Leng Cui Garden is a gallery garden built around a lake, with trees planted in the corners as green as smoke. In the summer, the garden is as cool as autumn. The guards of the Zhang Mansion are armed with knives and armor, and are on guard outside the garden, not to let anyone approach.
, not even a fly can fly in.
"You unfaithful son, you are unfaithful and unfilial, and you still have the nerve to come back alive! You are going to bring the Zhang family to death!" An old and hoarse voice came out faintly. Anyone who was close to the garden wall could hear this.
It is the voice of today’s powerful politicians.
"The child was struggling hard in the hands of the Donglu. He did not immediately sacrifice his life to seek justice. He was really unwilling to do so," Zhang Ximin knelt on the hard brick floor and cried. "Li Zhuo delayed the war, leading to the defeat of western Liaoning. Tens of thousands of generals were killed."
The bones are so cold..."
"Bullshit! You beast, you can't act in front of me," Zhang Xie was so angry that he beat the ground with his stick. Seeing that his son was pretending to be innocent and trying to deceive himself, he picked up the tip of his stick and poked his face, scolding him.
He said, "You are a beast, you are greedy for life and afraid of death. Others don't understand you. I have been your father for more than thirty years, and I can't understand you. Hao Zong has been formed and broken. It can't be the cruel trick of Donglu.
, Hao Zongcheng is still somewhat loyal to the emperor, but your injuries are all new injuries - now everyone is staring at Hao Zongcheng, and if the emperor is suspicious at this time, he will only doubt Hao Zongcheng. Even Hao Zongcheng was confused for a moment.
I deceived you. Do you think that after three to five days, no one will notice the strangeness?"
Zhang Ximin's face was bleeding from the poke, and the wounds were getting worse, but his father's words directly penetrated his heart, making him panic and uneasy. He stood there in a daze. He didn't know what to say for a while. Looking at his father's face,
It seemed that he was not as angry as he had imagined, so he had the courage to ask: "Father already knew it, why did he help Hao Zongcheng speak for Hao Zongcheng in the palace and urge the emperor to kill Li Zhuo?"
"You are so stupid!" Seeing that his son had not made any progress at all, Zhang Xie felt helpless and helpless in his heart. He sat down on the chair and said in a low voice, "You can hide this trick from others for three to five days.
, you can't hide it from Li Zhuo for even a moment. If Li Zhuo is allowed to confront Hao Zongcheng in court about the defeat of the Liaoxi Army, your trick will be exposed in court. For the sake of the Zhang family of more than 200 people, how can I dare to let Li Zhuo enter the palace to confront him?
?As long as Li Zhuo dies, the Zhang family will be in trouble, and it’s not all because of you, a beast!"
"Let Chen Xinbo force Li Zhuo. What if Li Zhuo sees something and reminds Chen Xinbo?" Zhang Ximin became more courageous and asked.
"Li Zhuo's mind will still be on Hao Zongcheng for a while. Not to mention that Li Zhuo may not be so quick-witted. Even if Li Zhuo reminds Chen Xinbo, do you think Chen Xinbo is loyal to the emperor? What he has tried every means to do in these years is nothing more than to
Overwhelming his father, he has something to do with his father. He is too late to be happy, so how can he poke it out?" Zhang Xie calmed down and said, "Moreover, Li Zhuo is the scapegoat, and it is not Li Zhuo's fault.
It is the emperor's fault. Who among the civil and military ministers can make the emperor bow his head and admit his mistake? If Hao Zongcheng doesn't come back, the matter will drag on. If Hao Zongcheng comes back, the responsibility for the defeat of the Western Liaoning Army cannot be ignored. Otherwise, how can everyone break out of the encirclement if they are uneasy and uneasy?"
Having said this, Zhang Xie breathed a sigh of relief and said, "No one loves life? Unlike me, who is half buried in the ground. You still have a long way to go in life. It's normal if you don't have the will to die. I don't blame you for what happened.
You, please sit up and talk, tell me in detail what you know about the situation, and see how to remedy it?"
Zhang Ximing described in detail the situation when King Ye Jier of Yanhu Khan forcibly summoned him after the Jizhou banquet, and said: "...The child will either die immediately, or he will have to secretly help Hao Zongcheng escape from prison. Those who robbed him of prison
There is no problem with the brave soldiers - apart from this, King Lu didn't mention anything else. If there were other conditions, the child would die in the Donghu prison and would never be a drag on his father.
"
"The Donghu people have seen through you a long time ago. As long as you and Hao Zongcheng come back, their goal will be achieved. What conditions do they need you to agree to?" Zhang Xie let out a long sigh and hung his thin hands feebly.
On the desk.
At this moment, the old steward Zhang Cheng was carrying a Gui box, and the vegetables and meat were fragrant. Zhang Cheng placed the Gui box on the table, pulled out the drawers, and placed the dishes filled with delicious food on the table.
, said: "The only thing we can make in the kitchen right now is these for emergencies. The second young master will just fill his stomach with these..." He took out another pot of wine, but did not put it on the table, but stretched it out to hand it over.
After getting it into Zhang Xie's hands, he said, "The second young master has not recovered from his injuries. Can he really drink?"
Since coming back last night, he has been under investigation. Although he has not been given any trouble, except for two grains of rough dough, Zhang Ximing has not eaten anything else for two days, and his stomach is growling with hunger. Seeing that there is still wine,
Zhang Ximing thought that his father's anger had subsided. He reached out to snatch the jug from his hometown Zhang Cheng, and said: "If you can drink it, you can drink it..."
Seeing that the prime minister didn't stop him, Zhang Cheng let the second young master snatch the wine bottle from his hand. He looked at the second young master with pity in his eyes.
Zhang Ximing didn't even pick up a cup. He put his mouth to the mouth of the pot and took a big gulp. He couldn't wait to pick up the bamboo chopsticks, pick up the vegetables and stuff them into his mouth. He felt like a starving ghost reincarnated. He knew that Zhang Cheng, his hometown, had followed his father for dozens of years.
Nian's confidant, there is no need to hide any secrets from him. He stuffed his mouth with vegetables and meat and said vaguely: "Father said that others might see the flaw in three to five days. Even if Chen Xinbo used this to threaten our Zhang family, it is not a big deal."
It's a good thing, how can I cover it up now? It's better for the child to recuperate at home. If he doesn't show up in public, there should be no problem. I can see clearly that the 100,000 elite soldiers of the Jizhen Army are vulnerable. There are three or four in the south.
One hundred thousand troops and horses came to rescue, but it was useless. The general situation of the world is in the hands of the Donghu people, but if the Donghu people want to rule the world, we are still indispensable. The situation dragged on until the fall of Yanjing, and my father led the ministers to join the rebellion. The Donghu people will still
Reuse our Zhang family's..." As he said this, his heart beat suddenly for no reason, and then his heart began to twitch sharply, with cramping pain like a knife, and his whole body was paralyzed and unable to move. He looked at his father in panic...
"Don't blame dad for being cruel," Zhang Xie said desolately and cruelly, "If you don't die, the Zhang family's two hundred people will be hanging on the knife; if you don't die, Chen Zhihu will not spare Zhang if he sees something fishy."
Home; if you hadn’t died, the emperor would have become suspicious. How could your father compete with Chen Xinbo for the position of Yanjing’s left-behind? Without the seat of Yanjing’s left-behind, what value would the Zhang family have in the future in the eyes of the Donghu people? The Donghu people asked you to come back, no
It’s true that you have made any conditions, but you have lived for more than thirty years, and I have taught you carefully. At this time, you still can’t understand that you are a chess piece that will be discarded after being used. Who can you blame? I can’t even protect your eldest brother.
Yes, this is fate..." Zhang Xie's tone became faster and faster as he spoke, his voice and expression were fierce, and he looked like an evil tiger...
"Mr. Xiang, the young master died of serious injuries. You have to express your condolences!" Zhang Cheng, an old family member, whispered from the side.
Zhang Xi died on his seat. Before he died, he never thought that his father would poison him with his own hands!
Zhang Xie stood up and said to Zhang Cheng: "You sent someone to report to the palace, saying that I am sad and seriously ill and bedridden. The emperor is very suspicious. He may send an imperial doctor to check. You have to be careful in your arrangements."
, we can’t fail in defeat!” As he spoke, he staggered out and left Zhang Cheng to clean up the mess…
*************
Chen Xinbo and Wang Qishan returned to the palace to reply. They were still worried about the escape of Chen Dingbang and Lu Xiong. As soon as they entered the palace, they met Zhang's family members who came to report the funeral. They learned that Zhang Ximin died of his injuries shortly after returning home -
—Chen Xinbo was stunned...
Hao Zongcheng came back with a broken body that had been dragged for half a breath, which made people doubtful. The imperial doctor's examination of injuries mainly examined Hao Zongcheng, and the examination mainly examined Ji Zhen, who rescued people from Jizhou prison.
Soldiers.
Compared with Hao Zongcheng, who served as the military supervisor of Jizhen Army for a long time, had a profound influence on Jizhen Army, and took charge of Jizhen Army at the last moment, which directly led to the defeat of Western Liaoning, Zhang Ximing was just an unlucky guy who came to Western Liaoning to deliver the order at the end.
Zhang Ximin's role at that time was even far inferior to that of Yang Wenchang, who came out of seclusion with a secret decree and later openly defected to the East and talked nonsense about surrendering to Changli.
Besides, the emperor still trusted Zhang Xie, who would embarrass Zhang Ximi at this juncture? Zhang Ximi just let it slip through the air.
Chen Xinbo's initial thoughts were only on Hao Zongcheng, but with Hao Zongcheng's current situation, even if he were to let him go, it was doubtful whether he could survive, and he would never come back to power in a short time.
Even if all the blame for the defeat of Liaoxi was placed on Hao Zongcheng, it would actually be nothing more than forcing the emperor to bow his head and admit his mistake. The final result would probably be to re-appoint Li Zhuo to clean up the mess. But when the situation has reached this point, who should Li Zhuo be used against?
What's the benefit?
Based on Chen Xinbo's understanding of Li Zhuo, if Li Zhuo had to use it, he would probably suggest that Zhou Zongfan and Chen Zhihu lead the Western Route Qin Wang Division to support the emperor in fleeing south, while Li Zhuo led the ministers and the Beijing camp army to stay and hold on to Yanjing and contain the main force of the Donghu people.
Perhaps Chen Xinbo, Zhang Xie and other civil and military officials could follow him south, but the combined number of Manchu civil and military officials numbered tens of thousands. Li Zhuo would never let these tens of thousands of people drag themselves south to break out of the encirclement - not to mention
The danger of going south to break out of the siege was to escape. He was seventy and eighty years old, and it was not a pity to die, but Chen Xinbo really couldn't be cruel to leave all the children in Yanjing to be slaughtered by the Donghu people.
No matter how suspicious Hao Zongcheng's defection is, let alone Zhang Xie, when the situation has dragged on to this point, even Chen Xinbo refuses to give Li Zhuo another chance to take advantage of him.
Chen Xinbo did not have any doubts about Zhang Xizhong at first, but when he heard the news that Zhang Xizhen had died from his injuries, he, who had been immersed in intrigues and political struggles for half his life, suddenly realized that the suspicion of Hao Zongcheng's escape was related to
The problem was not with Hao Zongcheng, but with Zhang Ximin. Chen Xinbo stamped his feet in anger and thought to himself: They say tigers are poisonous but do not eat their seeds, but he did not expect that in the end he would still be inferior to Zhang Xie!