On the sea, a small boat slowly approached Tianjin Port. Two men disembarked from the boat. As soon as they disembarked, they immediately went to Tianjin Guard Yamen. Without waiting for them to report their identity, several people came out of the yamen to open the way. A middle-aged man with a white face and no beard came out of the crowd. The two men immediately retreated several steps, bowed and called out, "Ma Gonggong."
The white-faced man turned his head and said with a wry smile, "You two are back. How was it … what did you gain from this trip to Liaodong? "
The two men were precisely Ouyang Jun and Luo Lie. Ever since they were defeated at Muchang Relay, they were shocked several times in one night. Obviously they were young martial art masters, but they wandered from place to place like stray dogs. It was only now that they realized that in troubled times, individual martial art power was nothing.
Zhou Qingfeng won at Muchang Relay and immediately raided Jin, Fu, and Gai, three prefectures. His power was torrential, as if he entered a no-man's land. The 'Revolutionary Army's' invasion was like fire, so that the two elites of the Capital lost their foothold in Liaodong. They spent money to hire a boat by the Fuzhou seashore to cross the Bohai Sea to Shanhai Pass, and then from Shanhai Pass to Tianjin.
When they arrived at Tianjin and met Ma Keshi, the Ma Gonggong who sent them to Liaodong, they heaved a deep sigh. Ouyang Jun was somewhat afraid of Ma Keshi, so he nervously said, "Asking Gong-gong to forgive us, the two of us originally wanted to sneak in and kill the bandit leader. However, the situation has changed greatly, the bandit leader's power is difficult to control, it is far beyond our expectation. The two of us are inferior, we are unable to accomplish Gong-gong's mission. "
Ma Gonggong had always been known as the loyal dog of the imperial family, hundreds of officials hated him, but they were also incomparably afraid of him. But today seeing Ouyang Jun and Luo Lie, Ma Gonggong did not show his usual fake smile; instead, he said rather bleakly, "You don't need to blame yourselves, and you don't need to be afraid."
Ah … his tone is not quite right.
Ouyang Jun originally had his head down, but now he slightly raised his head to look at him.
Ma Gonggong sighed again, "The war situation in Liaodong is rotten, it is out of control. Nu Zhenren's attack on Shenyang has already angered the Emperor. The so-called 'Revolutionary Army' had attacked the three prefectures of Jin, Fu, and Gai and threatened Hai Prefecture. Now, the imperial court was in a panic, and all the officials were terrified. I was scolded by His Majesty for my incompetence and have been demoted to Tianjin to be a military supervisor. "
Ouyang Jun and Luo Lie glanced at each other. They both felt that the situation was far from good. Luo Lie sternly asked, "The two of us have been floating on the sea for a long time. What is the current situation in the Imperial Court?"
"What else can we do? It's chaos! "Eunuch Ma smiled bitterly and said," Nowadays, the courtiers attack each other and curse each other all day long. Just yesterday I heard that Zhejiang's Taoist censor Yang He impeached Liaodong's Military Commissioner Yang Gao, saying, 'The mistake in the Liaodong affair was unexpected, the mistake was in the Military Commissioner'. He wrote a memorial to the throne, scolding Yang Gao for his incompetence in commanding troops, for his slow march, and for the fact that he had no choice but to become an arrogant traitor.
His Majesty had finally come to court a few days ago, but in the end, there was a pile of memorials that did not talk about the facts. They were all shirking their responsibilities. Our Fang Shoufu simply admitted his guilt and resigned. His Majesty did not allow it and asked him to come up with an idea. But right now, what idea can he come up with? "
Eunuch Ma's interest waned, his face was bitter. He was also a martial art master in the Imperial Palace. He had always been very shrewd, and did not show his emotions. But today, seeing it, his mind was in chaos. Luo Lie was puzzled, he asked, "The Liaodong rebels are very difficult to control, I have seen it with my own eyes. But our Imperial Ming is such a big country, as long as we mobilize our famous generals and strong soldiers, eliminating the rebels and pacifying the rebels is just a matter of time. What's so difficult about it? "
Ma Keshi was so angry that he laughed. He raised his voice and humphed coldly, "What's so difficult about it? Why don't you tell me what's not difficult about it? Liaodong is fighting, the Ministry of War wants money. But where is the money coming from? His Majesty has already given out a hundred thousand taels of internal funds, but how can a hundred thousand taels be enough to pacify the rebels?
In Tianjin, I heard that the 'Revolutionary Army' spent several hundred thousand taels to buy military supplies from Shandong. In order to make money, the merchants in Shandong do not care about the Imperial Court's face. There is an endless stream of ships passing through Liaodong Bay. Unexpectedly, a group of rebels is more willing to spend money than the Imperial Court. This world is a mess.
What's more annoying is that the rebels rely on boats to supply supplies, but the Tianjin Navy has no way to deal with them. The Navy Chief Commander said that two months ago he sent people to suppress the rebels, but the result was that the whole army was wiped out, so there are no more boats to use. Right now the Tianjin Navy is still asking the Imperial Court for money to build and buy boats, asking for two hundred thousand taels. What can the Imperial Court do? They can only stare blankly!
Now to say that they have recovered Liaodong is nonsense. The Assistant Minister of Revenue has written a memorial saying that he wants to collect the entire country's wages and salaries, adding nine fen of silver per mu, so that one year he can get five million and two hundred thousand taels. Now it's all right, we don't have to do anything, we have to wait for the money to come in first.
Poor me, Old Ma, entered the Palace when I was twelve years old, serving the Emperor wholeheartedly, I am loyal and devoted, willing to work hard without complaint. All the civil and military officials in the Imperial Court scolded me for being a rootless person, I only hope that the Emperor can understand this servant's hard work. But now that one thing has been done wrong, I am driven out of the Palace to be an Army Supervisor. Who can I find to reason with? "
Ma Gonggong was a eunuch, normally he was awe-inspiring, nobody did not fear him. His cultivation level was only slightly lower than a few old monsters in the Palace. But today, he had lost the Emperor's favor, to the point that he cried in public. Ouyang Jun and Luo Lie were distressed when they saw this, they did not dare to say anything. The two of them did not enter the Tianjin Command Yamen, they simply bought two horses and rushed back to the Capital, thinking that they should return home first.
After crying in front of the two juniors, Ma Gonggong returned to his residence with tears in his eyes. He dismissed the guards by his side, and as soon as he entered the room, his expression changed, revealing a gloomy and cold expression. He said to the people behind him, "Stop hiding, come out."
A shadow flashed in the courtyard outside the room, revealing a beautiful woman dressed in white. She giggled and said to Ma Gonggong, "Gonggong, you are so funny, a great master of the Eastern Faction is crying in public. You even have resentment in your words, aren't you afraid that someone will report you to the Emperor? "
Ma Keshi's fair face twitched, and he reached out to grab the woman in white. A strong suction force pulled the woman over. She cried out, "Ma Gonggong, you have to take pity on me, I can't withstand your iron claws."
Ma Keshi squeezed her hand and said sternly, "Fan Wan 'er, do you think I don't dare to kill you?"
The woman in white had a pained expression, but she still said weakly, "My cultivation is too low, if Gonggong really wants to kill me, how can I hide? It would be better for me to obediently submit to you. But I'm afraid that no one will do what Gonggong wants. "
Ma Keshi was even more angry, but he let go of his hand and asked, "What did Xu Hongru say?"
"Hmph …" The woman in white let out a soft cry, but did not reply. Instead, she lifted the gauze covering her chest in front of Ma Keshi. She saw five claw marks on her fair skin, and she scolded, "Ma Gonggong, you are really cruel. I helped you out of kindness, but you treat me like this. "
Ma Keshi snorted coldly, and poured his spiritual power into the woman's head, causing her to feel a headache. He sneered and shouted, "Fan Wan 'er, don't try to use this kind of three-legged cat's charm in front of me. I'm a castrated person, and I don't fall for it. Tell me, what did Xu Hongru say? Otherwise, I have plenty of punishments for you in the East Faction. Do you want to have a taste of them? "
The woman in white tidied her clothes and said with a smile, "Ah, don't be angry, Gonggong. I just want to see if you castrated people are really unmoved by women. Whenever I think about how there are people in this world who are unmoved by my beauty, my heart is filled with hatred. "
Ma Keshi's eyes turned cold, and he was about to explode. The woman in white quickly said, "My master has agreed to what Ma Gonggong asked of him. He said that he will immediately send people to Jinzhou to recruit believers and disrupt that group of 'revolutionary army'. However, I hope that Gonggong can release my martial brothers as soon as possible. Without them, we won't be able to do anything. "
Ma Keshi snorted coldly again. "I'm not begging you, I'm just giving the White Lotus Society a way out. You've been secretly preaching in Shandong, secretly building a sect, spreading lies, and playing tricks. Do you think that the East Faction doesn't know anything? If I want to take action, I can uproot all of you in less than three months. "
The woman in white quickly patted her chest and said in a sweet voice, "Ma Gonggong, you make it sound so scary. You scared me to death. I also want to ask Gonggong, what kind of secret mission did you leave the capital this time? Those two idiots were fooled by Gonggong just now. I'm afraid they already believe that Gonggong has lost your power and authority. "
"Demoness, don't you think you're meddling too much?" Ma Keshi's eyes turned cold. "I'll make things easy for you. I'll get a few people out of the Ministry of Justice's prison for you, and you'll obediently go to Liaodong and cause trouble. If you don't, I can release them, capture them, and even kill them. "
"Good, good, good. Ma Gonggong, you're the most loyal and righteous. Everyone knows that you're the Emperor's man. For the Emperor, you're willing to go through fire and water and bear the infamy. " The woman in white was rebuffed, so she jumped up the wall. "As long as Ma Gonggong releases them, we'll work for you. Is that okay?"
After she finished speaking, the woman in white jumped off the wall and disappeared.
Ma Keshi stood at the door of the room, looking at the sky and sighing. The country's affairs were difficult, and ugly people were jumping around. Those who were willing to do practical things had to be sneaky. What's wrong with this country? It's all thanks to the people. I'm lost in thought.
Just as Ma Gonggong was feeling melancholy, there was a knock on the door. Someone shouted outside, "Is Ma Gonggong here? I, Liu Fucheng, am here to visit. "
Ma Keshi frowned when he heard the lazy voice outside. Soon, someone pushed open the door and came in. When he saw Ma Gonggong, he smiled and said, "Ma Gonggong, why are you living in such a shabby house? If it weren't for the two idiots standing at the door, I would suspect that I've come to the wrong place. "
Ma Gonggong was very rude to the person in front of him. He called him by his name, "Liu Fucheng, what are you doing here?"
"Am I not here to apologize?" The person who came in was wearing the python robes of a high-ranking Brocade Guard official. "My disciple was careless before, which allowed the rebels of Liaodong to become powerful. Fortunately, Ma Gonggong helped cover it up, which allowed my disciple to be safe. "
Ma Keshi said coldly, "It wasn't me who helped you cover it up, it was Noble Consort Zheng who helped you cover it up. I just didn't want to be a busybody. However, you didn't come here today just to say this nonsense, right? "
The man in the python robes chuckled and walked closer. He lowered his voice and said, "Ma Gonggong, the rebels are powerful now and can't be eliminated in a short time. However, my disciple can at least speak a few words with the rebel leader, so why not contact him? "
"What exactly do you mean?" Ma Keshi asked vigilantly.
The man in the python robes chuckled and said, "Eliminating the rebels is one thing, but contacting the rebels is another. I know that Ma Gonggong is loyal to the emperor and hates the rebels to the bone, but doesn't Ma Gonggong want to earn a bit of money? Ma Gonggong doesn't want to earn money, but our Noble Consort wants to earn more.
Currently, that 'revolutionary army' has occupied the three prefectures of Jin, Fu, and Gai and commands hundreds of thousands of people. I heard that many people in Shandong have made a lot of money from doing business with the rebels. We also have good conditions in Tianjin, so we can't just sit there and do nothing. I promised Imperial Consort Niangniang that Eunuch Ma had always been reasonable and would definitely help. Ma Gonggong, what do you say? "
Ma Keshi immediately glared at him. "This imperial court's matter has all been ruined by you vermin."
The man in the python robes chuckled. "Ma Gonggong, why bother scolding yourself? You stole information from Her Noble Consort and hoodwinked my pitiful disciple into becoming the scapegoat, sneaking into the palace treasury to search for the 'Yin Yang Jade Tablet' in a vain attempt to regenerate his yang root. After failing, you framed Gu Yuanwei and forced him to flee to Liaodong. Isn't the one who caused this natural disaster all because of you? "
Ma Keshi's pupils contracted as he glared with resentment. He shouted, "The one surnamed Liu, what exactly do you want?"
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