The rain was pouring down, and it continued from the end of the fourth watch until dawn. Thick dark clouds in the sky blocked the sun, and it still seemed a little dark even during the day.
Especially in a room with poor lighting, it feels like dark night.
After a morning exercise, Chen Jingke lay on his hands panting, and his hands kept wandering over Wu Shu's fair and smooth skin.
Wu Shu's pretty face and even her neck were covered with abnormal flushing. She leaned on Chen Jingke and hugged him tightly.
After a long time, Wu Shu woke up from the afterglow. He stood up and glanced at the clepsydra on the table, and then exclaimed:
"Oh, it's so late, we should get up."
Chen Jingke used his arms to pull her onto him again, making the two of them stick together tightly, and said lazily:
"This kind of weather is suitable for sleeping and what to do when you get up."
Wu Shu lay on his chest and said in a tired voice: "It's raining so heavily. I'm going to see if there's any waterlogging anywhere or if any houses are leaking."
Chen Jingke moved his hands gently on her body and said, "If you have such a big family to worry about even such a small thing, then they should all get out."
"Don't be so cautious. Sometimes you have to give the people below a little trust and let them practice more."
Wu Shu said coquettishly: "Well, okay... Master, don't move your hands, it's itchy."
Chen Jingke chuckled, but did not stop his hands, and got into the bed along the quilt. Wu Shu's body seemed to have been stripped of bones, and the whole body was paralyzed on him.
"With such heavy rain, do you think many people will be so worried that they can't even eat?"
Wu Shu snorted softly from his nose: "The saint will definitely take this opportunity to deal a harsh blow to the powerful nobles to make them completely honest and not dare to be so unscrupulous again."
Chen Jingke simply had nothing to say and said, "I guess the time will be after the heavy rain ends."
But Wu Shu said: "No, I guess the saint will take advantage of the heavy rain to clean up Chang'an. As for things outside Chang'an, it depends on the time. Anyway, the saint will definitely take advantage of the heavy rain."
Chen Jingke grabbed a handful of her sensitive parts and said amidst her exclamations: "How dare you go against this real person? It's not easy to go out on a rainy day. How could you do it now?"
Wu Shu raised his head and looked at him, his charming eyes saying: "Because everyone doesn't go out on rainy days, it's easier to do things."
Chen Jingke suddenly realized, and then said viciously: "It's really easy to do things on rainy days. Today, I will take care of you first."
After saying that, he turned over and pinned her down, and another morning exercise began.
…
The morning court is one of the most important activities in the country. Unless the emperor asks for leave, it can be held rain or shine. Today is no exception. The ministers came to the palace despite heavy rain.
It's just that everyone's mood today is completely opposite to that of two days ago. To be precise, everything has changed.
Two days ago, the emperor wanted to gamble on fate. The loyal people were worried and the people with ulterior motives were elated.
Today, loyal people are all surprised, while people with ulterior motives are as if they are mourning. Especially those who have taken practical actions some time ago and tried to fish in troubled waters are even more trembling.
The emperor gambled his reputation on this heavy rain, and after winning, he would surely reap enough fruits of victory.
What is the fruit? Unparalleled reputation, that's for sure, but the emperor will definitely not be satisfied with this, he wants more.
So what else can be gained? The heads of these ambitious people.
This is not a random guess, because before the bet started, the emperor had clearly stated that he wanted to eliminate the unscrupulous people and restore order to the world.
This may not sound like much, but when it is actually implemented, it will cause thousands of people to fall to the ground. How can we not panic the ambitious people?
Soon Li Shimin entered the hall at a fast pace, sat down on the dragon chair with a handsome posture, and glanced around the faces of the ministers.
Wherever he looked, all the ministers bowed their heads to show their submission.
He was very satisfied with this and said with a smile: "Gentlemen, can this heavy rain come in time?"
All the ministers said in unison: "Your Majesty is wise and wise. He obeys Heaven's orders, and the method of enfeoffment is blessed by Heaven..."
Hearing the roar of the mountains and the tsunami, Li Shimin looked up to the sky and laughed.
Then his smile suddenly faded and he said seriously: "The late emperor also warned me in his dream that this heavy rain will last for several days. It is the heaven's commendation for virtue and is used to relieve the world's drought.
"But it should be noted that water and fire are ruthless. If the rainwater is not properly controlled, it will cause floods and turn a good thing into a bad thing."
"Instruct all localities to do a good job in preventing floods and waterlogging. If local officials fail to act and cause floods, I will not be lenient."
As the head of the prime minister, Fang Xuanling came forward and said: "Here, I will inform all parties immediately and ask them to do a good job in preventing floods and waterlogging."
Li Shimin nodded, then his face changed, and he said in a cold voice: "I said two days ago that the late emperor warned in his dream that he was causing trouble and trying to bring trouble to the world."
"This heavy rain proves that what the late emperor said is true. It is also time to clean up these young people, restore peace to the world, and relieve the anger of the sky."
After saying this, he glanced at everyone in the court again, and everyone felt a chill in their hearts, knowing that the reckoning was about to begin.
Finally, Li Shimin's eyes rested on Cui Qian, the Huangmen servant, and said: "Cui Qian, what do you have to say?"
Cui Gan closed his eyes in pain, and the day finally came. But soon his expression returned to calm, and he said:
"I plead guilty. I dare not ask for anything else. I only ask the saint to spare the lives of my family for the sake of my usual diligence."
Li Shimin said: "Killing people is not what I want. This time I am doing justice to Heaven and cutting off Xiaoxiao. However, Heaven has the virtue of good life. Except for the prisoner himself, it does not matter if his family is demoted to common people."
Cui Gan breathed a sigh of relief, knelt down and said, "I thank you for your grace."
Then he added: "In order to atone for my sins, I am willing to prosecute other lawbreakers."
Hearing this, the court was in an uproar. Now all fools knew that the emperor and Cui Gan had just reached a deal, and Cui Gan used the confession of his accomplices as a bargaining chip to protect his family from being implicated.
No one thought that Cui Gan would betray his allies. Then they were afraid, lest he bite them.
Among them, those who had been involved with him were the most frightened, as they did not expect that he would betray him so easily.
Because he was born in the Bolingcui clan, when Gao Shilian compiled the clan annals before, he ranked him first, putting him ahead of the emperor.
So everyone naturally regarded him as one of the leaders. He knew too many ulterior secrets and had almost all the lists of careerists.
It can be said that his betrayal almost wiped out all these people, at least almost none of the careerists in Chang'an City could escape.
Cui Gan then named more than twenty people in one breath, seven or eight of whom were in the court hall, and the rest were all prominent figures in the capital.
Naturally, these seven or eight people refused to admit it, shouted that they were wronged, and scolded Cui Gan for slandering them.
However, Li Shimin stopped their excuses at all and directly ordered the imperial guards to come in and take away the people.
Seeing that he actually identified his allies, everyone couldn't help but look at him with contempt. Even those who finally hated careerists in the court also despised him.
Bah, treacherous person.
Seeing everyone's contemptuous looks and hearing their accusations, Cui Gan laughed sadly, slowly took off the crown on his head and placed it on the ground.
When the guards came to take him, he suddenly pulled out the waist knife of one of the guards, and before anyone could react, he swung the knife and killed himself.
The originally noisy court fell silent instantly, and everyone no longer looked at him with contempt, but with a little more sympathy.
Li Shimin seemed to have guessed this outcome a long time ago, and said calmly: "Send his body home for a proper burial, and then send people to protect his family, so that Xiao Xiao won't be hurt."
"Here." It was still Fang Xuanling who came out and answered.
The guards came in and dragged his body away, quickly cleaning the floor. In the blink of an eye, the hall became clean and bright, as if nothing had happened just now.
Li Shimin issued several orders one after another, all related to this matter. In summary, he could only say one sentence: "Each government office takes action before the traitors can react, and they must all be captured and brought to justice."
He calmly replaced the original 'Xiao Xiao' with a traitor, and none of the officials had any objections to this.
Dealing with Xiaoxiao is a matter of blame from the local government, but dealing with the rebels is different. The imperial army can be directly used.
The emperor ordered Qianqi to go out to arrest the most traitorous traitors, and ordered the Third Division to step up interrogations in an effort to uncover more traitors.
…
When the messenger sent by Li Xiaoyi to invite him arrived at Zixiaoguan, Chen Jingke and Wu Shu had just come for a noon exercise.
He was very surprised to learn that the emperor actually asked Qianqi to go out to arrest people, but he had to rush back to the military camp with weak legs.
It only took about ten minutes to reach the military camp by galloping on horseback. The cost was getting soaked and the same as being fished out of the water.
But he did not enter the barracks to take shelter from the rain, because the soldiers of Qianqi were already lined up at the school ground waiting for him.
In any case, he is the nominal leader of Qianqi. He must be present for such a major operation, and he must have something to say.
Seeing him coming, Li Xiaoyi, Wang Fangyi and other generals rushed to greet him.
Without waiting for them to salute, Chen Jingke asked directly: "What is the specific situation?"
Li Xiaoyi stood up and told what happened in the court, saying: "The saint ordered us to go out with thousands of horses to capture the people."
Chen Jingke didn't expect Qian Qi's first mission to be this, but it was no longer his turn to be picky and asked, "Have you made a plan to arrest him?"
Wang Fangyi replied: "It has been done and the soldiers have been informed. Now we are waiting for your order."
Chen Jingke nodded and stepped in front of everyone. He was not nervous at all. He was used to teaching so many people, so there was nothing to be nervous about.
He took a deep breath, untied his useless raincoat, threw it on the ground, and said loudly: "Brothers, do you know what the mission is this time?"
All the soldiers replied in unison: "I know."
Chen Jingke shouted loudly: "You don't know, do you think the people you are going to arrest this time are just a few powerless scholars?"
"No, it's not. Let me tell you, they are either long-lasting ministers, or they are powerful nobles who have been passed down for hundreds of years."
"These people have been at the top for hundreds of years, and their children and grandchildren have enjoyed prosperity and wealth. Not only do they enjoy the blessings themselves, they also cut off the channels for others to rise and ensure the prosperity and wealth of their families."
"With his fearless spirit, His Majesty broke through the confinement they had set and reopened the channels for ordinary people to be promoted, allowing ordinary people to..."
"It also allows people like you and me to rely on hard work and one day be able to ascend to a high position and become a master, so that we can also enjoy wealth."
"But doing so has angered those people, because once we people are promoted, we will seize the official positions that belong to them and affect their glory and wealth..."
"So they started to counterattack, trying to interrupt this promotion channel again, so that we can only accept their slavery forever... Are you willing to see this situation?"
The soldiers of Qianqi are literate and understand many things that ordinary people don't know. They have clearer ideas and a relatively complete understanding of the world.
Naturally, they are more aware of the consequences of cutting off promotion channels, so Chen Jingke's words easily aroused everyone's common hatred.
The soldiers roared: "I don't want to."
Chen Jingke was very satisfied with the effect and continued: "Yes, I didn't want to do it either, and neither did the saint, so that's why we made that shocking bet before."
"It turns out that God's will is on the saints and all of us. That's why the heavy rain fell and gave us the opportunity to completely counterattack these people."
Everyone in Chang'an City knew about this huge bet, and the army had naturally known about it for a long time. Even thinking about it makes their blood boil.
Many people can't help but recall that when His Majesty was the King of Qin, he personally charged into the enemy's lines countless times.
Especially the Battle of Luoyang, everyone thought it was impossible to win, but His Majesty captured the two kings in one battle to show the world that nothing is impossible.
Now His Majesty has once again made a big gamble. He is still as bold as before, but the battlefield has changed.
Following such a monarch is truly a blessing.
So when Chen Jingke mentioned this huge gamble, the soldiers of Qianqi shouted excitedly: "Long live, long live, long live!!!"
After shouting a few times, Chen Jingke waved everyone to stop and continued: "Very good, everyone's morale is very high, we will win this battle."
"But I still want to remind you not to underestimate the other side. Although they are small in number, their training is not as hard as ours, and their combat effectiveness is not as good as ours."
"But the centipede is dead but not dead. These century-old families have trump cards. Maybe they can't come back, but they can recruit a few people to back them up before they die."
"We are all brothers of life and death who share the same fate. I don't want anyone to have an accident."
"So I am here to remind you not to take chances and not to be kind to your enemies."
"Don't have any worries. If you feel there is danger, just kill them. No matter who the other party is, as long as you feel danger, kill them all."
"Remember?"
All the soldiers: "Remember."
Chen Jingke waved his hand and said: "Then let's go."