Fengluo Pingyang

Fang Yueqi frowned and glanced at Lingji, walked up to Master Fang and Mrs. Fang, and greeted him.

Master Fang's eyes were dark, and Mrs. Fang was also a little haggard. The two nodded unnaturally, and went to Mrs. Fang's room together without saying anything more.

Lin Xuanying walked over, looked at Ling Ji and said, "Did you return to Beijing yesterday? Don't you give us a message first, I heard that you are returning home this time."

Ling Ji looked indifferently: "It's nothing, the reward is still to come."

Lin Xuanying froze: "Pull what!"

"Better than you." Fang Yuesheng rolled his eyes at him, "The rank in the imperial examination is not high, and a small worker from the Ministry of Industry, Wailang, has no future at all."

Lin Xuanying was angry.

Ling Ji looked at Lin Xuanying: "I have already heard from the young master that this year, thanks to your management from top to bottom, I have not suffered in vain. Today's situation is possible thanks to your help."

"This thank you is unnecessary. I'm not all looking at your face, there is always a right and wrong in everything." Lin Xuanying smiled and said.

Ling Ji nodded, and tugged at the sleeves embroidered with dark flowers: "Today I have to go to Beijing to face the saint, so I'll talk about anything when I come back."

Lin Xuanying knew that what he wanted to talk about was probably the matter of being framed by the Duke of Pingguo, and it was not something that could be explained clearly in a few words, so she nodded: "When you are free, go directly to the Lin Mansion to find me."

Ling Ji didn't even eat breakfast, so he brought the horse over, bid farewell to Fang Yuesheng, got on the horse and headed straight for the capital.

Fang Yueqi walked to the gate of the courtyard with a bowl in his hand. The white rice porridge was soaked with golden fried dough sticks, and he still held a piece of green onion in his hand. While eating, he said, "Lingji is gone?"

Lin Xuanying and Fang Yuesheng gave him a disgusted look.

Even if he is down and out, at least he is from a noble family, why is it so? !Are the hardships of life really so cruel?

Fang Yueqi looked at the two of them inexplicably, and wiped the corners of his mouth: "What are you looking at me for? Yue Sheng, go feed the mules. We don't sell vegetables today, so we just need to clean the cart."

Fang Yuesheng thought that Lingji's family had gone to the palace to face saints, but he was here to feed mules and wash carts, and there was a cousin who was leaning against the courtyard door with a rice bowl and eating fried dough sticks and green onions.The contrast was so stark and cruel that he went to the kitchen dejectedly.

Fang Yueqi glanced at him suspiciously, kicked the courtyard door shut with his foot, and went back to the house with his rice bowl in hand.

The early court of this day was much longer than usual.

After playing the political affairs as usual, the emperor Longyan joyfully called Lingji to the court.

This young general, who was born a year ago, wiped out seven pirate groups that had been in trouble for decades in the Fuzhou waters in one fell swoop. The hundreds of pirate ships captured were actually more sophisticated than most of the court's warships, and all of them were incorporated into the court's navy. , Equipped with two powerful sea fleets, since then the sea frontier defense can be described as impenetrable.

Ling Ji walked up the court hall slowly, walked down the steps, and saluted meticulously.Under the watchful eyes of all the officials, those eyes were probing, doubting, mocking, guarding, and all kinds of unkind peeps came from all directions, but he was at ease, as if entering a land of no one.

Pirates in Jianzhou have been causing disasters for decades, and the imperial court sends troops to collect them every year. I don't know how many officials from various ministries have been fattened up among them.Under the huge chain of interests, even General Tong is stretched and cannot be shaken, just because Old General Tong is not a lonely minister, he has been an official for decades and has many connections with him, so no one in that position can do what he wants.

Now that he has uprooted this nest of gold and silver regardless of his care, how many people have been cut off from their sources of income, how can this kind of hatred be taken lightly?Ling Ji had anticipated the current situation before entering the capital, and now it was just the beginning.

The emperor smiled and nodded, raised his hand slightly and said: "Ping, General Ling has made such great contributions at such a young age. He really has been a hero since ancient times. I have read General Tong's request for merit, and I deserve it. I should reward it greatly!"

Ling Ji leaned over and saluted: "Thousands of soldiers in the sea, thank you Lord Long for your kindness."

The emperor smiled and said, "How to reward such meritorious deeds, do you have a good plan?"

Rewarding meritorious ministers is originally the emperor's sole discretion, but now he asks his courtiers, some of them secretly exchanged a few glances, and they kept guessing about the emperor's meaning.

As an official in the court, the most important thing is to speculate on the holy will.On the surface, there is a penalty, but not necessarily a penalty.On the surface, you want to reward, but you don't necessarily want to reward.

After several well-knowing eye contact, it was only a breath, the emperor still smiled, and his inquiring eyes lingered among the officials.

Soon someone came out and bowed down and said: "I think that the Jianzhou navy is defending the country's borders, and with the ships that are weaker than the pirates, they finally won a great victory. Safeguard the people of the sea and stabilize the border of the sea. Merit, it should be rewarded according to merit, from the top to the bottom, the rewards of gold, silver, officials, etc. need to be carefully formulated."

The first one to come out was Cui Runuo, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, who was full of righteousness.

The emperor looked at him calmly.

Cui Runuo really continued: "It's just that the identity of General Ling, who has become a monk halfway, still needs to be carefully identified."

As soon as he finished speaking, the hall fell silent for a moment before the emperor's voice sounded: "Oh? Could it be that Cui Aiqing has doubts about General Ling's background?"

Cui Runuo was delighted when he heard the emperor's voice was calm and not angry, it was obvious that he had bet on the holy will.

How could the emperor not know about the relationship between Ling Ji and the Duke of Pingguo?The title of Duke of Pingguo has just been cut, how can the emperor wholeheartedly trust Ling Ji who was born in Duke of Pingguo?If he is rewarded, will he be proud of his achievements and interfere in the affairs of the Pingguo government?The emperor had long intended to disintegrate the honorable family, now that he had managed to bring down the prestigious Pingguo mansion, how could he be willing to create such an obstacle for himself.

It's just that Ling Ji made such a great contribution, the emperor not only can't investigate and punish him, but also happily rewards him.It is naturally the duty of these loyal courtiers to try to figure out what the holy will prevents them from doing so.

"My majesty, in the case of the Pingguo government's collusion with pirates, a servant of the Pingguo government was investigated by the Shuntian government. It is suspected that the Pingguo government passed information with the pirates through him and received property. This person The name also happens to be Ling Ji. This name is a bit of a slant, and it is not common, so I have some impressions. Now that General Ling has the same name, the day when he first started in the army was the time when the Pingguo government's collusion with pirates happened. It is a matter of state affairs, and the connection between them cannot be ignored. The Lingji army is so dedicated to the country and the king, you must forgive me for such abrupt remarks."

Cui Runuo has a square face and sonorous words, all of his words are loyal and upright words, the weight of which cannot be underestimated.As soon as he said it, there were many officials in the court who responded.

They hated this King of Hades who cut off people's fortunes, and the emperor was unwilling to trust this general who was born as a criminal and a slave.

Besides, the Pingguo government was accused of colluding with pirates, and this Lingji just happened to wipe out the pirates at the same time to claim credit. If there is any connection in it that is "investigated", how much credit he has today, and how much crime he will have by then .

Standing in the front row, the prince of Jiajun has never asked about the affairs of the court, and never showed his attitude. At this time, he naturally stood idle as usual, but his squinted eyes looked at the straight back standing in front of all the officials. The Ling Ji.

The emperor didn't say a word, his face was calm, and he waited for all the officials to state their interests, and the court became quiet again, before he looked at Lingji.

"General Ling, what excuse do you have for what the Ai Qing said?"

Ling Ji has been quietly listening to the officials' impeachment and suspicion against him.

At the beginning, those remarks were just about the facts, and they were all words of loyalty to the emperor who worried about the country and the people. Later, they gradually became chaotic.

Resentment, contempt.

To hate is to hate him for cutting off people's wealth, and to despise him is to despise his background.Even if the emperor prefers poor families, those children must be from serious farming families. Once they study and become officials, their status should be noble.However, his status as a slave who has been exiled from his nationality is now standing in the same court as these high-ranking officials.This is simply a great humiliation to the officials, of course they despise it.

Ling Ji's expression was not happy, he lifted his clothes and knelt down at the bottom of the steps.

Everyone's eyes fell on him, waiting to see how he defended himself? !

"Your Majesty, I conquered the pirates and returned with great victories. This time, when I entered Beijing, some things were supposed to be presented to the imperial court. Now they have been transported to the gate of the palace by the soldiers and horses of the five cities. Please allow me to carry them to the front of the palace and be witnessed by all the officials." .”

This Ling Ji dared to speak so bluntly in front of the emperor, as if he was aggressive.A few officials looked at each other and smiled, all with disdain on their faces, and some people shook their heads slightly in pity.Sure enough, he was still an impatient young man, thinking that he dared to be so tough in front of the emperor with a few military achievements, but he didn't know that today's emperor dislikes being manipulated by others.

As expected, the emperor's face was not as happy as before, Ling Ji continued: "The emperor will be very happy after seeing it."

"Oh? General Ling's words made me curious." The emperor smiled lightly, "Then let's carry it up to the hall and let me see what can make me happy."

The inner servant went down to the hall to make announcements. There was nothing else going on in the hall, but Ling Ji still stood straight in front of the steps, not saying a word.Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, unable to figure out what kind of medicine was sold in the halberd gourd.

Not long after, the guards in the palace carried several large boxes and put them in front of the hall.The emperor also stood up with great interest and went down a few steps.

Ling Ji bowed and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me for being abrupt."

"I forgive you for your innocence. Open it." The emperor waved his hand.

Ling Ji opened the first box in his mouth, revealing seven neatly processed heads inside.

The officials who were close to him didn't notice for a while, and their faces turned pale with fright, and they almost cried out in shock, covered their mouths and backed away again and again, and there was an open space around Ling Ji.

Cui Runuo was originally the closest to Lingji, but now he stared at Lingji with a livid face, gritted his teeth and said angrily: "You——this is a disturber!"

Ling Ji said: "These are the seven pirates who have harassed the border people inside and outside the sea and committed all kinds of evil, and they have all been punished." After speaking, he closed the box.

The emperor clapped his palms together, laughed and said, "Okay, okay! Great joy! These silverfish have troubled me for so many years, they are smoother than the loaches in the mud, no matter how hard they are wiped out, they can't be wiped clean. Today is the way to applaud, happy!"

Ling Ji smiled slightly, and walked towards another box.The surrounding officials immediately retreated.As soon as Ling Ji stretched out his hand to open it, he opened several boxes next to it again and again, and the entire court hall was immediately illuminated with jewels and radiance.

This time, the officer who was closer was once again wide-eyed in shock, staring straight at the opened boxes, unable to look away.

A whole box of neatly stacked gold, a whole box of neatly stacked silver, a whole box of dazzling jewels, and a whole box of exquisite, delicate and valuable foreign goods.

"These are the trophies captured." Ling Ji said, "It's a drop in the bucket, and I'll present it to the imperial court. More trophies are still being transported to Beijing."

This time, a sincere smile appeared on the emperor's face.

Who doesn't like money?Even the emperor of the Ninth Five-Year Plan cannot lack silver taels. The jewels that shine on the court are more grand and moving than the credits expressed by any colorful articles.

Next to those jewels, there is one last unremarkable wooden box left.Even the courtiers who were hostile to Lingji couldn't help paying attention.

And what could be more precious than a prize that catches the eye? !

Under everyone's gaze, Ling Ji slowly opened the last box.

Inside Nuo Da's box, it was very empty. At first glance, it seemed that there was nothing there, which somewhat disappointed the eyes that came from all directions.

Ling Ji bent over, and took out a brocade box half an arm's length from it, the servant took it, and presented it to the emperor.

The emperor opened the brocade box, took out a roll of somewhat torn paper, and slowly unfolded it.

Ling Ji bowed and said: "This is a map of the waters outside Jianzhou. Pirates have been entrenched in the sea for decades, and there are several small islands overseas as their bases. They are easy to defend and difficult to attack. They are natural good harbors."

"Now, it has all been taken over to my Dahua country."