In the city of Zhongzhou during the rainstorm, there is a simple house.

In a hall in the courtyard sat an old man and a young man.

The old man had a blanket on his knees, his eyes were yellow, his face was covered with black age spots, he coughed from time to time, and the sound coming from his chest and lungs was like a blower in an ironworks, but even so, there was still a sense of righteousness on his face.

This old man, who is dressed simply and looks very poor at home, is none other than Jiang Rui, a famous minister of Yunqin and a spokesman for the Department of Justice.

The young man sitting across from him was Wang Buping, an umbrella maker who followed him out of Donggang Town.

"A few years ago, the Lisi Stargazing Platform found a red demon star flashing in the sky, and soon after that, it was the Dragon Snake Mountain Range, and the saints said that things were too strange and there must be demons, saying that there were demons in the caves of the great wilderness. Jiang Rui drank a bowl of medicinal soup, looked at Wang Buping with some sadness and said: "Since then, I Yunqin has not been peaceful, I heard that people were opposed, the prince fell, the saint went on the southern expedition, Zhou Shoufu retreated, Hu Piyi was defeated, and hundreds of thousands of Yunqin soldiers died on the battlefield. ”

Wang Buping didn't know what was the urgency of Jiang Rui's summoning him to meet, listening to Jiang Rui's words, he was just worried about Jiang Rui's body.

From the mouths of some officials in the court and several old servants in Jiang Rui's mansion before he came, he knew that Jiang Rui's health was getting worse and worse, and the medicinal stone conditioning was not improving.

After coughing violently a few times, Jiang Rui, who had a heavy face, gasped, looked at Wang Buping with a calm face, and said: "Recently, there has been a big movement in the court, and in a few days, there will be a royal capital department, which will be set up outside the Eight Divisions to deal with corruption among the officials of the Eight Divisions." ”

Wang Buping is no longer an umbrella maker in the town at this moment, just this sentence, his face suddenly changed greatly, "The governance of various departments is corrupt and does not belong to the jurisdiction of any department, so the real power of this imperial capital department is not very great." ”

Jiang Rui didn't answer Wang Buping's question, in his opinion, such a question is not a problem at all, there is no need to answer, he just said slowly: "Severe illness requires fierce medicine, Yun Qin's rule has indeed reached a very serious level, and the saint has set up a new department to treat Shen Zhen, so he can't use the old-fashioned team with many problems of his own, so to set up a new department, Liu Xueqing and Lord Liu will be in charge of the imperial capital department first." I have already recommended you to Shengshang and Liu Xueqing, and you will also be transferred to the Imperial Capital Section in the future to assume important positions. ”

Wang Buping was suddenly shocked, and said in a lost voice: "Students are only shallow learners, how can they take on great responsibilities!"

Jiang Rui coughed heavily, and said in a deep voice: "Don't be presumptuous, it is precisely because you are worried that you will be corrupted first as soon as you establish the department, so the saints are all new ministers, drastic promotions, and young people who dare to fight and are not afraid of power, this corruption is correspondingly simple, just two points, you are more than enough!"

"If the country wants you to take on a big responsibility, you have to bear it, and I will take you out from Donggang Town, not for you to pass the buck at such a time. Without waiting for Wang Buping to say anything, Jiang Rui said another sentence in a cold voice.

Wang Buping's palms were full of sweat, and finally he just gritted his teeth and said, "Students do their best." ”

Jiang Rui's face calmed down, he was silent for a moment, and said, "My life is short." ”

Wang Buping breathed again, and his face turned pale.

"I don't like to say pretentious words, that day the court discussed the Southern Expedition, I just happened to be in other provinces, not in the palace, otherwise I would have died at that time, and I wouldn't be alive now. Jiang Rui's face became extremely serious, and he looked at Wang Buping, "I came to you just to warn you about something." ”

Wang Buping took a deep breath, gritted his teeth and said, "Teacher, please speak." ”

Jiang Rui narrowed his eyes slightly, and said in a deep voice: "I know that you have great respect for Lin Xi, I only want to ask you one thing, if Lin Xi and Shengshang have a conflict in the future, will you favor Lin Xi for personal gain?"

Wang Buping's forehead was covered with sweat, he looked at Jiang Rui, and said in a trembling voice: "Teacher, why do you ask such a question?"

"Because I have always had a bad impression of Lin Xi, he doesn't seem to be in awe of the saint. Such a character is likely to be a great disaster, and a heroic character like Wenren Cangyue. Jiang Rui said coldly: "Previously, he was nothing except for his identity as a student of Qingluan Academy, but now his prestige among the people is getting higher and higher, and he can even guide some situations, which will naturally be more dangerous in the future." ”

Wang Buping opened his mouth, but he couldn't make a sound for a while, and his clothes were wet with sweat.

A look of disappointment flashed in Jiang Rui's eyes, and he said bitterly: "You have to understand one thing, no matter what mistakes the saint makes, he is always the saint, if our courtiers do not have the heart of loyalty and patriotism, their bodies are not right, no matter what wonderful things they do, they are already with bad intentions, just grandstanding." It is the Holy God who has given us the power to give advice and to seek the blessings of the people, and our power is naturally to be used to defend the Holy God. I know that you can't answer me for a while because you think it's impossible for Lin Xi to do what I said, but what if he really does! You don't need to defend him, you just need to promise me to punish the rebels, regardless of relatives!"

Wang Buping still couldn't make a sound, just nodded with a pale face.

Jiang Rui was furious, "Do you even have to hesitate about this foundation for being a minister!"

Wang Buping trembled, but Jiang Rui coughed heavily, poofed, and spurted out a mouthful of blood, and the clothes on his chest were dripping with blood.

"The teacher is angry! The disciple must remember the teacher's teachings! Although he dies, he will not give up!" Wang Buping was suddenly shocked, anxious, and kneeled in front of Jiang Rui.

"Well, that's my student. Jiang Rui showed a smile, staggered, and stretched out his hand to touch the top of Wang Buping's head, but he found that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't lift his hand, but he couldn't reach for a few feet. "It's time to go. This upright old minister, who has been worried about the country and the people all his life, sighed nostalgically in the torrential rain in Zhongzhou City, glanced at the vast heavy rain outside the window, his body suddenly relaxed, exhaled his last breath, and said the last sentence, "Don't forget to promise me." ”

"Teacher!"

"Your Excellency!"

In the sound of the rainstorm, a generation of upright ministers passed away, and the small courtyard was full of sorrow.

......

"These short-sighted civil officials, the so-called direct ministers, have a straight brain, what do they know!"

In the sound of heavy rain, in a corner tower in Zhongzhou City, a Zhongzhou guard general wearing a cloth shirt sneered and scolded: "There is not enough success, and there are more failures!"

"Lord Lu, do you think it's not good to set up the Imperial Capital Branch?"

Another general in silver armor looked at his angry boss puzzled and asked.

"Yudu Branch is good, but it also depends on when!" The general of Zhongzhou Wei in cloth said coldly and in a deep voice: "Serious illness needs fierce medicine, and we must also take advantage of the time when this patient is recuperating better, now when the two countries are at war, they will take drastic measures to purge corrupt officials and corrupt officials, and the more unbearable the rule of the entire Yunqin officials is, the more everyone is in danger, and the more corrupt officials cannot be killed for a while! How many chaos will be born here? Don't be in the front line before chaos and internal chaos!"

"It is true that the family property of corrupt officials can be used to fund military salaries, but now that we in Yunqin have not yet reached the limit of the shortage of money and food, what our military wants is smooth support! Some of them are corrupt officials, they can do things at best, and they will be killed and arrested, and they will wait for the war to be calmed down.

"Wen Xuanshu, the first assistant, only knows that he should inherit the saint, so he has won the support of many officials, and the vast majority of officials agree on this matter, even if those elders want to oppose it, under the pedantic power of those direct ministers, no matter how much they oppose it, they will be felt that they are not right!

After shouting angrily a few times, the cloth-clothed general still seemed to be angry, and then said coldly: "And this kind of new department is all about breaking the rules, who knows if there is anything dirty in it!"

The general in silver armor also seemed to be a hot man, and after hearing these words, he suddenly became a little angry, and said in a cold voice: "Lord Lu, since you think so, and you are not used to Wen Shoufu before, why don't we simply ask for a transfer and follow Gu Yunjing to General Gu!"

"How can this be. ”

The general in the cloth robe sneered, "The more this is the case, the more we have to bow down to Wen Shoufu Chen Chen, obey his orders well, and serve him well." ”

The silver-armored general's eyebrows furrowed, "Lord Lu, I don't understand. ”

"If you have an opinion about him, you will go, and those who are removed from power by him will be removed from power, then who is watching him in Zhongzhou City?" The cloth general's face calmed down slightly, looked at the silver armor general, and sneered slightly: "So the more this is the case, the more we have to show respect for him, and if we want to climb up with him, we must be loyal to him." Usually in front of outsiders, don't even mention his uncomfortable look, so that everyone can feel that we are loyal to him. ”

The silver-armored general was stunned, understood, and smiled, but then a little resentful and sad, "This seems to be too difficult for me. ”

"Even if it's hard, you have to do it. Even if you are poked in the nose and scolded. ”

The general in cloth said coldly: "But one day, others will know who is really for Yun Qin." ”

After a slight pause, the city defense general narrowed his eyes and said firmly: "Dean Zhang said that time will eventually prove everything. ”