The traitor

Yang Ling hurriedly entered the mansion, and Han Youniang and his girls followed closely. Although Youniang was pregnant, she was still very skilled. When she walked quickly, Cheng Qiyun had not walked such a snowy road and did not dare to use force under her feet. She walked so hard that her hair was slanted and her cheeks were flushed. Instead, she asked Han Youniang and Gao Wenxin to help her.

Yang Ling turned around the screen wall of the Longmen character "Fu" and saw that the lights in the middle hall were brightly lit. He knew that Wu Jie must have arrived, so he turned to Youniang and said, "Youniang, you and Miss Cheng, Wenxin will go to the back hall to rest first, I will meet Wu Datou."

Han Youniang also knew that the matter was urgent. Judging from this season, it was probably the Tatars who attacked the border again, and countless people were suffering. She frowned slightly and said softly: "Go, my husband, business matters are important. Youniang and her two sisters go to the back hall to wait for you."

Yang Ling nodded, looked at Cheng Qiyun, turned around and walked towards the central hall. Han Youniang and Cheng Qiyun, Gao Wenxin stood for a moment, and walked around the back hall from the side corridor.

Wu Jie was carrying his hands on the hall. When he saw Yang Ling coming in, he immediately folded his fists and said, "I have met the adults since I was a man."

Yang Ling didn't rush to be polite, and pulled him into the study and asked before he could sit still, "What happened? Did the Tartars come to the border again to rob? "

Wu Jie nodded and said solemnly: "Yes, last year, the little prince Boyan Khan gathered 50,000 troops to attack the nine borders. Although he returned with a full load, he also suffered heavy losses and even his son died on the battlefield. This year, the Tartars returned, and the little prince and Huosie joined forces to gather 70,000 troops to invade Datong, and came in full force.

Zhang Jun, the general of Xuanfu, was defeated and retreated, and the subordinate generals Zhang Xiong and Mu Rong were all killed in the battlefield. Before our report, the Tatars had captured Zhenyi and the commander Liu Jing died in battle. Huamachi was also captured, and all places in Longde, Jingning and Huining were invaded, and Shuozhou and Mayi were in danger."

Yang Ling took a breath of air conditioning after hearing this. He lingered in the study with his hands behind his back for a while. A candle made his face dark and uncertain. After a while, he slowly stood still and asked, "How many people are there in Datong Guards?"

Wu Jie immediately replied: "Forty thousand troops were stationed, and ten thousand troops were stationed in various cities and towns. This time, the Tatars' offensive was rapid, and they changed the past method of splitting troops to attack various groups of troops. They gathered heavy troops in one place and only divided 10,000 troops to attack Huaian. The cavalry came and went like the wind, which made the defenders everywhere fearful. They did not dare to take the initiative to send troops to support them, so the enemy was very powerful."

Yang Ling walked back to the table, took out a few rolls of maps from under the table, picked up the Xuanfu map and spread it out: "The surveillance horses we sent to understand the situation outside the pass have returned. Last time I only heard you briefly mentioned it. Now you tell me the details, and also talk about the composition and attack direction of the enemy's troops..."

The two chatted until late at night under the candlelight. It was not until dawn that Yang Ling stretched out his sleepy body. He sighed softly and said, "It's not dawn and the palace gate is not open. However, although the Tartars quickly cut off several fortresses, the news of the beacon must have been transmitted into the palace at this moment."

Wu Jie's eyes flashed, and after a while, he said slowly: "Sir, are you going to give advice to the emperor?"

Yang Ling was distorted: "Mr. Wu has any suggestions?"

Wu Jie's eyes were slightly lowered and sighed: "We must understand the situation in the ground more detailed than the secret detective of the Jinyi. You can explain to the emperor and the Ministry of War, but the recommendation of troops should not be too deep. The enemy is too strong, and if you lose again, it will inevitably affect the adults."

Yang Ling looked at him calmly for a moment, and Wu Jieqing Qu's face was a little cramped and frightened. When Yang Ling saw his gray hair on his temples, he also had good intentions when he remembered him. He then took the rebuke back, but just shook his head slowly, and nodded again. He said softly: "I know. The inner factory is just the emperor's eyes and ears, so it is not advisable to interfere too much in military affairs. Alas! Who in the court can lead troops to fight...?"

The sky shines, but it is still gray. It is snowing heavily at this time, and the snow on the ground is thick and muddy.

When Yang Ling led twenty cavalry guards to the city gate, he was already sweating profusely and the horse breathed like smoke. Seeing that the city gate was still closed, Yang Ling couldn't help but feel amazement. His guards had already raised their hands to the top of the city and shouted: "The defenders on the city quickly open the city."

After shouting a few times, a guard raised his bow and ran back more than twenty feet. He had an arrow on his back, and a sound arrow screamed into the city, and a "stern" sounded at the gate of the military guards at the head of the city.

After waiting for a moment, the two soldiers poked their heads from the city and shouted, "Who is calling the door today?"

The guard shouted: "Governor Yang from the inner factory is going to enter the city, who is on duty on the city? Quick shutter."

After shouting a few times, the defenders in the city finally heard it clearly. They couldn't help but scream and retracted their heads. Yang Ling waited for a while, and the city gate rumbled open. A general guarding the city hurriedly greeted him, walked to Yang Ling and saluted, saying, "Qiao Jie'an, a thousand households guarding the city, met Lord Yang."

Yang Ling pressed the horse's head and shouted coldly: "Who is going to blockade the Nine Cities? What big thing happened?"

Qiao Jie'an is the subordinate of Zhang Yong, the leader of the Beijing camp. Knowing that Zhang Yong was also very awe-inspiring towards Lord Yang, he couldn't help but say timidly: "Report to him, after the court dispersed yesterday, the Chief Li Zheng Eunuch Liu issued an imperial edict, citing Liu Jian, Xie Qian and other 56 people as treacherous parties. All officials in the court gathered at the Wumen Gate overnight to protest. Eunuch Liu was afraid that someone would take the opportunity to make trouble and startle the sage. Therefore, he ordered Eunuch Zhang to enfeoff Jiucheng and Eunuch Gu transferred the Dongchang Fanzi to the palace gate outside the palace gate."

Yang Ling was shocked. No wonder no one came to the door one day yesterday, and even his own people did not report from the capital. It turned out that Liu Jin had sealed nine cities, and except for himself, ordinary people naturally could not open the palace gate.

In the past two days, Liu Jin's reform was indeed opposed by all officials. Even Li Dongyang and Yang Tinghe, who have been silent recently, tried their best to cooperate with him, wrote a letter to advise him, saying that the reform was either unrealistic or too hasty, and asked the emperor to issue an edict to slow down.

Yang Ling felt that Liu Jin attracted the attention of all officials and would be of great benefit to the policies he was preparing to implement. Moreover, he was busy breeding and developing new guns these two days, so he didn't take it too seriously. However, things turned sharply. Why did Liu Jin suddenly retaliate against officials who had been dismissed from office and returned home? Should he kill a chicken to warn the monkey or take his anger on others?

Fifty-six people? Yang Ling's heart moved and understood that there were not so many officials in the case of Liu Jian and Xie Qian. Liu Jin announced that the 56 people were treacherous parties, which must be the name of attacking Liu and Xie. Some officials who opposed his reforms were also included in it, hoping to establish their authority and attack and intimidate all officials.

Can't the Chinese and Chinese military officials see the meaning of the drunkard? As soon as this example begins, political disputes can be extended or reduced, and the burden of implicating them can be large or small. In the future, if there are those who oppose Liu Jin, the implicating circle can be slightly enlarged, and they can be classified into the "treacherous party". They know that they are very powerful, so they will naturally try their best to rebound.

Yang Ling was angry and anxious, and waved his hand and said, "I know, let go, I will enter the city!"

Qiao Qianhu nodded and flicked solemnly on the side. Yang Ling whipped the horse's thighs and led the guard straight to Wumen.

The snow fell silently, and there was no trace of people on the wide imperial road. Pedestrians who got up early to go on the street rushed back home due to heavy snow and the city lockdown. No one dared to walk around on the street, for fear of being arrested by the factory guards.

The palaces and pavilions of wealthy families, the wine shops and pavilions in the streets and alleys are covered with a desolate white snow in the wind and snow. Only the bells of the ground sound from the temples are sometimes sounding, majestic and melodious, making people know that this big city is still alive.

Before Yang Ling could reach Fengtian Gate, there were Dongchang men with knives and guns on the side of the road to intercept them. After seeing clearly whether they were from the inner factory, Yang Ling, the governor of the inner factory, the group of frightened men who were killed like butchers in the inner factory last time quickly crawled to the side, watching them gallop by horses.

When the horse arrived at the Meridian Gate, Yang Ling tied the reins of the horse, and the strong horse "Xi Yuyu" neighed a long time, breaking the silence of the morning.

Snowflakes fell in front of his eyes in a daze. Yang Ling looked at the wide square in front of the Meridian Gate in shock. His heart couldn't help but jump up quickly. The twenty fast horses that were chasing him were also stopped. The guards looked at him with breath.

The square was snow-white, but hundreds of Dongchang men were walking silently with their knives around. Because of their arrival, Youran stopped and looked at this side.

In the center of the square, just in front of the Meridian Gate, hundreds of "sculptures" were quietly bathed in the snow. They were human-shaped snow sculptures kneeling on the ground. Occasionally, due to their crumbling figures, the snow on their bodies was covered with snow, revealing the red and blue official robes inside, and it was obvious that they were all the officials who could not get up after kneeling for a long time.

Yang Ling tied the reins of the horse, made a round in place, suddenly jumped off the horse, ran over quickly, and twenty guards hurriedly followed behind him. When he approached, he found that there were many people lying in the snow. Due to the thick snow and the same whiteness, he could not see clearly in the distance.

Yang Ling hurriedly wiped away the snow on a person's body. The man was not old and looked only seventeen or eighteen years old. His face was ashen, his body was stiff, and his eyebrows and hairlines were covered with frost.

This is not an official. Seeing that his clothes were probably the Imperial College student, Yang Ling hurriedly pulled off the cloak on his body, wrapped it around him, and picked him up with difficulty. The two men hurriedly snatched over and picked up the man from him.

Some officials around turned around silently because of his actions. The thick snow showed only a pale face of coldness, looking at him expressionlessly.

Yang Ling brushed away the snow on the ground of a cold man. This was a fifth-rank civil servant with three short whiskers under his jaw, his eyes were closed, and he was unconscious. Yang Ling held his cold hands and looked around. He was surrounded by dozens of people in the distance. A monk walked over with his head pressed his waist knife and shouted loudly several feet away: "I am ordered by the factory supervisor to inspect here. Who is the one who interferes in political affairs without authorization?"

Yang Ling was furious and raised his head and said angrily: "Nothing political affairs! All civil and military officials are national weapons, and the foundation of the country. Who gave you the order to abuse the officials of the court?"

Yang Ling said this, and the officials who were already half-conscious all over the place could not help but turn their heads, look at him excitedly, and look at him in surprise. The man approached and saw Yang Ling's appearance clearly. He couldn't help but be shocked. His knees softened, and he turned over and bowed, and said in panic: "I don't know that the lord is here, so I am rude. Please forgive me."

Yang Ling also saw clearly that this person was Zhou Qifeng, the sixth-tier leader of the former East Factory. Before Gu Dayong took over the East Factory, Fan Ting, the second-tier leader, the third-tier leader, and other core figures had been secretly killed by Peng Jizu and others on the excuse of resisting arrest. Zhou Qifeng was scared away and reported all the secrets he knew to the inner factory, so he was able to survive. Later, he defected to Gu Dayong and was still restored to his post.

When he saw that the person coming was Yang Ling, the head of the factory in the inner factory, he quickly kowtowed and bowed. When the people behind him came over to take the people, they knelt down immediately. Yang Ling stood up with a blue face and shouted: "Hurry up and call someone to rescue you, send them to the nearby house for rescue, and ask someone to cook some hot soup... wait, wipe the person with the snow before waking him, and don't lift it onto the hot kang."

Seeing that Zhou Qifeng was still hesitant, he glared at him and shouted: "Go and do it immediately, Eunuch Gu has my official speaking for you!"

Zhou Qifeng nodded and said, "Yes, yes, yes, I will do it immediately, I will do it immediately, someone will come. Come immediately, and help you all the adults up."

A weak and old voice said, "Mr. Yang, I am not willing to die. However, Liu Jin has been in chaos and imposed a cruel law. Now he has committed crimes and has criticized Grand Secretary Liu, Grand Secretary Xie, who has returned home, and dissidents in the court, have been criticized as treacherous parties. What is the source of this disaster? If the emperor list is not returned, fifty-six colleagues will not be forgiven for being punished. We would rather freeze to death here and be as clean as the snow!"

Yang Ling saw that the man's hair and hair were white and trembling. Although he was so cold that his face was no longer visible, he could still see that he was the one who had opposed him and had now been promoted to the Minister of Personnel, the Land King of the Earth.

After the news that Yang Ling was "seriously injured" returned to Beijing, and that Wang Qiong was "shaming" by Fan Ting of the East Factory came out, the old master was not so disgusted with Yang Ling's impression. Today, he listened to his words and felt a little more favorable to him. Therefore, he expressed his willingness to kneel down to advise all officials.

The officials who were kneeling down and the students shouted in unison: "Yes, if the emperor's list is not granted, the loyal ministers will not forgive their sins. We would rather freeze to death here to be as clean as the snow."

Yang Ling let out a sigh, handed the unconscious civil servant in his hand to his subordinates, and walked slowly forward. The thick snow creaked and creaked under his feet. Yang Ling walked to the front and close to the palace gate. Most of the six ministers and nine ministers were kneeling here, and the two civil servants at the front were Li Dongyang. One was older was Li Dongyang, and the other was in his forties and half-kneel beside him and supporting him was Yang Tinghe.

Li Dongyang was wearing several official robes. I don’t know which officials had untied his clothes and put them on him. He was holding a roll of yellow paper in his hand. It was Liu Jin who posted the imperial list of 56 treacherous members of the palace gate.

Yang Ling rushed forward, helped Li Dongyang up, and whispered: "Grandmaster, why... why are you... you're taking the lead in kneeling at the palace gate to advise? What are the opinions of the two Grandmasters? You can go into the palace to report to the emperor that this... this will make your body frozen..."

Li Dongyang stood up staggeringly, seeing it was him, he couldn't help but feel happy. Hearing his slightly blamed tone, Li Dongyang smiled bitterly: "Mr. Yang, the emperor stopped the morning court today, and I, the Grand Secretary, will not see the emperor for a while. If the imperial list is preached, it will not be recovered. I have to come up with this inferior plan. Unexpectedly... all officials kneel down to advise, and Liu Jin is still so calm."

Yang Ling paused, and all officials and Liu Jin were in stalemate, so that they could make profits. If Liu Jin defeated all the civil and military affairs and paralyzed the entire court, what would happen?

He grabbed the imperial list from Li Dongyang and said softly: "If the two great ministers trust the officials, I will leave this matter to me. The two great ministers persuaded all officials to go back and recuperate quickly, so that they must not miss the state affairs. Could it be... the two great ministers still don't know the fire screen, the little prince led a large army of 70,000 to siege the city and plunder the land, and the border has been in full swing?"

Li Dongyang was shocked and said, "There is such a thing? The Tatars have to lead their troops to attack the border every year. The beacon message has been received, but there has not been a detailed military report yet. What is so serious this year?"

Yang Ling thought to himself: "The express letters from the border may not be as fast as our local letters. Besides, you all came here to kneel down and advise, and the outside was blocked by the Dongchang and Jingying. Even if there were messengers, they would probably not be able to enter."

Yang Ling said anxiously: "That's right, state affairs are the most important. Please ask the two Grand Secretary to lead the officials back first. Now the officials with frostbite need treatment urgently. Those who can return to the yamen to work should not act irritably. The officials immediately went to the palace. This case of "traitor" is covered by the officials."

Li Dongyang also knew that this time was definitely not the time for the internal and external courts to argue endlessly. The border was in a hurry and the external enemy invaded, and everything was put first. He immediately nodded and said, "Okay, crack down on those with different political views as treacherous parties. If the Ming Dynasty sets this precedent, the party struggles will continue and become more and more intense from now on. Please give this matter to the Lord. All civil and military officials will give me and my husband and I advice."

Yang Ling nodded, raised the emperor's list with his hand, and shouted in a loud voice: "Sir, Yang is willing to bear the responsibility of returning the emperor's list to resolve the slander of the "traitorous party". The court must not have any officials for a day, and all officials must not ignore the government for a day.

Now the border is in danger, and the Tatar army is 70,000, and heavy troops are approaching. The city is plundering, the city is falling, and the people are suffering. Please leave the Wu Gate temporarily and take care of your health. The country is the most important thing, and the people are the most important thing!"

Liu Daxia is in good health. Don’t think he is a 70-year-old man. He has been struggling for the past few days, but he is still energetic. He stood up suddenly when he heard this. He said in surprise: "What? Is the border already critical? The official documents of the Ministry of War have not been received yet. Are your news reliable?"

Yang Ling nodded heavily and said, "There is no falsehood. Please go back to the Ministry of War as soon as possible. I am afraid that the emperor will summon you soon after getting the news."

With the help of Yang Tinghe, Li Dongyang turned around and shouted: "My colleagues, Lord Yang will come to the palace to see the emperor immediately. He has agreed to report the emperor to the emperor on behalf of us. Now the border is in crisis and state affairs are the most important. Everyone... Let's go back to the house for now and rush back to the yamen as soon as possible to handle the work."

With Li Dongyang's words, all the officials became turbulent and stood up one by one, and then went to help their coma colleagues. It was cold after the snow. The weather was relatively warm when it snowed. In addition, this was the first heavy snow in early winter, and it was hungry and tired, and the cold. Some officials with weak constitution fainted, but fortunately no one was frozen to death.

The Dongchang man wanted to help him, but the officials couldn't stand firmly, but they insisted on letting them help him. However, since Yang Ling issued an order, the Dongchang man who was set up at various intersections retreated one after another, and the servants and carriages of the adults who were blocked outside the streets rushed in, picked up their respective adults into the sedan and in the car, and then hurriedly pulled them away.

Yang Ling sent Li Dongyang, Yang Ting and the ground sedan chair away, then returned to the outside of the palace gate, knocked on the corner gate, handed in the tooth sign. After testing it inside, it was Yang Ling, and the palace gate opened slowly.

When Yang Ling saw that the inner guards in the palace gate were also Jia Ge Senran, he couldn't help but frown even more, and his heart was secretly alert.

He was deliberately handing over the capital to Liu Jin for a nonsense, and the East Factory and the West Factory were nominally controlled by Liu Jin. As the leader of the Sili Supervisor, Liu Jin ordered the city to be locked down and the palace was locked. Gu Dayong, Zhang Yong, Miao Kui and others would not dare to openly disobey. Unexpectedly, when this incident happened suddenly, he was kept in the dark and could not get news.

Although Emperor Zhengde's trust in himself is still above Liu Jin, he has a strength, which is to be with the emperor every day. It seems that from the normal communication channels in Beijing, in addition to the normal communication channels, he also has to secretly arrange underground messages to be transmitted, otherwise sometimes he will inevitably be kept in the dark. If Liu Jin has malicious intentions towards him...

While thinking in his heart, Yang Ling ran straight to the western warm pavilion of Ganqing Palace. Emperor Zhengde liked to live in the palace where Emperor Hongzhi lived for a long time. Since he was indifferent to the harem, he has refused to live anywhere else.

Yang Ling walked into the West Warehouse Pavilion. The outer hall was empty. When the two small yellow gates saw him coming, they were about to bow to salute him. Yang Ling quickly waved his hand to stop him. Turning to the left was the middle hall. Zhengde's daily government affairs place, Yang Ling was about to reach out and lift the cotton curtain of Huanglong satin, but he heard the sound of talking inside. As soon as his fingers opened the gap, he stopped there.

Miao Kui's voice said, "Eunuch Liu, will this matter be too much? We have already visited people and the officials have knelt outside the palace gate for a night. If a few of them are frozen to death and arouse public anger, we will be even more attacked."

Then Zhang Yong said in his voice: "Yes, according to our family, should someone tell Lord Yang and ask him to discuss it together?"

At this time, Ma Yongcheng snorted heavily and said, "Is it too late? Now it's hard to get rid of a tiger. I just asked the emperor for the order of the earth, saying that the officials in the court bully the emperor at a young age. We only punish Liu Jian and others by name, not by punishment, to warn all officials to make them respectful. This is great. How do you explain to the emperor now? Lord Yang... I'm so troubled, and they are willing to clean up this mess for us?"

Yang Ling looked inward against the crack of the curtain and saw a row of mahogany official hat chairs, Liu Jin was wearing a python robe, holding a purple sand pigeon-mouthed pot, and then drank a sip of tea, and said angrily: "Even if they are not afraid of death, our family will not believe that those spoiled scholars can stand the cold and hungry, why are you panic? Look at it at noon, hum, and ask someone to remove the monks and allow their servants to come in. They will definitely go downstairs and run home to pretend to die."

At this time, a corner of the python robe flashed into his sight again, turned around and sat next to Liu Jin. It was Gu Dayong, the boss of the East Factory, and he smiled bitterly, "What I said is that now, I can only take one step at a time. Now I am competing with the outer court. Whoever retreats first will be defeated? Don't ask Lord Yang to call him a joke. Let's wait."

He thought for a while and said, "Eunuch Liu, do you think the blockade of Jiucheng first? Although there are so many people coming in and out of the cold and heavy snow, there are still many people coming and going from south to north. If the city is locked, the people will inevitably make random guesses. Besides, this matter cannot cover people's eyes and ears."

Liu Jin thought for a while and said, "Well, Eunuch Zhang, please notify the Jiucheng switch. But... Eunuch Gu, Dongchang, you have to pay attention to the important roads at the Meridian Gate. Don't ask the idle people to come and watch the fun, the mess will be big."

The two responded, and saw Gu Dayong stand up and go out. Yang Ling quickly lifted the curtain and walked in with a clean cough.

Zhang Yong had just turned around and couldn't help but feel surprised when he saw Yang Ling: "Mr. Yang? Why did you enter Beijing today?"

Yang Ling glanced at everyone. Seeing that everyone was surprised, she showed joy again. The expression of a little uneasy was dissipated a lot, and she seemed to have a powerful helper. Even though Liu Jin was silent, the joy in his eyes could not be blocked.

Yang Ling thought to himself: "It seems that they were hiding it from me this time, not because they wanted to leave me aside, but because they thought they could manipulate the civil and military officials in the court, but they didn't expect that the stall became more and more messy."
To be continued...