Fenghou

Wan Yanchang said indifferently: "We don't know the cause of the fire. It is estimated that some people's resentment is hard to get rid of during the day. Let's use the Jin Guo Pavilion to vent!"

"I don't know how many casualties there are?" Li Guang asked again.

"Just counted, 32 people are missing, it is estimated that they are all bad luck."

The 32 people Wan Yanchang mentioned did not include the 35 warriors led by Li Qingzhou. If the government counts the dead tomorrow, there will not be so many dead bodies, which will make people suspicious.

Li Guang's expression was solemn, and he quickly said: "I will order the Lin'an government to solve the case as soon as possible, and give your country an explanation."

Wan Yanchang waved his hand and said, "Whether the case is solved or not is not important anymore. The important thing is that the two sides negotiate quickly. Someone is watching me, Wan Yanchang. If I don't leave quickly, my life will be lost in Lin'an."

"Okay! Tomorrow morning, I will pass on Wanyan Xiangguo's request to the emperor."

At this time, a follower ran over and whispered something to Li Guang, Li Guang nodded, and said to Wan Yanchang: "We have already set up a tent in the nearby school ground, please take Wanyan Xiangguo to rest first! "

"Okay! I still have a lot of burns on my subordinates, and I also need treatment, so Mr. Li has to worry about it."

Wan Yanchang waved his hand, "Let's go!"

He led hundreds of people to the Daxiaochang a hundred steps away.

……

It was getting brighter, and the fire was finally extinguished. More than half of it had been burned, but the wall was intact. mist.

Yang Yizhong ordered the soldiers to clean up the ruins. The burnt corpses were rolled up in mats and carried out, and valuable items were also taken out. However, in the last few surviving small courtyards, there were Jurchen soldiers standing guard, and the Song army was not allowed to Enter.

A total of [-] corpses were found, most of them Jurchen soldiers. Five other maidservants survived by squatting in the pool, and nine people also escaped by hiding in a small courtyard that was not burned.

At this time, a soldier came galloping on horseback and whispered something in Yang Yizhong's ear. Yang Yizhong was really surprised. More than [-] corpses were found on the West Lake cruise ship. What's going on?

He immediately ordered: "Look!"

He explained a few words to the lieutenant general, got on his horse, and galloped towards the West Lake with dozens of his men...

In the imperial study room, Emperor Zhao Gou and several ministers were listening to Li Guang's detailed report on the fire in the Jin Guoguan.

Of course, Li Guang will not exhaust Yan Chang's one-sided words. He has also done a lot of investigation and interviews himself, and has obtained many clues.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, Wan Yanchang told the official that the burning of the Jin Guoguan was done by the students and common people during the daytime to vent their anger, but according to the investigation of the humble office, this is not the case!"

Li Guang paused for a moment, seeing that everyone was listening intently, and continued: "I interviewed a large number of people around, and they all said that at the fourth watch, many people in black surrounded the Jin Guo Pavilion and sprayed it with black skin bags. What, afterward, Weichen found remnants on the wall, these men in black should be spraying fire oil."

"Fire oil!"

Everyone looked at each other, and immediately thought of Chen Qing's army. Isn't the Western Army famous for using kerosene?

Li Guang understood everyone's thoughts, shook his head and said: "Actually, there are many troops using kerosene. Yue Fei, Zhang Jun, and Han Shizhong all used kerosene in the war. Of course, Chen Qing's subordinates are more suspected, but There is no solid evidence that they did it."

Zhao Gou waved his hand and said, "Wan Yanchang doesn't want to pursue it?"

"Exactly!"

Li Guang bowed and said: "I can feel it. He said that it was done by the students and common people of the imperial court. It is obviously insincere. I think that he knows it well."

"And then, what will he say next?" Zhao Gou asked.

"Wan Yanchang said that he hoped to end the negotiations as soon as possible. He said Lin'an was not safe and wanted to leave as soon as possible."

Zhao Gou frowned, and asked Zhu Shengfei, "What are you talking about now?"

Zhu Shengfei bowed and said, "Last night, I had a contact with Xiao Yi, the deputy envoy of the other party. It seemed that he meant that if you really don't want to join forces to wipe out the Sichuan-Shaanxi Army, you can sign a five-year ceasefire agreement." , so that the people can recuperate.”

"A five-year ceasefire is not bad, I fully agree, despite the agreement."

"I understand that I will go talk to them today, Your Majesty, the Jin Guoguan may need to be rebuilt."

Zhao Gou nodded, "Leave the matter of rebuilding the Jin Guoguan to Qin Xiangguo, discuss with them, and see what they think."

Qin Hui bowed and saluted, "I obey the order!"

At this time, the eunuch Kang Shun came forward and whispered something to Zhao Gou, Zhao Gou nodded, "Mr. Li stays here, the other three go get busy!"

The three of Qin Hui saluted and retreated, leaving only Li Guang in the imperial study room. At this time, Kang Shun led Yang Yizhong in. Li Guang realized that Yang Yizhong must have discovered something.

Yang Yizhong stepped forward and knelt down on one knee to salute, "My humble minister sees Your Majesty!"

"Yang Dutong doesn't need to be too polite, just get up and talk!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Yang Yizhong got up and said: "Just an hour ago, I received a report from the soldiers that they found a painting boat on the West Lake, and the boat was full of dead bodies. Black samurai uniforms, with arrows stuck in their bodies, most of them were injured by arrows, and some were pierced by sharper spikes, a total of 35 people."

"Who are these people? Who killed them?" Zhao Gou said angrily.

Li Guang suddenly said: "They can't be from Wan Yanchang, can they?"

Chapter 878 Combing

Yang Yizhong nodded, "What Li Xianggong said is not wrong at all. According to the investigation by the official, they are indeed Wan Yanchang's subordinates. According to the register of the official, the guards brought by Wan Yanchang this time, except for the three hundred Jurchen cavalry In addition, there are 35 close warriors, all of whom are Han Chinese.

But last night, the 35 warriors were not there, no matter whether it was the surviving people or the people who were burned to death in the Jin Guoguan. He recognized the leader, Li Qingzhou, nicknamed Li Banmei. He only had eyebrows on his right eye and no eyebrows on his left eye. Therefore, the humble official can be sure that these 35 people belong to Wan Yanchang. warrior. "

"Who killed them?" Zhao Gou asked again.

"Your Majesty, I went to Sanqiao to investigate again. Several residents said that around three o'clock last night, they heard screams in the newspaper office, and one person saw a large number of black-clothed warriors entering the newspaper office over the wall. I just went to the newspaper office , the newspaper office was very busy, as if nothing had happened, but I still found a lot of fresh blood in the gaps in the atrium flower bed. It is certain that there was a fierce battle in the newspaper office last night, and those 35 warriors were killed in the newspaper office. kill."

Li Guang applauded and praised: "Yang Dutong is really meticulous, and he found out the truth so quickly!"

Li Guang turned to Zhao Gou and said: "Your Majesty, the whole incident is now very clear. At noon yesterday, the "Lin'an Beijing News" disclosed the news that Jin Guo forced the Song Dynasty to form an alliance and jointly deal with the Sichuan-Shaanxi Army. The parade eventually led to the court abandoning its alliance with the Kingdom of Jin. Wan Yanchang took his anger out on the "Lin'an Beijing News" and sent 35 warriors to attack the newspaper at midnight. Unexpectedly, Chen Qing's men had already prepared for it, and the 35 warriors were hit. Ambushes, the entire army was wiped out, and Chen Qing's men immediately counterattacked Yan Chang at the fourth watch and set fire to the Jin Guoguan."

Zhao Gou said coldly: "Why can't I be the only one who can't see "Lin'an Beijing News"?"

Li Guang realized that he had made a slip of the tongue just now. He reacted very quickly and quickly explained: ""Lin'an Beijing News" is not a current affairs newspaper, but occasionally publishes some current affairs content. , makeup, various gourmet food production, store advertisements, and novels are all boring content. Your Majesty has a lot of work every day, so how can you have the energy to read this kind of newspaper?"

"But at critical times, I will be concealed, right? If it hadn't been for Li Xianggong's slip of the tongue just now, I would not have known that the university students' parade was triggered by the "Lin'an Beijing News". You will really conceal it!" Zhao Gou's anger I can't hold back anymore.

"Your Majesty, no one wants to hide His Majesty on purpose. I only saw the "Lin'an Beijing News" when I went home at night, and the same is true for other ministers. There was a regulation in the Political Affairs Hall before, and the "Beijing News" was not allowed to enter the court. Everyone thought who it was They ran to Taixue to instigate them, but the Jin Guoguan incident happened again early this morning, and everyone never thought about yesterday’s parade, and naturally they also couldn’t think of the "Lin’an Beijing News", and they definitely didn’t intend to conceal His Majesty, so I beg Your Majesty to learn from you!"

Li Guang's explanation made Zhao Gou's face slightly calm, and he said, "I will not pursue the past, but from today on, I must put "Lin'an Beijing News" on my imperial case every day."

He stared at the eunuch Kang Shun sharply, and Kang Shun tremblingly said, "Your Majesty, there is one in the inner palace. Concubine Wu Gui and Concubine Zhang Xian almost have a share."

This answer was beyond Zhao Gou's expectation. He said coldly for a while: "I repeat, from today onwards, "Lin'an Beijing News" must be put on my imperial case every day."

"Your servant understands. This servant is asking people to buy today's newspaper."

Kang Shun was so frightened that he rolled and crawled away, Zhao Gou asked Li Guang, "How should we deal with this matter?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, since Wan Yanchang doesn't want to pursue the matter, let's pretend to be confused as much as possible! If things get serious, we won't be able to catch the murderer."

Li Guang hinted to the Son of Heaven that both sides are powerful opponents, and if the imperial court gets involved, they will end up in trouble. First of all, they will not be able to catch Chen Qing's subordinates at all, and they will not be able to explain to Wan Yanchang.

Zhao Gou understood Li Guang's meaning, nodded, and said to Li Guang and Yang Yizhong: "That's the end of this matter!"

Li Guang and Yang Yizhong resigned and left. At this moment, Kang Shun put a copy of yesterday's newspaper on the table, "Your Majesty, this is yesterday's "Lin'an Beijing News". Today's newspaper will not come out until after noon."

Zhao Gou took the newspaper and put it on the table, and he saw the headline at a glance, "Song and Jin secretly discuss killing righteous men, father and son cry blood and say Jingkang." '

Zhao Gou almost spat out a mouthful of old blood, "Father and son cry blood and say Jingkang", who is this talking about?

……

After more than a month of sailing, Chen Qing's fleet finally arrived in Chengdu. The prefect Zheng Ainong and the governor Zheng Ping came to welcome Chen Qing's return.

Seeing that Zheng Ping's eyes were a little dodgy, Chen Qing knew that his father had already been delivered. He didn't say anything, but simply inquired about the situation in Chengdu Mansion, and then went to the military camp to rest. Tens of thousands of troops immediately camped outside the city.

"What good news did Prefect Zheng bring me?" Chen Qing asked with a smile after taking a sip of tea.

"The biggest good news is that the salt tax has been restored very quickly, reaching the amount of the previous year."

Chen Qing nodded, "It seems that various places are very effective in cracking down on private salt dealers!"

"Exactly, in the past few months, various places have continuously suppressed private salt dealers, killing several batches, but this month has eased."

Chen Qing was taken aback, "Why?"

Zheng Ainong smiled wryly and said, "Because the agreement signed between His Highness and the imperial court involved Sichuan Road."

"Already started to affect?"

"How can it not be affected? The appointment of the state capital belongs to the imperial court, and the general judge and county belong to the Xuanfu envoy of Sichuan and Shaanxi. Everyone understands that His Highness is going to evacuate the state capital, so people are panicked. Judgment, can His Highness fulfill it?"

Chen Qing waved his hands and laughed, "I really don't know what you guys are thinking. Are things in the world either black or white? You, Zheng Ainong, are the prefect of Chengdu, so I will make you empty? If I cut it across, all the prefects will be empty. That's how it is." ?"

Zheng Ping laughed beside him and said, "I said that the magistrate Zheng was worried for nothing. Your Highness is just trying to save face for the imperial court. Why would the imperial court interfere in Sichuan?"

Chen Qing smiled and nodded, "This sentence is right, it's just to give the court a face."

"But the question is, if the imperial court appoints another prefect of Chengdu, there are two prefects, what should I do if I am a lowly post?"

Chen Qing sneered and said, "What are you supposed to do or what are you doing? Are you going to give up your seat to someone else? Let him stand guard at the gate for the new magistrate, don't give him the official room, let him stay in the inn , when he spends all his money, he will naturally go to the street to beg for food, what are you worried about?"

Zheng Ping laughed out loud, Zheng Ainong was ashamed, stood up and gave a salute, "Your Highness's teachings are like enlightenment, I understand how to deal with it!"

Chen Qing said indifferently: "It's not impossible to stand aside. I know that some state officials are loyal to the imperial court, and there are quite a few of them. I just look at the appointment of the imperial court with a cold eye. Those who will be replaced must be loyal to me and continue to use the original post. It must be the heart of the court, so I know which ones should be emptied and which ones should continue to be reused. This is actually a touchstone, allowing me to see the fineness of gold."

Zheng Ainong sighed and said, "Your Highness's skills are admirable, but it's a pity that the Sichuan-Shaanxi Propaganda Envoy is too far away, and he can't reach Bashu. If Counselor Zhou can stay on Sichuan Road, everyone will have the backbone."

Chen Qing smiled and said: "Don't worry about this. Sichuan Road Shangshu Xingtai will be established soon. I will also be the general manager, and Lu Qingshan will be the long history. He is the highest administrative officer of Sichuan Road."

Chapter 879

Zheng Ainong left first, Zheng Ping hesitated and said: "The emperor forced my father to be a lobbyist, Your Highness knows it!"

"I know about this. Your father also wrote me a letter. Have you received the letter from the imperial court?"

"I just received it yesterday. It was sent by Zhang Bin, a member of the Ministry of Rites. This person will also be the prefect of Chengdu, but Zheng Ainong doesn't know about it yet, so I didn't tell him."

"How about this Zhang Bin?"

"This Zhang Bin belongs to Xu Xiantu. The situation is a bit complicated. I knew His Highness would be here today, so I didn't answer him right away."

Chen Qing felt a little displeased. He had a good impression of Xu Xiantu, and he got involved in Sichuan affairs, and he was the prefect of Chengdu from the very beginning. Did he really think he would give in?

"What do you think, I mean about your father?"

"Of course I don't care about any county king. My father also meant the same thing. He wrote to me privately and asked me to reject it straight away. I'm sure there's nothing wrong with my refusal. I'm worried whether it will hurt my family."

"so what?"

Zheng Ping smiled wryly and said: "So I thought all night, the best way is for Your Highness to transfer me to Xiazhou or Lingzhou, and I will lose my use value."

Chen Qing shook his head, "You have to clarify a principled issue. The Son of Heaven is not caring about you at all. What he wants is not you, but Sichuan Road. It doesn't matter if I transfer you away, but the Son of Heaven can't get Sichuan Road. He will definitely blame your father, thinking that your father and son are secretly colluding, and he will definitely trouble your father."

"What about the humble job?" Zheng Ping asked in distress.

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "There must be a way for the car to reach the mountain. You don't have to worry. There are two ways to solve it. You don't have to transfer away, and your family will be safe."

"any solution?"

Chen Qing calmly said: "The first way is to leave Lin'an overnight with your family. Your father also wanted to go to sea to hide for two years, but this plan was rejected by me. I don't want your father to leave Lin'an. need him."

Zheng Ping sighed, "It's really unrealistic to leave Lin'an, and a lot of wealth of the family will be destroyed in one go."

"So I want to use the second method. You publish in the newspaper to accuse your father of treachery, and publicly declare that you will break away from the father-son relationship."

"What!" Zheng Ping's eyes widened.

"Don't be so anxious. This is just a strategy. On the surface, you are breaking away from the relationship between father and son and showing it to the court. In fact, you are still father and son. When the time comes in the future, just re-publish the relationship between father and son."

"This one……"

Zheng Ping hesitated and said, "I'm afraid my father won't be able to accept it."

"You are wrong. This is what your father thought of. He asked me to persuade you."

Chen Qing took out Zheng Tongquan's letter and handed it to Zheng Ping, "You can read it yourself!"

Zheng Ping took the letter and read it again, and his father really mentioned this plan in the letter. Although it was a bit difficult to accept, it was indeed the best way, and his father and family would not be burdened by him.

"Your Highness, let me think about this matter again!" Zheng Ping couldn't accept it emotionally for a while.

Chen Qing nodded, "I will rest in Chengdu for two days, and you can make a decision before leaving."

……

In the morning of the next day, Chen Qing met Zhang Bin, a member of the Ministry of Rituals, in the barracks. To be precise, it was Zhang Bin who came to visit Chen Qing.

He is a student of Xu Xiantu, a Jinshi in the second year of Shaoxing. He looks young, about 30 years old, and looks dignified.

"This is the letter of appointment from the Ministry of Officials, please read it, Your Highness!"

Zhang Bin didn't dare to be presumptuous in front of Chen Qing, and respectfully handed over a letter of appointment to Chen Qing. Chen Qing took it over, looked at it, and said with a smile: "Didn't you agree to communicate with me first about the appointment? The Ministry of Officials It’s too hasty! Now that Chengdu has two prefects, it will make Chengdu’s official circles at a loss, and it will also appear that I am not united with the court.”