Great Han Empire

Chapter 206
Fu Xie suddenly laughed, "You're the one who has the guts. Although we didn't dare to do it, we insisted on dragging you into the water. Now we are in the same boat, and we can't do it if we don't want to."

Seeing that he suddenly turned angry, Li Hong smiled and said, "What are you afraid of? He is a corrupt official, so I dare to beat him, kill him, and raid his house according to the law. Dare to speak? Anyone who speaks will be investigated."

Fu Xie stood up, patted him on the shoulder, pondered for a while, and said, "Did your subordinate ask anything?"

Li Hong's complexion darkened, and he said with a guilty conscience: "It's fighting, it's probably coming soon."

Fu Xie glanced at him and said, "You can't beat him to death. If you beat him to death, you will lose the chance to clean up Xiliang officials' corruption. Besides, if he is dead, what will you do with Zuo Sima? You can't In order to cover up the evidence, even he was killed to silence him, right?"

Li Hong asked modestly: "Master Fu has been in the officialdom for a long time, and he is familiar with Xiliang, what's the trick?"

Fu Xie nodded and said, "Now that everyone is tied together by you, of course we have to work together."

"Our Xiliang scholars have gone through hardships and collected a lot of evidence in order to report corrupt officials and expose the corruption of Xiliang officials. Many people took these evidences and went to expose the case. Although they were all framed and killed, Everyone is not afraid, and they are still unyielding, and they have been doing this for more than ten years. Bianzhang is lucky, because he only chose his life because of the amnesty."

"Where are these evidences?" Li Hong asked hastily.

"The evidence is all in Bian Zhang's hands, including the ones we have collected in recent years."

Li Hong smiled pleasantly: "It turns out that you have planned it long ago, and Bian Zhang still has these good things in his hands. Have you seen it?"

Fu Xie glanced at him, and said seriously: "If this matter falls by the wayside, or you are taken to Beijing for trial, you swear, you will never speak out about this matter."

Li Hong immediately raised his hand and swore a poisonous oath.

"Before Lao Bian and Wen Yue rebelled, we met once in Jincheng. At that time, Lao Bian showed me a small part of the family property statistics of corrupt Xiliang officials, including Cheng Qiu's family property and hiding place." Fu Xie said slowly.

"Really?" Li Hong jumped up excitedly.

Fu Xie said excitedly, "I don't believe it, the sky is really blind."

"Bring a pen."

===

She Yingtong and Lou Lu were called up in the middle of the night, and they hurried to the big tent of the Chinese army.

Li Hong handed them a volume of documents, and said solemnly: "You two take two thousand cavalry, rush back to Pingxiang camp immediately, hand over this volume of documents to Mr. Zheng and Zuo Sima, and then stay in the camp. At the command of Lord Zheng."

The two hurriedly bowed and agreed.

"In addition, tell Mr. Zheng, be quick and ruthless, and anyone who obstructs him will be killed."

"Yes!" The two turned around and left quickly.

===

"Master Gai has worked hard all the way." Sangyang and Tao Qian bowed and saluted.

"Boxin, Gongzu, don't come here safe." Gai Xun returned the salute and said with a smile, "Although Bianzhang's rebels have fled to the Yellow River, General Dong's troops are still besieged at Wangyuan. Why is Fengyun Iron Cavalry not in Hanyang? , but what are you doing running around in Fufeng and Jingzhao?"

"Could it be that what your lord saw were the wounded soldiers from the Huaili camp?" Tao Qian hurriedly added, "Li Zhonglang's troops have been stationed in Shehu Valley, and there is no sign of mobilization."

Sang Yang also smiled and said: "Those Karasuma people and Xianbei people can't calm down, they just ride around on horseback when their bodies are a little better."

Gai Xun smiled and said: "I don't think they are wounded soldiers. As long as you smell them, you can know that they came from the battlefield. Li Zhonglang has a tiger charm on his body, and the transfer of troops is also within the scope of his authority, but He should notify the Taiwei Mansion in advance." He looked at Sang Yang and Tao Qian who were on his left and right sides and said, "Send someone to ask later."

The two agreed repeatedly.

Standing outside the door of the study, Zhang Wen personally took Gai Xun in.

"Yuan Gu, do you have any good news?"

"Yes." Gai Xun said with a smile, "The emperor gave me an edict a few days ago, and His Majesty has already agreed with our opinion. We will first appease you, and then pardon us."

Zhang Wen was overjoyed, and congratulated Sangyang and Tao Qian.

"Why did His Majesty agree? Did Yuan Gu spend some time persuading him?" Zhang Wen asked with a smile.

Gai Xun smiled wryly, and said: "There is no remonstrance at all. The army has no salary, no rations, so why fight? This is the only way to save money. How is General Zhou's injury?"

"I heard that it is very serious, but there is no danger to life. I have ordered General Zhou to withdraw as soon as possible." Zhang Wen replied, "When will the imperial decree arrive?"

Gai Xun shook his head and said, "Hurry up, it's just a few days. But the situation in Xiliang is very good now. With the efforts of the soldiers, the rebels have been completely defeated, and the goal of hitting the rebels has been achieved. Under these conditions, it shouldn't be too difficult to appease Bian Zhang and Han Sui."

Zhang Wen said with a smile: "That's true. Xiliang's suppression of the rebellion has come to an end. Your Majesty will be very happy after receiving the news of General Zhou's victory in Xiaoniu Mountain."

Gai Xun smiled slightly and said, "My lord, if Bianzhang's rebels are appeased in July or August, the troops will not be able to withdraw gradually until at least September. What about the military pay and food for these months? The military pay can be delayed. But food..."

Zhang Wen frowned slightly, and said: "I have recently negotiated letters with Master Situ Cui, Master Sikong Xu, and General He Master. Our urgent need. But there are too many places where we need to spend money, and the problem cannot be solved by relying on the arrears of military pay. For example, the pension for the fallen soldiers, if the money is not released immediately, it will greatly damage the morale of the soldiers. One point. There is also severance pay for disabled soldiers, which is also a huge expense. If the rebel army agrees to appease, these tens of thousands of captives will be dismissed, what about the money? The soldiers of the Northern Army returned to Luoyang, and the Jizhou army returned to Jizhou. What about the return money?"

Sangyang sighed softly, and said: "Your Excellency, you have devoted your heart and soul to sleep all night, for these things. We are helpless."

Tao Qian sneered and said, "If His Majesty doesn't solve such a big matter, who can solve it?"

Zhang Wen glanced at the calm Gai Xun, and asked tentatively, "Yuan Gu, do you have any ideas?"

Gai Xun smiled and said, "Your Majesty has an idea."

"Oh." Zhang Wenwen, Sangyang, and Tao Qian looked at each other with surprise on their faces.

"Tell me, my lord." Sangyang asked eagerly, "What is your majesty's will?"

"At least half of the wealth of my Great Han Dynasty was filled by corrupt officials, and all the money in the state treasury became their private money. The country is poor, but corrupt officials are rich. Your Majesty knows this, so he always said that the state treasury I have no money, but I can’t borrow any more, and if I borrow from those princes, nobles, powerful and wealthy people, not only will I lose face, but the more I borrow, the more I can’t afford it, and the more I borrow, the more corrupt I am.”

Tao Qian muttered dissatisfiedly: "Your Majesty is the richest, and none of the servants around him has hundreds of millions of dollars. It is greedy to borrow, and greedy not to borrow, and they are all the same."

Gai Xun looked at Tao Qian, and continued: "Your Majesty said that the treasury is now empty, and the court has nothing to do, but the Xiliang pacification army has no money. It is not a solution. For the Xiliang quelling rebellion, the court has asked the princes and nobles in Beijing Well, the rich and powerful have borrowed money a few times, and forced them to donate a few times, so it is very difficult to squeeze out any money now. Your Majesty thinks that it should be the Xiliang people's turn to pay for it themselves."

"People from Xiliang paid for it themselves?" Zhang Wen asked suspiciously, "Your Majesty said so?"

Gai Xun nodded.

Sangyang said disappointedly: "Is this what His Majesty thinks? My lord is from Xiliang, of course I know where Xiliang people have money..."

"Of course people in Xiliang are rich." Tao Qian retorted, "If His Majesty has an imperial decree, we can at least get billions of dollars from corrupt officials in Xiliang."

Zhang Wenwen and Sangyang's expressions changed at the same time.

"Gongzu, you are crazy. If you do this, Xiliang will be in chaos immediately. Moreover, once this matter starts, we may find it difficult to control its development, and the resulting power struggle will be extremely fierce. The matter of corruption and breaking the law, To the end of the investigation, it was all a power struggle. The lesson of the disaster of the party, Gong Zu, have you forgotten it?" Sang Yang said excitedly.

"This is His Majesty's will, what can a traitor do to us?" Tao Qian said with his eyes wide open, "As long as His Majesty supports us, none of the corrupt officials in Xiliang will be able to escape."

Sangyang shook his head desperately, and said nervously: "The incident in Xiliang has been going on for a long time, and it affects the whole body. It involves too much. Once the incident starts, no one can predict the consequences. This hornet's nest For decades, who has meddled in the affairs of Xiliang? Who has mentioned the affairs of Xiliang? Your Majesty is not aware of the affairs of Xiliang, let alone think that stirring up the muddy waters in Xiliang will cause conflicts between the government and the opposition. What a shock. Even Master Situ Cui said that he should just give up Xiliang, do you think Master Cui is really talking nonsense?"

"Nowadays, the Great Han Kingdom is in an eventful season. When the wind and rain are falling, it is really not easy to do such a thing that may cause shocks to the society. What's more, what the Holy Majesty said casually cannot be taken as the truth."

Tao Qian looked dignified and stopped making any further noises.He probably also thought of the long-standing power struggle among the officials of the Han Dynasty, which was bloody and cruel, which was really chilling.

"Yuan Gu, don't you think so too?" Zhang Wen asked softly, frowning.

Gai Xun smiled inscrutably, and said: "If you do this, as Bo Xin said, the consequences are unpredictable, so how to do it skillfully, how to meet His Majesty's request and let the people of Xiliang pay for it themselves, how to let all forces be in harmony." Satisfied, it depends on what method we adopt. I came here today to discuss this matter with you."

"Now, the counter-rebellion in Xiliang is at the most critical time. We have no money, and the treasury has no money. However, His Majesty said that the people of Xiliang have money and asked us to solve it ourselves. So think about it, how to deal with this matter." matter. In short, the matter of suppressing the rebellion in Xiliang cannot be postponed any longer, and His Majesty is obviously dissatisfied if it continues to be delayed."

Tao Qian hesitated for a moment, then asked, "That's all your majesty said?"

Gai Xun smiled. He looked at Tao Qian and said, "Of course, do you still need His Majesty to tell us what to do? Then what do you want us ministers to do?"

Zhang Wen stood up sadly, with his hands behind his back, and walked slowly back and forth in the room.

Sang Yang bowed his head in thought.

"Will His Majesty say a few more words in the imperial decree?" Tao Qian still did not give up, and asked, "It is too involved to attack the corrupt officials in Xiliang. If you have His Majesty's support, then we..."

"Of course His Majesty will not publicly express support." Gai Xun laughed, "Even less will he issue an order for this matter. If His Majesty specifically issued an order for this matter, what is the difference between this and His Majesty's public expression of support. It is a matter above the court. It's complicated, your majesty has no basis and no evidence, how can you just say that there are corrupt officials in Xiliang, and the corrupt officials in Xiliang are rich. He can only tell Mr. Taiwei such a solution through me. Speaking of it, your majesty is considerate The difficulty of the Taiwei adults."

As he spoke, he took out a piece of yellow silk from his bosom, stood up, handed it to Zhang Wen respectfully, and said, "This is the edict given to me by His Majesty, please have a look at it, Lord Taiwei."

Zhang Wen hurriedly prostrated to receive it, read it respectfully, and immediately returned it to Gai Xun.

"Yuan Gu, you have been an official in Xiliang for decades, know a lot of inside information, and are familiar with Xiliang's situation, so you must have a way." Zhang Wen said, "At this time, we still focus on state affairs. Sharing worries for His Majesty, and secondly, for the people of Xiliang. Yuan Gu, do you have an idea?"

Gai Xun pondered for a while, and said solemnly: "My lord, then I will speak directly."

Zhang Wen waved his hand and told him to speak quickly.

"There is a way, but now, the Taiwei is the one who has the final say in Xiliang, so whether this matter is big or small, the responsibility is the Taiwei's. In the future, if the Taiwei is blamed for this, he will be dismissed from office... "

Zhang Wen said with a wry smile: "I know, the sacred will is hard to violate. Now, I wear the hat of Taiwei and lead the army to suppress the rebellion in Xiliang. Whether it succeeds or fails, the responsibility is of course mine."

"Now, Xiliang's suppression of the rebellion is at the most critical time. If at this time the Xiliang's suppression of the rebellion falls short because of lack of money, I will naturally have no way to explain to His Majesty after I return to Beijing. I will be ridiculed even if I lose my position and be dismissed."

"If the suppression of the rebellion is successful, although a group of traitors and eunuchs have been offended, at most they will go home to retire like Huangfusong, but they will regain their fame." Zhang Wen sighed, with a desolate expression, and said dullly, "As long as Your Majesty knows well enough not to be framed by traitors and punish my nine clans, I will be content."

Gai Xun looked at him sympathetically, and comforted him: "My lord, you don't have to be so depressed. The development of things is hard to predict. Maybe we can get through this safely."

"Does your lord know Cheng Qiu, the long history of Liangzhou Governor's Mansion?"

Zhang Wenwen and Sangyang looked at each other, startled, and nodded.

Tao Qian said: "I once heard Lord Huangfu say that he is a big greedy man in Xiliang, but his backstage is tough and no one can touch him. Do you want to take a knife from him?"

"Yes, you don't need to beat the drum hard. Cheng Qiu is Xiliang's key point. A single beating on him can frighten the whole of Xiliang. Mr. Taiwei arrested him, interrogated him severely, and threatened Xiliang. Bureaucrats and dignitaries in Luoyang. Then Lord Taiwei will reveal His Majesty’s intentions and talk about the difficulties. It is estimated that the corrupt officials in Xiliang will give generously for their lives, and their backstage, those dignitaries in Luoyang, want to calm things down. , I believe it won't cause trouble to the point of falling out with Lord Taiwei."

"Dealing with Xiliang's affairs should be gentle no matter what. This is not only in line with His Majesty's thoughts, but also in line with the current situation of the Han Dynasty. For the Taiwei, it is also beneficial and harmless."

"However, that being said, things may not go so smoothly. The corrupt officials in Xiliang are all treacherous, cunning, arrogant, and arrogant. Many of them have not only backers but also private soldiers behind them, so it is inevitable to move Knife and gun. Once the knife and gun are used, the matter will become a big mess, and it will be difficult for me to predict the future, so..."

Zhang Wen nodded repeatedly and said, "Yuan Gu's idea is good."

"But we can't catch Cheng Qiu now." Sang Yang said disappointedly, "He was taken away from the Zixiu Mountain camp a few days ago, and he doesn't know if he is dead or alive."

"What..." Gai Xun's face changed drastically, "The news is accurate?"

"It's absolutely true." Sang Yang said, "Master Geng wrote it himself. He said that Li Zhonglang sent someone to arrest him."

"What's going on here?" Gai Xun asked anxiously, "Tell me quickly."

Tao Qian clapped his hands and laughed loudly: "Okay, okay. This kind of person is full of crimes, and he will die more than he deserves."

Sang Yang hurriedly recounted Geng Bi's letter and Li Hong's letter, and then searched out these two documents.

After reading the document, Gai Xun was so angry that he threw the two scrolls of bamboo slips to the ground at the same time, and cursed loudly: "You two idiots, they just made a big mess of a good thing."

Zhang Wen was also aware of the seriousness of the matter, and he said to Tao Qian, "Gongzu, immediately order the horse to rush to Li Zhonglang's camp, and ask him to send the man over to me."

Tao Qian stood up and asked calmly, "My lord, should this order be sent to Pingxiang Camp or Shehu Valley?"

Zhang Wen thought for a while, and said: "Send it to Yicheng first, and then ask Mr. Fu to go to Shehu Valley in person. Li Zhonglang and Mr. Fu have a good relationship. Let Mr. Fu talk about it and tell him about the strong relationship. Don't be arrogant."

When Gai Xun heard Fu Xie's name, he suddenly thought of something, "Ah..." and his face suddenly became extremely ugly.

Both he and Fu Xie were friends of Bian Zhang and Han Sui, and he also knew that Bian Zhang had evidence of Xiliang bureaucrats' corruption and perverting the law, and he helped Bian Zhang collect a lot.But both Fu Xie and Bian Zhang were jealous people, and both of them often talked about cleaning up Xiliang's officials, and even said that they would not hesitate to resort to violence.If Fu Xie knew that Li Hong had captured Cheng Qiu, he would most likely incite the young and inexperienced Li Hong to take action against corruption.However, Li Hong holds the integrity, has a military talisman in his hand, and has the right to act independently. Seeing the heinous crimes committed by corrupt officials in Xiliang, he is bound to be filled with righteous indignation and fight the case.In this way, things will get out of hand.

He rushed from Chang'an to Yong County, and saw hundreds of knights galloping past on horses several times along the way. The murderous aura aroused his vigilance at that time.It now appears that Fu Xie not only succeeded in persuading Li Hong, but also leaked information about corrupt officials.With the evidence in hand, Li Hong is sending troops around to search without any restraint.

Cheng Qiu was smart all his life, and he ran wild in Xiliang for decades and was safe and sound, but in the end he got into trouble with an idiot who didn't understand anything. In the end, he not only lost himself, but also the corrupt officials in Xiliang, and his wife. Lord Wei advanced into the dangerous situation, alarming all the forces in the Han Kingdom.

In Xiliang now, not only is the rebellion undecided, but it is even more chaotic.

Gai Xun sighed deeply, sat down on the table slowly, waved his hands repeatedly at Zhang Wen and said: "Don't go, don't send someone there, Li Zhonglang has already made a move."

"What do you mean, my lord?" Sangyang asked hastily, "Have you guessed what Li Zhonglang is doing?"

Tao Qian said excitedly: "Li Zhonglang has already started making trouble in Xiliang, haha..., Xiliang is getting more and more lively, haha..."

Zhang Wen looked at Gai Xun, then at Tao Qian, and asked in puzzlement, "You two are so sure?"

Sang Yang suddenly realized, and cursed in disbelief: "This idiot, he has the guts of a leopard. He dares to do such a thing." The cavalry are galloping across Jingzhao Mansion and Fufeng County, and in all likelihood, he is the one who ordered the house raids."

Zhang Wen's expression froze for a moment, and then he laughed. He patted the desk lightly, and said in a low voice, "Okay."

Tao Qian said with a smile: "He is a leopard, how could he eat leopard gall, I think he ate tiger gall, haha..."

"If I had known this, I should have taken his soldier talisman at the beginning." Sangyang said angrily: "Now things are getting out of hand, my lord, your situation..."

Zhang Wen smiled lightly, waved his hands, and said, "Don't be nervous. These are all your guesses, not necessarily the truth."

He paused and said calmly: "If Li Zhonglang has already done something, there is no room for redemption. We are all tied together by him, and no one can get rid of the responsibility. Even if I kill him now, it will not help. It’s even more self-defeating and self-defeating. No one believes that a little Li Zhonglang will make his own claim, openly confront Xiliang’s government, punish corrupt officials in Xiliang, and treat the princes in the palace as eunuchs.”

"Do you believe it? Gongzu?"

Tao Qian laughed, bowed and said, "My lord, of course no one believes it. When His Majesty heard the news, he must have thought, Mr. Taiwei is really old and strong, and dared to show his strength in Xiliang. The traitors in the palace got the news, He must be so angry that he must be an idiot and scold him for being an idiot, for daring to confront us and trying to bring us down, he must be an idiot..."

Zhang Wen laughed loudly, waved his hand at him, and signaled him not to speak.

"I'm old, and it doesn't matter what my situation is. Don't be careful of me, you should be careful of yourselves." Zhang Wen said with a smile, "This Li Zhonglang is so powerful, we all underestimate him. He played all kinds of things with ease, and he got us all into it without knowing it."

Gai Xun smiled wryly.Only Fu Xie can do this kind of thing, ruthless, much more ruthless than Lao Bian.Lao Bian and Wen Yue were forced to rebel, and as a result, their fame was ruined for the rest of their lives.What about him?At this time, I was probably hiding at home alone and laughing wildly.Next time you run into him, break his leg.

===

(End of this chapter)