Chapter 1198 Ren Xia arrives in Hangzhou, the emperor of Jiangnan
A gorgeously decorated ship (an official ship of the imperial court) with many oars and small doors on the bulwarks on both sides of the ship was sailing south quickly on the mighty river, along with several centipede speedboats behind it, turning from Bian Canal.
It enters Ying River and then passes through Ru River. It follows the canal system that connects rivers in various places and then flows into the Dongting Lake through the branch of Ru River. It will soon reach the final destination of this trip, Hangzhou, the important capital in the south of the Yangtze River.
The Xiao Mansion in Bianjing, Song Zhenniang, Qiongying and her daughter were all ordered by Xiao Tang, and they and other confidants had begun to sneak out of Bianliang, Tokyo step by step. It would not be long before all the people in the capital were employed in Xiao Tang's name to make a living.
However, the only ones who remained in the wells of Bianjing City were some artists who were recruited by Shi Xiu and knew the basics. Xiao Tang went south to Hangzhou in accordance with Zhao Ji's imperial edict. In addition to Yan Qing, Xu Guanzhong, Xiao Jiasui, Shi Xiu, and Shi Qian,
In addition to Le He and other confidants, there are also a thousand of the most fierce and skilled confidant sergeants, each of whom is equipped with strong armor and sharp swords. If this team is used properly, it will be more than enough to wipe out some ordinary copycats in the green forest who are doing evil and harming the people.
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However, if we want to rob Wu Song, rescue him, escape, and meet a large number of officers and soldiers from all over the Yangtze River gathered in Hangzhou, I am afraid it is still far from enough.
And the two mountains in Qingzhou have also received secret orders from Xiao Tang, and have assembled Lu Zhishen, Lin Chong, Sun An, Shi Jin, Yang Zhi, Zhu Jing, Chai Jin, Shan Shiqi, Deng Fei, Xie Zhen, Jie Bao, Sun Xin
, Gu Dasao, Zhang Qing, and Sun Erniang, a total of fifteen leaders, then mobilized nearly a thousand of the most elite soldiers in the village to march down the mountain in batches, to the border of Dengzhou and take the sea route south to the Baiyun Mountain Dazhai on Liangzhe Road, waiting for Xiao Tang's orders
They work together to save people. Among them, Lu Zhishen, Lin Chong and other brothers are naturally unstoppable warriors. Sun Xin's sister-in-law Gu and Zhang Qing are used to snooping around and infiltrating the palace's gangs. There is also a little whirlwind Chai Jinque.
With his own strengths such as extensive knowledge in the world, flexible mind, and extraordinary conversation, Xiao Tang was also willing to teach him, the head of the ministry who was in charge of welcoming guests from all over the village, presiding over contacts with external forces, and negotiating matters, to go with him.
Since Fan is finally going to have a secret meeting with Fang La, the leader of the Manichaean cult, Chai Jin’s strengths in life can be put to great use by Zhemo.
After all, Xiao Tang knew that Chai Jin not only had many friends in the world, but that his reputation in the green forest was even comparable to that of Song Jiang.
As a leader of the bandits, he was able to enter the Zichen Palace in the Forbidden Gate, the Wende Palace, and even Zhao Ji's study room and walk around in a swagger, which shows that Chai Jin has scheming and courage. The most important thing is that
According to the rules in the original book, when the Liangshan Army attacked Fang La, Chai's evolutionary name was Ke Yin. After sneaking into the south of the Yangtze River with Yan Qing as an undercover agent, Fang La and even the capable men and strangers under his command not only showed no suspicion at all, but often summoned Chai Jin to discuss important military matters.
Regarding the in-law marriage granted to Chai Jin, it seems that the Mani leader's attitude towards Chai Jin should also be very willing to get close to him.
On the south side of the Yangtze River, there are Baiyun Mountain under the command of Pang Wanchun and Wuyi Mountain under the command of Shi Bao. However, considering the attention of the government and the public, everything is now focused on whether Xiao Tang can really be ruthless enough to execute that person.
If the murderer wanted to attack Wu Song, and if he really had to escalate the war with the officers and soldiers from various places gathered in Hangzhou, the external force of Jiangnan Manichaeism would naturally be available and must be used.
"Brother, we are almost at the port, and there are already guards of honor waiting on the shore."
After hearing what Yan Qing said when he walked into the steering cabin of the ship, Xiao Tang nodded slowly, and immediately stood up and walked up to the deck. After exiting the cabin door, he immediately saw ships going back and forth on the canal, and there were many sails like a forest. There were thousands of people around. Hundreds of ships came and went in an endless stretch, and the officials and soldiers under the rule of Jiangnan Road who came to greet them on the shore were also crowded, squatting shoulder to shoulder, but Xiao Tang also knew very well that he was still a high official in the imperial court. Of course, those local officials wanted to treat him with courtesy, but I am afraid that many of them had already received Cai Jing's instructions and were about to keep a cold eye on him to see if he could make any noise in Hangzhou.
Thinking of this, Xiao Tang sneered. After the boat docked, he and a group of brothers rushed to the shore. Among the ceremonial guards who came to greet him, one person walked out first. He smiled and said, "Xiao Xianggong is all the way." After hard work, Suzhou Yingfeng Bureau Chief Zhu Meng, as well as officials from Hangzhou, Xiu, Yue, and Mu prefectures, are here to greet you. We have set up a banquet in the city to welcome Mr. Xiao."
After hearing this, Xiao Tang's eyes suddenly froze, and he saw in front of him the commander-in-chief of the Suzhou Yingfeng Bureau, who was about forty or fifty years old. He was tall, and although his appearance was decent, there was a cunning look in his eyebrows, and this Although the person spoke politely, his expression and behavior were not very respectful to Xiao Tang, and even his eyes seemed to show a very playful look.
This guy rose to great heights by relying on Hua Shi Gang, and was very arrogant in all areas south of the Yangtze River. Together with Cai Jing, Tong Guan, Li Bangyan and other traitorous officials, he was one of the "six thieves" in the late Northern Song Dynasty!
Xiao Tang cursed secretly in his heart. In front of him, Zhu Meng, the traitorous official, laughed so hard that he made a fist on his face and said with a cold expression: "I came here with the order, but I don't want to teach Xianggong Su." I came here to welcome you, but I was very frightened when I arrived."
Seeing this, Zhu Meng laughed and said: "Xiangong Xiao is a close official of the official family. Now that he has arrived at the border of Suzhou and Hangzhou, Zhu has come to greet him. What's more, I heard that Xianggong Xiao is coming here with the order. He will not show any personal favoritism and rectify his name." , Zhu directly admired him, and even without the imperial edict and the oral instructions of Mr. Cai, Zhu admired Mr. Xiao's name and would come to see the righteous act of killing relatives."
As soon as Zhu Meng said this, Shi Xiu and others behind Xiao Tang suddenly showed angry expressions. Xiao Tang looked behind Zhu Meng coldly, but saw that there were dozens of followers behind him wearing brocade clothes and gold belts, with different expressions. Bu Shan, looking at the looks and expressions of those guys, they all seem to be skilled practitioners.
It seems that this thief has already received Cai Jing's orders. He knows that I have bad relations with several powerful people in the court, so he does not care about my status in the court and only helps Cai Jing... Xiao Tang sneered in his heart, but he also knew very well that Zhu Meng, a local gangster who had been dominating the Jiangnan area for more than ten years, was not as easy to get rid of by assassination as the common local treacherous officials and bullies.
After all, Zhu Meng and his father, Zhu Chong, were ingratiating themselves with Cai Jing, the powerful prime minister who had been demoted to Hangzhou. The next year, after Cai Jing returned to Beijing under the imperial edict, Tong Guan fell in love with them and joined the army by pretending to have military merit. Because of his hard work in collecting tribute, Zhu Meng was favored by Zhao Ji and moved to Hezhou as a defense envoy. With the expansion of the scale of Huashi Gang, Zhu Meng was also the most powerful official in control of private armed forces in the Jiangnan area. He just followed him personally. The guards numbered several thousand, and most of the military and state officers in the southeast border came under Zhu Meng's sect. They were all under his command and watched, and they rushed to obey orders. During the common season in the south of the Yangtze River, people called Zhu Meng in charge of "the small imperial court in the southeast." ", with such arrogance and arrogance, he is indeed the most suitable candidate sent by Cai Jing to monitor and restrain him in the Jiangnan boundary.
Although murderous intent had already arisen in his heart, Xiao Tang knew that at least for the time being, he would not be able to slap the thief to death. Instead, he just said in a calm tone: "Since General Zhu knows why the imperial court sent me here, before carrying out the execution, he has to I'd like to trouble General Zhu to guide you to the prison, and Xiao will always take a look at the prisoners on death row in person."
When Zhu Meng heard this, he immediately laughed twice and said: "Xiao Xianggong's words are wrong. The murderer Wu Song committed a major crime of assassinating an imperial official and costing many lives. Since the imperial court has already issued a verdict and punished him as a counter-crime, there is no need to do it again." According to the law of the Song Dynasty, the system of prison inspection was established. What’s more, Xianggong Xiao had a deep relationship with the rebels and the murderers, so the imperial court sent him to be imprisoned. Wasn’t it to avoid the suspicion that Xianggong Xiao had an affair with the criminals on death row? Zhu didn’t hide it either. Mr. Cai also had an oral instruction, instructing Zhu to watch Mr. Xiao and not do anything wrong because of his old relationship... It was also all for the sake of Mr. Xiao's innocent reputation."
Xiao Tang's face suddenly darkened when he heard this, and he said in a solemn tone: "Even if the condemned prisoners do not need to undergo prison inspection before being judged, since the imperial court only sent me to supervise the death penalty, I should personally visit the prisoners before the execution." But where does it violate the Song Dynasty's criminal laws? Or is it that General Zhu is just following someone's instructions and wants to stop me?"
"Xiao Xianggong wants to meet his old friend. Isn't it natural that he will be able to see him on the fifth day of the next month when he is to be executed?"
Zhu Meng was not at all frightened by Xiao Tang's gradually revealing evil aura, but he said with a cold smile: "If Mr. Xiao said it honestly, Zhu would be offended. Mr. Cai had already given the oral instructions, and all the relatives who came with Mr. Xiao Just before Wu Song, the prisoner on death row, was sentenced to death, Zhu said he couldn't see him, so he definitely couldn't see him."
