"Does Jiajun know who wants to kill Wang?" On the same night, Wang Shu, the governor of Kaifeng who was involved in political affairs during the Song Dynasty, asked Han Qing in a low voice in the study room in the back hall of Kaifeng's mansion.
He has an honest and gentle temperament, but he never lacks brains, let alone political sensitivity.
The imperial court transferred him, the Jingdong East Road transfer envoy, to hurriedly transfer him from Qingzhou back to Bianliang to serve as the prefect of Kaifeng, just a few days after arriving at his appointed place. This was originally very strange for him.
This afternoon, he was almost shot by a cold arrow again, which made him believe that his two feet were already on the edge of the cliff.
But at this moment, his old boss Kou Zhun accompanied Zhao Heng, an official of the Song Dynasty, on a personal expedition. He wanted to ask him for advice, but he couldn't see anyone.
As for the other elders in Bianliang City, Wang Shu really couldn't believe that these people were willing to tell the truth to him.
Most of the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty have lost their enterprising spirit. The territory of the Song Dynasty has basically stabilized and will no longer continue to expand in any direction.
Since ancient times, the end of external expansion has meant the beginning of internal strife.
Therefore, in the past ten years or so, the factional strife in the imperial court has become more and more fierce. The struggle for power has become more and more unscrupulous.
A position that involves political affairs is a huge temptation for any faction.
Those elders would have given themselves a lot of face if they didn't take advantage of Wang Shu's weak foundation and personally dig a trap for him to jump into. How could they kindly give him pointers?
Therefore, the only people Wang Shu can rely on now are some young colleagues who have worked with him before and have a good impression of each other.
Especially the colleagues who had worked together under Kou Zhun, such as Zhe Weizhong, the envoy of the Northern Division of Kaifeng Prefecture, Yang Wenguang, the patrol envoy of the Left Army, Wang Yan, the patrol envoy of the Right Army, and Han Qing, the newly appointed envoy of the Southern Division.
Although these people are younger than himself and lack political experience, they all have one obvious thing in common, that is, they are pragmatic.
I like to solve problems down-to-earth and don't care about vain discussions.
Especially Han Qing. Apart from Kou Zhun, Wang Shu had never seen another person who was so good at solving problems and was not constrained by the unspoken rules of officialdom.
Therefore, after settling down in Kaifeng Mansion and taking a short rest to stop feeling dizzy, Wang Shu immediately sent his confidants to invite Han Qing to his study and asked him face to face about the possible reasons for his assassination.
And Han Qing was as pragmatic as Wang Shu expected. He didn't even hesitate and responded apologetically: "I am dissatisfied with the king. The assassin should have come for the lower official. You just suffered a disaster!"
As for their identities, I don’t have many clues at the moment. If I want to find out clearly, I need to receive the seal tomorrow, and then I can mobilize the manpower of Kaifeng Mansion."
"Don't call yourself a lower official. When we were on the Yongxing Army, we called each other by names. And today, we have experienced life and death together." Before he could finish counting his enemies, Wang Shu had already laughed.
He interrupted, "As for receiving the seal, it's just a formality. If you already have clues, you might as well dispatch people to investigate the case now. To avoid delaying it until tomorrow, the assassin's chief messenger has already taken the initiative to cut off the clues."
"That's what Wang Xiang said." Han Qing thought for a while, smiled and handed over his hands, "After I am relieved of my humble position, I will go to Judge Zhe to borrow someone."
"Don't call yourself a humble person. In private, there is no need to be so polite. Otherwise, Wang will have to call you your benefactor. If you hadn't reminded me in time to raise the horse's head today, Wang would have gone to drink by now.
Meng Po Soup!" Wang Shu was very concerned about the title and corrected him again.
"Uncle Hui is the Wenqu star in the sky, so it shouldn't be so easy to return to his position!" Han Qing said with a smile, and completely changed the title. "Also, there is a saying on the battlefield that three arrows are not worth a sword. The bow used by assassins
, the strength is not enough. Even if you are unfortunately shot today, it should be difficult to injure your internal organs!"
"The bow is not powerful enough? What do you mean? Are the assassins so poor that they can't even afford a good bow?" As expected of the person brought out by Kou Zhun himself, Wang Shu immediately found the problem from Han Qing's words and frowned.
He frowned and dug into the matter.
"I can afford it, but a good bow either comes from an ordnance supervisor or a famous craftsman. Regardless of the former or the latter, it is easy to trace the source near Bianliang." Han Qing smiled and told his judgment frankly.
, "Only the bulk goods that can be bought easily are difficult to trace to the source. The stronger the arm strength of the bow, the higher the requirements for the user. The capital is not a frontier, and it is relatively easy to find food. In a hurry, my enemies are very
It is difficult to find a dead soldier who is good at using bows and arrows and has never left a name."
"Well, indeed, it has only taken us seven days in total from the time we left Dengzhou to now." Wang Shuruo realized something and nodded thoughtfully, "Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, I have never seen any civil servants take office like the two of us.
They were in such a hurry that the assassin’s chief messenger had no time to prepare calmly, so he could only hastily mobilize his manpower.”
"It is indeed me who has caused trouble to Uncle Hui. Otherwise, you should follow the custom and say goodbye twice to show your character!" Han Qing smiled and added in a low voice, "In this way, we two don't have to be together."
"At this moment, if I dare to play the same trick with the officials, the Kou Prime Minister will drown me with his spit!" Wang Shu rolled his eyelids and complained angrily. "Forget it, Jiajun, stop joking.
.Don’t even need to apologize to me. Maybe the assassin’s target is me, and you are the one who is being dragged down.”
"How is that possible?" Han Qing was slightly stunned when he heard this, and immediately shook his head with a smile, "Uncle Hui is always kind to others. Even if he has to deal with someone, the other person has violated the national law, and his crime is unforgivable."
"It's not impossible, but very possible!" Wang Shu's face suddenly became solemn, "Some people don't want me to return to Bianliang. If they can hurt me and make me unable to do anything in a short period of time, they will be very happy!"
"Uncle Hui, do you know who it is?" Han Qing was stunned again and asked instinctively.
"I'm not sure, and I don't have any evidence, so I can't say yet!" Wang Shu responded, shaking his head and pretending to be more cautious.
Immediately afterwards, he put his hand under the light and slowly clenched it into a fist, "Jiajun, what is the clue you just mentioned? Whether the assassin is coming for you or me. Now they are all targeting Kaifeng Mansion.
Come. Therefore, I, the governor of Kaifeng, will work with you to investigate this case to the end at all costs."
"It's a waist card." Han Qing had already guessed that Wang Shu would ask for specific details. He smiled and took out a dusty thing from his pocket and handed it to Wang Shu.
The waist card looks very inconspicuous, but after getting it, it feels quite heavy. Wang Shu was stunned at that moment, "What is this? Did you find it from the assassin? Every assassin has it.
Is there any?"
"It should be used as a token to prove identity, so that accomplices don't know each other and accidentally get hurt." Han Qing thought for a while and began to explain carefully, "The material is silver. When casting, copper was mixed in for hardness, and then deliberately
It is made old so as not to look too eye-catching. The patterns on the back are snakes and lotus flowers, which symbolize death and rebirth. The rising sun, waning moon, and mist patterns on the front represent light expelling darkness and changing the day."
After a pause, he continued to add, "This waist badge fell from the commander Hou Nan. When you were unconscious, he wanted to take advantage of the large number of people under his command to snatch away the captured assassin. I had no choice but to take action.
Caught him."
"Chun Yang Sect, Red Lotus Sect, or Maitreya Sect? Which one is it? How brave is it to reach out to the Fourth Army?" Wang Shu felt guilty after hearing this, and frowned as he continued to investigate.
"It's not any of the three religions. No matter Honglian, Chunyang or Maitreya, they are not so rich and use money as a badge." Han Qing smiled, with a bit of ridicule in his words, "But Wan Chang
Inseparable from his sect. Those who issue this token to their subordinates especially like this set of things. In the past, the leaders of the Honglian, Chunyang and Maitreya sects also wore waist badges, although the materials were different from the one you have in your hand.
, the patterns are also different. But all patterns are basically born out of Buddhism, and their meanings are basically rebirth after death and changing the day."
"Then it's better to unify them and call them all the Sun-Changing Sect!" Wang Shu is a Confucian, and he hates pretending. He smiled and pouted slightly, "The commander surnamed Hou didn't pay attention to such an important object.
Until it fell off itself?"
"In order to scare him, I lifted him into the air. When he was struggling, he accidentally fell down. Then the brothers next to me quietly stepped on him with their feet under the boots." Wang knew and was used to it.
Shu looked carefully, and Han Qing continued to add.
In front of Wang Shu's eyes, a military commander with a sinister face immediately appeared, but he was raised with one hand in the air by a civil servant dressed in regular clothes. He couldn't help but smile, "He is really unlucky. He can't bully anyone."
Well, I actually bullied you?"
"I captured two assassins, and he was eager to bring them back alive." Han Qing also smiled and speculated in a low voice. "I also feel that at this time, I should be cautious in my words and actions, and I don't dare to offend anyone again.
"
"Foolish again and again!" Wang Shu curled his lips and used four words to characterize Hou Nan, the commander of the fifth battalion of the left wing of the Divine Guards.
After saying that, he frowned slightly and said, "Jiajun, how did you feel when you saw the Divine Guards today? Are you capable of fighting the Liao soldiers?"
"Uncle Hui, do you want to hear the truth?" Han Qing immediately showed a bitter smile on his face and asked in a low voice.
"Truth!" Wang Shu immediately guessed part of the answer, but still hoped that Han Qing could explain it more clearly.
"The Liao army is divided into the Khitan army, the signing army, the servant armies of various ministries, and the civilians who were forcibly captured along the way." Since the other party insisted on wanting to know, Han Qing sighed and gave the answer in a low voice, "Although the Divine Guard Army was also captured
It is called the Forbidden Army, but it is not among the Eighteenth Route Forbidden Army. For many years, it has only been responsible for maintaining public security in the capital and has never been transferred to border operations. In my opinion, if it encounters civilians randomly captured by the Liao Kingdom, the Divine Guards can still
Scaring the opponent half to death. When encountering the other three types of teams, it is already a miracle that the Divine Guards can fire two consecutive rounds of feather arrows without collapsing!"
"So weak?" Although Wang Shu had already guessed that the Divine Guards were useless, he did not expect that Han Qing would have such a low evaluation of the Divine Guards, so he blurted out his questioning words.
However, when he thought that when he was unconscious in the afternoon, Han Qing and a few dozen guards suppressed the 500 divine guards so that they did not dare to cross the line, and even captured the opponent's commander alive, he sighed and shook his head.
.
The Pengri, Tianwu, Longwei, and Shenwei, collectively known as the Upper Four Armies, are affiliated with the Forbidden Army, but are not included in the Eighteenth Route Forbidden Army. Instead, they were singled out and responsible for protecting the security of the imperial city and the Gyeonggi region.
In the early days of Emperor Taizu's reign and Emperor Taizong's reign, the Shangsi Army and the Dianqian Army were both the emperor's personal armies. They were well-equipped, well-trained, and had first-class combat effectiveness.
However, Emperor Taizong failed to go north to recapture Yanyun twice, and was demoralized. He no longer mentioned the word "conquer Liao". The Upper Fourth Army was completely reduced to a place where senior generals and generals in the army sought the birthplace of the children of the clan.
As the saying goes, every general has a raging army. Since the Fourth Army has become a place where the generals' children seek seniority, the soldiers are naturally inferior to each other from generation to generation.
Therefore, nowadays, the Dianqian Army can barely be used as the emperor's personal army, while the Upper Fourth Army has basically been reduced to a decoration exclusively used for school parades.
Usually patrolling the streets and scaring local gangsters, the Fourth Army could barely shoulder the "heavy duty". Suddenly they encountered characters like Han Qing and Yang Xu who could calmly come and go ruthlessly even in areas controlled by the Liao Army, and they retreated with a group of suppressing soldiers.
It would be strange if the veterans who came down were not immediately beaten back to their original form!
Thinking of this, Wang Shu immediately became worried about the official Zhao Heng who rushed to the front line with Pengri, Tianwu and Longwei armies. He frowned and whispered to Han Qing: "If the Divine Guards are so unbearable, what will happen to the other three guards?"
, it’s probably not much better. The officials took the other three guards across the river to support Chanzhou..."
"The left wing of the Zhenrong Army and the army in front of the palace also rushed to Chanzhou with the officials!" Influenced by himself in another time and space, Han Qing immediately collected all kinds of information as much as possible after arriving at Kaifeng Mansion to prepare for emergencies.
Need. At this moment, when Wang Shu talked about the imperial convoy's personal expedition, he immediately smiled and reassured the other party, "In addition, the autumn floods of the Yellow River are coming, and the pontoon bridge has been cut off. The official's car is blocked in Huazhou and cannot continue to go north for the time being."
"Autumn floods, so early?" Wang Shu was slightly startled again, and then he exhaled in a low voice, "It's good. When the officials arrive in Huazhou, they are not far from Chanzhou. Across the river, they can also inspire the soldiers on the front line.
What Ji Ming is worried about will not happen for the time being."
There were no outsiders at the moment, so he made no secret of the fact that he was not optimistic about the military level of the officials of the Song Dynasty. Distributing formation plans in Bianliang would not interfere with the command of the frontline generals. Going to Chanzhou to lead the expedition in person would easily make Hebei's camp more difficult.
The soldiers were at a loss as to what to do.
"There is enough rain this year, so the autumn floods will come early." Han Qing could understand why Wang Shu breathed a sigh of relief and continued to add with a smile. "And the autumn floods will have to last for less than half a month before they can completely subside. By then, my grandfather's Henan camp will be prepared.
It's almost done. We can dispatch large ships at any time to escort the officials and their families on the river."
Hearing that the official family could be brought back from the north bank at any time, Wang Shu felt relieved. He smiled and said in a low voice: "Ling Zu's ability is no less than that of Huang Hansheng of the Three Kingdoms. The official family summoned him out of the mountain, this move is
Gaoming. Jiajun, there are some things that I don’t understand. Anyway, you are the only grandson of General Han. He is leading the army, so you have to return to Bianliang to serve. Even if it is not Kaifeng Mansion, you have to go to Shangshu Province.
Or secretary supervisor."
Suddenly taking a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind, he continued: "In today's assassination, no matter who the assassin's real target is, I will always insist that someone wants to assassinate me, a political advisor. What follows?
, you can do whatever you want to investigate, and I will mobilize the power of the entire Kaifeng government to provide you with support. I don’t believe that when the political governor of the current dynasty was assassinated, there would still be people who dared to step in and interfere, allowing the case to go unsolved!"
