After Liu Xie died of illness, Chen Chong essentially took over the power of the government, but he still faced many problems.
The first was foreign war. After the Liao people learned of the defeat of the Han army, they colluded with the Wu people and launched an offensive in August. Cao Pi and Cao Zhen led 50,000 troops across Liaoze and stationed in Feiru, and then simultaneously attacked Lulong and Hai.
Yang launched a fierce attack. After Zhou Yu's troops in Xiangyang failed to attack Fancheng, they turned around and tried to cross Fancheng and attack Caiyang, Zhangling, Suixian and other places first. Lulong's defense was not bad, after all, Chen Chong had personally intervened before.
There are many arrangements to resist the Liao people. However, the situation in Nanyang is still very bad. The autumn tide has not receded yet, and there are many canals in Nanyang County, which are sufficient for large ships to travel, so that the Wu people can still make a final general attack.
It is urgent to send generals.
For the country, the most suitable candidate is naturally Marshal Guan Yu. After all, Guan Yu has a good reputation and is known as a national soldier. In his early years, he served as the Yin Shi of Henan Province and was responsible for Nanyang affairs many times. If he goes out of Nanyang, the local sergeants will definitely be remembered.
Convinced, the Wu people will inevitably be a little more wary. But for Chen Chong, it is not appropriate to send Guan Yu out of town. Because the DPRK is in a troubled period, he and Guan Yu are both civil and military, one controls the government, and the other controls
Lin Jun was able to barely stabilize the political situation in Luoyang. If Guan Yu was sent to Nanyang, it would be like having his arm broken, and there was no guarantee that something unexpected would happen.
But who should we send if we don’t send Guan Yu? Should we send Wei Yan? Although Wei Yan is good at military strategy and has served as the governor of Nanfu for a long time, he is outspoken and has a hot temper, which is obviously not suitable for handling the current complicated situation in Nanyang. And Tai
Wei Fazheng came forward, so he had enough talent and qualifications, but Chen Chong could not guarantee that he had no other plans behind him. Once he took control of Nanfu and then interacted with Zhong Yao internally and externally, the consequences would be disastrous.
But Chen Chong had no more choices, and time did not allow him to hesitate too much. He had to make a decision immediately. In this warm Mid-Autumn Festival, as soon as he took office, Chen Chong already felt like he was walking on thin ice.
In the end, he decided to let Guan Yu go out to control Fancheng. Even if the situation in the DPRK is difficult, for now, the party struggle is still limited to mutual criticism. If the DPRK and China continue to argue back and forth, Chen Chong can actually accept it, but the situation in Nanyang is not
It could no longer be allowed to deteriorate. Without further ado, in August Jihai, Guan Yu's appointment was officially finalized: envoy Chijie, appointed governor of Jingzhou, governor of Nanyang, and commander of the military affairs of Jing, Yi, and Yang.
Before leaving, Chen Chong had a private meeting with Guan Yu. Chen Chong specially told Guan Yu that he could act cheaply in Nanyang, but he should try to focus on defense, and at the same time, he should also pay attention to young talents in the army and the local area. There is a shortage of officers nowadays.
, it was the time when the imperial court was thirsty for talents. As long as the system was restored after a few years, the country could turn from defense to offense. In addition, Chen Chong asked Guan Yu for a few old troops.
For example, Liao Hua, Zhao Lei and others were responsible for the defense of Luoyang City.
At the same time, Chen Chong also wrote a letter to his adopted son Fu Qian, saying that he planned to transfer him from Beifu and come to Luoyang to take over as a doctor. The letter said that the current troubles in the country are actually caused by the divergence of people.
The reason is that every once in a while, many rumors spread out from nowhere. The ban cannot be stopped at all. It can only be taught by good people and the true origins can be rectified. The best place to perform is in Taixue, and this position requires not only
Knowledge also requires a person's character and mind, so he must be used.
And just after the letter was sent, a big event happened in Luoyang.
On this day, Chen Chong was reading the accounts of Qiu Fu sent by Chen Qun. When checking, Deng Ai suddenly said that he had something to report, which surprised Chen Chong. As the crown prince officially ascended the throne, Deng Ai, who was originally the servant of the East Palace, was promoted to Deyang.
Lieutenant, responsible for the emperor's daily life and travel in Deyang Palace. Logically speaking, this was a leisure position with mixed qualifications. Chen Chong planned to wait for Wei Yan to recruit new soldiers before transferring him and Jiang Wei to the Shanglin Army. At this time, Deng Ai came forward
Come to report, it is really a situation that Chen Chong did not expect.
After Deng Ai met and sat down, he did not dare to delay, and immediately talked about the reason for asking for an audience. Although he was hesitant in speaking due to eloquence, and Chen Chong needed to ask for details from time to time, the content of the narrative quickly attracted Chen Chong's attention.
It turned out that after Deng Ai joined the job, he was bored and counted the accounts of Deyang Palace, and found that a lot of property was missing in the palace. So he took it upon himself to search the residence of the maids in the palace, and sure enough, several of them were caught.
A thief can be said to have stolen stolen goods. Up to this point, this was still a simple theft case, but when Deng Ai was checking the stolen goods, he accidentally discovered that there was a thief in the box of a palace maid named Zhang Lanzhi.
The wooden figure was placed together with the gold cake. This made him very strange, so he took the wooden figure to question Zhang Lanzhi. Unexpectedly, Zhang Lanzhi was shocked when he saw the wooden figure. Before Deng Ai could speak, he shouted
Spare your life, and then kowtow.
Deng Ai was baffled by this, but he also knew it wouldn't end there. He simply ignored Chen Chong's mistakes and raised the banner of Chen Chong, saying that as long as she confessed her accomplices, she would be exempted from death penalty. Zhang Lanzhi confessed one after another that there were four of her accomplices.
Two of them were maids from other palaces. She was responsible for taking the emperor's hair, one was responsible for liaising with the outside world, and the other was responsible for looking out. The one who gave her the wooden figures was a Taoist priest outside the palace named Zhang De. It was said that he had knowledge of ghosts and gods.
There was another person who could do it, Huang Menlang from Lantai, named Xu Qiu. He gave them all the money. He said that as soon as the work was completed, he would give each of them one hundred gold. Now he has given sixty gold.
The remaining wooden figure is the certificate.
After talking to this point, how could Deng Ai not hear the truth: This is a case of witchcraft! There has always been a custom among the people: if there is an enemy who is difficult to defeat, they will carve the enemy's birth date and horoscope on the back of the puppet.
, and tied it with his hair, and then asked a powerful magician to cast a spell, which would have the effect of casting a curse on the person through the air. Due to the disaster of witchcraft during the reign of King Sejong, the imperial court had always explicitly prohibited the practice of witchcraft, and even
It is stipulated that anyone who keeps poisonous insects will be sentenced to death immediately upon discovery, and his family will be sent to live in prison for three thousand miles. However, there are so many people who follow it, and they have banned it repeatedly so far, and the court has turned a blind eye. But this is not the case.
What happened to Emperor Zhuang Liu Xie was no small matter.
Therefore, Deng Ai immediately came to report the matter to Chen Chong and asked him to make up his mind. After listening to Deng Ai's account, Chen Chong was silent for a long time. He did not believe in the art of witchcraft, but the political significance hidden behind it was not trivial. As we know
Among the five prisoners, the one with the highest official position is just a man named Huangmenlang from Lantai, a small official with hundreds of stones. How could he dare to do such a treasonous thing? There must be someone behind it. But no matter who is involved, they will inevitably be involved.
A major case that swept the whole dynasty.
In this regard, Chen Chongdao was hesitant. He closed his eyes slightly, and while tapping the scroll in his hand, he pondered: Liu Xie has passed away now, and making a big fuss about this matter will not bring the dead back to life. And once important officials in the court are involved,
Members, I am afraid that there will be great turmoil in the capital soon, and it is not impossible that it will lead to war. Do you want to shelve this matter first?
But as soon as he had the idea of suppressing the matter, he changed his mind and vetoed it: Deng Ai had already captured Zhang Lanzhi and could not let him go again. If he did nothing, he would be just trying to scare the snake away, and instead give up the leadership to
Since the other party is capable of such a plot to harm the nine tribes, I must not take any chances. I must strike first before the other party is aware of it!
After thinking about this, Chen Chong stood up. After wandering for two steps, he said to Deng Ai: "Don't reveal this matter first. All the insiders are staying in the palace. They must be strictly guarded and must not act rashly. If anyone comes,
If asked, just say that you are still checking your belongings."
After Deng Ai took the order and left, he immediately transferred Liao Hua and ordered him to search the Taoist priest named Zhang De in the city. He told him not to bring too many people with him, and that his affairs must be kept secret. He must not let him go until he is alive.
A person must see his body after death. At the same time, Chen Chong called Pang Tong and asked him to immediately check Xu Qiu's previous files, what positions he had held, and those people he had frequent contacts with.
Of course, the most important thing was to catch Xu Qiu himself. Chen Chong attached great importance to this and made relevant arrangements himself. During the day, he first sent people to find out Xu Qiu's residence, but in order not to alert the snake, Chen Chong did not arrest him immediately.
To arrest him, he bypassed Henan Yinyangdan and took thirty guards directly from Chen Qun. He planned to arrest Xu Qiu again during the curfew. In this way, true confidentiality could be achieved.
At midnight, dark clouds covered the moon, and there were no pedestrians on the streets. After the lights went out, Dongdu fell into darkness and deathly silence. But at this time, in the alleys of Dongshi, the sound of heavy horse hooves broke through
This silence was followed by a long series of competing dogs barking in response. In the interval between the barking and noise, the sound of weapons and armors rubbing and colliding could still be clearly heard. The sounds came from far and near, and suddenly came from the entrance of the alley.
Enter. In fact, at this time, everyone was already awake, but the frightened people didn't know what was happening, and they didn't dare to light the lights. They just waited with bated breath in the darkness, silently praying to God to bless their homes. Fortunately, this sound did not
It didn't last long, probably only a moment or two. It seemed like someone shouted a few times, and then there was the sound of rummaging through boxes and cabinets, and the alley became silent again.
Chen Chong was waiting for the final result in the Prime Minister's Mansion. At about three o'clock in the morning, the sent guards came back. But they did not bring Xu Qiu, because after Xu Qiu heard the sound of breaking into the door, he killed himself with a knife without waiting for a reaction.
, only his wife and children were still alive. But the soldiers did not find nothing. They searched Xu Qiu's study and found some letters, including several letters with very simple contents, although they were just correspondence with Xu Qiu.
Greetings, but the identity of the sender is unusual. As expected, it is Liu Dan, King of Pingyang.