Eight days had passed since the incident at Ningwu Pass.
The situation was getting worse and worse. King Wu's heartfelt words were like adding oil to the fire, pouring on the heads of all the civil and military officials. The atmosphere of the end of the year had completely passed before the first lunar month came out. It was as if they had returned to the cold winter.
It was already late at night, but the Imperial Study behind Tai Chi Palace was still brightly lit. Many high-ranking Courtiers were waiting outside the Imperial Study. The Three Ministers and Nine Ministers were standing in the Imperial Study. Emperor Song Ji's angry scolding could be heard from time to time.
"When have I ever mistreated this Song Siming? Heavy taxes … It's not like I didn't see the disaster in Jiangnan. I exempted the annual tax for the disaster in Shu, and then exempted Jiangnan. Do you want hundreds of thousands of soldiers to eat? In such a big Jiangnan, there are countless rich families. How much money does it cost to provide disaster relief? I asked him to raise money, but he paid lip service and forced the people to rebel. In the end, he blamed me for taxing too much. Xiao Zong and the former Emperor have been in power for decades. Have they ever heard the old King Wu complain? … "
Every word was true, but it was also powerless and furious.
If you want to blame someone, you can always find a pretext.
The King Wu impeached the Emperor. Wei and Yu Wang immediately expressed their positions and stood on the side of King Wu. They accused Song Ji of the problems in governance after he succeeded the throne. In the end, it was Song Ji who exposed his intention to remove the vassals and touched the interests of the vassals. How could he plead for the people and wholeheartedly serve the country?
Courtiers were mostly clear, but it was useless to know. No vassals would admit these things. Otherwise, the King Wu would not have spent so much effort to find out these 'four major crimes' as a reason to graduate.
Most of the Three Ministers and Nine Ministers were from noble families. They were the beneficiaries. Interests were tied to the imperial power. The world was in chaos and it was not in the interests of the noble families. There was no need to even mention the change of imperial power. A new emperor would bring with him a new court of officials. With a new emperor, the aristocratic families supporting him would definitely be reshuffled. When there was room to maneuver, the five major families, Xiao Lu, Cui, Wang, Li, and the other minor families would definitely choose to maintain the current situation and stand on Song Ji's side.
Lu Chengan was the head of the Lu family in Jinling. Like Xiao Chuyang, his family was suffering. Although the King Wu did not dare to touch the two big families, he could not pretend that he did not see his family's businesses all over Jiangnan being affected by the rebellion. Furthermore, the North was currently fighting a bloody battle with Northern Qi. As the saying goes, "To resist foreign aggression, one must first pacify internal affairs." If the Jiangnan matter was not resolved, the Great Yue Kingdom, which had rested and recuperated for decades, might truly collapse.
After the Emperor finished scolding the three eastern kings, Lu Chengan stepped forward and said,
"The Three Eastern Kings are already disloyal. Asking them to apologize is just empty talk. The battle at Taiyuan is urgent, we must quickly quell the internal trouble. "
The Three Ministers and Nine Ministers nodded. It was impossible to use the Crown Prince of the Eastern Three Kings as a threat to make them admit their mistakes. The three princes stayed in Chang 'an to prevent the vassal states from rebelling. The three princes in the east were not rebelling. They were standing up for the people and accusing Song Ji of being tyrannical and muddle-headed. If Song Ji killed the princes of the three princes in the east, he would be proving himself to be a tyrant.
It was even more impossible to make Song Ji admit his mistakes to the Eastern Three Kings.
Song Ji had overcorrected on the 'Iron Eagle Hunting Deer', but the general direction was definitely correct. Only the removal of the vassal lords had gone wrong. How could he commit the crime? He had already admitted the crime the three princes had accused him of, so that he could pin the ten thousand years of infamy on his own head.
The best way to quell this storm was to send troops to quell the rebellion in Jiangnan, then ignore the Eastern Three Kings and deal with them after the Northern Qi.
But in the current situation, the troops of the Liaoxi Protectorate would not dare to act rashly. King Wei and King Yu had already expressed their stance. It would be good if they did not interfere, not to mention quelling the rebellion.
There were more than two hundred thousand refugees in Jiangnan. With King Wu secretly adding fuel to the fire, the number was still growing. It would be impossible to quell it without more than a hundred thousand elite soldiers. Where would they find these soldiers now?
Song Ji naturally knew that King Wu was hitting him when he was down. After venting his anger for a while, he returned to his desk and said in a deep voice.
"Dear ministers, what suggestions do you have?"
Grand Commandant Guan Hongzhuo thought for a while and bowed.
"The Liaoxi Protectorate could use fifty thousand soldiers to quell the rebellion to continue south, but it would be difficult to extinguish the rebels in Jiangnan in time. The King of Chu is defending the Northern Frontier and has more than two hundred thousand soldiers. Although their combat power is not great, it should not be a problem to destroy the rebels mainly made up of refugees. "
The soldiers were ordinary soldiers. In peacetime, they were citizens and in wartime, they were soldiers. The quality of the soldiers was worlds apart from the professional soldiers like the Guanzhong Army and the Xiliang Army. The troops in Dai Yue's inner circle were basically like this, used to maintain law and order.
However, although the fighting power of the King of Chu's army was not comparable to the border army, it was still better than the refugees wielding hoes. As long as they were willing to go, it should not be a problem to destroy the rebellion.
Song Ji tapped his fingers on the table and thought for a while.
At this time, Song Ji did not want to use the troops of the vassal kings. He was afraid that the King of Chu would come out and cause trouble. But if the Jiangnan rebellion was delayed for too long, the problem would be more serious. He also had to see what the King of Chu's attitude was.
"Alright, send an edict to the King of Chu to immediately lead the army to quell the rebellion in Jiangnan."
"Yes."
The Three Ministers and Nine Ministers bowed. After making the decision, they bowed and left the imperial study …
…
The next afternoon.
In Fenglingdu Town, pedestrians and merchants rubbed shoulders. The archway in the middle of the "Gates of Hell" was a little desolate. There were no Jianghu people coming to the archway.
Xu Buling rode a Wind-Chasing Horse. When he passed through the small square with Ning Qing Ye, he tilted his head and said,
"Qing Ye, have you been through the Gates of Hell?"
Ning Qing Ye rode a white Wind-Chasing Horse and wore a curtain hat on her head. Her back was as straight as ever, but she looked listless.
Last night, she was taken advantage of by Xu Buling. She even gave up and tore off her dudou to let Xu Buling see to his heart's content. Her original intention was to make Xu Buling feel ashamed, but in the end, she almost died of anger.
That was not all. Xu Buling hugged her and kissed her ears. He even said he wanted to marry her. Ning Qing Ye was at a loss when it came to matters of the heart. When she was young, she was hurt by her father's irresponsibility. How could she have any ideas? She did not sleep well last night, and after she woke up in the morning, she did not speak.
When she heard Xu Buling's question, Ning Qing Ye did not want to answer. She urged her horse to speed up and walked in front.
"You're not allowed to tell Man Zhi and the others about what happened yesterday. I'll ask Master later. If he agrees, I'll settle the score with you. "
Xu Buling rode a horse and led another one. He sped up and walked in front of her.
"If Master doesn't agree, what will you do?"
'If he doesn't agree …'
Ning Qing Ye's body stiffened a little. She wanted to say, "How could Master not agree?", but she felt that there was something wrong with her words. In the end, she snorted coldly.
"If he doesn't agree, you will take advantage of me. I will naturally break all ties with you. If you touch me again, I will not care about your kindness."
Xu Buling smiled. "Alright, it's a deal. Don't say that I'm not responsible. "
"You …"
Ning Qing Ye clenched her fists and did not say anything else. She walked quickly to the ferry in Fenglingdu Town.
On the ferry in the Yellow River Bay, there were endless ships. The Su Palace's ship was docked, and the steps were on the shore. From time to time, maids and messengers ran up and down.
It was already dark, but the two floors of the ship were lit. On the deck, three girls, Man Zhi, Chu Chu, and Yu Fu, could be seen together. They were holding a telescope and scanning the coast of the Yellow River.
On the first floor of the ship, by the window of Ning Yuhe's room, Zhong Li Jiujiu and Ning Yuhe were sitting on opposite sides of the window. They crossed their arms and faced each other. No one knew what they were talking about, but from their expressions, they must be mocking each other.
Xu Buling knew his two wives the best. Just by looking at their expressions, he knew what Yu He was saying.
"You b * tch, you deserve to be in front of Ling 'er."
Jiujiu, on the other hand, said, "As a master, you give everything to your disciple, but you still have to hold me down. What do you want? What if Xu Buling is addicted to it … "
Xu Buling watched from afar and felt a little funny. Perhaps they saw him coming back with Qing Ye, the two rivals immediately stopped quarreling and disappeared from the window.
On the second floor of the ship, Aunt Lu was standing by the window like the Husband Gazing Stone. He did not know how long she had been watching. When she saw him, her gentle face was full of surprise. She hurriedly ran back to the house and pulled Xiang 'er out. Xiang Er was probably taking a beauty nap. She still had a green mask on her face. After looking at the window, she quickly hid back, probably to wash her face and dress up.
A smile that came from the bottom of his heart appeared on Xu Buling's face. He breathed a sigh of relief and quickly walked to the edge of the ship.
Ning Qing Ye was a little distracted and did not pay attention to the small details on the ship. After she got off the horse, she led her big white horse to the deck.
Xu Buling thought that Qing Ye would go back to her room without saying a word. He did not expect that after Qing Ye took a few steps, she saw Man Zhi and the others running over happily. The first thing she said was,
"Man Zhi, I picked up a Wind Chasing Horse in Taiyuan. What do you think?"
Her eyes were full of pride!
When Chu Chu and Yu Fu saw the majestic white Wind Chasing Horse, their eyes lit up. However, Chu Chu had the white camel that she longed for, and Yu Fu did not know how to ride a horse, so she was not too envious.
When Man Zhi glanced over, her little eyebrows immediately furrowed and she almost cried …
