The autumn rain continued, and in the afternoon, Captain Hu Yan returned to Dongdu.
I didn't have time to meet my family and friends, so I galloped in through the self-built Chunmen, went up Tian Street to the north, crossed Xinzhong Bridge, crossed Chengfu Square, and went straight to the "Island in the Lake" where Jing'an Terrace is located.
It is indeed an island in the lake. This autumn rain obviously has a huge impact. The water system around Jing'an Terrace, which is the downstream of the drainage of Ziweigong and Shanglinyuan, has obviously surged and flooded directly to the shore, causing several external bridges to lose their bridge decks.
Not only that, the Luoshui water on the road also seemed to have swelled a bit too much... This made Hu Yan a little uneasy, because he had been in Jing'antai for many years, almost when the place was first put into use, and he had never seen anything like this.
Look.
It’s not like I’ve never seen heavy rain or heavy rain, and it hasn’t been as high as this, right?
"The Luoshui River is blocked." Bai Shou, an elder who was on duty behind the bridge, easily gave the answer. "No one has cleaned it for two or three years."
"Is the blockage so serious?" Hu Yan was even more puzzled. "The river is so wide and deep..."
"It's not just that the inside of Luoshui is blocked, but also that the ditch leading into Luoshui is blocked." Bai Shou said with a bitter smile. "Especially in Xiyuan and Ziwei Palace, no one takes care of the decorations there. It's been a dry summer.
, the ditches were all clogged with dead branches and leaves. As a result, a heavy rain flooded the entire Xiyuan, and everything rushed into the river. Then the water gate in the west of the city was not blocked, but the water outlet in the east was blocked... Jinwu Guard
There are only three melons and two dates left, and we all went to salvage and clean up the debris."
Hu Yan heard it desolately, but knowing the whole story, he didn't ask any more questions. Instead, he honestly went in, tied the horse, and went to the black tower. I don't know if it was an illusion, but the black tower actually looked strange in the autumn rain.
It was somewhat dilapidated, which in turn deepened the uneasiness that Captain Hu was suppressing.
After giving his name, he entered the tower. After a while, with the sound of wind chimes, he was summoned, saying that Uncle Cao Huang was at the top of the tower. With fear and uneasiness, Hu Yan came here, saluted, and gave the two messages simply and directly.
After finishing speaking, he then bowed his head and stood in silence, folding his hands, waiting for instructions.
Unexpectedly, Lieutenant Hu stood there and was speechless for a long time. He could only hear the rain dripping outside.
After a while, probably because he was really uneasy, Hu Yan raised his head carefully and saw a scene that surprised him - the majestic pillar of the country, the great master, the Prime Minister of Jing'an Taichung, Emperor Cao, with his beard and hair in disarray and his eyes red.
He was obviously listening to his subordinate reporting on important military information, but he was actually in a trance, seemingly just staring at the rain outside in a daze.
Hu Yan just glanced at it and lowered his head.
And this action alerted the Grand Master, who finally said: "I understand... Were you here, Lao Hu, during the first battle in Yancheng?"
"Here." Hu Yan immediately lowered his head and said again.
"How did you lose?" Although Cao Lin spoke, his movements remained unchanged. "I want to hear your side of the story."
Hu Yan did not dare to be negligent, let alone lie. Starting from the fact that he heard that the Huaixi Army was dispatched to support Yancheng in a hurry, he did not miss any details and explained the battle of Yancheng clearly.
"So it's just God's will?" Cao Lin sighed.
Hu Yan was about to speak but stopped.
"Speak if you want to." Cao Lin finally turned around. "Even old Jing'an like you, who followed me from the Western Capital to the Eastern Capital, is unwilling to speak. Who else can I talk to?"
Hu Yan did not dare to neglect, and immediately replied: "To be honest with you, I think God's will is God's will, but the slackness of people's hearts is the most important thing... I just said that the water came out that night. The reason why it was so fast and so urgent is different from this year's
The drought in China and the disrepair of water conservancy are directly related, but in places like Yingchuan, which is close to Dongdu, no one cares about water conservancy maintenance. This is something that I never dared to think about before."
Cao Lin thought of the recent flooding in Dongdu. He nodded and agreed, but then asked: "How can people deal with it?"
Hu Yan responded with silence, as if he hadn't thought of this level, or rather he didn't dare to talk about it.
"Actually, people's hearts are easy to control." Cao Lin suddenly laughed. "Some people advised me not to count on Jiangdu. I should help the emperor's eldest grandson up early and respect the saint as the supreme emperor. Then I will issue an order to let the army from Jiangdu return to the court.
, Jiangdu's imperial guards missed their hometown and would definitely take advantage of the situation to return. Some people even said that they could take the opportunity to grant amnesty to the world and resettle them on the spot. Zhang San was granted the title of King of Qi, Xiao Hui was granted the title of Prince of Liang, the British Crown Prince was granted the title of King of Jin, and Li
Hong was granted the title of King of Xiliang... When the imperial army came back, he would first sweep Xiliang and resist the Wu tribe, then go to Xiangfan and go down the river to annihilate Jiangnan. Then he would gather the wealth of Jiangnan, the craftsmen of Bashu, and the military force of Guanxi.
Take the land of Jin and go to Hebei..."
Hu Yan didn't dare to speak anymore.
"But how can things be so simple?" Cao Lin suddenly changed the topic. "Not to mention that the hearts of the people in the hometown of Dong Qi and Nan Chen will never return. Just a grandson who supports the emperor may not be able to win the hearts of the people. On the contrary,
We must first disgrace people... There are so many rebels now, and the world is known as the four hundred states and counties. There are probably two or three hundred of them who use weapons and taxes and take their own taxes. But they are as powerful as the Bai family, and they rise suddenly like the Xiao family.
As cunning as the Zhang family, they have not proclaimed themselves emperor, or even proclaimed themselves king... If I were to depose him first, I would probably break the hearts of the last loyal ministers of the Wei Dynasty and be taken advantage of by others. Li Twelve Lang
They still think simply."
Only then did Hu Yan know that this plan came from Li Qingchen.
Thinking about it, before he left, those elites who were at the peak of Jing'antai's final lineup seemed to be the only ones still there now, including Li Qingchen and Qin Er, but Qin Er... probably couldn't hold on any longer, that is, Li Qingchen
Such an idea would come up.
As for the others, the few eunuchs are mostly brave and foolhardy. It is already remarkable that the first eunuch and the second eunuch can hold up a county. But for old people like me, they were already wasted by the officialdom of the Eastern Capital before they left.
.
At this thought, Hu Yan was somewhat touched, but he forcibly violated his daily philosophy, raised his head, and spoke sincerely: "Zhongcheng, Li Twelve Lang definitely has good intentions... and the situation has reached this point.
, they young people are always unconvinced, and often don’t know that one thing affects the whole body.”
"I'm not convinced either." Cao Lin's face became a little more lively, and then he looked at the old subordinate in front of him again. "In the nearly twenty years since I received the order of the late emperor, I have never had the slightest deviance or slack off...
Even though my talents and virtues are slightly lacking, my cultivation can be considered useful here... But since the conquest of Dongyi seven or eight years ago, things suddenly went wrong. Looking at the situation,
Things are getting worse day by day, people's hearts are getting worse day by day, but I seem to be powerless to do anything. Why should I be convinced by such a situation?"
Hu Yan was silent for a moment, and finally gave up: "Zhongcheng, Zhongcheng thought it was wrong seven or eight years ago, but I think it was wrong twelve or thirteen years ago."
Cao Lin was slightly startled and immediately asked, "When was that?"
"That was when the imperial court succeeded in splitting the Wu Clan, especially when the western tribes of the Wu Clan were directly attached to it, and the leaders came together to see them." Hu Yan answered seriously. "It was His Majesty who issued an order to wrap silk around all the great people in the east capital.
That time about the tree... At that time, I was worried about the betrothal gift because I wanted to propose marriage to my wife. At that time, I thought that I might as well become a thief and steal a few pieces of silk... but I didn't dare."
Cao Lin was silent for a moment, and then nodded with difficulty: "What you said makes sense... I only felt that this matter was inappropriate at the time. It wasn't until I became the head of my own business in the past two years and interfered more in finances and people's livelihood that I realized
It’s too bad, because my family, officials, soldiers and civilians are all poor, so how can there be any reason to take out so many things and just tie them to a tree to save face?”
"Then," Hu Yan continued. "I once heard someone say that Zhang Xing decided to rebel because of something else that day..."
"What's going on?" Cao Lin became more serious.
"In Nanchen's hometown, he found out that when he went to Jiangdu to supervise the autumn tax, he found out that one acre of land was reported as three acres and three times the land tax was collected." Hu Yan also took it seriously. "I came back then.
I noticed that his mood was much worse, but later I heard what other people in the team said... It was said that Zhang Sanlang told people in private at that time that since the imperial court had done such a thing and had done it for decades, it would be impossible not to do the opposite.
Yes, otherwise it would be against the law of heaven..."
"Fart!" Cao Lin was still trying to endure it, but when he heard the word "Tiandao", he suddenly shouted loudly. "What qualifications does he have to discuss the Tao of Heaven?! The four supreme beings only dared to discuss it after they became enlightened!"
When the wind chimes suddenly sounded, Hu Yan immediately woke up and then kept silent.
Everyone below knows that Uncle Cao has been stubborn from the beginning, which is also an important reason why he became a conservative in Nanya. That is, when he was young, he happened to experience the founding process of the Wei Dynasty. He firmly believed that the founding emperor actually raised
His eldest brother was the most amazing and powerful person in the world. For this reason, the great master almost unconditionally supported the late emperor's various policies.
The most important one is to implement Guanlong-oriented thinking by discriminating and squeezing the hometown of Nanchen and Dongqi, storing money and food in large areas, relocating local Ningdan and above masters, including Jing'an Taiwan itself, which regularly inspects and monitors local powerful people.
Suppression is essentially based on the same type of thinking.
A bolt of lightning flashed across, and a moment later, there was a rumble outside the black tower, and the sound of rain began to rain rapidly again. Uncle Cao Huang also inexplicably extinguished his anger, and instead continued to ask: "Did he really say that?"
"Yes...it should be, right?" Hu Yan was cautious.
Cao Lin shook his head: "No matter how arrogant this person is, he is still a little Zhang Shizhao. You can still listen to Zhang Shizhao's words... However, he means this from the perspective of the people of Dongqi and Nanchen.
, I also admit that in the current situation of the Wei Dynasty, we can only go back to the time when the three kingdoms stood side by side, and then use Guanlong as the foundation and annihilate the other two kingdoms before we can make great achievements again."
Hu Yan was inexplicably confused: "But, the Wei Dynasty... isn't the most fundamental purpose of the Wei Dynasty to unify the world?"
"Of course."
"But if that's the case... why should we let the policy of disintegrating the world and returning to the situation of three families coexisting?" After Hu Yan asked this, he immediately lowered his head.
Cao Lin did not reply to the other party. Maybe he already had the answer in his heart, but he was unwilling to admit it. In fact, after being silent for a long time, the royal master suddenly asked his old subordinate a seemingly irrelevant question: "You know
What did I visualize when I became an elixir?"
Hu Yan shook his head repeatedly: "The people below have a lot of speculations, but the officials really don't know the truth."
"It's a rope." Cao Lin sighed. "It's a rope that binds people and ourselves... It's not a law that I tell others in private... In my life, I have been tied to the late emperor and the great Wei Dynasty.
All." All
Hu Yan was both a little surprised and a little surprised.
"Let's not talk about this... Now that we are here, I am short of manpower, so do me a favor." Cao Zhongcheng continued to give instructions. "I said, you write it, and then hang it on the rope hook on the wall in front of me."
Hu Yan naturally bowed his head and said yes.
"Zhao Tuo, the governor of Huaiyang, Cao Wang, the governor of Liang County, Feng Wuyi of Zhao County, Yuan Baocun of Wuyang County, Chen Ling of Diaoyin County, Zhao Yan of Brazil County, Gong Gao of Lelang..." Cao Lin blurted out,
He said more than a dozen names in one breath.
Hu Yan also wrote a dozen names and local states and counties, and then hung them side by side under the rope hook on the wall on the top floor of the tower as required. He knew that these people were probably imperial officials, and then changed their flags or did not change their flags.
, an independent or semi-independent individual state and county power.
"The second highest official in Daijun, Mang King Kong of Huaiyang, Chen Kuo, the king of Hengshan, Wang Zhuo, the internal servant of the army, Zhu Zhou of Yiyang..."
These are all rebel armies, occupying an area generally less than or at least the size of a county, and there are actually more than a dozen.
"Li Ding of Wu'an County and Xue Ting of Jincheng County." Cao Lin continued. "Hang these two names side by side, then pull off the rope and raise the position so that it is half a height higher than the other dozen or so."
Hu Yan was suddenly enlightened while doing it.
He had heard of both of these names. The former was the prefect of Wu'an, but he annexed Xiangguo County on his own, and the other was the captain of the Jincheng Guardian Witch Tribe, who originally had three thousand elites, but annexed two or three counties around Jincheng.
What they have in common is that none of them directly declared rebellion, but they all demonstrated sufficient military literacy, and they all have real powerful forces around them, making it unclear what their true stance is.
Li Ding was flanked by the British Duke, while Xue Ting was backed by Li Hong from Hexi Province.
"These two people are not people who have lived under others for a long time. They are both young and know how to fight. They are both people who took the initiative to expand and annex external affairs and succeeded quickly." Cao Lin took the initiative to explain. "Unlike the other dozen local officials, they are both reversed.
Okay, it’s okay not to rebel, just to defend the territory, with no intention of expansion at all.”
Hu Yan nodded quickly, convinced.
"You can tear up the notes from the dozen people before." At this moment, Cao Zhongcheng, who was sitting there with his forehead in his hands, suddenly issued a strange order. "Only Mang King Kong will be left."
Although Hu Yan was puzzled, he did not dare to be negligent and immediately acted as he was told. Soon, only Li Ding, Xue Ting and Mang Kingang were left on the rope hook on the wall.
"Bai Yousi of Dengzhou, Du Pozhen of Huaixi, Wang Daiji of Huainan, Sima Zheng of Xuzhou, Xue Changxiong of Hejian, Li Shu of Jiyin, Xuanding of Wei of Jibei, Zhou Xiaoshang of Yiyang, Madam Lu of Tingtaocheng, Breaking Wave Sword of Northern Shanxi,
Jing Xiang, Bai Hengyuan..." Cao Lin continued. "Hang these names side by side with Li Ding and Xue Ting... let Mang Kingang go."
Hu Yan also wrote these names on them, hung them in a row, and tore off Mang King Kong's name.
Obviously, these are all higher-level people who actually control a wealthy area, with neither large nor small territory.
"Sima Zheng, Wang Daiji, and Xue Changxiong didn't resist, they just tore them up."
"Mrs. Lu is too far away, Bai Yousi... is also a little far away, so I will tear it up."
Hu Yan removed the last name with mixed feelings.
"Li Hong, Bai Hengqiu, Li Cheng, Zhang Xing, Xiao Hui." Cao Lin named another list of names. "Li Hong, Li Cheng, and Li Ding hang together; Zhang Xing, Li Shu, Wei Xuanding, Du
The Broken Formation is hung together; Xiao Hui and Zhou Xiaoshang are hung together; Bai Hengqiu, Bai Hengyuan and Breaking Wave Knife are hung together."
Hu Yan hurriedly tore, wrote, pasted, and hung.
"Duan Wei, Gu Yi, Qian Shiying, Bai Hengjin, Niu Hong, Su Wei, Zhang Shiben... plus Zhang Shizhao, this old boy will not die easily."
These are the remaining seven of the Eight Nobles of the Eastern Capital and Zhang Shizhao.
"Remove the bone instrument, put Su Wei, Niu Hong, Bai Hengjin and Bai Hengqiu there, and the same goes for Duan Wei."
This shows that Cao Zhongcheng believed that Duan Shangshu was also a British citizen.
"The master of the house, Liu Wenzhou, Niu Du Gong, came to Zhan'er and talked about thousands of things, Yu Jiuluo, Xue Changxiong, Xiong Bonan, Cao Shiyu..."
These are the surrounding and recently emerged gurus.
"Taoist priest Chonghe, Master Nanpo, Grand Governor of Dongyi, Our Lady of Nanling, Grand Commander of Heishui, Qianjinzhu... British Duke."
These are all great masters! But they only mentioned part of them, and inexplicably there were many British princes who had already written down their names.
"Liu Wenzhou was placed after Nanpo Confucius, Cao Shiyu was placed after Qianjin Zhu, and all other mentions of master were deleted... Zhang Shiben and Zhang Shizhao were placed after Nanpo Confucius, and Xiao Hui and Zhou Xiaoshang were placed behind Qianjin Zhu."
After being so busy, Hu Yan was already sweating profusely.
Cao Lin finally stood up, walked to Hu Yan's side, and carefully looked at the last remaining notes.
Soon, he spoke again: "The Forbidden Army, the Seven Demon Guards, and the Dongyi Navy are also written on these three notes... The Forbidden Army is behind Sima Huada, and the Seven Demon Guards are behind the Black Water Commander.
, the Dongyi Navy was placed next to the Dongyi Governor."
Hu Yan immediately made up for it.
"Write the Red Emperor Empress next to the Qianjin Pillar, write the Qing Emperor next to the Governor of Dongyi, write the Black Emperor next to Zhang Xing and Heishui Chief Minister respectively, and write the White Emperor next to the British Duke.
Side." Cao Lin's words were cold. "Write Sanhui on the side of Taoist Chonghe."
Hu Yan almost staggered.
After finishing the hard work, Cao Lin continued to look at it, and then suddenly stepped forward, tore off the weakest ones Li Hong, Li Ding, and Li Cheng, and threw them to the ground, followed by Sima Huada, and then Dongyi Da.
The Governor, the old lady of Nanling Holy Mother, and the Great Commander of Black Water... landed together, as well as the Forbidden Army, the Demon Guards, and the Dongyi Navy.
After a while, Taoist priest Chonghe's name was also torn off. This name was too thin.
Just like this, one after another, soon, there were only four big lists of notes left in front of Cao Zhongcheng, namely the British Duke, Zhang Xing, Qian Jinzhu, Nanpo Confucius... After hesitating for a moment, Cao Lin suddenly put Nanpo's name on it.
The master's pile of notes and the British father's pile of notes were hooked together, so that there were only three piles of notes left.
Hu Yan was stunned.
Then, Cao Lin thought for a long time, then took down the pile of notes from Zhang Xing one by one and threw them away, while sighing: "Zhang Sanlang is good in everything, but there is no great master fighting for him.
And his gang is so complicated, why can these people gather together to listen to him?"
Hu Yan didn't say anything, but noticed that there were only two piles of notes left on the rope hook in front.
One is the former leader of the True Fire Sect, who is generally believed to be worth a thousand gold pillars; the other is the British Gong Bai Hengqiu who inexplicably got together with Nanpo Old Master.
At this time, Cao Lin turned to Hu Yan, and revealed his true intention to this old subordinate in the rain: "If the Wei Dynasty is really going to collapse, I will never allow myself to be powerless to watch. Fortunately, I still have a little cultivation."
If you can take action, then follow this order, tie up the key people with all your life, and deal with them one by one."
With that said, Cao Zhongcheng tore off the large pile of paper with the words "Qian Jin Zhu" written on it. For a while, only the paper with "British Gong Bai Hengqiu" still fluttering in the wind inside the tower.
The rain kept falling, and Hu Yan felt like he was sweating profusely.