At the end of October in the first year of Wuping in Northern Qi, late autumn, Wuxiang of Qi State.

After days of cloudy clouds and howling cold winds, and the desolate wilderness was lonely, a few birds stood on a dead tree in the open plain, combing their feathers with their short beaks, raising their heads from time to time, and looking vigilantly in the direction of the mountains and forests. From under the tree, the earth trembled.

Suddenly, a large flock of crows was startled, rising like black flames, and flew in all directions with a scream. The rumbling sound of horses' hooves suddenly appeared on the mountain road in the forest, and the ground shook. Countless swords, guns, swords, and halberds flickered with a strange cold light. The frightened beasts gathered into a torrent that passed through the end of the mountain path and into the wilderness.

The emperor issued an edict for the autumn hunt, and all the accompanying princes must participate. Gao Xiang, the king of Rencheng, commanded at the forefront of the team, and the hunting team instantly turned into three or four strands, and he himself rushed out of the mountain road with a team of knights, outflanking them in a roundabout way, preventing these beasts from crashing into the emperor's dragon tent.

The Emperor's temporary residence was built like a palace on a hill, and in this gloomy weather, the candlelight was brilliant and the singing was pleasant. Emperor Gao Wei sat on the ground covered with wolf skins, looking down on the hunt below from the high platform.

A few foxes jumped around in the wild grass, beating like flames, flashing for a moment, and the sound of horses' hooves soon sounded, and the king of Nanyang, Gao Xuan, was surrounded by a group of guards, and the horses shouted wildly, besieging and killing these few fire foxes with bright fur. Not far away, another group of princes were chasing the galloping deer, and their feathered arrows were shooting in all directions, and the calm wilderness turned into a natural hunting ground. Inside, there is also a colorful tiger.

"Pass the order, whoever shoots that tiger, heavy reward!" Gao Wei withdrew his gaze from the hunting ground, and asked with a smile: "Zhongqing thinks that we can get something from this hunting?" When the emperor opened his mouth to ask, he naturally had to answer cautiously. Just grab a tone and slap the sycophants. How could Zu Ting not show his face at this time? When everyone was still thinking about how to deal with it, he immediately replied: "Your Majesty is blessed with Qitian, and all the ministers can ride ** Zhan, you can naturally get full merit, and the ministers will congratulate Your Majesty first!" With that, he drank all the wine in his glass. Gao Wei smiled, and ordered the palace maid to fill the wine glass in front of Zu Ting, Zu Ting was naturally flattered, and after a modest statement, he drank it all. The courtiers applauded. So Cushman & Wakefield gave the wine again.

The emperor did not make the atmosphere very serious, and declared that all etiquette should be simple, and there was singing and dancing. The doors of the temple on both sides were closed to block the harsh wind on the mountain, and a huge brazier was erected in the corner of the hall, warm as spring. The ministers raised their glasses and drank wildly. Under the gate of the palace, the two teams of palace ladies came up neatly and neatly, like a curtain cloth, picked up musical instruments, knelt down at the bottom of the palace steps, or played the kite, or blow the flute, and the sound of the pipa and the rumbling of the horse's hooves below corresponded. More than a dozen young beauties walked in steps, wearing quaint palace skirts, and began singing and dancing......

The dance music was moving, but Cushman William's thoughts drifted into the distance. There was not a ripple of happiness in his heart, only a heart full of worry.

After a while, he beckoned Lu Ran and commanded a few words. Zu Ting was ostensibly watching the song and dance, but in fact he was secretly observing His Majesty's face, thinking about what made His Majesty dislike, wait a minute, if His Majesty brought it up, how should he deal with it, etc., ......and so on, suddenly, he saw the emperor's personal interior coming, and whispered in his ear: "Your Majesty summons Doctor Zu ......" Over there, the emperor had already stood up and walked towards the apse. Zu Ting hurriedly put down the wine glass and tiptoed away.

Gao Wei went straight out of the apse, pushed open the door, and there was a flat ground under his feet: "Six Towns, do you want to know how to deal with it?" When Zu Ting heard this, he hurriedly said: "Your Majesty rest assured, the minister has his own countermeasures, and he will ensure that he will not cause chaos to His Majesty......"

"Oh?" Gao Wei looked at him, tugged at the corners of his mouth, and said, "What is your countermeasure?" ”

Zu Ting's old face bloomed with a flattering smile, and said: "I often walk by the river, how can I not get my shoes wet?" Those Qiu Ba, all of them are not clean, and they are a large piece of land, and there is no faster way to start than in this regard......"

Gao Wei was speechless for a long time, and glanced at him, I am afraid he is the only one who can say this kind of shady means of struggle so openly:

"You're an old thing, but you're honest......"

"Your Majesty's praise, this is the duty of the minister, ha, the duty ......"

"What you just said is good, I often walk by the river, and there are shoes that don't get wet, but ...... Have you forgotten yourself? ”

Zu Ting almost fell headlong, his old face was rarely red for a long time, and he said, "This ...... This ......"

He was bent on making immortal achievements, but he forgot about it. When it comes to corruption, although he Zu Ting is brazen and refuses to admit it, he still has points in his heart...... Let a person with countless black spots impeach others for corruption, Zu Ting's fate will only be more miserable than theirs. He himself is a small pigtail innumerable, and the six towns are also quite fierce, and when the time comes, I am afraid that he will die without a whole body.

Gao Wei sighed in disappointment, "Whoever takes the lead in this matter can do it, but it can't be you, otherwise how can you convince the public?" ”

"Why don't you let Han Li ...... them?" Zu Ting changed people.

Gao Wei flatly refused: "No, I have changed my mind, they don't want to express their position, and no one is allowed to impeach......"

"Your Majesty?" Zu Ting was stunned, although the ancestors of the past dynasties had to rely on the six towns, they were all afraid of the six towns, there was such an opportunity to overthrow the six towns, how could His Majesty take the initiative to give up?

"My primary purpose is to deepen reform, not to create infighting...... Let the six towns and I be separated from the imperial court. Moving them is tantamount to shaking the foundation of the Great Qi state, and now I am far from the time when I will control the authority by excluding dissidents......"

"But Your Majesty, if you don't move them, they will obstruct Your Majesty!" Zu Ting was shocked, thinking that the emperor had shaken his original intention in the face of the pressure of the six towns, at the beginning, he put forward the attention of the whole Sinicization Xianbei, and the main idea was also his, most of his efforts were on it, his merits for thousands of years, and the name of later generations, all pinned on it, and he had been planning for so long, waiting for the emperor's retreat? This is absolutely not a no-go!

"I told you not to touch them on this charge, this ...... You can't do it, it's not enough! Gao Wei put his hands behind his back, looking into the distance, people neighed and horses barked, and people were noisy, "I want to rectify them, but not immediately, if I rectify them in the name of corruption, I can't move their foundation, and it is easy to be counterattacked, if I don't make a move, if I make a move, I will definitely uproot the power of these cockroaches......!" ”

"After you return to Jinyang, you will focus your work on the rectification of various places, and you must especially understand the situation of the Jinyang Army. Especially, check the situation of empty salaries! ”

As soon as Zu Ting heard that he was involved with the Jinyang Army, he immediately retreated, and said with a bitter face: "Your Majesty, this Jinyang military affairs even Duan Dazai dare not say that he can completely control it, those generals, there are many doors behind their backs, if this is investigated, it will be discovered......"

Those generals have a bunch of soldiers and horses in their hands, but they are not vegetarians. They also dared to make trouble in front of Gao Huan. Not to mention asking His Majesty to dispose of his ancestors.

Cushman & Wakefield said unhappily; "Naturally, I won't let you charge ahead, if you can't check it openly, you can still come to the dark. Zheng Yu made a note not long ago, saying that he wanted to investigate the people of the world...... "Zu Ting is a personal essence, and he immediately comprehended the essence," Your Majesty means that the sound of the east strikes the west? Sure enough, it's a good plan! ”

"The key is to census the population, helping you count the Jinyang Army is just ...... incidentally" Gao Wei was silent for a while, and said: "This matter has not been brought out for discussion, if Zheng Yu takes it out at that time, you know what to do, right?" ”

"The old minister understands! The minister will definitely not go against Zheng Shangshu! Not only did he contradict him, but the minister also had to push Zheng Shangshu to ......" Zu Ting's eyes glowed green. Yushitai has extended his hand to the major states and counties of Daqi through the rectification movement, and the household department is also going to be developed, now is not the time to avenge personal grievances, in extraordinary times, he and Zheng Yu should join forces! The previous grievances will be counted later!

How many years can Zhao Yanshen stand in the imperial court? If he goes down, Zheng Yu will be Zu Ting's biggest competitor!

Gao Run, these sect kings, will definitely not be in His Majesty's consideration.

This is also the reason why Zu Ting is so enthusiastic and anxious, he has to compete with Zheng Yu and accumulate political capital.

Sinicization Xianbei and cutting power in six towns, this is something that many prime ministers of Daqi have not done!

If he Zu Ting does it, will he still have the position of Prime Minister Yuanfu?

"You can just watch it......"

Cushman returned to the front hall, and the feast had just reached its climax. At the foot of the palace steps, the dancers kept spinning their bodies, their clothes were lightly swayed, all of them were drenched in sweat, and they were panting slightly, showing endless enchantment......

Cushman waved his hand, and the song and dance stopped in an instant. After drinking a glass of wine, he lifted the longbow on the shelf, and strode out of the hall, under the mountain, a group of knights were besieging and killing the tiger, and the tiger's body was covered with blood. In the face of a desperate situation, the tiger went crazy and opened its bloody mouth to bite the surrounding knights, Nanyang Wang Gao Xuan was the first to fall off the horse, broke two ribs, almost died in the tiger's mouth, and was picked up by the guards.

Gao Wei stretched out his bow and aimed at the throat of the tiger, and suddenly, the tiger ghost left many knights behind and pounced on the mountain bag, as agile as lightning. The forbidden army around was shocked, and drew their swords in front of them, "-Escort!" Gao Wei stared at the tiger, and when the tiger was about to pounce, the tiger suddenly rolled down, and two feathered arrows penetrated the back of the head, and the tip of the arrow directly penetrated the mouth, nose and left eye!

While the crowd was still in shock, the Emperor laughed and asked, "Who shot it?" ”

One person from each of the forbidden army horsemen and the left and right ministers who went down to hunt stepped out: "The minister is Xian Yu Shirong (Yang Su) See Your Majesty!" ”

Not long ago, Kaifu Yitong Sansi and Zhengzhou Assassin Shixian Yu Shirong were recalled to the dynasty and sealed the general of the cavalry.

And the young general who led a team of elite forbidden troops, wasn't Yang Su the one?

Gao Wei bowed his head and waved his big hand: "Reward!" ”