Chapter 40: Fire Spider Ice Silkworm
By the night, Rou Zhao wandered in the post station, and did not leave for the time being, just now, in addition to the conversation between Zhang Zhongli and Li Zhong, he also heard a few special voices.
After finding the exact location of those voices, he quietly climbed on the roof and lifted the tiles, through the gap, Rou Zhao recognized Zhang Haifeng, Bai Zhijun and Wang Dianyu at a glance, and the fourth person sitting at the table with the three of them was a man with a yellow face and thin muscles, with deep eye sockets, obviously hollowed out by wine, even if this person didn't know Rou Zhao, he could guess that he was Li Zhong, and several people in the room were sitting together in all directions talking about something, and they didn't notice that they were on top of their heads at this time, Another person was watching their every move.
"Lord Li, I'm afraid it's a bit inappropriate to call the three of us here late at night, right? Now Qingzhou City is mixed, secretly I don't know how many pairs of eyes are staring at us, and I don't know how to find a more hidden place to talk about things, but I asked the three of us to come to this post station to talk to you in person, the big thing is imminent, if you do this, I am afraid that you will startle the snake, if you miss the plan of the political envoy, we can't afford to take that responsibility" Zhang Haifeng crossed his arms around his chest, and his tone seemed to be quite dissatisfied with Li Zhong.
Regarding the indignation in Zhang Haifeng's words, Li Zhong was unmoved, he just pursed his lips and smiled, Bai Zhijun saw this and quickly patted Zhang Haifeng's shoulder twice with his hand, and said with a smile indifferently: "Eh~ Brother Haifeng, don't be impatient, Master Li must have something important to talk to us, we might as well listen to it." โ
"It's still Bai Zongqi who understands things." Li Zhong glanced at Zhang Haifeng with disdain, and then continued: "I'm here, with King Ning's message, Du Mingtang's position is unknown, just in case, the prince must find an opportunity to get rid of this hidden danger within seven days, after the matter is completed, the prince must remember the merits of the three, and the high-ranking officials will wait for the vacant position." โ
"What?!" All three were shocked.
This time, without waiting for Zhang Haifeng to jump in a hurry, Bai Zhijun, who has always been calm, took the lead in speaking: "How is this possible?!" Which of the thirteen state commanders is not the strength of the fourth grade, and how can we kill him with our three fifth grades? And it only gave us seven days to prepare! โ
Zhang Haifeng gritted his teeth and said: "This matter is absolutely not feasible!" King Ning, this is embarrassing us. โ
Wang Dianyu was terrified: "Asking us to kill the commander of the Street Division is tantamount to rebellion, how can this be done?" Du Mingtang's skills are definitely beyond the strength of ordinary people, isn't this telling the three of us to be sent to death?! โ
"Tut-tut, what are you panicking about? Who said it's just the three of you? Regarding the reaction of the three people at this time, Li Zhong seemed to have expected it, and was not annoyed by the refusal shown by the three people, he sneered and shouted towards the door: "You come in." โ
The door was pushed open, and Zhang Haifeng and the three of them looked at the door at the same time, and a tall figure stood there, smiling at them and saying, "Three, it's polite." โ
The person who came was Liu Ji of Qizhou.
Looking at this man who suddenly appeared, Zhang Haifeng and the three of them subconsciously held the saber behind them, looking at the tense situation in front of them, Li Zhong did not panic at all, he took a sip of tea and said with a smile: "Hey, didn't the three of you forget?" Your vote is still in the hands of the political envoy Lord Liu, since the three of you want to hold a big event together under the command of the prince, how can you just rely on a letter to show your sincerity? The bandit worships the mountain and offers a salute to open the mountain gate, all you want is a splendid future, the prince can naturally meet your requirements, but you always have to pay, right?
The next day, the royal list was posted in various places.
The common people gathered in a pile, and the crowded crowd surrounded the streets of Fangshi.
"Don't squeeze, don't squeeze! Eh, what's written? โ
"If you ask me, how do I know, the words on it may know me, but I don't know it!"
"You guys are in a hurry, wait for the official to read it to us, don't you know it!"
Although there is no distinction between classes in Jingguo, not every family has books to read, so instead of spending money to let children read and write every day, it is better to stay at home and help do some farm work.
This is the perception of most poor people.
Therefore, the yamen usually arranged for special officials to read notices to the common people.
A clerk stood next to the imperial list, reading the contents of the imperial list slowly and methodically, and after each paragraph, he had to translate it into the vernacular that the common people could understand.
The general meaning of the first part is: the general Wang Ai, swept the three kingdoms of Longliang and Yue, and contributed to Sheji, and the emperor granted Wang Ai the title of King Gu'an.
After listening to this, the onlookers chatted with each other, and the scene was suddenly in an uproar.
Because of He Qing's rumors and slander behind his back, the people's comments on Wang Ai are not as good as before.
Many people are secretly scolding the emperor for being stupid, but those rebellious words dare not be confided in public, so they can only hold it in their hearts.
Although they can't scold the emperor, they haven't said anything bad about Wang Ai these days, and they won't have any worries.
"How can such a person be crowned a king with a different surname..."
That is, he killed so many innocent people and angered the heavens, otherwise there would have been so many disasters! The flood in Jiangzhou and the drought in Yunzhou were all caused by him! โ
"Since ancient times, there have been rules that prisoners of war should not be killed, let alone 200,000 people! It's a sin! โ
"Humph! As the old saying goes! Kill people and set fire to the gold belt, build bridges and repair roads without corpses! Such a person, he is also worthy of the title of king? โ
"It's hurting the sky, it's hurting the sky!" An elderly man clapped his knees with his hands and cried out in grief.
Most people in this world are like this, listening to the wind is rain, they don't want to pursue the truth, and they don't care how many good things you have done for them in the past, they will only grasp a bad thing and speak ill of you.
If a person has done a good thing in his life, and when he does a bad thing, he has become a hypocrite in people's mouths.
On the contrary, if a person who has done bad things all his life suddenly does a good thing one day, then he is a good person who has turned back.
This world is so strange.
A baseless rumor, everyone is the same, and once some things are said too much, they will be believed.
Naively thinking that "the truth is how it should be".
No one cares whether Wang Ai is helpless for the sake of the entire war situation, and no one cares whether fighting with 200,000 prisoners of war will drag down the entire army and even the people of Jingguo.
If the 200,000 prisoners of war are willing to surrender, it is easy to say, but it is difficult not to surrender.
When there is not enough food and grass, and there are not enough people to eat, what can you feed the enemy army of 200,000 people?
In the end, it is not to be spread on the heads of the people, and it is inevitable to pay food or increase taxes.
can't be raised, let alone left alone, it's an army of 200,000 people, if you just show your generosity and let them go, I don't know how many Jingguo soldiers should be sacrificed.
As soldiers, dying on the battlefield with dignity is the greatest respect that Wang Ai gives them.
But ordinary people will not think of this, rather than delving into so many truths, it is easier to float on the surface of the "truth".
Of course, not everyone is ignorant, and if someone slanders it, there will be someone who defends it.
Some people couldn't stand it and took the initiative to speak out to protect Wang Ai's reputation.
"Since the beginning of the general, all the things he has done are good deeds for the country and the people, he led people to give porridge and grain, built river embankments, and eliminated corrupt officials, which is not a great good thing for the benefit of the people? If it weren't for him, how would some of you live to stand here and speak?! โ
"A group of miscellaneous people who have forgotten other people's kindness after two days of full food, the king with a different surname who His Majesty has personally proclaimed, is it your turn to make irresponsible remarks?"
"Actually helping the enemy to speak, it's still not my Jingguo people!"
"Hey! I felt familiar just now, and sure enough, it's your old grandson, you old miscellaneous hair! I am embarrassed to hold an old face and scold the general for hurting the heavens and reason, one year I heard that you were sick in bed, and there were no children and daughters under your knees, who brought Lang Zhong to the door to cure your tuberculosis? Who brought someone to help you with farm work for half a month, it's only been a few years, and you forgot it?! โ
The white-haired old man who was hurtful in the previous sentence turned red, retracted his neck and didn't dare to say anything more.
The noisy noise came and went, and the people heard it loud, and the official in charge of reading it hurriedly waved his hand and scolded him, signaling everyone to be quiet: "What are you yelling about?" Whoever wants to quarrel, come back to the yamen with me in a while to quarrel! โ
Seeing that the official had spoken, the two sides of the quarrel relented.
After feeling that the scene was a little quieter, the official continued to read out the second half of the emperor's list aloud.
Approximate meaning: Due to years of fighting, the general suffered multiple old injuries on his body, and died yesterday.
Reading and reading, the official himself was a little confused, and he looked at it two or three times before he was sure that he was not mistaken.
โ......โ
โ......โ
โ......โ
The crowd that was still making a commotion just now became eerily quiet after hearing the sentence "death".
Time seemed to freeze, and everyone's eyes widened in disbelief.
Someone muttered, "It's not true... It's not true..."
"False... Fake, right? Did I hear me wrong..."
Those who slandered and insulted were all silent at this time...
In the crowd, some veterans who retired due to injuries were stunned for a while, and their eyes gradually turned red.
A short-legged man on crutches pointed at the crying veterans and scolded, "Damn! What are you crying about?! Father... Lao Tzu fought on the battlefield with the general, and witnessed him survive from the sea of corpses and blood countless times, how can he say that he will die! โ
It's a pity that his crying tone doesn't make him seem much stronger than those people.
He looked left and right and said to the people around him: "The general will not die, he must not be dead, definitely..."
He struggled to catch everyone he could, but none of them responded to him.
They also want to tell themselves that this is fake, but it is the emperor list, and it is the authority of Jingguo, how can it be fake.
"General, he... It's not going to die... This is not true! Woooooooo The battle-hardened veteran, who had not said a word when one of his legs had been cut off by the enemy, threw away his cane, sat down on the ground, and howled like a child.
Those who scolded Wang Ai were inevitably sad in their hearts at this time, just like a dream, and now they are only awake.
Everyone knows that the pillar of Jingguo is gone.
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