Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 440 The scapegoat

"I have not forgotten to restore the country and want to unify the four seas. I hope you will work hard and help me."

When Yang Yuan left Chuigong Hall, Zhao Yuan told him something in a heart-to-heart talk.

"I want to unify the world, Prince Guangping can help me conquer the world."

When Kong Yanzhou left the palace, Wanyan Liang patted him on the shoulder and gave him some praise.

Since Yang Yuan took office in Lin'an Prefecture, he has become much more low-key.

He was very respectful to his immediate superior, Qiao Zhen, and reported all matters, big and small, to him.

Mr. Qiao, who had originally been afraid that he was a troublemaker, gradually let down his guard against him.

Those in the court and the public who were paying attention to the new number one scholar did not notice any other unusual behavior from Yang Yuan.

Yang Yuan just did his job well, and the fire incidents in Lin'an were greatly reduced.

Even those officials who did not make tables and statistics like Yang Yuan and could see the situation at a glance gradually noticed this change.

Yang Yuan often organized children and the elderly from orphanages and poorhouses to participate in activities.

He also went to the Imperial College and, with the help of Yan Ding, organized a group of students to serve as volunteer teachers at the Salesian School to teach the children how to read and write.

This quickly made Yang Yuan's reputation among the people grow.

Soon, even the ministers heard about it.

One day before the morning court session, in the waiting courtyard, when Prime Minister Shen heard someone mention this matter, he happily said these words.

"When the great way is practiced, the world is shared by all, the virtuous and capable are selected, trustworthiness is emphasized, and harmony is cultivated.

Therefore, people not only love their own relatives and their own children, but also ensure that the elderly have a place to live, the strong have a place to work, and the young have a place to grow.

The widowed, the orphaned, the lonely, the disabled and the disabled are all provided for... This is called the Great Harmony."

This passage from Prime Minister Shen Gai comes from the Book of Rites, which is a very high evaluation of Yang Yuan.

In particular, Mr. Shen was conservative and cautious, and always opposed Yang Yuan's radicalism.

However, when Yang Yuan was down-to-earth and made concrete political achievements, he was able to give such a fair evaluation and praise him highly.

The prime minister's demeanor naturally became a hot topic at the time.

Yang Yuan also won an excellent reputation among officials because of the Prime Minister's praise.

Shen Gai is indeed more reassured about Yang Yuan now.

Since Yang Yuan went to Lin'an Prefecture, he has remained very steady and capable of getting practical things done.

It seems that his previous eccentricity was just a means of maintaining his reputation.

When it comes to actually doing things, this top scholar also understands the importance of being down-to-earth.

As such, Mr. Shen naturally praised this young man generously.

Yang Yuan made arrangements for the three people from Fan Jiang who came to him and for Wei Shun, whom he had actively recruited.

It is not easy to arrange the official posts of the various Caosi, because the officials of the various Caosi are equivalent to subordinate officials of the state and county governments.

The staff officials were more like assistants to the governors of prefectures and counties, so they were easier to arrange.

Yang Yuan also wanted to arrange his confidant to be his assistant.

Therefore, Fan Jiang was appointed as the magistrate of Lin'an Prefecture, Wang Dashao as the prosecutor, and Wen Tian as the secretary of the Jiedushi.

Even Wei Shun, the former jailer of the Dali Temple, was arranged by him to be the bailiff of the Southern Hall.

The bailiff was an official, and he appointed him without any hesitation, without even asking Qiao Zhen for permission.

A yashi is equivalent to an office deputy director or a full-time secretary.

During the Song Dynasty, a county could have a maximum of six yashi (bailiffs), but only one Tongpan Nanting (Southern Hall) could have four.

Its main functions are coordination between superiors and subordinates, handling official documents, and external reception.

But... Song Jiang was just a bailiff in Yuncheng County, Shandong Province. Everyone knew how successful he was.

For Wei Shun to become the bailiff of the Southern Hall of the Lin'an Prefecture could be considered a sudden success.

……

At the court, the emperor finally gave in to his ministers.

He no longer insisted on giving General Yue Fei the highest posthumous title of "Zhongwu", but accepted the opinions of his ministers and gave Yue Fei the third-level posthumous title of "Wumu".

The ministers were delighted and regarded this as a major victory for the literati's admonition and persuasion of the young emperor.

The young and energetic emperor regarded it as a humiliation of bowing to his ministers and kept it in mind.

He followed Yang Yuan's advice and kept a low profile for the time being, accumulating strength and nurturing hopes of becoming the emperor.

Although he made concessions on the issue of Yue Fei's posthumous title, it is not impossible to change the posthumous title.

He swore that one day, he would give Yue Fei the posthumous title of "Wu Zhong", and on that day, no one would be able to stop him.

At present, he only selectively accepted some officials recommended by the prime ministers to serve in the Censorate that was being established.

Zhao Yuan kept the "removal of authority" of the censors firmly under his own control, thereby cutting off the malpractice of the prime minister and the censors supporting each other and relying on each other as lackeys.

First, those officials who had served in other government offices and had rich experience and knowledge became middle and upper-level officials of the Censorate.

After the special examination is held next year, the new scholars who have been selected will be able to start working quickly and efficiently at his command.

……

Yue Fei's family was brought back to the capital.

Yue Fei had two marriages. His first wife, Liu, gave birth to his eldest son Yue Yun, eldest daughter Yue Anniang and second son Yue Lei.

While Yue Fei was in the army, Liu left her three children to her mother-in-law and ran away with a "team escort officer" in Han Shizhong's army.

Yue Fei's current wife, Li Wa, is a few years older than Yue Fei. She has always been loyal to Yue Fei and is thrifty in managing the household.

She gave birth to three sons and one daughter for Yue Fei.

Of the two sons and one daughter born to Yue Fei's first wife Liu, Yue Yun was killed along with his father Yue Fei.

However, he was 23 years old when he was killed, and left behind two sons and a daughter.

The second son, Yue Lei, also fell ill and died during exile.

Among the children born to Liu, only her daughter Yue Anniang is still alive.

Yue Anniang's husband was Gao Zuo. The couple was also implicated by Yue Fei and were exiled together.

Now that he has returned, Emperor Zhao Yuan has bestowed on Gao Zuo the title of "Cheng Xin Lang" as compensation.

Yue Fei’s youngest son, Yue Ting, is eighteen years old this year, and his eldest grandson is also eighteen years old this year.

The emperor asked the Ministry of Rites and Lin'an Prefecture to accompany Yue Fei's descendants to relocate Yue Fei's remains to Qixia Mountain on the shore of West Lake.

Zhao Yuan issued an edict to restore Yue Fei's treatment of "Grand Guardian, Jiedushi of Wusheng Dingguo Army, Founding Duke of Wuchang County, with a fief of 6,100 households and a fief of 2,600 households."

The imperial court returned Yue Fei's land and houses, compensated his property, and all his sons were given official titles and honors.

Even the two youngest sons, Yue Zhen and Yue Ting, were awarded the title of marquis.

The emperor even granted official positions to all of Yue Fei's six grandsons within one day.

As for the officials who fabricated Yue Fei's unjust case, those who are still alive will be punished, and those who are dead will of course also be held accountable.

Those who should be exempted from treatment or have their rewards revoked were all dealt with one by one.

After being impeached, former Prime Minister Wan Qixie, who was idle at home, finally waited for his punishment result:
His property was confiscated and he was exiled to Danzhou.

Since Wanqi Xie's family properties included many shops, fields and houses, he ordered Lin'an Prefecture to cooperate in confiscating them and provide a carriage for his exile in Danzhou.

After all, Wanqi Xie was the former prime minister, and Liu Yiguan didn't want to get involved, so Qiao Zhen assigned this job to Yang Yuan.

Old Man Song, Mr. Qu Da and others visited General Yue's family and went to Qixia Mountain to mourn Yue Fei.

After they came back, they insisted on kowtow to Yang Yuan, which frightened him so much that he ran away and did not dare to go home for two days.

He didn't dare show up until Luxi found him and said that he had persuaded his father and Mr. Qu Da and others not to kowtow to Yang Yuan anymore.

In fact, if it was Mr. Qu and the others, they would just kowtow, and Yang Yuan wouldn't care.

The most important thing is that you cannot let your father-in-law kowtow to you, or you will be struck by lightning.

On this day, Zhang Xiaoxiang, the top scorer in the previous exam, Xiao Yiran, the second place in this exam, and a group of friends invited Yang Yuan to a banquet.

Yang Yuan rushed to the newly renovated "Zhiweilou" for a banquet, only to find that Cheng Hongtu, Song Qi and others, the students of the Imperial College who had recently written to the court to redress the grievances of General Yue, were also there.

This "Zhiweilou" is still Zhang Quwei's property, but the majority of the restaurant's profits have been acquired by the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager.

These were the shares that Zhang Quwei offered voluntarily.

Zhang Quwei saw the opportunity early and had the protection of the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager, so the emperor did not make things too difficult for him.

He could no longer count on the position and power of the Grand Eunuch in the Inner Court. The only things he was responsible for in the palace now were the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager's palace affairs.

After all, she was a servant that the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager were used to using.

All in all, he landed safely.

From then on, he concentrated on managing "Zhiweitang" and making some private money for the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager.

Zhang Xiaoxiang, Xiao Yiran, Taixue students Cheng Hongtu, Song Qi and others all toasted to Yang Yuan, hailing him as the person who had made the greatest contribution to redressing Yue Fei's injustice.

Yang Yuan raised his glass and said sincerely, "There is a soldier in the Dali prison named Wei Shun.

When he collected Marshal Yue's body that day, he firmly believed that Marshal Yue was loyal to his country and the heaven and earth could bear witness to it.

Marshal Yue’s injustice will surely be vindicated one day!

The death of General Yue was an injustice in itself. Even if Yang Yuan was not responsible, there were still Zhang Yuan and Li Yuan who spoke up for him.

What merits could Yang have achieved, and how could he bear to use the death of Marshal Yue to gain such merits?

This first glass of wine should be toasted to the spirit of Marshal Yue in heaven!"

Zhang Xiaoxiang, Xiao Yiran, Cheng Hongtu and others were shocked when they heard this.

Everyone raised their glasses together, and the first glass of wine was poured onto the ground in a toast to Marshal Yue's spirit in heaven.

At this moment, four people suddenly appeared at the door of the private room.

Because there were so many people gathering in the private room, the doors and windows were open for ventilation.

The four men appeared directly at the door of the private room.

The four of them had flushed faces, obviously having just drunk some alcohol.

These four people were Yang Cunzhong, Zhang Jun, Zhao Mi and Yang Cunzhong's favorite general Luo Kedi.

They also came out to drink and celebrate because Marshal Yue's injustice was vindicated.

This "Zhiweitang" is now considered the property of the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager.

"Zhiweitang" had just opened after reconstruction, and since they wanted to eat and drink, they naturally came to support it.

When he was going downstairs after drinking too much, he happened to pass by this private room and heard what Yang Yuan said.

Zhang Xiaoxiang knew all of these people and introduced them to his friends in a low voice.

Upon hearing this, students Cheng Hongtu and Song Qi showed some surprise.

Yang Cun Zhong had an outstanding military record throughout his life and made great contributions to the Song Dynasty.

If there was only a stain on his life, it was that he once served as the executioner of Yue Fei.

The two hot-blooded Tai students couldn't help but feel a little strange when facing this person.

However, Zhang Xiaoxiang and Yang Yuan had no prejudice against these generals, including Yang Cunzhong.

They have stepped out of the ivory tower and experienced the world.

The judge who wrongfully convicted someone should be held accountable, but there is no reason to hold the bailiff who carried out the execution accountable.

Not to mention, there was an extremely complicated situation at the time: if Yang Cun Zhong disobeyed the order, he would inevitably face the consequence of being dismissed from his post.

Given Zhao Gou's respect and trust in Yang Cun Zhong, if Yang Cun Zhong disobeyed the order, the worst that could happen was that he could go home and become a rich man, but his military power would be seized by the powerful Qin Hui.

If Qin Hui also took control of the imperial guards, even if he only controlled part of it, no one could predict what the consequences would be.

The four people in front of him are the prime minister, the chancellor, the palace commander, and the rising star of the imperial guards.

Zhang Xiaoxiang and Yang Yuan did not dare to be negligent and hurried forward to greet him.

Yang Cunzhong looked at Yang Yuan and nodded with a smile.

When he first met Yang Yuan, Yang Yuan was still a lazy man who did business as a delivery boy.

Later he found out that Yang Yuan was actually a secret agent of the Machine Speed ​​Room, who had been lurking in the North Country for ten years.

Although Yang Yuan has passed the imperial examination and embarked on the career path of a civil servant, in Yang Cunzhong's eyes, he is still regarded as one of his own.

Those who have served in the military and started their careers in the military are our own people.

Yang Cunzhong picked up the wine jug from the table, and Luo Kedi quickly brought over a few new cups.

Yang Cunzhong filled the glasses with wine one by one, first handed a glass to Zhang Jun, Zhao Mi and Luo Kedi, then picked up the last two glasses and handed one to Yang Yuan.

Yang Cunzhong raised his glass solemnly, said nothing, then tilted his head back and drank the whole glass of wine in one gulp.

Behind him, Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Jun, Palace Commander Zhao Mi, and young general Luo Kedi also held up the cup with both hands, solemnly saluted Yang Yuan, and drank it all in one gulp.

Yang Yuan naturally understood why the deputy prime minister and the chancellor, who were both high-ranking officials, would offer him a toast of wine.

He also solemnly held the cup with both hands and drank the wine in one gulp.

Yang Cunzhong, Zhang Jun and others nodded slightly to him, turned and walked out.

They had all been in the army for a long time. Even an official like Zhang Jun, who came from a civil service background, had an upright posture and a military demeanor.

From beginning to end, he didn't utter a word.

Yang Cunzhong and others walked out of "Zhiwei Tower" and the guards brought horses.

Just as they were about to mount their horses, they saw a "hurry-footed couriers" galloping past on the long street ahead.

Military post stations in the Song Dynasty were divided into three types based on the method of delivery: foot delivery, horse delivery, and express delivery.

In terms of speed, there are three speeds: gold, silver and bronze.

The postman who was rushing past now was obviously the gold medal expressman.

When Yang Cunzhong saw this, he couldn't help but frown. Could it be... that something big was going to happen?
……

The city of Yanjing was searched for ten days, but because a large number of candidates who wanted to take the imperial examinations were blocked outside the city, they had to lift the city ban.

The people sent by "Manager He" left Yanjing and arrived in Dengzhou, and passed the news to "Feilong Trading Company".

The news was then transmitted back to the Song Dynasty through the secret message network set up by the Song Dynasty in the market, and then sent to Lin'an by express horse in the form of a gold medal express.

At this time, a month had passed since Wanyan Liang was assassinated.

In order to get the message to Lin'an as quickly as possible, it was sent via the military post. But in essence, it was still news from the Privy Council's Speed ​​​​Room.

"Master, there is news from the Kingdom of Jin."

Kou Heiyi hurried into Fei Yuye's signing room with an urgent document.

After a slight hesitation, he added in a deep voice: "Master, this confidential document was sent by the Golden Medal Military Post."

When Fei Yuye heard this, her expression suddenly tensed and she hurriedly took the secret letter from Kou Heiyi.

She didn't bother to let Kou Heiyi leave, and hurriedly translated it according to the secret version.

The ominous premonition in her heart was confirmed, and Fei Yuye's face turned pale.

My father's operation failed. According to the news sent back by people in Yanjing, only three of the twenty-four masters escaped.

Of the remaining twenty-one people, nineteen were killed on the spot, and two committed suicide while being chased.

Her father was among the three who escaped.

However, the news came from Yanjing twenty days ago, which was more than ten days after the assassination.

If my father is safe and sound, the news should have been passed on to the contact person in Yanjing.

However, there was no news from my father in Yanjing.

Fei Yuye felt indescribably sad at the thought that her father might have died silently somewhere in Yanjing.

But now is not the time to be sad.

The news also said that in this operation, the Pi Pi Suo killed 13 "Blood Pagoda" members of the Jin Dynasty and seriously injured and disabled five people.

In addition, they also killed Yelu Yuanshi, the close minister of the Jin Emperor Wanyan Liang and the Minister of Personnel of the Jin Dynasty.

The Jin Emperor Wanyan Liang was furious about this and ordered Yelu Yuanshi's younger brother Yelu Yuanyi and Prince of Guangping Kong Yanzhou to lead their troops south respectively.

If the Jin Kingdom's previous display of military might in Caizhou was just empty threats, this time it might be that they were really going to take action.

This matter is extremely urgent military intelligence and cannot be delayed for a moment.

Fei Yuye calmed down, quickly locked the code book, and hurried to Bafutang with the original secret letter and the decoded version.

Zheng Yuandong, the Imperial Secretary, was also shocked when he heard the news and immediately rushed to the palace with the secret document.

Soon, all the ministers, the six ministries, and His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin, who was spending the summer at his villa on Gushan Mountain, received news that they were to go to the palace immediately as the emperor wanted to convene an emergency meeting in front of the emperor.

The purpose of this imperial meeting is to discuss how the Song Dynasty should respond if the Jin Kingdom really decides to take action this time.

How else can we deal with it?
Of course, we will fight against the enemy with our soldiers and block the water with earth.

Other matters can be put aside for the time being. The most urgent task is to immediately mobilize for war, deploy troops on the border, and be ready for battle.

The border between the two countries was quickly blocked and all trading posts were closed.

The sea passage was also suspended, and the navy warships patrolled day and night.

Under such a tight blockade, no merchant ship or smuggling ship coming from or going to the Jin Dynasty could pass.

The huge and complex state machinery began to rumble after this imperial meeting.

The news that the Jin army was marching southward and was about to cross the Huai River to fight the Song Dynasty spread quickly along with various war preparations and was quickly known to everyone.

However, unlike the bigwigs who attended the imperial meeting, other people from all walks of life in the court and the country only knew that the Jin soldiers were really going to march south, but no one knew that the Jin emperor Wanyan Liang had been assassinated and believed that it was done by the Song Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty did send out elite troops from the "Pi Pi Suo" with the purpose of assassinating the big traitor Kong Yanzhou.

As it turned out, Kong Yanzhou was with the Jin Emperor Wanyan Liang, who was on a secret tour at the time.

But the person who was eventually killed was Wanyan Liang's right-hand man, Yelu Yuanshi, the Minister of Personnel of the Jin Dynasty.

At an emergency meeting in front of the emperor, Zhao Yuan explained this matter to all the ministers and officials.

But this matter is absolutely impossible to be announced to the public.

No matter what your original intention was in sending out the assassin and who the target was, the fact is that the emperor of the Jin Dynasty was indeed assassinated.

If this matter were to become public, it would mean that the Song Dynasty was the first to destroy the "Shaoxing Peace Agreement."

The peace that had existed between the Song and Jin countries since the signing of the treaty fourteen years ago was destroyed by the Song Dynasty.

No one in the Song Dynasty could bear this responsibility, including the emperor himself.

Therefore, the real reason why the Jin Kingdom launched a war was never spread.

Without this reason, Yang Yuan, who had previously publicly published "Analysis of the Jin People's Southward Movement" and vowed that the Jin people were just making empty threats and would not really fight against the Song Dynasty, would become a clown.

He can't get rid of the label of harming the country.

Going back further, why did the Jin people hold a military parade in Caizhou before he made a wrong judgment and misled the government by publicly writing a letter to the emperor?

Oh! Because Yang Yuan, as the new champion, publicly criticized the long-standing policy toward the Jin Dynasty during the palace examination and advocated a tough attitude toward the Jin Dynasty.

Therefore, this time the Jin troops' march south was caused by Yang Yuan!
Yang Yuan should be held accountable!
Yang Yuan should be executed to show sincerity to the Jin Kingdom, continue to abide by the "Shaoxing Peace Treaty" and ensure peace between the two countries.

So, while the soldiers were actively preparing for war, the literati used their pens as swords, and the memorial impeaching Yang Yuan once again flew to Zhao Yuan's desk.

Among them, Xiao Hongji, the new censor of the Censorate, which had just been reorganized into the Censorate, spoke the most fiercely. Every word in his impeachment memorial was as sharp as a knife.

The top leaders knew the real reason why the Jin Kingdom used military force, but the problem was that this reason could not be made public.

Therefore, they could only suppress the impeachment of officials but were unable to give a clear explanation.

This was seen as protecting Yang Yuan, and the officials were outraged.

The title of "traitor to the country" was also pinned on Yang Yuan.

Of course, this situation is still very strange.

Because none of the ministers and officials expressed their opinions.

The power of the peace faction is now evenly matched with that of the war faction.

This was because the Jin soldiers had already been mobilized and the Song Dynasty had no choice but to fight back.

Otherwise, the peace faction will still have the upper hand.

It was impossible for Zhao Yuan, who had only been on the throne for a few months, to unify the will of the bureaucratic system in such a short period of time.

However, strangely, no one among the top leaders expressed their views, including ministers such as Shen Gai, Wei Liangchen, and Tang Situi.

Of course they knew that Yang Yuan's original judgment was correct.

The Jin soldiers' march south this time was not because of Yang Yuan's speech in the Golden Palace.

But the problem is that the real reason cannot be revealed.

The truth that Wanyan Liang was assassinated and therefore sent troops in anger will sooner or later be known to the people of the Song Dynasty.

But it is not now, and it cannot be now.

So Yang Yuan became the scapegoat.

On the one hand, he was "criticized by thousands of people."

On the one hand, senior leaders, regardless of their political views, have turned a blind eye to this "public discontent."

They neither expressed their views nor dealt with the issue, but just focused on making various preparations for the war.

The "posters" of the Jin Dynasty spies appeared again, posted all over the streets and alleys, pointing directly at Yang Yuan.

In order to ensure that the action of sending troops south can be concealed from everyone, the only three high-ranking officials of the Jin Dynasty who know the real military purpose are Wanyan Liang, Yelu Yuanyi and Kong Yanzhou.

These Jin spies also did not know the truth. They thought that the Jin Kingdom was really going to use military force against the Song Kingdom this time.

At this time, if they could incite the people in the name of "exposing and posting" and threaten the State of Song to execute their own new number one scholar, they could quickly cause the pro-war and pro-peace factions in the State of Song to tear apart and confront each other, and plunge the State of Song into endless internal strife.

These days, Zhang Mi, the Tongpan of the North Hall of Lin'an Prefecture, was in a very good mood. He was in high spirits every day and was smiling and amiable to everyone he met.

The atmosphere in the Tongpan South Hall was a bit weird.

People from other departments rarely come to the South Hall. Those who have to come for official reasons only briefly state their purpose and then quickly slip away.

Invisibly, this has greatly improved the efficiency of Lin'an Prefecture.

In addition to doing his job these days, Yang Yuan also assisted the Dali Temple in confiscating the various properties of Wanqi Xie's family, including land, houses, shops and so on.

Yu Jiguang was demoted from his position as the supervisor of Guoxin Police Station and transferred to Lin'an Prefecture, where he served as a judicial military advisor.

Yang Yuan was now in charge of litigation and prisons in Lin'an Prefecture and became Yu Jiguang's immediate superior.

Every day, Yu Jiguang, Chen Lixing, Mao Shaofan, Da Chu and others were busy following Yang Yuan.

They ignored the rumors that Yang Yuan would be beheaded soon and that the Song Dynasty would present Yang Yuan's head to the Northern Kingdom to appease the anger of the Jin Emperor.

They were ordered to follow Yang Yuan when he was still a lazy man delivering errands.

All along, the camp they were in was in direct opposition to Yang Yuan's side.

It can be said that no one knows Yang Yuan better than them.

What about the fact that the person who knows you best is not your friend, but your enemy?
Just by looking at Yang Yuan's calmness, they concluded that Yang Yuan must have something to rely on.

Yu Jiguang said to his group of "shared hardships" brothers: "Swish! Hiss~~, everyone, we all know Yang Yuan.

Look at him, every day he is enthusiastically searching for the property that the Wanqi Xie family wants to hide, and he is happy to confiscate and compile a list of it. If he is really in trouble, will he be so calm? "

Chen Lixing and Mao Shaofan agreed with this and nodded in agreement.

Da Chu said, "Yesterday, when we confiscated the Wanqi family's property, because we finished work too late, Yang Tongpan took us to eat roasted lamb shanks. Do you know how many shanks he ate by himself?"

"I watched him eat so much that I couldn't even count them all. He ate the entire bowl by himself!"

Da Chu swallowed his saliva, looked at the other three, and asked wisely: "Let me ask you, if he is in great trouble, will he still have such an appetite?"

"Hmm~"

This time, the other three did not laugh at him for the deliciousness of Da Chu's food, but nodded in agreement.

Yu Jiguang said: "So, no matter what is spread outside, as long as he is still in office, you and I will just follow his orders.

We must not be lax in our attitude towards him, and we must not offend him. My friends, we have suffered too much from him. "

The other three nodded again.

At this time, Yang Yuan walked out of the signing room.

Yang Yuan stood in the corridor, adjusted the leather belt around his waist, and straightened the black hat on his head, then said in high spirits:
"Let's go. Let's send the long-distance carriage to Wanqi Mansion, and this mission will be completed."

"Swish~, all right!"

At the stone table in the yard, Yu Jiguang took a sip of tea, quickly put down the teacup, stood up suddenly, and smiled.

……

Yang Yuan was indeed very calm.

Because the Goose King had privately told him the real reason why the Jin soldiers marched south.

This is also what Zhao Yuan meant.

We have to explain the truth to Yang Yuan and not let him lose his composure.

Yang Yuan knew that the truth could not be made public at this time, so he had to take the blame.

Fortunately, all the important officials above the six ministries knew the truth.

Therefore, no matter how fierce the quarrels are, it is impossible to really deal with him.

If the situation is really out of control, at most we can just show our respect for it.

According to the Goose King, if it really doesn't work, he will be demoted. When the war has already begun and the news can no longer be blocked, the court will give him justice and promote him to a higher rank.

Yang Yuan knew what was going on, so he wasn't panicking.

Lin'an Prefecture was not only responsible for assisting the Dali Temple in confiscating the property of Wanqi Xie's family, but also supervised the construction of the long-distance carriage that Wanqi Xie's family took to Danzhou.

Danzhou is on Hainan Island, which is too far away.

Although Wanqi Xie was dismissed from office and exiled, he had after all served as prime minister and was already very old.

Since the court did not sentence him to death, there was no reason for a former prime minister to be exhausted to death on the road.

If you want him to die, just sentence him to death.

If the imperial court used such means to kill Wanqi Xie, it would be the imperial court that would be embarrassed, not Wanqi Xie.

Now that the search and confiscation have been completed, we will send the completed long-distance cart today and hand it over to the Dali Temple Secretary who is guarding Wanqi Xie's family, and this mission in Lin'an Prefecture will be successfully completed.

There was a row of long-distance trucks parked in front of Lin'an Prefecture.

Yang Yuan and Yu Jiguang rode on horses, took Mao Shaofan and others, escorted the newly built carts, and rushed to Wanqi Xie's mansion.

……

Today is the morning meeting.

After Zhao Yuan ascended the throne, he basically held court once every five days, unlike Zhao Gou who was generally lazy.

Recently, because the Song and Jin countries were on the verge of war at any time, Zhao Yuan had to go to war almost every day.

As soon as the court meeting opened today, some officials publicly criticized Yang Yuan.

After writing to the emperor and the prime minister without any response, some angry officials finally brought the matter to the surface.

They sternly requested the government to severely punish Yang Yuan in order to appease the anger of the Jin Emperor and avoid a war between Song and Jin that would cause great suffering to the people.

Officials who were eager to fight against Kim immediately came out to fight back.

Since the real reason why the Jin troops marched south could not be revealed, the prime ministers and ministers had to keep their mouths shut and allow these officials who did not know the truth to attack each other.

Zhao Yuan was also very depressed sitting there. Seeing all the ministers in the Golden Palace getting angry and arguing with each other, he looked at Prince Jin helplessly.

Zhao Yu rolled his eyes at him.

At this moment, General Zhan Dian suddenly walked in quickly.

He raised his sleeves and walked through the two groups of officials who were arguing with spit flying.

The general standing in the hall walked quickly to the center of the hall, clasped his fists and reported to Zhao Yuan, "Your Majesty, Cheng Mu, the deputy secretary of the Dali Temple, has an urgent matter to report, and is now waiting for your order outside the hall."

The Golden Palace suddenly became quiet.

Everyone's nerves are very tense now. When they hear that there is an urgent matter, they immediately think of the Jin soldiers.

However, if it is related to the Jin soldiers, it should not be the turn of the Dali Temple to step in, right?

Zhao Yuan was already getting annoyed by the officials' quarrels, and it was rare for something to divert everyone's attention away from Yang Yuan.

He quickly ordered: "Announce!"

The general standing in the hall hurried out to announce the decree, and a moment later, Cheng Mu, the secretary of the Dali Temple, rushed into the hall at a trot.

Cheng Mu was so anxious that he even forgot to salute the official first.

He ran up to the main hall and shouted, "Your Majesty, Yang Yuan, the magistrate of Lin'an Prefecture, scolded... scolded Wanqi Xie to death!"

PS: Two in one, 8,000 words
(End of this chapter)