In the north of Taiyuan City, a group of officials and military generals were waiting by the official road, waiting for Sang Ge who came from Yanjing.
Speaking of which, Sang Ge's official position was not high, but recently he was the most relied upon by Kublai Khan. This visit with the order also represented to some extent the importance Kublai Khan attached to Shanxi.
However, as the time approached noon, several officials looked towards the direction of Taiyuan City and became increasingly anxious.
"The Minister of Finance hasn't come yet." "What? Not yet?"
Yidu Martin, deputy envoy of the Dayuan Shanxi Province who was talking to Hao Tianting, had a look of surprise on his face and said, "Just now, the Finance Minister asked me to come over first. He said he would leave immediately."
This "financial minister" naturally refers to Ahema. Now Ahema, as Zhongshu Pingzhang, is also in charge of the state envoys department and the transfer envoy of all roads, supporting the great wealth of the Yuan Dynasty.
Hao Tianting frowned slightly after hearing this.
As the general manager of the military and civilian affairs of Taiyuan, he did not have a close relationship with the financial ministers. In fact, he did not want to come to welcome Sang Ge in person. The reason why he came today was because Ahema said he would come and asked him to accompany him.
Fortunately, he had been waiting here for a long time, but Ahema did not arrive.
Hao Tianting then looked at Martin Yidu and asked, "Don't you even know that the Prime Minister of Finance has not arrived?"
arrive."
"Commander, I have been talking to you here, so I didn't pay attention
"Brother Sang is coming soon." Hao Tianting had no choice but to remind him.
"Commander, please wait a moment. I'm going to invite the Minister of Finance."
Yidu Martin quickly confessed and hurriedly arranged for people to find Ahema.
Hao Tianting turned around slightly and took a look, saying, "We don't care about the war, and there are these smoky things happening all day long."
Hao Tianze, the fifth son of the Hao family, also responded: "Yes, these Hui Hui people are good at exploiting the people, so how can they care about the war?"
"A diamond cuts out the marrow, a poor girl does evil."
Hao Tianting cursed eight more words in a low voice, and then he felt a little calmer.
Like Zhang Shiyilang, he was the hostage sent by the Hao family to Mengting, and was Kublai Khan's bodyguard. He was among the most loyal Han people to the Yuan Dynasty. But this does not mean that he and Ahema have the same stance.
.
Hao Tianting was educated by Yuan Haowen when he was young, and he was a scholar. In addition, the Hao family lived in Taiyuan, and had long regarded this place as their own territory, and it was the people under the Hao family's rule that Ahema went to Shanxi to exploit.
Naturally, the Hao brothers were at odds with Ahema from their concepts to their interests.
"Qilang, I heard something." Hao Tianze whispered: "It is said that Brother Sang came here this time to test the various money valleys."
"Hook test?"
These are two words that make people fearful from the Mongol Kingdom to the Yuan Dynasty. Simply put, it means auditing, but in reality it means squeezing through auditing.
Hao Tianting said: "The news I heard is that His Majesty has ordered the suspension of the examination because Li Xia has withdrawn."
"But Brother Sang is still here."
"It's time to give Ahema a beating."
"Maybe he's not here to give us Han princes a beating." "Stop talking, here we come."
Hao Tianting said lightly, but made no intention of stepping forward to greet the approaching carriage and horse.
When he saw Brother Sang dismounting from the horse and walking towards us from a distance, he calmly straightened his clothes and said casually: "Ahhema hasn't come yet, and Yidu Martin has disappeared as well."
-~
The scene where the two teams met to greet Sang Ge was in full swing. However, someone hurried over from the direction of the city gate with a panic expression on his face.
"What?"
This little panic finally reached Brother Sang.
Sang Ge said to Hao Tianting with a smile on his face: "Of course the Finance Minister is very busy, so there is no need to come to pick him up. It is a great honor for me that Marshal Hao can come."
At this time, Yitu Martin squeezed over and said: "Cai met with a stabbing.
"What?!" Sang Ge was shocked.
Hao Tianting looked surprised for a moment, but then he seemed to realize something.
Everyone around asked questions one after another.
"Is the Minister of Finance okay?"
"How could something like this happen?"
Yidu Martin slowed down, called over another person, and replied: "When the Minister of Finance was approaching the north city gate, a group of carriages came in front of him, claiming to be Sang Ge Shangshu sent by the Great Khan. The Minister of Finance went to see him
, that man, with two attendants, hid a dagger in his sleeve, and suddenly stabbed the Minister of Finance in the chest."
"What?! That Finance Minister?"
"He was seriously injured and has been sent for treatment. "Quick, take me to have a look."
The crowd was chaotic. Most people were eager to visit Ahema, but a small number of people noticed some details during the assassination. For example, the assassin was dressed as Sang Ge.
Hao Tianting gave Sang Ge a meaningful look.
Sang Ge, who was in a daze, turned around and saw Hao Tianting's eyes, and asked with a smile: "Hao Marshal, you don't think it's me, do you? I just arrived in Taiyuan."
"I was just wondering who could know the news that His Majesty sent you to Taiyuan."
"Shuai Hao is right, this is indeed a big doubt. Who knew I had arrived in Taiyuan?" Brother Sang murmured in a thoughtful tone, and his flexible eyes turned in a circle.
Brother Sang was actually very suspicious of Hao Tianting.
This time, the reason why Kublai Khan sent him here was to ask him to calculate how much grain Ahema had embezzled over the years. This was a small blow.
The beating was to remind Ahema to spit out some of his greedy money and pay more attention in the future. Kublai Khan did not want to punish Ahema, otherwise he would not have sent someone with an official position and lower qualifications than Ahema.
It can be seen that Ahema is indeed exploiting Shanxi at every level, which must have caused dissatisfaction with the Hao family.
Now that Li Xia has withdrawn, Shanxi's defensive pressure has been reduced. Hao Tianting may have killed Ahema due to grudges, and then dragged his brother Sang into the water, muddying the waters.
"One more thing." Hao Tianting led Sang Ge towards the city and said, "The person who assassinated the Minister of Finance may be Li Xia's Military Intelligence Department."
"Military Intelligence Department?"
"Yes, speaking of which, my third brother died at the hands of an assassin from the Military Intelligence Department back then."
Hao Tianting had a flash of memory, thinking that it was when he came back from Kublai Khan to fight for power with Hao Tianyi, and his third brother Hao Tianju supported him the most.
"My third brother was also near the city gate. He met an assassin disguised as a woman. He suddenly rushed forward and stabbed him in the neck."
Brother Sang looked surprised and asked, "I have never found assassins from the Military Intelligence Department so rampant in Yanjing.
"Actually, because of Hao Tianyi's betrayal, there will inevitably be more snakes, insects, rats and ants here in Taiyuan, making it difficult to clear them out."
"Hao Marshal is saying that there are still Tang Jun craftsmen in Taiyuan City?" "Yes, there must be."
~~
Two Mongolian women held hands and entered Daruhuachi's mansion in Shanxi.
When Wokuotai was in power, he appointed Brother Su from the Cowardly Ministry as the Daru Huachi of Shanxi, as the highest official stationed in Shanxi by the Mongolian Khan. Thirty years have passed since the death of Brother Su, and his son suddenly
Lan Xi succeeded to the throne. Although he was nominally the highest official in Shanxi, he was actually easily ignored.
At this time, the two Mongolian women came in but did not go to see Hu Lan. Instead, they walked to the backyard by familiar routes. After walking around for a while, they walked to a side room and opened the door.
"Huh?"
When they saw that there was no one in the side room, they were only surprised for a moment, and soon they looked at each other and started chatting in Mongolian in low voices.
"He really did it?" "It's amazing."
They waited for a while before a tall figure came in through the window.
"You're back. Did you do what happened in the city today? "What?"
Yu Dechen untied the floral cloth on his head, took out two balls of steamed buns from his lapel, threw them aside, and wiped his face in front of the bronze mirror.
Babahar stepped forward and squeezed him, saying, "You're still pretending, you went to assassinate Ahema, right?"
"How to say?"
"Ahhem was seriously injured when he was assassinated. How could it be that you didn't do it?"
If I had done it, he would be dead by now."
Yu Dechen said lightly, frowned slightly, turned to Bulukhan and said, "Can you please tell me in detail how Ahema was assassinated?"
Babahar became unhappy and said, "Why didn't you ask me to tell you?"
Anyway, after whispering about this matter for a while, there was a knock on the door.
Yu Dechen held the sword in his hand and walked to the door and took a look before opening the door.
"The local snake wants to see you." A servant outside the door whispered, "It's in this courtyard.
"Have you heard about Ahema?"
"Otherwise we just met, why would I come here to see you again?" "It wasn't our people who did it?"
"no."
The man called "Local Snake" sitting in the dark turned around, and it was Hao Tianyi.
The sense of mystery immediately disappeared.
Hao Tianyi said: "If I wanted to kill someone, I would kill Hao Tianting first, not Ahema."
"Ahhema is our friend in conquering Shanxi."
"Don't say that, it's the people of Taiyuan who are suffering." Hao Tianyi sighed.
Yu Deshen's eyes were dull, and he was not moved at all by his compassion. He just felt that he was acting.
"I'm wondering if Ahema's assassination and injury at this time might be related to our army's preparations to take Taiyuan?"
"What do you mean?" Hao Tianyi asked, "Do you suspect that he deliberately used a flaw to lure us out?"
"I don't know." Yu Dechen said: "The question is, Taiyuan is going to be closed down?" "It's going to be closed down. But it's not yet, so I came over quickly."
Hao Tianyi took out a few small pieces of paper from his arms and handed them to Yu Dechen, saying: "This is the Taiyuan city defense layout; this is the date and route of several batches of money and grain; this is the list of generals who are willing to surrender. You can leave today and pass on the news."
Hand it over."
Yu Dechen stretched out his hand to take it, but Hao Tianyi didn't let go and squeezed it tighter.
"I don't have a good sister like Zhang Hongdao. My future depends on this. I have been hanging my head on my waist these days and worked hard to get it."
"Okay, leave it to me."
"This news is very important. The reason why the army took Taiyuan is Qiangu. If something goes wrong, let the Yuan army transport Qiangu away or burn it. Even if they capture Taiyuan City, it will be a mistake."
Yu Dechen still looked calm and said: "I know."
"Damn it." Hao Tianyi said, "But I'm not sure whether Ahema's assassination was a trap to deliberately lure us out. It's very dangerous for you to leave the city at this time."
"Give it to me, I'll take care of it. If you don't leave the city, the city gate will be sealed."
"Mom, you must be careful. Hao Tianting bites me like a poisonous snake and won't let go. If anything happens to you, I will definitely fall into his hands.
Yu Dechen no longer listened to Hao Tianyi's explanation, stretched out his left hand to pinch Hao Tianyi's finger, and took it away. He took the information, rolled it into a small roll, and stuffed it into a Taoist hairpin.
"Don't worry, this is what my master left to me. If I am here, it will be there."
Hao Tianyi sighed and explained the last thing.
"After you leave the city, don't go south to find Liu Shuai. You have to go east to Niangziguan."