Fu Shanhe

Chapter 75: Make the best use of everyone
"My Lord, it's getting late now.

My colleagues in Fengyang have prepared a banquet, so why not go into the city to rest first and then set off tomorrow."

The lawyer asked as usual.

Moving slowly along the way, Lord Xu, who visited every city he came across, made a lot of money, and his advisor also made a lot of money.

At this rate, I will be financially free by the time I finish this trip.

"The Huai'an rebels were defeated, the siege of Yangzhou was lifted, and the initiative in the situation in Huaibei and Huainan was back in the hands of the court.

Xu Xintian, the Lianghuai Salt Transport Commissioner, and Xia Shigao, the Salt Inspector, have now been arrested by the eunuch party.

Many officials from the Salt Administration Office, the Southern Zhili Provincial Government and other departments were involved in the treason case and have now been thrown into prison.

If I don't go over there, they will be convicted.

Since ancient times, there have been very few successful cases of overturning the verdict.

The six ministries in Nanjing sent out repeated letters urging them to do so. It seemed that they could not withstand the pressure from the eunuch party.

There is no time to waste on the road.

Go another twenty miles, I remember there is a post station over there, we can rest there tonight."

Xu Wenyue shook his head and said.

Money can be made at any time. With his status, he is destined to never be short of money.

The rebels were not strong enough, the situation in Lianghuai did not deteriorate as expected, and he had no chance to clean up the mess.

If they continue to delay, Qingliu’s roots in the Huai River and Yangtze River regions will be uprooted.

……

"Left Prime Minister, the situation in Huai'an has been resolved. We should move to Yangzhou."

Gu Yuansong said with a smile.

During this trip to Lianghuai, the Jinyiwei stole the show.

Whether it was forcing the seven major families to rebel or suppressing the subsequent rebellion, he made great contributions.

As a competitor, the East Factory was basically just a spectator because its main activities were around the capital.

Strength determines the right to speak.

The outstanding performance of the Jinyiwei allowed the commander Gu Yuansong to gain more influence in the eunuch party's political alliance.

“Don’t be too anxious, now is not the best time to enter Yangzhou.

The performance of the Five Cities Army this time was unexpected. I don’t know how arrogant Marquis Wuyang will be. I don’t want to see his true face.

Lord Xu has always been upright and honest, so let him go and argue with the nobles and relatives!"

Zuo Guangen said with a sneer.

Emperor Tianyuan liked to play the game of checks and balances, so naturally he would not hand over the Lianghuai salt industry to one person.

The four appointed imperial envoys represented the four major forces: the Qingliu, the eunuch party, the nobles, and the external relatives.

They are all imperial envoys, and there is no accurate conclusion as to whose status is higher or lower.

It would be fine if Marquis Wuyang cooperated, but if he didn't, he, as the eunuch in charge of the seal, would be embarrassed.

“I think it’s great, Left Prime Minister!
The current Yangzhou City is indeed not so easy to take over.

However, those salt merchants are still imprisoned in Yangzhou. If we want to end the case perfectly, we need to make these people shut up forever."

Gu Yuansong took the opportunity to flatter him.

Being able to stir up conflicts between the foreign relatives and nobles and the Qingliu Party was undoubtedly a great thing for the eunuch party.

The only trouble is that this time the rebellion of the salt merchants' interest groups was too crude.

The arrested salt merchants knew nothing about the whole thing, yet they were charged with treason.

As long as you are not stupid, you will not plead guilty easily.

Once the power to try cases falls into the hands of the Qingliu Party, the eunuch party that dominates everything behind the scenes will be put in a passive position.

"Don't worry, Marquis Wuyang knows the importance of this matter.

He knew clearly what His Majesty meant.

Even if it offends the Qingliu Party, he will carry out His Majesty's will.

I guess at this moment, he is also worried about how to deal with the salt merchants in his hands!"

Zuo Guangen shook his head and said.

It is not impossible to kill all the captured salt merchants under the heavy guard of the Wucheng Bingmasi.

But in this way, the thorns buried in the Wucheng Bingmasi will be exposed.

The Wucheng Bingmasi is the private domain of the foreign relatives and nobles, and their hands are so long that these two major camps will certainly not give up.

Political struggle has always been about finding ways to eliminate enemies and then making friends.

The handling of conflicts in an intensified way has always been a taboo in official circles.

……

Yangzhou Camp. "Mr. Zhou, it's my fault for taking so long to meet you!

I have heard of the great name of the Zhou family in Lianghuai, but I wonder which branch Mr. Zhou belongs to?"

Li Mu's smiling opening remarks made Zong Guangtai feel uneasy.

Like their main family, the Lianghuai Zhou family is also one of the seven major families and is the protagonist of this rebellion.

The name I forged was actually linked to the Zhou family, which was simply a death sentence.

If he had known this would happen, he should have changed his surname when he forged the pass.

"Sir, I am just a country scholar and have no connection with the Lianghuai Zhou family.

The rebels caused chaos and occupied the students' hometown, so they were captured and taken to the enemy camp.

I have nothing to do with the rebels, I hope you can see clearly!"

Zong Guangtai said nervously.

One lie often requires more lies to cover it up.

Although he concealed it well, his body's tension still revealed his flaws.

"Where are Mr. Zhou's family? Were they all killed by the rebels?"

Li Mu asked casually.

After this interrogation, he was basically certain that there was something wrong with the "Mr. Zhou" in front of him.

That travel permit document should not appear on him.

Under normal circumstances, when my hometown was occupied by the rebels, I had no time to issue a travel permit.

Especially for scholars, the fame and honor they have is much more useful than a travel permit.

Even if you have no official title, as long as your teacher is powerful enough, you can have smooth sailing with the teacher's name card.

“Sir, I have a miserable life and lost both my parents when I was young.

My grandfather raised me, but after he passed away five years ago, I have no relatives left at home."

As he spoke, Zong Guangtai's tears fell.

In order to save his life, he risked everything today, and even the elders in his family became dead people in his mouth.

But avoiding it or not is no longer important now.

Judging from the current situation, even if everyone in the Zong family is not dead yet, they are not far from going to hell.

The rebels failed to shake Dayu's rule, and these rebels could only live in hiding.

All the connections I had in the past are now death warrants.

Some people wanted to take their heads and ask for rewards from the court.

Especially those who have close relations with the clan, they need to use their heads to show their loyalty to the court.

"I'm sorry, I touched on Mr. Zhou's sore spot. I shouldn't have done that.

However, suppressing the rebels is the king's business, and I dare not neglect it.

Mr. Zhou has been in the rebel camp and I think he knows them very well. I hope you can give me some advice.

Your Majesty has always been magnanimous. As long as you can make contributions in suppressing the rebellion, I think you will not be held responsible for following the enemy!"

After hearing what Li Mu said, Zong Guangtai's head was buzzing.

Asking this rebel leader to help quell the rebellion, isn't this a joke?
But he couldn't say no.

Regardless of whether it is voluntary or not, "accompanying a thief" is a serious crime.

Any normal person would be grateful for the opportunity to redeem himself by making amends for his crime.

The problem is that Zong Jia is one of the leaders of the rebellion, and he himself has made outstanding contributions to the development of the rebels.

Even if you have made meritorious service, you cannot cover up your previous crimes.

Unless the emperor personally grants amnesty, even the imperial envoy cannot absolve him of his guilt, let alone Li Mu, a small captain.

"Don't worry, sir. I will tell you everything I know!"

Zong Guangtai answered reluctantly.

A dead Taoist friend is not a poor Taoist.

Now if he wants to survive, he must ensure that his identity is not revealed, and it is inevitable that he will reveal some information about the rebels.

They were all forced out. After leading the suicide squad, they were taken to the military camp.

At the beginning, no one took him seriously and he had many opportunities to escape. Zong Guangtai made several escape plans.

But he was just a weak scholar, with more than enough planning ability but seriously lacking execution ability.

After running a few steps, he encountered patrolling soldiers.

If he hadn't reacted quickly enough and fooled the person in time, he wouldn't even have had the chance to stand here.

(End of this chapter)