Chapter nine hundred and sixty-eight finally see the queen mother
Although Ju Wenzhen suggested disembarking from the ship with some treasures and escaping, he knew that escaping into an uninhabited mountainous area was basically a dead end. After he encouraged others to get off the ship, he did the opposite, taking food and water and hiding.
Entered the warehouse.
Ju Wenzhen made a wishful thinking. After the ship returned, the cargo was unloaded, and the ship would be returned to the owner, then he would have a chance to escape. However, he had calculated that he overestimated the loyalty of his men, and was killed by his henchmen.
Betrayed.
A dozen torches illuminated the spacious warehouse like daylight, and Zhang Lingyun had already seen the dark shadow hiding behind the wooden box.
He strode forward, grabbed the hiding man's clothes in the darkness, and dragged him out. The hiding man howled in despair like a slaughtered pig, and reached out to grab a sword, but in the end he couldn't catch anything.
Drag it out.
Zhang Lingyun slammed the hider onto the deck, revealing a frightened fat face under the firelight. Although his face was distorted by extreme fear, the eunuch who was brought over to identify him still nodded, "That's him!"
The person hiding was none other than Ju Wenzhen. When he saw that his most trusted confidant had betrayed him, he was so angry that his chest almost exploded. Just as he was about to curse, a ball of rags was stuffed into his mouth, and then he was pushed to the ground.
His hands were tied behind his back with cowhide straps, so tight that his bones almost broke.
He screamed, and Zhang Lingyun waved his hand, "Take it away!"
Several soldiers took Ju Wenzhen out, and Zhang Lingyun mentioned that they searched the cabin carefully. There was no one else there, but they found a box of treasures and an extremely sharp sword.
Zhang Lingyun took the sword and treasure box and left quickly...
Hundreds of officials and their families have been temporarily accommodated in Dayun Temple in Nanpu County. This is the largest temple in several nearby states, covering an area of hundreds of acres, with thousands of monks, numerous pilgrims, and constant incense all year round.
In the past few days, all religious services in the temple have been suspended, and basically all the palaces and pavilions have been occupied by officials and their families. Everyone is panicking, not knowing what kind of fate awaits them.
"It was you who harmed both of us!"
In a small side hall, a woman wiped away tears while scolding her husband. Her daughter sat beside her and wiped away tears.
"I told you not to go to Chengdu at first, but you didn't listen and insisted on going with others. As a result, for so many years in Chengdu, your official salary was low and your family had to live on the old man's salary. Later, I advised you to return to Chang'an as soon as possible, but you didn't
Listen, look at Wen Ji who came to Chengdu with you. He has already become the prime minister in Chang'an, but you are still a minister of the Ministry of Industry with no power and no real authority. Now you are running away with these eunuchs. You keep making mistakes again and again. You
Can’t we make a right decision? Now that my mother’s family’s dowry has been spent, and the dowry prepared for my daughter has also been used up, what should we do next?”
The woman's husband is called Miao Ji. He is the seventh son of former Prime Minister Miao Jinqing. He was a member of the Ministry of Works. After the Jingyuan rebellion, he fled to Chengdu with his wife and daughter because his sister was Zhang Yanshang's wife. Miao Ji
As a result, he was rewarded and promoted by Zhang Yan, and he was promoted from a member of the Ministry of Works to a doctor of the Ministry of Works, and then to the minister of the Ministry of Works.
Miao Ji had a cowardly character and a good temper. Although he was scolded by his wife, he still held his head and sat at the door without saying a word. In fact, he was also very guilty. He made a mistake in officialdom and allowed his wife and daughter to suffer along with him.
At this time, an official asked at the door: "Is Lao Miao here?"
"Here! Here!" Miao Ji stood up quickly.
"Everyone has made an appointment to go to Cui Xiang's place to discuss it, let's go together!"
Miao Ji looked back at his wife, but she turned her head and ignored him. Miao Ji could only sigh and quickly walked out of the side hall...
In the main hall, dozens of officials of fourth rank and above gathered together. Cui Zao, the right minister, had eaten well and slept well these days, and his complexion was rosy. Seeing the panic on everyone's faces, he waved his hands and said with a smile: "As your right minister, I
I am not worried at all about the Prime Minister, the head of hundreds of officials, so what are you worried about?"
"Prime Minister Cui, everyone is worried about being liquidated by Guo Song. After all, we all work for the eunuch party!"
The person who spoke was Ban Hong, the Minister of Household Affairs, who was also one of the Deputy Prime Ministers of the Counselor Hall. He was Song Chaofeng's confidant before. After Song Chaofeng's death, he became loyal to Ju Wenzhen.
Cui Zao glanced at him contemptuously and said coldly: "To make it clear, we have never served the Eunuch Party. We have served the court, the Queen Mother and the Emperor. As for some individuals who have served the Eunuch Party, then
It's his personal matter, don't refer to it in general."
Ban Hong's face turned red and he didn't dare to say anything.
Another official asked: "How does Prime Minister Cui think we will be dealt with?"
This is a question that concerns everyone, and everyone looks at Cui Zao together.
Cui Zao pondered for a while and said: "The eunuchs have committed many crimes in Bashu and it is difficult to escape punishment. Fortunately, our court is just a decoration. We have no power and no benefits. Guo Song's treatment of us is unreasonable.
, Moreover, he also admits that he is one of the officials of the imperial court. If he kills his colleagues, he is not afraid of being blamed by the world? "
Everyone heaved a sigh of relief. What Cui Xiangguo said made sense. No matter how much punishment was imposed, the eunuchs should be punished, and it was never their turn.
Cui Zao waved his hand and continued: "I guess some of us will continue to be appointed, of course to go to Chang'an as officials, and most of the others will leave their jobs and return to their hometowns to be rich and take care of themselves in old age!"
Everyone's eyes flickered and they were thinking about their own concerns. In fact, no one wanted to go back to their hometown to retire. They all wanted to continue serving as officials in the court. They didn't know if they would have such luck.
........
The fleet began to turn around and return to Yuzhou. When sailing against the current, they needed to find trackers. Fortunately, they were in Nanpu County. Nanpu County is Wan County this year. It is a large county with a large population. It is easy to hire thousands of trackers and start pulling.
The fleet has returned.
At this time, at the Minjiang Pier in Chengdu, Guo Song, Wen Ji and other officials were waiting for the arrival of the Queen Mother's ship.
Although the Tang Dynasty has weakened, its prestige and hopes have been completely destroyed by the eunuch group, and the number of members of the royal family is extremely low, and it is even difficult to find an heir.
The Tang Dynasty did not divide the clans into various places like the Han Dynasty, so that the clans with the surname Liu were spread all over the world. In the Tang Dynasty, the clans gathered in the capital to facilitate surveillance. The Xiaoerfang area in Chang'an was the gathering place of each clan.
The Tang Dynasty clan suffered four massacres in its history. The first was when Wu Zetian destroyed the Li Tang Dynasty, the second was when An Lushan massacred the clan, and the third was the Jingyuan Mutiny. Zhu Si killed more than 70 clan members who stayed in Chang'an.
The fourth time was at the end of the Tang Dynasty, when Huang Chao and Zhu Wen massacred each other in turn, and the Li Tang clan was completely wiped out.
In this book, during the palace uprising in Chengdu, Ying Caihe led disguised guards and massacred more than a hundred adult clan members who had been summoned to the palace by the eunuchs, leaving only the Lingnan Jiedu envoy Wang Li Si left among the adult clan men.
However, Li Si was weak and sick, and had no heirs, only a few adopted sons who were not of the clan's blood. One of his adopted sons was caught by Zhu Si when he returned from a mission to Taiyuan, and finally died in Luoyang.
Just based on the scarcity of heirs, it is destined that the Tang Dynasty will be difficult to revive. If you meet a famous official like Huo Guang, there may be a glimmer of hope. Unfortunately, after the eunuch collapses, the fate of the Tang Dynasty will be controlled by the second Cao Cao.
in hands.
Guo Song desperately needed to control the Queen Mother and the Emperor. With them, even if he couldn't command Ma Sui and Liu Qia, he could control Han Huang and Li Si.
"Your Highness, the fleet is here!" a voice reminded the distracted Guo Song in a low voice.
Guo Song quickly put his thoughts back and saw three large boats appearing on the river, followed by cavalry on the riverside.
Except for the middle one, which was occupied by the Queen Mother, the other two large ships carried luggage. When they fled eastward, Linyu Palace had no time to transport many large items, and some palace maids could not take them away either. This time they returned to Chengdu.
, just in time to bring them back together.
The ship slowly approached the pier. The pier was surrounded by soldiers under martial law, with one sentry every three steps and one post every five steps. The defense was very tight.
Soon, the Queen Mother stepped out of the boat with the support of two palace maids, followed by a very tall woman, it was Ying Caihe. She was holding the three-year-old little emperor Li Wen in her arms, which surprised Guo Song.
Yes, Li Wen was very docile in her arms and was concentrating on playing with a small wooden bar that could be twisted in his hand.
Perhaps because the child was a little heavier, he pulled down Ying Caihe's clothes, revealing a large area of skin as thick as gelatin. Guo Song's heart felt hot. He had been away from Chang'an for a long time, and he needed a woman's comfort.
At this time, he didn't have time to think about it, so he stepped forward and knelt down on one knee to salute, "The humble minister Guo Song arrived late to save me, which caused the Queen Mother to be disturbed by the barbarians. I deserve death for my crime!"
The Queen Mother silently stared at Guo Song in front of her. She had met her before, many years ago, when she was Princess Lu. Guo Song presented her with several precious gems. When she received Guo Song, she had forgotten that Guo Song was there.
What did Song look like? I only vaguely remembered that he was very tall.
But she never imagined that the young man back then had become the last support of the Tang Dynasty, but also the most dangerous support. Living under his authority, where would her fate be?