After the one-eyed dragon finished his confession, Mou Rongtian thought to himself: "The masked man is probably Tian Ergen." He asked: "Where are those gold ingots now?"
The one-eyed dragon said: "I am buried on the mountain next to Widow Pan's house."
Mou Rongtian asked: "What's the figure of the masked man?"
The one-eyed dragon said: "He is quite tall, a head taller than me, and he is also quite strong."
Mou Rongtian said: "Captain Li, bring over a bamboo pole that is more than six feet long, and then bring over the ruler."
When the time was short, Capt. Li brought a thin bamboo pole. Mou Rongtian asked him to stand the bamboo pole vertically on the ground and said, "One-eyed dragon, mark the height of that person on the bamboo pole."
The one-eyed dragon stood up, recalled it, raised his right hand and knocked on the bamboo pole, and said, "It's probably this high."
Li Captou marked the spot where the one-eyed dragon struck with a dagger, measured it with a ruler, and said, "Master Mou, it's five feet three inches."
Mou Rongtian thought to himself: "Tian Ergen is five feet and four inches tall. A one-eyed man cannot measure accurately with his eyes. It seems that the masked man is Tian Ergen. This guy has his face covered and uses ventriloquism."
, everything was done flawlessly, and one-eyed dragon's words alone cannot convict him. If those gold ingots have the imprint of a silver number, perhaps we can follow the clues and find Tian Ergeng."
Thinking of this, he said: "One-eyed dragon, take us to dig out the gold."
Cyclops took Mou Rongtian and others to a mountain on Shibalipo, found the place where the gold was buried, stopped, pointed to the ground, and said, "This is it."
Mou Rongtian said "dig", and several yamen servants took shovels and started digging with more than ten shovels. When they dug more than three feet deep, they found a baggage.
A government official said: "I dug it."
Mou Rongtian said: "Take it out."
The yamen servant picked up the baggage and felt it was heavy on his hands, and said to himself: "Oh, it's quite heavy." He placed the baggage in front of Mou Rongtian and untied it, revealing a pile of gold ingots. Everyone present looked at it, except Mou Rongtian.
, all excited.
Mou Rongtian leaned over and picked up an ingot. He turned it over and looked at it. He saw that the base was flat and there was no mark on it. He thought to himself: "This should be cast by Dongchang itself. It seems that this clue has been broken."
A few days later, Mou Rongtian escorted Cyclops back to the capital and went to the Jinyiwei General Administration Bureau to report to Luo Sigong. Luo Sigong read Cyclops's confession and thought: "Yan Shoufeng must have sent someone to bribe Cyclops and asked him to kill Mr. Ye in order to seize the position of chief minister. This
The move is really too cruel."
Yan Shoufeng called Tian Ergen to the Zhongyi Hall and said, "One-eyed dragon was arrested by Mou Rongtian. Do you know about this?"
Tian Ergeng said: "My child also got the news."
Yan Shoufeng's face darkened and he said, "Why don't you kill the one-eyed dragon after the matter is settled? If this guy falls into the hands of Mou Rongtian, he will definitely turn you in."
Tian Ergeng said: "Don't worry, my adoptive father, the child covered his face that day and used ventriloquism to talk to the boy. Even if he confesses, Mou Rongtian has nothing to do with the child."
It turns out that the masked man who bribed the one-eyed dragon was Tian Ergen.
Yan Shoufeng said: "Ergeng, don't be careless. This is not a good thing. You should be more cautious in doing things in the future."
Tian Ergeng said: "My child knows that he made a mistake, and he must be cautious in the future."
Yan Shoufeng said: "Go."
After Tian Ergeng left, Yan Shoufeng sat alone in the hall, looking at the chessboard on the stone table, thinking: "Luo Sigong, you are almost finished. Once the queen dies, Concubine Zheng will be established as the new queen, and Prince Fu will become the new queen."
If there is a legitimate son, there will be a legitimate son, and if there is no legitimate son, there will be an elder. At that time, we can propose to abolish Zhu Changluo and make Prince Fu as the crown prince. The Holy One will definitely agree. Originally, the position of chief minister was in your hands, you can still do it.
Use 'Feng Huan Zhi Xi' to reject the Holy Emperor's decree. Now that the chief assistant is ours, you won't be able to play any tricks."
At this time, Ye Xianggao had resigned from the post of Chief Assistant, left the capital, and returned to his hometown to guard the system. The original Second Auxiliary Household Secretary Tan Wanxin was promoted to the First Assistant, the Third Auxiliary Minister of Works Zhuang Lian, the Fourth Auxiliary Minister of Criminal Affairs Zheng Lujia, and the Fifth Auxiliary Minister of Military Affairs Tian
Feng, Zhao Nanxing, the Sixth Assistant Secretary of the Ministry of Officials, also moved up one place.
The reason why Yan Shoufeng asked the one-eyed dragon to kill the entire Ye family was to deceive others. If only Ye Chaorong was killed, his true intentions would be exposed easily.
Luo Sigong wanted to trip up Tan Wanxin and let the position of chief assistant return to the hands of the princelings. The current cabinet minister Zhuang Lian is a princeling. If Tan Wanxin is tripped, Zhuang Lian will succeed to the position of chief assistant.
How could he trip up Tan Wanxin? Luo Sigong lay on the kang and meditated hard all night. When the sky was getting brighter, he finally had an idea.
He secretly came to Yangzhou alone, and at night, wearing night clothes and a black cloth mask, he quietly sneaked into a house. The owner of the house was Chen Bingyong, who was then the salt envoy of the Huaihe River and the Huai River, Si Tongzhi.
Within the department, his position is second only to the transfer envoy, and he is the second-in-command of the department.
Chen Bingyong appears to be a member of the Zheng Party, but in fact he is an undercover agent placed by Luo Sigong in the Zheng Party.
Luo Sigong secretly met with Chen Bingyong and asked him to complete an important task.
The next day, Chen Bingyong lied about feeling unwell and took 20 days of sick leave. He rode a fast horse to the capital secretly and knocked on the door of Tan Wanxin's mansion in the evening.
The Salt Envoy Department was transferred to the Ministry of Household Affairs. Every year, Chen Bingyong went to Beijing to give gifts to Tan Wanxin, the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs. He had been to the Tan Mansion several times. His disciples recognized him and said with a smile: "It turns out to be Mr. Chen."
Chen Bingyong smiled and said: "Is Mr. Tan at home? I want to visit him."
The man said: "The master is at home, but I don't know if I have time. Let me go and report it."
Chen Bingyong took out a piece of silver, handed it to the doorman, and said with a smile: "I'm sorry to bother you, brother."
The man picked up the money and said with a smile: "Master Chen, you are too polite."
Chen Bingyong smiled and said: "It's just a small thing, but it's not respectful. I'll buy a bag of tea and drink it."
The man said, "Thank you very much. Mr. Chen, please wait for a moment, and I will go in to report."
It was not long before the man came back and said, "My master is in the study. Let me take Mr. Chen there."
Chen Bingyong cupped his hands and said: "Thank you, brother." He followed the door through several courtyards and came to the outside of the study. He saw several guards standing in the courtyard. The door said: "My master is inside, Mr. Chen, please go in."
.”
Chen Bingyong said "Thank you" and knocked on the door. He heard someone inside say: "Come in."
Chen Bingyong opened the door and walked in. He saw Tan Wanxin sitting on the imperial chair behind the desk. He knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, Chen Bingyong, has met the Chief Assistant."
Tan Wanxin said: "Get up, why are you here? What's the matter?"
Chen Bingyong had a mantle draped over his shoulders, and inside were eight ingots of gold ingots, each worth fifty liang ingots.
"I heard that your Excellency was promoted to Chief Assistant, and I came here to congratulate you. This is a trivial matter and not respectful. Please accept it, Chief Assistant." He took out the gold ingot from his sash and placed it on the table.
Officials knew that Tan Wanxin liked gold, so when they paid tribute to him, they mostly gave him gold ingots.
Tan Wanxin smiled and said, "Sit down." He opened the drawer and put the gold ingot in.
Chen Bingyong did not dare to sit on the guest chair. He only sat on the front half of the chair and leaned forward, looking very respectful.
Tan Wanxin said: "You have already honored me at the beginning of the year. Now you bring such a generous gift this time. Is it just to congratulate me?"
Chen Bingyong said with a smile: "My lord has a keen eye, and nothing can escape your eyes. In addition to congratulating you, I have one more thing to ask for."
Tan Wanxin said: "What's going on?"
Chen Bingyong said: "If the official wants to make progress, let the court put more burdens on the official's shoulders."
Tan Wanxin said: "So that's why. Don't be impatient. When Old Liu can't do anything anymore, his seat will be yours."
Chen Bingyong said: "Master Liu is in good health and stronger than the lower official. I am afraid that the lower official cannot survive Master Liu."
Tan Wanxin smiled and said: "You are not as strong as Old Liu. I have written down your affairs. If the transfer envoys in Liangzhe, Changlu and Hedong are all available, I will definitely miss you."
Chen Bingyong apologized and said with a smile: "Sir, I have been operating in Lianghuai for many years. I don't want to be transferred to another place. I want to continue working in Lianghuai."
Tan Wanxin said: "Aren't you obviously trying to steal Lao Liu's position? As far as I know, Lao Liu is very kind to you. Isn't it too unkind for you to act like this?"
Chen Bingyong said: "Sir, if I can sit in Mr. Liu's seat, I will pay you this amount every year." He raised three fingers.
Tan Wanxin was startled and thought: "This amount is three times the amount of filial piety that Old Liu paid to me." He pondered for a moment and smiled: "Bingyong, you still have the courage. Old Liu has been in this position for more than ten years.
You should consider moving him, you go back and wait for the letter."
Chen Bingyong stood up, cupped his hands and said with a smile: "Thank you for your cultivation."
The next day, Tan Wanxin came to the Cabinet Office and walked into the office of Zhao Nanxing, the Fifth Assistant Minister, a princeling, and the Minister of Civil Affairs. When he saw Zhao Nanxing at his desk, flipping through documents, he said, "Mr. Zhao, are you busy?"
Zhao Nanxing raised his head and saw that it was Tan Wanxin, and said, "Is there something wrong, Mr. Tan?"
Tan Wanxin sat on the guest chair and said, "That's it. My right-hand servant is vacant, and there has been no suitable candidate. After thinking about it, I think that both Huaihe River and Huaihe River will be transferred to the Salt Envoy Department, and Liu Tinggai will be transferred to the official position."
Qingming, he is capable of doing things, and he is worthy of this post. I want to transfer him here. Let Chen Bingyong, a colleague of the Lianghuai Capital Salt Transport Envoy Department, succeed Liu Tinggui as the capital transport envoy. Does Mr. Zhao have no objection?"
The Ministry of Personnel is responsible for the assessment, appointment and dismissal of officials all over the world. If Tan Wanxin wants to transfer subordinate officials, he must obtain the permission of the Ministry of Personnel.
Zhao Nanxing said: "I have no objections. I will prepare a plan later and send it to Mr. Tan."
In the past, when Tan Wanxin came to the staff department to do business, Zhao Nanxing would get stuck. Tan Wanxin did not expect that Zhao Nanxing would agree so readily. It was beyond his expectation. How did he know that Luo Sigong had already greeted Zhao Nanxing, so Zhao Nanxing was not stuck?
he.
Tan Wanxin smiled and said: "Thank you so much, Mr. Zhao." He stood up and said: "You should be busy, I have gone back."
After Tan Wanxin left, Zhao Nanxing went to the Jinyiwei General Administration Bureau and informed Luo Sigong of the news that General Liu Tinggai had been promoted to the right minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs.