The return of the son-in-law

Huo Yu gradually got better. Although Guo Zhan'an wanted to spend more time with him, he still had to go back to the government office. Two days ago, Li Chonghao from the capital ordered someone to come to Xuzhou to take over this matter.

This time the official wrestling in the capital came to an end with the victory of the third prince Li Shaojun. Among the five officials sent this time, three were upright and pure ministers. They made it clear that if the matter was true, Shi Guogan would be pulled down ; one of the remaining two is a confidant sent by Li Chonghao worried that Li Shaojun would take the opportunity to support his power in Xuzhou. It was Li Shaojin and Liu Yuanheng who stuffed it in with shamelessness.

Shi Guogan was recommended by Liu Yuanheng's disciple, anyone with a discerning eye would know who Shi Guogan represented.Li Chonghao also knew it well, but because Li Shaojin was the son of his beloved concubine after all, and he was young, he only held back when he was deceived by Liu Yuanheng and others.But he didn't know that his son was born cunning, but at the age of six or seven, he could do things that killed others.

Li Shaojin has a cold nature, if Shi Guogan hadn't helped him to embezzle a lot of military pay to support his private soldiers in the past few years, he would have wanted to lose his car a long time ago to protect his commander, and he would have asked for severe punishment on his own.However, the issue of military pay cannot be exposed, so Li Shaojin had to ask his grandfather Liu Yuanheng for help. The two wanted to choose a prudent person to deal with it, but they didn't think that if they were really prudent, how could they rely on the son of a concubine when the emperor was in his prime? Prince?

Fortunately, Liu Yuanheng has been an official for many years and has promoted many people in the imperial court, some of them are really capable.They were either grateful for Liu Yuanheng's promotion, or they were forced by Liu Yuanheng and Li Shaojin's momentum, so they had no choice but to stick to the faction of the fourth prince, which made them choose a credible and capable one after thousands of choices. People - Huang Mingli, a doctor of the Ministry of punishment.

Li Shaojin had already told Huang Mingli that Shi Guogan, a pawn, could be discarded when necessary, but the matter of military pay must be resolved, and no one else should know about it.In addition, if there is a chance, he must teach Guo Zhanan a lesson, lest he always fight against himself.

And Guo Zhan'an received a secret letter from Li Shaojun, and knew that there was someone from Li Shaojin among them.He knew that he had caught Shi Guogan's tricks and had driven him to nowhere. Now Li Shaojin already hated him to the bone, wishing to tear him to pieces.

A few days ago, he had been working at home, and the people in the government office naturally knew about it.But he hasn't rectified the whole government office yet, if he stays at home for a few more days, I'm afraid someone will sue him for dereliction of duty.If Li Shaojin's people knew about this, they would probably make a big fuss about it.

Therefore, even though Huo Yu's wounds hadn't healed yet, especially the one on his chest, Huo Yu's gasping could be heard every time he changed the dressing, Guo Zhan'an could only ask Fuquan to take care of him carefully, and he went back to the government office to work.

During the few days when a group of people from the capital went to Xuzhou, Guo Zhan'an had followed the clues and found the hiding places of the remaining men in black, but he was not in a hurry to arrest them all.

Hao Yun has completely surrendered to Guo Zhan'an's thoughts and methods these days. Seeing that Guo Zhan'an has not acted for a long time, he is still puzzled, and asks: "My lord, why don't you catch them all as soon as possible?"

Guo Zhan'an just laughed it off and didn't answer.

Although Hao Yun can observe words and deeds, in the final analysis, he still doesn't have enough experience and vision.

Among the five people who came, none of Li Shaojun's subordinates were there.Li Chonghao and Li Shaojin's confidantes don't need to think about it, the other three pure ministers will not give him Guo Zhanan's face.If I do things too beautifully, I'm afraid it will arouse their suspicion, wouldn't it be self-defeating?

He and these three people had the same purpose, and Guo Zhan'an was happy to leave them some political achievements, at least to say that they ordered the arrest of those men in black.Moreover, based on this matter, Guo Zhanan was able to get out of the turmoil, but he also arranged for the direction of this matter, even if he was not allowed to intervene in the investigation, but unless Li Chonghao personally ordered, the fate of Shi Guogan and others will be different. No one can change it.

When the group arrived in Xuzhou, Guo Zhan'an personally received them.According to the rules, he would inevitably have to set up a table of food and drink for five people to clean up.

Everyone looked at the home-cooked dishes on the table, and one of them showed displeasure, but soon changed back to that turbulent face.Guo Zhan'an saw it in his eyes, compared this person's appearance with what Li Shaojun wrote in his letter, and knew that this person was Li Chonghao's confidant Wei Zichen.

He didn't dare to underestimate him, after all, this person represented Li Chonghao.And although Li Chonghao is not a Mingjun, he is extremely strong in the matter of imperial power, and the people he sent must not be easy to deal with.

Guo Zhan'an just pretended not to know, and said with a smile: "Everyone has come from a long way, and I hope that Mr. Guo will forgive me for making mistakes."

One of them was He Zudao, the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, who was also the imperial envoy hand-picked by the emperor this time. Hearing this, he smiled and replied: "Master Guo, you are welcome. I will come here on orders. Lord Guo, you don't need to worry about it."

Guo Zhan'an nodded and said, "Xuzhou's land is barren and there is a shortage of supplies. Haihan, please try the local specialties of Xuzhou." He clapped his hands, and Hao Yun stepped forward to pour wine for everyone.

When he got to this point, everyone couldn't get used to this dish, so they had to put on a show and eat two more bites with chopsticks.

After the meal, Guo Zhan'an didn't delay much, and directly invited everyone to his office room, and handed over all the confessions and other materials that had been sorted out to them.

Li Shaojin's confidant Huang Mingli found an opportunity and asked: "Master Guo, when I entered the city, I found a notice posted at the gate of the city. I wonder if your lord has reported to the capital?"

After everyone listened, Qiqi turned his attention to Guo Zhan'an.

After the reign of Emperor Wudi, under the authority, prefectures and judges in various places have the right to post announcements locally, but they need to report to the capital.These five people came from the Three Lives and Six Departments. When they left Beijing, they hadn't heard of this incident. Presumably, Guo Zhan'an hadn't reported it.

This matter can be big or small, if it is said in a big way, Guo Zhan'an knows the law and broke the law, and the crime is aggravated.

Guo Zhan'an frowned, and replied: "It happened suddenly, and the officials had no choice but to come up with this bad plan. The note has already been handed in, and it must have been missed by the courier at the post station and the adults. "As he spoke, he told how those men in black bribed the night guards of the Guo Mansion, how they sneaked into the mansion, how his righteous brother stepped forward, how he was seriously injured, and is still sick in the hospital. The bed etc said it all.

At the end, Guo Zhanan raised his right hand, pretended to wipe away the non-existent tears with his sleeve, and said: "I have been an official for many years, whether in the Imperial Academy or as a parent official, I ask myself that I have not done anything harmful to the nature and disturbed the people. Those people wanted to put me to death. If I wasn't at home that day, I'm afraid my soul would have returned to hell by now."

The oldest of these five people is He Zudao.The Ministry of Officials is in charge of the imperial examination. He still remembers how high-spirited Guo Zhanan was in the Jinluan Hall. Looking at him now, he is exhausted. He can't help but sigh: "It's been hard for you these days. Don't worry, if the matter is true, Your Majesty It will definitely not sit idly by."

Guo Zhanan sneered in his heart, put down his sleeves, and showed a grateful face.He turned around and bowed three times in the direction of the capital, and said, "Thanks to Your Majesty's grace."

Huang Mingli saw Guo Zhanan's chanting and beating, and scolded him severely in his heart.He intended to start a conversation and let the other four people notice Guo Zhanan's mistakes, but he didn't want to be used by Guo Zhanan, which deepened everyone's disgust towards Shi Guogan.

He could only temporarily rest his thoughts, and said to everyone: "Time waits for no one, everyone, let's start."

Everyone nodded, and worked together to take the files to the room specially opened for them at the other end of the government office, declined the help of others, and got busy.

Guo Zhan'an heard Hao Yun's return here, rubbed his fingers on the wall of the cup, and said, "There is no need to send anyone to watch. They will naturally come to us for whatever they want. Just respond to your request, and never interfere with the rest."

Hao Yun understands that he has already been labeled as Guo Zhan'an, and only if the new judge is well-off, Hao Yun will have a day of ascension, so he said immediately: "Don't worry, my lord, I will definitely beat other people, and I won't be messed with by you." trouble."

Guo Zhan'an nodded, motioning for him to stand aside and stand aside.

Guo Zhan'an gave He Zudao and others a lot of files, and he didn't even deliberately delete and refine them. He just divided the files into three piles according to the relevance and urgency of the matter.His actions like this naturally won the favor of most people. Although he didn't say anything, they all agree that Guo Zhan'an is an upright person. He is not like the rumors in the capital that he is young but cruel. It has been less than a year. , and pulled Shangfeng off his horse twice.

Huang Mingli saw everyone's expressions in his eyes and was anxious in his heart.He was not valued by Li Shaojin and Liu Yuanheng at first, but now that Li Shaojin is under the suspicion of Li Chonghao, and the originally competent people have been relegated to the second line for various reasons, so he can stand out and get this job.

Although Li Shaojin explained before the trip that suppressing Guo Zhanan was just incidental, but Huang Mingli was worried that if he only fulfilled Li Shaojin's explanation and did not bring him any surprises, he might not have many opportunities in the future.

Fortunately, when Li Shaojin and Liu Yuanheng selected him, they thought that he would be calm and reliable, and he would not panic when things went wrong.Huang Mingli is well aware of the current situation and is not in a hurry. He decides to read the files first and find an opportunity to settle the issue of military pay.As for the others, I can only figure it out slowly.

Looking at it, it is like seeing the sunset on the west mountain.

Guo Zhanan counted the time and ordered Hao Yun to send a letter: "You tell Wang Shan to go to He Zudao and the others, and say that you just received the news that the rest of the men in black have been found. For the rest, follow what I told him earlier. , play by ear."

Hao Yun took the order and left in a hurry.And Guo Zhan'an tidied up the desk and returned home.

Wang Shan scooped up a bowl of water, soaked his hands, slapped his face and neck a few times, then soaked the handkerchief, and handed it to Hao Yun, asking him to wet his clothes on his back.

After finishing all this, he ran around the yard twice, and when his face looked a little red, he hurried to the yard where He Zudao and others were.

"My lords, my lords, my subordinates have something important to report!" Wang Shan stopped in front of the yard, and said to the guards guarding the side of the yard: "My lords, I am Wang Shan, a servant of Xuzhou Yamen, please inform my subordinates. Why don't you tell Mr. He, I have something important to report!"

The one on the left looked at Wang Shan a few times, and saw that his face, neck, and collar were covered with sweat, so he said to his companion, "Look, I'll go in and report."

After a while, the guard came out and said, "Come in with me."

Wang Shan wiped the water off his face, heaved a sigh of relief, and followed the guards in.

It was not He Zudao who was waiting for Wang Shan, but Zhang Wenyuan, another official.Seeing Wang Shan dripping with sweat, he couldn't help frowning, and asked, "What's the matter with you?"

According to Guo Zhan'an's account, Wang Shan said, "May I ask what is your Excellency?"

Zhang Wenyuan said impatiently: "No, Mr. He is busy with official business, why do you have time to come to see you? If you have anything to do, it's the same with me."

Wang Shan hesitated, and said: "Master Guo, Mr. Shi's affairs have been handed over to Mr. He. If we have any progress in the future, we only need to report to Mr. He, and please ask Mr. He to come out."

Zhang Wenyuan became more and more impatient: "Where can you see Mr. He? Guo Zhanan asked you to report to Mr. He. Didn't he tell you that there are a total of five adults in Mr. He's party, and they are the same as everyone else. "

Wang Shan thought about it carefully, and then suddenly realized: "Master Guo did say that, but I forgot it for a moment, and I hope you will forgive me."

Zhang Wenyuan didn't bother to be polite to him, and said, "Just tell me if you have anything to do."

Wang Shan then said: "Report to my lord, we have found the remaining assassins, and they are hiding in a barren field outside Xuzhou City. We dare not make good claims. I would like to ask your lord how to deal with it?"

Zhang Wenyuan thought for a while, and said, "In this case, you will bring enough people later, and we must arrest them all."

Wang Shan responded, and Zhang Wenyuan asked him to wait outside, while he went in to find He Zudao and others.

After hearing this, He Zudao asked, "Is there sweat on this man's back?"

Zhang Wenyuan thought for a while and said, "I saw that the man's back was wet a lot. He obviously ran all the way here and never stopped to rest."

He Zudao nodded in satisfaction and said, "Although Guo Zhan'an is young, he is very good."

Zhang Wenyuan agreed with his point of view, and continued: "Indeed, he was decisive in this matter. He agreed not to interfere, so he will not touch it at all."

Huang Mingli listened on the sidelines, knowing that Guo Zhan'an could easily win over the two of them if he didn't speak again, so he said with a smile: "It's just one thing, how can I see so much? I'm waiting for Your Majesty It comes from the will of the people, and you must not talk about others casually."

Both He Zudao and Zhang Wenyuan were taken aback, and then He Zudao said: "Master Huang is right. In this way, we will send half of the total manpower we brought along with the yamen servants to capture the remaining assassins, and the rest will be captured later. Interrogate again."

Zhang Wenyuan nodded and didn't mention it when he went out.

Wei Zichen, who was on the side, closed the file at this time, clutched his stomach and said, "Everyone, I'm really sorry, I think it's because I'm not acclimatized, and my stomach hurts badly. Please forgive me, let me go back to rest earlier today."

He Zudao didn't intend that Wei Zichen could help him in the first place, and he also knew the reason why the emperor sent Wei Zichen, so he didn't stay any longer, and said, "Master Wei, rest well." Then he went back to work.

Wei Zichen left the mansion, and let go of his hand covering his stomach. He asked his entourage to call the bearer beside him, and said, "Go to Guo's mansion."