Others don't know why Xu Hong held a banquet in the official residence, but Liu Zhenglong is clear, he not only attended by himself, but also brought Liu Ruyan as a companion. On the surface, this is a family banquet accompanied by a lady, but in fact, Liu Ruyan's attendance has a special meaning, which outsiders don't know!

Kaifeng County is a bit the same as the capital, that is, there is everything, but there is no secret at all. Xu Hong, the former magistrate, wanted to entertain the current magistrate in the official residence, and the news spread all over the streets and alleys of Kaifeng County overnight. Even Zhao Yunqi in the Yuwangtai military camp and Zhao Pingxiao in Mutuogang knew about it, and as for the five major families, they knew the news for the first time.

The same message, everyone's interpretation is different, and it is destined to have different reactions. After Zhao Pingxiao learned the news, he did not react, but entered Beijing as soon as possible. And Zhao Yunqi said to himself: "The official family's move, whether it is right or wrong, has finally come out, and now I can only sit and watch the phantom sea and clouds disappear." ”

Li Mingshan, the county magistrate, was so angry that he smashed the teacups that he had treasured for many years, and with nowhere to vent his anger, he picked up the leather whip and whipped the concubine Su Bottle, as if it was not his favorite concubine who was beaten, but whipped on Xu Hong, an old fox.

hit Su Bei'er's body, and it hurt Wang Zhibiao's heart, this guy is not only a confidant of Li Mingshan, the county leader, but also Su Bei'er's friend.

The two can be childhood sweethearts, and the two have no guesses, but it's a pity that Li Mingshan is a guy who snatches love. Wang Zhibiao, who has always been very forbearing, endured the grief in his heart, hoping that one day he could take his beloved away and fly away.

Especially now, Su Bei'er is pregnant with his flesh and blood, how can Wang Zhibiao tolerate his lover being beaten violently in this case? However, this forbearant guy knows that if he can't endure it at this time, he and the bottle, as well as the child in the bottle's belly, can't be saved, so he can only endure it.

"You are unkind, don't blame Lao Tzu for being unjust." Wang Zhibiao secretly made up his mind that he must trip Li Mingshan, especially at the moment when Su Bei'er died of excessive blood loss because of being beaten, his heart was like ashes, and he knew that if he wanted to take revenge, he could only go to that person, because only that person was willing to help him, and only that person had the ability to bring down Li Mingshan.

Yan Qing knew that Wang Zhibiao would look for him sooner or later, so he was not in a hurry, he only drank, talked about Fengyue, and didn't mention anything about business, as if he had never needed anything to do with the other party.

Yan Qing can sit firmly on Diaoyutai, but Wang Zhibiao can't, this tall man has a heart like a knife and tears like rain, how can he be in the mood to drink? He put down his wine glass and choked and said, "I know that you are Lord Liu's person, I can be the internal response, I don't know what conditions you can prescribe?" ”

"Drinking, drinking, today we will only talk about Fengyue, and nothing else." Yan Qing received an order before going out, and did not take the initiative to put forward any conditions, and then set it after seeing the price offered by the other party, if Li Mingshan could not be brought down, then this Wang Zhibiao would be worthless.

Wang Zhibiao fell to the ground with a plop, this guy is not stupid, of course he knows that the other party does not see rabbits and eagles, he gritted his teeth and said: "Li Mingshan killed my woman, killed my child, I want revenge, I am willing to be the internal response." ”

Yan Qing shook his head and didn't speak, for him, there was enough time to wait.

"Li Mingshan is corrupt and perverts the law, I have evidence, which is enough to bring him down."

"Why should I bring down Li Mingshan? He is just a county official, and he can't threaten the interests of our master at all, so he will bring him down, but instead give the group of ministers in the political hall an excuse to participate in our master, and the official family will also blame our master for not being tolerant. Yan Qing's face showed a look of disdain, and he said with a smile: "If that's all you have, then don't say it, today we are just drinking, we are just drinking and drinking friends." ”

At this time, Wang Zhibiao realized that he was worthless in the eyes of the other party, and it was not easy to take revenge. The guy pondered for a long time and then said, "If you can guarantee my personal safety and give me another 10,000 yuan, I am willing to tell you a shocking secret?" ”

"I'm sorry, I've always only looked at the goods and then negotiated the price." Yan Qing knew that the heat was almost over, and he said to himself: "Don't say 10,000, 50,000, 100,000 is nothing." As for preservation, are there still people in the world who can't be protected by our family, and if you don't want to stay in China, you can go to Xixia! The point is, are you worth the price, that's the core, don't waste each other's time with so many useless things. ”

"Li Mingshan colluded with the forbidden army to control Zhao Yunqi." Wang Zhibiao finally threw a bombshell, and he believed that this information alone was definitely worth 10,000 yuan.

"Is there any evidence?" Yan Qing took out 10,000 yuan of treasure money from his arms, and he said unhurriedly: "This is just a deposit, get the evidence, 50,000 yuan, what do you think." As for your safety, rest assured, from today onwards, someone will be secretly protecting you, of course, if you play any tricks, the consequences do not need me to describe. ”

"There is evidence, as long as your master is willing to bring down Li Mingshan, I will take out the evidence. In order to show my sincerity, I will hand over the evidence of Li Mingshan's greed for ink the day after tomorrow. ”

"Deal, let's drink now." Yan Qing didn't dare to make decisions rashly, he could only stabilize Wang Zhibiao first, as for when to bring down Li Mingshan, it depended on what Lord Liu meant.

When Liu Zhenglong and Liu Ruyan were about to leave, Yan Qing came back, this guy made a brief report, and finally handed over the evidence provided by Wang Zhibiao.

Liu Zhenglong briefly looked at it and said: "You put it away, it's easy to bring down Li Mingshan, and it will be of great use to keep this guy." You have to find a way to verify Li Mingshan's collusion with Zhao Yunqi, and if necessary, you can go there in person. It's been a while since Zhao Yunqi moved there, and there is no valuable information yet. You watch and handle it, don't leave the tail. ”

Yan Qing couldn't help but feel a chill in her back, the master's meaning was obvious, that is, if Shi Qian couldn't take out anything valuable, there would be no need to exist, and he would go to Yuwangtai by himself, not only to deal with Zhao Yunqi's affairs, but also to deal with Shi Qian with him.

Liu Zhenglong saw Yan Qing's nervousness, and he comforted: "You think too much, Zhao Yunqi is a relative of the emperor, and it is absolutely forbidden to check him without authorization." Time has not found out anything for such a long time, maybe it has been exposed a long time ago, and staying in this situation can only be a scourge. What this official admires is a brave and strategic, loyal and courageous iron man, and he is not interested in roosters and dog thieves in the first place, and a useless thief left in the world is just a scourge, and it is better to be a hundred. ”

"My subordinates understand." Yan Qing could only carry out the order at this time, and secretly prayed for the time in her heart, hoping that this guy could show some real skills, instead of just stealing chickens and dogs.

After Yan Qing left, Liu Ruyan said: "Husband, will you hurt the hearts of your subordinates by doing this, and if it is useless, you have to dispose of it, is it too cruel?" ”

"No, Madame is wrong, for these grass cowards, without strict discipline, something will happen sooner or later. Yan Qing is a talent, but he is not a qualified soldier, and he still has a heavy reckless aura on his body, if he can't pull him to the right path, something big will happen sooner or later. If I do this, Yan Qing may feel uncomfortable today, but it won't be long before she will thank me for my good intentions. Speaking of this, Liu Zhenglong paused and said: "Shi Qian is not my subordinate, if you have the ability to stay by my side, you have to show your real skills to prove yourself, if you don't have real skills, staying in the world is also a scourge to the people, it is better to eradicate it in advance." ”

"Then what if Yan Qing doesn't understand your good intentions?"

"Then there's no need to exist."

Liu Zhenglong hugged Liu Rumei tightly in his arms and said, "My subordinates must be 100% loyal, otherwise, I would rather destroy them." To achieve great things, you must have a hard heart, you will not understand, you only need to remember one sentence, ability can be exercised, loyalty must be 100%, otherwise staying is just a curse. Song Jiang can't say bad about his subordinates, they are all brothers, but in the end, most of them chose to betray. Chao Gai invaded his subordinates and siblings, but he was plotted, and he didn't even come out to say a fair word. Loyalty always comes first, okay, let's not talk about it, it's time to go. ”

At this time, Liu Ruyan thought of other problems, Yan Poxi, Pan Qiaoyun, Pan Jinlian, these are indeed disloyalty, this kind of woman is an invisible harm to men. It seems that in the future, he will pay close attention to the female dependents of the Liu Mansion, and whoever is disloyal will be directly eliminated to avoid endless harm.

Low-key, during this time, Xu Hong was low-key and terrible, and he had already closed his doors, but today's arrival of Liu Zhenglong was unusually high-profile, so high-profile that everyone in Kaifeng County knew about it. Even the Imperial City Division sent a secret pile to check, and the two people knew the county, one high-profile and the other low-key, forming a stark contrast.

Although he was low-key, Xu Hong maintained enough awe of Liu Zhenglong, and personally led his wife and son to open the middle door to greet him. This ceremony is not a way of reception between the equals at all, but to welcome the officials.

There is a very strange phenomenon in the Great Song Dynasty, that is, after the officials were deposed, the rank was still there, and as long as it was a little operational, they could continue to be officials in other places. Therefore, there is an equal level between the predecessor and the incumbent, and there is no question of who is higher than whom.

It is very appropriate for Xu Hong to greet Liu Zhenglong with the courtesy of the same level, but Liu Zhenglong is the prince of Qinling County, and it is understandable that Xu Hong greeted him with the etiquette of greeting his superiors.

Liu Zhenglong was very satisfied with Xu Hong's attitude, and he said with a smile: "Brother Xu is polite, which flatters Liu. ”

"Grandpa Liu is here, how can the lower officials not be grand, grandpa please."

As Liu Zhenglong entered the official residence, the gate slowly closed again, returning to its former desertion.

After the guest and host sat down, Xu Hong ordered the maid to serve tea, and he said slightly apologetically: "The official mansion should have been vacated for the grandfather a long time ago, but now the order of the official department has not come down, and the lower officials don't know where to take office, so there is no way to settle down for the time being, so the dove occupies the magpie's nest for so long, and I hope that the grandfather will have a lot of Haihan." ”

"This is a drag on in my ministry." Although Liu Zhenglong is a minister, he has actually not been to the ministry for a day, but he was just polite to the other party. Of course, he is also implying that he actually came to Kaifeng County just to go too far, and in fact he is far higher than Xu Hong, the real magistrate.

There are too many polite words from officialdom, these two cunning foxes have been polite for a long time, and no one is willing to go straight to the point, and in the end, Xu Hong can't hold on, after all, he is the host, Liu Zhenglong is a guest, and it is obviously inappropriate to consume it.

Xu Hong pondered for a moment and then said: "I didn't move out of the official mansion, not because I couldn't get along with Lord Liu, but because the Taishi didn't let me move out. ”

"Oh, why is it a bit exaggerated that such a small matter also involves Taishi Cai?" Liu Zhenglong knew that Xu Hong was Cai Jing's protégé, and he also knew that this old fox would carry Cai Jing out, but when the official mansion came to talk about things, this appearance was too ugly, which made him very unhappy.

The treacherous and cunning Xu Hong saw Liu Zhenglong's unhappiness, so he hurriedly explained: "What Taishi means is that before you come to Kaifeng, I should move out of the official residence, but in that case, I can only leave Kaifeng, then there is no way to help Lord Liu. ”

"Then what do you mean, the official still wants to thank you?" Liu Zhenglong's face became unpleasant, and he said coldly: "This official is the county prince of Qinling, the Hebei Road transfer envoy of the fourth grade, the official Langzhong, and the secretary of Kaifeng County, is it necessary to compete with a county prince of the seventh grade, can I expel Li Mingshan?" ”

It seems that young people or young people can't hold their breath, this is Xu Hong's evaluation of Liu Zhenglong, seeing that the other party misunderstood, the old fox hurriedly explained: "Little Li Mingshan is really nothing, this official can pinch him to death with a small finger, why do you need Lord Liu to expel him." It's just that this matter involves Dazai Wang, didn't Lord Liu think about pulling the old fox from the court? ”

"What do you mean? Or does the old lady mean? ”

Since Wang Hao was mentioned, Liu Zhenglong couldn't ignore it, you must know that it was a big thing to pull down the prime minister of the political hall in the Great Song Dynasty, and every step could not be wrong. Otherwise, in the end, even if Wang Hao is pulled off the horse, then he will be finished. If the official clique does not allow this kind of rule-breaking thing to happen, even the official family will not let it go, otherwise it will be a mess of the rules and regulations.

"Of course it's what Enxiang meant, I look haggard when dealing with Li Mingshan, how can I have the ability to deal with Wang Xianggong?" Xu Hong is not self-deprecating, in terms of ability, he is indeed on par with Li Mingshan, but in terms of the degree of spiciness, in terms of background, Li Mingshan is indeed superior.

Seeing that Liu Zhenglong was half-convinced, Xu Hong hurriedly explained: "At the beginning, the official family was happy to add the emperor's grandson, and the old lady asked the official family to add the emperor's grandson as the major of the inspection school, the envoy of the Changde Army, and the prince of Chongguo. As a result, because of this incident, Eun Xiang was impeached by Wang Huang, a despicable villain, and the imperial grandson was finally demoted to the defense envoy of Gaozhou. Since then, the two have been incompatible, fighting openly and secretly. The old lady supported the prince, and Wang Huang got on the ship of King Yun, and it was destined to have a fight. Either the fish died or the net was broken, and I, the magistrate of Kaifeng County, bore the brunt of the sacrifice. ”

Liu Zhenglong knows this past, and he also knows that the minister of the political hall is fighting to the death because of standing in line, but it is far from the point of plotting to pull one of them off the horse, after all, this kind of thing can be said to be thankless, not only will it be attacked afterwards, but it is also disliked by the official family, and the situation is not yet clear, who will reach the top in the end is not certain, is it necessary to see the poor dagger?

Obviously, this little fox doesn't see a rabbit and doesn't scatter an eagle, Xu Hong had no choice but to throw a bombshell, he lowered his voice and said: "Li Mingshan privately co-opted the forbidden army to control Zhao Yunqi, this is authorized by the old fox, if you can catch the evidence, it will definitely not be a problem to bring him down." ”

The government is absolutely not allowed to contact the army privately, which is the iron law of the Great Song Dynasty, and it is impossible for Wang Hao not to know, let alone leave any handle in this matter. But if he didn't have any handle, Cai Jing would definitely not put the treasure on Xu Hong. It stands to reason that as long as Cai Jing does not move, even with Wang Huang's support, it will be difficult for Li Mingshan, the county prince, to arch Xu Hong. Moreover, the five major families are all related to Xu Hong, which is even more revealing.

"Lord Xu, the biggest taboo in officialdom is groundlessness, especially when it comes to political affairs, it's best not to talk nonsense."

Liu Zhenglong believes that Xu Hong will not be untargeted, but when it comes to the political affairs hall, he has to be cautious, he is not willing to be killed by Cai Jing and Wang Hao.

"There is evidence, but it is not ironclad evidence, I have already sent it to the capital, Lord Liu can have a good chat with the Taishi."

Liu Zhenglong put down the teacup and said, "Say, what can this official do." ”

"Go to the Imperial History Observatory to complain that the official dove occupies the magpie's nest, which itself is a taboo in officialdom, with Wang Hao's character, he will definitely take the opportunity to make trouble, of course, it is also possible to make a deal with the Taishi, but no matter what, the imperial history must be sent down to investigate. As for how to operate, Lord Liu doesn't need to make it clear! ”

Yin trick is definitely a yin trick, and this yin trick can only be figured out by literati, this kind of pit dug by yang scheme, it is difficult not to jump into it. The Imperial History will justifiably come down to investigate, but what is the direction of the investigation, whether it will be bright and dark, whether it will be bright and dark, whether it will be bright and dark, and whether it will be dark and Chencang, then it is not something that the person being investigated can control.

Liu Zhenglong gave a thumbs up and said: "Lord Xu, it's really tall, it seems that what you are seeking is definitely not the small Kaifeng County, how can Li Mingshan be your opponent?" ”

"Thanks to Lord Liu's appreciation, Xia Guan will indeed be transferred, but he will have to wait for this matter to be completed." Xu Hong looked down on Li Mingshan's domineering guy from the bottom of his bones, a small county man dared to kill Zhixian, who gave him the guts. can be the magistrate of Kaifeng County, how can there be no one behind it?

After talking about business, let's just have a good drink, but everyone is a civil official, how can they get drunk?

As soon as he got out of the official mansion, Liu Zhenglong said to Liu Ruyan: "Baby, you went to Beijing overnight to find the old man, and said that I wanted to move Wang Huang, and the old man would know what to do." I asked Wang Gui to send someone to send you back, don't come back for a short time, there have been a lot of things in Kaifeng County recently. ”

After all, Liu Ruyan is from a wealthy family, and she is still very sensitive, she knows that it is a big thing to win the Xianggong of the political hall, and the most important thing is not to set herself on fire, otherwise the gains will outweigh the losses.

Watching Liu Ruyan disappear into the vast night, Liu Zhenglong knew that it was time to do it, but it was better to meet Zhao Pingxiao first, if this matter involved Zhao Pingxiao, I am afraid it would cause the anger of the official family.

However, how can Zhao Pingxiao take the initiative to come to him? At this time, Liu Zhenglong suddenly thought of that Zhao Gongzi, and after he called Wu Er over, he said: "No matter what method you use to contact Zhao Gongzi, there must be results within three days." ”

"Yes." Takeji disappeared into the night.

After returning to the house, Liu Zhenglong called Jiao Ting, and he said to this guy: "You went to Beijing overnight and found your wife, so you said that the Pan family would send someone of weight to come over secretly, and also called Liang Fang from the Imperial City Division over, and said that I was looking for him, and don't mention anything else." ”

After the arrangement was made, Liu Zhenglong went to sleep. He could sleep, but the people of the five families couldn't.

All along, the five major families have maintained a relationship with Xu Hong, the magistrate, and they did not give up until the fall of this magistrate. Everyone has planned to deal with the new magistrate, but now that the two magistrates are talking secretly late at night, how can people not interpret it too much?

The biggest one is the Xie family, because they have offended Xinzhi County, if Xinzhi County can't be brought down, then once Liu Zhenglong gets a firm foothold in Kaifeng County, it is destined to counterattack.

Xie Dongxiao, the head of the Xie family, hated his son because of iron and steel, but he only thanked Fei for a single seedling, and he could only let his son come to Hu.

Xie Dongxiao called his younger brother Xie Dongren, Xie Dongyi, brother-in-law Xue Dahua, and Ni Pingyu to the secret room, and he said bluntly to everyone: "Xu Hong, the old fox, and Liu Zhenglong, the new magistrate, have compromised, as if the two have reached some kind of agreement. You know, our five major families have invested so much money in Xu Hong over the years, and this ungrateful thing has casually abandoned us, and it seems that the new Zhixian will deal with us in the next step. ”

Although everyone doesn't know if the new magistrate Liu Zhenglong will really deal with the Xie family, everyone knows one thing, that is, Xie Fei, the bastard, has indeed offended the new magistrate, and the Xie family has no intention of coming to the door to thank him during this time, in this case, the new magistrate must have been completely offended.

The five major families are not afraid of the county, but the Xie family alone is not enough to compete with the county, the key is that the county is still the protégé of the Son of Heaven and the son-in-law of the Pan family, which is destined not to be provoked by the Xie family.