After the old man left, Li Qiufeng and Humpty Dumpty glanced at each other and shook their heads at the same time.

Humpty Dumpty said: "Although your adventure has been through many hardships, it is not for nothing. When I was in Luoyang, I received a letter from your uncle, who praised you very much. ”

Li Qiufeng said: "I'm ashamed to say it. When the apprentice was in the capital, he almost turned against the eldest uncle......"

Before he finished speaking, Humpty Dumpty waved his hand at him and said, "You are not to blame for this, there is no need to worry about this matter." ”

At this point, he paused for a moment before he continued: "Of course it's no wonder that he has his problems. He's not like me, he's at ease alone. The Liu family, with more than 20 rooms up and down, and the lives of two or three thousand people, all depend on him to support them. It's because he has to do something he doesn't want to do, and there's no way. Your uncle has been up and down in the sea for forty or fifty years, don't you know that the scourge of party strife is the root cause of the country's destruction. It's just that if you want to protect yourself, you can't help but form a party and confront your political enemies. Otherwise, the two sides will join forces to suppress it, and they are afraid that they will die even worse. ”

Li Qiufeng was silent, just nodded.

Humpty Dumpty said: "Fortunately, this matter has been settled, and the emperor did not punish him and Yang Tinghe, but just lightly let the two of them think about it behind closed doors for half a year." The matter of measuring land in Jiangnan has been put on hold for the time being, but Yangzhou, Suzhou and Anhui are not allowed to buy or sell land for one year. Your uncle has finally passed this level. ”

Li Qiufeng said: "The apprentice has the courage to say that although the fields are not allowed to be bought and sold within a year, those dirty officials and wealthy gentry will definitely have other ways to get the fields in their own hands." People may be able to live by selling their sons and daughters, but if they lose their land, there will inevitably be a big mess. It's just expedient, it's useless. According to the apprentice's opinion, if this continues, I am afraid that within five years, there will be a big mess in Jiangnan. ”

Humpty Dumpty sighed and said, "Feng'er, since you have seen the stakes of this matter, how can your uncle, Yang Tinghe and the others not see it? It stands to reason that the two of them have been in office for many years, and they should not be in this muddy water." However, among those officials who are now high in the court, which one is not a big landlord or a wealthy man? If the land is remeasured and the land is divided, these big officials will be the first to refuse. But they stood in front of the emperor every day, and if they openly opposed it, the emperor would be suspicious. These people came up with a way to push out your eldest uncle, Yang Tinghe, and other ministers. The old ministers took the lead in opposing it, forcing the emperor to change his mind. Your uncle naturally knows the danger of this matter, but if you don't stand up and the official you are carrying falls, the opponent in the court will inevitably take the opportunity to make trouble, and then he will not only suffer, but the thousands of people who live on him will end up extremely miserable. Now, although it is not like when Taizu and Chengzu were in power, they often cut the ministers with thousands of knives, beheaded the men, and sent their wives and daughters to the Jiaofang Division to be humiliated, but they were sent to the border wasteland, and there was not one in ten along the way, and when they arrived in exile, they were tortured even more. What kind of chic and comfortable figure was your eldest uncle when he was young? It's just that later on, he dragged his family to take care of the Liu family's clansmen and communicate with his colleagues, and many things were out of his control. If he agrees with the emperor and measures the fields in the south of the Yangtze River, he is afraid that the first unlucky person is the Liu family. He can only grit his teeth and stand up, and as for what happens in the future, he can't care much about it now. ”

Humpty Dumpty said this, glanced at Li Qiufeng, and then said: "But after this incident, the emperor will inevitably reject the old party, and your eldest uncle, Yang Ting, and these old ministers of Zhishi can no longer speak in the court, and it is a good thing for them to stay out of the matter from now on." Several new parties have emerged in the imperial court, and they will be their world in the future. ”

Li Qiufeng said: "Zhang Cong and a few other adults can only bend their minds to meet each other, but their talents are extremely mediocre, compared to the old ministers of Zhishi, it is not a little bit worse. They take control of the imperial court, which will only make the government worse and worse. ”

Humpty Dumpty said: "We, ordinary people, don't have to care about the messy things in the court. Before I left Shuzhong this time, I received a letter from your uncle, knowing that you had left the capital, and I guessed that you would look for me in Shanxi or Luoyang. I stayed in Luoyang for two more days, but I never saw you, so I went to Shanxi. I just heard you talk about what happened after leaving the capital, and we actually arrived in Jingzhou before and after the feet. Haha, if you are two days in the evening, maybe our master and apprentice will be able to meet in Jingzhou. ”

Li Qiufeng said with a smile: "The apprentice originally planned to greet the master in Luoyang Guanlin, but by mistake, he was involved in the conflict between the five families of Fengmen Village and the Xu family. Later, I encountered all kinds of strange things, and I wanted to go to see the master, but I couldn't help it. Today, I was finally able to meet the master, and the apprentice was very happy. ”

At this point, his voice trembled a little.

Humpty Dumpty saw Li Qiufeng's true feelings, and his heart was quite moved, he stretched out his hand and patted him on the shoulder twice, and said, "In the past five years, I have often worried about you. Jinyiwei is a tiger's den in Longtan, and if you are not careful, it will lead to death. Although your uncle is secretly taking care of you, you have to be careful on your own. Now that you have returned safely, Master is very fond of it. ”

Li Qiufeng said: "Actually, Jinyiwei is not as dangerous as it is rumored outside. I was on an errand in Nanzhen Fusi, and I didn't have anything to do every day except for being on duty, but I was very idle. Even if it is the North Town Fusi who is investigating and arresting people, it is not easy to arrest people. Without the driver's post issued by the emperor, unless it is a very urgent moment, he does not dare to arrest people at will. Even if you have a driving sticker, you have to take the driving sticker to the criminal department for investigation, and only after the official of the criminal department agrees can you arrest the prisoner. If the criminal department does not allow it, Jinyiwei will not be able to arrest people, and he will have to ask the emperor for his life again. Folklore has it that Jin Yiwei can arrest officials and ordinary people at will, which is just a matter of small talk. ”

Humpty Dumpty said, "You're talking about this dynasty." If the emperor ignores the government and the government, when the Jinyi Guard is powerful, I am afraid that there will not be so many scruples. During the reign of the first emperor, Qian Ning and Jiang Bin were both in charge of Jinyiwei. These two people are fierce and vicious, and they arrest ministers and people, regardless of whether they have a sticker or not. The Criminal Department and Dali Temple are even more afraid of money, and Ning is like a tiger, so how dare they point fingers at Jinyiwei? You say that Jinyiwei does not dare to arrest people at will, and that is because Emperor Jiajing inherited the unification as a vassal king and went to the capital to ascend the throne and sit in the palace. Not only was the government controlled by a group of old ministers left by the previous emperor, but Dongchang and Jinyiwei had nothing to do with the emperor before. After the emperor ascended the throne, he immediately used his confidants and eunuchs in the mansion to be the head of Jinyiwei and Dongchang, but the internal institutions of Jinyiwei and Dongchang were complicated, and the number of people reached tens of thousands, and the emperor could not change all these people in a moment. It is because he can only remove the number of Jinyiwei and Dongchang, and at the same time restrain their power so that they cannot become a big trend. Because of this, Jinyiwei and Dongchang were restrained, and they were not as unscrupulous as when the first emperor was in power. And I heard that Lu Bing, who was in charge of the Jinyi Guard, was cautious and was the emperor's confidant when he was in the domain, and the arrogance of the Jinyi Guard was greatly weakened. ”

Humpty Dumpty said as he picked up a bowl of hot water and took a sip, then said: "Now that the emperor has been on the throne for more than ten years, after the battle of the imperial tomb, those old ministers have never been able to turn up any storms since then, and the emperor's dragon chair can be said to sit firmly. In the future, he wants to control hundreds of officials and govern the world, but he is afraid that he will have to use Jinyiwei and Dongchang to do things. The matter of measuring land in Jiangnan depends on the imperial court and local officials, and it is absolutely impossible to handle it. In a few years, if the emperor wants to do this important thing, he will definitely send Jinyiwei and Dongchang to Jiangnan to preside over this matter. At that time, the brocade guards rode out in all directions, but I was afraid that it would be another catastrophe. ”

The more Li Qiufeng listened, the more frightened he became, and carefully compared the various situations when he was on an errand in Jinyiwei, it was indeed as Humpty Dumpty said. Only then did he know that although the master lived in seclusion in Shu, he was no stranger to the major affairs of the imperial court. The uncle he said was Liu Kang, the elder of Zhishi. After the battle of the Imperial Tomb, Li Qiufeng was quite dissatisfied with Liu Kang, but he also knew that Liu Kang was an extremely powerful figure, and when it came to wisdom and means, he was still above his master. Li Qiufeng originally thought that he had foiled the conspiracy of Liu Kang and others in the capital, but at this time, thinking about it, nine times out of ten, Liu Kang deliberately used himself, and on the surface, he won it, but in fact, Liu Kang took advantage of this incident to force the emperor to give up his plan to measure the fields in the south of the Yangtze River, and he himself was able to retreat with his whole body. From beginning to end, he was just a pawn of Liu Kang.