully, and said, "This is our best chance to bring down the traitorous eunuch, such a good opportunity, it's a pity." Young man, too young. ”

Zhang Wen shook his head again and again, and then said: "Things in Xiliang are changing rapidly, and things in the court are even more unpredictable. Now that Li Zhonglang has arrested Meng Tuo, the traitors are more anxious than us, especially Zhang Rang. Therefore, we are a little restless, a little restless, what we should do or what we do. ”

Gai Xun smiled all over his face, and praised him: "Lord Taiwei is Lord Taiwei, he is shocked, he is far-sighted, and I can't wait for it." ”

Sang Yang, Tao Qian, and Sun Jian were moved at the same time, looking extremely admirable.

Zhang Wen smiled faintly and said: "Li Zhonglang is like a praying mantis now, angry with his arm as a rut, I don't know if he is incompetent." He can't do his own thing, he kills himself, I just want to help him, and there is no way. ”

"My lord, ...... now," Sang Yang asked, standing up and bowing.

Zhang Wen waved his hand and motioned for him to sit down.

"Send a letter to Your Majesty, report the current situation of Xiliang, talk about what Li Zhonglang has done, and then impeach him a few words."

"In addition, I will write a letter to Your Majesty, saying that considering the lack of military resources of the army and the lack of follow-up, it is better to take the initiative to appease the rebellion, so as to strive for an early end to the Xiliang rebellion. Recommend Li Zhonglang to go to Jincheng County to appease the rebels. ”

"Isn't this killing with a knife?" Tao Qian stood up excitedly and said, "Your Excellency, ......"

Zhang Wen waved at him, interrupting him.

"In this way, although the purpose of killing people with a knife is a little too obvious, it has several benefits, and it is also good for Li Zhonglang. In any case, he is a rare talent in our dynasty, and I don't want him to die early before he can contribute to the country. You sit down first and listen to me speak slowly. ”

"I want to know the intentions of the Son of Heaven. We all know the personality and personality of the Son of Heaven, why did he suddenly make such a move? Is it for money or is it for another purpose? If Your Majesty is purely for money, then it will be easy to do, and Xiliang's corruption will not pose a huge threat to us. Perhaps, we can also take advantage of the situation and crack down on the eunuchs. ”

"With the excuse of pacifying Xiliang as soon as possible, we can send a high-sounding letter to persuade Your Majesty to send Li Zhonglang to Jincheng as soon as possible. I'm afraid Your Majesty will have to agree to this reason. As long as Li Zhonglang leaves this place of right and wrong temporarily, we can calmly deal with the matter of Xiliang's anti-corruption. Kill what should be killed, let go of what should be released, quickly close the case, and put an end to this trouble completely. ”

This is also the last chance for Li Zhonglang to save himself. With his ability, with our understanding of Lao Bian and Mr. Wenyue, appeasement is absolutely not a problem. If Li Zhonglang successfully completes this matter, it will be equivalent to making another contribution. In this way, Xiliang's rebellion is over, and Xiliang's anti-corruption is also over, and he has credit. In this way, he can happily take the army back to Jizhou and go to Lulongsai to garrison the border pass, and everyone can be happy. ”

Zhang Wen looked at Tao Qian and said with a smile: "Gongzu, this is not a murder with a knife." ”

Tao Qian smiled coldly and said, "My lord has said so much, Li Zhonglang doesn't know how many times he has died. ”

The smile on Zhang Wen's face slowly faded, he looked at Tao Qian sternly, and said: "I have done my best to be benevolent and righteous, and I have also made the greatest concessions, life and death are up to fate, wealth is in the sky, and no one can complain." ”

In Chang'an, Lu Yi captured five former Taishou of Xiliang counties, and one of them was intercepted by Yang Dang in Chang'an, and that person was a relative of Yang Dang.

Yang Dang is the son of Xia Yun, of course, he is a fake son, because his father is a celebrity around the emperor, so Yang Dang is extraordinarily greedy and unscrupulous, and he is a big bully in Chang'an. He pointed at Koji Yi and said, "I don't care if you arrest others, but I can't arrest my family." Catch it, take the decree, or I will break your legs. ”

Koji Yi was furious and shouted: "The lower officials are ordered to arrest the felons of the imperial court, who dares to stop them?" ”

Yang Dang laughed angrily and scolded: "Brute, aren't you the queen of Ju Tan who doesn't even want your ancestors?" What do you think you are, dare to show your might in front of me? ”

Ju Tan was the Shangshu of the previous dynasty, and he took refuge in Xiping, Liangzhou. In order to avoid disaster, his son changed his surname to koji, and his descendants took "koji" as his surname, which has a history of more than 300 years. Yang Dang's scolding is a bit too much.

Koji Yi was suddenly furious and shouted: "Brothers, kill me!" ”

Yang Dang is used to acting as a prestige in ordinary times, so who knows the consequences of annoying this gang of border troops. As a result, the two sides fought, and the more than 200 people brought by the Yang Party were killed in a blink of an eye by this group of wolf-like border iron cavalry. Koji Yi was so successful that he even killed this Yang surnamed Taishou and his whole family, and even the house was burned down by the last fire.

Koji Yi still couldn't understand his hatred, and broke Yang Dang's two legs. Yang Dang has been pampered since he was a child, where has he suffered such pain, and he howls like killing pigs, and he has repeatedly begged for mercy.

Koji Yi's subordinates and others saw that Koji had made things out of control, and hurriedly stepped forward to persuade them.

Koji was so angry that he couldn't listen to it at all. He whipped Yang Dang several times, then stepped on his face and shouted: "This kind of person must be a corrupt official, peel me and squeeze out all his money." ”

Yang Dang was so frightened that he shouted repeatedly: "Don't fight, don't fight, I'll move, I'll recruit ......"

After Yuan Peng received the news, everyone was mad.

He took a few hundred horsemen and ran to the mansion of the Taishou surnamed Yang. The house of this Taishou has been burned to the ground, and there are dead bodies everywhere. An errand officer came to report that Lu Yi had led people to Chang'an to order Yang Dang's house.

Yuan Peng was so angry that he scolded: "Barbarians, they are all barbarians." Where is there still a king law in the eyes of these people, they should all be killed. He then led people to the Yang Dang's mansion.

Yuan Peng angrily rushed into Yang Dang's house, but saw a mountain of money and treasures piled up in the courtyard, a full sixty or seventy million yuan, and silk, piled up in a room. Yuan Peng couldn't find a reason to be angry if he wanted to. He glared fiercely at Koji Yi, who was kneeling on the ground, and didn't know what to scold for a long time.

Yuan Pan pointed to Yang Dang, who was hanging upside down on the big tree in the courtyard and screamed, and asked, "Do you know who he is?" ”

Koji Yi smiled: "Corrupt officials." ”

"Phew!" Yuan Peng scolded: "You people are lawless, flying and domineering one by one, and you are still here to shout when you are dying." ”

"My lord, who is he?" The tube cautiously asked, "We're in trouble?" ”

"It's not just a trouble, you're about to die without a place to bury. He is the son of Xia Yun, you know? His father was one of the ten permanent servants of the court. ”

Koji Yi sneered, looking very disdainful. Several of his subordinates were ugly.

"A bunch of idiots." Yuan Peng angrily dropped a sentence, turned around and left.

"My lord......" looked at Koji Yi and shouted timidly, "We ......"

"Afraid of what?" Koji yelled arrogantly, "Isn't it just losing your head? There's something terrible. He pointed at Yang Dang and shouted, "If you don't kill this kind of person, who will you kill?" "Who are you going to kill?" ”

"What kind of days have we lived at the border, what kind of days have the people of Xiliang lived, ah, look at them again, they have money, women, houses, everything, where did this come from? Ah, all these are drinking our blood, eating our flesh, stolen, and robbed. They're fine, but we're going to die without a place to bury, is there any justice in this world? ”

"The people of Northern Xinjiang dare to wield a knife to kill the greedy in our Western Xinjiang, don't our people in Western Xinjiang have the courage?"

The tube said helplessly: "My lord said it well. If it doesn't work, we'll take refuge in the old side. ”

Li Hong received the holy decree, and His Majesty agreed that he should be fully responsible for the anti-corruption affairs of Xiliang.

Zhou Shen also received the holy decree and returned to Beijing to recuperate from his injuries. Zhou Shen's movements were quite fast, and he immediately set off with his own soldiers. Li Hong took the generals and sent them out for more than ten miles. Zhou Shen was very worried about Li Hong's future and repeatedly warned him to be cautious.

Although Koji's trip to Chang'an caused a huge turmoil, it achieved amazing results. They got a very complete and detailed evidence of corruption, and the mastermind behind it was Xia Yun, one of the ten permanent servants. Yang Dang was afraid of death and said everything. In order to sort out Yang's confession, Zuo Yan and several subordinates stayed up all night.

On the one hand, Li Hong reported the relevant situation to the Taiwei Mansion, and on the other hand, he ordered Xian Yuyin, Wen Chou and Yan Wuxing to secretly go to Beijing with the second batch of money and evidence.

Marten's resignation was denied. Because of his meritorious service in pacifying Anding County, he was temporarily appointed by Zhang Wen, the Taiwei Lord, as the southern governor of Liangzhou Border Pass, and the formal appointment could be issued after the approval of the Son of Heaven. Ma Teng immediately led his army to Lintao in Longxi County, the seat of the southern governor, to guard the border pass. Li Xiangru, the Taishou of Longxi County, and a group of county officials wanted to return to Didao, the administrative office of Longxi County, and happened to be traveling with Ma Teng, so Zhang Wen, the chief lieutenant, arranged for Ma Teng to escort him along the way.

As soon as Ma Teng left, Dong Zhuo and Li Hong had no reason to confront each other. Taiwei Lord Zhang Wen immediately ordered Dong Zhuo to lead his troops back to the Huaili camp to standby. More than 10,000 people of the Northern Army were led by Sun Jian, who went to deliver the order, and withdrew to Huaili at the same time. Li Hong's army was ordered to be stationed at the Zixiu Mountain camp. The battalion of wounded soldiers originally stationed in Huaili rushed to Zixiu Mountain to join Li Hong's army. The prisoner camp was also moved to Zixiu Mountain, where it was guarded by Li Hong's Jizhou army. Xu Rong's army was subordinate to the Liangzhou Assassin Mansion, and because the war was not completely over, it was temporarily returned to Li Hong's control. Lu Yi was the western governor of Liangzhou, and his army was originally stationed in Longqi (pronounced qi), a border city in Huangzhong County, in Jincheng County, western Liangzhou, but now it was occupied by rebels, and he could not go back, so he had to temporarily be under Li Hong's control. Hua Xiong is a soldier of Jincheng County, and his soldiers are major generals, and the Jincheng County Government has not been established for the time being, so he has to follow Li Hong to mess around.

This is Zhang Wen's special arrangement. If Li Hong and Xiliang's army want to rebel, it is also in the territory of Liangzhou, and it will not endanger Chang'an for the time being.

Zhou Wang was edicted to see the driver.

The Son of Heaven had just come down from the court, and he was very tired and worried.

"There are more and more people arrested by Li Zhonglang in Xiliang, and the ministers above the court have made accusations, their rhetoric is fierce, and the documents for impeachment are piled up like a hill." The Son of Heaven said worriedly, "Although I am silent, looking at this posture, if I don't give an opinion again, it seems that someone is going to admonish me to death." He frowned, his nose and eyes were squeezed together, and he said with a melancholy face, "I can't resist it." ”

Zhou Wang raised his head and looked at him carefully, and said softly: "Your Majesty, Li Zhonglang has sent another batch of things." ”

"Oh." The Son of Heaven nodded calmly, as if he had known yes for a long time, and asked casually, "When was it delivered?" ”

Zhou Wang glanced at him quietly and replied, "The day before yesterday." Your Majesty has been ...... for the past two days."

"I see." A smile appeared on the Son of Heaven's face and said, "I've been a little busy in the past two days. ”

Zhou Wang handed over a brocade box. After the Son of Heaven opened it, he looked at it carefully, nodded with satisfaction, and said, "This Li Zhonglang is good, he can not only fight to defend the territory for me, but also earn money to increase my income, not bad, not bad, much more well-behaved and sensible than that Huangfu Song." ”

"Congratulations to Your Majesty on getting a good general." Zhou Wang hurriedly took the opportunity to flatter a few words.

The Son of Heaven carefully put away the brocade box and said, "You sent someone to tell Li Zhonglang that those money and silk silks, except for the allocation of some of them for military funds, should be collected, and when the northern army retreats to Luoyang, bring them to me together." ”

"And ......" the Son of Heaven looked at Zhou Wang and said, "Those ministers are arguing to death, I can't hide from the court, you can think of a way for me." ”

Zhou Wang smiled: "Li Zhonglang should send someone to send some evidence." Your Majesty has the evidence, and you can gag them. ”

The Son of Heaven shook his head with a bitter face.

"The ministers all use the laws of their ancestors and the society of the country to talk about things, but I can't say anything about them."

"Your Majesty, how much money has Your Majesty given Xiliang over the past few decades? Which minister has earned money for His Majesty to come back from Xiliang? Isn't it obvious who is loyal to His Majesty and who is loyal to the Han Dynasty? These people cheated His Majesty's money, stole His Majesty's money, and finally said that His Majesty's is not, and they don't ...... His Majesty at all."

The Son of Heaven stared at him, startling Zhou Wang, and immediately swallowed back the words behind.

"Li Zhonglang rectified the rule of officials for His Majesty in Xiliang, killed corrupt officials, and greatly won the hearts of the people for His Majesty, and the people said that Your Majesty is good. Now, His Majesty has not only collected the money stolen by others, but also asked Li Zhonglang to kill those villains who stole His Majesty's money, and thus won the hearts of the people of the world, where can I find this kind of good thing? ”

"The ministers in the court are all His Majesty's people, if Your Majesty wants them to die, they can't live, and if Your Majesty wants them to give birth, they can't die, why does Your Majesty look at their faces? This world is His Majesty's world. ”

Zhou Shen looked at the brocade box in the hand of the Son of Heaven and said with a smile: "If Your Majesty transfers Li Zhonglang out of Xiliang, Your Majesty will not only not be able to receive the money, but I am afraid that the money in Wanjin Hall will have to be moved away." ”

"Yes." The Son of Heaven slapped the table lightly and said, "Yes, Aiqing is right. There are many people who want to be officials. I'll tell them tomorrow that those who don't want to be officials should get out of here. In this way, I will be able to sell another batch of official positions and earn a little money to spend. Good idea. ”

As soon as Zhou Wang's front foot left, Liu Yan, the monk of Taichang, came.

Liu Yanzi Junlang, a native of Jingling, Jiangxia, is a descendant of King Lu Gong. He was in his fifties, tall and sturdy, with a long face and long beard, an elegant temperament, very well maintained, red and shiny, and there were no wrinkles on his face.

Because they are all important ministers of the clan, the Son of Heaven specially gave them a seat.

"You have all seen what happened in the court today, and none of the ministers are not indignant, and they can't wait to cook Li Zhonglang and eat it. Isn't it just a thorn in the past, is it as serious as they say? I'm going to lose my country because of this? That's an exaggeration, isn't it? The Son of Heaven said expressionlessly, "I'm worried and want to ask your opinion." I see that in the court, the two Aiqing have been silent all the time, and there must be different opinions. Tell me about it? ”

"Your Majesty, the day before yesterday, I have already submitted Li Zhonglang's secret recital, and the evidence of the former Liangzhou assassin Shi Meng Tuo's corruption, bribery, theft of the treasury, interception of military funds and other illegal evidence is very clear. Especially those letters of the Hou Ye, which are more useful than any evidence. They are too bold, what is the difference between this and snatching money from Wanjintang in front of His Majesty? ”

"Above the court, whether it is a few marquis, Situ, Lord Yushi, or other ministers, although they quote scriptures and speak wildly, their reasons are very far-fetched. In fact, no matter who it is, as long as he steals money from the treasury, accepts bribes, and abuses power for personal gain, anyone can arrest him and kill him according to the law of the Han Dynasty, how can there be so many reasons to exonerate him. Now that they say this, this corruption seems to be justified, or for the long-term peace and stability of the Han Kingdom, but the corrupt people are unreasonable, and the country and the people are harmed, what kind of mess is this......"

Liu Yu was so angry that he shook his head again and again, and sighed: "It's all private words." Above this court, how many people are sincerely for Your Majesty and for the sake of my Han Dynasty. ”

Liu Yan continued: "Although Li Zhonglang has done many things that do not conform to the laws of our dynasty, the corruption and corruption of the Xiliang officials have reached a shocking point. If you want to fight corruption in Xiliang, and if you want to get back all the money in the hands of corrupt officials in Xiliang, only he is the most suitable. Your Majesty doesn't need to worry too much, you should still support Li Zhonglang. ”

The Son of Heaven thought about how to deal with the heavens, and asked Liu Yu: "He used to be your subordinate, do you think he is loyal to me?" ”

Liu Yu got up and knelt down and said: "Li Zhonglang's brain is bad, except for being able to fight, if he is lucky, he is an idiot, to Your Majesty, to my big man, that is loyal, there is no second heart." I can vouch for my own head. ”

The Son of Heaven hurriedly helped him up, patted his head and said, "If Brother Bo'an's head falls off, who will I find to do things?" If you and Junlang both say so, I will be relieved. ”

"Your Majesty should also adopt the advice of the ministers of the DPRK and China appropriately to appease and appease everyone's emotions?" Liu Yan whispered.

The Son of Heaven waved his hand and sneered: "I have only heard that you can't lose your trust to the people, and I haven't heard of you can't lose your trust in the officials. If they're not happy, they don't want to go to court. Bo'an, you go and tell the officials that tomorrow when you go to the court, if you have a book to play or someone to admonish, you will pay 3,000 yuan first. If you don't pay the money, whoever wants to talk will play fifty boards first, and then talk about it after the fight. ”