Spring is warm, flowers are blooming, leaves are green, and birds are singing.

Beijing, Xidan, between the Huaili Hutong and the Beiyin Hutong of Ganshiqiao, in the Xunbeile Mansion where the magnificent façade is meaninglessly showing off, several so-called royal relatives and nobles in long robes and horse coats are huddled in the pavilion in the back garden, biting each other's ears and chattering about something, that kind of obscene and satisfied look, like rodents gnawing at the ears of dead corpses.

“……… It has been carefully investigated, and in the middle of the night in the Duke of Wuwei's Mansion, there are only two police officers watching the front door and the back door, and there are at most ten guards in the courtyard, and there are only eight police officers in the Prime Minister's Mansion until midnight, and there are five or six guards in the courtyard...... I discussed it with Duan Wangye, as long as thirty or forty people who dared to die were gathered, the thing could be done, but such a man is more difficult to find, and it costs a lot of money before and after, and I have limited financial resources with Duan Wangye, I hope you will do your best for us to love the country of the Xinjue Luo family......"

The person who spoke was none other than the owner of this mansion, the sixth brother of the current Guangxing Emperor, Zaixun, a lewd element who had killed countless Han dignitaries, including Liu Yun of Wuwei Gong and Wenyi of Zhide, countless times in his heart and mouth.

In view of the limitations of lust, on a certain cold morning without a warm woman's body by his side, Jae Xun finally made up his mind to vent that comforting hatred through practical means, and he needed to know that the heads of Liu Yun and others were rolling on the street one morning, being kicked around by a horse with white foam at the corners of his mouth and spewing moist and fishy hot air.

The thought of the solid "click" sound of those heads being trampled on by the hard hooves of the horses, and the tofu-flower-like brains splashing on the horses' necks, Zai Xun's fingers trembled with excitement, and with it, an impatient sexual desire.

"Money is not a problem, the point is, what if you kill Liu Yun? In other words, even if all the 12 ministers of the Cabinet are killed, what can we do? If you don't have military power, you can't do anything, and it's useless to kill a few people? ”

A young Baylor questioned.

"I think so, as long as Liu Yun and Zhang Zhigao die, we will immediately enter the palace and ask the emperor to personally preside over the government, and from then on abolish the prime minister, restore the imperial power, and the ministers of all ministries and provincial governors will be appointed by the emperor himself, and the minister of national defense can be appointed as the king, and the contemptible people can be appointed as the minister of the interior, and the rest of the ministries can be presided over by you at their discretion...... At that time, the emperor will give an order, count the crimes of Liu Yun and others, and at the same time reward the three armies, relieve the poor, and subdue the hearts of the army and the people, and the great thing can be ......"

Jae Xun said this without a trace of panic and uneasiness, as if some kind of justice of destiny had given him the sword to slay the demon under the brilliant and scorching light, he held the sword, floating in the air, and gave orders to everyone with the power of the mission, but it was a matter of course.

"The timing is not right, and we are still at war with Russia......

Another noble boy with a fashionable mustache shook his head lightly as if he was playing with the tip of his beard.

"Now is the right time, think about it, if this battle is won under Liu Yun's leadership, won't his reputation be even higher? This traitor is bound to be even more arrogant, maybe as soon as the truce is held, he will order the army to return to the capital, and use the military strength and the people's will to force the current emperor to give up the throne...... If Russia is finally defeated under the emperor's pro-government, the prestige of the imperial family will be consolidated, and the revival of the Qing Dynasty is expected to ......"

Duanjun Wang Zaiyi stroked his goatee and explained triumphantly, the emaciated flesh of his forties from time to time exuded hunger and thirst that did not correspond to the composition of consciousness, and these desires pointed naked to the word "power" with the help of his expression, but what he and many people around him did not know was that he was indeed seriously deficient in brain collagen.

"But I heard that the generals who are now in high positions are all pulled up by Liu Yun, and almost all the people in the political and financial circles are Wen Yi's pawns, Zhang Zhigao is just Wen Yi's puppet, Liu Yun and Wen Yi are two, one martial and one civil, control the world, and must be eliminated at the same time, but even if the two are eliminated by luck, if those generals with heavy troops collude with Wen Yi's politicians and chaebol forces to fight back in one fell swoop, where can we afford it?"

A young man who was shaking a paper fan with a picture of the scenery of the water town in the south of the Yangtze River asked slowly, this is barely human words.

Zai Yi paused for a moment, then waved his hand in disguise, and responded with a hard smile like a peach wood mask: "This Belle Lord is too worried, the so-called thief captures the king first, and there are cloud trees that fall and scatter, and the wall falls down and everyone pushes, and everyone admires power at the moment, and has no choice but to bow to Liu, Wen and others, if the emperor orders it, denounce Liu, Wen and others as traitors, and promote us to ministers in the DPRK and China instead, why worry about the generals, politicians, and rich people not bowing to us?" If you blindly linger and make a gesture that you have nothing to do with yourself, and see those Han people take away the country of their ancestors, then not only us, but even the emperor will want to be for Chang'an cloth and can't get it! ”

"Duanwang Ye is right, the rank can no longer think that it is none of his business! It's not Liu's death, it's my death, Liu Yun's intention to usurp the throne is clear, usurpation may happen at any time, I don't work hard to come out, the Qing monarch protects the imperial power, except for the traitorous ministers and the right thing, it is simply in vain for the descendants of Taizu, he should be reprimanded by the heroic spirit of Taizu during his lifetime, and he will be pointed out by future generations after death! ”

Zai Xun's words were impassioned, enough to make those conspirators who spent a lot of money in the eight major alleys and nine major gambling houses every day begin to consider whether to donate dozens of yuan to perfunctory him.

"Xun Beile is right, no matter what, you can't forget your ancestors, I have ten yuan here, and this month's pocket money is here, hey, a few concubines have been scraping tightly, and they really have ...... in hand" (Note: One dollar at this time is about equivalent to 200 to 300 yuan in another time and space in 2020, see setting)

"Oh, not long ago, my lady in the main room died together, and seeing that my wife was so sad, I had to mean a lot of meaning, and this meaning is over...... There are five yuan here, don't be too little, this is my sincerity to our emperor and our grandfather! ”

"Just accept these two yuan, don't be embarrassed, for the sake of our love for the world of the Xinjueluo family, even if the house is lifted, I am willing!"

"This dollar is the last bit of savings I've saved this year......"

After a while, a small pile of banknotes with the denomination of one yuan, two yuan, and Wu yuan was accumulated on Zaixun's fan, and a number of coins in one corner were pressed on the banknotes in a false way, as if they would be lifted off by the wind at any time.

The relatives and nobles began to disperse, and before leaving, they did not forget to talk about the money they had donated.

"Lord Duan, Xun Beile, I still have to take care of my finch, you are busy, I will go back first, don't forget me if you have news, I don't really care about the ten yuan, as long as I can help you, I will be satisfied...... My 10 quick bucks are really nothing! ”

"Xun Baylor, you must remember my five yuan, in fact, I am still very interested in finance, I originally wanted to participate in the last civil service examination of the Ministry of Finance, but when I thought that I still have to take the exam, I feel really uncomfortable, we are not the king's grandson, if the emperor wants me to manage the treasury, I can really manage it in an orderly manner, I really don't have a ...... cover"

"Money is such a thing, I never take it to heart, you don't have to worry about it, in fact, I'm not interested in anything else, factories and businesses are particularly concerned about these things, in fact, that Wen Yi has approached me before, asking me to be the minister of industry and commerce in his cabinet, I don't buy his account, but if it is the emperor's decree, of course I don't dare to resist the decree......"

"It doesn't matter if you don't have savings this year, but I've heard that there are many construction projects in the Ministry of Transport, and I know a lot about railways, so if I'm in charge of the Ministry of Transport, ......."

Jae-xun wanted to run into the house immediately and take out the French-made revolver decorated with golden lily patterns that the fifth brother Zaifeng had given him, and punch a hole more than eight millimeters in diameter in each of the six people who had left.

But Zai Yi carefully collected the money on Zai Xun's fan, and counted one banknote after another, one coin at a time.

"Twenty-eight dollars and four cents, not bad, it's better than not having a point, you can get a few small pistols."

Jaeyi smiled contentedly, the ends of his goatee quivering nervously like the tentacles of an arthropod.

Jae Xun looked disgusted or hated: "These guys, what are they, they treat us as Hanako, and dare to make blatant demands!" If I were to be the Home Secretary, the first thing I would do was send the police to raid their homes! If you don't have money, cry poor with me, okay, I want you to be really poor! ”

"Who is really poor!"

Out of the cobblestone road came a young prince, dressed in a luxurious gown decorated with red and green gemstones at the neckline and shoulders, with a black accent, a knee-high hem, and a boat-shaped hat adorned with feathers, dressed heroically, but his face was undisguisedly melancholy.

"Fifth brother...... What are you doing here. ”

Jae-xun was a little surprised, and his mouth was slightly distorted in an illogical direction.

The person who came was the brother of Zaixun, the fifth brother of the current Guangxing Emperor Zaifeng (the emperor's second brother, third brother, and fourth brother had died one after another), when he was twenty-one years old, the sixteenth year of Guangxu was 1890, and his father Prince Alcohol (in real history, Prince Alcohol died in the fifteenth year of Guangxu, that is, in 1889), he was only seven years old at the time, and he was called "Xiao Alcohol" at the time.

"Don't be a fool, I know what you want to do."

His Royal Highness Prince Zaifeng did not intend to go around in circles on the meaningless basis with the wayward younger brother in front of him.

"Fifth brother, in fact, I ......"

"You should call me Your Royal Highness, what should I do when the prince of the county meets the prince, the "Imperial Imperial Family Rules" in the nineteenth year of Guangxu is clearly written."

Duanjun Wang Zaiyi just wanted to interject, but was stopped by Zaifeng: "Duanwang Ye, the young man is ignorant, forget it, you can make do with it, it's too unusual." ”

Zai Yi snorted twice, but didn't dare to speak.

"You are doing this because you want to put the emperor to death!"

Zaifeng took off his hat and slapped him on the arm twice.

Zai Xun's face was horizontal: "The fifth brother said this, it is to let us sit and wait for death!" ”

"Stupid, as long as we all keep to ourselves, we have helped the emperor, and now that the Manchu and Han are converging, we are also Han people, and then we will annoy them, and then we will annoy them, now it is not as good as in the past, the military power, financial power and power are in the hands of others, and blindly messing around can only bring about self-destruction! Think about it again, if the emperor is of the same mind as you, how can he listen to the words of those Han people again and again, but alienate the Eight Banners and relatives and nobles? ”

"The emperor is under house arrest!"

"It's not like that at all, I'm still talking to the emperor today."

Zaixun suddenly became excited when he was pricked in the ass by a needle: "What did the emperor say?" ”

"The emperor said that he was a little bored, and he wanted to go out and relax, but as the supreme commander of the base camp, he couldn't leave."

"That's all, nothing else?"

"What else do you want?"

"Why don't you ask the emperor, why did you let the Han people take power!"

Zaifeng fanned his hat twice in front of him, revealing an impatient look: "Why didn't you understand, I just said, the Manchu and Han confluences, we are also Han, you, don't always be in a robe and a horse coat, look at you like that, change into a suit, be spiritual, don't let people say that we are old-fashioned, don't know fashion, didn't the emperor change his suit earlier?" ”

"I'm going to see the emperor!"

"Presumptuous! Just what do you want to say to the emperor? Do you want him to get rid of those veteran ministers who have made outstanding achievements, and appoint a boy like you who doesn't know the depths? If it weren't for the blessings brought by Liu Yun and them, would our emperor be as majestic as he is now? You give me some points, don't always cause trouble, as long as we don't embarrass the emperor, the country is prosperous, that is, the credit of our emperor, this world is still the world where we love the Xinjue Luo family. ”

"Fifth brother, you are too naïve!"

"Shut up! Are you qualified to talk to me like that? ”

Zaifeng shrugged his eyebrows, raised his forehead angrily, and swept his gaze, positioning it on the small pile of banknotes and coins in the hand of Zaiyi, the king of Duanjun.

"What is this?"

Zai Yi nodded hurriedly and replied: "Your Royal Highness, this is the money for a few friends to drink flower wine." ”

"No, it's money for the Assassins."

Zaifeng hit the nail on the head, and Zaiyi's cheeks trembled: "This ...... This...... Your Highness is wise......"

Seeing that Zai Yi was just a few dimly colored banknotes and a few textureless coins in his hand, Zai Feng's anger quickly melted into cold and damp sorrow like ice and snow by the fire, and he couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

"How much is it?"

"Twenty-eight pieces and four ......"

"What a faithful ......"

Zaifeng's tone seemed to be mocking others, but it was full of self-deprecating helplessness, and after sighing, he took out three rounded bills from his pocket.

"This is my part, where do we meet tonight?"

Zai Yi let out an "ah" with a confused face.

"Drink flower wine, didn't you say that you drink flower wine together? I'll make up a piece too, okay? ”

Zai Yi suddenly covered his face: "Okay, okay, why can't you do it......"

"Haven't decided where to drink yet? After all, we are royal nobles, and we need to find a decent and hidden place. ”

Zai Yi immediately came to the interest, familiar with the introduction: "This is easy to do, there is a feather courtyard on the street outside Xizhimen, in front of which is an elegant dining seat for beautiful women playing pipa and guzheng, but there is a secret room in the backyard, which is specially for the gentlemen who are not good at showing their heads to drink flower wine inside, I am a regular guest there, and now I send someone to contact, and I will take a sedan chair to enter through the back door at night, even if someone sees it, it is nothing......"

Zaixun was anxious: "Lord Duan, this is our capital for the incident......"

Zaifeng snorted in his nose: "What did I just say, what are you still thinking about?" Tonight, I put together those few people who donated money, saying that it was all a joke today, but in fact, it was to make money for drinking flowers and wine, and killing people or something was all, do you understand? ”

Jae-hun turned his head, biting his lip and not replying.

Zai Yi smiled and came over to play the round: "Xun Beile understands, he is so angry, Your Highness, you are angry, according to your orders, I will send someone to contact Wenyu Yuan and those boys, is it okay at eight o'clock tonight?" ”

"Nine o'clock."

"Yes, nine o'clock, you are not familiar with it, can I arrange a car to pick you up?"

"Arrange it well."

"Yes, yes, it must be ......"

Zaifeng put on his hat, brushed the gorgeous feathers on the top of his head, and walked away with his hands behind his back.

When the prince's back disappeared into the complicated flowers and trees, Zaixun childishly kicked the vermilion pillar of the pavilion: "Hmph, I won't give up, Liu Yun is a traitor, I must not let you live in this world!" ”

Zai Yi stuffed the money into the hidden pocket in his sleeve, and by the way, he replaced the explicit flattering smile on his face with a mask of concern: "Lord Belle, the matter has come to this, don't be reckless, listen to His Highness, the coming day will be long......"

"Hmph, it's going to be a long time, it's not going to be long!"

Zaixun said hatefully, and then imitated the posture of His Royal Highness Prince Alcohol, put his hands behind his back, and strode away with his head held high.

In the gazebo, Zai Yi stroked the hidden pockets in his sleeves with a strong sense of fullness, his face was sprinkled with mockery and self-righteous powder, and his ram-like throat struggled to squeeze out his own words: "I can't be in a hurry, I can't be in a hurry, my son, wait, whether it is the Qing Dynasty or Great China, the throne in the Forbidden City, Daddy will definitely help you get it...... When the time comes, what do you care about Prince Baylor, Liu Yunwenyu, you don't all have to bow your head to me obediently, hum ......"

At night, in front of the Duke of Wuwei's mansion, under the white light of the lotus-shaped electric hanging lamp, a Wanghu car with a black jade luster swimming around it came to an abrupt halt.

The middle-aged man who got out of the car was dressed in civilian clothes, about 1.80 meters tall, with a slender figure and sunglasses above his beautiful cheeks.

The man dressed as a butler came over and asked, "Is it His Excellency the Chief of the General Staff?" ”

"I'm Yang Zhengjin, and Wu Wei sent me here."

"Please come with me."

The two walked through the Chinese cloister and the wide baroque vestibule, the sound of leather boots crashing on granite slabs resonated with the sound of falling water from the fountain in the center of the courtyard, the street lamps lit lazily, the flowers and trees solidified like oil paintings in light and darkness, and the humid air was filled with an inexplicable, almost non-existent sweetness.

With a slightly indescribable oriental flavor, the three-story bungalow less than twenty meters from the fountain towered between the sluggish linden, fir and hehuan trees, and the quiet, dreamlike white light in front of the gate decorated with the golden pattern of the golden huan pattern, for a moment, Yang Zhengjin thought that his dream was too nonsense.

The so-called reality may only stay in the owner's study, which is located in the middle of the second floor of this bungalow.

This is an even more nonsensical idea.

Yang Zhengjin knocked on the door of the study, and the butler nodded to him and walked away with mechanical steps.

"Come in."

Yang Zhengjin pushed open the door, and Liu Yunzheng, who was dressed in a marshal's uniform, was sitting behind the table and staring at him with a monotonous expression.

"Sit down, do you want coffee?"

"Xie Lu Xie, don't bother."

Liu Yun rubbed his eyes, and there was a slight tired sense of relaxation in his voice: "Okay, then, how are things going?" ”

"After receiving your order, I immediately sent the Celestial Group of the Eagle Wolf Team to investigate, and there was news before dinner today. In addition, the work of creating evidence of the upper echelons of the Republican Party involving contacts with the Russian intelligence agencies has also proceeded smoothly, and in the next two or three days, this evidence can be transferred to the National Security Agency through secret channels, and some of the evidence will also be sent to neutral parties and foreign newspapers according to the plan, and the Republic of China Party is dead this time......

"Good, hard work."

Liu Yun nodded with satisfaction to his confidant, this is enough, the method of rewarding merit is not suitable for high-level tools, Liu Yun attaches so much importance and trusts Yang Zhengjin, and naturally understands what kind of reward Yang Zhengjin needs - that is, the special attention and trust that surpasses others as always. Liu Yun thought that seeing through the heart of tools was his specialty, of course, he did not doubt that this kind of expertise might be distorted and deformed due to the exhaustion of his mental power, he firmly believed that his superiority in mental power was better than that of any time and space traveler who came with him.

"By the way, how is the matter with Wu Dingguo, I heard that the verdict was pronounced in two days?"

"It's been settled, after the trial yesterday, I personally went to appease Wu Dingguo, telling him that he will definitely be saved, let him obediently do what the court arranged, presumably he won't tremble when he is blindfolded and facing the muzzle, thinking that he will be saved immediately, and then he can go abroad to live in seclusion, marry a blonde beauty as his wife, and rest his life - he was shot through the skull by a bullet when he was so cranky, what a happiness."

Yang Zhengjin obviously had no sympathy for the old comrade-in-arms who was about to go to Huangquan.

Taking advantage of his authority as the director of the logistics department of the General Staff Department and Liu Yun's status as a beloved general, former army general Wu Dingguo, who accepted bribes totaling 3 million yuan (equivalent to 600 million to 900 million yuan in 2020), asked Yang Zhengjin and Liu Yun to save his life in the detention center after New Year's Day this year Later, Yang Zhengjin instructed Wu Dingguo to confess to the crime he had committed in France*, and when he was to be executed, he would be rescued by stealing beams for pillars and sent to a foreign country to live in seclusion. Wu Dingguo, known as the "0.12 ton person", did everything for his life, so he had to do it, and now the court trial has ended, and the verdict will be announced in two days, Wu Dingguo is dead, and he can still die with the illusion of life, compared to Ding Jieyun and his gang who were killed with the fear of death, isn't he much happier?

Liu Yun also thinks so.

"Also, the three divisions of the land group responsible for monitoring the royal family found that the emperor's sixth brother Beile Zaixun and Duanjun Wang Zaiyi showed signs of instability."

As the current head of Liu Yun's secret intelligence organization, the Eagle Wolf Team, Yang Zhengjin's ability to know the Dao is much more splendid than what he wants to know.

Liu Yun let out an emotional "oh".

"Beile Zaixun and Duanjun Xiang Zaiyi often convene clans to discuss current affairs, and from time to time make some radical remarks against the imperial court officials, which is nothing, but recently when the second section of the wind group conducted an investigation of the underworld nature around the Jingshi, it found traces of some of the extremely violent organizations and the royal family, and the third section of the local group immediately conducted an in-depth investigation, and the report submitted by the local group this afternoon pointed out that some royal family members were suspected of conspiring to hire murderers, and the target of the murder seemed to point to the imperial court officials...... The details continue to be investigated, and the main suspects have been locked up as Duanjun Wang Zaiyi and Baylor Zaixun. ”

"The royal princes and nobles can't hold it back again? Presumably he hasn't killed hard enough in the past ten years. ”

Liu Yun smiled coldly, and the middle finger of his right hand happily bounced two or three times on the table.

Yang Zhengjin lowered his head: "Do you want to ......?"

"To continue surveillance, it is important to gather sufficient evidence, and of course, if necessary, you will be asked to produce evidence."

"Understood."

Yang Zhengjin remembered a nonsense sentence he heard in middle school that was maliciously tampered with: "There is no difficulty, and you have to create difficulties!" ”

The original words are about the bold words of a great figure in middle school history textbooks: "If there are conditions, you must go to school, and if you do not have conditions, you must also go to school when you create conditions." ”

If there is no evidence, then create evidence.

History has been made, but what is the evidence?

Liu Yun did not have the habit of indulging his subordinates in a daze, with a thick oak desk as the support, the index finger of his right hand was slightly raised to Yang Zhengjin: "Unstable, are there only these two people?" ”

"...... are you referring to"

"What is Wen Yi doing today?"

"Yes, he is in Qingdao today, and according to the schedule of activities, he should visit Zhang's Wine Group Company and Qingdao Commercial Port today, accompanied by Baron Zhang Jian, president of the Shandong United Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and in the evening he will attend a banquet held in the private residence of Baron Zhang Jian, attended by famous business people from Shandong."

"The rich men like him very much."

"Yes......"

Yang Zhengjin feels that at this time, there should be no better choice than to say the word "yes".

"What about Zhang Zhigao?"

"After the cabinet meeting this afternoon, he and Luo Sulan went to the Central Party Headquarters of the Central Committee of the Chinese People's Party and held a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Central Executive Committee of the Central Committee of the Central People's Party.

"Probably there won't be a record, so leave it alone."

"Yes."

Gently, there was a knock on the door that was very familiar to Liu Yun.

"Come in."

Respectfully pushing the door in, it was the housekeeper who had just led Yang Zhengjin to the study, holding a silver tray carved with morning glory vine patterns in his right hand.

"There is a gentleman who asks to see him, and this is his name."

The butler handed over a delicate fold with a green water trim.

Liu Yun opened it and looked at it, his expression was secretly suspicious, and then he smiled at Yang Zhengjin: "Xiao Yang, who do you guess is coming?" ”

"It won't be Zhang Zhigao."

"If you guess wrong, I'll let you know right away - Lao Yue, please bring that gentleman to the study."

"Yes, sir."

The housekeeper surnamed Yue bowed slightly, and stepped back gracefully holding the tray.