Just when Yang Linbing entered Zhili in three ways and attacked the state capital along the road, Huo Xiong was about to enter Zhili, this day was the third year of Jiaqing, the 24th day of the twelfth month of the lunar calendar, in the city of Beijing, people were panicked, rumors were spreading, up to the princes and nobles, down to the people of Limin, no one was in the mood to think about the New Year, and the mood was gloomy, shrouded in a dark cloud. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

In the streets and alleys, there are colorful lights along the way, wearing red and green, but the deserted streets seem to be out of place with these, and the passers-by who are hurrying have a hint of eagerness, and their words are very uneasy, diluting the joy of the coming of the New Year.

"What's going on? There are more and more refugees in Beijing, which is really strange, is there a natural and man-made disaster? ”

"Brother, you just came back from the north, I don't know, there have been rumors recently, there are some gossip that the thieves from the south have come over and have crossed the Yellow River, and most of these refugees have escaped from the south. Moreover, not only that, those thieves are extremely bold, unlike those chaotic people and bandits in the past, who are thick and fine, and when they attack some places, they will send people to sneak into the city in disguise in advance and assassinate important members of the court. ”

"Oh... I see, I said why there are so many refugees, people are panicked everywhere in the city, no wonder rice is soaring, all kinds of prices are rising, it turns out that there is a war, officials and businessmen collude, raise the price of rice, and make a fortune in the country. ”

......

At this time, there was an atmosphere of unease, tension and panic everywhere in the capital, which made people like frightened birds, panicking and unable to live all day.

In the inner courtyard of the palace, in the Yuxiu Palace, Emperor Jiaqing sat there angrily, holding the handle of the seat with his right hand, which shows how angry he is in his heart, and he is indignant, even if he is angry in his heart, but in the face of his courtiers, he has to hold the shelf, pretending to be Mount Tai collapsed on the top and his face does not change.

At this time, He Shen, Wang Jie, and Guangxing were standing below, and even Zhu Jue, who had just recovered from a serious illness, was also present, his face was a little pale, panting, sitting aside, his frowning brows were stirring, frowning, as if he was thinking about something, doing his last effort.

Wang Jie and Zhu Qi are both old men, over 80 years old, but their eyes are shining, full of shrewdness and wisdom.

After a short silence, Emperor Jiaqing glanced at He Shen, but looked at Guangxing, and his tone was flat with a little impatience: "Guangxing, tell the three adults about the information you sent back from the blood droplets." ”

Although he has been slightly drooping his head and his eyelids are lowered, Guangxing's eyes have been observing Emperor Jiaqing as if he were nothing, and after seeing that the other party finished speaking, his eyes stayed on He Shen, and the emotions revealed in his expression immediately understood in his heart, and he agreed: "Yes, Emperor." ”

Walked out two steps without hurrying, I don't know if it was intentional or unintentional, just stopped in front of He Shen, and immediately, Guangxing turned around, faced He Shen and Wang Jie, and said loudly: "He Zhongtang, Lord Zhu, Lord Wang, according to the intelligence personnel who infiltrated the anti-thief occupation area with blood drops, so far, the anti-thieves have captured all the areas south of the Yangtze River, even south of the Yellow River, most of the area north of the Yangtze River has also fallen into their hands, according to the latest intelligence, this gang of thieves has crossed the Yellow River, preparing to invade Shanxi and the south of Zhili.....”

"What?!"

"How is that possible?!"

Drinking and questioning again and again, interrupting Guangxing's narration, Wang Jie's calm expression became full of disbelief, however, Wang Jie's reaction became more and more intense, realizing that the problem was more serious and critical, and in his words, he had long forgotten some scruples.

"It's only been a short period of one or two months, and the Central Plains has been lost, and only now has the news of the loss been reported, so many officials and troops raised by the imperial court, are they all a group of wine bags and rice bags? Not to mention anything else, in Shandong, Jiangsu, Henan, Hubei, and Shaanxi alone, the officers and soldiers stationed in the city defense battalions must add up to at least three or four hundred thousand people, that is, three or four hundred thousand pigs, which is enough for those thieves to kill for several months! ”

Wang Jie was very angry, and the scolding spitting stars flew around, and the firepower was obvious, just towards He Shen.

He has been in charge of the Ministry of Officials, served as the secretary of the Ministry of War, and is now the Minister of Military Aircraft, among the six departments, all over the protégés, holding the post of the commander of the nine gates, He Shen knows that Wang Jie's spearhead is against himself, after all, no matter what, no matter which aspect, he has an unshirkable responsibility.

What's more, in the land south of the Yangtze River and the place of the Central Plains, most of the officials have been promoted or recommended by themselves!

He Shen was silent, bowed his head, and let Wang Jie roar.

"Investigate, must be investigated, those officials usually boast of how loyal and loyal to the imperial court, for this time, the catastrophe is coming, and they have done nothing, there must be something greasy in this, it must be investigated, and it must be punished heavily!"

In this way, Wang Jie's voice of scolding gradually weakened, and for Heshen's performance, Wang Jie felt that his heavy punch was like hitting in cotton, and he couldn't find a little focus.

At the same time, Emperor Jiaqing's mind remembered another voice: "Yan Yan, my father knows that He Shen is a thoroughly corrupt official, but the current imperial court is in an eventful season, with wars and chaos, and it can't withstand internal disorders. It is easy to kill Heshen, only one holy decree is needed, however, Heshen's old times are not only all over the court, but also in the army, especially his younger brother Helin, who is even more powerful, once they are pressed, and it is the current situation, the consequences are ......"

Thinking of this, thinking of the words of Emperor Qianlong, Emperor Jiaqing was full of excitement, and secretly broke out in a cold sweat, not only looking at the side, Zhu Qi's body.

At this moment, seeing the emperor looking at himself, he had been getting along for one or two decades, and the teachers and students were commensurate, even if Emperor Jiaqing's eyes were full of waves, but Zhu Jue felt the hint of asking for help, and his heart was clear, and his pale and weak voice sounded: "Lord Wang, Lord Wang, stop for a moment and listen to the old man!" ”

Although Zhu Jue's voice was not loud, there were only five people in Yuxiu Palace, and Wang Jie, who was indignant, suddenly noticed it and asked puzzledly: "Lord Zhu, what's wrong?" Isn't that right? Shouldn't those officials and generals be held accountable? ”

"Lord Wang, you misunderstood, the old man didn't mean this, but had something to say." Zhu Jue waved his hand lightly and said quickly.

"Hmm... Then Lord Zhu, you say. Whether it is qualifications or being an official, Wang Jie has a sense of admiration for Zhu Jue, hearing such polite words from this emperor, even if there are thousands of angry words in his heart, and he is dissatisfied with He Shen, he still holds back the impatience in his heart, maintains a look of anticipation, and waits for the other party's words.

"Lord Wang, don't talk about anything else, just talk about the current situation, the court is in an eventful autumn, disasters are everywhere, anti-thieves may come at any time, besiege the imperial city, when the army is in danger, it is not the time to investigate whose fault is and whose responsibility is, but how to resolve the current crisis, so that the court can temporarily tide over the difficulties and stabilize the situation."

"If, according to Lord Wang's words, the responsibility of officials is thoroughly investigated, it will inevitably cause panic in the imperial court, and everyone will be in danger, and the situation in the imperial court will become more unstable and full of crises, which is likely to cause unpredictable consequences and irreparable losses."

After saying this, because He Shen still maintained the appearance of the old god, Wang Jie and Zhu Jue looked at each other, and He Shen didn't see Zhu Jue's gaze stop at him.

Seeing this situation, hearing this, Wang Jie suddenly understood, understood Zhu Jue's voice, not only was he a little afraid, he secretly pinched a cold sweat, and said to himself in his heart: "It's okay, it's okay, once you get entangled, you will be forced to be anxious, maybe you will push this big corrupt official to the side of the thief, if that's really the case, he will be the sinner of the court through the ages, and he will push the court into a situation of no return, and there will be no Qing Dynasty again!" ”

Seeing Wang Jie's apologetic look and the look of shame, Zhu Jue knew that this person had understood what he meant, so he continued: "Emperor Qiqi, the most important thing now is to quickly transfer troops from the north, issue a protective order to all places, and order the troops from all over the country to assemble in the capital to encircle and suppress those rebels who attacked from the south. ”

"Well, teacher, what you said is right, wait a minute, I will issue a holy decree to transfer troops from Mukden and Mongolia to consolidate the defense forces of the Jingshi, and at the same time ask for help from all over the country." Seeing that the topic had changed and turned to the main topic, Emperor Jiaqing couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and said loudly.

"Your Majesty, not only that, but now the people in the capital are unstable, all kinds of rumors are spreading everywhere, people are panicking, and the price of rice in the city is soaring, and it won't be long before the people will not be able to afford to eat.

There was a strong sense of worry, and as soon as this statement came out, it made the already tense atmosphere even more tense and a little depressed, and Emperor Jiaqing's eyes were even more round, full of disbelief, and reason was still there, and he suddenly asked angrily: "Teacher, how can this be?" At the feet of the Son of Heaven, who dares to raise the price of rice and disturb people's livelihood? ”

Zhu Jue did not answer, but looked straight at He Shen, although he did not speak, but he described everything, Emperor Jiaqing also understood, and did not continue to dwell on this issue, who was driving up the prices of the capital, but said loudly: "He Zhongtang, although you are also the Minister of Military Aircraft and the Admiral of Jiumen, and other important positions, you have a lot of military affairs, but you have also been in charge of the Ministry of Households, you are well versed in all kinds of affairs, and you know how to deal with these moths and bad businessmen in the world, I want to give you a task to calm the prices in the capital, The prices of various rice grains will be returned to normal to reassure the people's livelihood. ”

Although it was a consultative tone, He Shen felt Emperor Jiaqing's outpouring anger, and his dissatisfaction with himself, especially Wang Jie and Zhu Jue's singing and harmony, pushed him to the cusp, and at this time, he couldn't refuse.

"Yes, the emperor, the minister receives the order, if the emperor's task cannot be completed, the slave must come to see him!" He Shen knelt down and immediately agreed.