"This Chen Tong, I heard someone talk about it at Yuehong Mansion. He is the grain supervisor sent to Tangzhou by the Economic Strategy and Appeasement Department of South Jingxi Road. I heard that he is a frequent visitor to Yuehong Mansion in Biyang City."
Liu Qiong'er was afraid that Xu Huai didn't know many details about the court, so she patiently explained,
"Gu Fan, the envoy of economic strategy and pacification, left the capital as a direct bachelor of Guanwen Palace, and was not under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council. However, the economic strategy department was in charge of the affairs of the soldiers and people in the counties and counties south of Beijing, and had many affairs and subordinate officials.
, as well as the generals and military officials under their jurisdiction who stationed the imperial army, but they have an inseparable relationship with the Privy Council. In prefectures and counties, the military and horse supervisors are usually concurrently held by civil servants, but those under control are patrol envoys.
However, he belonged to the rank of military minister, and his promotions and examinations were directly controlled by the Privy Council. Chen Tong's official rank was not high, but he supervised the transportation of grain and fodder from Tangzhou for the imperial army stationed on Jingnan Road. He was a job that countless people aspired to, and he was no ordinary person.
It is not surprising that he can be appointed because he has a relationship with the privy envoy Cai Zheng. The local chief household officer, Li Zheng, is responsible for collecting grain, paying taxes, and transporting it to the designated place. Compared with Bianjing, which is far away and the transportation
For the military fortress of grain and fodder, it is undoubtedly the most trouble-free and labor-saving to directly transport the grain and fodder to the forbidden troops stationed on this road for consumption, so Chen Tong is also a figure deliberately currying favor with the local gentry!"
Those who are willing to spend a few taels of silver to go to Yuehong Mansion just to have tea with Liu Qiong'er are all people who can brag a few words and claim to be clean.
Liu Qiong'er dealt with these people, and was much more familiar with the people in the court, prefectures and counties, the order of things, and even the unspoken rules of officialdom than Xu Huai imagined.
As the grain supervisor assigned to Tangzhou by the Economic and Strategy Department, Chen Tong was able to get in touch with local clans and the privy envoy Cai Qing. It was not unimaginable.
Xu Huai can understand these rules, but he does not understand many specific details of the world.
Xu Wuliang, on the other hand, sat on the threshold as if he were listening to a book from heaven, and said in a loud voice:
"When your father was alive, he said that Xu Wufu was not enough to rely on. I just went to Luoma Market to see. Except for a few guys with foreign surnames hired from Huaiyuan Town to guard them, everyone else returned to Yuhuangling early in the morning - Xu
Wu Qi, Xu Wukun, these idiots, it was your father who carried them back from the death pit back then, but they followed Xu Wufu like dogs, and their hearts went blind! It must be this person named Chen Tong who is behind the scenes.
Instigated by Xu Wufu, that bitch wanted to sell Xu Wujiang to the bandits. But what I don’t understand is, if Xu Wujiang and the others were killed by the bandits, how could they be implicated in Wang Zhen’s case? Isn’t that why they did this?
To kill Wang Zhen, why do you have to go in such a big circle without getting tired? Deng Gui didn't let them go to kill Wang Zhen before, and when Xu Wujiang and the others were dead, Deng Gui let them go. Doesn't it make sense?"
Xu Huaidu saw the letter written by Chen Tong to Deng Gui with his own eyes. Of course Liu Qiong'er could understand everything in it and explained it to Xu Wuliang:
"There is nothing unreasonable. Judging from Chen Tong's letter to Deng Gui, Deng Gui did not want to bear the responsibility for Wang Zhen's accidental death under his nose, so he had to arrange for Xu Wujiang's soldiers and others to die first.
Then he can be transferred to another place due to "ineffective suppression of bandits". The transfer of inspection envoys is directly controlled by the Privy Council, but after taking office, it will be controlled by the state and county. Once Deng Gui left, Cai Qing
He can directly intervene and arrange for a direct descendant to serve as the inspector, and this person will finally bear the responsibility for Wang Zhen's death in the encounter with bandits. Cai Zheng has dead men under him, so it will be easy for him to find someone to bear the responsibility.
.And everything happened in Huaiyuan Town and had nothing to do with the state or county. Of course, the state magistrate Chen Shi, the county magistrate Cheng Lunying and others were happy to pretend to be deaf and dumb."
"His uncle, killing someone with such tricks is much more complicated than blacksmithing." Xu Wuliang spat and Xingzi spit out the corridor.
"Because the people they want to kill are not ordinary people - they want to kill people, and they also want to block the mouths of people all over the world. How can this be easy?" Liu Qiong'er sighed softly.
"Then what should we do now?"
Xu Wuliang had fallen into the grass and served in the army. Of course he knew that military orders were like mountains. If Xu Wujiang lost the support of his clan, he would lose his biggest support for disobeying orders.
It was okay that Xu Wuliang didn't listen to Liu Qiong'er's analysis. After hearing what Liu Qiong'er said, he felt dizzy and didn't know what to do.
"I heard people say that Xu Wujiang is quite heroic. He won't just sit back and die, right?" Liu Qiong'er stared at Xu Huai and asked.
"No matter how heroic you are, what can you do if you suddenly encounter something like this?" Xu Huai sighed and said.
"I have been dragged into the pit of fire by you, don't hide it from me." The rabbit was biting in a hurry. Liu Qiong'er didn't believe that Xu Wujiang would catch him without hesitation, and thought that Xu Huai was hiding something from her.
"Are you willing to follow us back to Yuhuangling?" Xu Huai asked Liu Qiong'er.
"You want to go back to Yuhuangling? What are you going to do?" Liu Qiong'er asked.
"If Uncle Seventeen did not stay in Qingxi Village conscientiously, but went out rashly, and was eventually ambushed by bandits outside Qingxi Village, and his body was not found, would Miss Liu think Deng Langjun believed it or not?" Xu Huai asked.
"Why, Xu Wujiang and the others are going to turn into bandits?" Xu Wuliang stood up in shock and asked.
"In Deng Gui's chessboard, you are always dead no matter what. The only way to survive is to jump out." Xu Huai said.
"Others will follow Xu Wujiang? Aren't they afraid of dragging down their wives and children who stayed in Yuhuangling?" Liu Qiong'er asked in disbelief.
Xu Wujiang led more than 20 soldiers to guard Qingxi Village, most of whom were from the Xu family or villagers with different surnames who had joined the Xu family. They only followed Xu Wujiang's lead in the inspection department, but Xu Wujiang really wanted to lead these people and turn them into bandits.
, Liu Qiong'er suspected that the soldiers might have dispersed in a hurry, or they might have grabbed Xu Wujiang together and escorted him back to the Inspection Department to punish him.
I really thought I was living a happy life of drinking from a big bowl and eating a lot of meat!
Since ancient times, who has not resorted to licking blood from a knife when they are desperate?
Another very important point is that in addition to Xu Wujiang's successor Su Di, Xu Wujiang's own parents, brothers and nephews, as well as the families of many Xu family warriors, are still in the villages near Yuhuangling.
At that time, the government did not have the emphasis on "one person does the work and the other is responsible". Even if there was suspicion, they had the power to arrest Xu Wujiang and other people's wives, children, parents, and temporarily imprison them for questioning.
Even using the family's children as hostages to force the thieves to come out and surrender is a perfectly normal operation.
However, prisoners awaiting trial or other prisoners in state and county jails are sentenced every year, and 23 out of 10 of them often die from hunger, cold, and illness. Since ancient times, this has been called "death by starvation," and officials will not hold them accountable.
It's okay to be a ruthless and ruthless person, but most of Xu Wujiang's soldiers are ordinary people, and they are familiar with the affairs of the Yamen. How many people dare to sit in the Yamen and be taken to the Yamen for interrogation?
"My father lived in hiding and the villagers only became suspicious after my father and Uncle Wu Liang returned from the Jingsheng Army. This did not implicate the family, let alone the clan," Xu Huai said, "Another one,
This is also the reason why we are going to Yuhuangling. Uncle Seventeen will convince everyone that their wife and children in Yuhuangling will be secretly taken care of by Uncle Wu Liang and many others, so there is no need to worry too much."
"Even if you can deceive someone for a while, how can you expect it to be deceived for the rest of your life?" Liu Qiong'er expressed deep doubts.
Even if there was no secret communication between Deng Gui and the assassins, Xu Wujiang and more than 20 soldiers were kidnapped or killed by the Hutou Village thieves, and there was not even a body. Would Deng Gui and the prefectures and counties believe it?
If you want to die without seeing your body and disappear, do you really think that the government is just a decoration?
As long as they have doubts about Xu Wujiang's actions, they have the power to put his family members in jail for questioning. How will Xu Wujiang appease those soldiers?
"It's not a lie, it's a must!" Xu Huai said, "Let me put it this way, is Miss Liu still willing to go to Yuhuangling with us?"
"..." Liu Qiong'er asked in shock, "Why do you two fight with Xu Wufu?"
"Xu Wufu would never dare to admit that he colluded with Deng Gui to arrange for Xu Wujiang and others to die, so no matter how the government questioned, he had to bite Xu Wujiang and others to death because they were killed by bandits without seeing their bodies. He has the responsibility to protect everyone's children.
I am not bothered by the government, and I even have to help ask for pensions from the government!"
Xu Huai said,
"Whenever the clan encounters banditry, it requires the clan members to donate food. In addition to the autumn training, the clan members bear more of the food and taxes on weekdays. When bandits attack the stronghold, the clan members also go into battle and fight. Every time the clan fights, there are no casualties.
It's not a clan member - the government wants to come and arrest people. As the leader of the clan, if Xu Wufu doesn't care and lets the government arrest innocent people, why should he obey the people?"
"What if the government sends a large team of troops to Yuhuangling to arrest people? Can't Xu Wufu blame everything on the government?" Liu Qiong'er asked.
"Yes, the other Xu clan members are all reasonable. As long as Xu Wufu does his best, they will no longer be harsh on Xu Wufu, and no one will really dare to stand up and confront the officials," Xu Huai said with a smile.
, "But, aren't there some 'idiots' like me who don't understand the truth?"
Liu Qiong'er understood what Xu Huai meant. Xu Huai continued to pretend to be an idiot, which was actually a "sharp blade" that threatened Xu Wufu from openly handing over Xu Wujiang and other young men. She secretly felt that even though this was dangerous, it could not be done.
Said it would definitely not work.
Liu Qiong'er asked again: "Where is Mr. Wang? He also agrees to this arrangement?"
"We acted like this without telling Mr. Wang, but at this point, we can't take too much care of it!" Xu Huai said.
He had told Liu Qiong'er before that Wang Zhen's position was not exactly the same as theirs. He didn't even clarify the matter with Lu Xiong. All of this happened between him and Xu Wujiang after Lu Xiong left last night.
Xu Xin'an racked her brains and came up with the solution after spending a whole night...
"I think this can be done. If Xu Wufu is so shameless as to hand over Xu Wujiang's family, I will stab him in the ass with my white knife!" Xu Wuliang said fiercely, "If nothing else, we will go immediately.
Yuhuangling!”
"We can't leave now. Yesterday's plan was too hasty and there was no time for us to prepare. There are still too many uncertainties. First of all, we can't confirm whether everyone has been convinced by Uncle Seventeen. We need to wait.
Only with clear information can we start." Xu Huai said.
"When clear information comes to the military camp, how can Deng Gui let you go with Di Niang?" Xu Wuliang asked anxiously.
"We have agreed that after nightfall, if Uncle Seventeen has not sent someone to find an excuse to return to the military camp, it means that they have escaped and hid in the mountains," Xu Huai said, "At that time, I will sneak out with Aunt Seventeen
After we met up at the military camp, we rushed back to Yuhuangling overnight, but unexpectedly Deng Gui sent a horse to chase us!"
"Someone saw you entering Deng Gui's residence. Would it be too dangerous for you to return to the military camp at this time?" Liu Qiong'er asked worriedly.
"If I don't go back, Deng Gui will become suspicious, and Aunt Seventeen will have a hard time getting away. If I go back straight away, which of Deng Gui's eyes will think highly of a 'fool' like me?" Xu Huai said with a smile.
"He" in the eyes of others is the best disguise, not to mention that he has sung a double act in the official position, shifting his attention to Tang Tiande.
Even if Tang Tiande goes to Deng Gui's room to steal money, it sounds unlikely, but it is more convincing than Xu Wujiang arranging for a "fool" like him to go to Deng Gui's room to steal secret messages!
