In this year's routine spring hunting, Zhao Bufan made an excuse to slip away again, and other civil and military officials were eager to take advantage of this opportunity to contact the emperor more, but he couldn't avoid it, and would rather accompany Zhu Lian at home than join in the excitement.

Of course, there is a more important reason, that is, it intends to avoid civil and military officials and imperial relatives in a low-key manner.

According to Qin Hui's judgment, in addition to the suspected instigation of the powerful ministers of the court, some of them are related to the emperor's relatives, that is to say, they are involved in the palace and even the harem.

Although the whole incident was resolved quickly, it seemed to be a trivial matter, but it was all because Qin Hui's emergency measures were proper enough, he pulled out these people with lightning speed, and stopped in time after roughly distinguishing the background, even if the other party revealed his identity, he treated it as if he didn't hear it, and treated it as if the other party was lying, so that the big thing was small, and the small thing was turned into a small thing, and the matter was quickly downplayed.

If this is not the case, then this matter will quickly become bigger, and the result will inevitably be unacceptable to Zhao Bufan.

Kaifeng Mansion is at the feet of the Son of Heaven after all, and now it is around the end of the year, if Emperor Zhao Ji learns that there is a big mess in the capital, no matter what the reason, the responsibility lies on Zhao Bufan, the prefect, then under pressure from all sides, no matter whether Emperor Zhao Ji wants to or not, it will inevitably be dealt with harshly in the end, not to mention how serious the punishment is, but it is inevitable to be demoted and transferred.

Qin Hui had a keen sense of smell and deduced the result of the extension of things, and knew that dealing with this complex situation was the core test that Zhao Bufan gave him, so he took emergency measures to quickly nip a big storm in the bud.

This is also what Zhao Bufan likes about Qin Hui, this person has courage, vision, knowledge of current affairs, clear power and strategy, is not soft-hearted when it is time to start, can also take a good sense of proportion, and has the ability to take on things, it can be said that he is in urgent need of people around him.

In particular, Qin Hui's last line of words on the document of the newspaper was extremely in line with his mind.

The words in that line read: I implore the adults to endure the anger of the moment and win for a long time!

This is said in a vague way, and no one else can understand it when it is taken out alone, but Zhao Bufan can see it very clearly.

In the past few days, Zhao Bufan has not taken that small turmoil seriously on the surface, and he is leisurely and comfortable, but in fact, he is also downplaying that incident, because his thoughts in his heart are exactly the same as Qin Hui's, that is, to endure.

The biggest enemy at the moment is Tong Guan, so you have to stare at him, no matter how complicated the environment is, you must deal with it simply, otherwise you will get yourself into a dead end, and you will always be led by others.

Therefore, he had to shirk again in this year's spring hunting, and even did not participate in all kinds of New Year's ceremonies, avoiding those who secretly conspired to harm him, the less he showed up, the less chance the other party had, and the excuse he said to the emperor was that Cai Xue's case had important clues and needed to be investigated urgently to avoid the clues being broken.

Cai Xue's case shook the government and the opposition, this kind of murder of the court members shook the foundation of the court, and the emperor Zhao Ji had been urging him to solve the case as soon as possible, so he naturally agreed, and promised to help conceal that he was infected with a cold and was sick at home.

In fact, on the morning of the second day of the first lunar month, Zhao Bufan had secretly left Beijing, accompanied only Zhiyuezhi, Zhang Xian, Shang Kunyang and Gongsun Sheng, and even Lu Deng was left in Kaifeng Mansion, as for Zhu Lian and Hu Sanniang, they stayed at home to stop guests, and during the first month, there are bound to be many Wenchen and Wu who will come to pay New Year's greetings, so they naturally need to stay at home to deal with it.

In addition, only Zhu Xiaosun, who is the inspector of the capital, knows about his departure from Beijing, and as for Zhu Bocai, he was ordered to send an envoy to Dali two months ago, and he is not in the capital at all, so it is naturally impossible to tell him.

Tokyo Kaifeng is not far from Xiangyang, it is not close to it, if you walk along the official road, it is only more than 900 miles away, Zhao Bufan took the horse as a substitute, pretending to be a traveling son, and arrived at the boundary of Xiangzhou in a few days.

Xiangyang is the seat of Xiangzhou, on the way to come, Zhao Bufan was very longing for Xiangyang, a thousand-year-old city, but he didn't think that since he entered the boundary of Xiangzhou, it was really miserable to see, the official roads along the way were full of wandering refugees, all dragging their children and mothers, with sallow faces, and their appearance was really worse than that of northern Xinjiang!

Some poor and homeless people really have nothing to eat, so they gnaw grass roots and pull tree bark along the way, and many old people or children can't stand it and starve to death on the side of the road.

Zheyuezhi was heartbroken when she saw this scene at first, and she generously donated money, but Zhao Bufan quickly stopped it!

It's not that he's ruthless, it's just that he can't save tens of thousands of refugees, how can he save them? How many can he save?

This is no longer a problem that can be solved by individuals, only the imperial court has the ability to do so.

But in fact, Zhao Bufan's heart is so painful, he has been forbearing!

When approaching Xiangyang City, Zhi Yuezhi happened to see a young mother, with her hair disheveled and in tatters, sitting quietly on the side of the road, holding the baby in her arms tightly, as if she was trying her best to warm the child with her face and arms.

"Extraordinary, that orphan and widow are so pitiful, the children are still so young, and the clothes are so thin, help them!"

Zhao Bufan's lips trembled, he quickly took off the fluffy robe he was draping on, took out a few pieces of broken silver from his money bag, and threw them over.

"Give!"

Zhi Yuezhi turned over and dismounted, hugged the robe and hurriedly ran over.

A moment later, Zhiyuezhi ran to the pair of orphans and widows, tossed for a while, and suddenly froze in place.

Zhao Bufan sensed that something was wrong, and hurriedly dismounted and followed.

"What's wrong?"

Zhi Yuezhi held the robe, her whole body twitched, and when she turned around, her beautiful face was full of tears.

"Mother and daughter...... Freeze to death!"

When the words fell, she had already fallen into Zhao Bufan's arms and cried bitterly.

Zhang Xian, who came with the war horse, could no longer suppress the anger in his heart, and scolded: "A son of a, Xiangzhou has become like this, as a governor, he neither opens a warehouse to release grain, nor accepts homeless people, let alone reports to the court, what does he want to do?"

Zhao Bufan clenched his teeth, his eyes were slightly red, and he quietly looked at the mother and daughter who were as quiet as sculptures for a long time, snatched the reins of the horse in Zhang Xian's hand, got on the horse, and showed a cold light in his eyes: "Tong Jian is the son of Tong Guan's younger brother, and it must be Tong Guan's instructions to conceal it or not, otherwise he would dare to do this!"

Zhi Yuezhi listened with resentment, wiped the tears on his face and said: "He Tong Guan has such a high prestige in the Western Army and has power all over the world, why do he still do such a thing?"

Zhao Bufan snorted coldly, his words angry.

"Tong Guan conquest of Wang Qing last year, defeated in Fangzhou, made Wang Qing and his gang soar, has been cut several ways of military power, the Privy Council was also involved in Zheng Juzhong, this Xiangzhou and Fangzhou are adjacent to each other, he installed Tong Jian transferred to Xiangzhou, I am afraid it is to deter the surrounding major prefectures, forcing them to conceal and not report, want to drag on and wait for the limelight to pass, if such a serious consequence is reported now, his Tong Guan's life is even more difficult!"

Yang Yizhong seemed a little silent, his grandfather Yang Zongmin was a member of the Western Army, and he was also a supporter of Tong Guan in the past, and the Zhejia Army has always remained neutral, and his father Yang Zhen served in the Zhejia Army, so in his cognition, Tong Guan fought for the interests of the Western Army everywhere in the court, and was a famous general who cared for his subordinates and could win battles.

But since he met Zhao Bufan in Kaide Mansion, he knew about the organization of ghost pawns, and began to gradually come into contact with the other side of Tong Guan, and his heart was greatly shaken, and now he couldn't accept it, so he stopped saying a word since he entered the territory of Xiangzhou.

Through the evaluation and long-term observation in Zhiyuezhi's mouth, Zhao Bufan has long recognized Yang Yizhong's personality, and now he can feel the complexity of his heart, but he never blows too much about Tong Guan's evil deeds, and only tells the facts in everything to avoid the other party misunderstanding that he is intentionally slanderous.

In this way, letting Yang Yizhong see it in person can make everything clear, and more importantly, Zhao Bufan hopes that Yang Yizhong can send a letter to his grandfather Yang Zongmin about everything he sees, which can make this group of Western Army generals with Yang Zongmin as the core and Tong Guan centrifuge, which can be regarded as a kind of differentiation.

At this moment, Zhao Bufan inadvertently turned his head to look at the silent Yang Yizhong, still didn't say much, and rushed to Xiangyang with everyone.

Outside the east gate, there were many refugees, all over the mountains, all of them were cut off by the closed gate and the wide moat, and no matter how much they cried, the guards of the city did not dare to open the gate and let them in.

Zhao Bufan, who also couldn't enter the city, had no choice, so he found a remote corner to rest for the time being.

Zhang Xian looked around, and soon ran and said: "My lord, this place can't stay for long, many refugees are staring at us, and they may have risen up in desperation, maybe they want to rob our horses and belongings. ”

Zhao Bufan's forehead wrinkled slightly, and he thought for a while: "I want to leave quickly, but you take a few taels of silver and go over to find some people to ask, be sure to inquire about the specific situation of Xiangyang City at the moment, and it is best to ask Wansheng Villa again!"

"Okay!" Zhang Xian nodded, turned around and left.

Zhao Bufan advised: "Be careful, there are too many homeless people at the moment, and they are chaotic, so be cautious in what you say and do!"

"Don't worry, sir!" Zhang Xian replied without replying, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Zhao Bufan stood up and patted the dust on his body, and motioned to Yang Yizhong, monk Kunyang and the others to pull out their swords and wipe them, so as to deter those who had bad intentions in the distance.

About half an hour later, Zhang Xian hurried back, his face full of anxiety: "My lord, Wansheng Villa is at the foot of Fulong Mountain, more than 30 miles southwest, but I heard that one of the refugees over there said that Wansheng Villa is also starting to evacuate Xiangzhou, if you don't hurry over, you won't be able to find anyone!"

When they came earlier, several people also inquired about the refugees, but they only knew about the call from Dakou Wangqing, and even the people didn't know the specific situation.

Zhao Bufan immediately asked urgently: "Then did you ask him about the military situation?"

"Yes, I've asked them all. Zhang Xian nodded, looked at the people in the distance, and sighed: "This tragic scene in Xiangzhou is all caused by Tong Guan, last year he led the army to conquer Wang Qing, not only brought the men and horses of the eight capital eunuchs, but also 50,000 people!"

"What?" Zhao Bufan stood up in shock. "50,000 men?" did he secretly transfer soldiers and horses from elsewhere?"

Zhang Xian replied: "It should be, according to Du Baozheng's statement, some of those soldiers and horses are armor in the style of van soldiers, and some are forbidden army armor, that is to say, when Tong Guan came to conquer Wang Qing, he must have transferred forbidden soldiers and horses to mix in it, and I don't know which soldiers and horses it is!"

Zhao Bufan's eyes flashed: "And then?"

This time, Zhang Xian paused, seemed to be thinking, and continued after a while: "That Du Baozheng said that when Tong Guan led the troops to crusade against Wang Qing, I don't know for what reason, he always urgently borrowed a large amount of grain from the people in the name of insufficient military food, and promised to repay it with interest after the victory. Although the surrounding prefectures were also in drought at that time, due to the relative wealth in previous years, the people had a lot of savings, and supported the imperial court to suppress the invaders, so they quickly raised a huge amount of food and livestock.

What is surprising is that Tong Guan lost the battle in Fangzhou, and the whole army was wiped out, and then the government never mentioned the matter of repaying the grain, so that the people who lent their savings were in great trouble, coupled with the severe drought last year, the material was extremely scarce, and the prices soared, and the surrounding prefectures were so chaotic, seeing that winter was coming, the local government was completely panicked.

Wang Qing took advantage of this opportunity to develop his forces frantically, gathered nearly 100,000 people, and erected a banner of all-out rebellion more than a month ago, but due to the extreme lack of money, food and materials in the surrounding prefectures, they began to burn and loot the people to supply military supplies. ”

In an instant, everyone fell silent.

Yang Yizhong's face was full of iron, his lips trembled, and it took a long time to hold back a sentence.

"How many people will die in this situation?"

"At least one or two million!" Gongsun Sheng spat out the staggering number in no uncertain terms.

Zhao Bufan was furious and burst into foul language for the first time in many years.

"Tong Guan, a dog mongrel, is pressed and not reported like this, which is simply inhumane!"

Zhi Yuezhi couldn't help it, her pretty face turned red with anger: "Then we have to report this matter quickly, the sooner we report it, the fewer people will die, see how he Tong Guan died!"

"Death, some people under Tong Guan's command are scapegoats, he can completely push them away, and he can naturally coerce people to stand up and take the blame!"

Zhao Bufan scolded angrily, after fighting with Tong Guan for so many years, he can be regarded as having a thorough understanding of Tong Guan, and continued with hatred: "As long as there is no evidence directly against him, then he has a way to get out, and I now think that he sent Tong Jian over to take the blame for him." As expected, the officials of several surrounding prefectures and prefectures are now under Tong Guan's control.

When the time comes, if something really happens, Tong Jian will be the main responsibility, and the officials of the surrounding prefectures and prefectures will be coerced to take the secondary responsibility, and Tong Guan will be able to deduce that he doesn't know anything at all, and that these people under him are messing around, and they can even stand up and kill their relatives in righteousness, who can tell the difference? What if you and I know it in our hearts? What do we use to testify against Tong Guan? After he was defeated, he returned to the capital, and he didn't directly intervene in this side of the matter at all, and he didn't catch him at all, how can he be convicted?

If there is not enough evidence and Tong Guan's henchmen have not been eliminated, how can those henchmen under his command be suppressed, and you can ask Yang Yizhong, if Tong Guan is killed directly, will the officers and men of the Western Army agree to it? In their hearts, Tong Guan is a famous general, a great meritorious hero who fought for the Southern and Northern Wars of the Great Song Dynasty, and who has made great meritorious contributions, who dares to kill indiscriminately? Not afraid of these people mutiny? Not to mention that Tong Guan still controls several armies around the capital, how can these people be appeased?

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