Qian Wanqing, who had already confessed, heard that soldiers and horses were coming, thinking that he was saved, he stood up and stopped kneeling, laughed and said: "Haha, who is the king of Beixuan?" This official doesn't care, none of you want to get out of this Dongchuan City alive today. Get up, Lord Lee. ”

He helped Li Si up again. The moment he heard that a large army was entering the city, he thought of a countermeasure and made two preparations, either the king of Beixuan let him go, or he rebelled. Now it seems that it is impossible for the King of Beixuan to let him go. Only the fish died and the net broke.

"Lord Qian, you want to rebel?" Shangguan Beitang asked with a chuckle. "As the prince saw." Qian Wanqing replied neither humbly nor arrogantly.

When Li Si heard this, he was immediately paralyzed and almost fell, he looked at Qian Wanqing and said in a trembling voice: "Lord Qian, you only asked me to transfer troops, but you didn't say that you wanted to rebel, my Li Si never thought of rebelling." ”

"You have already transferred troops here, and you think about what you and I have done over the years, do you think the court will let us go?" Qian Wanqing persuaded him.

Shangguan Beitang looked at the two of them, stepped forward unhurriedly and said, "Master Li, you have to think clearly, no matter what you have done before, you will not punish the Nine Clans!" But if you rebel, if you don't think about yourself, you have to think about the family! Besides, although those soldiers outside are managed by you, they are also my Da Jiang's soldiers, eating the court's money, do you think they will rebel with you? ”

Li Si was silent, and before he knew it, his hand had quietly grasped the hilt of the sword, and for a moment, he made a decision, saying that it was too late and that was fast, he unsheathed his long sword, and immediately put the sword on Qian Wanqing's neck and said, "Lord Qian can't help it." ”

Qian Wanqing never thought that the comrade-in-arms he relied on would betray him. He was startled for a while, and then came back to his senses for a long time, silently closed his eyes, and listened to it.

Shangguan Beitang looked at Li Si and said: "An Hai, put Qian Wanqing in the prison, take care of it, if there is a half-point difference, this king is the only one who asks." "Yes." An Hai responded and asked someone to escort Qian Wanqing down. Li Si handed over the man to him.

"Master Lee." An Hai stepped forward to take him, but Li Si did not resist, threw the long sword on the ground, looked at Shangguan Beitang and said, "Lord Wang." The lower officials know that the guilt is inevitable, but they also ask the prince to see that the lower officials have not rebelled, and take Qian Wanqing's thin face to spare my family's lives, they don't know anything. ”

"Lord Li, rest assured, this king will handle the case in accordance with the law and will never implicate innocent people." Shangguan Beitang said. Then he looked at Anhai and said, "Take it down!" ”

Outside the prison, the Beixuan Army and the Dongchuan Army are spearhead, and they don't want to let it look like a fight is about to start. After Shangguan Beitang and his party came out, they saw a scene and hurriedly stepped forward to dissuade them, and An Hai shouted: "The king of Beixuan is here, who dares to make a mistake?" ”

The two sides of the camp immediately stopped arguing, and Shangguan Beitang stepped forward and said to the Dongchuan garrison: "Soldiers, you are all my Da Jiang people, and you are my Da Jiang's warriors, but today you have to face each other with Da Jiang's soldiers, this king does not blame you, you are just at the disposal of the commander." ”

"But now, I want to tell you that your commander Li Si and the prefect Qian Wanqing have formed a party for personal gain, and the corrupt law has been seized and arrested by this king. Now, if you do not join forces with the rebels and thieves and oppose the Beixuan Army, and return to your posts, this king will not be held accountable for what happened today as if it had never happened. If they do not listen to the advice and insist on going their own way, they will be punished for the crime of treason, and they will be severely punished. ”

When the sergeants heard this, they all began to talk. Some soldiers threw away their weapons and surrendered. Shangguan Beitang looked at them again and said, "Your commander has confessed to the law, and all the affairs of the army in the past few days have been reported to me by the generals, and this king will personally handle it." Now, please go back to all the troops! In a short time, the armies withdrew.

Zheng Yi saw that the matter was almost handled, and returned the jade pendant to the king of Beixuan and said, "Lord Wang, the wicked man has been captured, and this piece of convenience has been returned to the original owner." Shangguan Beitang looked at it and said boldly: "It's just a piece of jade pendant, Lord Zheng has done a good job, and it should be given to you by this king." ”

"This is the prince's personal thing, and the officials dare not accept it. In other words, the lower officials eat the court's money, they are doing things for the court, although this thing is valuable, it is the prince's private property, and the lower officials can't accept it. Zheng Yi knelt down and said.

Shangguan Beitang was a little displeased, took back the jade pendant and said coldly: "You get up!" He didn't expect Zheng Yi to be so bold and dare to refute his face as the king of Beixuan in public.

However, he also really thinks that Zheng Yi is a rare talent. He held back his anger and smiled: "Okay, good, good you are a righteous and upright Lord Zhizhou." Since you refuse to accept the king's things, then when I return to Beijing, please ask the emperor to reward you! ”

"What the lower officials do is what they do, not for fame, fortune and wealth, but for the sake of saving the people from fire and water." Zheng Yi got up and said again.

Shangguan Beitang looked at him and nodded appreciatively. But he still has to try this Zheng Yi to see if he is really innocent or false. Then he said: "After tossing these hours, this king wants to eat a delicious meal, I don't know where Lord Zheng's family lives, can I invite this king to have a light meal?" ”

"It's not far from here, and it's an honor for the prince to be able to appreciate the officials." Zheng Yi was a little flattered. "Then let's go, what are you waiting for." Shangguan Beitang stepped forward.

After walking for about a quarter of an hour, Zheng Yi took Shangguan Beitang and others to a courtyard, which was not large, and even a few damaged places had not been repaired. Zheng Yi said with his hand: "The prince, please, give up the shabby, and please don't dislike the prince." "It's okay, it's okay." Shangguan Beitang looked around and waved his hand and said.

As soon as I entered the door, I heard a voice inside calling: "The master is back!" "Looking for the voice, I saw that it was a thin and simple woman.

When Zheng Yi saw her, he immediately called: "Quick, come and meet the distinguished guests." The woman hurriedly walked over and saluted Shangguan Beitang and said, "The concubine is here to see Mr." "Sister-in-law is very polite, please get up quickly." Shangguan Beitang returned the salute and said.

Zheng Yi looked at the woman, pulled her aside and whispered, "Go, go to the backyard and kill that chicken." The woman did not move and said, "Master, you have donated all the things in the house to the people, and there is only one chicken, which you want to keep for your mother to make up for her body, but you can't kill it!" ”

"I told you to go, just go, what are you doing with so much? Just go. Zheng Yi was a little annoyed. The woman did not dare to say anything more, but turned and went to the backyard.

After a while, the meal was ready, and Zheng Yi called Shangguan Beitang to eat. Shangguan Beitang took a look, and there were two plates of green vegetables, a chicken, a pot of porridge and a few black-flour steamed buns on the table.

Shangguan Beitang called An Hai and whispered a few words in his ear, and An Hai went out.

Then Shangguan Beitang sat down: "Master Zheng let's eat together!" "The lower officials don't dare!" Zheng Yi stood next to him and said respectfully. "I told you to sit down, and you sat down. And you Brother Hu. The two of them no longer excused themselves and sat down.

After eating, Shangguan Beitang asked: "Master Zheng thinks this king should suppress the bandits." "Back to the prince, the rampant bandits in Dongchuan are really forced by the government, if you can punish the corrupt officials, return justice to the people, and make the people live and work in peace and contentment, naturally no one will be bandits." "Then how does Lord Zheng think corrupt officials should be punished?"

"The lower officials think that the crime is unforgivable, and their crimes should be beheaded." Zheng Yi's words were decisive and decisive. Perhaps for people like him, the world is black and white.

Shangguan Beitang was silent for a moment and then asked, "How many unjust cases are there in Dongchuan Heavenly Prison?" "Three thousand six hundred and fifteen." Zheng Yi replied. "You might break it off?" "Yes." "How long?" "Half a year." "Okay, this king will give you half a year." Shangguan Beitang was silent for a moment and then said: "As for Qian Wanqing, hey, this king will escort him back to Beijing, and let the saint dispose of it!" ”

"Does the prince think that after Qian Wanqing arrives in Beijing, he can still be disposed of?" Zheng Yi asked rhetorically. "Bold Zheng Yi, do you think the Holy Lord will be biased?"

"Xia Guan doesn't dare, it's just that Qian Wanqing doesn't kill, Dongchuan bandits are in trouble, he has committed such a heinous crime, even if we don't take his life, there are so many people on the rivers and lakes. Does the prince think he will be able to reach Kyoto without any problems? ”

Shangguan Beitang fell into deep thought, and only after a while did he say: "This is slow in advance, wait for this king to think about it!" ”

At this time, An Hai returned, followed by several soldiers

and brought up two chicken cages. "Lord Wang, there are ten in total." "Hmm."

"Lord Wang, this is," Zheng Yi's face was full of surprise. "Lord Zheng, there are many disturbances today, this is given to Ling Zun by this king, I can't let Lord Zheng fulfill the friendship of the landlord but fall into the name of unfilial piety!" Shangguan Beitang said with a smile.

"This, this," Zheng Yi said incoherently. Hu Shang stepped forward and said: "Lord Zheng accept it, just take it as a little filial piety for the elderly!" ”

"Thank you, Lord Wang." Zheng Yi thanked him. Shangguan Beitang got up and ordered: "Okay, Lord Zheng, thank you for your hospitality, this king still has to go to the palace to see, you have also tossed all night, rest for a while, and come to the palace to see this king after noon." "Yes."

Shangguan Beitang and his entourage left the Zheng family's mansion, and when he walked out of the old distance, he looked back and sighed: "For the official to be poor, the sleeves are clean, and it is his responsibility to help the world, which is really unparalleled by the country, and my big Jiang can have this person, which is the blessing of His Majesty and the blessing of the people." "What the prince said is very true." Hu Shangying said.

"Brother Hu has something on his mind recently?" Shangguan Beitang felt that Hu Shang was a little absent-minded. Hu Shang looked at him, he still didn't say what he wanted to say after all, but said: "No, I think Master Zheng will be a good official." "Well, that's good. This king will ask the emperor to ask him to reuse Zheng Yi's. ”

There were dozens of officials standing in the Dongchuan Mansion, and Shangguan Beitang stood in front of the desk and said sonorously: "Please sword." ”

An Hai stepped forward with Shang Fang's sword in both hands. Seeing this, all the officials immediately knelt down and shouted in unison: "Long live my emperor, long live, long live." ”

Shangguan Beitang said: "This king came to Dongchuan to inspect the bandits by the order of the Holy Lord, and now it is confirmed that the prefect Qian Wanqing, the general who defended the city, Li Siyi, etc., corrupted the law, sought money and killed people, robbed the people's daughters, and exploited the people. A total of 38 people were involved in the case, and all of them were put in prison. ”

The so-called punishment first and then reward, Shangguan Beitang then said: "Zheng Yi of Zhizhou is the prefect of Dongchuan, and Wang Ju is the general who guards the city. "Ministers, thank you, Lord Longen, long live my emperor, long live, long live." A new cadre of officials bowed down and thanked him.