Survival countdown

Someone informed Lu Liangshi that he had evidence of his embezzlement of public funds, and Sima Jiao came to his senses.

He never paid attention to Lu Liangshi, the greedy, cowardly, stupid and ignorant magistrate of Qipin County, so he failed to find out in time that the women who came up for filial piety were basically from Lu Liangshi.

After suddenly realizing it, he turned around and counted, and was shocked to find that half of the women in the back house had more or less been trained by Lu Liangshi.

I don't know how many times the pillow wind blew, and Sima Jiao dealt with the books in front of those women who claimed to be illiterate.

He thought that the woman in the back house, who was as weak as rush grass, had the ability to secretly copy the ledger and send the ledger out of the mansion quietly, so he didn't find out until Lu Liangshi threatened him.

Both he and Xiao Wence were put together by Lu Liangshi, an idiot, and went through the courtroom. After reviewing the case and thinking carefully, Sima Jiao finally came to his senses.

The imperial envoy and Zheng Chuzhi were in the same group, they took advantage of their former ministry and joined forces to deceive Lu Liangshi and put Lu Liangshi together.Lv Liangshi is an idiot, not to mention being deceived, he even led Xiao Wence and him into the trap set by the imperial envoy.

Although he was slapped in the face, the account book in Lu Liangshi's hand was the most important thing.

Sima Jiao sent someone to kill Lu Liangshi, but the assassination failed, and he was terrified for several days, and the fear of being ransacked and exterminated at any time drove him crazy.

After many days of sleeping and eating, Sima Jiao suddenly discovered that the imperial envoy not only had no intention of targeting him, but instead arrested An Huaide's councilors, and there was also a case of the whole family of Jiangnan imperial merchants being wiped out?

While rejoicing that the imperial envoy's attention had been diverted, Sima Jiao was worried that An Huaide would harm the East Palace, so he sent a letter to Xuzhou overnight for questioning.Before An Huaide's letter came, a prison servant came to inform him that the failure of Dao's assassination of Lu Liangshi was probably due to Sun Chengyi's attack.

"The councilor surnamed Sun swore to protect Lu Liangshi's life, and that's why he extracted from him the account books of your embezzlement of public funds over the years."

Hearing this, Sima Jiao's eyebrows twitched: "Did you hear me right?"

The yamen servant responded cautiously: "The little one dares to guarantee his life! The assassin entered the prison, and I hid in the haystack of one of the prison cells before I had time to run. I heard the conversation between the thief surnamed Sun and Lu Liangshi. Know where the ledger is hidden."

"where?"

The yamen servant smiled apologetically: "Lord Ducao, the imperial envoy should return to the capital to return to his command when the time comes, but there is still a vacancy for the magistrate of Jiangyang County. I heard from the former master that a senior official of the fourth rank or above can recommend others to fill the vacancy. You see..."

"If what you said is true, the ledger will be safely in the hands of the official, and no one will compete with you for the county magistrate."

"Thank you, my lord, for your help!" The yamen servant thanked repeatedly, and told the ledger where he was hiding in a low voice.

"Okay, I see, you go down, don't reveal this news, or I won't guarantee you a vacancy for the county magistrate." Watching the yamen servants leave, Sima Jiao said to the left and right: "The yamen servants of these counties below are good!" Bet on good wine, maybe one day you will be so drunk that you accidentally fall into the river and drown, I am afraid you will not enjoy a happy life."

After listening to the left and right, they immediately understood the meaning of Du Cao, and they agreed with each other.

Sima Jiao was quite satisfied, and asked someone to hurry to get the ledger back.

About two hours later, the subordinates ran back panting and complained: "My lord—it's not good! We went a step late, and the account book was taken away by An Huaide's left and right staff officers!"

Sima Jiao stood up with a 'hoo', grabbed the teacup and threw it at it: "Trash!" Turning around and kicking off the stool, he shouted angrily, "An Huaide, what do you want? Do you really want to betray the Lord?"

After thinking about it, Sima Jiao said: "Prepare your pen and ink, and when I write to ask An Huaide if he is going to fight against the East Palace and my Sima family, hurry up and send me to Xuzhou."

The letter sent to Xuzhou only received a response from An Huaide as if he was practicing Tai Chi. Sima Jiao was so angry that his brain was buzzing, and he asked the post station to expedite it. Thank you at the door, but decline the messenger.

This gesture made Sima Jiao flustered, and his confidants went to the Xuzhou camp to find the soldiers and horses privately raised by the East Palace, and An Huaide asked rhetorically, "All the soldiers and horses in the camp belong to the imperial court, and they are moved by orders. The official seal will do.If you rashly ask the old man for soldiers and horses, how can the old man give you the soldiers and horses? '——

As if "I am not familiar with the Donggongmen party and the Sima family", he suddenly turned his face and denied it. He wanted to embezzle money and soldiers and horses privately. He had no scruples and was domineering and arrogant.

An Huaide really wants to rebel?Or a temporary defection-but who can he defect?Who is his new master?

Sima Jiao wished he could swallow An Huaide alive, but he didn't dare to overturn the table cruelly.

Embezzlement of millions of taels of public funds, all used to support private soldiers, is a serious crime of losing one's head, but An Huaide has the handle in his hands. Sima Jiao dare not act rashly, let alone tell the prince about it.

Dong Gong repeatedly warned him to abstain from sex, otherwise he would die in a woman's belly sooner or later.

Sima Jiao responded face-to-face. In fact, he accepted as many women as others gave him. He was not greedy for money, and he didn't like gambling, but women couldn't quit.He also looked down on women who needed to rely on men to survive, and he didn't take it seriously that they could threaten his own life, but he really stumbled on it in the end.

Fortunately, the imperial envoy detained Sun Chengyi, intending to use this to hold An Huaide accountable and hold An Huaide back.

Sima Jiao pinned his hopes on the imperial envoy. Before, he wished that the imperial envoy would fail, but now he hoped that the imperial envoy could kill An Huaide while rectifying Huainan.

An Huaide asked the imperial envoy to transfer Sun Chengyi and Miemen massacre to Liangjiang, and Sima Jiao immediately jumped out to catch the lost Xuzhou Guanyin and three thousand fishermen to attack An Huaide.

The two sides fought in the air, and several cases were deadlocked at the same time, until a letter from the East Palace broke the situation where Sima Jiao had nothing to do.

After reading the letter, Sima Jiao patted his thigh and exclaimed: "An Huaide really has two hearts! It turns out that the person he really surrendered to is King Jing. Well, after so many years of undercover, he used the power of the East Palace to suck up my Sima's flesh and blood. Now if you want to use it and throw it away, where in the world is such a cheap thing? Come, come—"

"Take my official defense seal letter and the crown prince's oral order to go to Liangzhe to dispatch troops, and follow me to Yangzhou to encircle Jichang Villa."

At the same time, Deputy Zheng Yun took advantage of the imperial envoy's oral order to find the old department and the Yangzhou Prefecture Camp Supervisor who was also the party of Zheng Guogong's family, and rushed to Jichang Villa overnight.

***

The sky was dark, and the torches were lit on the winding mountain road, forming a long zigzag dragon, which was heading towards Jichang Mountain Villa. On the back of the mountain, there was also a fire dragon walking on the steep mountain road, gradually approaching.

On the top of the mountain, one man and one horse condescended to overlook the grand occasion of soldiers and horses passing by below. Behind them was a row of heavily armored cavalry. The dark iron armor was stained with black blood that had not dried up, and fell to the ground along the lines of the scales of the heavy armor. There is a lingering chill and bloody smell.

They were the Fifteen Tanghe cavalry led by Huo Jingtang, who broke into Jichang Villa an hour ago and killed all the imperial troops inside, and left only a quarter of an hour ago, standing on the top of the mountain to watch the collision between the two sides.

Zheng Chuzhi and Sima Jiao's men surrounded the villa, and the two sides collided head-on. Before Sima Jiao could react, Zheng Chuzhi led his troops and rushed into the villa.

Sima Jiao was stunned for a moment, and then became furious: "Stop him——no, go in! Get the silver before him!"

Soldiers and horses rushed into the villa with open fire, pushing and shoving each other. Sima Jiao, who was obviously not good at fighting, was slightly inferior. The soldiers and horses he brought were borrowed from the two Zhejiang provinces, and they traveled day and night. The soldiers and horses of the local battalion were full of energy and were soon at a disadvantage.

Zheng Chuzhi was good at tactics, so he dispersed the soldiers and horses into small groups, quickly got into the rockery and turned over the gazebo, and suddenly someone exclaimed: "There are corpses here!"

Zheng Chuzhi was shocked when he heard the words, could someone else be the first?

He and Sima Jiao stepped forward at the same time, and a soldier shouted from the other direction: "Baoducao - a dozen corpses were found in the courtyard, wearing the armor of the Imperial Army, equipped with a military ring sword, or cut their throats with one knife, or 1 The gun passed through the chest, and no one survived!"

It should be the army that An Huaide trained in private, compared to the training method of the Northwest Forbidden Army, all of them are brave and good at fighting, and they have a complete infantry configuration, but now they are silently silenced?

Zheng Chuzhi hurried over to check the corpse, and found that the corpse was warm and the blood hadn't coagulated, which meant that the person who took a step ahead of them hadn't gone far.Maybe they arrived on the back foot as soon as the front foot left, but the front and rear mountain roads were surrounded by soldiers and horses, and they didn't meet any third-party troops at all. Could it be that they will fly into the sky and escape?

Looking at the wounds of the deceased, it was clear that they were military ring-headed knives and double-hooked guns used by border cavalry. Which soldiers and horses drove all the way from the border?

If there is no edict, who would dare to leave the border without authorization?

An ominous premonition arose in Zheng Chuzhi's heart, but before he could grasp that feeling, he heard someone shouting excitedly in front of him: "The silver was found! There are ten boxes in total, each box is 20 taels—that's the 200 million disaster relief silver lost in Xuzhou! There is no mistake." !"

A flash of joy flashed across Sima Jiao's face, and he walked forward, but a bright knife was pressed against his neck, his hands and feet trembled in fright, and his head stiffened: "Zheng, Zheng Chuzhi, hold the knife against... The neck of a third-rank official of the imperial court, you, you don't want to die!"

"You won't be a third-rank officer soon, Sima Ducao. Please say something to make all the soldiers under your hands retreat, otherwise my knife will not have eyes, and I may poke many holes in your body. I I'm not afraid that I won't be able to explain to His Majesty, as long as I keep you alive, there are many ways to make life worse than death."

Zheng Chuzhi sneered: "Lord Du Cao, do you want to try it?"

Sima Jiao's eyes were dark and vicious: "The prince is from the middle palace, except for the eldest prince who died young, who is the eldest son, who is the head of the incense, and is supported by all the officials. His majesty hand-picked the crown prince, who is ordered by the sky, and inherits the expectations of all people in the world. , you must succeed in the Great Reign, and then you and Zheng Guogong’s family will pay a heavy price for what you did today to murder the East Palace! Zheng Chuzhi, I advise you not to do things that you will regret!”

Zheng Chuzhi: "The first emperor did not occupy the heir to the throne, and still inherited the great line. Except for a little criticism in his later years, he was still a generation of Mingjun. In the previous dynasty, there were many emperors who were neither heirs nor elders. So what if he established a heir? The previous dynasty was once every two years. The crown prince has been changed, and he has been the crown prince for 20 years. In the end, he was robbed of the throne by Emperor Longwu, who is not a descendant. "

Sima Jiao's face turned livid: "You really covet the position of crown prince."

Zheng Chuzhi: "People are not for themselves, and heaven and earth will destroy it. We are born to be equal, given status and talents, how can we not have the ambition to match it?" The hand holding the knife suddenly shook, and a bloodstain was drawn on Sima Jiao's neck , he turned his head and shouted: "See clearly that all of you Sima are in my hands—I don't want him to die, the troops of the two Zhejiang camps retreat quickly!"

The roar stopped the troops from the Liangzhe battalion running over, and seeing that they were being coerced directly, they immediately looked at each other in blank dismay, not knowing what to do.

Just as Sima Jiao wanted to say leave him alone, Zheng Chu's palm slashed his throat. The pain hit him so badly that he couldn't say a word.

There was no order, and the troops of the two Zhejiang camps stayed where they were, not daring to advance an inch. At that time, the prisoner of the Yangzhou camp had already loaded ten boxes of silver taels on a cart and took them away.

When Sima Jiao heard this, he closed his eyes in despair, knowing in his heart that both he and Sima were finished.

Dong Gong wanted to use the 200 million taels of disaster relief money to throw the pot away, deal with King Jing and Huo Jingtang at the same time, and covet the two Northwest soldiers in their hands, but for Sima Jiao, he wanted to use this to blackmail An Huaide and get him back. Accounts of public funds.

It is not only the evidence of his embezzlement of public funds, but also the evidence of Donggong raising private soldiers!

The East Palace and the Sima Clan can only protect one, not the other!

Zheng Chuzhi patted Sima Jiao on the shoulder and laughed loudly: "Although I don't know who did it, all the forbidden soldiers in the villa were killed and only 200 million taels of disaster relief money was left behind, but I still thank Du Cao. He also took the initiative to send the handle to me—" He lowered his voice, full of pride: "Why did Du Cao venture into the villa at night? How did he know where the relief bank was? Did he find something and transfer the money in advance? An Huaide robbed the relief bank , has anything to do with you, Sima Clan, and the East Palace?"

When Sima Jiao heard this, he immediately struggled, and was severely suppressed. He suddenly raised his head and stared at Zheng Chuzhi, his gaze was like a torch, and a white light flashed in his mind. He ignored something very important.

In a flash of thought, Sima Jiao smiled happily, "So you don't know."

"what do you know?"

Sima Jiao was full of malice: "I look forward to your desperate expression after you have exhausted all the tricks and found that you have suffered the consequences hahahaha...Zheng Chuzhi, you are pretending to be smart and don't know it!"

Zheng Chuzhi frowned and spat, playing tricks.

"Take it all away!"

***

The candles were brightly lit, and the accompanying battalion soldiers and horses left the field and returned to silence.

On the top of the mountain, San commanded: "General, do you need to follow?"

Huo Jingtang grabbed the reins and turned the horse's head: "Go back to Yangzhou and meet my father."

***

Adjutant Cui ran in and stared at Zhao Baiyu with piercing eyes: "Master Zhao, as you expected, Zheng Chuzhi, who led the Yangzhou camp to find the relief money, did not return to his life. He wanted to take credit for himself and arrested Sima Jiao. This is to point the sword at the East Palace."

Zhao Baiyu: "The next step is probably to dispatch troops to catch An Huaide, but An Huaide is not so easy to catch, he still has private soldiers in his hands, if there is trouble, he will really rebel in Xuzhou."

Adjutant Cui was anxious: "Catch the thief first and capture the king—you have the right to directly mobilize the local soldiers and horses. Immediately give an order. I will take the lead and surround An Huaide's camp."

"Of course it's true, but you captured the wrong person." Zhao Baiyu raised his eyes while holding the letter paper and said, "The one who captured the king was the one who captured the king."

Adjutant Cui was stunned, how could Prince Jing be involved——wait!

"An Huaide is not loyal to the East Palace, but King Jing? The general's biological father, King Jing?" Adjutant Cui almost lost his voice, and said suddenly in a daze for a long time: "No, we have to stop Zheng Chuzhi. He will implicate the general if he exposes King Jing's treason. Master Zhao already knew that King Jing was behind the scenes...why didn't you say it sooner?"

"If it wasn't for the fear that Huo Jingtang would be implicated, would I still need to make a plan with twists and turns?"

Adjutant Cui's reaction was extremely quick, and he immediately saw the moon: "That's right, with Mr. Zhao's ingenuity, it is absolutely impossible to just sit and watch the general fall into a dilemma and have nothing to do."

Zhao Baiyu looked at him with a crooked smile: "You have practiced more and more superbly when you are flattering."

Adjutant Cui laughed: "Tell me the truth. By the way, how about arresting Prince Jing now?"

"Huo Jingtang should have met King Jing by now. You go to Xuzhou. Don't let Zheng Chuzhi see it. Just say that Huo Jingtang took Tanghe cavalry to find King Jing to gossip."

"That's all right?"

"Enough is enough. An Huaide is a smart man." Zhao Baiyu folded the letter paper, feeling quite emotional: "Smart and loyal, but unfortunately he chose the wrong path and did the wrong thing. Death is not a pity."

***

Sima Jiao was detained. Although the camp troops from Zhejiang and Zhejiang were ordered by the Eastern Palace, they were timid and did not dare to act hastily because of such treasonous crimes as raising private soldiers and intending to rebel.

Zheng Chuzhi took the opportunity to lead the Yangzhou battalion without notice, but quietly contacted He Guangyou, the prefect of Xuzhou, and hurried on the road in the dark, quietly arrived in Xuzhou, joined He Guangyou, and quickly outflanked the Xuzhou camp.

An Huaide was in the camp in Xuzhou, the left and right staff were shocked and incoherent, finally calmed down and came up with an idea, from eight hundred miles to the East Palace in a hurry, to sending people to Jiangyang County to ask the imperial envoy to rescue the siege... It works He spoke out all the solutions, but An Huaide remained indifferent.

Left staff officer: "Where did Zheng Chuzhi get his soldiers?"

Staff officer on the right: "It's the capital supervisor of the Yangzhou camp. I recognize him. He is Zheng Chuzhi's former department! Could it be that they forcibly arrested the commander-in-chief under the order of the imperial envoy?"

Left staff officer: "When did Zheng Chuzhi join forces with the imperial envoy?" He paced back and forth, muttering: "Absurd, really absurd! Whether it is the case of Deng Wen'an's injustice or the case of Sun Shenyi's extermination of his family, there is no evidence to prove that he is related to the commander-in-chief. No matter how great the power is and there are thousands of reasons, the battalion should not be mobilized to forcefully arrest the second-rank officials of the imperial court!"

Staff officer on the right: "Commander, immediately rush people to [-] miles, and the East Palace can't come forward, so they simply sued the imperial court and reported to His Majesty... Zheng Chuzhi and the imperial envoys have no rules and disregard the laws of the great scene, it is extremely absurd! "

An Huaide closed his eyes and meditated, the old god was there: "Did Zheng Chuzhi give a reason for arresting me?"

The left staff officer hesitated.

An Huaide: "But it doesn't matter."

Staff Officer Zuo bite the bullet: "He said that you robbed relief funds, killed court officials, wronged innocent people, and... also raised soldiers and horses privately!"

The staff officer on the right couldn't help swallowing his saliva when he heard it. Just hearing this crime was just a two-way battle, with 'ridiculous' written all over his face: "There is no evidence and no evidence. Are you going to kill the commander unjustly?"

An Huaide laughed out loud: "I have thought a lot, and everyone has thought of it, including the young imperial envoy, who also assumed the possibility that I would fall into his hands, but Zheng Chuzhi, who is the most obvious hostility, has been ignored. He was the first person to find me."

What does this mean?

The meaning is obvious, Zheng Chuzhi's counted crimes are probably not faked in nine out of ten cases.

The staff officers on the left and right heard the meaning, rolled their eyes white in fright, fell down, sweated all over their heads, and couldn't get up again for a long time.

"What are you afraid of?" An Huaide glanced at the left and right staff officers: "For the sake of your hard work and following this old man for many years, this old man spared your life." Then he said to his generals: "Please come in and speak, Duke Zheng."

At this time, someone reported outside: "The commander-in-chief, the adjutant accompanying the king of Lin'an County, Qilang Cui of Duke Cui's residence, please see me."

An Huaide: "No see."

The subordinate's tone was awkward: "Commander, he said that you will regret it if you don't see him, and it is related to a certain nobleman in Yangzhou City."

An Huaide opened his eyes suddenly, and thought for a while: "Call him in first."

Adjutant Cui got off his horse, avoided seeing An Huaide from Zheng Chuzhi, and brought Zhao Baiyu's instructions to him.

An Huaide looked at him: "I don't know if what you said is true or not, I don't know if it's not a bluff."

Adjutant Cui scratched his head: "Our lord Zhao said that you are extremely smart and know how to do it."

"Little imperial envoy?" An Huaide laughed suddenly, patted his thigh and said: "Okay! What a little imperial envoy, what a Lin'an county king." Suddenly put away his smiling face, raised his head and sighed: "Our Majesty is really kind Calculated, no wonder Prince Jing was defeated by him back then."

Hearing this, Adjutant Cui felt a strange feeling in his heart. He couldn't see through tonight's actions, nor could he see the complicated situation in Huainan, but he could vaguely guess from An Huaide's sigh that he seemed to rely on Mr. Zhao's One sentence touched the truth of the whole matter.

Perhaps An Huaide is indeed extremely smart and loyal, otherwise he would not have become a second-rank official in the province from being unknown. The Lord is in danger, and he will be captured immediately.

When Adjutant Cui left the camp, Zheng Chuzhi had already led troops in to arrest An Huaide who gave up resistance, and he couldn't help sighing: "It's a pity, he is also a hero."

The hooves of the horses were clattering, and the man and the horse quickly sank into the thick morning fog.

***

The house next door to Xie's mansion occupies a rather large area, but it is quiet. Compared with the crowded Xie's house, it is a compliment to say that it is sparsely populated.

The gate is often closed tightly, and no one comes in or out for a year and a half.

Zhao Yuzheng once became interested, and the residents of the house next to the Xie clan, the young people shook their heads unanimously, saying that they didn't know, they only knew that their ancestors used to be rich, but now they are down and out.

Zhao Yuzheng lost interest after asking many people with the same caliber.

But in the early hours of the morning, Zhao Yuzheng dragged Zhao Sanlang to the roof to drink with the moon. He heard the sound of horseshoes coming from the street. When he looked closely, he saw a row of mighty and solemn cavalry breaking through the morning fog and stopping in front of the house next door.

After a while, they all went in. Due to the angle problem, I couldn't see the movement inside again.

Zhao Yuzheng was a little curious: "Third brother, do you know who that is?" He didn't hear the answer for a long time, so he turned his head in doubt: "Third brother?"

But Zhao Sanlang was short of breath and blushed: "It's the legendary Tanghe Cavalry!"

Zhao Yuzheng asked: "What are Tanghe cavalry?"

"Today's strongest cavalry unit - has made great contributions to the ancestors. At least half of the country was brought down by Tanghe cavalry. One can imagine how powerful it is. But it has declined for decades and its reputation is not obvious. Now it is rare Some people know about its past glory. Dad once revealed that the Tanghe Iron Cavalry is His Majesty's hidden trump card. At least ten years ago, it came alive. You may not know, but the eldest brother has always wanted to join the Tanghe Iron Cavalry, but he is not qualified."

"Brother is very skilled in martial arts, can't you get in?"

"Tanghe iron cavalry not only requires high martial arts, but also other rigid requirements... Not much to say, Shiro, I want to touch it quietly."

Zhao Yuzheng grabbed Zhao Sanlang's wrist: "Third brother, take me there."

Zhao Sanlang hesitated for a while, but couldn't help his brother's pleading, so he took him there.

Sneaking into the house next door, looking for the candlelight, Zhao Sanlang hid in a big tree a hundred meters away and stared at the bright light in the hall with breathless eyes.

"I can't see or hear them talking."

"Hush!" Zhao Sanlang: "If you get closer, you will be found, and if you speak louder, you will be found too."

Even Zhao Zaizhi and Zhao Dalang admired Tanghe cavalry highly. Zhao Yuzheng would not be so naive as to think that Zhao Sanlang was alarmist, so he breathed lightly and focused on the scene in the hall.

At this time, King Jing was sitting in the hall. He was in his early 40s. He was in good health and well maintained.

As soon as Huo Jingtang entered the hall, he randomly found a seat and sat down, with his body slung across his shoulders, unrestrained and unrestrained, standing next to the upright Prince Jing.

Fiddled with the Buddha beads again and again, Huo Jingtang felt that he respected the old and loved the young. As a polite person, he chose to speak first: "It is a thief to be old and not die."