Ji Qingwen dismounted again, and said to a few family members guarding the door: "Brothers, can you say a word to Zhou Shoufu for you, just say that Uncle Fu Lu Ji Qingwen is coming to visit." As he spoke, he stuffed two ingots of ten taels of silver into the hands of the family.

The family looked at the name of "Froebo" and the face of the silver, and even if a hundred were reluctant, they quickly turned back and went back to pay their respects.

Zhou Yanru heard that Ji Qingwen was visiting, although he also felt that he was an uninvited guest, but he had no reason to turn him away, so he asked Ji Qingwen to come into the house to talk.

Although the Zhou Mansion does not occupy a wide area, under the care of Zhou Yanru, it is also built in a patchwork manner and has good taste, but Ji Qingwen is now full of worries, and he is not in the mood to appreciate this carefully built garden.

Under the leadership of the housekeeper of the Zhou Mansion, Ji Qingwen and Li Yan went straight to the back hall where Zhou Yanru was, and after the luggage was collected, they listened to Zhou Yanru politely say: "Lord Ji is a rare guest, how can you have time to come to my humble house today?" ”

Ji Qingwen was in a hurry now, and he didn't have time to greet Zhou Yanru, so he said straight to the point: "Zhou Shoufu, you agreed at the beginning, saying that you could contact in the middle and let the hundred officials of the imperial court jointly save Yuan Chonghuan." But now? The joint name is a joint name, but it is not to save Yuan Chonghuan, but to kill Yuan Chonghuan. Zhou Shoufu, I don't know what you say about this? ”

Zhou Yanru was uncomfortable by Ji Qingwen's straightforward words, so he could only vent his anger on the housekeeper: "Zhou An, you are also an old man under me, why don't you understand the rules at all?" I'm talking to Lord Ji about national affairs, what are you still standing here for? Do you want to interject a few words? ”

The housekeeper Zhou Anyuan wanted to ask Ji Qingwen what kind of tea he was drinking, but now he was reprimanded by the master like this, so he could only retreat silently, and closed the door with his hand.

Zhou Yanru said at this time: "Lord Ji, I have no way to do it. This official has already talked to several officials in the court with old qualifications and big faces before, and asked them to take the lead to protect Yuan Chonghuan. Unexpectedly, they all had industries in the suburbs of Beijing, and the first battle of the Beijing division was wiped out by the Tartars. The officials' breath can't be on the Manchurian Tartars, so it can only be on Yuan Chonghuan......"

The truth here, Ji Qingwen thought about it three or four times, and he still thought clearly and transparently, so he said: "Zhou Shoufu's words, I understand!" I don't ask Lord Zhou to persuade those officials to change their ways, but I only ask Lord Zhou to ask the officials in Beijing to go to a place and listen to me say a few words. After listening to my words, it would be best for them to change their minds and jointly save Yuan Chonghuan. If you don't listen to me, it doesn't matter, at least my friendship with Yuan Chonghuan can be regarded as living up to it. ”

Zhou Yanru thought about it and felt that he could still agree to this matter, so he asked, "Okay!" It can be done. Lord Ji said, when and where does Lord Ji want to talk to the officials? ”

"Today, choose Baiyun Temple." Ji Qingwen said.

The invitation sent by Zhou Yanru to the ministers of the court and the central government was written very clearly, and it was Fu Lu Boji Qingwen who invited the ministers to go to Baiyun Temple for a meeting, and the attendees were all high-ranking officials in the court.

The news in the officialdom flowed very quickly, and everyone knew that Ji Qingwen planned to save Yuan Chonghuan's life, but the emperor was bent on killing Yuan Chonghuan.

It stands to reason that these officials would never follow Ji Qingwen to disobey the emperor's holy will, so as to wade into this troubled water. But Ji Qingwen didn't want to die, but he put the venue of the party in the Baiyun Temple in western Beijing, and he was clearly declaring to the hundred officials: You all owe me a favor, no one wants to run away from this!

It turned out that during the Battle of Beijing last year, Emperor Chongzhen asked hundreds of officials and ministers to donate silver to enrich the treasury in order to piece together military salaries. At that time, the officials' industries outside the capital had been almost destroyed by the Manchurian Tartars, and the emperor wanted to ask them to come up with a large sum of silver, which would cost them their lives. Thanks to Ji Qingwen, out of nowhere, he conjured up 300,000 taels of gold, and scattered all these gold worth 3 million taels of silver to the hundreds of officials in the court, so he handed over the business in front of Emperor Chongzhen.

This kind of favor, but it was bought with real money, and the court officials who dared not to return it, after receiving the invitation, they could only go to Baiyun Temple with ghosts in their hearts.

Baiyunguan was obviously not prepared to entertain so many court officials, and it was still very depressed and deserted, but Ji Qingwen came forward to disperse all the irrelevant people in Baiyunguan, and left five hundred miners to guard the passages and not let anyone enter the temple.

Before the time, the officials who were notified had almost arrived, and Ji Qingwen saw all familiar faces, most of them were high-ranking officials such as the six Shangshu Shilang, which could be regarded as giving himself face.

So Ji Qingwen coughed lightly and said straight to the point: "You are all pillars of the imperial court, and you have every opportunity. I would like to invite you to come over at the next moment, and I will not delay your time for any more greetings. Just ask: What kind of enmity does Yuan Chonghuan have with you, and you have to put him to death? ”

The officials who came to Baiyun Temple were all famous people in the officialdom, and they were all shrewd, and they had already guessed the reason why Ji Qingwen invited him over, but they didn't expect him to speak so straightforwardly and ruthlessly, and he didn't know how to respond for a while.

Xu Guangqi, who was still with him, took it seriously, made a round for Ji Qingwen, and said: "You all know that Lord Ji and Yuan Chonghuan have the same friendship, so they have also begged for Yuan Chonghuan several times in front of the emperor before. But all the adults wrote to kill Yuan Chonghuan, and Lord Ji naturally couldn't figure it out, so I invited everyone to come over and say a few words from the heart, and ask why you advocate killing Yuan Chonghuan? ”

Although Xu Guangqi has the least authority in the cabinet, he has merit in being an ordinary person and an official, and he is also quite prestigious among the bureaucrats.

Therefore, when the officials present heard Xu Guangqi's sincere words, they also put their hearts at ease, and you counted Yuan Chonghuan's sins at a glance and I said a word - in fact, it was nothing more than the six sins that Emperor Chongzhen had given to Yuan Chonghuan before.

Ji Qingwen didn't have the same good temper as Xu Guangqi, and said bluntly: "Your reasons are high-sounding, but in the final analysis, they are just eight words: 'profit makes the wisdom faint, bullying the soft and afraid of the hard'." I already knew, but you were dissatisfied after the property around Jingshi was looted by the Manchurian Tartars, and you couldn't find trouble with the Manchurian Tartars, so you just sprinkled all your grievances on Yuan Chonghuan. You say, "Isn't that the truth?" ”

Ji Qingwen is a young and powerful man, and his momentum is booming, and he said these words without mercy, and the high-ranking officials in the courtyard were red-faced and speechless.

But Ji Qingwen is still unrelenting: "Ladies and gentlemen, Yuan Chonghuan is indeed not a good and perfect person, he has a lot of bad problems, and he has indeed committed some sins. But everyone is also eating the court's money, ask yourself, does Yuan Chonghuan really deserve to die? If Yuan Chonghuan is killed, who can have such a talent as him? In such a situation in Liaodong, if you change him, can you do better than Yuan Chonghuan if you change it to any official among you? ”

Zhou Yanru on the side also helped: "Yes, Lord Ji is right!" Which adult said that Yuan Chonghuan could be replaced, and I, Zhou Yanru, will personally draft the draft for you, play the sage, and let you go to supervise Ji Liao, and the official will be promoted to a first-class rank and a very good minister, isn't it beautiful? ”

Although the official position of a first-class officer is attractive, his own life is more important.

Before Yuan Chonghuan, several Liaodong military commanders, such as Yang Hao, Yuan Yingtai, Xiong Tingbi and others, none of them had a good end. This group of people still knows more or less about themselves, and they think that they have their own ability, if they are put in Liaodong, they will not even be able to be the three-day Jiliao Governor, and they all bow their heads and groan, not daring to say half a word.

Ji Qingwen saw that his thunderous words had convinced the hundreds of officials and ministers to score eight or nine points, so he took the hot railway: "Everyone, as you know, I was born in business, so many adults look down on me as a miscellaneous official. But it doesn't matter, I look up to all of you, please change your mind and help me protect Yuan Chonghuan from death. ”

Ji Qingwen made this request, but the officials didn't dare to agree directly - they had just made a recital on Yuan Chonghuan's death, and it was not easy for them to change their minds now.

After being silent for a long time, a bold official finally said: "Lord Ji, we have just played a concert, if we change our position immediately, won't we leave the impression of being untrustworthy in front of the emperor?" ”

Ji Qingwen had already prepared, and when he heard this, he immediately took a piece of paper from Li Yan's hand, shook it in front of the officials, and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, take a look, what is this?" This is the list of adults who took my gold during the Battle of Jingshi last year, and those who took my gold were tens of thousands of taels and hundreds of taels. At that time, I was thinking about the imperial court, and I gave you so much gold without asking you to do anything for me. Now that I have a problem, please start writing, this gold is also a polishing pen, how about it? ”

Ji Qingwen's voice settled, and the people present fell silent again, and after a long time, someone said: "Lord Ji, it's a trivial matter whether you have money or not." It is said that Yuan Chonghuan fornicated with Manchuria, which is a major crime of rebellion and rebellion. If we speak for Yuan Chonghuan, will we also be implicated? ”

Ji Qingwen patted his chest and promised: "This lord uses his life to guarantee that Yuan Chonghuan's affair with Manchuria is purely imaginary. The Manchurian Tatars who suddenly appeared in Beijing yesterday had ulterior motives, and the note they left behind was also deliberately forged. I have sent people to find out the whereabouts of these Manchurian Tatars, and it is expected that the truth will be revealed soon. ”

"Then when the lord catches these spies, remember to inform us, and we will definitely play Zhang Bao Yuan Chonghuan." An official said.

"What an old fox!" Ji Qingwen secretly cursed, thinking, "With Li Yuanyin's ability to do things and Zhou Xiuying's extensive connections, there has been no news after the whole night of investigation, it can be seen that Dolgon, Ao Bai and others are hiding very carefully, and I am afraid it will be difficult to capture them for a while." ”

So Ji Qingwen could only persuade him hard.

But those officials made up their minds: the first important thing is life, the second is fame, and the third is the future.

Just when everyone was discussing and discussing to the point of embarrassment, they saw Xiao Duozi walk in and said in Ji Qingwen's ear: "Young master, there is someone outside, saying that it is the old Zhang Tou who sells wontons, and he wants to come in and say a few words to the young master, I don't know if the young master will see it or not?" ”

Ji Qingwen hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded and said, "It's okay to see him, you can invite him in." ”

A wonton seller, how did he know that I was here in Baiyunguan today to convene a meeting of important officials of the imperial court? What can I say to myself when I come in?