Since the night when the remnants of Gunchuktaiji's party launched a rebellion, Zhou Wenyu, who was injured and captured, has been fighting incessantly in his heart, and a voice shouted in his head, what is the matter of reading the books of sages, and he is dying generously for today.

Another voice whispered to persuade that it is better to die than to live, only by living can the shame of being captured today be washed away, and dying in such obscurity only makes his relatives suffer, and outsiders have no idea why he died.

When he was just caught by these rebellions, Zhou Wenyu was at the height of his heart, and he only thought about dying to repay the favor of his father and benefactor Yuan Chonghuan. But when these rebels had captured him and cast him aside, and no one came to interrogate him, his courage slowly dissipated.

After being snubbed for a few days, Zhou Wenyu's heart became quite tormented, and he sometimes hoped that these rebels would do it, so he forgot about him and let him continue to live in the courtyard that served as a prison; Sometimes he thinks that it is better to let these traitors interrogate him as soon as possible, lest he want to live more and more, and finally do something ugly that humiliates his family.

Just when his heart was full of fear, someone finally burst into the small courtyard where he lived, shouting his name. At this moment, Zhou Wenyu's heart relaxed. He sat on the kang and said to the guards who rushed into his door: "Don't be noisy, go get hot water and towels, and the officer will go out with you after washing and changing." ”

The guard soldier who wanted to report the good news to Zhou Wenyu dared to continue to offend this Ming official at this time, so he nodded and agreed to exit the door and prepare toiletries for Zhou Wenyu.

Zhou Wenyu, who regarded this as the last time in his life, washed his face and hands very seriously, he seemed to regard this as a ritual, and he wanted to wash away the cowardice and timidity that had been circling in his heart for the past few days, so as to end his life cleanly.

It's just that his slow actions finally made the little Mongolian leader waiting outside the house anxious, and after turning around in place three times, he finally couldn't help but run under the window and said to the house: "Lord Zhou, if you want to wash up well, why don't you come back in the evening and I will tell them to boil hot water for you, so that you can soak in a good soak." Right now, the angels of the court are waiting to see you, I'm afraid it's not good for the angels to wait too long..."

Before he could finish his words, he heard a "clang" in the house, and it seemed that the basin of water had fallen to the ground. saw Zhou Wenyu come out of the room with his head scattered, stared at him and asked with a strange expression: "What court angel?" The angel of the court? ”

The little leader, who was stunned by Zhou Wenyu's series of questions, paused for a few seconds before replying in a daze: "Naturally, it is an angel of the Ming Dynasty..."

Zhou Wenyu asked in disbelief: "How did they enter the city?" Governor Yuan has already led his troops to recover Chahanhot? No, I haven't heard any fighting in the past two days..."

Zhou Wenyu's quick self-questioning and self-answering made it difficult for the little leader to interject for a while, and it took a long time to seize a gap and say: "Governor Yuan didn't come, Zhang Jia Living Buddha and Ezhe Shao Khan arrived outside the city, and the rebellion ran away by themselves, so we welcomed the court angels into the city." The angel is summoning all the officials and officials in the city's official office, and when he heard that you and General Mozhigen were only wounded and not dead, he ordered you to be sent to the official office to recuperate..."

Looking at the unpretentious expression of the Mongolian in front of him, although he didn't know what was going on, Zhou Wenyu knew that he finally didn't have to worry about the question of righteousness or survival. He hurriedly interrupted the other party's explanation and said, "Have you prepared a carriage?" ”

"It's already ready outside the door, but don't you wash and change your clothes, sir?"

"It's not too late to get into the carriage and change clothes, take my clothes and hat, come over and help me personally, don't you see that the official's leg is still injured? The last ones, don't stay still, you go to the prisoner camp and get your officer's entourage back..."

When Zhou Wenyu arrived at the Yamen of the general army in the city, he saw Liu Jingting and Ezhe whispering something with a wounded man lying on a bamboo couch in the hall, and he recognized it at a glance with sharp eyes, and the wounded man lying there was Mo Rigen. Unlike him, who just fell off his horse and injured his leg, Mo Zhigen was the main target of the rebels when he was ambushed, but fortunately, the armor on his body was a fine product from the back of the armory, not the rags of the former official workshop, so he did not suffer any fatal injuries, although it seemed that the injuries were serious, but they were all flesh injuries.

After the rebels captured Mozhigen, they still wanted to use him to appease those soldiers who were not from the Chahar department, so they found a doctor to show him his injuries, which allowed him to survive. But without three or four months of effort, I'm afraid it will be difficult to walk.

Liu Jingting, a Mongolian general who was loyal to the imperial court, naturally attached great importance to it, so he immediately forced Nayan to hand it over, and asked the doctors accompanying him in the condolence group to re-treat his injuries. When Zhou Wenyu walked to the hall, the doctor had already checked Mo Rigen's injuries and reported to Liu Jingting: "Lord Hui, this general's wound is well treated, his body is also good, the wound has begun to heal, and the next thing to do is to take care of it." ”

Liu Jingting nodded at the doctor and said, "That's good, you choose a few clever medical soldiers to take care of General Mo Rigen, and don't let him have any accidents." If you have any problems, you can come to me directly. ”

After explaining to the doctor, Liu Jingting leaned over and said in Mo Rigen's ear: "Recuperate with peace of mind, I will personally report the general's loyalty to Your Majesty, if you have any requirements, you can write them down and give them to me, and I will forward them to Your Majesty for you." ”

Mo Rigen nodded, if it weren't for Liu Jingting pressing him, he would have forcibly stood up and thanked him. After the doctor led someone to carry Mo Rigen down, looking at Zhou Wenyu who was dressed and limping into the hall, Liu Jingting hurriedly stepped forward to help him, and said with relief: "It's good that Weizong has nothing to do, I heard that you were lost in the chaotic army that night, but I really sweated for you." ”

If it was in the past, Zhou Wenyu didn't think much of this storyteller-turned-court minister. Although Liu Jingting's original surname is Cao, he is after Cao Bin, the founding father of the Northern Song Dynasty. But he has long been in charge of lowly business, living in business, and he can't get along with the scholarly family at all.

And Liu Jingting himself was a fierce scoundrel when he was a teenager, and he deserved to die for breaking the law, although he was rescued by his family and escaped. But since then, he has changed his surname to Liu, and he has lived in the rivers and lakes to tell stories as a profession, and his identity is even more lowly. Although he is famous in Jiangnan for telling stories and is appreciated by some celebrities, for serious readers, Liu Jingting is a person in the rivers and lakes, at best he is a pawn of a peddler with a skill, and he cannot sit on an equal footing with them who are readers.

God knows how this person got into the eyes of the emperor, and actually stepped into the official career in one step, and now he has become a minister of the imperial court. The Ethnic and Religious Committee, which was created by the emperor, was not in the eyes of the court officials at first, and in their opinion, this was a quiet yamen set up by the emperor for his courtiers, and it was not a formal official.

However, with the Ming Dynasty's continuous foreign colonization policy, the Mongol tribes in the northern steppe, the entanglement of the Western Regions, the Tibetans in Wusizang, the Tusi of the ethnic minorities in the southwest, and the overseas princely states were all brought under the control of the imperial court, and this new yamen became effective. Because of its more subordinate management, coupled with the participation of the heads of various ethnic groups, the Ethnic and Religious Committee has become the real power to manage ethnic and religious affairs, bypassing the Ministry of Rites, which was originally in charge of these affairs.

The southern and northern grasslands, the Western Regions, Wusi-Tibet, and overseas princely states, these territories have not been completely transformed into areas under the direct jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty in the strict sense. The officials of the Ministry of Rites are all officials who have come from the imperial examinations on the right path, and they are naturally competent to ask them to quote scriptures and talk about what etiquette to use when interacting with these ethnic groups and religions. But if they want to investigate the strata and social conditions within these ethnic groups, the relationship between the various chiefs, the influence of various religions, and the different needs of the people, it is naturally difficult for them to compare with the leaders of these ethnic groups.

Therefore, the officials of the Ministry of Rites could only watch the management power of such a vast territory and a large population fall into the hands of a yamen who had just been established not long ago. What's even more infuriating is that the chief official who leads this yamen is not a jinshi or a nobleman, but an official who was born as an artist.

However, no matter how angry these officials are, they cannot change the fact that these ethnic minorities and religious leaders only recognize the orders of the Ethnic and Religious Committee and ignore the orders of the Cabinet and the Ministry of Rites. This is due to the fact that they themselves serve on the National and Religious Council, so they are able to intervene in some policies and orders.

Moreover, the head of the Ethnic and Religious Council is the Emperor, and they only need to be responsible to His Majesty the Emperor. However, if they obey the orders of the Cabinet and the Ministry of Rites, they not only lower their status, but also have no right to express opinions on the orders of the Cabinet and the Ministry of Rites, and can only passively accept them, which is naturally unbearable for them.

Therefore, everyone from the cabinet to the Sixth Ministry felt that this ethnic and religious committee was a thorn in the side, and as for Liu Jingting, who led this committee, he did not receive much praise. Even the Donglin Party, who had admired him a lot in the past, began to change his reputation after he became an official.

Under such circumstances, even if Zhou Wenyu himself was just a senator of the Governor's Mansion who entered the scene with a show, he dared to look down on Liu Jingting. But today is not as good as in the past, Zhou Wenyu, who was captured by rebellion, has lost a lot of confidence, and he feels much more cordial when he sees Liu Jingting at this time.

Therefore, he was also extremely moved by Liu Jingting personally stepping forward to support him. Just as he sat down and was about to ask about the details of how Liu Jingting recaptured Chahanhot, Liu Jingting glanced at Ezhe on the side and said, "Ezhe, this city has just returned to our hands, and there may be some unexpected situations. You should work harder, go and inspect the four cities, so that the soldiers and people in the city can see your figure, so that they can rest assured and not cause any trouble. ”

Wearing armor, Ezhe pressed his hand to his chest and bowed his head and replied, "Yes, my lord, if there is any problem, I should send someone to report back to you..."

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