As soon as I returned to the Qianqing Palace, I saw Wang Dehua waiting there.

"What's wrong? What's wrong? Emperor Chongde asked as he sat down behind the imperial case.

Wang Dehua kowtowed and said, "The slave has a big event to report, and please don't be angry." ”

When Emperor Chongde heard this, his heart tightened, thinking that the official army had suffered another defeat, so he quickly stood up and asked, "What happened?" ”

Wang Dehua glanced left and right, and the eunuchs and palace maids next to him all retreated. Wang Dehua said: "Emperor Qi, the slave and maid are indeed scouting, the first assistant Xue Bingting is deeply worthy of the holy family, greedy and illegal, and the evidence is conclusive." ”

Hearing that it was not the defeat at the front, Emperor Chongde breathed a sigh of relief. When he first ascended the throne, he also thought that those ministers who read poetry and books should have the corresponding noble qualities and trust them with great trust...... But now, he already knows that "thousands of miles are officials, just for food and clothing", "the world is bustling, all for profit; The world is crowded, all for the sake of profit", it is actually normal for courtiers to do something about using power for personal gain.

"How much silver did he greed?" Emperor Chongde asked.

"The slave and maid have a real person certificate, and Xue Bingting alone swallowed Shi Xuan's silver for 50,000 taels." Wang Dehua replied.

This answer startled Emperor Chongde again, just a sum of silver, as much as 50,000, this number, is really a bit beyond his expectations and tolerance.

"Which Shi Xuan?" Emperor Chongde didn't think about it for a while.

"It's Huaiyang Patrol Shi Yun, who was imprisoned for bribery three years ago." Wang Dehua replied.

As soon as he said this, Emperor Chongde immediately remembered that three years ago, Zhang Kunfang was impeached in the matter, and Shi Yun, who was already the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple at that time, had confiscated more than 300,000 taels of stolen silver and salt silver during his appointment as a Huaiyang patrol. Because of the huge amount, it left a deep impression on Emperor Chongde at that time.

"Isn't this Shi Xuan already dead in prison?" Emperor Chongde asked.

"The emperor is shengming, and Shi Xuan will be dismissed and sent to prison. The case was not closed, and Shi Xuan died in prison. Shi Xuan once brought more than 100,000 taels of silver, in addition to tens of thousands of taels of bribes, 50,000 taels were still deposited in Xue Bingting's house, and he was the first assistant's pocket. Wang Dehua replied.

Emperor Chongde walked back and forth a few steps with a calm face, and then stood still and asked, "Is there any evidence?" ”

Wang Dehua hurriedly replied: "The slave maid once found Shi Xuan's family and asked if it was true, and the existing Shi Xuan's family Liu Xin can prove it. Liu Xin had already written a complaint, accusing Xue Bingting of confiscating his master's money. While speaking, he took out the form from his bosom and presented it to Emperor Chongde, saying: "Liu Xinyin is the first to sue the first assistant, and he is afraid that the secretary will not accept his case, but will be victimized, so he handed the letter to the East Factory and begged the slave and maid to deliver it to the imperial court." ”

After Emperor Chongde read the form, his face suddenly turned pale, and he threw it the imperial case, stomped his foot, and gritted his teeth and said:

"I sleep at night, and I aim to thrive. Unexpectedly, the ministers were used to embezzle, and the ministers and ministers were corrupted. The whole dynasty is full of corruption, corruption is rampant, discipline is lax, and it is like this! Wang Dehua ......"

Wang Dehua quickly knelt down.

Emperor Chongde instructed: "Hurry up and draft an order for me, and cut Xue Bingting to listen to the investigation!" ”

"Yes, the slave maid will make up the decree at once." Wang Dehua responded.

Wang Dehua immediately went to the duty room to prepare the strict decree, and then took it back to Emperor Chongde for seeing. It was only when he drafted this decree that Emperor Chongde's mind changed again. Emperor Chongde suddenly thought that he and Xue Bingting presided over the matter of asking the emperor's relatives and ministers to "borrow" money. At this time, Dongchang suddenly found out a case from a few years ago, but the intentions in it were very suspicious. If Shoufu is sent to prison at this time, will this "happy donation" thing still be done?

Emperor Chongde did not suspect that Dongchang was fabricating evidence to frame Xue Bingting, but it was not appropriate to pursue this matter at this time. Of course, Xue Bingting, as the first assistant, was still so corrupt when the country was so difficult, blindly filling his own pockets, but he really deserved to die. But now is not the time to scrutinize this matter. Maybe it will be a good time to wait for the "donation" to be completed.

Emperor Chongde knew that whether it was a minister or a nobleman, they were a bunch of dead people who wanted money, and they forced them to pay for it, could they have no complaints? Can there be no rebound?

"When that time comes, we can thoroughly investigate the case, and it can be regarded as giving those officials and nobles a little explanation." Emperor Chongde thought like this, and the way he handled it naturally changed.

He looked at the holy decree drawn up by Wang Dehua carefully, and said, "This matter still needs to be verified." You redraft the decree and ask Xue Guoguan to talk back on this matter! Oh, by the way, how is Li Guorui now? ”

Wang Dehua hurriedly replied: "Emperor, Li Guorui is sick. ”

"Sick? How did Li Guorui get sick? What is the disease? Emperor Chongde asked.

"Long live, Li Guorui is old, and his health is not good, so he suddenly went to prison...... Now I'm in a bit of a trance......," Wang Dehua said.

Emperor Chongde thought for a while, waved his hand to Wang Dehua and said, "You go find a few doctors, show him, don't let him die in prison." ”

"The slave obeys." Wang Dehua replied and retreated.

After sending Wang Dehua away, Emperor Chongde sat down and flipped through the recitals again, and after turning over a few recitals, there was nothing serious. But Emperor Chongde felt a little uneasy, as if he had neglected something important. This premonition made him uncomfortable, so he simply stopped, thinking about what he had overlooked.

"Just now Wang Dehua said that Li Guorui was sick, and I said not to let him die in prison......" Suddenly, like a flash of lightning in the night, Emperor Chongde suddenly remembered such a sentence, "Please forgive your majesty for your concubine's ignorant words." I'm afraid going to prison is not the way to go. Li Guorui is probably very old, in case he dies in prison, one will not look good on the emperor's face, and the other will be sorry for the Empress Dowager. At the same time, Concubine Tian's face also appeared in front of him.

"Aifei, it's you!" Emperor Chongde gritted his teeth and muttered to himself, "You actually colluded with outsiders to calculate me!" You've disappointed me! ”

Thinking of this, Emperor Chongde's anger could no longer be suppressed, he glanced left and right at the imperial case, grabbed a pen holder placed on it, smashed it on the ground, and yelled at the same time: "Someone! ”

There was a rush of footsteps outside the house, and the eunuch Wang Chengen hurriedly ran in.

"The slave is here, what does the emperor command?" Wang Chengen knelt down and said.

"Wear the purpose, ...... the concubine"

Emperor Chongde almost blurted out that he wanted to give Concubine Tian to death, but before the words could be spoken, Concubine Tian's delicate face floated in front of him, as well as the appearance of the second prince, the fourth prince and the fifth prince, and even the voice of Ahri "Father, Father, Emperor" came from his ears. For a while, he only felt that his heart was like a knife, and the words "death" could not be spoken.

Wang Chengen didn't hear the following for a long time, so he secretly raised his eyes and looked up. But he saw Emperor Chongde sitting there weakly, his face full of tears.

"Your Majesty ......," Wang Chengen said.

"Passing on the decree, Concubine Tian estimates her favor, does not restrain herself, and dares to communicate with the outside of the palace. Gu remembered that he had no major mistakes on weekdays, and he was not punished strictly, so he was relegated to Qixiang Palace and introspected himself. If you don't follow the holy decree, you are not allowed to leave the gate of Qixiang Palace without permission! Except for the five princes, who were still young and were allowed to be taken to Qixiang Palace, the rest of the princes stayed in Chengqian Palace and were not allowed to go to Qixiang Palace without permission. Emperor Chongde said. After saying this, Emperor Chongde felt that the strength in his body disappeared all at once.

……

When Huang Zide's army rushed into Song County, it was not yet dawn, and most of the people in the city had not yet gotten up. Even the magistrate and Mr. Zhang are no exception. So when Huang Zide's righteous army came in, not only did they not have time to organize resistance, but they didn't even have time to escape, so they fell into a heavy siege. Before the county commander Wang Deyi could even figure out what was going on, he was captured alive on the spot by Hu Yidao, who rushed over with the rebels, and as for the general Zhang, when the rebels rushed into the barracks, he finally picked up a knife. It is said that he wanted to resist, but when he found out that he was surrounded by the group, he simply dropped his weapon and surrendered.

When the rebels entered the city, the movement was not big, but after all, it was already the fifth watch, and Zhang Erxi, who made the cooking cakes, got up early, and at this time he had already prepared the cooking cakes and packed them in the burden with his Hun family. Zhang Erxi picked up the burden of cooking cakes and opened the door and went out. As soon as he went out, he saw a group of "thieves" with knives and spears rushing along the street. Zhang Erxi was frightened, threw away his burden, jumped back into the house at once, closed the door, and took the door bolt and bolted it, and put the door stake on the top. His Hun family didn't know what was going on, and hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?" ”

Zhang Erxi covered the mouth of the Hun family, lowered his voice and said, "Don't be silent, the thieves have entered the city!" ”

His Hun family was taken aback, and hurriedly whispered: "What should I do?" ”

Just then, there was a knock on the door outside.

The two of them were shocked, and Zhang Erxi hurriedly whispered: "Go to the stove and get some pot bottom ash and wipe it on your face." ”

His Hun family answered and went to the back, and Zhang Erxi hurriedly explained: "And Erya's face should also be smeared." ”

Zhang Erxi has heard a lot of legends about "Liukou". Legend has it that they are all demon stars who escaped from hell and are the demon kings of the world. It is said that when they arrived somewhere, they would burn and kill the prostitutes, and the men would take them and put them in a large stone mortar and mash them into meat puree like garlic paste to make cakes, and the women would kill them first and then X, and then X and a hundred times, a hundred times...... Most of the tricks of touching the bottom of the pot on the face are useless. Zhang Erxi looked around, and there was only a bench next to him. He picked up the bench and thought, "If they want to crush me and eat me, I might as well fight with them, or if I can't fight it, I'll bite off a piece of his flesh!" ”

Huang Roll knocked on the door, and asked people to put away the cooking cakes that were rolling all over the floor, put them back into the burden as they were, and brought the burden to Zhang Erxi's door. He knocked on the door for a long time, but no one came to open it, and knowing that the people inside must be afraid, he cried out to the inside, "Brother who bought the bread, I have left all your cakes at the door for you." With that, he lifted his legs and prepared to leave. When he swept his eyes, he saw the bread in the burden, and his stomach growled. If it was before, if he had conquered the county seat, he wouldn't have needed money to eat a restaurant, let alone eat his two cooking cakes. However, now, after "complaining bitterly and thinking about sweetness" in the army, the emphasis is no longer on "robbing homes and houses", but on "hanging the people for crimes" and "relieving the people from hanging". Therefore, the army has also formulated new military regulations, called "three disciplines, eight points of attention." Daoist Xuan Yi even compiled this set of military regulations into a song, and taught the whole army to sing it. The second of these "three disciplines" is "not to take a stitch from the people", so Huang Roll looked at the cookcake, swallowed his saliva, and then turned around and left.