After the victory, the imperial court rewarded the generals. However, the emperor's reward this time is really intriguing. All the generals, big and small, who followed Li Hongyi and sent troops outside the fortress, were promoted. And those who followed Gao Wei to guard the golden city only had gold and silver rewards, and nothing else. Gao Wei himself did not add seals.

So under the holy decree, Zhang Ling was named the general of the fourth rank of loyalty, Li Honghui was the general of the fourth grade of Mingwei, and Xu Lei was the general of the fifth grade of Dingyuan. Li Hongyi, on the other hand, is the deputy envoy of the second rank of the privy council, only under Gao Wei.

For a while, rumors spread in the officialdom, and everyone said that Li Hongyi was receiving the favor of the saint, and General Gao was about to be snubbed by the saint.

"The merit is high and the lord is shocked, and the people and ministers are taboo. Fortunately, General Gao did not have any great merit in this battle, otherwise with the character of the saint, how could it be solved in a few days? Uncle Qin coldly watched the changes in the court situation in recent days and came to the above conclusion, and then he joked, "Prime Minister, those letters from you saved him." A companion is like a tiger. ”

Shao An also joked: "In recent years, the emperor has emphasized art and neglected Taoism, so it's time to read more "Analects". ”

"Doesn't the prime minister dislike Confucianism and prefer Lao Zhuang?" Uncle Qin often saw Shao An having nothing to do, holding the "Nanhua Sutra" (1) in his hand and reading it with relish, but those four books and five classics were all shelved.

"Whether it is Confucius and Mencius, Zhuang Zhou, there are hundreds of families, each with its own merits, why stick to the words of one family?"

"The prime minister is talented." Uncle Qin arched his hand, and then returned to the point, "Now that General Li is in the limelight, the resurgence of the cardinal party is not good for our party." However, the emperor is holding General Li like this, I am afraid it is not a good thing, and sooner or later he will follow in the footsteps of Gaowei. ”

Uncle Qin didn't know that they were brothers, and Shao An wouldn't easily say this secret, so he just nodded and didn't say anything.

After Li Honghui became a general, the emperor gave him a set of mansions, and soon moved out of Li Hongyi's mansion. Now he has performed the crown ceremony and named Meng Ming. was supposed to marry a wife and have children, but because the eldest brother had not yet married, the brothers were delayed.

Fortunately, Li Honghui is not in a hurry, but Li Hongyi, who is an elder brother, is a little anxious, but it is a pity that he is busy with military affairs all day long, and he can't even take care of himself, let alone his younger brother.

Now that the emperor has given the house and the brothers have split up, Li Hongyi has put the matter of proposing relatives on the agenda again. But Li Honghui looked overwhelmed, and shirked and said: "The Huns have not been destroyed, why are they home?" (2) Big brother, don't worry about it. ”

"Huns? Where did the Huns come from. Li Hongyi looked at his younger brother dumbfounded, "Okay, okay, I can't control you anymore." When there is a girl you like in the future, remember to tell my brother, and my brother will propose you to kiss. ”

Li Honghui sent his brother out with a smile, but when he came back, he was a little melancholy. When he entered the secret guard, he swore a heavy oath: no name and no fortune in this life, no wife and no children, loyal to the master, and never have two hearts.

Just as Li Honghui was in deep thought, suddenly there was a knock on the window, and he stood up vigilantly, only to see that it was Zhang San who had entered the room through the window again.

Li Honghui breathed a sigh of relief and said, "The fourth child hasn't gone far yet, you dare to break in, aren't you afraid of being discovered by him?" ”

Zhang San explained: "I hid outside the gate and dared to come in when I saw him leave. It is said that he has never been afraid of the sky or the earth, and even the prime minister's mansion is like walking on the ground, and the only one he is afraid of is Li Hongyi. He deserves to be the number one master of their hidden guards, those ears, the thief.

Fortunately, Li Honghui moved out, and when the two of them met in the future, they could finally stop hiding. No, just after moving over, Zhang San came to visit and looked around at the layout of the room.

After Zhang San finished his careful visit, Li Honghui asked him what he was doing.

Zhang Sanyi patted his head, and finally remembered the purpose of this, so he asked: "What's going on in this battle in Xiou?" Why did you go to the Holy Land if you had nothing to do? ”

"I'm lost." Li Honghui said quite innocently.

Of course, Zhang San didn't believe it a hundred, and he asked, "Will you get lost?" You are known as the 'Little Military Division', and you will get lost? ”

"It's all to blame for the handsome, and after a battle, you have to go back to the border. But the emperor ordered the generals to seek fighters on their own, and the fourth didn't want to go back. So ......" Speaking of this, Li Honghui stopped and shrugged his shoulders, and everything was self-evident.

Zhang San was angry, "So you deliberately led them to get lost?" ”

"Even if I don't guide, the fourth child will get lost sooner or later."

"I recommended you to the emperor to come to the fourth child, just so that you can take him well. That's how you took him, and you took him into the ditch. As soon as Zhang San remembered that they were lost in the grassland, he was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat, so he scolded unceremoniously.

Li Honghui didn't think it was upset, and said with relief: "You and Shao An are just too worried about him, the fourth child's ability is not as bad as you think." There are some things that he has to learn by himself, how long can you help him? ”

※※※※※

At the end of Tai'an's nine years, it is destined to be unpeaceful.

The time is approaching, the door of the nine-fold palace is opened, the front of the Fengtian Palace is magnificent and solemn as in the past, and the ministers enter from the noon gate one after another, stand in their respective positions, and wait for the court.

Now, as a privy deputy envoy, Li Hongyi is allowed to participate in the administration of the government. So he stood behind Gao Wei boredly, yawning secretly, his heart was really not an ordinary person, and he had to get up before dawn in the early morning, which seriously affected his sleep quality.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, suddenly there was a mixed greeting around him, and it turned out to be the Prime Minister's arrival. Li Hongyi glanced at Shao An, who was in the center of the crowd, and was smiling and greeting others, but his afterglow drifted to the military generals from time to time.

Li Hongyi felt that he hadn't seen Shao An for a long time, and was about to step forward to say hello, but was stopped by Gao Wei. He said coldly: "Don't have anything to do with such rebellious ministers and thieves again. ”

"Rebels and thieves?" Li Hongyi was a little baffled, but he saw Gao Wei and Shao An looking at each other, and there was deep hostility in the eyes of both sides.

No matter how stupid Li Hongyi is, he can also sense that the atmosphere is a little delicate. But before he could come up with a reason, the early dynasty began.

With the sound of three whips, the emperor inquired about the affairs of the various provinces and ministries as usual, and after all the things were handled, when he was about to announce his retirement from the court, Gao Wei said: "Your Majesty, the minister has something to do." ”

The emperor frowned slightly, and now he was extremely disgusted with the military general's involvement in major politics, but Gao Wei was a privy envoy after all, so he did not reject the veteran's face, and said: "Quasi." ”

Gao Wei glanced meaningfully at the prime minister who was standing in a row with him, and then took a step forward, "The minister is involved in impeaching Prime Minister Shao An for the crime of treason against the enemy, please investigate it strictly." ”

As soon as the words came out, the whole court was shocked!

Shao An obviously didn't expect him to make such a sudden accusation, looked up at Gao Wei in front of him, and pinched the wat board in his hand.

There was a dead silence in the Manchu Dynasty, and both the Xiangdang and the cardinal parties fell into a deep thought. Gao Wei did not discuss the impeachment with anyone, did not disclose it to anyone, threw a lonely bet, let it go, like a general in a thousand armies, and won Shao An's head.

Gao Wei didn't wait for everyone to react, took out the impeachment memo and a letter written overnight from his sleeve, and continued: "Shao An corresponded with King Xiou many times during the war, leaking our military secrets. The minister has intercepted the correspondence between Shao Xiang and the other party, and invites His Majesty to read it.

Shao An knew that he didn't need to look at the letter in Gao Wei's hand, and he knew that it was his own handwritten letter. Even the first few letters and what was written were clear.

At this time, the courtiers who were silent in the court were even more shocked by Gao Wei's evidence, and then they were in an uproar. They didn't believe Gao Wei's words, but now they became skeptical. Shao An stood silently in the first row, and could feel countless scorching eyes shooting behind him, and in those sights, there were suspicions, doubts, resentment, and schadenfreude.

And so many lines of sight also include Li Hongyi's. He looked at Shao An in surprise and confusion, and then looked at Gao Wei. He didn't believe that Shao An would collaborate with the enemy, let alone that Gao Wei would cheat. He couldn't understand why his most beloved handsome man wanted to fight Shao Xiang to the death, never to the death. But no matter who loses or succeeds today, he is destined to lose one of them, and this is the last thing he wants to see.

The emperor sat on a high seat, his sharp gaze slowly swept from Gao Wei to Shao An's lowered face, and then motioned to Gonggong Chen to get evidence.

As the emperor slowly opened the envelope and pulled out the letter inside, the court fell silent again. At that moment, the top of the hall was as cold as an ice cellar, as if all the sounds were frozen in an instant. Everyone's eyes unconsciously lifted upward, staring at the letter in the emperor's hand.

The emperor carefully identified it, and the letter was marked by strokes, skimming and brushing, and the style was upright and beautiful, which was exactly what he often saw in the recital and in the draft of the ticket - Shao An's handwriting.

But when I see this handwriting now, it is not as pleasing to the eye as before. Because what is written in this delicate and beautiful handwriting is a lofty marching route.

Collaborating with the enemy is self-evident.

A sneer appeared at the corner of the emperor's mouth, and he looked at the child who was growing up under his nose, but suddenly found that he couldn't understand him. The Emperor suddenly understood that the long imperial staircase had separated him from Shao An. And the rigorous and harsh way of the monarch and the minister gradually wore out the warmth of the old years of King An's mansion and consumed it. The disputes between the monarch and the minister, the power, and the emperor, these obstacles in front of the two seem to be inevitable.

The emperor reined in the thousands of thoughts in his heart, and calmly asked Gonggong Chen to hand over the letter to Shao An. Shao An also took it very calmly, opened it and saw that it was exactly what he expected, this was his second letter. What I wrote in my own hand, and what I said is true.

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(1) "Nanhua Sutra": the real name is "Zhuangzi", is a Taoist scripture, written by Zhuangzi and his disciples in the early Warring States period, Tang Xuanzong in the first year of Tianbao (724), he respected it as "Nanhua Sutra", and named Zhuangzi as Nanhua Zhenren.

(2) From: Han Dynasty Huo Qu disease.