There is a leader among the sheep. When the leader moves in one direction, the sheep will move in that direction; when the leader stops, the sheep will also stop, regardless of whether there are mountains, rivers, or wolves in front of them.

Tiger and leopard. To use an old Chinese saying, a snake cannot survive without a head.

Xu Bao led Dongchang General to kill a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood in Chaozhong, but the more people died, the more positions were vacant, and the more new people were needed to make up for it.

Newborn calves are not afraid of tigers. The newly born calves may be aware of the current situation and know that Dongchang's strong choice is to compromise. Everyone knows what he is thinking.

Xu Bao didn't care.

The twisted melon is not sweet, but one bite does not quench your thirst.

It doesn't matter if you are disobedient, just kill him with one knife. As Zhu Yuanzhang said, there is no shortage of anything in the world except people who want to be officials.

So when Zeng Zhu said that the Chief of Ceremonies had received nearly a hundred memorials in the past few days that were related to Xu Bao and Dongchang, Xu Bao's first reaction was that he wanted to do something to him again.

In the civil and military circles of the entire dynasty, there were only three people with this ability and power: Wan An, Liu Ji, and Li Dongyang.

But...

"Wan'an and we are considered allies. If we defeat him, he can't handle Liu Ji and Li Dongyang alone. He has no motive.

Li Dongyang... is the same. Although he is a little alienated from us, he should know the importance of it. The war with the Tatars is imminent. If we fall, the court may not be able to survive this war with the Tatars. Even if he ignores the overall situation, he will not be able to survive the war afterwards.

No matter who comes to power, Wan An or Liu Ji, they will not allow such a meandering person to remain in the cabinet.

Liu Ji...Liu Ji..." Xu Bao frowned, and Zeng Zhu said at the side: "Brother Bao, it shouldn't be him either."

"How to say?"

"My two sons died one after another. After Liu Ji passed away, he has been complaining about illness at home. I checked and found that he was indeed ill. I also went to the palace doctor to see him. He had a headache and the five qi in his body were not balanced.

He must not be pretending to be so anxious and angry. Besides, his son is dead, so what’s the point of making trouble anymore? Even if he is given the title of emperor, how many years can he stay in power at his age?"

"Is the illness... not just a fake?" Xu Bao was still worried. He always felt that there was something strange about the deaths of Liu Ji's two sons.

"Probably not." Zeng Zhu didn't say anything, but his tone was definitely more: "Has the imperial doctor checked it? The private doctors have also looked at it a lot? I have asked in secret, and they are all the same. And every day in his house

The medicines you drink are all real. This cannot be false." After a pause, Zeng Zhu added: "Some of those medicines are poisonous and won't kill you. But if you drink too much, you won't live long.

."

"So, Liu Ji is the least likely?"

"It seems to be true." Zeng Zhu scratched his head, also looking very troubled: "Except for the three of them? I checked the rest? It seems that no one has the skills of the three of them. I can't find the reason for the fault.

How many people did you arrest? In the end, they all said that they were just indignant? For the sake of justice, justice, country, country, brother Bao? Maybe it was just... a coincidence?"

This is indeed possible. After all, someone was found to compete in the Qianqing Palace. The sky thunder made a big hole in the Qianqing Palace. The thieves invaded and set fire to the palace. The queen mother and the emperor of the two palaces were almost injured. These things have always been a problem for Xu Bao in all dynasties.

The crime of killing without mercy is now just being imprisoned in Dongchang's own prison. He is not even asked to temporarily take away his duties. It is not surprising that the civil servants are displeased.

"What did the Queen Mother say?"

"The Queen Mother..." Zeng Zhu sighed: "The Queen Mother seems to be a little unhappy this time, so she left all the news unanswered."

According to the process, the ministers' memorials will first go to the cabinet. The cabinet will make suggestions and then send them to the Supervisor of Ceremonies. The Supervisor of Ceremonies will approve and seal them and then issue them for execution. However, this kind of participation memorial, especially for someone like Xu Bao,

For people in this position, the cabinet is usually directly transferred to the Supervisor of Ceremonies, and the Supervisor of Ceremonies will not give any approval. They usually have to ask the emperor for instructions. Now the emperor is still seriously injured and has not woken up, and the empress dowagers of the two palaces have nothing to do. Now

Naturally, the person who asked was Empress Wu.

Chu Ju held it in for a long time and couldn't say anything. Then she opened her mouth to complain: "This Empress Wu is really true. We saved her life back then, and now we are repaying her with kindness!"

Xu Bao frowned and raised his hand to slap Chu Ju on the head: "You must never say this kind of thing in the future. She is the Queen Mother. No one in the world is willing to show kindness to her. Whatever she wants to do, there will be no hatred."

Report."

Orange held his head and felt aggrieved: "But Brother Bao..."

"Even if this is the case, we can't say it, otherwise it will be a recipe for death."

"I see..."

Xu Bao thought for a while and said: "This time it was a near miss, but in the final analysis it was a bit over the line. It is normal for the Queen Mother to be unhappy, and she must give some decent explanation."

"Brother Bao, what do you want to do?"

"If you don't want to give up your life, and you don't want to lose your power, then just buy your life with money." Xu Bao asked, "How much money do we still have in our hands now?"

Mentioning silver, Orange's eyes lit up: "Brother Bao, the gold outside the customs and the sea market of Japan have begun to come in one after another. Now we have about one thousand and three thousand silver in hand, not counting antiques and curios."

One million taels."

Xu Bao was stunned: "So many?"

"It's not much." Chu Ju pursed her lips again: "The two grandsons of the No. 1 Village in the World came to ask for silver yesterday, asking for one million taels. Lao Su and Lao Jiang also came to ask for silver, and they asked for two million taels.

The brothers below also asked for money for expenses, and they got more than one million taels, as well as dividends for the nobles of each family, and the vegetables you asked to grow in the imperial village..."

"Don't settle accounts, don't settle accounts with me." Xu Bao rubbed his temples: "Just give me an accurate figure. After digging out these, how much can we move?"

"Then..." Chu Ju rolled his eyes and calculated: "More than four million taels, but there should be more money coming in in another month, and there will probably be more than three million taels."

Look."

"Okay, then you can send three million taels to the palace tomorrow. No need to say anything, just give it to Li Xuan. Li Xuan will know what to do."

"Ah?!" Chu Ju brayed and wanted to speak, but thinking about it, there seemed to be nothing to say. If he didn't pay, would he really be punished?

"Okay, let's do it like this." Xu Bao patted Orange on the shoulder: "The money is for spending, what will you do with the money if your life is gone? Zhuzi."

"Brother Bao?"

"Just keep an eye on those civil servants. They will definitely make moves this time. No matter who is behind it, they will jump out sooner or later. Don't worry. You can deploy more manpower in the next two days to keep an eye on that wild monkey."

Yes, we must not make any mistakes."

"Wild monkey?"
Chapter completed!