One of the passers-by

Emperor Yong'an talked about atonement, and Xue Yan was also a little worried about what Xu You said in his heart, so he told the whole story that Yan Junji might be shoddy and mixed with fake wine with medical alcohol.Finally, he said: "When I was in Youzhou, I spent some time with General Yan. From Yan's point of view, General Yan is loyal to His Majesty, and he should not violate the laws issued by the court. I'm afraid he will make his mind up. As for medical alcohol, after all, money touches people’s hearts. Even if I have warned General Yan that if this alcohol is harmful to the body after taking it, I’m afraid General Yan has never seen it with his own eyes, and he will not take it to heart. These thoughts are just my personal guesses. There is no solid evidence."

In order to avoid suspicion, Xue Yan did not mention Xu You's letter and Wei Ziqi's chat with him, but only said that it was his own guess.

However, whether it is the prescription for spirits or the prescription for medical alcohol, he gave it all by himself.To have such a guess, in the eyes of Emperor Yong'an and all the monarchs and ministers, it is not unexpected.

Emperor Yong'an, Fang Xuanyi and the others looked at each other, and pondered silently for a while.Wei Zhen frowned and said: "Senior Xue's guess is not completely unreasonable. If General Yan does what Xue Shizi said, I am afraid that the situation in Youzhou will be more complicated."

Even though Yan Junji obeyed the court's laws and stopped brewing and selling spirits.But if he really mixes alcohol with fake wine, he will pass it off as a good one... Hearing what Shizi Xue said, this thing can kill people.If a human life did happen, no matter how Yan Junji explained it, the crime of disregarding human life and competing for the interests of the people would never escape.

Everyone doesn't care how Yan Junji made a mess, but Yan Junji is Emperor Yong'an's confidant and favorite general, and he is also a hero of the Qing Palace. The government is not strict, and the employment is improper.There is something to be said about Pei Ji being a former minister of Xiande.

All the officials pondered for a long time, and agreed that an imperial envoy should be sent to Youzhou to investigate the matter, so as to give an explanation to the local people.

As for who this imperial envoy sent...

Emperor Yong'an's eyes turned on Xue Yan. According to Emperor Yong'an's thinking, since the prescription of spirits was presented by Xue Yan, Xue Yan himself is the heir of Duke Wei's mansion, and the imperial court is a sixth-rank Qianniu. The guard is an old acquaintance with Yan Junji, so it should be appropriate for him to be the imperial envoy.

However, Xue Yan still shoulders the important task of repairing the Xingqing Palace for the Supreme Emperor. This matter is related to the ownership of the imperial power, and it cannot be ignored... Emperor Yong'an frowned, and finally decided to appoint Wei Ziqi as an imperial envoy to Youzhou to handle the matter.

With the order of Emperor Yong'an, the Youzhou incident is considered to be over.Emperor Yong'an was also in the mood to ask Xue Yan about the specific matters of repairing Xingqing Palace.Looking at the architectural drawings presented by Xiaohuangmen, I felt that the remodeled Xingqing Palace might not necessarily be luxurious, but all the residences should be comfortable and comfortable. Emperor Yong'an smiled with satisfaction: "Yes, Yan'er is doing business, I still Relieved."

Xue Yan said again: "Returning to Your Majesty, Yan'er wants to connect the ground dragon under the entire main hall of Xingqing Palace, so that no matter whether it is wet and rainy in summer or severe and cold in winter, Xingqing Palace will be as warm as spring. The pulse of the body can't stand the fatigue of boats and cars, so I don't think I will go to Tangquan Palace many times in the future. Why don't we build a soup pool in Xingqing Palace?"

Emperor Yongan frowned and said, "But there is no spring near Xingqing Palace?"

"Yan'er is talking about artificial soup ponds." Xue Yan briefly talked about what the later generations had seen and heard, and said with a smile: "Although the transformed soup pond does not need natural hot spring water to be smooth, it is better than nothing."

"It's up to you." Emperor Yong'an nodded Xue Yan with a smile, and said, "I have found the right person when I appointed you as a supervisor. You really are a greedy enjoyment."

This is a joke, and there is no dissatisfaction.So Xue Yan also joked and said: "If you live a sixty-year-old life, if you don't want to find a way to live comfortably, wouldn't it be a loss?"

"Look at these words..." Yong'an Dilang smiled and said to the ministers: "In this way, we have all lost money in this life."

"Your Majesty and all the ministers are naturally different from Yan'er. Your Majesty works hard to govern, and all the ministers are also concerned about the people of the court. They are destined to leave a name in history. Yan'er is still young and has no ambitions. Naturally, how comfortable is it?" It's been a while..."

As soon as the words were spoken, Emperor Yong'an, who became more and more appreciative, laughed heartily with all his ministers.

After coming out of Xiande Hall, Xue Yan went back to Duke Wei's mansion.Thinking that His Majesty's order to appoint Wei Ziqi as an imperial envoy had already spread to the palace, Xue Yan sat at home for a while, and then went to Zhen Guogong's mansion to ask Wei Ziqi to express his farewell.

Unexpectedly, Wei Ziqi was not in the mansion, but went to Zhongnan Mountain with his father Wei Wuji, Duke of the Zhen Kingdom.Mrs. Zhen Guogong's wife was vague about the whereabouts of Wei's father and son, but Xue Yan immediately remembered the secret mission entrusted to Zhen Guogong by Emperor Yong'an years ago, and knew that the father and son must have gone to Shangqing Temple to discuss gunpowder with those priests One should go.

Mrs. Zhen Guogong and Queen Wei are sister-in-laws, and they often go to the palace to pay their respects on weekdays.Naturally, I also know that Xue Yan is very popular in the court and in front of His Majesty.Therefore, they exchanged warm greetings and insisted on keeping Xue Yan to eat in the mansion.He said with a smile: "Looking at the sky, it's getting late, and the father and son must be back right away. You just sit and wait for a while, and I'll ask Jin'er to talk with you."

Little Baozi Wei Jin got a lot of things from Xue Yan, such as sledges, ice monkeys, etc., and he visited Lishan Mountain a few days ago. live a day.Therefore, I have a very good impression of Xue Yan.Without waiting for Mrs. Zhen Guogong's order, she stepped forward to talk to Xue Yan, chattering without feeling embarrassed.

When it was time to light the lanterns, every household smoked from the kitchen and lit a fire to cook, and the father and son of Zhen Guogong came home as expected.

At that time, Wei Ziqi had already received the news that Emperor Yong'an had appointed him as an imperial envoy, and when he saw Xue Yan face to face, he said with a smile, "You found me a good job."

Xue Yan smiled and said, "What does this have to do with me? I have said everything I should say, and I have done everything I should do. Could it be that I put a knife on General Yan's neck and forced him to do this? "

Wei Ziqi heard the words, but smiled and said nothing.

Wei Wuji, Lord of the Township, laughed and said, "It just so happened that Zhuangzi presented a top-quality sika deer, which will be cooked in the kitchen later, and we will roast the venison."

He asked Xue Yan again: "What is Duke Wei and Princess Pingyang doing?"

Xue Yan then laughed and said, "They are all at Zhuangzi to accompany my grandfather. I was supposed to go out of the city and go back to Zhuangzi, but I just wanted to say goodbye to Brother Ziqi, so I was delayed."

So he asked Wei Ziqi when he would leave Beijing.

Wei Ziqi said quickly, "Your Majesty's order must not be delayed. Clean up a bit and leave tomorrow morning."

This is urgent enough.Xue Yan thought for a while, then immediately wrote a letter to Brother Sun Bogu and Sun Zhonghe who was far away in Youzhou and handed it to Wei Ziqi, and said with a smile: "I think Daoist Sun is a man with a clear eye. You can hide it from others, but you can't hide it from Daoist Sun and Imperial Physician Sun. After you arrive in Youzhou, don't be too anxious to investigate this matter, go and listen to Daoist Sun and Imperial Physician Sun first."

Wei Ziqi nodded and smiled.After dinner, Duke Wei Wuji saw that there was a curfew in the city, so he asked Xue Yan to stay at home.Xue Yan took out a piece of fish talisman awarded to him by Emperor Yong'an from his sleeve and said with a smile: "Thank you, Uncle Wei, but I still have to go back to the mountain. Otherwise, Aye must be so worried that she can't even sleep well."

Duke Zhen was willing because he was afraid that Xue Yan would not be able to move around after the curfew. Seeing that Xue Yan had the fish entry and exit charm bestowed by His Majesty, he stopped talking.Immediately ordered several male servants in the mansion to follow Xue Yan and send him out of the city and up the mountain.

On the hot spring village, Duke Wei and Princess Pingyang never rested.The Supreme Emperor and Crown Prince Wei Wang were also chatting in the main hall. When they saw Xue Yan coming back, they couldn't help but ask with a smile: "What did you do, why did you come back now?"

Xue Yan then narrated the piles and piles that happened during the day.When the Supreme Emperor heard that something happened in Youzhou, he was silent for a while, only let out a long sigh, and didn't say anything.

Xue Yan looked at the Supreme Emperor's mind, smiled and said some things about repairing the Xingqing Palace, and coaxed the Supreme Emperor to say something, seeing that it was getting late and the moon was in the sky, everyone just dispersed, and the arrangement was not mentioned .

In the next few months, Xue Yan was busy repairing Xingqing Palace all day long, ignoring how many trivial matters were added up and down, until the end of autumn and winter came, and the twelfth lunar month was approaching, and the renovation project of Xingqing Palace was finally completed.The Supreme Emperor is going to move back to the palace, and His Majesty is also going to move from Xiande Hall to Taiji Palace.

In the Lizheng Hall of the harem, because it has been in the past few years, every part of the palace is full of joy.Princess Pingyang looked at Empress Wei kneeling on the mat, holding the little prince Zhuang Lie who was five or six months old in her arms, and said with a smile: "I haven't seen you for a few days, and the pig has grown a lot, and the eyebrows and eyes look more and more like Your Majesty. gone."

Empress Wei patted her youngest son to put him to sleep, and said with a smile: "Now that it's the end of the year, everything in the harem is already chaotic, and when the Supreme Emperor and His Majesty are moving to the palace, it's getting more messy inside and out. It's a mess. You'll laugh at me."

"Hey, this is a happy event, even if you can't laugh, how can you say it's a joke." Princess Pingyang replied, looking at the palace eunuchs who were busy in the palace, she asked with a smile: " Why don’t you see the prince and the blue bird? My father lived on the mountain these few months, and the prince and the blue bird are with me, and I’m used to seeing them. Now that I’m returning to the palace suddenly, I can’t see them for a while, it’s strange.”

Empress Wei laughed and said, "I've all gone to Xiande Hall. Your Majesty is going to test the knowledge of the crown prince and Qingniao. I want to know if they haven't missed their homework after being away from the palace for a few months."

Hearing this, Princess Pingyang laughed and said: "Since that's the case, they can bear it. The Supreme Emperor likes his grandson to be lively and active, and Yan'er is not a student. And it's so old and young. It would be a rare thing if the homework can’t be missed.”

Empress Wei couldn't help laughing, and hooked the corners of her mouth.Then he said: "Yan'er is 15 years old after the new year. The children of the common people are 15 years old and talk about marriage and have children. I don't know what you plan to do?"

When Princess Pingyang heard this, she frowned and said: "Don't mention it. A few days ago, Tong Yan'er said something, but when the child heard this, it was as if he had heard some bad news. Let me. Just say that I’m still young and don’t tell us to destroy the seedlings. His father and I got into a fight, so we can only let him go. But our good boy got married late, so we are weak in the twenties Standing at thirty, many talented and virtuous ministers in the court talk about marriage after reaching the crown. Compared with them, Yan'er is a little earlier."

Hearing this, Empress Wei also thought of her 24-year-old nephew, Wei Ziqi, her natal nephew, and couldn't help sighing: "Isn't it? If you say Yan'er, don't worry, our family's Ziqi I don’t know what to say. I will be 24 after the Chinese New Year. For ordinary people at his age, even their son can run around. He still doesn’t even have a shadow. I’m so sad.”

Princess Pingyang also thought of her husband's apprentice with a shallow marriage, she frowned and said: "Why didn't the Duke of Zhen's mansion give it to Zhang Luo? If Ziqi is 24 this year, it's time to arrange a marriage."

Empress Wei said with quite a headache: "Who says it's not. But it's not like you don't know about the childbirth situation...Earlier, we talked about the two relatives, but the two fiancées suffered disasters one after another after the date was set. In the Shangqing I asked Master Piaomiao to do some divination, and said that Ziqi's life was against the evil spirit, and the relationship between husband and wife is shallow. Now people are afraid that he will kill his wife. The daughters of good families who are well-matched don't dare to marry in, let alone those who are a little bit worse Zhen Guogong and his wife are gone, even he himself doesn't like it."

As for those who sell their daughters for glory and want to use their in-laws to cling to the Duke of Zhen, not to mention others, even Empress Wei disagrees.

Princess Pingyang pushed people away from this, and said disapprovingly: "Listen to their nonsense. At the beginning, they said that I was destined to be a tough husband, and I was doomed to be alone forever. Now my husband is full of filial piety, and I am not living a good life. It can be seen that man can conquer nature, these words That's right. But the fate of a husband and wife has to go with the flow, and you can't force it."

Empress Wei nodded in agreement, but even if she disagreed, there was no better way.

After meditating secretly for a long time, Empress Wei came back to her senses and asked again: "By the way, why didn't you see Yan'er, did you not enter the palace with you?"

"As soon as I entered the palace gate, I was called to the Xiande Palace by the people around His Majesty. There were many things I wanted to ask him, but I didn't ask him in detail." Princess Pingyang responded casually, seeing the baby in Empress Wei's arms. The little prince woke up, was spitting bubbles with his eyes open, and unconsciously leaned forward, teasing him.

On the other side, in Xiande Hall, Emperor Yong'an was furious when facing Wei Ziqi who had returned from Youzhou.Underneath Xuanyi, Xu Hui, Wei Zhen, Wei Wuji, Wei Ziqi and even Xue Ji and his sons all sat on their knees, holding their breath, listening to Yong'an Emperor Long Yan's furious rant for a while, and still said to Wei Ziqi: "You come here!" Tell me, what is going on, you said that so many people were killed in Youzhou, but Yan Junji said that he defeated the Turks with this, who should I listen to?"

When Wei Ziqi heard about Shengchui, he could only sigh and speak eloquently.

But he said that after Wei Ziqi received His Majesty's decree that day, he immediately packed his luggage and rushed to Youzhou.

I don't need to go into detail about eating and sleeping all the way, just after entering the border of Youzhou, I inquired about the sale of spirits in the black market.Gein always kept secrets of such accidents, and Wei Ziqi had been a patrolling general in Youzhou for a period of time earlier, so he also heard about some dubious dens.

After entering Youzhou this time, Wei Ziqi was not in a hurry to go to the Youzhou camp to ask Yan Junji for questioning, but now to check the situation in these black market dens before making plans.

But he didn't expect that the situation in Youzhou was more complicated than Emperor Yong'an thought.

In the past, Yan Junji couldn't bear the lucrative profits from selling spirits, and he didn't want to violate the court's laws, so he switched to alcohol blended with fake wine and sold it on the grassland.Later, seeing that the supply of spirits was in short supply, and the local rich and powerful households scrambled for it, Yan Junji couldn't help but release fake liquor to sell to everyone.

As a result, in less than three or four months, there were idlers in the market who had a good drink, developed symptoms due to alcoholism, or died suddenly or were paralyzed in bed.The people were stunned for a while, and some people had complained angrily, but Yan Junji was in charge of the soldiers and horses in Youzhou, and the forces in Youzhou were huge and complicated, so these troubles could not be hidden from him.

So Yan Junji, in order to cover up the matter, either offered money and silk to bribe the family members of those idle men, or threatened the local government to stop meddling in their affairs, and even resolved all the problems.

There were at least one or two stubborn civilians who were robbed by bandits on the way to appeal. Some lost some money and silk, and some really lost both talents.Those people secretly guessed that this gang of robbers must have been sent by Yan Junji to silence them, but they didn't have conclusive evidence, so they couldn't do anything about it.

After all, Da Chu has been fighting for years, and the world was initially determined to encounter natural and man-made disasters.It is not uncommon for the state capitals to have idle Han strongmen who can't survive and occupy the mountains as kings.No one can be sure whether those dead people died at the hands of Yan Junji, or really died at the hands of robbers and bandits.

It's just that after Yan Junji's forced suppression, even though some people in Youzhou were not angry about it, they dared not appeal again, lest their family members be implicated and suffer the disaster of killing themselves.

However, one wave of unrest followed another. Yan Junji had just settled the "troubleshooting" people, and the Turkic tribe who first bought spirits on the grassland had trouble again.

It should be known that the men of the grassland tribes have always liked to drink and eat meat in large groups, and the climate of the grassland is much different from the mild and pleasant climate of the Central Plains. He likes to eat spirits to keep warm.

At first, all the Turkic people bought back were spirits brewed from grain under Yan Junji's command.Even if you drink too much, there is no harm except getting drunk.

Unexpectedly, the imperial court promulgated a ban on alcohol later on. Yan Junji did not dare to violate the imperial court's laws, and on the other hand, he also felt that spirits blended with alcohol were cheaper than spirits brewed with grain.Although its mellow taste is slightly inferior to that of grain wine, but the people on the grasslands were deceived that it was mixed with too much water, and those grassland people believed it.

Some spirits mixed with water are better than nothing.Seeing that the price of spirits sold at the back of Yan Junji was also much cheaper than before, these Turkic people didn't take it seriously. Unexpectedly, this time they didn't take it seriously, but something big happened.After drinking Yan Junji's new wine, the warriors in those tribes often felt uncoordinated, limp and weak, and couldn't even mount a horse, draw a bow, or hold a knife.

At first, these people thought it was because they drank too much alcohol.But later, some people were paralyzed in bed and even died suddenly because of it.Coupled with the fact that the local people in Youzhou also have these symptoms, and Yan Junji's behavior, no matter how stupid the grassland people are, they know that there is something tricky in the drink this time.

Could it be that he was drugged?

The single-cell grassland man naturally decided to use force to solve the problem in a fit of rage.It's just that Yan Junji has been guarding Youzhou for many years, and he has long been used to the scenes of Turkic invasion every year.

Besides, Yan Junji had already been on guard when he was selling the fake wine from the prairie people, and now he saw that the prairie people really came to attack.Yan Junji waited for work with ease, and assembled a large army to beat the intruders to death.

When Wei Ziqi found the camp in Youzhou, what he saw was Yan Junji leading the army to triumphantly.

After learning of Wei Ziqi's intention to come, Yan Junji was very disapproving.What Wei Ziqi did not expect was that Yan Junji confessed to the matter of stealing and selling fake wine, and even said convincingly: "The imperial court promulgated a ban on alcohol, I know. It is because Shandong, Hebei and other places suffered from frost and drought, and the people were unable to drink. , That's why Your Majesty issued such an order, and as a subject, I must obey it carefully. But the wine I blended with alcohol is not made from grain, so it shouldn't have violated the court's regulations?"

"But these counterfeit wines have already killed people!" Wei Ziqi frowned, "General Yan's argument this time really seems to be preposterous."

"Cut!" Yan Junji sneered when he heard the words, "I didn't put a knife on their necks and force them to buy wine to drink. It's their own pleasure, and I have nothing to do with it if they die. Besides, I sold the wine When I went to Turkic, those Turkic soldiers drank my wine, and they couldn’t lift their hands or ride their horses. This time, I made a big mistake and I won another big victory. Seriously, the counterfeit wine has made meritorious service.”

Yan Junji looked at Wei Ziqi's frowning expression of disapproval, and said with a smile: "There is a saying in the book of war, that kindness does not command soldiers. My actions are also false and real. I sacrificed a few idlers in the market in exchange for Turkic people like this." A disastrous defeat can be regarded as extremely cost-effective. Even in front of His Majesty, I dare to say that!"

Faced with Wei Ziqi's questioning, Yan Junji was very confident.

People with different views will never be able to understand one thing.So Wei Ziqi no longer entangled in the question of whether it is right or wrong to sell fake wine, and asked again: "Dare to ask General Yan, what is the reason for the rumors in Youzhou that the people who filed the complaint suffered robbers and lost both their money and money?" ?”

"If you die, you will die. Could it be that I have to send my own soldiers to escort them there when they go to Chang'an to sue me?" Yan Junji said with more confidence: "As a member of the Hebei Road Army Director, in charge of Youzhou's [-] soldiers and horses, manages tens of thousands of opportunities every day, and keeps an eye on the Turkic army for external changes. I have to deal with so many things in the Inner Youzhou camp. Could it be that there are several official roads in other states and counties? Little thief, do I still have to worry about it? They didn’t die in my Youzhou territory, even if the officials and censors wanted to impeach them, it wouldn’t be my fault!”

Wei Ziqi visited by order, and Yan Junji also came prepared.Neither of them could convince the other.In the end, Wei Ziqi could only temporarily live in Daying in Youzhou.Yan Junji also swept the couch and greeted him very enthusiastically.

Later, Wei Ziqi first visited Xu You and Meng Gongliang, and then visited the two brothers Sun Zhonghe and Sun Bogu in the camp of the army doctor.Everyone has heard about the proliferation of fake wine in Youzhou. Even before Wei Ziqi arrived in Youzhou, the two brothers Sun Bogu and Xu You also had a clue that Yan Junji made fake wine.

Because of this, Wei Ziqi followed suit, or Yan Junji didn't want to hide it anymore, and the truth of this matter came to light within a month or so.Except that no one found any evidence of Yan Junji's rebellion according to the folk rumors, the rest were all in line with the rumors.

On the other side, Wei Ziqi, who understood the investigation, was about to send some memorials back to Chang'an.On the other hand, Yan Junji, who had defeated the Turks, also enthusiastically submitted a letter to ask for credit, and even stated in the letter that he was credited with "fake wine". The two memorials rushed to Chang'an almost at the same time.The two sides insisted on their own words, and they both spoke so convincingly that Emperor Yong'an didn't know whether to praise Yan Junji or punish him!

Emperor Yong'an and all his ministers had a real headache, so they had to order Wei Ziqi and Yan Junji to return to Chang'an immediately to explain the matter face to face.

After all the affairs in Youzhou were finished, Wei Ziqi immediately packed his luggage and returned to Chang'an due to the urging of the emperor.Yan Jun is the general manager of the Hebei Road Army, and his position and power affect his whole body. There are still many things to explain, so he set off two days later than Wei Ziqi.

So when Xue Yan entered Xiande Hall today, he saw the scene where Emperor Yong'an cast all his anger on Wei Ziqi.

Looking at Emperor Yong'an's fury, all the ministers bowed their heads and pretended to be quails, Xue Yan suddenly thought in a daze——

This General Yan Junji Yan is a confidant who has followed Emperor Yong'an since he was a child, and he is quite familiar with Emperor Yong'an's temperament.Could it be that he knew that after returning to Beijing, Emperor Yong'an would definitely make such a big fuss, so he specially found an excuse to delay his entry to Beijing?

Otherwise, how could it be neither too early nor too late, but two days later than Wei Ziqi, he entered Beijing to face the saint?