Originally, Ji Shangshu relied on his excellent professional skills to be able to join the company with Cai Xi. At that time, Cai Youxiang wanted to use him as a test to see if he could change the dilemma of the literati clique controlling the government and public opinion.

Unexpectedly, after Ji Lin climbed Cai Xi's tail feathers and soared, he was quickly absorbed and assimilated by the cultural and sports group, and also found a decent background and sealed a literati for this old mason; Within a few years, Ji Lin became an out-and-out professional bureaucrat!

Cai Xi's trial was also a complete failure.

People in the world often say that "when you see wealth, you forget your life"; But in reality, whoever is greedy for money will surely lose his life. Since the news of the Jishui City was transmitted back to Yanjing, Ji Lin understood his son's true intentions and echoed them from afar. Although for the father and son of the Ji family, giving the prince thunder is an undesirable step into the body; But if you have to pay the price of your life and reputation, then the move will become meaningless!

Because as long as the reputation is bad, the prince will be on the throne in the future, and there will be enough reason to "rely on" this personal debt!

Therefore, at this time, Ji Shangshu brought a full family of men, women and children, and waited for crimes in his own house, just to make a gesture of loyalty and clear streams, and leave a decent step for Emperor Tianyou. After all, the current Ji family holds the Ministry of Industry, and straddles the two parties of Cai Xi and the prince; Although it is not a top-level gate valve, it is not a tree without roots and a ping without water! Forgive the Emperor of God, who has been oppressed by the power for many years, and there is only one way to go!

However, I didn't expect that this time Emperor Tianyou would not go down the ladder that had been paved and steady, but instead took the most extreme and drastic way of dealing with it! The Imperial Forest Army guarding the Purple Palace belongs to the military establishment; and the four inner supervisors belong to the people in front of the emperor; And the prefect of Luo Yuanluo, who has just been promoted, belongs to a typical civil official sequence. Judging by this lineup alone, the situation is already very clear.

This shows that His Majesty's move to destroy the Ji family has been approved and compromised by the two prime ministers!

His Majesty's decree, not the decree issued by the cabinet, will not even leave a foundation on the living note! In other words, Ji Lin, the secretary of the Ministry of Works, who thinks that he has been deeply cultivated for many years, has deep roots, and has a group of friends, can't even shout a single wronged in the face of the butcher's knife suddenly waved by His Majesty, let alone make waves and resist to the death...

When absolute violence comes at you, any cunning loses its luster.

Things were so unexpected and smelled of blood; directly shocked this old craftsman who was not very bold and passed out on the spot!

In the past 20 years, Yanjing officialdom has always been dominated by rip-offs; Although the undercurrent is constantly surging, it is rarely bloody; Quietly destroying a second-grade department like this is not the style of Emperor Tianyou's gentle and benevolent at all, and it is no wonder that Ji Lin will completely collapse.

However, the four prisoners obviously had little patience to wait for him to wake up; Among them, the highest-ranking middle-aged prisoner turned around and waved his hand to the twenty Imperial Forest Soldiers:

"Come, serve Lord Shangshu and toast to your inner relatives!"

Since ancient times, emperors have given death to their subordinates, all of whom have been killed by military generals and hanged by civil officials; And today, Zhou Yuanqing's words are out of order, and I don't know what he is thinking......

An hour later, an old changfu "accidentally" passed by Shangshu Mansion; When he saw that the door was open, and fearing that a thief might enter the door, he went up and buckled the knocker. After waiting for a long time, and seeing that no one answered, he cautiously pushed open the door and poked his head in to look......

I saw that the garden in the front hall was full of dead bodies, and on the beams of the main hall, there was an old man with a white beard hanging! Seeing this, the old husband was "shocked" and ran to the yamen as if he was dying, and reported to the Luo Governor's Mansion......

At the same time, the two elders in the imperial study have already left the palace and returned home; Only the crown prince Zhou Changyong was in the house, and he was called to come and serve.

"I'm here to ask you, are the Ji family's father and son your people!"

"Nope! They are the people of the Father......"

Syllable! Before he finished speaking, Zhou Yuanqing took out a slap and slapped the prince on the left cheek! This slap was really powerful, and immediately turned Zhou Changyong, who was already over forty years old, in a circle, and then knelt on the ground with a "poof......

"Father...... The son is guilty......"

"How long have you been the crown prince?"

"Back to my father's words, twenty-three years."

"Twenty-three years...... Can't wait, right? ”

"Nope! The father is wise and martial, generous and benevolent, and he is really a rare saint monarch in ancient times! The son's self-knowledge is about virtue and virtue, far less than one of his father's ten thousand! Therefore, the son sincerely hopes that his father's youth will last forever and enjoy a long life, and the son also hopes that he can always serve the emperor and follow the power of his own Weibo. ”

After listening to the reply of this official article, Zhou Yuanqing did not continue to ask; He just reached out and pinched the prince's slightly fat chin, raised the other party's face, and carefully observed it for a long time......

"Son, have you ever heard of the rumors that your fourth brother wants to use the soldiers of the Three Jin Dynasty as the base and support the army to stand on his own?"

"Back to his father, the son is the son of his father, and the fourth brother is also the son of his father; The son asked himself if he had no second thoughts about his father, and he expected that the fourth brother would be like me. As for the rumors on the streets of the market, it is not the rumors of those small people who have heard about it, or it is the divisive plan of the rebels in Qindi, the father must not believe the rumors, and the son is willing to use his head as a guarantee for the fourth brother! ”

Hearing these words of brotherly affection, Zhou Yuanqing stroked the blood-red slap mark on his face and fell silent again. I don't know how long it took, but he finally opened his mouth and asked:

"In that case, why are you concocting such rumors?"

When Zhou Changyong heard this, he tried his best to restrain his body and expression; After thinking that he had regained his calm, he denied it with great calm:

"Such a fratricidal evil thing has never been done by the sons."

"Prince, Chiwu's spies have already found out the source. Almost all of those who handled it were caught, and now they are being held in prison. ”

"It's so good, I'm willing to confront the thief!"

"You mean, it was your fourth brother who instructed Chiwu's spies to collude with Wang Zuocheng and fabricate rumors in an attempt to frame you?"

"Erchen never makes unwarranted speculations."

After hearing these words, Emperor Tianyou looked at Zhou Changyong's ancient face again, and fell into silence for a while. I don't know how long it has been, and I don't know what I remember; Zhou Yuanqing stood up with a "Teng", raised his foot and kicked frantically towards the prince who was kneeling on the ground and bowing his head silently... After a few kicks, the prince's legs, which were already kneeling, were crooked, and the whole person also lay down on the ground, allowing Emperor Tianyou to step on it repeatedly, and never said a word......

"Evil obstacles! You get out of the palace now; As the crown prince, see off Ji Shangshu Fuling! ”

It didn't take long for Ji Lin, the old scholar of the Ministry of Industry, Ji Qin, the shameless eldest son to commit treason and defect to the enemy, and the suicide of leaving books with his whole family, had spread all over the streets and alleys of Yanjing City. In the evening, the prince Zhou Changyong, who cried until his eyes were red, personally supported the coffin and sent him off; The funeral regulations are extremely high, and it is close to the national funeral.

At this moment, Wang Fang was sitting in a tavern in the south of the city, drinking a pot of bad wine with the old shopkeeper; After an inconspicuous young man rushed in and bowed his head a few words, Wang Fang let out a long sigh and said to the old shopkeeper:

"It's good for Your Majesty to do anything, but our hearts are too soft, and we are not suitable to be emperors at all......"

"Yingzheng, be cautious!"

"Tut-tut...... The prince came forward to support the coffin of the Ji bricklayer, then their Ji family would be considered a vain death......"

"Yingzheng, you've drunk too much! My tavern has a rule, don't talk about state affairs......"

"It's just you! Go and go, cut me a plate of beef, ask for tendon meat! ”

At the same time, a bookseller had just walked out of Cai's mansion. And Cai Xi, whose forehead wound has been treated, is sitting in the study at this time, holding his little grandson, his face is full of the kindness of an old farmer, and he does not see half of the prestige of the prime minister.

The person sitting opposite him was a thin old Confucian student, about sixty years old, who was the silver treasury steward of the Northern Yan Dynasty - Hubu Shangshu, Cheng Yi Cheng Youling. At this time, he stretched out his hand and put a book list into the candle flame to light it, and then threw it into the copper basin at his feet, and sighed:

"Your Majesty is really still the same Your Majesty, with a big mind, able to accommodate all things in heaven and earth, and make the old man admire him......"

Cai Xi continued to tease his little grandson, and at the same time opened his mouth to respond to his old friend's emotion:

"Youling, you're going to look away this time. Your Majesty's forgiveness is a blessing or a curse for the crown prince! Friend and brother, you are cold-hearted and warm-hearted, quite chivalrous in your bones, and easy to be emotionally involved; In addition, you are an official in the same ministry as the prince, and you have a lot of contacts on weekdays, and you have half of the friendship between master and apprentice. At this time, you have to firmly grasp the proportions so as not to step on Ji Lin's old path......"

Cheng Shangshu sighed tiredly and shook his head again; But when he raised his eyes to look at the young master of the Cai family, he also showed a kind smile......

"This kid is so cute! It's carved out of the same mold as An Guo when he was a child! Child, child, I don't know if you will grow up, will you be a writer or a martial artist? If you like to learn literature, Grandpa Cheng will teach you to play abacus beads, okay? ”

"Youling, listen to me. Before the world is settled, it is better to stay away from the prince. ”

"Hey...... You also said that I have been an official in the household department with the prince for more than ten years, and I have the feeling of being a half-teacher...... That's it, I don't care about the old, I have to take care of the young...... Starting tomorrow, I will say that I will not be sick. The affairs of the household department ......"

"It's all me! It doesn't hurt if you raise it for a year and a half! ”

"Hey...... That's it......"

Just as Wang Fang and Cai Xi, including Emperor Tianyou, showed. The crown prince is surrounded by Yongshu, and now it is an eventful autumn; Therefore, his every move, his behavior and thoughts, and even his relationship circle and network, although he thinks that what he does is seamless, spring breeze and rain; But in reality, it is exposed to the scorching sun all the time, and there is no secret......

At present, Zhou Chang'an is fighting bloody battles on the front line, and in order to prevent the situation of "Brother Gao Zhen", he is spreading rumors in the rear, dividing the relationship between father and son, and the righteousness of monarchs and ministers; It seems that such a stupid thing that makes relatives hurt and enemies are happy, has touched Zhou Yuanqing's bottom line!

And what Zhou Yuanqing hated in his heart was not the prince's malicious rumors and slander; It's his vision of judging the current situation, which is really bad!