Wulong Inn

It was approaching noon, and Master Wang's house had dinner on time.Mr. Wang swallowed the food in his mouth, took a sip of the wine, and slowly closed his eyes, showing a satisfied expression.Opening his eyes, he glanced at his son who was hesitant to speak with some amusement: "Just ask whatever you want, why bother to act like that."

Master Wang no longer hesitated, and immediately said: "Father came back to Cangzhou, I'm afraid it's not just for the sake of learning a few students from the Luo clan."

Seeing that Mr. Wang didn't answer, he shook the flagon lightly, and said with some regret: "This wine really doesn't taste good, it will be gone after a while."

"Little man, go buy another jug ​​now." Changqing Zhiji, who was waiting on the side, said, picked up the wine jug, and went out.Don't forget to close the front door tightly before leaving.

Watching the other party go out, Mr. Wang turned his eyes to Master Wang who was waiting at the side and said: "As you think, I came here this time for my father because of Zhang's old case."

"It's the old case of the Zhang family again!" Master Wang took it up suddenly, and said a little excitedly: "Didn't my father pay enough for the Zhang family of Shilaozi? Not only was he dismissed from office, but also his descendants were never able to enter office... "

Looking peacefully at the excited Master Wang, Mr. Wang sighed: "Zi Zhan, you still blame me." Waving his hand interrupted his son who was about to speak again, he said again: "Yes, you should blame me, if it wasn't for me , you will not live in this county town as a little master. I owe you an explanation." "However," Mr. Wang looked at Master Wang with a solemn face and said, "There are some things that need to be done for my father. But it must be done! Do you want to hear the reason for this?"

"I would like to hear the details." Master Wang said in a deep voice after controlling his emotions.

But Mr. Wang paused for a moment, thought for a while and said: "Let's start with the whole story of this old case. You must know something about this matter in the history books." Then he snorted and said: "But this Do you believe that the Zhang family colluded with foreigners to rebel? "Without waiting for Master Wang to answer, he said slowly with nostalgic eyes: "I think back then, the Zhang family was loyal and brave, and took defending the country as their own responsibility, and they were most trusted by the Taizu.In order to calm the troubles of Cangzhou and Qiang Yuan, Taizu specially ordered Zhang's Patriarch to lead the army westward.Who ever thought.As soon as this army confronted the Qiang Yuan cavalry, they received Gaozong's order to withdraw their troops.What would happen if we had to withdraw troops hastily?It will only be taken advantage of by the Qiang Yuan people!The Qiang Yuan people were extremely ferocious, breaking through the defense line of the Zhang family army would definitely bring disaster to us in the Kaiyuan inland area, as the saying goes, the generals will not be given orders from foreign troops, so the head of the Zhang family at that time, after some consideration, asked Gaozong to ask for advice The paperwork states the benefits. "

"Then Gaozong still..."

Mr. Wang interrupted and said, "Unfortunately, before this document was sent to Zhongdu, Emperor Gao issued an order to ask the Yuan family to send troops to arrest the head of the Zhang family who disobeyed the order, and punish him with serious crimes as an example to others!"

"Did the courtiers not object?"

Mr. Wang turned his eyes and said: "Why not, the censor's admonition papers almost collapsed the imperial case!" Then he said with some frustration: "Who would have thought that these papers could not save the Zhang family, but became The Zhang family's reminder! Emperor Gaozong saw these excerpts and only said that Zhang's family had many cliques, so he couldn't help being even more furious. Rumors of collusion with the Qiang Yuan people became even more rampant. So, Gaozong issued another government order, "just listen to Mr. Wang's word for word: "Order General Yuan, who is the current Yuan Ge Lao, to lead the army to take the Zhang family army. Completely buried in Cangzhou! In order to fear the revenge of his descendants, the entire Zhang family was directly exterminated! And the Zhang family was called to the whole country for the crime of collaborating with the enemy and traitorous country, leaving a permanent stigma in the history books!"

Quietly listening to this statement that is completely different from the history books, Master Wang calmly said: "Has your father personally experienced this incident, how do you know whether this statement is true or not?"

"It's true that my father hadn't formally stepped into the officialdom at that time, but my father still knows a little about what this family is like, and you and grandpa told me about the twists and turns of this matter. It's a pity that I couldn't help the Zhang family back then!"

Upon hearing this, Master Wang frowned and said, "Then there was no such unjust case back then..."

"That's right," Mr. Wang said in a deep voice: "Such an unjust case will of course cause a series of shocks in the government and the public, but at that time, there were three families that not only kept silent, but also secretly helped Emperor Gao suppress the opposition. That is the four The Yuan family, Xu family, and Wei family of the great family!" Then he said with some sarcasm: "The head of the four major clans, this position has grown, but people will hate it! After all, everyone who is the first I want to be one! And the whole thing will develop to the point of endless death, I am afraid that these few companies will inevitably contribute to the flames!"

"For this kind of thing, my father can't change anything with just a piece of advice, not to mention that the Zhang family has long been a thing of the past..." Master Wang asked in a concentrated voice, the resentment in his eyes had dissipated a lot.

"A passing moment?" Slowly chewing this time, Mr. Wang said softly: "I'm afraid not, I just want to say two things. Since the news of Zhang's treason was spread, one is far away in Yizhou. The Luo family moved to Cangzhou, and the other was General Luo Chengluo who asked to guard Jiaqingguan. One of them had a good personal relationship with the Zhang family and had in-laws, and the other was single-handedly promoted by the head of the Zhang family. When you arrive in Cangzhou, you have no idea?"

"Could it be..."

"That's right! All this only shows that the Zhang family's army must still have more troops, and that the Zhang family must have descendants!" Mr. Wang said a little excitedly: "I think that Gaozong was afraid of the south of the East Pole Islands back then. Chen Yimin was afraid of the fierce Qiang Yuan barbarians in the west, so he strictly prohibited foreign trade. Now, decades have passed, let’s not talk about it in the east, but only in the Cangzhou area. Not only have the Qiang Yuan people never appeared again, but there are also bandits The smuggling merchants who come and go are endless, who do you think caused this to happen?" Mr. Wang asserted: "Only the Zhang family, or the Zhang family that has become popular!"

"The Zhang family has been operating in Cangzhou for so many years, and His Majesty Gao Zongtong didn't find out?"

But Mr. Wang sighed: "Emperor Gaozong is notorious for not caring about political affairs, and the Yuan family has been focusing on the pirates raging along the sea in those years. Naturally, there is no time for him to care. By the time the Holy Majesty ascends the throne, I am afraid that something is wrong with Cangzhou. Unfortunately, at that time, the central government gradually failed to control the local states. With the protection of local officials, Cangzhou is said to be the world of the Zhang family. It's not an exaggeration!"

"Since the Ji family has such a big enmity with the Zhang family, how can they agree to rehabilitate the Zhang family?"

"It used to be impossible, but now it's different! Mr. Wang said to himself: "Now my Kaiyuan is in the most delicate stage since the founding of the People's Republic of China - the treasury is short of money! "

Seeing the puzzled look in his son's eyes, Mr. Wang explained: "Since Emperor Gaozong ordered the states and counties to take care of their own taxes, the taxes received by the central government have decreased year after year. Well, the national treasury is extremely abundant, so it is not obvious. But in the generation of Emperor Dexing, all kinds of problems emerged one by one. In the past few years, Yizhou was plagued by constant floods, and the local state government kept asking for tax revenues. The central government asked for money, and just to control the water and arrange refugees, it almost dragged down the household department! Pointing to himself, the central government officials who are paid directly by the central government like Weifu have been owed their salaries year after year," he said. He also said with some self-deprecation: "However, there are not many people who are short of money if they can become officials in the central capital, but the extent to which the central government is short of money can be seen from this. root cause."

"Can't His Majesty abolish this decree of 'Taxation for oneself'?"

"Some decrees are easy to establish and cost a lot of money, but they are extremely difficult," Mr. Wang lamented, "not to mention that this decree has been implemented for so many years, and a complex network of interests has been formed across the country. It's all easy, who will let the great money fly away! Therefore, His Majesty, who is determined to worry about money for his father, will only invest this way of raising money in other ways. What kind of business is the most profitable? Of course it is business, and This foreign trade is still the most profitable one of them! His Majesty Maritime Trade is hopeless. The pirates and water bandits supported by the Nanchen survivors are rampant in the sea. The navy that the country has no use for is not its opponent at all and cannot protect it. Merchant ships, so there is only this commercial route to the west! And the commercial route to the western route must pass through this family! So my father thought, in this case, it is better for the Zhang family to agree with His Majesty on the condition of controlling the western route. In exchange for the chance to be rehabilitated! At the end of my father’s admonition, I mentioned this matter cryptically.” Mr. Wang really didn’t know, and he thought of it with Mr. Yuan who was far away in the central capital. .

"Abandoning the source of wealth, just to rectify the name, will the Zhang family do this? And this family is now like the local emperor in Cangzhou. If your majesty really got the business route, how would you allow it to exist?" Master Wang still felt that his father was a bit too Take it for granted.

Mr. Wang said slowly: "You don't understand how important a family's reputation is. Thinking about it, the Zhang family has completely controlled Cangzhou in the past few years, so why are they still hiding it so secretively? It's just because he doesn't want to bear the notoriety of being a bandit and a bandit who is entrenched in the place, and the uncle of the Luo family has entered my Kaiyuan Middle School as an official. The Zhang family, it has been looking for an opportunity to return to the political center of the Kaiyuan Kingdom and regain the glory of the head of the four major clans! Mr. Wang paused and said: "As for your last question, it is also just It's what worries me the most.It is because of this fear that I specially wrote the request for remonstrance. One is to bring up what was said back then, and the other is to test His Majesty's attitude. I said with some worry: "Now it seems that His Majesty's attitude But it's a bit vague, I'm afraid that His Majesty will eventually cross the river and tear down the bridge, and leave this family alone if he gets the trade route."

"So what will happen?" Seeing the worry on his father's face, Master Wang asked

"After all, the Zhang family has been operating in Cangzhou for many years, so how can they be replaced so easily? If His Majesty really has this plan, I am afraid that the national treasury will not be full by then. The situation in Cangzhou will be even more corrupt than that in the Linhai area. At that time, the imperial court will What we are facing is not only the anger that the Zhang family has endured for decades, but also the bandits who suddenly raged again, and it may even be the Qiang Yuan barbarians! Let the Zhang family be rehabilitated, "

"But this matter is only done by father..." Master Wang said with some hesitation.

"Who said that there is only one person for the father? For the father, it is not easy to do too much, but there are still some veterans in the court who have a grudge against the old days. Now this business road has made them see what they are doing. The hope of the Zhang family to overturn the case, now that the booklet is submitted, the task of asking the way for the father has been completed, and we will only see how the gang of old guys deal with the Zhang family." Then he frowned and said: "But it is still for the father. Don't worry, I just think that Luo's family and Zhang's family are the closest. I entered Naluo Garden for my father to see if I can see the development of the whole thing in person. No matter what, my father doesn't want to see the worst The result appeared."

Looking at the solemn father, Master Wang fell into deep thought.

The author has something to say: Khan, it was supposed to end in one chapter, but it’s so wordy... Dear friends, please forgive me...

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