Chapter nine hundred and forty-five the impeachment of the minister
Hearing that Zhang Bi had captured a group of assassins pretending to be the Huben Army and the Capital Army, Dong Xuan hurried from his home to the county government. As soon as he arrived at the county government, before his buttocks were still hot, he heard that Wu Han and Yao Qi were coming.
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Dong Xuan quickly asked people to find Zhang Bi, and then he took Zhang Bi out of the county government to welcome the arrival of Wu Han and Yao Qi.
When they saw Wu Han and Yao Qi outside, Dong Xuan and Zhang Ben bowed their hands and saluted, saying: "Da Sima, Yao Weiwei!"
Wu Han glanced at the two of them, waved his hand, and motioned for the two of them to come to the mansion to talk. Entering the lobby of the county mansion, Wu Han was not polite and sat carelessly in the middle. Yao Qi sat beside him, next to him.
, are Dong Xuan and Zhang Bi.
"I heard that County Lieutenant Zhang arrested one of my men?" Wu Han asked straight to the point without any unnecessary nonsense.
Zhang Bi hesitated for a moment and said with a smile on his face: "Da Sima may have misunderstood. The few people arrested by the official were dressed mysteriously and acted in a sneaky way. They claimed to be the capital army. The official thought
…”
Before he could finish speaking, Wu Han interrupted: "What are their names?"
"Well, there is a man who calls himself Gao Peng, and he says he has been appointed as a military lord..."
"That's right. They are indeed my subordinates. Lieutenant Zhang, let him go!"
"This..." Zhang Bi's face was full of surprise. He really didn't expect that those men in black were really the capital's army.
He cleared his throat and asked: "Da Sima, how about you go to the prison and take a look to confirm that they...are really your subordinates?"
Wu Han asked impatiently: "Did you arrest them near Chunfeng Pavilion?"
"Yes!" Zhang Ben nodded blankly.
"That's right, let him go!"
"This..." Zhang Bi turned to look at Dong Xuan. Dong Xuan lowered his eyes and didn't even look at him. The implication was that you should solve the trouble you caused yourself.
Seeing that Zhang Bi did not immediately agree to release him, Wu Han's eyebrows stood up and he asked in a serious voice: "What? Does Zhang County Lieutenant have any doubts? Or do you think that I, Wu Han, instigated my subordinates to plot evil in the capital?"
"No, no, no, Grand Sima has misunderstood, and this official has no intention of doing so!" Zhang Bi swallowed, waved his hand and called an attendant over, telling him to rush to the prison to pick up the person.
"Wait a minute!" Yao Qi raised his hand and saw Zhang Ben looking at him helplessly. He smiled and said softly: "By the way, bring my people out too."
Come on! It seems that those tigers and tigers are all real! Zhang Bi is now one of the top two. He really can’t figure out what those tigers and the capital army are sneaking around Chunfeng Pavilion for. What’s even more confusing is what he can’t figure out.
Yes, these few people actually alerted Da Sima and Wei Wei, so that these two important figures came to the county government in person to pick them up.
Not long after, Gao Peng, Li Zijing and others were taken to the entrance of the lobby by county soldiers.
People stood outside the door, their heads hanging down in dejection. Zhang Bi asked cautiously: "Da Sima, Wei Wei, are they...really your subordinates?"
Yao Qi turned around and took a look, then nodded to Zhang Ben with a smile and said, "That's right! It's them."
Wu Han looked at Gao Peng, couldn't help but snorted coldly, and said loudly: "You are really capable now! Even a few county soldiers captured you, it's really embarrassing!"
Hearing this, Zhang Ben wanted to smash his head to the ground.
Gao Peng and others were all red-faced, and their heads hung lower. Gao Peng whispered: "Da Sima, at that time... if Zijing hadn't stopped us, we... we wouldn't have captured him without mercy!"
While talking, Gao Peng also glanced specifically at Li Zijing.
Li Zijing was originally a subordinate of Wu Han, and he was later recruited to the Huben Army. Wu Han was naturally no stranger to him. He turned his eyes and looked at Li Zijing. The latter quickly said: "Da... Da Sima, villain
I thought that just because of a little misunderstanding, I would... fight with the county soldiers. If this... spreads out, whether it will be good or bad, it will... also damage the reputation of Grand Sima and Lord Wei!"
Wu Han laughed angrily and said, "Li Zijing, now you know how to think about Weiwei and me!"
Li Zijing knelt down with a pop, kowtowed forward, and said in a trembling voice: "You villain... you know your mistake!"
Although Li Zijing used to be a subordinate of Wu Han, he is now a member of Huben and a subordinate of Yao Qi. Seeing that his subordinates were reprimanded by Wu Han, Yao Qi said slowly: "Mr. Wu, between us
The accounts haven’t been settled yet!”
Wu Han blinked, laughed, waved his hands and said: "Is there anything else that we can't get over between brothers? Let's talk about it later, let's talk about it later!"
Yao Qi rolled his eyes at Wu Han and said to Li Zijing slowly: "Hu Ben directly serves the emperor. If you want to kneel, you can only kneel to the emperor!"
Hearing this, Li Zijing jumped up again like a spring. Yao Qi stood up, cupped his hands to Dong Xuan and said: "County Magistrate Dong, I took my people away. Today's matter will be settled."
That’s it for now!”
Dong Xuan and Zhang Bi hurriedly stood up, raised their hands together and said, "I respectfully send you off to Lieutenant Zhao Wei!"
Seeing that Yao Qi had left, Wu Han did not stay any longer. He stood up and walked out. Dong Xuan and Zhang Ben hurriedly said: "I respectfully see off Da Sima!"
Watching Wu Han and Yao Qi leave, Dong Xuan turned to Zhang Bi and asked, "What on earth is going on?"
Zhang Bi also had a question mark on his forehead. He said with a sad face: "In the alley near Chunfeng Pavilion, people like Gao Peng and Li Zijing are sneaking around. Many of them are still wearing night clothes. They really don't look like good people.
I...I didn't think much about it at the time, so I had them all arrested and brought back to the county government. Who knew...who knew they were actually subordinates of Da Sima and Marquis Ancheng." Having said this, Zhang Bi
He also shook his head repeatedly, secretly thinking that he was unlucky.
Suddenly, he suddenly thought of something and whispered: "I sent people to investigate later, County Magistrate Dong, guess who was eating at Chunfeng Pavilion at that time?"
"who?"
"Ancheng Hou and Zhou Fang."
"Zhou Fang?"
"That's the envoy Kai Xiao sent to Luoyang."
"Oh!" Dong Xuan looked astonished. Zhang Bi rolled his eyes and asked: "County Magistrate Dong, do you think Gao Peng, Li Zijing and others appeared there because of Zhou Fang?"
Dong Xuan's eyes flashed and he nodded thoughtfully. If this is true, then the behavior of Gao Peng, Li Zijing and others will be explained. Zhang Ben was surprised and asked: "Is it that His Majesty is planning to take action against Zhou Fang?"
"Impossible!" If His Majesty wanted to kill Zhou Fang, he would not send people to assassinate him secretly. He would just find any reason or excuse and execute Zhou Fang openly and justly.
"If it is not His Majesty's order, then it is the personal decision of Da Sima and Marquis Ancheng. This is not a trivial matter! If Zhou Fang really does something wrong in Luoyang, Your Majesty will blame it. In the end, it will be our county that is unlucky!"
After a pause, Zhang Bi asked again: "County Magistrate Dong, I think this matter needs to be reported to His Majesty at court tomorrow morning!"
Dong Xuan shook his head repeatedly and said: "That's not right! Your Majesty favors Grand Sima and Marquis Ancheng. If I report this matter to the court, what will your Majesty do?"
Your Majesty is reluctant to punish Wu Han and Yao Qi. If you don't punish Wu Han and Yao Qi, Your Majesty will not be able to explain it in front of the ministers. Isn't this done deliberately to embarrass Your Majesty?
Zhang Bi asked in a low voice: "Then... we just do nothing? Pretend to be deaf and dumb?"
Dong Xuan pondered for a moment and said, "Tomorrow, I will find an opportunity to talk to Duke Deng."
Zhang Ben nodded repeatedly and said, "That's very good."
The next morning, Liu Xiu was in a good mood, with a smile on his face. After all the state affairs were discussed, Liu Xiu said: "In three days, the fourth prince will be celebrating his birthday, and I plan to hold a celebration banquet in the palace.
, what do you think?"
The fourth prince Liu Yang was the prince born to Liu Xiu by Yin Lihua. Because Liu Xiu loved Yin Lihua, he was somewhat partial to Liu Yang, the fourth prince.
In the palace, Liu Xiu invited the ministers to attend the Zhou Zhou Banquet, which had only happened once before, when the prince turned one year old.
When the second prince Liu Fu and the third prince Liu Kang were pregnant, Liu Xiu held family banquets and only invited the closest relatives of the emperor.
Fu Zhan cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, when the second and third princes celebrate their birthday, they all hold family banquets. This time, when the fourth prince celebrates his birthday, it is inappropriate to hold a state banquet!"
Song Hong raised the wat board and said: "It is natural for the prince to hold a state banquet after his birthday. However, the four princes also want to hold a state banquet. I think it is a bit too extravagant. Your Majesty has always warned ministers that the world is not yet settled, and the palace
We should be frugal in spending money both inside and outside the palace, and I deeply believe this."
By saying this, he was using Liu Xiu's words to suppress Liu Xiu.
In fact, Liu Xiu has always been very frugal. He will not make new ones until the imperial uniform wears out. His daily diet is only a few simple dishes of home-cooked dishes, which are neither delicacies from mountains nor seafood.
Even the concubines in the harem can be counted on one hand, and their daily expenses are very small.
As an emperor, it is not easy for him to be as frugal as Liu Xiu. Now he has to prepare a banquet for his favorite young son to invite foreign ministers, and has to suffer Song Hong's hidden blame. How can Liu Xiu feel happy?
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Before Liu Xiu could speak, Wang Yuan, the admonishing doctor, raised the wat board and said loudly: "Your Majesty, Song Si's empty talk makes sense! The fourth prince is going to hold a state banquet every week, so will all future princes and princesses follow suit?
?Your Majesty takes the lead in extravagance, and other ministers follow suit. Isn't this a sign of the country's demise?"
After hearing this, the expressions of everyone present changed. They felt that Wang Yuan's words were too serious.
Bang! Liu Xiu picked up a volume of memorials and slapped it heavily on the table. Wang Yuan raised his head, looked at Liu Xiu, and said without fear: "I hope your Majesty can lead by example."
Liu Xiu looked at Wang Yuan and said nothing for a long time. Deng Yu cleared his throat and said: "The fourth prince is here, and your Majesty holds a state banquet. It is not a big deal, so you don't need to be too harsh!
"
In fact, Deng Yu didn't like Wang Yuan very much. Sometimes, Wang Yuan's criticism of His Majesty was indeed right, but sometimes, Wang Yuan just criticized for the sake of criticism. Even a small matter could be exaggerated to the sky.
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Wang Yuan looked at Deng Yu and said sternly: "The words of the right general are wrong. Your Majesty wants the world to be frugal. If your Majesty can't do it yourself, how can you ask the ministers of the court, and how can you set an example for all the people in the world? Under your Majesty's command,
There is never anything trivial about me. I hope Your Majesty will learn from it!" The last words he said were to Liu Xiu.
Liu Xiu smiled, nodded, and said softly: "Fu Situ, Song Sikong, what Doctor Wang said makes sense, let's just drop the matter of arresting Zhou Yan!"
"Your Majesty..." Deng Yu wanted to speak, but Liu Xiu waved his hand and said, "Okay, I have made up my mind, Zhonghua doesn't need to say any more."
Wang Yuan cupped his hands and said loudly: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty!" After speaking, he returned to his original position.
Fu Zhan and Song Hong frowned secretly. They felt that it was inappropriate for His Majesty to organize a Zhouzhou banquet for the four princes. Firstly, it was indeed a bit extravagant and wasteful. Secondly, this move also favored one and favored others. It was also possible that the emperor was unfair to the princes.
Caused discord among the concubines in the harem.
Of course, arresting Zhou Yan was just a trivial matter, but Wang Yuan's involvement in it turned out to be a sign of the country's demise. It was too alarmist, and Fu Zhan and Song Hong couldn't stand it.
The two of them wanted to explain to Liu Xiu that they did not mean it, but Liu Xiu no longer wanted to hear it. The two of them had no choice but to retreat, thinking in their hearts: This Wang Yuan is really first-class in his ability to cause trouble.