(Two-in-one chapter!)
"Monk, you want to hand Wang He over to your second uncle? Then are you going to tell your Second Uncle about the purpose of our trip? "
Li Yu asked cautiously.
Ye Minglei's words in the morning and the collusion between Wang He and the county magistrate made her feel that the current situation in Guan City was complicated and confusing. It was like the calm before the storm!
"Miss Li Yu, take a look at this first! I bought it on my way back! "
Ye Fashan shook his head and did not answer Li Yu's question directly. Instead, he took out a roll of paper from his sleeve and passed it to her.
"What is this?"
Little Yu took it and read the content clearly. She could not help but be shocked. "Zhengzhou Daily? Monk, who … who is so bold to print newspapers privately? "
Ever since Li Yu sent Yu Shinan and the rest to monitor the content of Datang Daily, Datang Daily was officially taken over by the state. Although the imperial court did not make any explicit rules, it was an undeniable fact that it was forbidden to publish newspapers privately. After all, the imperial court had to control public opinion!
But now, there was a newspaper similar to Datang Daily in Zhengzhou. This was shocking! What was the Zhengzhou Provincial Governor trying to do? Or what was the Cui Family trying to do?
Ye Fashan said in a low voice, "Read the content first!"
Li Yu obeyed and lowered her head to read it carefully. The more she read, the more surprised she was. Tang Dynasty Daily had three sections: "Interaction between Literati", "Current News", and "Boastful Words of Jianghu". However, Zheng Zhou Daily only had one section that was similar to "Interaction between Literati". It was full of articles written by great Confucians!
What shocked Little Yu was not this, but the content of the articles:
"The current emperor did not obtain the throne properly. He killed his brother and imprisoned his father. Heaven and earth cannot tolerate this!"
"The fake emperor, Li Shimin, is of Hu blood. He destroyed the foundation of the Han people. He should be punished by both humans and gods!"
"Taking over one's brother and sister-in-law. Violating human relations. Destroying morality. Everyone should abandon him!"
"The descendants of Yan and Huang, the Han people should rise in rebellion. Destroy the tyrant, restore morality, and restore order to the people!"
The titles of these articles were shocking enough, not to mention the content. Li Yu could not help but break out in cold sweat!
"Monk, is someone trying to incite the people of Zhengzhou to rebel?"
Putting down the newspaper, Li Yu's face was frighteningly pale. After a while, she looked at Ye Fashan and asked.
She had initially decided to come to Zhengzhou because she thought that Wei Zheng had been retaliated against by some corrupt officials. She wanted to investigate clearly. However, she had never expected that the waters in Zhengzhou were so deep that there were actually people who wanted to rebel. This was equivalent to poking a hole in the sky!
Ye Fashan's expression wasn't any better. His eyes were like lightning as he looked at Li Yu and said word by word, "It's not that someone is inciting the people to revolt, but that within Zhengzhou, the Cui family is planning a coup d 'état from top to bottom! In the morning, Second Uncle told us not to go out for the next two days, so I think they will definitely take action in the next two days! "
Li Yu's expression changed. Her heart was also in turmoil. "Monk, do you know how long this has been published?"
Ye Fashan's expression was gloomy. "I asked the bookstore owner. He said that a month ago, Guancheng County already had . At the beginning, the content was still normal. However, later on, there were many articles criticizing His Majesty and attacking the court. All of them were written by famous scholars in Zhengzhou. These scholars often have students all over the country and have a great influence. In addition, this month, there were many scholars giving lectures in Guancheng County. The content of their lectures were all criticizing His Majesty.
As the saying goes, three people make a tiger. These scholars have always had a high reputation among the people. Now, there are many people in Zhengzhou who are hostile towards the court and His Majesty. As long as there is someone who wants to incite them, this group of people will become the vanguard of the aristocratic families' rebellion against the court! "
Little Yu 'er's face was aghast. She staggered back two steps and said, "If that's really the case, then what should we do? Also, where is Wei Zuocheng now? Could he have been harmed by them? "
"I don't know! However, I plan to make a trip to the Provincial Governor's Office tonight. Time waits for no one. We have to find Wei Zuocheng's whereabouts as soon as possible! But before that, I have to talk to my Second Uncle! "
"Fashan, are you going to tell Uncle Ye the purpose of our trip?"
Ye Fashan sighed helplessly and said, "Let's go first and see what happens next!"
Little Yu 'er also frowned and sighed. She said, "I didn't expect Old Grandfather Cui to become so smart. Last time in Chang' an, Sir made use of the fierce public opinion to chase Old Grandfather Cui back to his ancestral land in Zhengzhou. Today, Old Grandfather Cui is giving him a taste of his own medicine. He is using public opinion to incite the people to rebel against the court!
Although using Zhengzhou to rebel against the entire Tang Empire is tantamount to throwing an egg at a rock and they don't have much chance of winning, these people who are controlled by public opinion will have to pay with their lives for the Cui Family's ambition. When the time comes, who knows how many people will die ~! "
…
In the evening, Ye Minglei returned from the county yamen. The moment he entered, he was invited to the backyard by Ye Fashan.
Ye Fashan told Ye Minglei about how Wang He secretly went to the county yamen in the morning to inform him.
When Ye Minglei heard the news, his eyes darkened. After a moment of silence, he said, "Men!"
"Old Master!"
At this moment, two powerful servants came in. The two of them bowed and said.
Ye Minglei's eyes were cold as he ordered,
"Drag Wang He away! Drown him in the pond! "
"Old Master, please spare me! Old Master, please spare me! I know my mistake! I won't dare to do it again! "
Wang He was tied up like a dumpling. When he heard that Ye Minglei wanted to drown him, he immediately struggled violently and begged for mercy.
"Take him away ~!"
Ye Minglei was unmoved and said coldly.
Only then did the two servants react. They quickly dragged Wang He away!
"Old Master! I know my mistake! Spare me! Spare me! Hahahaha! Ye Minglei, if you kill me, you won't live for long! The county magistrate and the registrar will avenge me! Avenge … "
Outside the house, Wang He's pleas and vicious cries were getting further and further away. At this moment, Ye Minglei turned around and looked at Ye Fashan with a burning gaze. He asked, "Fashan, you didn't come here just to visit Second Uncle, right?"
Although it was a good thing for Ye Minglei that Wang He was caught for leaking information, the person who caught Wang He was Ye Fashan. Under normal circumstances, Ye Fashan would not follow a servant. Hence, there was definitely something fishy going on.
Ye Minglei had been in the bureaucracy for a long time. How could he not have thought of this?
Under his intense gaze, Ye Fashan nodded slowly and said, "Second Uncle's guess is correct! This Fashan did not come here just to visit you! But before I tell you the truth, I would like to ask Second Uncle, which is the most important in your heart, the Cui family or the Emperor? "
After saying that, Ye Fashan's eyes stared unblinkingly at Ye Minglei's face.
Ye Minglei frowned deeply and his expression changed. "Fashan, why would you ask such a question?"
"Second Uncle, don't hide it from me! Although I don't fully understand the current situation in Zhengzhou, I still know a little about it! As an official of the imperial court, you should know that the Zheng Zhou Daily is a taboo, not to mention the articles that incite the people to rebel against the imperial court!
Now that things have come to this, I want to know, Second Uncle, which side will you stand on? Will you go with the flow and betray the imperial court, or will you expose the traitors and turn the tide? "
As Ye Fashan spoke, he took out the newspaper from his sleeve. Ye Minglei's expression immediately darkened.
Beside him, Little Yu 'er was also extremely nervous. If Ye Minglei chose to stand against the imperial court, then both of them would probably die today.
Ye Minglei's expression changed. After a while, he finally opened his mouth and said, "Fashan, Second Uncle can't stand on either side! I'm just a lowly county magistrate. I don't have any troops or authority. If I stand on either side, my family will be destroyed! Fashan, since you've already guessed some things, then I'll tell you everything today!
Ever since Old Master Cui was sent back to Zhengzhou in the first month of the year, Wei Zuocheng had followed the imperial edict and carried out a comprehensive investigation of the Cui family's illegal activities. However, the Cui family had been in Zhengzhou for many years and had long been deeply rooted. Wei Zuocheng's stubbornness was met with a lot of opposition from the lower-level officials. Although they didn't dare to openly challenge Wei Zuocheng, they could still secretly oppose him!
However, Wei Zuocheng's character was unyielding. How could he tolerate his subordinates' opposition to him? Using the power granted by the Emperor, he dismissed the county magistrates of five counties in Zhengzhou. In a short period of time, the officials of Zhengzhou were in danger!
Just as Wei Zuocheng was about to wield the butcher's knife against the Cui family, on the fifteenth of the first month, a group of bandits near Mei Shan, numbering at least a few hundred people, infiltrated Guancheng County in batches and suddenly exploded. Thousands of people were injured and Guancheng County was in chaos! Zhengzhou's Provincial Governor, Pan Zhenyue, urgently ordered six thousand state troops to enter the city to eliminate the bandits!
After the commotion was quelled, Wei Zuocheng went missing. The imperial guards who came with Wei Zuocheng were all killed. When the provincial governor learned of this, he was furious and ordered the provincial government to lock down the city. No one was allowed to leave! "
Li Yu and Ye Fashan couldn't help but widen their eyes. They never thought that so many things would happen in the few months that Wei Zheng had been in Zhengzhou!
"Crazy! This group of people is crazy! They actually dared to collude with the bandits and murder an important official of the imperial court! This is a serious crime that can lead to the execution of nine generations of the family! "
Li Yu's eyes were filled with shock. With her intelligence, she almost instantly understood where the bandits came from. It was nothing more than the Cui family wanting to remove Wei Zheng, this stumbling block, so they deliberately colluded with the bandits to create chaos!
However, Wei Zheng was the dignified Left Prime Minister, one of the important officials that Li Er relied on the most. Since the Cui family dared to do this, it meant that they were prepared to rebel against the imperial court!
Ye Minglei shook his head and said, "Even Miss Li Yu could see through this matter, how can others not see through it? How can this old man not see through it? However, the Cui family is powerful, and together with the Provincial Governor of Zhengzhou, the news can't be spread!
This month, Provincial Governor Pan ordered the Guancheng County yamen to organize people and set up the editorial department of Zhengzhou Daily. The content of the newspaper will be written by his right-hand men. The editorial department is only responsible for typesetting and printing. I'm sure you have seen the articles written by the Provincial Governor's right-hand men!
In addition, they will also send scholars to each county to give lectures and spread the news that the Emperor is not righteous and cruel. Not only that, all the entrances of Zhengzhou's official roads will be guarded by state troops to prevent people from leaving Zhengzhou to inform the imperial court.
This old man is just a small county deputy without any troops or authority. In such a dangerous situation, other than protecting myself, what else can I do? If I join the Cui family in rebelling against the imperial court, then I will definitely lose my reputation and be exterminated!
After all, although the Cui family is powerful in Zhengzhou, it is difficult for them to contend against the imperial court. Failure is only a matter of time! However, if this old man opposes the Cui family and goes to inform the imperial court, then my entire Ye family will die without a burial ground!
Therefore, this old man can only help no one. I will try my best to avoid any involvement and try my best to distance myself from any involvement! In this way, even if the imperial court blames me, I will only lose my official position. However, the dozens of people in the Ye family will be spared! "
Ye Fashan and Li Yu couldn't help but fall silent after listening. It turned out that Ye Minglei was a bystander. Although he didn't have much power, his heart was as clear as a mirror. He had already seen through the situation in Zhengzhou! What he wanted was very simple. He just wanted to protect the lives of his entire family!
"Second Uncle, it's not wrong for you to choose to protect yourself. However, have you ever thought that when the Cui family really wants to rebel, they will not tolerate a subordinate who wavers between two sides? Those who achieve great things will plan before acting, let alone something as big as a rebellion. Fashan dares to guarantee that before the rebellion, the Cui family will force you to make your stand clear. When that time comes, what will you do? "
In the room, the three of them were silent for a moment. Then, Ye Fashan looked at Ye Minglei and said in a low voice.
Ye Minglei's face instantly turned ugly. Obviously, he hadn't thought of this point. Perhaps, although he had thought of it, he was still holding on to the hope that he could numb himself. To put it bluntly, he was running away!
"Fashan, you've grown up! However, in this situation, what can this old man do? Since I'm going to die either way, I might as well drag this out a little longer. Perhaps there's still a chance of survival! If I agree with the Cui family now or turn against them, then there will be no turning back in the future! "
Ye Minglei said with a pained expression.
He was now in a dilemma. If he stood on the Cui family's side now, then when the imperial court came to settle the score, he definitely wouldn't be able to escape. If he turned against the Cui family, then he wouldn't be able to escape now! Therefore, all he could do now was drag this out!
"Uncle Ye, instead of waiting for death, why don't we fight with all our might? Perhaps there's still a chance of survival?"
At this moment, Li Yu stood up and said.
Ye Fashan opened his mouth, wanting to stop her. However, Li Yu returned a reassuring look and then looked at Ye Minglei with a serious expression.
Only then did Ye Minglei look at Li Yu. After a moment, he narrowed his eyes and said, "Miss Little Yu 'er, your identity shouldn't be simple, right?"
…
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