Chapter 75: Putting People to Best Use

"Grand Secretary, it is late now.

The colleagues in Fengyang have prepared a banquet; why not enter the city to rest first and set off again tomorrow."

The master asked as usual.

Walking slowly all the way, Grand Secretary Xu, who entered every city, made a fortune, and he, the master, didn't make less money.

According to this progress, after finishing this errand, he would be financially free.

"The Huaian rebel army was defeated, and the siege of Yangzhou was lifted; the initiative of the Lianghuai situation has returned to the imperial court.

Lianghuai Salt Transport Commissioner Xu Xintian and Salt Inspection Censor Xia Shigao have now been arrested by the Eunuch Party.

Many officials from the Salt Road Yamen, the Southern Zhili Administration Commission, etc., are involved in the rebellion case and are now in prison.

If I don't go over again, they will be convicted.

Since ancient times, involving rebellion cases, very few have succeeded in overturning the case.

The Nanjing Six Ministries have sent documents urging me again and again; it seems they cannot withstand the pressure of the Eunuch Party.

There is no time to delay on the road.

Rush another twenty miles; I remember there is a post station over there, so let's rest there tonight."

Xu Wenyue shook his head and said.

Money can be grabbed at any time; with his status, he is destined not to lack money.

The rebel army was not strong enough, the Lianghuai situation did not deteriorate as expected, and he did not have the opportunity to clean up the mess.

Continuing to drag on the road, the foundation of the Pure Stream party in the Lianghuai region would be uprooted.

……

"Left Prime Minister, the Huaian situation is settled; we should move to Yangzhou."

Gu Yuansong said with a smile.

This trip to Lianghuai, the Embroidered Uniform Guard was in the limelight.

Whether it was inciting the seven major families to rebel or subsequently suppressing the rebellion, they made great contributions.

As a competitor, the Eastern Depot, because its main area of activity was around the capital, was basically a spectator.

Strength determines the right to speak.

The outstanding performance of the Embroidered Uniform Guard made Gu Yuansong, the commander, have a rising right to speak in this political alliance of the Eunuch Party.

"Don't be too anxious; now is not the best time to enter Yangzhou.

The Wucheng Infantry Division's performance this time was unexpected; I don't know how much the Marquis of Wuyang will show off, and I don't want to see his face.

Grand Secretary Xu has always been upright; let him go and pull with the nobles and foreign relatives!"

Zuo Guangen said coldly.

Emperor Tianyuan likes to play the art of balance and naturally will not hand over the Lianghuai salt industry to one person.

The four appointed Imperial Envoys included the four major forces of Qingliu, Eunuch Party, Nobles, and Foreign Relatives.

Everyone is an Imperial Envoy; there is no accurate conclusion about whose status is higher or lower.

If the Marquis of Wuyang cooperates, it's fine; if he doesn't buy it, he, the eunuch in charge of the seal, will be embarrassed.

"Left Prime Minister is brilliant!

The current Yangzhou City is indeed not so easy to take over.

However, those salt merchants are still locked up in Yangzhou; to make the case end perfectly, we need to make these people shut up forever."

Gu Yuansong took the opportunity to send a horse fart (flattery).

Being able to provoke the contradiction between the noble foreign relatives and the Qingliu party is undoubtedly a great thing for the Eunuch Party.

The only trouble is: this time the salt merchant interest group rebelled, doing it too roughly.

That group of arrested salt merchants knew nothing from beginning to end, but they were charged with the crime of being a rebel party.

As long as their brains are not stupid, they will not easily plead guilty.

Once the power to try the case falls into the hands of the Qingliu party, the Eunuch Party, which led all this behind the scenes, will fall into a passive position.

"Don't worry, the Marquis of Wuyang knows what is important.

He is clear about the Emperor's meaning.

Even if he offends the Qingliu party, he will execute the Emperor's will.

I guess at this time, he is also worried about how to deal with the salt merchants in his hands!"

Zuo Guangen shook his head and said.

Wanting to kill all the arrested salt merchants under the heavy guard of the Wucheng Infantry Division is not completely impossible.

But in this way, the nails buried in the Wucheng Infantry Division will be exposed.

The Wucheng Infantry Division is the private land of foreign relatives and nobles; reaching out so far, these two major camps will definitely not let it go.

Political struggle has always been about finding ways to kill enemies and then finding ways to increase friends.

The way of handling that intensifies contradictions has always been a taboo in officialdom.

……

Yangzhou Camp.

"Mr. Zhou, it's really my fault for dragging it for so long before meeting you!

I have long heard of the great name of the Lianghuai Zhou family; I don't know which branch of the Zhou family Mr. Zhou is from?"

Li Mu's smiling opening remarks made Zong Guangtai sit uneasily.

Like their clan family, the Lianghuai Zhou family is also one of the seven major families and is the protagonist of this rebellion.

The name he forged was actually linked to the Zhou family, which was simply life-threatening.

If he had known this would happen, he should have changed his surname when forging the travel permit.

"My Lord, the student is just a rural scholar and has no connection with the Lianghuai Zhou family.

The rebel army made trouble and occupied the student's hometown, so I was captured into the enemy camp.

I have no relationship with the rebel party, and I hope the Lord will investigate clearly!"

Zong Guangtai said uneasily.

A lie often requires more lies to cover up.

Although he covered it up well, the tension in his body still exposed the flaws.

"What about Mr. Zhou's family? They weren't killed by the rebel army, were they?"

Li Mu asked casually.

Interrogating to this point, he could basically determine that this "Mr. Zhou" in front of him had a problem.

That travel permit document should not have appeared on him.

Under normal circumstances, if the hometown was occupied by the rebel army, there would be no time to issue travel permit documents.

Especially for scholars, their official status is much easier to use than travel permits.

Even without official status, as long as the teacher they worship is powerful enough, they can travel unimpeded with the teacher's name card.

"My Lord, the student has a miserable life and lost his parents since childhood.

It was all thanks to my grandfather who raised me; after my grandfather passed away five years ago, there were no more relatives in the family."

While speaking, Zong Guangtai's tears fell down.

To save his life, he went all out today, and even the elders in his family became dead people in his mouth.

But whether to avoid taboo or not, it is no longer important now.

Judging from the current situation, even if the Zong family is not dead yet, the distance to hell is not far.

The rebel army failed to shake the rule of the Great Dayu, and they, these rebel parties, can only live a life of hiding.

The interpersonal relationships of the past are now all life-threatening charms.

There are people who want their heads to claim credit and receive rewards from the imperial court.

Especially those who have a close relationship with the Zong family need to use their heads to show loyalty to the imperial court.

"Sorry, I touched Mr. Zhou's pain point; it is my fault.

However, suppressing the rebel army is a royal matter, and this official really dare not neglect it.

Mr. Zhou has stayed in the rebel camp, so I think you know them very well; please give me some advice.

The Emperor has always been magnanimous; as long as you can make contributions in the process of suppressing the rebellion, I think he will not pursue your crime of following the rebels!"

Hearing Li Mu's words, Zong Guangtai's head was buzzing.

Letting him, a rebel leader, help suppress the rebellion, this is not a joke!

But he couldn't say words of refusal.

Regardless of whether it was voluntary, "following the rebels" is a serious crime.

Having the opportunity to make amends for crimes, normal people should be grateful.

The problem is that the Zong family is one of the rebel leaders, and he himself has made outstanding contributions to the development of the rebel army.

Even if he makes contributions, he cannot cover up the previous crimes.

Unless the Emperor personally grants amnesty, even an Imperial Envoy cannot exempt his crimes, let alone Li Mu, a small company commander.

"Don't worry, My Lord, the student will definitely tell everything I know!"

Zong Guangtai answered with a stiff head.

Let the friend die, not the self.

Now that he wants to live, he must ensure that his identity is not leaked, and revealing some rebel intelligence is inevitable.

It was all forced out; after leading the way for the death squad, he was brought to the military camp.

At first, no one paid attention to him, and there were many opportunities to run away; Zong Guangtai formulated multiple escape plans.

It's just that he was a weak scholar; his planning ability was more than enough, but his execution ability was seriously insufficient.

After running a few steps, he encountered patrolling soldiers.

If he hadn't reacted fast enough and fooled them in time, he wouldn't even have the opportunity to stand here.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 76 =====