lady, please calm down

The tenth day of the ninth lunar month is the beginning of the Xu period.

Renshoufang, which is close to the imperial city, is in chaos. People fleeing outside and fire-fighting policemen from the Fire Dragon Bureau coming in crowd the long street.

The former residence of Lord Wanqi, the minister of Dali Temple, was half in the sea of ​​flames. Even in the Qinzheng Hall of the Imperial City, flames could be seen in the distance on the west side.

In the palace, Prime Minister Qin's face was so gloomy that he almost shed tears. More than half an hour ago, Chen Bokang spent two quarters of an hour with the scholar outside the main gate of Li, and then the scholar rushed to Wan Qixi's house like crazy.

Lin'an Prefecture just came to report that the riot among the scholars resulted in six deaths and ten injuries in Wanqi's residence. Among the dead were Wanqi's two sons.

An important minister of the country was reduced to this, which greatly damaged the majesty and law of the court!

Furthermore, who knows that Wanqixi is the arm of Prime Minister Qin? It depends on the master to beat a dog. The scholars are already arrogant and lawless!
The scholars naturally need to clean up, but before that, Qin Huizhi did not believe that Chen Bokang, who suddenly appeared in front of Li Zhengmen, had nothing to do with this matter.
After a long silence, Qin Huizhi suddenly said in a low voice: "Master Chen, just now did you go to Li Zhengmen to talk to the scholars?"

"Back to Prime Minister Qin, I did go to Li Zhengmen."

"Haha, as soon as Mr. Chen entered the palace, the scholar rushed to Renshoufang. This matter must be related to Mr. Chen!"

"It does have something to do with Lao Chan."

Chen Bokang's frankness was surprising, and even Emperor Zhou, who was sitting on the throne, looked at the former unexpectedly.

It is not difficult to guess that Chen Bokang is related to today's scholar riots, but if he admits it personally, the nature will be different.

Sure enough, Qin Huizhi took advantage of the victory and pursued him: "So, the scholars who beat and killed the imperial officials and set fires were indeed instigated by Mr. Chen?"

After Chen Bokang thought for a moment, he said: "I just analyzed for the scholars who was the culprit of the current crisis in Zhou Dynasty, and did not teach them to commit murder and arson."

"What a sentence to 'analyze the culprit for the scholar'! Wan Qixi is ranked as the ninth minister and has served the country and His Majesty for many years. Let's not say whether the current situation has anything to do with Mr. Wan Qixi. It is Wan Qixi who is guilty. Your Majesty has made your own decision! You, Chen Bokang, are a high official in the country, but you don’t know how to uphold the laws of the imperial court. Instead, you encouraged ignorant scholars to attack the mansion of an important minister, causing today’s tragedy! Where do you place the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and where do you put Your Majesty? Where?”

This Wan Qixi was his, and he suffered such a great injustice today. As his eldest brother, Qin Huizhi naturally wanted to help him get justice. He stood up tremblingly, bowed deeply to Emperor Zhou, and said, "Your Majesty, Chen Bokang knew the law and violated the law, and his crime will be increased to one level! Your Majesty, please order him to be stripped of his official status and put in prison. Please ask the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple to interrogate!"

Indeed, what happened today has brought great shame to the court. Emperor Zhou looked down at Chen Bokang, who was calm and unfazed, and asked, "Master Chen, do you have anything to say?"

"Everyone is doing this for the sake of the imperial court and the country."

Chen Bokang bowed to Emperor Zhou and Prime Minister Qin successively and said this.

"For the imperial court and the country?" Emperor Zhou leaned forward slightly.

"Your Majesty, everything in the country has not been going well recently. In Lin'an City, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians are holding back resentment in their hearts. If they are not allowed to vent their resentment, Lin'an will be in chaos without the Qi troops outside the city attacking the city. "

Qin Huizhi and Emperor Zhou were not unaware of the atmosphere in the city. They both understood that Chen Bokang had found a scapegoat for the court to let everyone vent, so as not to backfire on the court.

That's what I said, but if Chen Bokang is really dedicated to serving the country, why don't you discuss it with His Majesty in advance?

Qin Huizhi said expressionlessly: "Master Chen has worked so hard. If it's for this, why doesn't Master Chen let his family be the punching bag of that scholar, and let Master Wanqi suffer the unreasonable disaster?"

"Master Wanqi, can you really call it an unreasonable disaster?"

For the first time in many years, Chen Bokang refuted Qin Huizhi face to face. Of course Wan Qixi was not unjust. Just because he was the commander of the Northern Invasion Eastern Route Army, it would not be a loss to kill him.

Everyone in the Manchu Dynasty knew about this matter, but since the failure of the northern invasion, no one in the Manchu Dynasty had dared to question Wan Qixi for this.

Because everyone knows that mobilizing an army of more than 100,000 people to march northward in two directions is definitely not something Wan Qixi and Wang Shu can do. Behind them, the support of Prime Minister Qin and the Emperor must be indispensable.

Therefore, attacking Wan Qixi and Wang Shu is an attack on Qin Xiang and His Majesty behind them.

Now, the army outside the city was pressing down, and Chen Bokang took the lead to pierce the window paper. The faces of Qin Huizhi and Emperor Zhou really turned ugly.

Qin Huizhi was keenly aware of Emperor Zhou's emotional changes and immediately asked: "What do you mean, Mr. Chen? But accusing Mr. Wanqi of being guilty? Please elaborate, Mr. Chen!"

This was an attempt to lure Chen Bokang to attack Wanqixi's Northern Expedition. The final decision-maker of the Northern Expedition was naturally the Emperor of Zhou on the throne.

Once Chen Bokang attacked this matter, Qin Huizhi's slight provocation could make Emperor Zhou feel that Chen Bokang was criticizing Sang and Huaiwei. By then the emperor would be furious and Chen Bokang's life would be in danger.

However, Chen Bokang did not act as Qin Hui expected. He sighed leisurely and said: "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Qin, Master Wanqi is not guilty, but if you want to calm down the anger in Huaibei, you must have Master Wanqi!"

The scholars had just used Wan Qixi to vent their anger, and then used him to vent their anger in Huaibei. Chen Bokang was going to completely sell out Wan Qixi!
Qin Huizhi became anxious after hearing this and said hurriedly: "Since Master Wanqi is not guilty, why did Master Chen insist on putting him to death!"

"Prime Minister Qin! What's more important, one person and a family, or the state of Zhou Dynasty? Master Wanqi is loyal to the emperor and the country. If he knows that his family can bring peace to La'an and the emperor has no worries, I think Master Wanqi will not look back!"

Chen Bokang's words accurately grasped the timid temperament of Emperor Zhou. Ever since the Huaibei army crossed the river, Emperor Zhou had sent two groups of peace envoys. He had never at any moment been mentally prepared for a decisive battle with the Qi army.

Back then, when the Jin Kingdom searched the mountains and seas to capture him, Dazhou could still take advantage of the ships to hide at sea. Now that the Qi Navy is equipped with thunder cannons, the sea has become dangerous.

Under such circumstances, Emperor Zhou could not resist.

Qin Huizhi had been with the emperor for many years and immediately saw that the Zhou emperor was moved by Chen Bokang's words. In order to protect his lackey, he hurriedly said, "Sir Chen, you keep saying that you will exchange one family for another country. Are you a worm in the belly of the King of Chu? Even if our dynasty hands over Wanqi Xie's family, what will we do if Huaibei does not withdraw its troops!"

These words reminded Emperor Zhou, and he hurriedly said: "Yes, Mr. Chen, what if they don't withdraw their troops?"

Chen Bokang did not make any guarantee, and only said: "Handing over Mr. Wanqi is our sincerity in peace negotiations. Only in this way can we start peace negotiations with Huaibei!"

The collapse of a powerful minister all started when he could not protect his younger brother. Qin Huizhi naturally knew the significance of Wan Qixi to him, so he couldn't help but sneered: "Haha, I am the minister of Dali Temple, but when I hand it over to the enemy, I can only be a nuisance." ! Master Chen, are you an official of Zhou Dynasty or a minister of Qi?"

"I, Chen Bokang, can express my feelings towards Your Majesty every day! If Your Majesty has any doubts about the old man, you can gouge out the old man's chest and heart to see if the old man's heart is red or black!"

Chen Bokang refused to give in and stood with his head held high.

Seeing that the two of them were facing each other, Emperor Zhou hurriedly opened his mouth to smooth things over and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Chen. I know Mr. Chen's loyalty to me. To put it bluntly, Mr. Chen and Mr. Liuchuan of Huaibei are of the same clan, not from the same clan." It’s Mr. Chen’s fault. From now on, we will have to rely on Mr. Chen to deal with Huaibei. We must never say such things again. Mr. Chen is loyal, so you don’t have to prove it yourself!”

Chen Bokang sighed, bowed to Emperor Zhou again, and remained silent.

Qin Huizhi was speechless. The situation at this time was very similar to that of more than ten years ago. At that time, the fear of the Jin Dynasty was deeply rooted in the Zhou Dynasty, which was in the south of the Yangtze River. It was precisely because Qin Huizhi was appointed as the chief peacemaker by the Jin people. Representatives, and thus gradually took control of the government situation.

Nowadays, whether it is the relationship between Chen Bokang and Chen Jiagan, the first family in the Huaibei line, or the gossip about his blood relationship with the family members of the King of Chu in the early years, he has now become the person closest to Huaibei in the Lin'an court. .

Based on this alone, Your Majesty will not touch him.

Emperor Zhou stood up from his throne, walked out from behind the imperial case, and stopped in front of Qin Huizhi with a troubled expression. He only listened to him say: "Prime Minister Qin, I believe that what Mr. Chen said was out of public motives."

Well, Qin Huizhi, who was familiar with Emperor Zhou's temperament, guessed Wan Qixi's ending just by hearing this sentence.

Sure enough, Emperor Zhou thought about it for a moment and said sincerely: "Now that I think about it, there is something wrong with the Northern Expedition. I am not afraid of the army outside the city, but I really can't bear the suffering of the people in the city. At the moment, it seems that the only way to do it is with Lord Wanqi. In exchange for the peace of the whole city and the safety of the country, I am not a mean and ungrateful person. In the future, I will use the internal funds to repair the Zhongwu Temple in Mr. Wanqi's hometown and offer incense to him."

At this point, Qin Huizhi knew that he could not do anything, so he could only express his anger in silence.

Emperor Zhou seemed to be persuading the other party, and also seemed to be persuading himself, and continued: "Just imagine, Prime Minister Qin, if the city is really destroyed, the two hundred years of our country will be destroyed in one fell swoop. I have no face to face my ancestors. When Prime Minister Qin There is no way to escape from Lin'an City. Moreover, although the King of Jin is from Huaibei of Qi State, he is now serving as King Jin of Anfeng Dynasty and is a subordinate of his father. Even if he becomes a minister of our dynasty, it is not a shame. This fulfills our filial piety as father and son."

Emperor Zhou's words were self-consistent and logical, but even Chen Bokang felt his face getting hot after hearing this.

I just feel that His Majesty is so cowardly. Looking at the history books, it is rare to find him!

At three o'clock in the morning, it was completely dark.

The fire in Renshoufang on the west side of the imperial city gradually extinguished, and the smell of burnt wood filled the air. Before the palace door was locked, Qin Huizhi and Chen Bokang walked out of the imperial city one after another.

At this time, the scholars had dispersed outside Li Zhengmen. After Qin Huizhi walked out of the palace gate, he waited beside the sedan chair for a few moments. When Chen Bokang approached from behind, Qin Huizhi said indifferently, " Mr. Chen, you are so proud of your enemy!"

"Prime Minister Qin, that's ridiculous. These are all little tricks I learned from Prime Minister Qin back then. I'm an old man who works hard to make Prime Minister Qin laugh."

Chen Bokang acted more respectfully, but the hidden edge in his words stabbed Qin Huizhi hard. Back then, he relied on gold and self-respect, but now Chen Bokang relies on Qi and self-respect. Didn't he learn from you, Prime Minister Qin?

Things were changing, and Qin Huizhi never expected that the Jin Kingdom, which had swept the world, would be defeated by Huaibei and unable to escape.

In just over a year, his once-high authority had been rapidly weakened, and today he was challenged face to face by Chen Bokang. The reason for all this was precisely because of the weakening of the Jin Kingdom.

Qin Hui's traitors are treacherous, but such people are often the softest and can see the situation clearly. He suddenly took a few steps forward, approached Chen Bokang and said: "The truth is that I am old. Now I am in court." The situation is in turmoil, and I am already unable to do what I want. I have long wanted to retire and return to my hometown. However, my grandson does not want to leave the prosperity of Lin'an. When I return, I will take care of my granddaughter in Mr. Chen's home. What if Mr. Chen does not give up? By getting married, my Qin family will be blessed with the high family in Yingchuan."

Qin Huizhi kept his attitude very low and made it clear that he would not block the road.

Indeed, he could see that the Lin'an Dynasty was in turmoil. Even if the emperor had no choice but to hand over Wan Qixi, such an approach would definitely cause the officials to alienate the imperial court. Anyone who dared to work for the imperial court in the future would have to start looking for a way out. .

But Qin Huizhi had nothing to do with Huaibei. If he could become an in-law with Chen Bokang, at least his descendants would be able to get a lot of help in the future new dynasty.

Chen Bokang's gaze lingered on Qin Huizhi's face for a moment, as if he was judging the truth or falsehood of the latter's words, but then he smiled heartily and said: "The prime minister of Qin was in the prime of spring and Autumn, and the country had many people to rely on, so why did he think about getting old? , Hahaha. If the unworthy descendants of the old man really win the favor of Prime Minister Qin, then let’s wait until the day Prime Minister Qin really leaves the capital."

Well, they are all masters who don’t let go of hawks when they see rabbits.

The first compliment is a compliment, but the second one makes it clear that when you really grow old and reveal your political legacy to me, I will protect your descendants.

Qin Hui was an independent prime minister for ten years. If Chen Bokang could fully absorb his political legacy, his political status would not be inferior to that of Chen Jingan even if the dynasty changed.

This counts as a deal for two.

However, this matter requires long-term consideration and cannot be decided in just a few words.

However, after this contact, both of them felt confident.

Before leaving, Chen Bokang reminded him with a smile: "Prime Minister Qin, what you said just now about 'taking advantage of the enemy's own dignity' is totally inappropriate. Even His Majesty said that the King of Jin is a subordinate of the Supreme Emperor. This is a slight misunderstanding between His Majesty and his son. King Jin is not our enemy."

"Yes, Master Chen reminded me."

Outside the main gate of Li, the imperial guards saw a surprising scene for the first time. Prime Minister Qin, who had been prime minister for ten years, took the lead in saluting Master Chen unprecedentedly.

September 11th.

After the Huaibei Army stationed in the west of the city cleared away the Qin Wang Xiang soldiers within a radius of twenty miles, they finally began to test fire at the Yuhangmen Wengcheng in the northwest corner.

During the Chinese New Year, the soldiers and civilians in the city were used to the roar of cannons.

But this time, the closer and larger caliber thunder cannon naturally brought greater shock to Lin'an.

Only the third test shot hit the archery tower on Yuhang Gate. Then the thunder cannons concentrated their fire. In just half a quarter of an hour, the archery tower, which was three stories high and more than ten feet wide, was riddled with holes and finally collapsed.

The Huaibei Army was not in a hurry to break through the city gate and attack the city. After destroying the arrow tower, they stopped shelling one after another.

The soldiers and civilians of Lin'an experienced the shock of Huaibei.

In the yamen of Lin'an Mansion, Wan Qixi, who had broken an arm and a leg, was wrapped in gauze and stared blankly outside the bed tent. From time to time, the cries of his old wife and daughter-in-law could be heard.

Last night, Chai Su snatched his family back from the hands of the mad scholars and specially brought them to the government office to resettle them in case they were attacked by the scholars again.

Wan Qixi only felt that he had been wronged. Although he planned the Northern Expedition, the people who ordered it were His Majesty and the Prime Minister of Qin after all!
This group of bully-minded scholars didn't dare to cause trouble for those two people, so they came to my house!

Not to mention the shame and humiliation of having their house burned down, Wan Qixi, who is already in his late twenties, feels like a knife in his heart when he thinks of his two sons who died unexpectedly!
That is to say, he was seriously injured and unable to move. If he could move at this time, he would definitely lead people to catch those scholars personally and let them know that "the people's hearts are as strong as iron and the official law is as strong as a furnace!" '

And Mei Yao and Chen Bokang!

I hate killing my son, and I will fight with you until death!
While he was thinking about it, there was a commotion outside the door, and not long after, Chai Su, the prefect of Lin'an, came in with a group of government officials.

Wan Qixi got up from the bed with difficulty. Before he could say anything, the old wife who followed him had already rushed in with a group of female relatives. When he saw Chai Su, he cried and said, "Master Chai, has the criminal who committed yesterday's crime been caught and brought to justice?"

"Sir! My father-in-law has served the country all his life, but my family has suffered such a misfortune. My husband died miserably. He was beaten to death by the gangsters. Your Excellency, please don't spare the gangsters lightly!"

The second daughter-in-law, who was experiencing the pain of losing her husband, complained and burst into tears again.

For a moment, there was a lot of crying and shouting in the house.

The expression on Chai Su's face was particularly strange. He looked at the crying female family members in the room, and then at Wan Qixi who was lying on the bed, and only said to his subordinates: "Bring Master Wan Qi out."

Upon hearing this, Wan Qixi endured the pain and sat up against the quilt, "But Your Majesty wants to summon me!"

Chai Su looked embarrassed for a moment, then suddenly his expression turned serious, and his voice immediately became serious, "Your Majesty, you are telling me! The minister of Dali Temple, Wan Qixi, deceived the emperor and father, started provocations, angered the allies, and put the country and the country in danger! Nowadays, the positions are reduced to serve the people, the adult men in the family are handed over to the disposal of friendly countries, and the female family members are thrown into the priest's quarters."

The crying in the house stopped suddenly.

Wan Qixi looked at the government servant who had rushed forward, still saying in disbelief: "Chai Su! You are pretending to convey the holy will, I want to see the imperial edict!"

"The emperor's oral instructions have no imperial edict!"

Emperor Zhou himself felt that the matter was handled unfairly, so naturally he would not issue a formal edict to avoid leaving evidence.

Last year, the two Zhou armies from the East and West entered Huaibei. In order to attack quickly, the West Route army did not have time to commit evil in Huaibei.

However, due to the presence of the Pu family, a Quanzhou businessman, the East Route Army led by Wan Qixi looted and killed many people along the way.

He naturally knew what the consequences would be if he fell into the hands of the Huaibei Army.

At this time, seeing that Chai Su and others did not seem to be faking it, he was frightened and picked up the scissors used to cut gauze from the head of the bed, put it against his own throat, and said in a hoarse voice: "Whoever dares to touch me, I am the Dali Temple Sir! I want to see the emperor, I want to see Prime Minister Qin! Otherwise, I would rather die than suffer this humiliation!"

Having said that, Chai Su really stopped the yamen, but he had no intention of stopping Wan Qixi from committing suicide. He just looked at him quietly, as if Wan Qixi committed suicide and he was just waiting to collect the body.

After an awkward stalemate for more than ten seconds, Chai Su finally sighed when he saw that Wanqi couldn't make a move, and said: "Master Wanqi, you were once one of the Nine Qings, so you should be more dignified."

Wan Qixi trembled all over and said, "I want to see Prime Minister Qin!"

Based on his understanding of the emperor, the emperor was indeed capable of doing such a trick and letting his subordinates take the blame. At this time, his only hope was Prime Minister Qin.

Chai Su sighed again and lowered his voice: "This oral edict was delivered to the Lin'an government office by His Majesty, Prime Minister Qin."

‘Bangdang~’

The scissors in Wan Qixi's hand fell to the ground.

Chai Su immediately waved his hand, and all the government officials immediately stepped forward and carried Wan Qixi out using bed boards.

While the female family members were wailing, the ashen-faced Wan Qixi lay on the bed, looking at the sky with blank eyes, and kept muttering: "I want to see your Majesty, I want to see the Prime Minister of Qin. I am a loyal minister." "(End of chapter)