From a son-in-law to a favorite of the empress

Chapter 584

From the tower of Yangzhou, overlooking the front, a dense crowd of people crowded together to form an orderly formation.

Jiangsu Governor Qin Zhaoxian personally led the garrison camps of various states to besiege Yangzhou, just to wipe out the resurgent Wusheng Sect.

They said that the Wusheng Sect had cooperated with the former Jiangxi Jiedushi Cheng Ping and Han Tuo to cause chaos in the two rivers and shake the foundation of the country.

Now the Wusheng Sect has taken root in Yangzhou, united with the mob, and has occupied Yangzhou, and must be wiped out with thunder and lightning.

The reason is reasonable, as long as Zhou Yuan and others are all killed, everything will be settled.

"Zhou Yuan is dead, and all the people in Yangzhou who knew about it have been killed. At that time, His Majesty will not pursue anything."

Guan Lindu looked indifferent and said in a deep voice: "His Majesty has a bottom line. His bottom line is... the great cause of the revival of the Great Jin Dynasty. We killed the people of the eight major families, paved the way for His Majesty in Jiangnan, and saved the salt business. Under such circumstances, she has the possibility of concession."

Qin Zhaoxian said lightly: "I hope so, but... Master Guan, it is not an easy task to kill Zhou Yuan. Even if I have 12,000 troops now, I don't have the confidence in my heart."

"You must know that Zhou Yuan once defeated an enemy ten times larger. After all, Yangzhou still has 3,000 garrison camps."

Guan Lindu said coldly: "At this point, we have no way out. If Zhou Yuan wins, I will have to go to Shenjing and kneel down in front of my daughter to beg for mercy."

"I have a way out. As long as I beg my daughter, Spare me, at most she will imprison me in the house and send people to keep an eye on me to prevent me from doing evil in the future. "

"After all, we are a family. Although she is the emperor, she cannot bear the crime of patricide. The history books of the ages will stare at her."

"But you are different. You are ministers. You have no way out."

Qin Zhaoxian sighed and said, "I should not have gotten involved in this mess if I had known."

Guan Lindu said, "Without silver, can you become the governor of Jiangsu? Without private salt, can you become that person's party member, continue to be promoted, and eventually become a second-rank frontier official?"

"Everything has a cause and an effect. Today's matter is a battle of life and death. Think it through."

Qin Zhaoxian looked at the towering tower in front of him, and finally made up his mind. He gritted his teeth and said, "Attack the city! Regardless of the cost! Destroy the Wusheng Sect!"

At this moment, on the tower, Zhou Yuan looked at the evidence written by Wu Qinghe, and his scalp was numb.

He handed the most crucial part to Zhuang Xuansu and said, "Look, Master Zhuang, what have you been doing in the Inner Court Division these years."

Zhuang Xuansu looked at it carefully, her face became more and more stiff, and finally she threw the paper to the ground.

She roared, "Rebellion! All of them rebelled!"

"In Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Huguang, Shandong and even Hunan, almost 40% of the officials, big and small, have become the umbrellas of salt merchants, and they are all core figures."

"The entire canal transportation is in collusion, escorting private salt, forging documents, salt permits, and tax bills, and has formed an iron barrel-like internal circulation. No wonder the Inner Court Division didn't notice it at all."

"Kill! These people should be killed!"

At the end, she was already hideous.

As the head of the Inner Court Division, Zhuang Xuansu was the most loyal servant of Empress Zhaojing. She only had the emperor in her heart. At this moment, she felt that she had failed in her duty and felt ashamed to face the emperor.

Zhou Yuan continued: "The governor of Jiangxi, the governor of Jiangsu, and the governor of Shandong are all involved, plus the governor of the grain transport, a total of four frontier officials, all of whom are loyal to the court!"

"The government is their lubricant, and Guan Lindu plays a very important role in it. Without him, the officials from top to bottom would not be able to cooperate so closely."

"Also, the Minister of War Wu Qingrong, four officials from the Zhanshi Palace, three core figures from the Zongren Palace, two princes, four county kings, and more than a dozen nobles, what a big net of fish!"

"Any one of them is a figure that can shock a region. These core figures can get more than 300,000 taels of silver every year."

Speaking of this, Zhou Yuan smiled lightly. , said: "There is another senior official above. Judging from the titles and honorifics in the correspondence, he should be a cabinet minister."

"Cabinet ministers, your majesty's right-hand man, role model for civil and military officials, discipline and assist in the supervision of the world, and are actually the umbrella of the salt merchants."

"No wonder the previous imperial envoys all returned empty-handed."

Zhuang Xuansu said coldly: "Your majesty will kill them all! Not a single one will be left alive!"

Zhou Yuan said: "If they are all killed, there will be huge fluctuations in the officialdom of Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Shandong and other places, and the entire court will be affected. The cost is so high that it is unimaginable. Will your majesty do that? Will you kill some and leave some?"

Zhuang Xuansu said: "You don't understand your majesty. What your majesty hates most is"She is an official who brings disaster to the country and the people. She will never show mercy when it comes to killing people."

"Since she entered the palace, she has killed four of her close maids who were like sisters to her."

Zhou Yuan was silent for a moment before saying, "What about Guan Lindu? That is your Majesty's biological father."

Zhuang Xuansu took out a letter and said indifferently, "It arrived this morning. It is a letter from Shenjing. Take a look."

Zhou Yuan frowned and opened the envelope. When he opened it, he saw that the handwriting was very familiar. It was written by the big world.

It was written on it: "A brave man cuts off his wrist and scrapes his bones to heal his wounds. Political reform is always accompanied by pain, and the cleansing of the government is always accompanied by blood. At this moment, there is no room for mercy."

"Junior brother, eliminate all evil and rebuild after demolishing the old."

"This time, the salt inspection in Jiangnan was full of difficulties. You unraveled the mystery and finally uprooted the salt merchants. You have made great contributions. ”

“However, due to the nature of the matter, the elder sister cannot give you a big reward openly, so I have to reward you in other ways.”

“Let Li Yu’an kill the person and don’t let the old man return to Beijing. In return, I promised her... when the time is right, Dajin will send troops to Goryeo to help her restore her country.”

“This is the reward given to you by the elder sister, and it is also a thank you for her protection for so long.”

“Remember, don’t let the old man return to Beijing, otherwise the elder sister will be soft-hearted.”

Zhou Yuan took a deep breath and handed the letter to Li Yu’an.

Li Yu’an took it and looked at it. Her eyes became brighter and brighter, and finally she said in surprise: “Is she serious?”

Zhou Yuan nodded and said: “Yes.”

Li Yu’an sighed: “She is really cruel. She is afraid that her father will not die, so she asked me to kill him personally and help me restore my country. "Of course, she is willing to help me for your sake. She really understands you and knows that you care about this." "Zhou Yuan, I have to say that she is really good to you. If it weren't for the assassination last summer, you might have been the most harmonious monarch and minister in the history." Zhou Yuan rolled his eyes and said, "But Zeng Cheng is coming to get my money. The eight major families in Jiangnan can at least collect 60 million taels of silver." "I originally planned to hand over half to the treasury and spend the remaining half on myself, so that at least three cruisers and three battleships can be built, fully equipped with artillery, and the production of mother-and-child flintlock guns can reach tens of thousands." "Now it seems that it is not easy. "

As soon as the voice fell, a loud bang shook the world.

More than ten cannons fired at the same time, heading towards the Yangzhou city wall.

Li Yu'an's face changed drastically, and she pulled Zhou Yuan up and fled, but the aftermath of the explosion still threw her and Zhou Yuan away.

"Wow!"

Li Yu'an spurted out a mouthful of blood, and her internal strength continued to vent outward, her face as pale as paper.

Zhou Yuan was protected by her tightly and was almost uninjured, but he was also confused at this moment.

"Fuck him!"

He couldn't help but curse out loud, and hurriedly hugged Li Yu'an, trembling: "Virgin sister, how are you? Don't scare me!"

Li Yu'an's mouth and nose were bleeding, and she said with difficulty: "I won't die, but I'm seriously injured and can't fight for the time being. Call Chu Feifan quickly, you can't be without someone to protect you."

Zhou Yuan punched the ground and gritted his teeth and said: "I want them all to die! "

Soon, Chu Feifan and others came to support.

Guan Lu was also panicked and shouted: "Sir! Sir!"

Zhou Yuan said: "I'm fine! Tell that bastard Li He! Don't show me mercy!"