"Also obey the rules and maintain your dignity..."
After returning to the main hall of Liu Mansion, Zhao Junchen murmured to himself, thinking about the oral message conveyed by Emperor Deqing to Zhang Su.
There are only eight words in this sentence. It can be said that it has no beginning and no end, and the meaning is ambiguous. However, if you add a subject to this sentence, the deep meaning will be very clear, that is - "You must abide by my rules, and you must also abide by my rules."
To preserve my dignity."
What were the rules for Emperor Deqing?
Obviously, even military commanders cannot interfere in local civil affairs at will, but imperial decrees must be implemented!
For Emperor Deqing, what is decency?
Obviously, civil unrest must not break out again in Xingzhou within a short period of time, but all the ruling and opposition forces who disobey the imperial decree need to be punished!
Considering that Emperor Deqing arranged for Li He to come to Xingzhou to investigate the civil unrest, he did not give Li He the right to make emergency decisions...
[Currently used, it is the most complete and best-used app for listening to books. It integrates 4 major speech synthesis engines and over 100 sounds. It is also a source-changing artifact and source-changing app that supports offline reading]
Obviously, as expected, Emperor Deqing was willing to support Zhao Junchen, at least in matters such as the Xingzhou Civil War and agricultural reform.
Moreover, Emperor Deqing's support was even greater than Zhao Junchen expected!
Zhang Su, the commander-in-chief of Jizhen, was a die-hard loyalist of Emperor Deqing. When Zhao Junchen figured out Emperor Deqing's attitude, it was equivalent to figuring out Zhang Su's scale of doing things, and he could easily deduce what Zhang Su could do next.
What kind of support have you provided for yourself?
After thinking about these things, Zhao Junchen immediately called for pen and ink, quickly wrote three secret letters, and then handed one of the secret letters to Niu Fude and ordered: "Mr. Niu, hurry up as soon as possible.
Station at Ji Town, give this secret letter to Zhang Su."
Afterwards, Zhao Junchen handed the second secret letter to Liu Zimin and ordered: "You take advantage of the night to go to Xingzhou Prison. Jiang Quan led the people to attack the grain store yesterday, but I ordered
He must not reveal his identity, so he was taken into prison by Ji Zhen's garrison. You give him this secret letter alone, and then find a way to get him out...and those who attacked the grain store with him.
The common people should fish out as many as possible!"
Finally, Zhao Junchen handed the last secret letter to Li Chuanwen and said: "Mr. Li, would you please go and give this secret letter to Song Qili overnight, and then tell Song Qili that this secret letter is related to the Song family."
The family affairs have nothing to do with the temple affairs, but time is pressing. I hope he can make a decision early. If he finds Li He present when sending the letter, there is no need to avoid him. After putting down the secret letter, he can leave directly without waiting for a reply...
…”
After hearing Zhao Junchen's instructions, Niu Fude, Liu Zimin, Li Chuanwen and others nodded in agreement and quickly turned around and left.
After Zhao Junchen's comprehensive layout in the past few days, he has finally entered the final stage of the plan!
*
Ever since he reached a deal with Zhao Junchen, Song Qili had announced that he was seriously ill, and had been refusing to see visitors. He watched the changes in the situation in Xingzhou with a cold eye, hoping to see how Zhao Junchen was going to deal with the Xingzhou officials and gentry.
But today, two important guests came to visit one after another, making Song Qili no longer able to pretend to be sick to avoid it.
The first guest was naturally Ge Lao Li He.
After Li He said goodbye to Zhao Junchen, he quickly rushed to Song Qili, hoping to arrange several fast-horse couriers through Song Qili to go to Nanjing as soon as possible to deliver the message, and then also fully took over the intelligence and connections of the "Zhou Party" in Xingzhou.
Song Qili naturally did not dare to neglect and actively cooperated with Li He's various requests.
However, just as Song Qili and Li He were discussing the follow-up plan in detail, they heard a report again, saying that Zhao Junchen's close aide Li Chuanwen was asking for an audience, and he also brought a secret letter from Zhao Junchen.
Song Qili still didn't dare to neglect, and immediately invited him to meet him.
Li Chuanwen, on the other hand, followed Zhao Junchen's instructions and did not care about Li He who was present. He handed the secret letter directly to Song Qili and quickly left.
After Li Chuanwen left, Song Qili first glanced at the secret letter in his hand, and then glanced at Li He, who was sitting quietly at the main seat, staring at him with a smile, his expression a little embarrassed.
According to Zhao Junchen, this secret letter is related to the Song family's family affairs. It seems to be quite important. It stands to reason that there is no need to consult Li He for his opinion. Otherwise, if this family matter goes against the interests of the "Zhou Party", it will not be Song Qili's turn.
He had made up his own mind; but in the confidential exchange of letters between Song Qili and Zhao Junchen, if he deliberately avoided Li He, it would be like being a thief with a guilty conscience.
Li He soon noticed Song Qili's embarrassment and smiled casually: "Since Zhao Gechen said that this secret letter is related to the Song family's family affairs, and time is pressing and a decision needs to be made as soon as possible, why should Bo Jing be hesitant?
Are you reluctant to open the secret letter and browse its contents? What? Are you worried that I will interfere in your family affairs? Or... Bo Jing and Zhao Gechen have other secrets that they don’t want me to know about?"
Li He had been vaguely aware of Song Qili's hidden selfish motives during this period. Although he did not think that Song Qili would betray the "Zhou Party", at most he could not wait to help his brother Song Qiwen ascend to power as soon as possible, but he did not mind taking the opportunity to give Song Qili a beating.
.
Song Qili quickly shook his head and said: "Mr. Ge, you are serious. This junior has no secrets in front of you. What's more, you are a senior that my brother and I admire very much. Even if you want to interfere in our family affairs, it is not right."
The love and care of our Song family."
After saying that, Song Qili opened the secret letter in front of Li He and quickly read the contents of the letter.
After just one glance, Song Qili's expression changed slightly, and then he handed the secret letter to Li He and asked for instructions: "The content of the letter is indeed related to the Song family's family affairs, but you still need to make the decision yourself.
You see..."
Li He looked down and saw that there were only a few lines written on the secret letter.
"Two days later, when the people were rushing to buy rice and grain, I wanted to take the opportunity to rectify the Xingzhou officials and gentry. I thought it was Shunchang's rebellion and took out the salary to stop the boiling. I heard that the Xingzhou Song family is a branch of the Song family, a prominent family in the south of the Yangtze River. If Mr. Song wants to protect him,
I hope they can be restrained and disciplined in advance so as not to damage the harmony!"
After reading it, Li He narrowed his eyes and murmured: "Shunchang is going to perish, and we are going to take out the salary to stop the boil... What a big statement! I originally thought that Zhao Junchen would only kill chickens and scare monkeys in Xingzhou, but I didn't expect his determination.
It's so big!
It seems that the various arrogant behaviors of the Xingzhou officials and gentry in the past few days have completely angered Zhao Junchen, but... isn't he worried that after he kills them all, he will incur the hostility of the Jin gentry in the world? "
Having said this, Li He couldn't help but look thoughtful.
After thinking for a moment, Li He still couldn't figure out Zhao Junchen's true thoughts, so he shook his head and stopped thinking about it. He just turned to Song Qili and smiled: "It's up to you to decide on this matter. I won't interfere."
...If you don't care about the Song family in Xingzhou, then it's okay to give up on them... Those who want to achieve great things should not let their emotions and selfishness affect their judgment, right?"
These words seemed to persuade Song Qili to give up the Xingzhou Song family directly without any need to rescue him.
But after Song Qili heard this, he couldn't help but tremble in his heart. He remembered that he once rejected Zhao Junchen's deal and refused to save Zhou Shangjing. He always felt that Li He's words were implying something.
Song Qili originally didn't care about the survival of the Song family in Xingzhou. After all, he had never really acknowledged this distant relative. But after thinking that Li He's words might have meant something, he quickly changed his attitude and sighed: "
This junior has always been cold-tempered. If he had the full power to make the decision, he would naturally be unwilling to waste energy on rescuing the Song family in Xingzhou... But this junior also needs to consider his brother's attitude. He is a person who values affection and righteousness, so he must be
I don’t want to sit back and watch the Song family in Xingzhou suffer, so... let’s find a way to rescue them."
The implication is that when Song Qiwen made the deal with Zhao Junchen, if Song Qiwen had been present, he would have tried his best to save Zhou Shangjing's life. He would never have done anything to save Zhou Shangjing like me. All the ungrateful things were done by me, Song Qili.
But Song Qiwen is a person who values friendship and friendship. I hope Li He will never be prejudiced against Song Qiwen.
Li He nodded lightly and said: "It is a good thing to value friendship and friendship! This kind of person makes people feel at ease, and we are willing to entrust him with important tasks... In my opinion, you are actually a person who values friendship and righteousness, but you
You attach too much importance to brotherhood and neglect other friendships. Regarding this, you still need to learn more from your brothers!"
"Elder Ge is right! The younger generation will definitely remember your teachings!"
*
At the same time, in the prison of Xingzhou Prefecture, Liu Zimin also met with Jiang Quan alone and secretly, and handed Zhao Junchen's secret letter to Jiang Quan.
After Jiang Quan carefully read the contents of the secret letter under the candlelight, he directly raised the candle and burned the secret letter. He whispered a few words to Liu Zimin, and then took the initiative to return to the cell.
At this time, the Xingzhou prison was densely packed with civilians, about a hundred people in total. These civilians, led by Jiang Quan, attacked the grain store yesterday and wanted to rob the grain store, so they were attacked by Ji.
The garrison suppressed him and he was imprisoned.
Because of this, the people in the cell had completely different attitudes towards Jiang Quan.
Some people admired Jiang Quan's righteousness and led them to actively resist the oppression of the officials and gentry. When the Jizhen garrison arrested them, they stood in the front and fought for others to escape. After they were arrested and imprisoned, they still
They used their own money to bribe the jailers to increase their food supply. They were simply knights with great righteousness, so they all regarded Jiang Quan as their leader and were willing to actively respond to Jiang Quan's call.
But there are also many people who hate Jiang Quan even more. They think that if Jiang Quan had not repeatedly incited their emotions yesterday and took the lead in attacking the grain store, they would not have been hot-headed and followed up to make trouble, and they would not be suffering from this jail now.
, so they now do not resent the officials and gentry for raising the price of rice, nor do they resent the Ji garrison for arresting them, but only resent Jiang Quan for involving them.
Under such circumstances, when Jiang Quan was escorted back to his cell by the jailer, some of the people in the prison stood up to greet him and called him "Brother Jiang" loudly, while other people turned a blind eye with a hint of resentment in their expressions.
There was a young man of 17 or 18 years old in the cell named Wang Huzi. He was at the age of enthusiasm and most admired Jiang Quan's chivalrous act. When Jiang Quan returned to the cell, he took the initiative to give up his seat to Jiang Quan and asked with concern.
He said: "Brother Jiang, why do the people from the government suddenly see you? Are they trying to make things difficult for you?"
After Jiang Quan took a deep breath, he announced loudly to the people in the cell: "I have good news for everyone. I have just reached an agreement with the officials. We just need to wait until tomorrow morning and we can all go out!"
After hearing Jiang Quan's shouting, the people in the prison were overjoyed.
Wang Huzi said in disbelief: "We broke into the grain store, and the government was willing to let us go? How can the people in the government be so kind?"
Jiang Quan explained with a smile: "I took out the money to open up the door and bribed the relevant officials. Those people are all jealous of money, so naturally they will not continue to make things difficult for us!"
Wang Huzi took a deep breath and said in shock: "Hey, darling! We have hundreds of people, how much money do we need to give them to let all of us out?"
Jiang Quan said nonchalantly: "Not much, only three hundred taels of silver!"
Three hundred taels of silver!
After hearing this number, everyone was shocked!
Not only were they shocked that Jiang Quan had such a large sum of money, but they were even more shocked that Jiang Quan was willing to give up such a large sum of money to free all the people in prison.
"Three hundred taels of silver! Brother Jiang, where did you get so much money?"
Jiang Quan laughed and said proudly: "I actually have a small amount of wealth, but it is really not easy to come up with this money, so I gave all my ancestral land and house to the government officials, which works out to roughly
About three hundred taels of silver."
Seeing that everyone was dumbfounded, Jiang Quan waved his hands and said: "It's nothing! It's really nothing! If it wasn't for my impulse to take the lead in breaking into the grain store yesterday, everyone might not have suffered this jail sentence, so even if I lost everything
, we should also rescue everyone and not let everyone suffer in prison again!
However, after losing my ancestral property and house, I have nowhere to go and I am penniless. From now on, I can only live with you. But I don’t know how to beg for food at all. I hope you can help me.
Don’t dislike me!”
After hearing Jiang Quan's statement, all the people in the prison were greatly shocked!
Even the people who had resented Jiang Quan before were now moved by Jiang Quan's righteous deeds!
It would be fine if Jiang Quan's family was rich, but Jiang Quan actually squandered all his wealth in order to save them!
How generous this is!
These common people all have nothing, otherwise they would not have followed Jiang Quan into the grain store yesterday. No one has ever paid them such attention. They were all excited for a while, and they all responded: "Brother Jiang, you will be my big brother from now on."
!”
"From now on, Daxia Jiang will be our leader!"
"Brother Jiang, as long as I have one more bite to eat from now on, I will give you half of it!"
"Yes, we will live together from now on. These days, we can only survive by helping each other!"
After hearing the responses from the people in the prison, Jiang Quan couldn't help but smile.
A smile means a lot.
*
Just as the people in Xingzhou Prison were excited and excited, another incident occurred in several grain stores that were broken into by these people yesterday.
Ever since the people broke into the grain store, Zhang Su, the commander-in-chief of Jizhen Town, on Zhao Junchen's suggestion, sent troops to surround the major grain stores and granaries layer by layer. In name, it was "protection", but in fact it was "surveillance".
”.
But precisely because of the "protection" of the Ji Town garrison, the Xingzhou officials and gentry have not found an opportunity to privately remove and hide their rice grains in the past two days.
But that night, the Ji Zhen garrison who were originally responsible for protecting the granary and grain stores suddenly announced that "rioters had sneaked into the granary with the intention of stealing", so they forcibly broke into major grain stores and granaries to conduct "searches."
However, while the Ji Zhen garrison was "searching" for thieves everywhere, several accounting clerks followed the Ji Zhen garrison into the major grain stores and granaries, and took the opportunity to count the approximate contents of these grain stores and granaries.
