Chapter 1173 The official plan, the eve of the palace change
Old Mrs. Wang knew that her report would definitely fall out with the Duke of Jingguo and even the Sheng Mansion, and she would not even get the approval of her son and daughter-in-law. However, she still firmly followed the Queen Mother's instructions and went to the Funing Palace to seek an audience with the officials.
Family, sue Zhou Chen.
However, she also had her own plan. She would come forward on her own and not let her son come forward. She planned to use her own life to play a game with Zhou Chen, so that even if she failed, she would not be a drag on the Wang family.
She just wanted to avenge her daughter, not really want to drag the Wang family to be buried with Zhou Chen.
She felt that after all she was Mrs. Wang's first wife and the imperial concubine. Even if she was far inferior to Duke Jingguo, she might not have no chance if things got serious.
When the officials saw Mrs. Wang and heard her complaint, they were a little stunned.
It's not that I was surprised by Mrs. Wang's complaint and Zhou Chen's murder, but I was surprised that Zhou Chen was so murderous and heart-wrenching. He actually poisoned Mrs. Kang and Wang to death in front of the Wang family. It was really a bit surprising.
No room or affection was spared.
However, when Mrs. Wang sued Zhou Chen and wanted to severely punish Zhou Chen, the officials did not take it seriously.
The Kang Wang family was indeed an official family member, and Zhou Chen's lynching of officials' family members was indeed against the law.
But although Old Mrs. Wang chose the important and avoided the light, emphatically stating that Zhou Chen killed an official like her daughter and ignored Wang's law, she avoided the reason why the Kang family poisoned Zhou Chen first.
It would be fine if the official didn't know that Zhou Chen was seriously injured by poisoning, but he had already known about Zhou Chen's condition from the imperial physician, and every time the imperial physician went to the Jingguo Duke's Mansion, he would come and report Zhou Chen's condition to him.
So he was very aware of Zhou Chen's current situation. He didn't know why Zhou Chen was like this before, but now that Mrs. Wang said it, he couldn't guess the reason.
If Kang Wang had poisoned Zhou Chen first, and Zhou Chen then killed Kang Wang, although there was a suspicion of private torture, how could he help Mrs. Wang deal with Zhou Chen in this situation?
One is the extremely high-status Duke Jingguo, and the other is the declining Wang family. Under normal circumstances, it is obvious who to choose.
So the officials patiently talked to Mrs. Wang for a while, but they never mentioned their intention to interrogate Zhou Chen. In the end, they asked the internal officials to send Mrs. Wang out of the palace on the grounds that they were tired.
After Mrs. Wang was sent out of the palace, she felt extremely desperate. Of course she could see what the Queen Mother and the Emperor meant, but if even these two were unwilling to help her redress her grievances, no one in the world could help her.
For a moment, she felt extremely miserable, as if she had been abandoned by heaven and earth.
Zhou Chen soon found out about Old Mrs. Wang going to the palace to file a complaint. When he learned that Old Mrs. Wang was kicked out by the officials and the Queen Mother, he was not surprised.
For the death of a mere Kang Wang family member, even if there was no reason, the officials and the Queen Mother would not be able to really punish him. It would be great to just rebuke him, but in his current situation, the officials and the Queen Mother would not even reprimand him.
"This old lady is really biased."
He knew that Mrs. Wang simply wanted to avenge the Kang Wang family and did not even care about the Wang family. As for her other daughter Wang Ruofu, she did not pay attention.
In this ancient feudal society where family and clan came first, Mrs. Wang's behavior was undoubtedly unreasonable, but it could also be seen how much she favored her eldest daughter.
Mrs. Wang had no way to complain. No matter how unwilling she was, she could only go back lonely.
More than half a month later, King Huan's large army, which went out to inspect the salt affairs, finally returned to the capital.
This inspection of the salt tax encountered a lot of troubles. There were more than a dozen assassinations. King Huan's guards were killed and injured numerous times. Even the accompanying officials were attacked. Sheng Changbai was lucky and was not injured.
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King Huan came back successfully, recovered a lot of salt taxes, even killed many people, and ransacked countless homes, so he brought back a lot of money, which made the official family happy and generously rewarded him.
Sheng Changbai also received a reward and his level was improved again.
However, Sheng Changbai was not happy. After returning home, he first met with his parents, grandmother and others, and then went to the Jingguo Palace in person to apologize to Zhou Chen.
Zhou Chen still pretended to be weak. These days, he has never left the Duke's mansion. He has also been on leave from the front office. Instead of blaming him, the officials sent people to send many precious medicinal materials and supplements.
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He knew the official's intentions very well. The official wanted to recuperate at home every day. Without him, the official would have the opportunity to gradually erode the Imperial Palace Division and control the imperial army inside and outside the capital.
Sheng Changbai said solemnly in front of Zhou Chen: "Eldest brother-in-law, please rest assured, I will definitely handle this matter well and never let eldest brother-in-law get hurt in vain."
Sheng Changbai kept his promise and quickly drove his mother Wang Ruofu out of the capital and sent her to the Sheng family's hometown in Youyang. She also asked Wang Ruofu to kneel down and pray in the ancestral hall for two hours every day.
Have light tea and light meals every day......
Although Wang Ruofu was not allowed to bear physical punishment, this kind of punishment was indeed a great torment for Wang Ruofu.
Youyang's hometown was managed by the eldest family member of the Sheng family, and the eldest wife of the eldest family didn't deal with her. It was inevitable that she would be looked down upon when she went there.
Kneeling for two hours every day, and having light tea and light meals every day, this is really a very severe punishment for Wang Ruofu, who has always been pampered and pampered.
Sheng Changbai also acted very quickly, and within a few days, Wang Ruofu was sent away.
Because Zhou Chen had not shown up for more than a month, many people were very surprised. So when they inquired, they all knew that Zhou Chen was seriously ill, and the news spread throughout the capital very quickly.
As a result, many people came to visit him, but Zhou Chen only received a few who were close to him, and the rest refused to see him on the grounds of recovering from illness.
Another month passed, and on this day the official family sent an internal official to issue an order to Zhou Chen.
The imperial edict contains a lot of content, but in the end it can be summarized in a few points. First, it praised him for his hard work and meritorious service, and he was a pillar of the court. Then he was named the crown prince and Taibao, and he still held the post of commander and envoy in front of the palace, but due to physical reasons, he was not suitable to take care of things.
, so the front department is temporarily managed and controlled by the deputy commander.
Zhou Chen looked at the imperial edict in his hand and smiled contemptuously. He said it sounded nice, but his ultimate goal was to seize his military power. Now, his position as the commander of the front office of the palace was empty.
As for the Crown Prince and Taibao, it was originally an honorary official position with no title, but what is even more embarrassing is that now there is not even a Crown Prince. This Crown Prince and Taibao is nothing.
This is a very standard move of rising and falling covertly. The military attache without military power is like a tiger without teeth.
Of course, Zhou Chen didn't care about these, but he knew that the reason why the official family made the decision to ignore him so quickly was that there was only one problem, that is, the dispute between the official family and the Queen Mother had reached the most critical moment, so the official family decided to ignore him so quickly.
The master wanted to firmly control the military power inside and outside the palace.
After handing the imperial edict to Hua Lan, Zhou Chen said: "This capital is going to be in chaos after all. From now on, we will continue to thank guests behind closed doors."
Hualan was very surprised after hearing Zhou Chen's words: "Official, you said that the capital is going to be in chaos. What do you mean?"
Zhou Chen whispered: "Of course it's to fight for power, but just understand it in your heart and don't say it out loud."
Seeing Zhou Chen's vague words, Hua Lan became even more curious. However, since Zhou Chen didn't explain clearly, she couldn't ask more questions, so she could only suppress her curiosity.
Although there is no longer a dispute between the official family and the Queen Mother because of Gu Tingye's affairs in the TV series, the overt and covert fighting between the official family and the Queen Mother has not diminished at all because of the absence of Gu Tingye. On the contrary, the official family has made greater moves in order to compete for military power.
Already.
Time passed day by day, and suddenly on this day, an urgent report came from the front line 800 miles away, saying that the Xixia army had invaded and had entered the Song Dynasty border.
When this news reached Bianjing City, it immediately caused an uproar. The court was also in chaos, with constant quarrels and curses that Xixia had torn up the peace agreement and was not a human son.
Since the Song Dynasty and Xixia signed a peace agreement ten years ago, there has been no dispute for ten years, and the Song Dynasty has also enjoyed ten years of peace.
Now that war has broken out, officials who are used to peace are naturally very nervous and anxious. Everyone advocates peace and no one wants war to start again.
But now that urgent news is coming from the front line, even if you are frightened, you must be prepared as soon as possible.
The Duke of Jingguo!
In the study, Zhou Chen was sitting behind the desk, and there was a person standing in front of him.
After reading the secret message in his hand, he lit it on fire and burned it before he spoke.
"You continue to go back. Although this time it is a government plan, it may not be the next time. The northwest is our foundation and my future plan. We must ensure the stability there."
"Understood, we must obey the Duke's order and guard the northwest."
"You can go back. According to my estimation, there will be another war on the border within two years. That boy Li Liangzuo is more ambitious than Pang, but I don't know if his life will be that long."
Zhou Chen has been in the northwest border for several years and has a very good understanding of the situation in Xixia. Li Liangzuo is considered a hero to Xixia, but his life is relatively short in the official history, but this is an imaginary history after all, and through him and
The war in Xixia also changed the history of Xixia. He didn't know if Li Liangzuo was still as short-lived now.
Although he left the northwest a long time ago, he left many loyal subordinates in the northwest. After he returned to Beijing, many of his subordinates were promoted. After he became the commander of the front division,
He also promoted many generals who were loyal to him overtly and covertly.
Perhaps he cannot control the border from Bianjing City now, but once he is given the opportunity to reach the border, he will be able to control the border army as quickly as possible.
After his men left, Zhou Chen looked silent and stared in the direction of the imperial city with deep eyes.
Taking advantage of the chaos on the border, he set a trap and tried to wipe out all the forces that opposed him.
There is nothing wrong with the official strategy, but it is still too risky. If you make a mistake, your life may be lost.
But this is also why he wants to seize Zhou Chen's military power. Only in this way can he control the palace city's military power as much as possible.
The northwest border was in turmoil, and the court meeting was very lively. The officials asked the courtiers to nominate generals who could pacify the border. The officials expressed their opinions and named names one after another.
A surprising thing happened. The person who received the most proposals was Duke Zhou Chen of Jingguo. After him was Duke Ying. The other generals were far fewer than them.
The reason for this is mainly because the British Duke is old. In comparison, Zhou Chen is younger, and it was Zhou Chen who took over the two states of Xixia in the first place. Therefore, in the minds of the ministers, Zhou Chen is undoubtedly the most suitable.
candidate.
However, the officials directly rejected this proposal, using the reason that Zhou Chen was seriously ill and unable to lead the army, and finally let the British Duke lead the generals on the expedition.
The army set off for the expedition very quickly. Not long after the decision was made, the British Duke led a large army to leave. Among them, most of the most trusted generals around the officials went with the British Duke.
Two months later, news of the defeat on the front line came back to Bianjing City. It was said that the elite army led by the British Duke suffered an ambush and attack by the Xixia Army and suffered complete losses.
In an instant, the government and the public were shaken, and the officials fainted and fell to the ground.
Zhou Chen had been paying attention to what was going on in the court, and when he heard the news, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.
When he first watched TV King, he found it funny. The British Duke was one of the most famous generals in the Song Dynasty, and there were so many border troops. In just a few months, the Xixia army was completely wiped out.
This is really treating people as fools. If this Xixia was really that awesome, how could he have lived on the border without incident for so many years.
But it happened that the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty really believed it. The civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty were smart people gathered from all over the world. If they were all so ignorant, how could they govern the world?
Therefore, Zhou Chen felt that it was not that the ministers lacked foresight and insight. Even if they did not react at the time, many people may have realized that something was wrong afterwards, but no one came forward to expose it.
As for Liu Guifei and others from the Queen Mother's party, this opportunity is the best opportunity for them, and they must give it a try.
Zhou Chen had been keeping an eye on the situation inside and outside the capital. On this day, he heard the report from his subordinates and went straight to his room, put on his armor and picked up weapons.
When Hualan saw Zhou Chen wearing armor, he was immediately stunned.
"Guanren, what are you doing?"
Zhou Chen reached out and touched her smooth cheek, and said with a smile: "I have been in bed for so long just for today."
Hualan was not stupid either. Hearing Zhou Chen's words, he reacted instantly and looked at Zhou Chen in disbelief.
"So, you are just pretending these days?"
Zhou Chen smiled slightly and said: "Sorry, I lied to you, but if I didn't do this, the officials would probably take action against me. I also wanted to avoid unnecessary disputes and for everyone in the Duke's mansion.
, I had no choice but to do this.”
Hua Lan took a deep breath to suppress the discomfort in her heart.
"What about you now?"
"It can be regarded as for the sake of the whole family. If we do nothing tonight and let the officials sweep away all the forces, completely stabilize the court and take control of the military, it may be my turn next, so I have to take action."
Zhou Chen knew very well that since he had been wavering not to seek refuge with the officials, the officials must have been dissatisfied for a long time, and the reason why they had been tolerating him was simply out of fear.
But if the officials wait for everyone in the Queen Mother's party to be swept away, they will definitely not let him go. It is impossible to kill him, but they will certainly not make it easy for him.
He is not a person who likes to be controlled by others, so he has been planning for a long time. Pretending to be poisoned is only the first step, tonight is the second step, and when the world changes, it will be the third step he will take.
One link after another, if it was just him, there would be no need to calculate so much, but for the sake of Duke Jingguo and the Zhou family, he had to do this.
Tonight, the sky is destined to change, but such a change can also be controlled.