first minister

Chapter 303 Caobang Conference
After an unknown amount of time, when the last companion was called away and no one came back, Mr. Yuan finally couldn't sit still.

In other words, he finally no longer has to pretend to be strong in front of his companions and subordinates.

He stood up, frowned, and looked at the cell door that had been opened many times today.

The cell door was quickly opened.

After Xia Jingyun finally crushed a person's heartstrings through layers of psychological pressure and a dose of strong medicine, and achieved a key breakthrough, the people behind him lost the will to resist.

After all, others have been recruited, the confessions are all in front of you, and the interrogator can clearly explain everything, so what's the point of resisting?

The huge difference between release and beheading, as well as the sticky and wet blood on the soles of their feet, made them make the choice to recognize the current situation as a hero.

Finally, it was Mr. Yuan’s turn.

When he was brought to Xia Jingyun, this was the first time he had ever looked at this well-known man so closely.

It seems that since he was born, the situation of his protagonist has taken a turn for the worse. The previous unfavorable plan has started to make mistakes repeatedly in the most critical steps.

And these are the key endings of his lord's plot after many years of planning. One after another, they were all messed up by the man in front of him, so much so that in the end, his own life was at stake.

Now that he has fallen into his hands, is he really the lone evil star of his faction?
While he was thinking wildly, he heard a clear and sweet voice like the spring breeze blowing on his face, which was incompatible with this bloody cell, "Yuan Shikun?"

Mr. Yuan's heart skipped a beat and he forced himself to calm down, "It's just a cheap name, it's not worth mentioning."

Xia Jingyun didn't be polite to him, and said calmly: "Now I have almost all the information I want. If you cooperate, I really don't mind letting you go, but if you don't cooperate, I don't mind if there is one more person on the ground." Pool of blood.”

Yuan Shikun stepped on the thick blood on the ground and sneered, "Mr. If you let me go privately, and someone finds out, and I go to His Majesty's place, you won't be able to eat and walk around! Why do you dare to let me go?"

Xia Jingyun smiled lightly, "I have three questions. If you answer them, I can let you go. After listening to these three questions, you will know that what I said is true."

"First, why did you come to Longshou Prefecture after the Prime Minister's Mansion was destroyed? What arrangements did Qin Sichao have for you before?"

"Second, Qin Sichao had eight horses under his command. Two of them died, including one of you. Where are the remaining five? What are their identities? What are their characteristics?"

"third."

Xia Jingyun stared at Yuan Shikun's eyes, observed the changes in his eyes, and said slowly: "Is Qin Sichao dead?"

Yuan Shikun looked at Xia Jingyun blankly, his lord was still alive?
Aren’t all the corpses taken away by Black Ice Platform?

Xia Jingyun withdrew his gaze and said, "Think about it and give me an answer whether to do it or not. I'm tired enough today and don't want to waste any more time."

Yuan Shikun looked hesitant, pursed his lips and said nothing.

Xia Jingyun sneered, "Do you think that as the leader of the Qin family's remaining parties after Qin Sichao's death, you have to be responsible for them, and you have to shoulder the responsibility of the leader. A leader should not confess, and should not do this Something about?"

He pursed his lips and lifted the cloth on a shelf, revealing a human head on the shelf.

"Do you know that this is the only person I really killed?"

"The rest only needed a few words of intimidation and threats to confess. I only had to ask a subordinate to record their confessions."

"As for the plasma all over the floor, it's actually just pig blood that I just asked people to get from the slaughterhouse."

After saying that, Chen Fugui tacitly raised the bucket of pig blood that had not yet been poured in front of Yuan Shikun.

"Do you want to be the leader of others? Do others recognize you as a leader? Do you still want to pursue a great cause in the future? Is there anyone else who will follow you? You have all been dealt a blow, and you still expect others to follow you? Confess honestly, old man If you cooperate honestly, I will let you go free."

Yuan Shikun turned to look at the solitary head, and then at the pig blood on the ground that was gradually turning black. In his mind, he recalled that when he suddenly heard the news that his lord died at the scene of the public trial for the assassination of Qin's eldest son. That afternoon.

After the initial huge shock and fear, what quickly rose in his mind was infinite longing for the future.

That feeling of freedom, as if you were freed from a prison, as if the dark clouds above your head had cleared and the sky was vast. That was the feeling of freedom.

It was also an opportunity for his life to take off.

So, he gathered the remaining party members and came to Longshou Prefecture.

Trying to stir up trouble and make waves like the original lord, and then grow stronger.

The vastness of the world and the boundless world are exactly where heroes like him can show their talents.

But he didn't expect that in just two months, he would become a prisoner.

In the end, the team that was expected to do great things was only followed by such a fool.

Are those eyes on the head regretting the end of his life, or regretting that he shouldn't follow such a conceited and ridiculous waste like himself!
How does such an arrogant and ridiculous waste have the right to sit on the card table in this troubled world!

He smiled miserably, feeling that he had succeeded in killing his heart. He was completely devastated and said, "I'll tell you everything I know."

Xia Jingyun's hands in his sleeves tightened slightly, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
-
Three days later, in the early morning, Caobang was the helmsman.

It is different from the Cao Gang that Xia Jingyun once knew, because the sky-defying canal is not in the world now, and the water transportation is limited to the transshipment between Shanyangdu and Jianghuai. Work, clothing and food depend on the spirit of speaking.

Therefore, even the chief rudder of the Cao Gang was more than one level behind the governor's office of water transportation that Xia Jingyun had seen before, and there was only a sixth-grade water transportation chief in charge.

Although it's a bit worse, it is still a large gang with tens of thousands of people, and the amount of money and food transferred every day is also an amount that ordinary people can't even imagine. Therefore, the chief helmsman of the Caogang also occupies a quite broad area. The large square with hundreds of paces is now filled with benches.

The attendees are coming in small groups, one after another.

Especially young people, who love to be lively and can handle the day, they come to the gate of the main helm after breakfast to gather and chat in twos and threes.

"Have you heard? They said that today the gang is going to liquidate the Fifth Elder and the others!"

"Yes, I heard that too. But what I heard was that the gang leader conspired with the imperial envoy to find a few thieves and forged confessions to frame the Fifth Elder and the others!" "That's right! I heard that too. What’s going on! I don’t know what benefits the gang leader promised the Imperial Envoy, so the Imperial Envoy would agree to this!”

"I think this statement is a bit false. The Imperial Envoy is the number one scholar, and he is so good-looking. He is also Empress Dowager De's sworn brother and has a bright future. How could he do such a thing with the gang leader! And the gang leader has always treated everyone under his command. It’s quite tolerable, the fourth elder and the fifth elder have been making trouble for so many years, but I haven’t persuaded them, so it’s not like this!”

"Who are you from?! Are there any good officials in the world? Which good officials have you ever met? The gang leader didn't move before, but he can't! Can you say that he doesn't want to move?"

"Isn't that right! I have never slept with the top Qingyan girl in Baihualou. Is that because I don't want to? I can't!"

"You can't say that. The eldest lady is still here. If the gang leader really does these things, will the eldest lady not care about it?"

"Miss? Miss, it's okay to fight and kill. She's just a woman. Do you expect the gang leader to listen to her when it comes to such a big thing in the gang?"

"you."

"Five elders are here!"

I don't know who yelled, and everyone looked around one after another, only to see the fifth elder dressed in strong clothes and leading a group of followers, riding on horseback.

Many people immediately greeted each other warmly, and some even shouted, "Fifth Elder! Don't worry, we will support you!"

This sentence caused many others to shout, "Yes! Fifth Elder! Don't worry, we all support you!"

The fifth elder raised his fists towards everyone on the horse, "There is justice in the world. Thank you very much Cao!"

After saying that, he got off his horse neatly and walked into the field with his head held high.

"The fifth elder is so courageous!"

"This is a real hero! Thinking that a hero will be murdered by a traitor today, I can't help but feel bad!"

"Yes! I will never agree!"

Listening to the discussion behind him, a smile quietly appeared on the fifth elder's lips.

At the helm, there was a lot of discussion. In a carriage that was leaving the county government office, Xia Jingyun and Ye Wenhe were sitting opposite each other. Ye Wenhe couldn't help but frowned slightly and said: "Sir, I don't know what your plan is. It’s clear, but you don’t let me send people to refute their rumors, but instead let them spread. What’s the point of this? What if something happens?”

Xia Jingyun shook his head gently, "If you want to completely change this kind of people's hearts, you must first let them spread, and even push these voices to become more and more popular, suppressing those who want to refute. Among these people, there are indeed people who will change their stance because of rumors. , don’t worry about these wallflowers, but there will also be a large part of people who have no choice but to stay silent. The more unscrupulous those who think they have the upper hand become, the greater the anger and frustration of the silent people will be. Wait until they find When there is an excuse that can support their resistance, the power of counterattack will be greater."

He looked at Marven Ye with a smile, "We need to use this power."

Ye Wenhe was stunned when he heard this. This kind of thinking and thoughts completely broke through his cognition.

Can you still play like that?
He couldn't help but think of what his father said to him before his death as if to explain the funeral: Don't play tricks with those officials, those people's hearts are getting dirtier each time.

Xia Jingyun turned his head and glanced outside the carriage, thinking, will Xiaozhou Mu take any action regarding today's matter?
The carriage arrived at the Caobang Headquarters under the personal escort of Ye Hongluan and Chen Fugui.

Before that, the other elders and water transportation chiefs had arrived.

At this moment, they are all standing at the door, welcoming the imperial envoy.

Xia Jingyun got off the carriage, exchanged greetings with everyone, and then went inside together.

This gesture, in the eyes of the gang, is naturally another argument.

"Look, am I right? This imperial envoy came directly with the gang leader! It's clear that he wants to side with the gang leader!"

"The gang leader is determined to kill the fifth elder! It's a pity that people like the fifth elder who are truly willing to work for the Cao Gang will eventually die under power and infighting."

"What you said, nothing has happened yet, how can you understand it all?"

"Isn't this clear? Isn't it obvious? Isn't there still someone helping this dog officer to talk to the gang leader?"

A platform was set up in the middle of one end of the square, facing north and south. There were eight chairs on the platform, two of which were reserved for the imperial envoy and the head of water transportation, and the remaining six were reserved for the gang leader and the five elders.

The head of the water transportation was a candidate from the Xungui faction. He was not close to Xia Jingyun, nor could he get close to him. He only showed up to pay homage to Xia Jingyun on the first day after his appearance. In the following days, he kept to himself, not getting close but not causing trouble. Xia Jingyun felt very good. Now that he saw him, he didn't make things difficult for him. He smiled happily and sat down in their respective chairs.

Ye Wenhe and the five elders also took their seats.

A deacon beat the gong and shouted loudly: "Silence!"

The entire square gradually became quiet, and the chirping of cicadas became more and more clearly audible.

Ye Wenhe stood up and said loudly to everyone: "Brothers of the gang! As we all know, some things happened to our Cao Gang a few days ago. We lost some brothers, some officials of the imperial court were killed, and the transportation of money and grain by water was... It was also affected a lot. Therefore, the imperial court sent the imperial envoy to find out the matter. Recently, thanks to the wise imperial envoy and the bravery of his officers, a group of thieves were finally captured and they confessed. The situation behind it. We invite everyone here today and we will hold this conference together to make the truth behind it known to the world!"

Immediately below, a young hall master said: "Master, how can we believe that these thieves are real thieves, and their confessions are true confessions?"

Immediately afterwards, someone echoed, "Yes, the thief has been captured. He can say whatever he wants. How can we ensure that what he says is true?"

After all, in front of an imperial envoy with the power of life and death, these young men still dare not be too presumptuous and have to be more tactful in their words.

But this shouting didn't matter, because the news had already fermented, and many people who supported the fifth elder also started shouting. For a while, the scene became a bit chaotic, and there were signs of being out of control from the beginning.

Fortunately, although Ye Wenhe is soft-tempered, he is not purely incompetent. When he saw this, he directly shouted: "Quiet!"

He looked majestically at the people below and said in a deep voice: "The merits of right and wrong have their own justice. If you have any doubts, just open your eyes wide and sharpen your ears. Look and listen carefully! If you think there is anything wrong with the prisoner's confession, there is nothing wrong with it. If you're wrong, point it out! Let's make the truth clear. This is the purpose of holding this gang meeting! You are making noise here at the very beginning, what do you want! What do you think of gang rules and regulations? What are you trying to do? Are you going to disgrace all the Caobang?"

Everyone was stunned for a moment after being scolded, and they didn't dare to say anything and watched silently.

Ye Wenhe snorted coldly, "Take someone into prison!"

　there is more

　　
　
(End of this chapter)