Fu Tai, the director of the Purity Department, realized something was wrong. It was already early in the morning. The intelligence chief, who had been busy all night, turned pale with fright. He issued a death order and sent out almost all the power of the Purity Department.
They were sent out to pursue the four escaped Zhou family members with all their strength.
However, after Qin and others left the city, someone came to meet them. They disguised themselves, changed horses, and went all the way from the north to the west. In a short while, the Purity Department only caught up with a few internal guards and could not find the Zhou family.
Where did it go?
The Purity Department pursued the case all day long, and three lines of internal guards attracted their attention and covered the escape of the four members of the Zhou family.
Of the three internal guards, a total of seventeen people, no one survived, and they all died in this cover operation.
The chaos in Yandu continued until the next morning.
Fires broke out all over the city, and those who took the lead in making trouble were arrested by the Jingzhao Mansion. Two to three hundred people were arrested, and the rest dispersed as birds and beasts.
By the time the people from the Purity Department returned to Yandu, the chaos in Yandu had basically calmed down. Zhu Tong, the commander of the Purity Department, came to the Xiude Hall tremblingly, knelt in front of Emperor Zhaowu, and kowtowed deeply:
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty..."
At this time, it was already evening, and Emperor Zhaowu naturally already knew the news of the four Zhou family's escape. He was sitting behind the bead curtain and couldn't see clearly the expression on his face, but his tone no longer contained much emotion.
Xu said: "Tell me the result."
"Yes Yes."
Zhu Tong swallowed his saliva and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, several members of the Zhou family fled only half an hour before the Purity Department discovered something was wrong. Fu Sizheng ordered the low-ranking people and others to go out to hunt down the four members of the Zhou family. However,
After those people left the city, they disappeared without a trace like a mud cow entering the sea..."
"Bizhi and others found a lot of suspicious carriages in the south of Yandu City, but they were all wrong. In one day and one night, they captured nearly forty people, but no one from the Zhou family was found..."
He bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty, what can be confirmed at present is that they... they have indeed left the city..."
Emperor Zhaowu did not speak immediately. After a deathly silence, he slowly said: "Do you know who did it? Was it the internal guards from the south, or was it done by the Zhou family themselves?"
Zhu Tong lowered his head and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, I have discussed it with my subordinates. It is unlikely that the Zhou family could do such a meticulous action. It was probably done by the internal guards."
Emperor Zhaowu smiled coldly.
Then he started laughing almost ferociously.
"My Yandu! How many people can't stand the emperor's feet?"
"Your Majesty, please calm down. Your Majesty, please calm down..."
Zhu Tong was so frightened that he almost collapsed on the ground. He kowtowed and said: "Your Majesty, many people in Yandu rebelled against the people last night, and there were fires everywhere. The Qing Jing Department received a document from Jingzhao Mansion, saying that there were people from the Southern Dynasty in the city.
The spies were causing trouble, Master Fu ordered us to work together to deal with it, and there were fewer people watching at the Zhou family. Who knew that in the second half of the night, in the second half of the night..."
His voice trembled and he could no longer speak.
Emperor Zhaowu's voice was cold: "Secretary of Purity, when did you have to obey the orders of Jingzhao Mansion?"
Zhu Tong knelt down and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, there was too much chaos last night. Lord Fu also wants to calm down the chaos as soon as possible, so, therefore..."
Emperor Zhaowu took several deep breaths to calm down. He closed his eyes, and various thoughts flashed through his mind. Finally, the young man named Zhou Yuanlang appeared in his mind, and his appearance became clearer and clearer.
Couldn't help but mutter to myself.
"Mr. Zhou, Mr. Zhou..."
Zhu Tong knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, the subordinates have led people to control the Zhou family. After investigation, only Zhou Yuanlang's wife and children are gone, while the rest of the Zhou family are still there. Do you think your Majesty will take them to prison?"
"
Emperor Zhaowu said coldly: "Take him to prison? What is the crime?"
Zhu Tong lowered his head and said in a trembling voice: "The inside is connected to the outside world..."
"When you leave the city, you are connected to foreign countries?"
Emperor Zhaowu sneered: "How many people visit foreign countries every day?"
Zhu Tong kowtowed: "They, mother and son, were definitely taken out of the city by the inner guards..."
"That's also possible. He was kidnapped by the internal guards."
Emperor Zhaowu waved his hand and said expressionlessly: "Continue to stare at the Zhou family. How to deal with it is not your concern."
His eyes were dark: "All the soldiers and generals guarding the Anding Gate last night were from the Yi tribe!"
After that, he looked at Zhu Tong again and shouted: "And you, Qingjing Division! You can't escape heaven's punishment! Where is Fu Tairen? He, the Division Chief, will not come to see me, but you, the commander, will come to see me!?"
Zhu Tong had obviously anticipated the current situation. He bowed his head and said in a trembling voice: "Master Fu, he has hanged himself..."
"Hanged himself..."
Emperor Zhaowu squinted his eyes and said coldly: "It's easier for him to hide quickly. Since he died out of fear of crime, I won't harm his family."
He looked at Zhu Tong, who knelt on the ground with a plop, almost crying: "Your Majesty, my humble position, my humble position..."
"Get fifty sticks by yourself."
Emperor Zhaowu suppressed his anger and said in a low voice: "If it weren't for the lack of someone in charge of the Qing Jing Department, you would never have been able to escape my sword!"
"Yes Yes…"
Zhu Tong kowtowed as if pounding garlic, and soon blood was dripping from his forehead, but he still cried: "I have received the emperor's grace from heaven, and it is hard to repay my humble position with death, but at this time of national crisis, my subordinates and people do not dare to
To take up the responsibility of the Purity Department, please ask the Emperor to select another talented person to take charge of the Purity Department. I should do my best to assist the new Sizheng in my humble position..."
When he said this, it sounded complicated, but it was summed up in one sentence.
He is a Han Chinese, not Zhenren Zhuli.
At this time, the separation between Han people and Zhenren Zhuli in Yandu City had reached its limit. In the past, Sizheng of the Purity Department did not restrict Han people from doing anything, but at this sensitive time, even if Emperor Zhaowu asked him to preside over the Purity Department, he did not dare to preside over it.
Already.
Afraid of taking responsibility, afraid of being poked in the back.
Emperor Zhaowu clenched his fists and gritted his teeth: "You can take the lead for now, I have to think about how to arrange it."
Zhu Tong lowered his head, kowtowed, and sobbed: "I humbly obey my orders, and I thank the emperor for his great kindness."
Seeing that his forehead was full of blood, even flowing to his mouth, which was really scary, Emperor Zhaowu frowned and waved his hand: "The Purity Department cannot be short of people. You go and get ten sticks first, and I will send the remaining forty sticks for now.
"
Zhu Tong kowtowed once more and left with a lot of thanks.
After Zhu Tong left, Emperor Zhaowu sat on the dragon bed, his face a little pale.
"Is Shen Qi here to get the person, or is Mr. Zhou already in cahoots with Shen Qi..."
He thought for a while, but still couldn't make a judgment. After a while, Emperor Zhaowu said to himself and laughed at himself: "It's not important anymore."
"No matter what, the Southern Conquest Army has been unable to move..."
He slowly exhaled a breath: "It's time to make a decision..."
…………
Three days later, the Left Route Army captured Jinghai County south of Tianjin, and Shen Yi's Chinese Army entered Jinghai. At the same time, the main force of the Left Route Army did not stop attacking and marched north to Tianjin.
At the same time, the news of the battle to capture the deer in Zhending Mansion also reached Shen Yi.
In the battle of Huolu, both sides invested nearly 40,000 troops. After several days of fierce fighting, the Huai'an Army under Zhang Meng took the initiative to retreat thirty miles to widen the distance.
The Qi army did not pursue it.
Zhang Meng took the initiative to retreat, indicating that the Right Army suffered a loss in this battle, and the loss was not particularly small.
At the same time, wars broke out everywhere in Zhending Mansion. Although it was not as big as the Huolu battle, it was still a real battle.
In addition to the Battle of Huolu, the biggest battle in Zhending Prefecture was that of Chen Atai, who had commanded three thousand-household battalions from the original 27th Battalion of Thousand-Households in the Right Route Army. He encountered two thousand Northern Qi soldiers in Jinzhou. The two sides fought fiercely for several days. Chen Atai took some advantage, but he did not want to fight and quickly returned to his headquarters.
But here in the Left Army, they were advancing with great success.
The day after Shen Yi stationed in Jinghai, Du Yong, the deputy commander of the internal defense, arrived in Jinghai. He arrived at Shen Yi's temporary station and deeply clasped his fists at Shen Yi: "Master Hou, this time, at least twenty people of the elite internal defense have died. , only more will be exposed.”
"Finally, I have lived up to the great trust of the Marquis and brought people to the Marquis."
Seeing that Du Yong was not in a high mood, Shen Yi patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Commander Du. Shen will personally send a secret message to His Majesty and ask for credit from the inner guards. If the Southern Army surrenders in the future, the inner guards will surrender." Wei is the number one contributor."
"Du Shuai presided over this matter and is the number one contributor."
Du Yong shook his head: "Finally, I have lived up to His Majesty and the expectations of the Marquis. I have brought the humiliating position to the Marquis. You see, the Marquis..."
Shen Yi looked at the sky outside. It was already dark now, so he said, "It's too late today. It's not convenient for me to see them. I'll let someone arrange for them to stay first."
Mr. Shen looked calm.
"Tomorrow, I will go see them again."
I went out with my wife to celebrate our wedding anniversary today. I'm a little late. I'm sorry, gentlemen~