On May 20, the ninth year of Pingguang in Yanli, the weather in Yanjing on this day was not good, it was very dark, and the sky was full of dark clouds, but the rain did not fall for a long time.

E Qinglun went to the funeral yesterday, countless officials sent each other, and the emperor made a decree to allow E Qinglun's longevity to enter the Leopard Camp for a turn, so that this veteran who has been loyal for decades and has made great contributions to the Yan State can still take a look at his subordinates after his death.

The whole army wore filial piety, Han Mo and many generals of the Leopard Battalion sent each other all the way, dressed in white armor, and sent Eqinglun into the soil for peace.

As soon as the funeral of Eqinglun was over, the will came down immediately, today's court meeting, the civil and military officials went to the court to discuss politics, so early in the morning, the door of the East Palace opened, and the ministers entered the Yan'an Hall to tidy up, and heard the sharp voice of the deacon eunuch shouting "The ministers enter the palace", the two long dragons went hand in hand, crossed the Dongyang Gate, stepped on the white marble arch bridge, and went all the way, and finally two long dragons entered the Taiping Hall of the government.

Xiao Taishi ranked first among the Wenchen as always, sitting on the Nanmu carved chair, looking a little older.

The courtiers all knew in their hearts that although Taishi Xiao was active in dealing with the He family, but after all, the He family had his relatives among them, the woman hanged herself, and her grandson was beheaded, which was a huge blow to an old man in his twilight.

And everyone also knows that this time, the Han family has truly formed a mortal enmity with the Xiao family, and these two families will definitely collide violently in the coming days, until one side is wiped out.

If it was in the past, everyone believed that the Han family would be the ultimate loser, but now that the Han family is thriving in the court, its strength has increased greatly, and it has formed an alliance with the two major families of Fan and Hu, and the power is no longer what it used to be, and it is really difficult for the Xiao family to collapse the Han family, and it is almost impossible for the Han family to bring down the Xiao family with the Shenwu general Xiao Huaiyu.

Han Mo was going back to Beijing to take up his post, so he also entered the early dynasty.

A moment later, the voice of the eunuch came: "The emperor has arrived, and the ministers are early!" ”

Emperor Pingguang slowly came out of the side hall and sat on the dragon throne, and the courtiers immediately knelt down to pay homage and shouted long live, while the emperor waved his hand, "Zhong Aiqing is flat!" ”

The ministers got up, but they all saw that the emperor seemed to be much haggard and in a very bad spirit.

The eunuch stepped forward and said loudly: "There is a book to play, and there is nothing to retreat!" ”

So there were officials out of the ranks, played affairs, the courtiers were arguing again, more than an hour passed, the emperor looked even more tired, and waited for another matter to be agreed, then said lightly: "Tell me about the affairs of Yichun...... Master, what's going on over there now? ”

Taishi Xiao got up tremblingly, as if he couldn't stand still, and arched his hand: "Back to the Holy Lord, the Yichun disaster situation has generally stabilized. Xiao Huaijin, the secretary of the Ministry of Works, was stationed on the bank of the Dachang River and led the people to strengthen the embankment. The victims have also returned to their hometowns, and the local arrangements have gone very smoothly! ”

The emperor nodded the dragon's head slightly, and said, "Situ Jing is also capable!" ”

As soon as the words fell, a royal historian came out and said: "Qi Shengshang, Situ Jing is the county guard of Yichun, but he doesn't know how to clean himself, he is corrupt and perverts the law, and he colludes with the local squires to harm the people, and the ministers ask the saint to deal with Situ Jing severely!" After speaking, he took out a few booklets from his sleeve: "This is the paper written by the people of Yichun, there are merchants, farmers, and scholars......!" ”

The deacon and eunuch hurriedly ran over to take the paper and present it to the emperor.

The emperor took the paper, looked at it casually, and then said: "The charges on it, the officials sent someone to go this time, can it be verified clearly?" ”

Su Guanya, the secretary of the ministry, has already come out and said: "Qi Shengshang, Situ Jing's reputation in Yichun is extremely bad, and he does collude with the local gentry. The He family, who was exterminated before, had a good relationship with Situ Jing, and this is also something that the people of Yichun know, the He family plotted to rebel, this Situ Jing was in his position, but he didn't know it, and the crime was unforgivable! ”

At that moment, several people came out to impeach Situ Jing, and some people even said that Situ Jing and the He family's party were the rest of the He family's party and must be executed.

This time, most of them were officials of the Xiao family and the Su family, and the two sides had a tacit understanding this time, that is, they all wanted to put Situ Jing to death.

Needless to say, Situ Jing betrayed the He family, and even had his share in the thirteen red-headed folds, wantonly exposing the He family's guilt, as an ally of the He family, the Xiao family will definitely clean up this dazzling traitor.

In the eyes of the Su family, there is no doubt that Situ Jing and the He family have colluded, and now that the He family is gone, if Situ Jing is still in that position, he will either be recovered by the Xiao family or accepted by the Han family, no matter which of these two families takes Situ Jing, it will be harmful to the Su family, so it is reasonable for the Su family to kill Situ Jing.

The Xiao and Su families came out, and Situ Jing was almost certain to die.

The courtiers were all talking in a whisper, but Han Xuandao was calm and composed, and there was no fluctuation on his face, but Fan Yunao glanced at Han Xuandao.

Han Mo was no longer standing at the tail at this time, he had the position of the leader of the Imperial Forest Army, and he was in the middle of the military generals.

The emperor sat on the dragon chair, his expression was calm, and he said calmly: "In this way, this Situ Jing has betrayed my trust in him?" His eyes finally glanced at Han Mo, who had been standing in the court for a long time, and shouted, "Han Mo is here?" ”

Han Mo hurriedly stepped out of the ranks, bent down and said respectfully: "Weichen is here!" ”

The emperor looked at Han Mo and asked, "This disaster relief, you have been in Yichun County from beginning to end...... Do you know whether Situ Jing is guilty or not? ”

Han Mo's mind was racing, he didn't know that the emperor was facing the Manchu Dynasty's civil and military affairs, but he wanted to find himself to answer this question, in fact, he was not sure whether he could keep Situ Jing, after all, Situ Jing's position was extremely sensitive, and there were too many people who wanted to kill him.

The major families have their own plans, and it is expected that the Xiao Su family wants to kill Situ Jing, but as for the three families of Han Hu and Fan, it is their own thoughts.

"Minister...... A little heard, a little seen! Han Mo tried his best to be cautious in his language, in this court, if he said a wrong word, he would be attacked by others if he didn't do it well.

The emperor let out an "oh" and said, "Then do you think Situ Jing is guilty?" ”

"Guilty!" Han Mo said immediately, and then changed his words: "It's just ...... Sin does not lead to death, and it can even be said that Situ Jing's merit this time is greater than sin! ”

Su Guanya remained silent, but a royal historian had already said loudly: "Han Mo, do you want to exonerate Situ Jing?" Situ Jing's guilt is hard to escape, you have the intention to cover up, what are your intentions? ”

Han Mo smiled faintly, he had already seen this kind of vegetable market-like accusation in the court, but he just said coldly: "This lord, the Holy Lord is asking me about Yichun matters, and I am also asking the Holy Lord to take up my position, you suddenly interjected and came in, do you want to reprimand me, or do you want to prevent the Holy Lord from asking about state affairs?" ”

The imperial history was stunned, originally the court competition was a major feature of the Yan Kingdom's court, and he had always come over like this, he felt that there was nothing wrong, but Han Mo blamed him at this time, understatement, but the crime was very serious.

The emperor is the emperor after all!

Robbing the emperor's words, although the court and the central government often appear, but no one has ever accused it like this, if this matter is really discussed, it is a big disrespect, and the matter can become big or small.

A smile slipped across the corners of the emperor's mouth, but his expression was still indifferent.

That Yushi was speechless after all, and he didn't dare to say it again, he was afraid that if he said two more words, other forces would take the opportunity to make trouble, and he would really get a big charge in the court.

The emperor asked, "The merit in your mouth is greater than the excess...... What's the point? ”

Han Mo said respectfully: "Back to the saint, as the lords of the Ministry have checked, Situ Jing did get very close to the local squires during his tenure in Yichun...... For example, the He family, who had just been pacified because of rebellion, Situ Jing did have a friendship with them. After a pause, he said: "But Weichen thinks that as an official, he must always maintain a good relationship with the local squires...... Otherwise, if you want to benefit the people, I am afraid it will be very difficult. If you really want to do something, there is the obstruction of the local squire...... It's always hard to do! ”

The emperor nodded slightly, glanced at Taishi Xiao, and saw that the old lady's expression looked unusually tired, because he had just gotten up to do something, and his body standing in the court hall also shook slightly.

"The master is not in good health, let's sit down first!" The emperor said lightly.

Taishi Xiao arched his hand: "Thank you!" Slowly retreated to the chair and sat down, glanced at Han Mo, but asked: "Han Mo, you said that local officials should be connected with the local gentry and people, this old man feels that it is not unreasonable, if you can work for the benefit of the people and communicate with the people more, it is naturally a good thing." It's just that as far as the old man knows, Situ Jing has a close relationship with the He family, and it seems that he has secretly helped the He family do a lot of things. ”

Han Mo immediately said: "Hui Taishi, I have heard of these things, that is, the Dali Temple and the officials of the Criminal Department who went to Yichun this time, I think all of you have also heard of it...... It's just that as far as Xia Guan knows, Situ Jing is secretly doing things for the He family, and these are also legends on the market. When Su Keyong and Su Shilang were alive, he also led the officials to thoroughly investigate Situ Jing's criminal evidence...... Merely......! He glanced at Su Guanya and said, "It's just that the officials don't seem to have been able to find evidence of Situ Jing's guilt ......!" ”

Suddenly, several officials lowered their heads, in Yichun, Han Mo also took a lot of care of them, and the most important thing is that what Han Mo said was the truth, they really failed to find evidence of Situ Jing's crime, and they couldn't come up with evidence if they wanted to.

Situ Jing's own incriminating evidence was naturally destroyed long ago, and He Xuezhi's study was also burned down, so it was really difficult to find ironclad evidence to impeach Situ Jing.

The court argued about Situ Jing's guilt, in fact, it was necessary to redivide the forces of Yichun County, which involved a huge amount, and only by getting rid of Situ Jing could some families let their own powerful figures replace them.

The emperor looked at Su Guanya and asked, "Su Aiqing, can the officials have any evidence?" ”

Su Guanya's expression was still calm, and he said: "There is no solid evidence to return to the saint!" ”

"Hmm!" The emperor nodded slightly: "On the official side, it is normal for some rumors to attack...... After all, he is doing things for the imperial court, and he has offended some people, and it is inevitable to cause trouble from it. If it is because of some rumors, it is necessary to punish the senior members of one side, which always makes the courtiers feel cold...... Beijing officials don't know the difficulties of local officials, so they all have to be considerate of each other! With a faint smile: "Situ Jing was once sent to Yichun by Zhenqin, and he also has some talents. This time, he reported the He rebellion, and he also handled the post-disaster affairs in an orderly manner...... Speaking of which, he is also a talent! ”

All the civil and military officials were silent for a while, this is an extremely sensitive topic, and if you want to speak, you always have to be cautious, but everyone can hear that the emperor doesn't seem to want Situ Jing to fall.

Han Xuandao finally came out and said: "The saint is wise, if he wants to punish the criminal party and the important officials because of some gossip, and spread it, I am afraid that it will have a great impact on the statement of my court, and it will make local officials everywhere panic, which is not good for the society!" ”

Taishi Xiao coughed twice, and then said slowly: "The He clan secretly gathered equipment and weapons, as the head of one party, Situ Jing was unaware, that is also the responsibility of negligence, this is ...... But it's inevitable! ”

The emperor frowned, and then bowed his head and said: "The responsibility of negligence, the order is to be fined for two years, and the position of this county guard is ......!" The Emperor did not speak immediately, as if he was considering.

All the officials looked at the emperor and waited for him to decide.

The emperor thought for a while, and finally said: "The position of the county guard, temporarily dismissed...... However, the situation in Yichun is not stable now, first Situ Jing temporarily took over the post of county guard, if he governed Qingping within a year and made outstanding achievements, he would resume his original position, otherwise...... Let's change that position! ”

The ministers all looked at each other with different expressions.

The emperor didn't wait for the others to speak, and already said, "Han Mo, this time you have made a great contribution in Yichun, what reward do you want, just tell me!" After speaking, he looked at Han Mo with a hint of a smile.

The spirit of the ministers immediately shifted from Situ Jing's question to Han Mo's body.

There is no doubt that according to common sense, Han Mo is now highly valued by the emperor, and he has made steady progress in the Leopard Battalion.

But everyone has to think that the strength of the Han family has increased greatly now, if Han Mo is made the commander of the Leopard Assault Battalion, then wouldn't the Han family be as good as a tiger? Would the emperor like to see the Han family grow stronger?

So everyone was concentrating to see how the emperor would deal with the matter.

Taishi Xiao sat on the chair, his eyes slightly closed, but a cold light crossed his eyes, the courtiers focused their attention on Han Mo so quickly, but Situ Jing's question was settled in the emperor's words, and he sneered in his heart, this emperor is really getting more and more means.

It seems that the emperor took advantage of the funeral of Eqinglun to strike the dynasty once, and he has racked his brains to think about the countermeasures in the court today.

Taishi Xiao is not a fool, he knows the emperor's thoughts.

The emperor kept Situ Jing, which seemed to be a trust in his courtiers, but in fact, it blocked the opportunity for other families to compete for the power of Yichun, at least the power of other families could no longer touch the position of Yichun County Guard.

It was originally a fierce power struggle, but it made the emperor downplay and become invisible.

[..]