The prince is very fierce

Eight days have passed since the Ningwu Pass Incident.

The situation was getting worse and worse. King Wu's "heartfelt words" poured fuel on the fire, pouring it on the heads of the civil and military officials of the court. Before the first month came out, the New Year's Eve atmosphere completely passed, as if he had returned to the past. The cold winter.

It was already late at night, and the imperial study room behind the Taiji Palace was still brightly lit. Many high-ranking courtiers were waiting outside the imperial study room, while the three princes and nine ministers were standing in the imperial study room. From time to time, the emperor Song Ji could be heard yelling angrily:

"This Song Siming, how have I ever treated him badly? Excessive levies and heavy taxes... It's not like I haven't seen the disaster in Jiangnan. The disaster in Shu. I exempted the annual tax, and then exempted Jiangnan, and let hundreds of thousands of soldiers drink from the northwest wind? It's so big In the south of the Yangtze River, there are countless wealthy families. How much money does it cost to provide rice and grain for disaster relief? Have you ever heard Old King Wu complain even a little bit?..."

Every sentence is true, but it is also impotent and furious.

If you want to impose a crime, why bother?

King Wu impeached the emperor, and King Wei and King Yu immediately expressed their opinions, siding with King Wu and accusing Song Ji of having problems governing the country after he succeeded to the throne. In the final analysis, it was Song Ji who exposed his intention to reduce the vassal and touched the vassal king. It's nothing more than personal interests. How can you ask for orders for the people and serve the country wholeheartedly?

Most of the courtiers' minds are as clear as a mirror, but it is useless to know. No vassal king will recognize these things if they are told, otherwise King Wu would not bother to find these "four major sins" to use as a master.

Most of the three princes and nine ministers come from prominent families, that is, those who have vested interests. Their interests are tied to the imperial power. Chaos in the world is not in the interests of prominent families. Not to mention the replacement of imperial power. Once the emperor and his courtiers change, the powerful families behind them will inevitably be reshuffled. When there is room for maneuver, the five "Xiao Lu, Cui, Wang, Li" and other minor surnames present will , must have chosen to maintain the current situation and stand on Song Ji's side.

Lu Cheng'an, the great farmer, is the helmsman of the Lu family in Jinling. Like Xiao Chuyang, his family is suffering from disasters. Although the King of Wu dare not touch the two great families of Xiao and Lu, the family's properties all over the south of the Yangtze River have been affected by the rebellion, so they cannot be regarded as Didn't see it. Moreover, the north is in a shopping spree with Northern Qi. As the saying goes, "To deal with foreign affairs, you must first settle the domestic affairs." If the affairs in Jiangnan are not resolved, Dayue, which has been recuperating for decades, may really be brought down.

After the emperor finished scolding the three eastern queens, Lu Chengan took a step forward and said:

"The three kings in the east have different intentions, and asking them to plead guilty is empty talk. The war in Taiyuan is urgent, and the internal troubles should be quickly quelled."

The three princes and nine ministers all nodded. They used the prince of the three eastern princes as a threat to make the three eastern princes admit their mistakes. Thinking about it, you knew it was impossible. The reason why the three princes stayed in Chang'an was to prevent the vassal kings from revolting. Now the three kings in the east are not rebelling, but are "speaking out for justice" for the people. They impeached Song Ji for being violent and fatuous. If Song Ji had killed the princes of the three kings in the east, he would not be able to sit down. He is convinced that he is a tyrant.

It is even more impossible for Song Jixia to admit his mistake to the three eastern kings.

Song Ji went too far in the "Iron Eagle Hunting Deer", but the general direction was definitely correct, and there was something wrong with the matter of reducing the vassal. How could he commit the crime and admit the crime mentioned by the three kings, and put the stinking basin on his head?

The best way to quickly quell this turmoil is to send troops to put down the Jiangnan rebellion, then ignore the three eastern kings, and then deal with them after Northern Qi is destroyed.

But in the current situation, the soldiers and horses of the Western Liaoning Protectorate would definitely not dare to move. The kings of Wei and Yu have expressed their stance. It is good if they do not interfere with it, let alone expect them to quell the rebellion.

There are more than 200,000 refugees in the Jiangnan uprising. With the secret encouragement of the King of Wu, the number is still growing rapidly. Without more than 100,000 elite soldiers, they will definitely not be able to quell it. Where can we gather these 100,000 elite soldiers now?

Song Ji naturally knew that King Wu was adding insult to injury. After venting his anger for a moment, he sat back at the desk and said in a deep voice:

"My dear friends, do you have any suggestions?"

Taiwei Guan Hongzhuo thought for a moment, bowed and said:

"The border troops originally used by the Western Liaoning Protectorate to suppress the rebellion could spare 50,000 and continue to march south, but it would be difficult to extinguish the rebel rebels in the south of the Yangtze River in time. The King of Chu assisted in the defense of the northern border and had more than 200,000 troops. Although the combat strength It’s not very useful, but it should be no problem to destroy the rebels who are mainly refugees.”

Fu soldiers are ordinary military households. They serve the people in peacetime and soldiers in wartime. The quality of the soldiers is very different from professional soldiers such as the Guanzhong Army and Xiliang Army. Basically, the soldiers and horses in Dayue are of this kind. They are used for Maintain law and order in various places.

However, although the combat effectiveness of the King of Chu's army is not as good as that of the border army, at any rate, a new batch goes to the border every two years for training. No matter how bad it is, it is still better than the refugees wielding hoes. As long as they are willing to go, suppressing the rebellion should not be a big problem.

Song Ji tapped his fingers on the table and thought for a moment.

At this time, Song Ji did not want to use the vassal king's troops, fearing that the Chu king would also come out to cause trouble. However, if Jiangnan delays for too long, the problem will become more serious, and we have to see what the attitude of King Chu is.

"Yes, I have sent an order to the King of Chu to immediately lead his army to Jiangnan to quell the rebellion."

"promise."

The three princes and nine ministers all bowed, and after making a decision, they bowed and exited the imperial study room...

The next afternoon.

In Fenglingdu Town, pedestrians and merchants crowded around, but the big archway in the middle of the "Guimen Pass" was a bit sluggish, and there were no people who were interested in the archway.

Xu Buling rode the wind-chasing horse and walked through the small square with Ning Qingye. He turned his head and said:

"Qingye, have you ever been through hell?"

Ning Qingye rode on a white horse, wearing a veil on her head, her back as straight as ever, but she looked listless.

Last night, Xu Buling took advantage of her again, and she gave up on herself and pulled off her bellyband to let Xu Buling see enough. Her original intention was to irritate Xu Buling, but she ended up irritating herself to death.

That would have been fine, but Xu Buling hugged her, rubbed and kissed her ears, and said he wanted to marry her. Ning Qingye was very confused about emotional issues. She was hurt by her father's irresponsible behavior when she was young, so how could she have any ideas? She didn't sleep well last night, and she hasn't spoken since she got up in the morning.

Hearing Xu Buling's question, Ning Qingye didn't want to answer. He drove his horse faster and walked in front, saying calmly:

"You are not allowed to tell Manzhi and the others about what happened yesterday. I will ask Master later. If Master agrees, I will settle accounts with you."

Xu Buling rode a horse and led another horse, and walked up to him faster:

"What will you do if Master doesn't agree?"

Don't agree...

Ning Qingye's body stiffened a little. He wanted to say 'How could Master not agree', but felt that this was wrong, and finally snorted coldly:

"Don't agree. You are frivolous to me, and I will break off all ties with you. If you touch me again, I will not care about the favor."

Xu Buling smiled: "Okay, it's a deal. Don't say I am irresponsible when the time comes."

"You..."

Ning Qingye clenched his fists, didn't say anything else, and quickly came to the ferry in Fenglingdu Town.

At the ferry crossing at the Yellow River Bay, there were endless boats. The Su Wang Mansion's boat was parked among them, with the steps on the shore. Maids and messengers were running up and down from time to time.

It was already dark, and the lights were on on both floors of the boat. From afar, you could see the three girls, Manzhi, Chuchu, and Yufu, gathered together on the deck, holding a telescope and scanning the Yellow River.

On the first floor of the boat, at the window of Ning Yuhe's room, Zhongli Jiujiu was sitting with Ning Yuhe on both sides of the window, hugging their arms and facing each other. I don't know what they were talking about, but from the expressions, they must be mocking each other.

Xu Buling knew the two eldest wives best. Just by looking at their expressions, he knew that Yuhe was saying:

"You dead woman, you deserved it for getting close to Ling'er."

Jiujiu said: "You said that you are a master and you give everything to your apprentice, but you still have to hold me down. What do you want? What if Xu Buling gets addicted..."

Xu Buling looked at them from a distance and felt a little funny. Perhaps it was because they saw him coming back with Qingye that the two mortal enemies immediately stopped arguing and disappeared from the window.

On the second floor of the building ship, Aunt Lu stood at the window like Wangfushi, and she didn't know how long she had been looking. After seeing him, her warm face was full of surprise, and she hurried back to the house and pulled Xiang'er out. Xiang'er was probably taking a beauty sleep, with a green mask on her face. After taking a look at the window, she quickly hid back, probably to wash her face and dress up.

Xu Buling smiled from the bottom of his heart, breathed a sigh of relief, and quickly came to the edge of the building ship.

Ning Qingye was a little distracted and didn't pay attention to the many small details on the boat. After getting off the horse, he led his big white horse to the deck.

Xu Buling thought Qingye would go back to his room without saying a word, but he didn't expect Ning Qingye to walk a few steps and see Manzhi and the others running over happily. The first thing he said was:

"Manzhi, I picked up a wind-chasing horse in Taiyuan. What do you think?"

His eyes were full of pride!

Chuchu and Yufu were both delighted when they saw the majestic white wind-chasing horse, but Chuchu had her long-cherished white camel and Yufu couldn't ride a horse, so she didn't envy him too much.

And Manzhi glanced over and frowned immediately, and she was crying with envy...