Linzhi

Sun Ling moved quickly, but Sang Lin moved even faster.

As early as when she was rushing towards He Rong, Sang Lin had already flashed out from behind He Rong, and rushed to him, with the horizontal knife in his chest, half out of its sheath, as long as Sun Ling dared to overstep by half, the knife would immediately kill him. Take it out of the sheath and cut it off.

In an instant, let alone Gao Changning, even Xue Tan and the others changed their expressions. Everyone thought that Sun Ling wanted to harm King An.

But when Sun Ling rushed to He Rong, he knelt down with a plop.

"I beg His Highness Wang An to avenge my father!" After saying that, he kowtowed three times, and when he raised his forehead again, except for those pleading eyes, his forehead was also broken, which shows the force of kowtow.

The others looked surprised, but Gao Changning was angry.

"Sun Ling, it turns out that you have deliberately planned to get close to Yang Jun and me just for this moment!"

She had already felt that this woman was preoccupied, but she did not expect that one day her premonition would come true. Apart from the anger of being betrayed, Gao Changning also felt chilled and blamed herself - if it was not for her negligence, the other party would not be able to come to King An.

Sun Ling said painfully: "Miss Gao, please forgive me, I only made this decision as a last resort, otherwise I will really have nowhere to go!"

He Rong finally said, "Who is your father?"

Sun Ling kowtowed again, crying, "Your Highness, my father is Sun Jingzhong, magistrate of Huaiyuan County, Lingzhou!"

Huaiyuan County...

He Rong frowned and thought, the names of places and people went around in his mind, and finally he had some vague impressions.

Back then, when he was still in Zhushan County, Xiao Yu suddenly rebelled, proclaimed himself king, and invaded the Central Plains in three ways with the Eastern and Western Turks. Among them, the Eastern Turks crossed the Helan Mountains and went straight to Lingzhou. Sun Jingzhong of Huaiyuan County lost the city and died in battle. , Lingzhou was recovered little by little later.

Although Sun Jingzhong died in battle, he could not get any posthumous titles and rewards due to the loss of the city. The court even wanted to hold him accountable. Later, it was said that Qin Guogong interceded, and the late emperor spared the family members of the Sun family from sitting together, and only convicted Sun Jingzhong himself. ——When a person dies, he will be nailed to the pillar of shame forever and become a sinner.

Sun Ling wept and said: "That day my father led 2000 people to defend Huaiyuan County to the death. It was impossible to resist the Turkic cavalry. He asked Lingzhou for help early on and asked Zhou Yue, the governor at the time, to send troops to help, but it was too late to wait for the reinforcements. In the end, there was a huge gap between the enemy and us, so he could only die in the city. But later, in order to shirk responsibility, Zhou Yue reported to the court, saying that my father had not asked for help for a long time in order to monopolize the credit, which led to the loss of the city and made my father bear the stigma in vain , Your Highness, please enlighten me!"

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, they didn't expect Sun Ling to have such a life experience.

Sun Ling pleaded guilty to Gao Changning again: "After my father died, my mother became ill and soon followed, leaving me alone in this world. At that time, I was already engaged. They would treat me kindly, but who would have thought that they called off my marriage in the name of my family being dirty, and I was hit repeatedly, caught in the rain, fell seriously ill, and happened to be rescued by Yang Langjun."

Gao Changning said coldly: "You inadvertently inquired about our relationship with His Highness from Yang Jun or me, so you deliberately came to my side, waited for the opportunity, and finally made today's petition."

Sun Ling said in shame: "I am guilty, sorry lady, if my father's stigma can be cleared, I am willing to kill myself to atone for his crime."

Gao Changning was still a bit brooding about her behavior: "What do I want your life for? Now I am the one who brought you to His Highness, and it is I who should ask His Highness for your sins."

"That's all." He Rong said to Gao Changning, meaning he didn't care about pursuing it anymore.

He didn't drive Sun Ling away, but asked Xue Tan, "I remember Zhou Yue died last year."

Xue Tan nodded: "That's right, Zhou Yue later moved to Dali Temple and died while in office."

He Rong said to Sun Ling: "There are grievances and debts. Even if your father did ask for help back then, Zhou Yue must have destroyed the evidence in order to shirk responsibility. Now that Zhou Yue and your father are gone, there is no proof of death. A piece of the past is doomed to never reveal the truth."

Although Sun Ling also knew this truth, but when He Rong said this, she still felt sad for a while. She gritted her teeth and said suddenly: "If I can help His Highness cleanse Lingzhou and take back the military power, can Your Highness justify my father's name?"

As soon as these words came out, all four were shocked.

Even Xue Tan was dazed for a while by her words.

But He Rong didn't even waver for a moment.

If Yu Feng, the governor of Lingzhou, had said this to him, it would be more credible. If it were Sun Ling, with her identity and status, if she had that ability, she would have justified her father's name long ago, so there is no need to lurk Waiting for him to come over at Gao Changning's place.

Seeing Wang An's half-smile eyes, Sun Ling didn't dare to look more, and quickly lowered his head, his face became slightly hot, knowing that his words would be seen through at a glance.

But she felt that she was not grandstanding, so she said: "Your Highness, forgive me, my words are indeed a bit exaggerated, but my father had only one daughter when he was alive, and he loved me very much since childhood. He not only taught me to read and write, but also allowed me to read and write. Going in and out of the study, looking through the files, and often talking to me about official business, after the death of my father, I have also inquired about many things in order to collect Zhou Yue's criminal evidence over the years, so I can serve His Highness a little bit."

He Rong: "That depends on what you can say."

Sun Ling cheered up, afraid that the other party would regret it, and hurriedly said: "The most serious problem in Lingzhou is the collusion between government and businessmen, monopolizing Lingzhou's business routes, and even reaching out to the government soldiers."

He Rong glanced at Gao Changning, who nodded to him tacitly, indicating that what Sun Ling said was true.

Previously, Gao Changning was doing business in Lingzhou, and she changed her business because she was squeezed out by others. She had to have King An and the Yang family behind her to be able to get out of it. If she were an ordinary businessman with no background, she would have It was swallowed up by people, including the belt and bone.

Seeing that King An did not express his opinion, Sun Ling continued: "The army has always had the disadvantage of being short-paid. At present, Lingzhou claims to have [-] soldiers, but in fact it is less than half. Too bad, maybe even less than [-]%.”

He Rongdao: "Lingzhou has a supervisory censor, and the imperial court will send the censor down every two years to inspect. The number of soldiers in the government must be recorded in the book for inspection. If the number is seriously insufficient, the censor will see it at a glance. Out."

Sun Ling shook his head: "The local supervisory censors have long been against them. As for the imperial envoys, there is no way to deal with them. Bribery and deception. You must know the tricks here better than me."

He Rong: "How long has Yu Feng been the governor?"

It was Xue Tan who answered him: "Two years. The governor before him was named Feng Ci. Because of his mediocre grades, he has already been transferred to Jiangnan West Road."

When dealing with Yu Feng for the first time, there was a lot of rumors outside, but He Rong himself was not proud of kicking out the governor of Yizhou. He believed that Yu Feng must be gnashing his teeth at him now, but Yu Feng's neglect of him does not mean that the other party It must have colluded with local merchants.

Still have to observe and observe.

He Rong thought in his heart, seeing that everyone was looking at him, he said strangely, "Go on."

Sun Ling murmured: "...It's over."

"That's all?" He Rong shook his head, "Miss Sun, the little things you provided are not enough to explain anything at all."

Sun Ling was a little anxious: "Your Highness, there are three big merchants in the local area, Zhou, Fan, Lu, and the rest, just follow them and drink some broth. I originally wanted to sneak into these three houses to find out the news, but Later, I found out that the servants and maidservants in their families are all required to sign a contract of sale, and they don’t want to work short-term, so they can only give up. But if you really want to investigate, you can start from the Zhou family. Zhou Yue, the former assassin who framed his father, heard that It is the distant relatives of the Zhou family, and it is Zhou Yue who is escorting them in Lingzhou, so that the business of the Zhou family can grow bigger and bigger. It is said that any businessman from the Western Regions who wants to do business in Chang'an must first pay a letter to the Zhou family. into taxes."

Zhang Ze listened for a while, and finally found a chance to speak.

"No matter how powerful the Zhou family is, there is no need to pay taxes to them. Could it be that Lingzhou really has no kingly law, and the governor is just putting on a show?"

Gao Changning explained: "This tax is actually favor money. If the other party does not pay, it will be uneasy to live in Lingzhou. After paying the money, when you go to Chang'an, the Zhou family can also help introduce some channels for buying and selling. For example, the palace The consumption of spices is huge every year, so what kind of incense to buy and what kind of incense not to buy is still up to a few people, if there is an intercession from the Zhou family, it will be easier for the palace to buy it, and the deal will be considered."

Zhang Ze suddenly said: "Isn't this just bribery? The Zhou family is so bold that they even dare to intervene in tribute!"

Xue Tan said: "Every year the palace buys things, there are always a lot of tricks, but at most officials deduct some personal benefits from it, the Zhou family is not the first, nor will it be the last. These aristocratic families actually have their own way of survival Otherwise, how could it be passed on for hundreds of years?"

Zhang Ze scratched his face: "Well, our Zhang family is not so lawless, is it?"

Xue Tan said with a smile: "Although your Zhang family is an offshoot of the Duling Zhang family and the same clan of the left minister Zhang Song, if you count the entire Zhang family, you will naturally be included, but Zhang Hou was cautious during his lifetime and never participated in these activities. The family members are not allowed to get involved in things, and the income of the Zhang family generally depends on the rent and the income of a few villages, so it can be called clean in a family."

Because Zhang Tao is well-versed in all aspects, although he came from a family, he has a distinctive appearance. He can fight wars on horseback, and rule the people when he is off horseback. That is why the late emperor valued him so much. Unfortunately, he died young. After Zhang Tao, the children of the Zhang family, And none can match it.The decline of the Zhang family is probably a matter of time.

Zhang Ze breathed a sigh of relief when he heard these words, and then was slightly surprised.

Xue Tan knew so well, obviously His Royal Highness King An had asked him to investigate.

Zhang Ze is not a stupid person. Most of the time he is too lazy to use his brain. Once he thinks deeply, many possibilities come to mind.

He suddenly felt a slight chill down his spine.

Looking at His Highness Wang An, the other party is still calm, without any disturbance.

It's not that Zhang Ze doesn't know that Zhang's family has changed since the death of his uncle. The brothers were born as generals, so they are naturally closer to King Ji. What's more, they lived and died with King Ji in Ganzhou. This friendship is even more extraordinary. But in the final analysis, King Ji is not the prince. Wouldn't the prince be afraid of the generals holding a group?

What does it mean that His Highness Wang An chose Lingzhou?

He was ignorant before, and only because he didn't want to continue to dawdle in Chang'an, so he left the capital with Wang An and the others. Now the onlookers are clear, and looking at Chang'an from a distance, he seems to have a sense of relief from jumping out of the quagmire.

With He Rong's acquiescence, Sun Ling continued: "It is said that back then, my father was unable to wait for reinforcements because the Zhou family was afraid of the Turkic attack and was busy transferring their belongings to the south, so Zhou Yue sent troops to escort him. However, Zhou Yue had to send troops to escort them out of the city, but also left people to guard the state capital and return to Lecheng. He was already on empty pay, and his troops were greatly insufficient. This is how the tragedy of Huaiyuan County fell."

The past was vivid in his mind, and when Sun Ling recounted it, he kept controlling his emotions not to be too excited.

She took a deep breath and said, "So, if Your Highness wants to rectify Lingzhou, you can tear a hole from the Zhou family."

"The Zhou family—" Xue Tan pulled the tone and said meaningfully, "That's the old prime minister Zhou Ying's family!"

He Rong held his hands behind his back and said nothing, as if he had listened to what they said, but he seemed to have not listened to anything.

What he's thinking at the moment is that if Goro is here and Chen Qian pulls the army they are used to by the way, there won't be so many messy things, and the situation in Lingzhou will be over immediately. get it under control.

But this can only be thought about. In all dynasties, there has never been a saying that the two princes stationed in the same place. When he put Wulang in Lingnan, he certainly had the idea of ​​letting him guard the hearts of Lingnan. It was also to protect each other and stay away from the disputes in the capital. .

It's really troublesome, He Rong thought in his heart, as long as he thought of having to deal with those officials and merchants, he would feel bored.

Outsiders think that Wang An is extraordinary and good at surviving in the struggle, but He Rong actually doesn't like wasting his tongue and talking nonsense at all. What he likes most is to take a bamboo stick and beat up all the disobedient people until they are obedient. until.

Yu Feng, who was forced to temporarily move to a private house, sneezed hard.

The author has something to say:

He Rong: I'm a straightforward boy, I don't want to play tricks at all.

Li Kuan: Hehe.

He Xi: Third brother, please play tricks, especially after we meet again!

He Zhan: Hee hee, the third brother wants to beat someone up, so I can do it.