"Sand"

"Sand"

"Sand"

The hall immediately fell silent, silent, only the rustle of paper turning, but under this tranquility, Xia Mu knew that what he would have to bear next was probably the emperor's boundless anger.

There was a ticking sound in the distance, time flowed slowly, and the sun had risen, and a ray of morning sun was thrown in from the hollow door, and the shadow on the ground became shorter and shorter.

Half an hour later, Emperor Jiajing slowly closed the account book, his face was unwavering, and he couldn't see his joy or anger. After another moment, he looked at Xia Mu and asked, "Do you know the contents of this account book?" ”

Xia Mu's expression was awe-inspiring, he kowtowed to Emperor Jiajing, and replied calmly: "Although the minister has read the contents of the account book, he does not dare to leak it, just wait for it to be presented to His Majesty, and His Majesty will be dictatorial by His Majesty's Sacred Heart!" ”

"Good!" Emperor Jiajing nodded with satisfaction, but the look on his face was angry, and he also had some approval, and sneered at Huang Jin on the side: "You can't even think of what is recorded on it!" ”

Huang Jin's fat face immediately drooped down, and said softly: "The slave doesn't know, and he doesn't dare to know." ”

Emperor Jiajing snorted coldly, even with his state of mind of cultivating for many years, he couldn't avoid moving the real fire: "A group of courtiers who bully the king!" Kill, kill! From the 28th year of Jiajing to the present, the three southeastern provinces have used all kinds of taxes, military salaries, and anti-Japanese crimes! ”

Huang Jin was stunned, not knowing what the emperor meant, but when he looked at the account book, his eyes suddenly widened, and he was a little frightened in his heart, so he replied resignedly: "Could it be that it has all gone into Zhao Wenhua's pocket?" ”

"Shechen!" Jiajing's nose let out an angry snort: "Zhao Wenhua secretly communicated with Hu Zongxian, privately detained and sent to the imperial court, handed over to the vassal king and other taxes, not to mention, the imperial court resisted millions of silver every year, and how much was used in military affairs, otherwise why thousands of Japanese troubles, more than ten years have not been exterminated, but more and more fierce, the people in the southeast of the Ming Dynasty are not happy, and the country will not be a country!" ”

The more Jiajing spoke, the more angry he became, and kicked the incense burner in front of him to the ground, and suddenly there was a crisp sound in the hall, only to see the incense burner rolling all the way down the steps in front of Xia Mu, Xia Mu didn't dare to dodge, stiffened his head, and was knocked hard by the incense burner, and suddenly the muscles of his face twitched.

But Emperor Jiajing was still not angry, walked around behind the curtain, and scolded angrily: "For more than ten years, Zhao Wenhua and Hu Zongxian have been full of private pockets, what a greedy minister, I still think that he is the minister of the humerus!" ”

Saying that, Emperor Jiajing glanced at Xia Mu coldly, took a deep breath, and asked: "Xia Mu, you live in the southeast, you tell me what kind of bullying my southeast has become by the Japanese slaves, I have to listen to the truth, and you are not allowed to be deceived at all!" ”

Xia Mu Yilin, he was waiting for this opportunity, to tell the emperor the real situation in the southeast: "Back to the saint, this is also one of the reasons why the minister went to Beijing to report on his work, that is, to face the saint and personally inform the southeast of the war ......"

Xia Mu pondered his language and said: "Your Majesty, since Wang Zhi and Xu Hai were destroyed, the situation in the southeast has not subsided, but has become more and more intense. In the 39th year of Jiajing, more than 5,000 Japanese slaves captured Taihu Lake, in just ten days, Taihu Lake was piled up like a mountain, and the clear water of the lake was dyed red, and it was not clear for dozens of days. After that, Zhao Wenhua secretly communicated with the three political secretaries in the southeast, secretly colluded with the Japanese slaves, and betrayed the veteran Ouyang Shen of Pinghaiwei to resist the Japanese general, so that the general was deposed at home, and the fourth son Ouyang Changtian was killed. In the forty years of Jiajing, Zhao Wenhua and Luo Longwen fornicated with the Japanese slaves, captured Xinghua, ten miles of lotus stained with blood, the veteran Ouyang Shen held high the banner of His Majesty Xià Qinci 'anti-Japanese Jingjing', personally led the three sons of the family and four hundred veterans, thousands of miles to attack, rescue Xinghua, and the three southeastern provinces of the military defense did not come out, Xiaochen led the Xinghua Tenth Institute, the fourteenth subordinate southeast stationed Jinyi Wei 300 people, in Xinghua drunken leaf forest, against the Japanese slaves, the veteran Ouyang Shen died in Yue Fei Temple, the three sons under the knee except Ouyang Changsong, the rest all died tragically martyred, The Jinyi Guards were seriously injured in the suppression of Yang Wan, and all the 100 Jinyi Guards of the 10th Institute were killed in battle......"

The entire hall was silent, and Xia Mu said with tears pouring down, unable to sob. Jiajing's face was even pale, and his fingers pinched the jade pestle fiercely.

"Majesty!" Xia Mu shouted, kowtowed heavily to Jiajing, and choked with tears: "Your Majesty, the Japanese slaves have slaughtered three provinces and six states in the southeast for three years, killing more than 100,000 people, and the coastal area has long been deserted, Your Majesty...... I was a clown jumping off the beam by the Dongyi clown, bullied like a lost dog, everyone is hopeless, I don't know the lord of the country, I don't know the state capital, I actually put my life on God, how sad! ”

"Why is this so?" Hearing this, Jiajing sat on the dragon chair, and the account book in his hand was wrinkled by him.

Xia Mu saw that Emperor Jiajing was deep in thought, and decided to add fire to him, he knew that Emperor Jiajing cared about the Yongle Grand Ceremony very much, and even regarded the Yongle Emperor as the Holy Ancestor to emulate in his heart, so he pretended to be angry and howled loudly: "Your Majesty, what is even more infuriating is that the Japanese slaves dug the ancestral temple of the Yongle Emperor at night, and destroyed the Yongle Dian stele that the Yongle Emperor stood in the southeast back then, and returned ...... Also ......"

When Emperor Jiajing heard this, he immediately touched the most sensitive nerves, and his two thick eyebrows suddenly stood up, and he looked at Xia Mu, who didn't say anything, and shouted: "What about the Japanese slaves?" ”

Xia Muwei resignedly: "Minister...... The minister didn't dare to say ......"

"Say, I forgive you not guilty!"

Seeing this, Xia Mu smiled knowingly, and hurriedly pretended to be sad: "The Japanese slave threatened...... Threatening that the Yongle Grand Ceremony is a bullshit thing, if it is as the Great Ceremony said, the Ming Dynasty will not be bullied by them like dogs, and the Japanese slaves also said that there are no Han people after Yashan, and the Great Song Dynasty will die in China. ”

"Presumptuous ——!" Emperor Jiajing was so angry that his face turned pale, and the shouts came out of the palace, startling the maids and eunuchs on the corridor, prostrate on the ground, panicked, they had never seen His Majesty have such a fire.

"Majesty xià sighs anger ......"

"Majesty xià sighs anger ......"

Jiajing was furious, pointed to the jade pestle, and shouted: "I inherit Hongxu, the eight wildernesses and the four seas, the ruler of the Zhaoren, the mountains and mountains, all my children, Dongyi clowns, deceive my territory, commit my Ming, I can't wait to slaughter the whole Dongyi clan, and solve the hatred in my heart!" ”

Saying that, Emperor Jiajing immediately issued an order: "Order Jinyiwei to go south and southeast, investigate the situation, and set up a shrine for Ouyang Shen, give General Zhaoyi, and hereditary command of the descendants." Rebuild the Temple of Emperor Yongle in the southeast and let Hu Zongxian return to Beijing for inspection! Ordered the deputy governor of the southeast to immediately send troops to resist the Japanese! ”

Xia Mu hurriedly kowtowed: "The junior minister on behalf of General Ouyang Xie Xià Longen!" ”

Emperor Jiajing was dizzy, calmed down at this time, looked at the account book in his hand again, and praised Xia Mu: "It's not in vain that you are loyal to me, today you are crowned Xia Mu Xia Guangzhong as the fourteenth thousand households of Jinyiwei, but Xiyuan passes, you have any important things, you don't need to report to Beizhen Fusi, you can directly report to me, and go straight to heaven!" ”

Xia Mu was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly shouted long live.

At this time, Huang Jin hurriedly stepped forward and said softly: "Your Majesty, Li Shangshu, Yan Ge Lao, and Xu Ge Lao ask to see you. ”

When Xia Mu saw this, he wanted to retreat: "Then the minister will retire first!" ”

Jiajing smiled unexpectedly: "No, this court meeting has a lot to do with you, so you can stay and listen." ”

Xia Mu's heart trembled and his eyebrows raised, but he didn't dare not listen to the emperor's words, so he could only stand aside with his eyebrows lowered.

Not long after, the door of the inner courtyard opened, and Xia Mu saw three officials wearing red official robes and white jade belts around their waists, according to their ranks, they came in one after another, facing the emperor in a line, kneeling down with brushes, and shouting long live, and one of them was Xu Jie, the teacher he only recognized last night.

As soon as Xu Jie entered the door, he found that Xia Mu was here, and the surprise in his heart was earth-shattering, how could a small brocade guard go straight to the sky?

At this time, Emperor Jiajing had already recovered his usual calmness, and nodded towards the three of them: "Get up." ”

"Thank you, your majesty!" The three of them thanked each other in turn.

As soon as Emperor Jiajing waved his hand, Huang Jin on the side brought a brocade pier over, and said softly to the gray-haired old man at the front, "Elder Yan Ge, please take a seat." ”

This was the first time Xia Mu saw Yan Song, and he saw him trembling and slowly sitting on the brocade pier with Huang Jin's support.

The other two officials did not have the honor of Yan Song, so they could only stand in the hall. Xia Mu stood on the left side, unable to see Li Mo's full face, only to see that Li Mo was in his fifties, with a long beard on his chin, but his body was very high.

It's just that at this time, among the three of them, Yan Song took the first step to open his mouth: "Lao Chen remembers, last month, His Majesty said that he would retreat and practice, and Tao Tianshi also said that His Majesty would go out at the end of the month, but today is only February 15, and His Majesty will be out of the customs ahead of schedule......

As soon as Xia Mu heard this, he secretly scolded Yan Song for his sycophant kung fu, perfect for his fire, and chatted a few words, so he brought his relationship with Emperor Jiajing a lot closer, and invisibly, he gave Li Mo and Xu Jie a dismount: Look, my relationship with His Majesty is not comparable to you.

It's just that Emperor Jiajing was very cold today, and when he saw him gently flick the sleeves of his robe, he said lightly: "I didn't work hard, but because of some trivial things in the courtiers, I delayed my mood, so I had to come out in advance." ”

When Yan Song heard this, his heart was terrified, his white eyebrows trembled, and he quickly got up with the pier, knelt on the ground and pleaded guilty, Li Mo and Xu Jie, who were behind him, saw this, and hurriedly knelt down: "It's all the incompetence of the ministers......"

Jiajing waved his sleeves and said impatiently: "Get up, I have been in retreat for a few days, what is there to report?" After Emperor Jiajing finished speaking, he lowered his eyelids, as if he was asleep.

"There are a few things." Yan Song seized the opportunity, took out a fold and said slowly: "The most important thing is the matter of Qiu Luan, the governor of Xuanhua Datong, Qiu Luan secretly colluded with me to answer, please ask Your Majesty to dismiss Qiu Luan and investigate it!" ”

Yan Song saw the opportunity and took out Gansu's dereliction of duty, the Datong negotiations, and the Beijing conspiracy in one go, and settled the general account.

Emperor Jiajing was extremely angry, and immediately ordered Qiu Luan to return to Beijing to explain the problem and confiscate his military power. staring at Qiu Luan, as well as Li Mo, at this time, Li Mo expected that Qiu Luan would lose power, and immediately found the deeds of Qiu Luan that Jinyiwei helped him secretly collect, and read it out.

Xia Mu on the side became more and more frightened the more he listened, and secretly sighed that Jinyiwei's work efficiency was extremely high, and with the efforts of Jinyiwei's spies, all the bad things Qiu Luan had done since he was a child were dug up, and everything was covered by collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country, embezzlement and bribery, molesting women, etc.

Li Mo, who had the chance to win, told the above charges in detail one by one.

It's just that Jiajing seems to have known and is not so angry.

And Jiajing's unexpected appearance made Yan Song and Li Mo secretly strange. And Xia Mu is a bystander, he vaguely glanced at a teacher Xu Jie, presumably this teacher has already secretly folded one step earlier, and the person who folded must be Yang Bo, a close confidant of the emperor and the current squire of the military department, and his good student Zhao Zhenji.

At this time, Yan Song glanced at the emperor with a murderous face, and then looked at Xu Jie, who bowed his head and did not speak, and decided to strike while the iron was hot, borrow a knife to solve the trouble in his heart, and hurriedly said: "As far as the minister knows, Xu Jie's relationship with Qiu Luan is close on weekdays, and His Majesty must not ignore it. ”

As soon as the words came out, Xia Mu knew that there was a good show, presumably Xu Jie had already expected that Yan Song would talk about his relationship with Qiu Luan, so he secretly joined Yang Bo to impeach Qiu Luan one step earlier.

This was something Yan Song never expected, but Emperor Jiajing, who heard this, suddenly dissipated his anger and showed a cloudy and uncertain expression.

"Show him Yang Bo's excerpts!" Huang Jin got the signal, took out a secret letter, and handed it to Yan Song with a smile.

"Look at it."

Yan Song's heart jumped, and he felt that the big thing was not good, so he opened the document and saw the eye-catching inscription - Xu Jie.

Suddenly, Yan Song, a scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion, the first assistant of the cabinet, and a young master, was finally scared, and his stiff body couldn't help but shiver, and he shuddered and handed back the song, and lowered his head in Jiajing's mocking smile.

Li Mo glanced at Yan Song, who was deflated, and smiled smugly at the corner of his mouth.

But at this moment, Yan Song's heart was turned upside down, he already understood that the silent person, the inconspicuous waiter of the Ministry of Rites, and the Xu Jie, who was respectful to him, were not a political nouveau riche, let alone a speculator. He is a power careerist with intentions, and a master of power scheming no less than himself. What he seeks is not just the official position of a scholar or a cabinet scholar, but his own position - the first assistant of the cabinet.

Yan Song was terrified and at the same time made up his mind that he must be completely eliminated before he replaced himself.