Chapter 1 The Jingnan Army Enters the City

The sudden entry of the Jingnan Army from the outer city camp took the heads of the various families and forces in Yingdu by surprise.

The political struggles they were used to were like a game of chess.

No matter how much they hated each other, grinding their teeth,

when sitting face to face before the chessboard, they still had to appear refined and cultured.

This was a mode that everyone recognized and liked.

Even when the Situ family was still glorious,

Situ Lei, after squeezing his two older brothers out of the central government, didn't go so far as to kick them while they were down and kill them. Instead, he exiled them far away to guard the city outside Xuehai Pass.

Xiao Liuzi once commented on Situ Lei, saying that he was wise throughout his life, but only this action was extremely pedantic.

Indeed, from the perspective of hindsight, if Situ Lei had directly "kacha'd" his two older brothers at the time, or imprisoned them until death, then the later Barbarian Rebellion might have been prevented.

With Situ Lei's abilities, without those two good-for-nothing brothers sending people to their deaths and cooperating from the inside, it would have been difficult for the Barbarian King to rise up, even with Xuehai Pass as a reliance.

But who could have foreseen the future?

One must know that at that time, Situ Lei's father, the old Situ family head, was still alive and in power, wielding great authority. Situ Lei's "brotherly love and respect" could both comfort his father, showing that he wouldn't engage in fratricide, and demonstrate his benevolence to the major powers of Cheng.

If Situ Lei had truly held all the power at the time, he wouldn't have needed to ask Zhang Pinghang to borrow a sword from the Sword Saint to assassinate his own father later on.

But regardless, Yingdu was not used to this kind of political operation where swords were drawn at every turn.

On the other hand, the Yan people in Yingdu were not so surprised when they heard about this.

After all,

the current Emperor had once trampled on the aristocratic clans,

in what could be described as the most extreme and large-scale use of force in politics.

Compared to the Yan Emperor hiding two marquises and their elite troops in the royal garden, using the capital as a starting point to sweep across the world with military force, Zheng Fan's current mobilization of some Jingnan Army troops into Yingdu seemed like a small matter in comparison.

Moreover,

the Yan people in Yingdu had a greater sense of security than the Jin people. After all, wasn't the Pingye Marquis also a Yan person?

The East Gate had long been controlled by Zheng Fan, but he hadn't ordered troops to be divided to seize control of the other three city gates.

In fact, after the Jingnan Army was forcibly mobilized by him, in theory, the troops from the North, South, and West camps could also be mobilized along with the momentum. No matter what happened in the future, he could completely mobilize nearly 20,000 troops outside Yingdu to make trouble with him.

But that would make things too big.

Everything had to be kept in moderation. No matter how strong the wind blew, even if it blew all the way to Yanjing, even after accounting for the losses along the way, it would still be just a wind;

but if it were thunder, the nature of the matter would be different.

The reason for not dividing troops to occupy the other three city gates at this time was the same. Zheng, this Marquis, was only here to be "arrogant" and "domineering", not to rely on Yingdu to rebel.

As for what to do next,

it wasn't really something that Zheng, this Marquis, needed to worry about. What he needed to do, he had already done.

Therefore,

after the troops entered the city,

they went straight to the Yingdu Prefect's Residence, that is, the official residence of Lord Mao Mingcai.

Under the onslaught of armored soldiers, the guards at the entrance of the official residence didn't dare to stop them and could only let them enter.

Zheng, this Marquis, dismounted from the Pixiu,

walked into the main hall of the Prefect's Residence.

Generally speaking, behind the main hall, there would be another rear hall, which was convenient for the host to take care of other matters when entertaining guests.

Zheng, this Marquis, entered the rear hall.

The layout and furnishings of the rear hall were the same as the front hall, but on a smaller scale.

Zheng, this Marquis, lay down on the chair of honor,

and said to the trembling butler of the Prefect's Residence in front of him:

"Bring tea. Your Lord Mao invited this Marquis for tea."

...

At the same time, almost at the same moment, the Blind Man and the Barbarian King also entered the Prefect's Residence.

The Blind Man sat at tables on the left and right sides of the front hall,

both of them holding a list in their hands.

They both picked up their pens and started writing notes.

As soon as a note was placed down, a captain would step forward, take the note, and then lead troops out to arrest people.

The Blind Man's handwriting was beautiful, he loved the Slender Gold style.

The Barbarian King's handwriting was just like his name, a dog's crawl.

The two of them didn't write many notes at first.

The Blind Man wrote three, and the Barbarian King wrote two.

After entering the city last night, the chairman of a local chamber of commerce in Yingdu was summoned to the post house. The people who received him were the Blind Man and the Barbarian King.

This chamber of commerce had existed for a long time. It had existed even before the Yan entered Jin, and in fact, it was one of the Sixth Prince's assets behind the scenes.

The Sixth Prince had a lot of informants and arrangements.

First, doing business, as long as it was managed properly, the speed of expansion would be very fast. Second, merchants needed to deal with all kinds of people, black and white, in order to operate in one place. They had to mix into their circles, so they had much more information than ordinary people.

After receiving his instructions, this chairman sent five names the next morning.

These five names represented five small families, either local snakes in Yingdu or those who currently held official positions, and they had indeed arranged for their family members to replace others' spots in the examination institute.

Of course, the real scope of involvement was definitely much larger than this, but it was already very difficult for this chairman to provide five names in just half a night.

After all,

the kind of foolish second-generation heirs who replaced other people's spots to obtain official qualifications and then swaggered around bragging about it were still very few;

most people made a fortune in silence after doing this.

But that didn't matter,

take the note, and the Jingnan Army would break down the door to arrest people. If the people who were arrested couldn't provide two more families within half an incense stick, then both the family head and the replacement would be taken outside the Prefect's Residence and beheaded on the spot.

One had to know that it wasn't just the instructors from Xuehai Pass who had their qualifications replaced, but also many other scholars from other places. And generally, doing this kind of thing was definitely a gang affair, and pulling out a radish would bring out the mud.

Immediately,

one note after another was sent out,

and the Jingnan Army soldiers began to arrest people constantly.

The scholars and officials involved in the case, as long as their names were on the note, were all brought up.

In the past, when fighting, the Blind Man had several experiences of breaking into cities and confiscating property, so he was quite adept at doing this.

On the other hand, the Barbarian King slowly began to fall behind the Blind Man's rhythm.

In the end,

the Barbarian King stopped writing notes and let the Blind Man perform alone.

He himself leaned back in his chair, took the copies of the notes he had already given out and made a summary, purely to pass the time and make himself look like he was doing something too.

At this time, Gao Yi walked in and whispered to the Blind Man.

The Blind Man pointed to the Barbarian King sitting opposite him.

Gao Yi walked over and reported:

"Liu Chuan'yi, the head of the Yingdu Secret Intelligence Division, requests to see the Marquis."

The Barbarian King nodded.

With such a big event happening in Yingdu, as the boss of the Secret Intelligence Division here, he couldn't possibly be a coward and pretend that nothing had happened.

But the most awkward thing now was that because Zheng, this Marquis, had mobilized the Jingnan Army into the city, and the Jingnan Army soldiers were indeed frantically arresting people in the city, it didn't look like they were going to rebel at all.

At the same time, no one dared to define the Jingnan Army as "rebel troops". If the Jingnan Army wanted to rebel, then, then the Jin would be gone.

The Barbarian King walked into the rear hall

and reported this matter to Zheng, this Marquis, who was drinking tea.

Zheng, this Marquis, nodded slightly,

and said:

"Let him come see me."

After a short while,

the Barbarian King brought Liu Chuan'yi to the rear hall.

After Liu Chuan'yi came in, he saw Zheng, this Marquis, leaning against the chair, already asleep.

After hesitating for a while,

Liu Chuan'yi saluted and said:

"Liu Chuan'yi, the head of the Yingdu Secret Intelligence Division, pays his respects to the Pingye Marquis."

"Hmm?"

Zheng, this Marquis, slowly woke up,

looking at the man in front of him.

Liu Chuan'yi was not tall, only of medium height, but gave people a very capable feeling.

"My subordinates reported that the Marquis mobilized troops into the city on the grounds that someone in Yingdu was plotting a rebellion?"

"Yes."

"But I heard that the Marquis was ordered by the Emperor to go to the capital for an audience."

The implication was that you were just passing through Yingdu on your way.

"Because His Highness felt that the Yingdu Secret Intelligence Division was too disappointing and couldn't handle things, he asked this Marquis to help deal with it on the way to the capital."

These words were very impolite.

In fact, in the early days, in Yinlang County, the original head of the Yinlang County Secret Intelligence Division, Du Juan, was Jingnan Marquis's woman. At that time, in order to fight, the Secret Intelligence Division was also under the jurisdiction of the Jingnan Marquis's mansion. However, first Du Juan died, and then, after entering Jin, the Jingnan Marquis gradually only handled military affairs and did not interfere in secular matters, so the management of the Secret Intelligence Division was naturally taken over by the imperial court again.

Liu Chuan'yi bowed down and said:

"I am terrified, but I believe that the imperial examination matter should not require the Marquis to worry about it."

"The imperial examination system is the cornerstone of the country, which is related to the eternal foundation of my Great Yan. I cannot not care about it. I am a little tired, so please don't bother me to rest, Lord Liu.

In addition, please ask Lord Sun to assist my subordinates in integrating today's events."

"Marquis, I..."

"There is a rule in the Jingnan Army, those who do not respect the king's orders will be beheaded."

Zheng Fan took one last look at Lord Liu,

slowly closed his eyes,

and said:

"I am going to the capital, and I will explain everything to His Majesty."

The meaning was,

I am not rebelling,

In the end, His Majesty will determine the nature of the matter,

you,

don't interfere.

The most important thing for an official is to be neutral. Official positions are not easy to come by. Unless it is a matter of great importance, most people will choose to follow the crowd.

"I obey."

Liu Chuan'yi went out,

and the Barbarian King stopped him in the front hall,

saying:

"Lord Liu, please give me a copy of the Yingdu Secret Intelligence Division's regulations. Not much, just who is whose relative and who is whose protégé. It shouldn't be difficult, right?"

Liu Chuan'yi looked at Gou Moli.

He naturally couldn't know that this person in front of him was the Barbarian King who had once made a big scene in Jin,

At the moment,

he looked at the rear hall position again,

and said:

"Wait a moment, I will send someone to deliver it immediately."

"That's great, I'll wait."

Liu Chuan'yi left,

over there,

the Blind Man continued to write notes while saying to the Barbarian King:

"How do you feel?"

"If we really want to rebel, it doesn't seem too difficult."

This was still under the premise that the Xuehai Pass headquarters troops had not been transferred over, and they had already nearly grasped half of Yingdu.

The Blind Man shook his head and said, "This is because many people can see that the lord is not going to rebel."

"But if the momentum is formed, we can completely coerce them, such as going to the Cheng Prince's Mansion and supporting Situ Yu to ascend the throne again and restore the Great Cheng State.

We can reward the many generals of the Jin camp and win over the hearts of the Jin troops, and if we cooperate with the headquarters troops, isn't it possible to make a comeback?"

The Blind Man smiled and said:

"Then the Jingnan Marquis will come over in a few days and personally twist off the lord's head?"

"Tsk..."

Gou Moli rubbed his head in pain.

"Without the imperial court organizing a large army to conquer, with just one military order from the Jingnan Marquis, this Yingdu, except for our headquarters troops, all the other troops would scatter like birds and beasts.

You don't know the prestige of the Jingnan Marquis in Jin."

"How can I not know? I also contributed to his prestige."

Gou Moli sat back in his chair.

The two,

have similar temperaments,

and similar hobbies.

The Blind Man is one of the Demon Kings who is most enthusiastic about rebelling,

and the Barbarian King is definitely not a peace-loving master.

Not long after,

the people from the Secret Intelligence Division sent over a booklet, which contained a list of official positions, as well as marital relationships and teacher-student relationships, etc.

If the entire Yingdu dignitaries were compared to a libretto,

then this booklet is a character relationship chart.

The Blind Man was still constantly writing notes,

while the Barbarian King was looking at the booklet while comparing it with the copies of the notes that had already been sent out. He looked at it very quickly.

Those who can do great things must have their extraordinary qualities.

The Barbarian King had studied the Zhenbei Army's combat methods in Beifeng County, and later led a cobbled-together Barbarian army to defeat the Great Prince's eastern expeditionary army, which showed that he had extremely terrible learning and application abilities.

The Blind Man had just finished approving a note in his hand,

rubbed his wrist,

and said:

"What are you doing looking at these? It's better to arrest more people and chop off more heads."

Their original intention was to make things bigger and to chop off more heads.

"Hey, anyway, you can do it all by yourself, so I'm just flipping through it out of boredom."

In fact,

as a former opponent of the Great Cheng State, and someone who almost single-handedly overthrew the Great Cheng State, the Barbarian King already had a good idea of the personnel arrangements and intricate relationship network in Yingdu.

The person who knows you best is often your opponent, right?

It's just that more than a year has passed, and with the entry of the Yan people, some of the original forces in Yingdu have inevitably undergone some changes. Fortunately, with this booklet, he can basically supplement the things in his memory.

Now,

the rhythm in the city is that the Jingnan Army is constantly arresting people, and then the people who are arrested are one by one confessing their accomplices. Some people who can't confess or some officials who were involved have been taken outside the Prefect's Residence and started to be beheaded.

The thunder is loud, but the raindrops are actually still small.

Because there are not many large families and forces in Yingdu involved in this matter, they can submit notes and don't need to do anything in the imperial examination. The people involved are basically middle-level families and officials.

With the Jingnan Army acting as a deterrent, plus the close closure of the various camps outside the city in accordance with military orders, and most importantly, without endangering their own families' reputation, the truly large forces and families in Yingdu are all maintaining silence at this time.

They just let the Pingye Marquis's men make trouble in Yingdu,

let them make trouble,

anyway, the Pingye Marquis can't stay in Yingdu forever after making trouble.

"Our Lord Mao, the prefect, is really calm."

The Barbarian King quipped while flipping through the booklet.

Lord Mao's official residence was occupied, but he himself disappeared, not even planning to take back his old nest.

The Blind Man replied without raising his head:

"Things have already gotten big, and the East Gate camp has been mobilized. Things are not as simple as making trouble. If I were Lord Mao, I should be thinking about how to write a memorial in another residence."

"What do you think he will write?"

"It depends on our attitude. I will write him a memorial in the name of the lord, saying that Lord Mao discovered the imperial examination fraud case and asked the passing Zheng, this Marquis, to help clear the worms and maintain the foundation of the Great Yan society."

"Will he agree?"

"For these people, face is not the most important thing. They can bend and stretch. Whether they will agree or not, I don't know, but at least they will consider it. Otherwise, we will make such a big deal, but he, the Yingdu Prefect, has no ability to respond, wouldn't that just show his incompetence and lack of the ability to govern one side on behalf of the emperor?

In addition, just like what the lord said to Liu Chuan'yi earlier, our lord is going to the capital for an audience after all. How to define this matter specifically depends on His Majesty's intention."

"Heh, it sounds quite interesting."

The Barbarian King continued to flip through the booklet,

and after comparing,

he suddenly found something wrong.

With the Blind Man handing down one note after another, many people have been arrested and beheaded.

But the Barbarian King noticed that there was a group of people whose relationships actually formed a circle, surrounding the eldest son of the Sun family.

The Sun family head, Sun Youdao, was a prime minister during the Great Cheng State, the earliest follower of Situ Lei. He had broken the Chu army with Situ Lei at Zhennan Pass, and later followed Situ Lei into the imperial court.

After Situ Lei died, he supported the situation and waited for the Great Prince of Yan's eastern expeditionary army, and he took the lead in presiding over the logistics support work of the army.

After the Situ family became the Cheng Prince's Mansion, Sun Youdao seemed to be a little disheartened and took the initiative to retire behind the scenes after the war.

The Yan imperial court conferred him the position of Grand Tutor of the Cheng State,

which was actually the same as our own Marquis's Great General of the Cheng State. The Cheng State is gone, and these are just better-sounding names, in addition to the salary and treatment.

After Sun Youdao retired, the contemporary spokesman of the Sun family became Sun Youdao's second son, Sun Liang.

It's not because his eldest son is incompetent. In fact, the Barbarian King knows that Sun Youdao's eldest son, Sun Ying, is very capable. When Situ Lei desperately attacked before his death, the indignation of the noble sons in Yingdu was promoted by Sun Ying, the eldest son of the Sun family, behind the scenes.

It's just because Sun Ying has a disability in his legs and feet, so it's not convenient for him to be the public spokesman of the Sun family.

But there is such a circle, either the son-in-law's family of Sun Ying, or the wife's family of Sun Ying, or the gateway and family that can always be traced back to Sun Ying, the eldest son of the Sun family.

The Barbarian King reached out and touched his chin,

He is a person who is good at intrigue, so he can see that it is very wasteful for Sun Ying to place his own people through the imperial examination.

Even if Sun Youdao retired behind the scenes, the influence and status of the Sun family in Yingdu is still at the forefront, and even the Cheng Prince's Mansion has to give face to the Sun family.

If the Sun family wants to place their own people, they should not use this low-level method.

In other words, the Sun family does not need to dig pits and plant trees from scratch, but can directly find ready-made ones. They can directly win over the existing officials in Yingdu.

The Barbarian King suddenly wanted to take out the embroidered shoes and take a breath, but he resisted.

He slightly raised his head and glanced at the Blind Man who was still approving notes opposite him,

and began to hesitate in his heart.

Of course, he knew what this matter was for,

The big families and forces in Yingdu should not be touched.

But the Barbarian King is also very sad,

He has to find his own sense of existence.

Since Zheng, this Marquis, brought himself out, he has to find an opportunity to shine, otherwise, either he will continue to be locked up in a secret room after returning, or he will not even have to return. If he feels useless and is not at ease with himself, he will be directly chopped and buried on the road.

The Barbarian King feels that the Pingye Marquis and the Mr. Bei in front of him can do this.

"Huh..."

The Barbarian King picked up a brush, wrote down the two words Sun Ying, and with a wave of his hand, a waiting captain stepped forward and took away the note.

Immediately,

the Barbarian King leaned back in his chair,

put his head on his hands,

and kept rubbing his knuckles behind his head,

his eyelids kept blinking,

and in his heart,

he was constantly drumming.

...

If Zheng, this Marquis, was only pretending to be asleep to grasp the atmosphere of the conversation when he saw Liu Chuan'yi earlier, then after that, Zheng, this Marquis, really fell asleep.

Because he was very tired from traveling these days,

Secondly, he didn't sleep much last night,

Zheng, this Marquis, is a very health-conscious person, and he will not be harsh on himself at all if conditions permit.

A nap,

slept until dusk,

After waking up,

Zheng, this Marquis, opened his eyes, stretched, and at the same time signaled the armored soldier guarding him to pour him a cup of tea.

These armored soldiers were personal guards, and they had been protecting Zheng, this Marquis, in the rear hall when he was sleeping earlier.

It was obvious that such a big thing was happening outside, but his own Marquis was still as steady as a mountain, which really made them admire!

Well,

Zheng, this Marquis, didn't know that taking a nap could brush a wave of prestige in the eyes of the guards;

It can only be said that when you already admire a person, no matter what he does, it will come with a halo in your eyes.

The tea is here,

Zheng, this Marquis, held the teacup and drank it sip by sip. He usually likes to drink tea, but he doesn't have a tea addiction. Anyway, drinking tea is just for quenching thirst.

At this time,

Gao Yi quickly walked into the rear hall,

knelt down to Zheng Fan,

"Marquis..."

"How many people have you killed?"

Zheng, this Marquis, lowered his head like an old god and continued to drink tea, but he didn't notice that Gao Yi actually showed a hint of excitement and respect in his eyes at this time.

After killing people, making things a little bigger, and expressing his attitude well, he will go to the capital and admit his mistake to the Emperor, admit that he was excited, and then tell His Majesty the importance of the imperial examination, and this matter will be over.

The imperial court will also know his intention and temper, and the jurisdiction of Xuehai Pass and the surrounding areas will no longer be interfered with, at least not in the short term.

As for the matter of falsely conveying the Jingnan Marquis's order to mobilize troops,

Zheng Fan believes that the Jingnan Marquis will not say anything. If he doesn't say anything, it is actually a default, and the default means that the military order is real, so there is no way to convict himself.

Zheng Fan is very confident in the Jingnan Marquis's favor for himself.

"Marquis is wise, I admire you.

A team of soldiers discovered many rebels hidden in Sun Ying's house when they were ordered to search Sun Ying's house. When our soldiers entered the door, they directly killed and tried to break through!

In addition, at the same time that Sun Ying's house was in trouble, the original West Gate guards suddenly mutinied, as if they wanted to meet the people inside to break out of the city. Now the wolf smoke has risen in the West Gate.

And a Jin defense officer of the Yingdu Patrol Division suddenly led his subordinates to attack the armory in Yingdu City, and the garrison troops there have sent people to ask for help.

Marquis, there are really rebels in Yingdu!!!"

"..." Zheng Fan.

----

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