Chapter 4 Reenter the beam 2

When Xu Jinghong entered Daliang City from the gate, he had an illusion that he did not enter Daliang City. Because the Liang City in front of us is really too lonely, and it doesn't feel like the sound of the Central Plains at all. But the wide street and the towering mansion were still the same, which made him a little distracted for a moment.

At this time, the street feels wider than before, because there are fewer vendors along the street and shoulder-to-shoulder crowds. And the people walking on the street are also in a hurry, as if there is something urgent to do, and there is no one who stays and looks around. The only thing that is more than before is the spear-wielding soldiers who walk from the street to there from time to time. The cold spear ape and the blade shine coldly in the sunlight.

"I didn't expect that in just a few months, Daliang City would have such an obvious change..." sighing in his heart, Xu Jinghong's footsteps did not stop because of this, and still strode inward, which made the soldiers around him not pay much attention to him. Although the situation in the capital is a little tense, the nine gates are not closed, and the people can still go in and out, so it is not abrupt for Xu Jinghong to enter Daliang City.

Following the familiar road, Xu Jinghong came all the way to Nancheng. After a few turns, he came to the house where their group lived some time ago. Even if they have left, this house has been kept, and now it has naturally become the foothold after Xu Jinghong returns to the capital.

Xu Jinghong did not open the door to enter. He didn't want to be known that he had returned to the capital, and the quiet environment around him obviously helped him. After observing around and finding that no one paid attention to it, he pressed his hand on the wall and rushed into the wall with his bow.

The yard is not as dirty as not having lived for months. Of course, because Sun Zaiyuan, who stayed in the capital, always took time to bring people to clean it. They had already agreed that once they returned to Beijing secretly, they would meet here. Xu Jinghong reconfirmed the environment here and moved a potted plant to the wall after finding that there was no one else. This is the code he negotiated with Sun Zaiyuan. As long as he found this, he would come to see it alone.

After finishing all this, Xu Jinghong returned to his original room and spit cross-legged to quickly restore his physical strength and energy to the best state.

The next morning, Sun Zaiyuan brought several people from Jingwang Mansion to Nancheng. At this time, he was also very respected in King Jing's mansion, because he made a lot of suggestions for Zhao Cun a few days ago, so that King Jing also had a certain power in the court. King Jing naturally wanted to retain such a talented counselor.

So even if today's beam does not seem to be so peaceful, Zhao Cong did not restrict Sun Zaiyuan's freedom, but let his guards follow him closely for protection. However, Sun Zaiyuan has recognized Xu Jinghong as the lord. He is a man with the style of an ancient famous scholar. Since he has identified a person, there is no possibility for the owner to vote again. Therefore, every two days, he will come to Nancheng to look around, hoping to see Xu Jinghong type out the code.

But before he came here, he was disappointed. At most, he let people come to the hospital to sweep. But today, when he came to the house and looked at it inadvertently, he was happy. He remembered that the potted flower was placed in it the day before yesterday, but why did it appear on the wall now? There is only one answer to everything, that is, Xu Jinghong or other informed brothers come back and want to see themselves.

After taking a breath and controlling his mood, Sun Zaiyuan smiled and said to the people around him: "It's been a while since I came out with me, and I haven't talked to you. Let's go. If we are free today, let's go to the restaurant over there for a drink.

The status of the guards of these royal palaces is not very high. Naturally, they are eager to climb to such a counselor as Sun Zaiyuan. Now when they saw his invitation, they immediately nodded and agreed and took the lead in going to the small restaurant.

Recently, due to the tense situation in Beijing, few people have come out to drink, and this restaurant is about to close down. Unexpectedly, five or six guests came to this industry today, and their clothes were not bad, which made the boss happy. He immediately asked people to take out the best wine and dishes.

The wine and dishes of this restaurant are not bad, which makes the guards cheer frequently. Sun Zaiyuan also took the opportunity to persuade them to drink one after another. With his efforts, in less than half an hour, these guards were crooked and drunk. As Sun Zaiyuan, who proposed to drink, no one dared to force him to drink because of his identity, so he was the most sober.

After watching the last person fall on the table and snoring loudly, Sun Zaiyuan stood up, took out a large silver of ten taels from his sleeve and threw it to the boss: "These friends who are serving me, I'll go first."

"Slow down, come again!" The boss held this ingot, which usually takes a month or two to earn the big silver, and he couldn't see his eyes with laughter. Therefore, he did not consider the purpose of the guest at all. Instead, he respectfully sent him out and properly settled the drunken bodyguards to sleep in the inner room. His restaurant is a liquor seller in front of him, and he also runs the business of letting merchants stay behind. It is only because he can't even sell wine recently that it is so deserted.

Out of the restaurant, Sun Zaiyuan wandered around the neighborhood again. He was sure that there was no tail behind him before he came to the house. However, he did not have Xu Jinghong's skills and could only enter through the more remote back door. The back door, which has always been closed, is also open at this time, which makes him more sure that he is waiting inside.

"I've met the lord!" After seeing Xu Jinghong, who heard the sound, Sun Zaiyuan quickly bowed and saluted.

"Mr. Sun, don't be rude." Xu Jinghong also bent down to lift him up, and then asked cautiously, "Isn't anyone else coming here with you?"

"No, those palace guards who followed me have been thrown away by me." Sun Zaiyuan smiled and said. Only then did the two come to the quietest study. After sitting down, Xu Jinghong went straight to the topic: "This time I returned to the capital by the order of the court. But before I show up, I want to know the recent situation. You have been in Beijing for many days, and you must know more about this than us in the north, right?

"I also received the news that the lord came to the capital a few days ago, but I didn't expect you to come so quickly. This is a good opportunity. We can make the best series of preparations in the early stage while we are in the dark. Sun Zaiyuan agreed first, and then said carelessly, "The situation in Beijing is indeed very tense now. Although I am not in the court, I can clearly feel this."

"Oh?" Xu Jinghong touched his chin and looked at his counselor seriously: "Then you can say everything you have, so that I can decide what to do next according to the current situation."

"There will be so many changes in the capital, and we have to start from the Hu people's invasion of our Song land and several cities..." Sun Zaiyuan didn't ask much else, but said the information he had at all: "... Therefore, at the end of last year, the contradictions in Beijing were already very sharp, but until the canal The grain grabbing case broke out, and the people found that the last hope was gone, so they were excited to fight with the family.

"Well, I have actually heard of these in northern Xinjiang. Isn't there any other detailed news?" Xu Jinghong is not very satisfied with such information, and he hopes to have more.

"Other than that, there are rumors that the attackers on the canal were secretly instructed. However, the identity of the messenger behind the scenes is different from opinions. Some say that the Lv and Xu families are still standing in the court, and some say that they are the newly rising upstarts and rich families. But there is no evidence to prove all kinds of claims.

"The grain grab case on the canal is indeed the key to this matter." Xu Jinghong tapped a few cases with his hand and fell into meditation: "Are there any clues left?"

"The local government rushed over immediately after learning the news, but only saw the sunken ship in the river, and the sunken one was also burned. It was really impossible to leave any clues and evidence." Sun Zayuan also said with some embarrassment. Suddenly, he thought of one thing: "But as those who survived the Cao Gang said, the people who attacked them that night should have always acted mysteriously and killed people invisibly and are called the shadow killing hall of the world!"

"Oh?" Hearing Sun Zaiyuan talk about the Shadow Killing Hall, Xu Jinghong's body suddenly straightened up and flashed in his eyes: "So, everything seems to make out! It turned out that he was the one who planned everything. Poor people in those families, who were on guard, did not expect that the most dangerous person would be by his side.

"Does the lord already know the root cause of the matter?" Sun Zainyuan couldn't help but be curious and asked in surprise.

Xu Jinghong nodded: "If it's really like what you said, it's the person who destroyed the food, then I can guess who is behind the scenes. And after this incident, he did get a lot of benefits.

"Who is the Lord talking about?" Sun Zaeyuan hurriedly asked again.

"Naturally, it is the person who wants to transfer me back from the northern Xinjiang because of the uncertain situation in Beijing." Xu Jinghong's words did not have much respect for that person.

"You mean the emperor?" Sun Zaiyuan suddenly said, "This... is really unbelievable. He is the master of my Song Dynasty. How can he do such a thing? He knows how many people will be trapped in the Jedi in this way. And this will lead to the instability of Da Liang and even my Song Dynasty. How could he make such a decision? His words were full of doubts and puzzles. He just looked at Xu Jinghong and hoped that he would give an answer.

"He didn't have any other choice before he took this step." Xu Jinghong can still understand the emperor: "Think about it, in the past few decades, how many other subjects in the world have taken the emperor seriously? Whether it is an official or a people, they will be a soldier. What they read and think about in their hearts is a family, Ye, Lv, Wu and Xu, who hold the power in the court. If it goes on like this, what will happen to the Zhao family, the lord of the world? How long can he and his descendants live in this world? When the wings of the seven masters are completely full, even if they don't want to usurp the throne, the people below will also push them to take this last step!"

"..." Sun Zaiyuan was silent, and he soon understood the emperor's grievances. In order to protect himself, he had to eradicate the family. And if you want to eradicate these deep-rooted families with extremely huge forces, if you don't use some extraordinary means, you may never be able to bring them down. And such a superior existence as the emperor will naturally not consider what kind of disaster the people below will suffer, and how many people will die because of their thoughts.

"Maybe this is the cruelty of the regime struggle, right? They are not only cruel to their enemies, but also to those people who have nothing to do with it, because they don't have these little people in their eyes at all!" When Xu Jinghong said this, there was a trace of anger burning in his eyes. He can understand the emperor's intentions, but he can't forgive him for using the survival of the people of the world as a tool, thus pushing these hard-working people to the dead end for the people who are full of food and clothing.

After calming down, Xu Jinghong said sarcastically, "However, now he has finally tasted the bad results. Today's Daliang City is no longer the capital of the Song Dynasty at that time. There are unstable factors everywhere. Whether it is the remnants of the family that he has calculated or the innocent people affected by the disaster, they will shake the national capital of the Song Dynasty! That's why he thought of me and transferred me back to the capital.

When Xu Jinghong said this, there was a trace of contempt between his eyebrows and eyes, which fell into Sun Zaiyuan's eyes, making his heart suddenly have an impulsive idea. But he did not immediately ask the taboo, but said, "What is the lord going to do?" Is it to help him calm down the chaos in the capital?

"I'm afraid I don't have this ability. The chaos is caused by the food shortage. Without food, the people cannot be stable. Xu Jinghong shook his head and said, "And in my eyes, the emperor is actually no different from those fallen families, the same self-interest and hurting others, the same despicable and shameless!"

This revitalize Sun Zaiyuan's spirit again. He knew that the day he expected had finally come: "Well... the lord wants to..." His voice trembled and stared at Xu Jinghong expectantly.

But Xu Jinghong's answer disappointed him: "I don't think about anything now. I just hope that in this chaos, after doing things for the benefit of the people, I can get some more favorable endings for me. As for other ideas, let's wait until I have some power.

Although he did not reveal the most critical point, it was already a hope for Sun Zaiyuan. He nodded and said, "Lord, no matter what you want to do, I will definitely support you!"

After smiling gratefully, Xu Jinghong asked again, "So what's your situation in Beijing during this period? Has King Jing made any progress in the capital?

"I helped King Jing come up with some strategies to win the hearts of officials in the DPRK, so he was very polite to me. At the same time, because of my reminder, King Jing now has some of his own forces in the court. Sun Zaiyuan honestly replied, "It's just that a few other princes have also begun to get involved in the struggle for the regime with the weakness of the family and the rise of imperial power."

Xu Jinghong nodded, which was also in his expectation. When the king is weak and the minister is strong, even the emperor himself has no power, and it is naturally more difficult for his sons to get ahead. But once the king's power rises, it is time for the princes to emerge and fight for power and profit. This is inevitable for any older emperor.

"Then let's talk about the distribution of forces in Beijing now." Xu Jinghong brought the topic to his eyes.

"With the fall of the four families of Ye, Wu, Chu and Cui, the power in the court naturally fell into the hands of the righteous emperor, and the ministers below were still led by Lv Zhonghe, the prime minister. In addition, because the Xu family controls a certain number of military figures and has stood in the right position before, they also have the ability to compete with the Lu family.

"Well, Lv Xu's two families are a family. Since they are in the right position, it is also ocable to have a certain position in the court."

"This is just a shiny surface." Sun Zaiyuan denied, "On the surface, it seems that this is indeed the case, but inside, the power of the two families is not as good as before, and the emperor is still thinking about how to reduce their power. After all, it is not possible for him to give up the power of the government.

"There is also some truth in this way. What about except these two?"

"That's some new generals who once made great contributions to the founding of the Song Dynasty, but were later suppressed by the seven leading clans." Sun Zaiyuan said the information he collected through Zhaocong: "It's just that these upstarts have just emerged, the foundation of the past has been broken, and the emperor is always on guard, so they don't have much to see in power.

"Several sons of the emperor have begun to hold certain power recently, especially Prince Zhao Jue and Zhao Huang, the king of Yong, who have collected a group of officials to serve for them based on their good relations with Chinese officials. Although King Jing also has a certain network, he is far from the opponent of these two brothers.

After squinting and listening to his narrative, Xu Jinghong laughed: "It seems that the struggle of this beam will be indispensable for a while. If we can come here at this time, it's a good time!"

"Yes, now is indeed a good time to make achievements. As long as we have an advantage in the competition for these people, we are bound to make great achievements in the dynasty in the future. But..." Sun Zaiyuan finally couldn't help trying to ask, "Does the lord only have this idea and doesn't want to go further?"

"I said that only after we get to that point can we look far away." Xu Jinghong did not give his idea directly, but smiled and said, "What do you think?"

"My lord is at ease that he can treat these so cautiously." Sun Zaiyuan also smiled and said, "Then what are you going to do? Should I stand by and watch, or participate in this fight?"

"Participate in the open and dark." Xu Jinghong twisted his fingers and said, "We have no foundation in Beijing. If you want to protect yourself, you can't let others treat us as enemies. But if we don't participate, we won't get the benefits we want. Fortunately, this time I came back by the king's order, but there was a layer of cover. As for the choice, in fact, it is no longer necessary. King Jing and I have that friendship, and you are by his side, so it's natural.

"This is also what my subordinates are considering. Why don't you do this? The lord will follow me to see King Jing, so that he will definitely win his trust and do things more leisurely in the future.

"No, it's not the right time." Xu Jinghong shook his head and said, "I have to do something first and then contact him. Moreover, there is still a chess piece beside me. Although I don't know what he means, at this point, I can no longer let him stay by my side as a hidden danger.

Ah? What does the lord mean by this? What chess pieces?" Sun Zayuan was puzzled.

"You will know soon. Well, you have been out for a long time. You'd better go back first, otherwise it will cause others to suspect. Xu Jinghong said that he was going to send Sun Zainyuan away.

"Okay, I'll leave first."

"Wait, I forgot to ask you one thing. How are the family of Cui, Chu and other families now?"

"They? Now they are still in prison, because their remnants are still there, and the court does not dare to execute them easily for fear of causing crazy revenge of those people.

"I know." Xu Jinghong nodded deeply and had an idea to send Sun Zaiyuan out of the house.