Back to Daming to be a genius

Chapter 218 The Mysterious Mountain Sect
(PS: Thank you all friends for your reminder and support, but Pure Wolf is in a bad state recently, and the speed can't be improved no matter what, and I don't want to pour water to cheat money, so I can only say sorry.)
The two words that Li Yingjian shouted when he was dying were brought back to the capital by Hu Liangfu, and then quickly passed through Dongchang's channel and directly sent to Young Master Zhang who had moved the governor's office to Ningwu. Young Master Zhang did not dare to neglect, Immediately write these two characters on the paper, and look carefully at the word 'Shan Zong'.

With Young Master Zhang's cleverness, of course, he quickly discovered that when the two characters Shan Zong were put together, it became a word Chong—implicitly referring to the name of a certain governor.But in this way, a new problem appeared. If Li Yingjian intended to expose this person as the mastermind of Ningyuan's mutiny, why didn't Li Yingjian directly call out this person's name at a critical moment?Why bother and waste effort and time to call out the word 'Shan Zong' and make Hu Liangfu bring these words back to the capital?Based on the situation at the time, if Li Yingjian directly called out the name of a certain governor, wouldn't that immediately prove the crime of a certain governor, why did he still call the word "Shan Zong" to let the court guess the riddle?Is it necessary for Li Yingjian to do this?

"Could it be the same as in the novel, Shanzong is the name of an organization or gang?" Young Master Zhang suddenly had a thought, and said to himself: "If there really is an organization called Shanzong, then everything can be explained— ——Li Yingjian made an open and unannounced visit in Ningyuan City, and found that there was an organization like Shanzong in Ningyuan's army, but he didn't know much about it, and he didn't know whether that person was also in this organization, and the initiator of the Ningyuan Mutiny was very likely This is the Shanzong organization, so Li Yingjian yelled loudly when he was dying, just to let the court know the existence of this organization or gang."

"It's likely to be like this." Young Master Zhang slapped the two big characters and analyzed: "Perhaps among the rebels who killed Li Yingjian, there were members of the Shanzong that Li Yingjian knew about, so Li Yingjian immediately understood The Shanzong organization stood behind the Ningyuan mutiny, so they shouted loudly to let Hu Liangfu, who might have escaped the evil hands of the rebel army, tip off the news!"

After reaching this conclusion, Young Master Zhang naturally went to look for evidence to prove that although the Ningyuan army has been managed by a certain governor to be watertight and impenetrable, but fortunately, Young Master Zhang's direct slave slaughter army, There are two generals Zhao Suilun and Wu Sangui from western Liaoning, and there is another Wu Liuqi who has stayed in eastern Liaoning for a while.However, Young Master Zhang still didn't dare to take it lightly, and he didn't want to scare the snake. Instead, he found an excuse by the way, and asked Zhang Shitou to call Wu Liuqi, who had no deep connection with Liaoxi generals, to have a secret talk with Wu Liuqi alone—of course, because Wu Liuqi was not from Liaoxi generals, so Young Master Zhang also dreamed of being able to uncover Shanzong, a malignant tumor buried in the Ming Dynasty, in one fell swoop. If he could find some clues, that would be enough.

"Shanzong? I haven't heard of it." Just as Young Master Zhang expected, Wu Liuqi was really confused about this word, and he shook his head blankly and replied: "When the last general was in Liaodong, the Liaodong army formed a clique. Quite a few, but they are all led by generals, each with a group of people living in the army. They usually have helpers when they fight, and friends when they eat and drink, but I have never heard of those people. Like Jianghu sects, they practice sects in the army, and have never heard of any Shanzong."

"Then how much do you know about Ningyuan's army?" Young Master Zhang asked desperately: "I remember you went to Liaodong in April of the fifth year of Tianqi, right? Do you have to have some contact with Ningyuan's army?"

"Of course I have contacted, and I have been to Ningyuan City once." Wu Liuqi nodded and admitted, and introduced: "The situation of Ningyuan's army is similar to that of the Daming army in other places. Most of the soldiers are from Brother Zhang. The cannon fodder troops do hard labor to repair the city walls, cultivate fields and harvest food, and the treatment is extremely poor. When fighting, they just hide behind to transport grain and grass, which is of no use. The real main force of the army only accounts for [-]% or [-]%. The treatment and food are very good, and the best weapons are given priority to them. When fighting, they rely on them to charge in front. If they cross, the whole army will be finished." Speaking of this, Wu Liuqi suddenly thought of something What, hurriedly added: "By the way, the Ningyuan army's selection of the main force is a little different from other armies."

"That's different?" Young Master Zhang regained his energy.Wu Liuqi replied shyly: "That's it, brother Zhang, don't laugh at me. When you recommended me to work under Sun Ge's command, Sun Ge left me in Shanhaiguan as a hundred households. I never had a chance to be promoted, so I came up with the idea that I wanted to be transferred to the Ningyuan army where there were more chances of doing meritorious service. So that time when I accompanied the Shanhaiguan army to escort food and supplies to Ningyuan, I seized the opportunity, I took the liberty to ask General Xie Shangzheng, General of Ningyuan, and begged him to keep me in the elite army of Ningyuan City, to charge for him, kill the enemy and make meritorious service. In order to persuade General Xie, I even played a knife in front of his face Law."

"Xie Shangzheng? Yuan Chonghuan's first confidant recommended by Yuan Chonghuan after he took office in Liaodong. He is also a fellow of Yuan Chonghuan's hometown. He was a martial artist in the 46th year of Wanli." Young Master Zhang recalled Xie Shangzheng's resume in his heart, and asked: "Xie Shangzheng is a martial artist, and you are a master of martial arts. , Your sword skills must be appreciated by him, right?"

"General Xie really admired the general's martial arts, and he said he could consider my request." Wu Liuqi nodded in recognition, and then said dejectedly: "But the next day, General Xie told me again that I am Sun Ge, the governor of Liaodong. The hundred households appointed by the old man are the direct descendants of old Sun Ge, so it is inconvenient for him to keep me in Ningyuan. If I must stay in Ningyuan, let me first ask for the consent of old Sun Ge. I have no choice but to thank you Thanks to his kindness, he returned to Shanhaiguan with the army.” Speaking of this, Wu Liuqi recalled and said: “However, it was very strange that when I was leaving in front of Xie Shangzheng, I vaguely heard someone from the Ningyuan elite army behind Xie Shangzheng laughing and muttering. The meaning seems to be—I, an unrelated foreigner, also want to be a slave in Liaoxi?"

"Brother Zhang, you are very knowledgeable. What do you mean by this Liaoxi slave?" This time, Wu Liuqi asked Young Master Zhang.Master Zhang replied casually: "This saying originated in the Wanli period. At that time, General Li Chengliang was in Liaodong to defend against the Tatars and Jurchen slaves. General Li used soldiers like a god and made outstanding achievements. Either his son or his nephew, he would rather use the servants in his mansion to lead troops to fight than use foreign generals, so the generals under General Li, even the generals like Zu Chengxun, are often called Liaodong soldiers. Domestic slaves. I also heard people say that they called themselves slaves in front of Li Chengliang and his son."

"Wait!" At this point, Young Master Zhang was suddenly reminded by his own words, and blurted out: "Liaoxi slaves? Ningyuan! Ningyuan's main force is Liaoxi slaves, so who is the master of Liaoxi slaves? Could it be Shan Zong?!"

"Brother Zhang, what are you talking about? Why can't I understand?" Wu Liuqi was even more confused by Young Master Zhang's surprise.Young Master Zhang waved his hand to stop Wu Liuqi from interrupting his train of thought. After bowing his head for a long time, Young Master Zhang finally showed some smiles, and hurriedly ordered: "Brother Wu, you can go back. But don't reveal a single word I said to you today. Do you understand?" Seeing Wu Liuqi nodding in agreement, Young Master Zhang added, "By the way, when you are in contact with Zhao Shuilun and Wu Sangui, you can find an opportunity to ask them about the Shanzong, and test whether they know this Shanzong. But you must pretend that you asked it unintentionally, preferably at the wine table, and you will ask them again when they are almost drunk."

"Brother Zhang, do you suspect that they are from Shanzong?" Wu Liuqi was taken aback.Young Master Zhang hesitated for a moment, and replied: "They are definitely not, but among their relatives and friends, there must be people from the Shanzong sect. I don't want to startle the snake." Xianghe's uncle Zu Dashou was also shocked, and he clasped his fists and agreed.

After Wu Liuqi left, Young Master Zhang called Chen Jianhuang, the contact person sent by Dongchang, and told him: "Second brother Chen, you go back to the capital immediately and do two things for me. The first one is for the deputy of Dongchang. Admiral Song Jin and Eunuch Song sent a letter, asking him to send elite soldiers from Dongchang to Santun Camp to secretly monitor Liu Zhao, the former censor of Ning Qiandao, who is currently serving as the patrol officer of Jimen, and figure out his every move. The second thing Let Eunuch Song think of a way to secretly arrest Liu Yingkun, the former supervisor of Ningyuan, and torture Shanzong's inside information from him! But the arrest of Liu Yingkun can only be done in secret, and you must not startle the snake. It is best to use a scapegoat to create Liu Yingkun The illusion of being dead, and then slowly torture his confession."

"Arrest Eunuch Liu?" Chen Jianhuang was taken aback, and said in fear: "Brother Zhang, this is not a joke. Eunuch Liu has made great achievements in supervising the army in Liaodong, and now he has been promoted to the eunuch of the Du Zhijian. No matter how courageous Eunuch Song is , don’t dare to arrest him in secret, do you?”

"Then I'll write another letter to Nine Thousand Years, and let my father worry about this problem for me." Young Master Zhang waved his hand wildly, and said coldly: "I don't believe it, Father will sit and watch Twelve Prisoners also appear. A member of the Shanzong?!"

………………

Wei Zhongxian's attitude was expected by Young Master Zhang. When Chen Jianhuang brought Master Zhang's autographed letter back to the capital, Wei Zhongxian listened to Yang Liuqi read the deduction in Young Master Zhang's letter. After thinking about it for a moment, he ordered quietly: "Chen Jianhuang , you go to send an order to Song Jin, let him act according to the plan, secretly arrest Liu Yingkun, imprison him in the Sima prison outside the city for secret interrogation, and must find out the situation of Shanzong from Liu Yingkun's mouth."

With Wei Zhongxian's nod, Song Jin, Xiao Chuan and the others could feel free to do their work. After some tense and careful arrangements, in the dark and windy night of a month, they were located in Huatai Alley. A fire suddenly ignited in a small courtyard in the city, and when the soldiers from Wucheng Bingmasi and Shuntian government servants arrived after hearing the news, and managed to extinguish the fire, they were surprised to find that the owner of this small courtyard turned out to be Da Nei One of the Twelve Prisons, the eunuch Liu Yingkun, Eunuch Liu, who is in the hands of the Duzhi Supervisor!And because Eunuch Liu happened to be staying here yesterday, he was unfortunately buried in a sea of ​​flames, his body was still charred and black, and he was inhuman. Two servants and an actor who was raised by Eunuch Liu were burned to death together!

Eunuch Liu, one of the twelve palm-printed eunuchs, was burned to death in a small alley in the capital. Shuntian Prefecture Governor Liu Zeshen was dumbfounded, but fortunately, when Liu Zeshen tremblingly went to the Supervisor of Rites to report the matter to Wei Zhongxian, Wei Zhongxian did not He was furious like Liu Zeshen imagined, but he asked carefully about the cause of the fire and whether Liu Yingkun really died in an accident.Liu Zeshen hurriedly replied: "Back to Nine Thousand Years Old, I have personally led the staff to inspect it carefully. The fire started from the kitchen. It may be that Eunuch Liu's family was negligent in using the fire. Eunuch Liu’s throat has also been cut open, and the trachea is filled with black ashes from burning utensils, which can prove that Eunuch Liu’s death was indeed accidental, not murder.”

"Oh, pitiful!" Wei Zhongxian sighed with great compassion, waved his hands and said: "Forget it, there are unpredictable things, and you can't blame you for this. You hurry up and write a detailed memorial, and our family will report it to the emperor for you. For Eunuch Liu’s family members, you should go and explain it yourself, and persuade them to mourn.”

"Follow the order." Liu Zeshen didn't expect Wei Zhongxian to be so easy-going, so he quickly agreed and ran happily to follow the order.What Liu Zeshen didn't expect was that Liu Yingkun, Eunuch Liu himself, who had been burned to death, had been secretly transferred to a remote stable outside the city directly controlled by Dongchang. The selected torturers have already been waiting in the stable for a long time. These four torturers personally selected by Song Jin also have a common hobby-let the dead speak!
"Shanzong! Silver medal..., there are these two words on the silver medal..., the one holding this kind of silver medal is Shanzong..." Before passing out for the sixth time, Liu Yingkun finally uttered the first valuable sentence intelligence.The four masters from the East Factory calmly brought ice-cold water, poured their heads on Liu Yingkun's head, dipped ten steel needles in concentrated salt water, and inserted them one by one between the nails of Liu Yingkun's ten fingers. One Dongchang shouted: "Tell me, who is the leader of the Shanzong? Are there any members?!"

………………

Although Young Master Zhang and Wei Zhongxian acted very carefully in order to cover up the truth of the secret arrest of Liu Yingkun, the news of Liu Yingkun's accidental death due to a fire spread to Liaodong, which aroused the vigilance of some Liaodong generals. In the capital, secretly investigate the real cause of Liu Yingkun's death.After finding nothing, these Liaodong generals held a top-secret meeting and began to discuss the perfect plan to prevent the event.

"The Mutiny in Ningyuan, although we succeeded in getting rid of Bi Zisu and Li Yingjian, it also exposed part of our strength." A member of the Shanzong who participated in the meeting said in a heavy tone: "With the treachery of the old eunuch Wei, it is impossible to know how to play. Tricks, use all kinds of means to separate us, and then break them one by one. I am afraid that the old Xiong Tingbi is also suspicious of us, and I am afraid that the old tricks will not work. So I have no choice but to fight against Jiannu. Concession, make a backup plan in advance."

"But Jianu has already said that if they want to cooperate with our plan, they must hand over the Hongyi Cannon!" Another member of the Shanzong who attended the meeting paled and said with fear: "Let's not talk about giving the Hongyi Cannon to us!" In order to prevent Jiannu from being easily discovered, even if we use the opportunity of the mutiny to destroy the Hongyi cannons under the pretext of the rebellion and make a few Hongyi cannons disappear from the establishment, but Jiannu has the Hongyi cannons, we are not sure that we can defend Jinzhou And Ning Yuan."

"My life is almost gone, how can I take care of Ningyuan and Jinzhou?" The member of the Shanzong began to speak with a serious tone, and said darkly: "You think that the old eunuch Wei is so stupid, and you really think that the mutiny in Ningyuan was caused by Bi Zisu's incompetence in governing the army. The old steed dog is smarter than any of you. The reason why he put the blame on Bi Zisu is because his godson, Zhang Xiaoge dog, who he relies on, is being restrained by Tatar Lin Dan and the Shaanxi rebels. Come on, the army of slaves is also threatening Shanhaiguan. In order to temporarily stabilize the situation in Liaodong and secure Gyeonggi, the old dog has no choice but to use Bi Zisu as a scapegoat and use Bi Zisu's head to buy time! Wait until Zhang Xiaogou is free Come, or wait until he separates us by means, we will all die without a place to die, do you understand?"

"That's right, if we don't make a move to win Jiannu's support for us, when Zhang Haogu's little mad dog frees up his hand, who of us will dare to confront him head-on?" The third member of the Shanzong said in an even colder tone. Said: "So the only way we can do now is to compete with Wei Laogou for time, and before he makes a move, invite Jiannu's army to station in Yizhou, which is only ninety miles away from Jinzhou, and let Jiannu's army Threatening Jinzhou and Ningyuan anytime and anywhere, forcing the old dog Wei not to touch us. Then we will use the hands of the Jiannu army to get rid of that old fool Xiong Tingbi and completely control Liaodong inside and outside. At that time, as long as we nod, Jian Only then can Nu’s army reach the city of Beijing at any time, and only then can we remain invincible.”

"That's the only way." Most of the members of the Shanzong nodded in agreement.One of them also suggested: "Why don't you give some dog potatoes to Jiannu? With dog potatoes, Jiannu can stay in Yizhou (now Yi County) for a long time and indirectly protect our safety."

"This is a good idea. Jianu has dog potatoes, so we can save a few defeats and be under less pressure." The head of the Shanzong who presided over the meeting nodded, and said with a sneer: "But don't worry, everyone. I have a piece of good news for you——Nurhachi has adopted Sibeile's suggestion, and has sent envoys to seek peace with Tatar Lin Dan Khan, and Xu Yizhongli encouraged Lin Dan to attack Xuanda. In combat, as long as there is a slight negligence, you will lose your official position, or even your life."

(End of this chapter)