Chapter 147: Off-field battle

As the chief executive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ma Yongcheng does not need to go out to negotiate with the purchases in person, but today's transactions are a little bigger. The largest "Chengji" silk shop in the capital was always supplying silks needed in the palace, but yesterday it was suddenly reported that due to the increase in freight, it was 10% higher.

This came the discount Ma Yongcheng received was less than ten thousand taels a year, which made the old horse furious, but the real owner behind this store was Zhu Gang, Duke Cheng. Ma Yongcheng was rich but had no power, so he really didn't dare to have a breakup with him. So he got into a sedan chair early in the morning to rush to "Chengji" to find out the Zhu family's tone.

Ma Yongcheng got out of the sedan chair and walked into the store with a shelf. He was Chengji's biggest customer. Although the store was too big to suppress customers, the boss did not dare to neglect it. He hurriedly welcomed him into the guest room in the inner room with a smile.

Ma Yongcheng would cross his legs on the official hat chair, raise his glass and take a sip of fragrant tea, and smile and say without a smile: "Shopkeeper Cheng, our family has been doing business with you for a day or two, why does the price change just by saying that it changes?

If you want to say, your batch of silk should be brought back by Lord Yang's official ship from the inner factory, right? We have calculated it for you. I am afraid that the freight has not only not increased, but also saved at least 50,000 taels. Where did this rash increase start? I wonder if it is Mr. Zhu's meaning, or your shopkeeper's own decision?"

Manager Cheng smiled and said, "How dare I be so brave? Since the Empress and the Two Imperial Concubines entered the palace, Ma Master has taken care of our store more and more business. It's too late to curry favor with you, so how dare you increase the price randomly?"

He lowered his voice and whispered: "The price increase is just a pretext. In fact... someone wants to see Mr. Ma, so he said that, I'm sorry for Mr. Ma, but the young one is sad."

As he said that, the shopkeeper Cheng stuffed a note into his palm. Ma Yongcheng glanced at it. Seeing that it was Zhang Sanqianliang silver notes, he immediately looked full of joy and laughed: "Look at you, I'll just say hello if you have something to say. If you don't look at your face, we dare not give Mr. Zhu a face? Hahaha, who wants to see me? It's easy to worship it in the palace. Just nod your head. But we can say that ugly words are for the empresses. If you can't take the things out, it's better not to show your eyes."

"Hahaha, Eunuch Ma, I wonder if I can take it?" Yang Ling walked in with a smile.

Ma Yongcheng was shocked and stood up suddenly. The tea water was spilled all over. He shouted in surprise: "Yang... why are you... not you still in Jiangnan?"

Yang Ling waved his hand to the shopkeeper Cheng. The shopkeeper Cheng understood and said, "The two masters are chatting slowly, Lao Cheng goes out to greet the guests."

As soon as the shopkeeper Cheng left the house, Yang Ling's face darkened. He smiled coldly at Ma Yongcheng and said, "I'm in Jiangnan? If I go back a few days later, I can only wait to collect your body. Ma Yongcheng. You are dead, don't you know that a big disaster is coming?"

"Where has Yang Ling reached?" Fan Ting asked a man in front of him, with an excited expression in his expression.

After hearing the answer from the phone, Zhang Shou was stunned and said, "Tianjin Wei? He is going to stop the ship in Tianjin Wei? He is a bastard. His official ship turned into the inland sea. Why didn't he report it early? Eunuch Fan, what do you mean by Yang Ling? Could it be...he is already alert to our whereabouts?"

Fan Ting laughed and said, "The inner factory has eyes and ears. If it doesn't notice it at all, it's really strange, but so what? This fool has no foundation in the court, and his only reliance is the emperor. He didn't quickly return to the capital to ask for help from the emperor, but he still attacked the east and the west and played some suspicious military strategy. He really wanted to kill himself."

Dai Yi pretended to lower his head and sipped tea. He felt a little panicked: "What's the matter with Lord Yang? Didn't Wu pass on my message to him? I've already said that the Jinyiwei conspired with the East Factory. He ran to the Jinyiwei's hometown. Isn't this seeking death? No, Yang Ling is not so stupid..."

Seeing his serious expression, Zhang Shou couldn't help asking: "Eunuch Dai also thinks something is wrong?"

Dai Yi was shocked and said hurriedly: "Yes, when a person is in danger, his first reaction is to find the most reliable and capable of helping him. What should he do when he travels around and goes to Tianjin Wei?"

Zhang Shou shook his head, slammed his high-highlights, and tiptoed in with a stubborn head. Zhang Shou asked, "Have the people sent to monitor the Weiwu Bo Mansion ever discovered something abnormal?"

The stubborn answered respectfully: "When you go back to Mr. Zhang, there was no movement at all. Not only did you pay more attention to the expressions of the people who came and went to Yang's mansion, but you were also sent to ask people every day for the vegetables, vegetables and meat purchased by the Yang mansion. If Yang Ling returns to his mansion, even if he covers it up well, there will be no clues in the Yang mansion."

Zhang Shou nodded and pondered for a moment: "No matter whether he returns to the mansion or not, if he comes out of the shell and returns to Beijing secretly, he must come to the palace to see the emperor. People sent to the Nine Gate should be strictly guarded and pay attention to all those entering and leaving the palace. Also, ask the little boys around the emperor to mention to me as much as they are careful, and no matter who the emperor meets or what he says, they must repay them in time."

"Yes", the stub responded and hurriedly retreated.

Wang Yue was leaning halfway on the kang. He was so energetic that he was too old. He had been sleepy for a while now.

Old Wang Yue rubbed his eyes and sat up tremblingly and said, "Look at you as if you were facing a great enemy, didn't Wang Qiong be killed by him? Now the outer court must have received news, and someone will stand by him? When the late emperor was there, he listened to the advice of all officials the most. Now the emperor is young and has no idea, and can he still press over to report the book like a mountain? As long as the emperor's order is a moment, wouldn't Yang Ling surrender?"

This prince was incompetent, talented and had no ambitions, but it was precisely because of this that he was entrusted with important tasks by Emperor Hongzhi. He was generous to others and never authoritarian. With him, the nominal leader, Fan Ting and Zhang Shou, who were all ambitious, could live in harmony with each other. He did not have any disputes with each other, so these people respected him very much.

After hearing Wang Yue's words, Fan Ting laughed and said, "You must be careful. My master is not as good as the late emperor. The late emperor was only two late court days later, and was scolded by all officials. But what about the current emperor? The imperial court was stopped, the afternoon court stopped, and the morning court was not gone, and the officials advised him like snowflakes. He ignored him, and went in his left ear and his right ear. When did he care about it?"

He said, his eyes narrowed slightly, and said with a gloomy smile: "As for the officials in the court... only the imperial envoys and some nerds in the Hanlin Academy really believe in killing treacherous and maintaining justice.

What the group of old traitors who have been in the officialdom really care about is that they cannot influence the emperor or control the emperor. They think that the correct national policies and policies are likely to be abolished because these emperors are willing to obey the new favorites, but these newcomers are disdainful of making friends. They have to find a way to get rid of them."

Zhang Shou responded with a smile: "That is, among the eunuchs, the people who led the emperor to entertain the land are not just eight tigers. Although Yang Ling was extremely slanderous and charming, he did not make any achievements. However, he did not commit any great evil. Can they cross Mo Qinghe and Yuan Xiong or others?

The outer court was so determined because they found that Yang Ling was not their fellow travelers, and the emperor could no longer be controlled by them. The eradication of Yang Ling and Bahu was not because they were too ill-gotten, but sent a signal: those who were ambitious to exclude civil officials and influence the emperor got away from home, let the emperor see their power, and obediently become a "good" emperor at their mercy."

Li Rong and He Dachun were far less knowledgeable than Fan Ting and Zhang Shou. After hearing these analysis, Li Rong said: "No matter what their purpose is, as long as they are consistent with our goals. Now Yang Ling is in charge of the tax supervisor. What do we eat and drink? What are the people below? Old Fan is better, and he can always get some benefits by biting up the pieces. I am getting more and more financially tight, as long as I get rid of this little beast earlier."

Fan Ting sneered and said, "Short-sighted! Don't you understand? If we are supplemented by us and the officials are the main ones, and the emperor is ordered to kill Yang Ling and the Eight Tigers, then the outer court will be very powerful and the emperor will be completely in their hands.

Yang Ling and Bahu became our role models. We became their use of the sword. They could enter the warehouse at any time and put the horses in the south. If... Yang Ling died first... it would be different."

He Dachun then understood and couldn't help but say, "It seems that no matter whether the foreign court invites the order or not, we must get rid of Yang Ling and Bahu first."

Fan Ting nodded and said, "That is, the outer court uses us, and we are also using the outer court. Without their threats and support, we should be careful of the emperor's punishment, but now we do not have this worry.

Look, as soon as the news of Wang Qiong's killing came to Beijing, even the three great scholars could not suppress the angry censors and Hanlins. They originally wanted to wait for the best opportunity to take action and become the biggest contributors to the killing of the treacherous and slander. However, the officials who were originally instructed by them were pushed to immediately ask for an order to kill people. Hahahaha..."

When Wang Yue saw him laughing smugly, he suddenly said in surprise: "Fan Ting, Wang Qiong isn't you killing the land, right?"

Seeing that everyone was looking at him with suspicious eyes, Fan Ting couldn't help but change his color and said, "Dude, this is what our man said in this room. What if it is spread? If I have the courage to assassinate Wang Qiong, then it would be better to send someone to assassinate Yang Ling directly. Why should I use the power of the foreign court to deter the emperor from punishing him?"

Wang Yue said with confidence: "That's good, that's good. This kind of thing must not be done. If they get any help from the outer court, their skill in copying and melons will not be worse than ours. Thinking about the inner prisoners who Li Guang fell and the outer court did not like him, they were all classified as Li Guang's party. Alas! They were so clean."

At this moment, a stall rushed in and said, "Report to the fourth group of horses to report back to the urgent report."

Fan Ting was moved and said, "Come on me and see!"

He opened the seal of the news report, looked it quickly, and sneered: "Yang Ling is indeed not stupid. He actually used the plan to repair the plank road openly and cross Chen Cang secretly. The news just came that after halfway through the ship, his official ship docked at midnight. After more than 40 people went down, they took the dry road and headed straight to the capital. Now they have reached the boundary of Cangzhou."

Li Rong asked anxiously: "Are you sure? Have you ever seen Yang Ling himself? Could it be his suspicious plan?"

Fan Ting hesitated and said, "Yang Ling is a car sedan of the eight horses. The speed is no faster than a single horse. He has never seen Yang Ling get off the car, but he rests in the towns along the way and buys food. Our people have indeed heard someone in the car stop. The person who is secretly watching the accompanying person is respectful and natural. If he casually finds a small pawn to pretend, those men will be rebellious and will not show their strength at all."

Dai Yi was secretly shocked. He took the letter and looked at it, and said to Yang Ling: "That may not be the case. I heard that Yang Ling is good at governing the army. He fought against the Japanese in Haining to defeat one hundred, and the military discipline was strict. If those soldiers were subject to his strict orders, who would dare to be arrogant because there was no factory supervisor in the car?

There is a thousand households around Yang Ling, and since both hundred households are on the boat, it is suspicious. If he really abandoned the boat and drove, how could he not bring his confidants with him?"

Fan Ting smiled and said, "The maid who has always been inseparable from him is also in the car. I heard that the beautiful maid has affinity with him, so I usually go in and out of his room at night. The small car and sedan chair can only sit and lie on his shoulders and heels. Is he willing to let his beloved woman and other men wrinkle for more than ten days?"

Dai Yi was speechless. He Dachun said anxiously: "Isn't this good? Now that Wang Qiong dies, Yang Ling is already under the verdict of thousands of people. No one in the capital dares to defend him anymore. Now, you can send someone to intercept him quickly and get rid of him while others are weak!"

Zhang Shou's eyes flashed and said, "It's absolutely unsuspecting, and it seems that he is even more suspicious. Since he has done this, he has clearly noticed our actions. He is a scholar and has the courage to lead dozens of cavalry guards back to Beijing?

In my opinion, people still have to be sent, but Zhang Xiu also asked him to go back to Tianjin to prepare early. He could always catch his big fish by casting nets on both sides. As for the capital..., let's leave it to the officials in the court to make trouble."

In Bazhou, Hebei, there are many thieves near the emperor.

Thirty or forty riders were guarding an eight-game car and sedan galloping in the vast wilderness. At this time, the sky was dim and the horses were spraying with their hot breath. Obviously, they had traveled for countless walks overnight, and the wasteland was covered with reeds. It was just much sparse than the rising and falling geese beach.

The car sedan was not big and was bumpy as it was running fast, but the seats were covered with thick mattresses. Although they were shaking, they would not make people fall apart. Gao Wenxin sat opposite Cheng Qiyun, who was wearing men's clothing.

Cheng Qiyun was wearing the same clothes as Yang Ling, with her facial features embellished and elegant. She had a pair of arrow eyebrows and a beautiful face. From a distance, she looked like a few points similar to Yang Ling. There was a fish oil lamp hanging on the roof of the car. There was a magnet chessboard between the two. They were playing chess with cloth pieces and had already played 214 hands.

Gao Wenxin took the black first, and both sides started with a small star. At first, Gao Wenxin was still fighting steadily. Unfortunately, he saw that the opponent's big dragon was doomed. In the middle of the market, he tried his best to set off a skillful move, trying to kill the opponent's big dragon in one fell swoop. As a result, the dragon was full of energy and he only cared about it without thinking about anything else. The dragon had not yet strangled and had lost it everywhere.

Gao Wenxin saw that he had completely collapsed. The black chess in the lower left corner had no roots. The live chess on the upper side was under pressure. Although he could fight on the right side, if he made it bigger, the big dragon that was struggling in the middle game would be swallowed by Cheng Qiyun. He really had no power to win anymore. After seeing it for a while, he had to push the scale and admit defeat.

Gao Wenxin claimed to be a good chess skill, but he went north to fight Cheng Qiyun for dozens of rounds and never won a single game. He was really discouraged.

Cheng Qiyun smiled proudly and said, "Life is like chess. You have to look at the long-term. When I see a girl playing chess, she always enjoys killing a big dragon. In fact, she is obsessed with appearances. Playing chess is to win chess, not to seek quickness for a moment. Your chess skills are not low, but you have never considered it all. You often take advantage of a good move, but instead you have lost the foundation."

Although Gao Wenxin was not ashamed to do what she did in the past, she was still flirting with Yang Ling, but there were only two people in the car along the way, so she couldn't be stern every day.

What's more, Cheng Qiyun secretly went north to use her as bait for Yang Ling, and she also took the responsibility to monitor her. If there is a disagreement now, she would be too disregarded. So she was polite to her on the surface. After hearing her advice, she just hummed unconvincedly and did not answer. She gently beat her sore waist and leaned on the chair cushion.

Cheng Qiyun smiled slightly and said, "Let's rest after entering the town ahead. Yesterday we suddenly passed by the town and walked quickly overnight. If there were any followers, they should have been thrown away."

At this moment, someone from afar shouted: "Stop, inspect the inspection office to check for private salt dealers, stop and get off the horse, report to the road to lead, and be inspected!"

The two of them fell forward, the wheels squeaked, dragging out a long mark and stopped on the road. Cheng Qiyun suddenly lifted up the thick curtain of sedan chair. A cool breeze blew in, bringing a bit of autumn cold air.

The sunlight that bloomed in the early morning seemed to cover her flawless pretty face with a layer of frost. Cheng Qiyunqing scolded: "Who is it?"

A man in gray robe with a bow on his back ran to the car with a reins, leaned over and whispered: "Sir, is the inspection department checking the salt dealer? Should we hand over the waist sign to let them walk or stuff some silver?"

Cheng Qiyun heard the cold light flashed in her eyes and suddenly became suspicious. Mo Qinghe was the one who supervised the tax on tea, grain, salt and rice. She knew very well about these tax collectors. Most of the private salt dealers were desperate. Those tax collectors bullied the good people and were willing to run to the wilderness early in the morning to set up an ambush to ban private salt?

She pushed open the door of the sedan chair and looked out, and saw more than ten tax collectors standing in front of the reeds ten feet away. They were dressed and sticks and weapons were standard tax collectors, and they were all leisurely, saying that they were checking the salt ban, but probably they could see that so many people were only one passenger sedan. Unlike salt peddling fields, some people threw even knives and sticks on the ground.

Cheng Qiyun breathed a little relieved, turned her head and was about to give her a few instructions when a cold light suddenly flashed in the corner of her eyes. She turned her head suddenly, her eyes shone directly into the reeds, and the sun shone behind her, sprinkling forward. Suddenly, two more rays of light flashed in the reeds.

Cheng Qiyun immediately bent down and retracted into the sedan chair. He shouted, "Be careful to ambush, turn around and go west. Go to Baiyangdian through Baoding." Before he finished speaking, two sharp arrows had already shot on the car board beside her, and Cheng Qiyun was so shocked that she couldn't stand steadily. She fell to Gao Wenxin and sat there for a certain time, and her face turned pale.

Although she was quite like a general, she had never really experienced the battlefield. She had two sharp arrows passed by her. She was startled at first, but then she remembered her fear.

Gao Wenxin hurriedly rushed over and pulled up the sedan door. He was already scolding outside, the horse was neighing, the car turned around, and the two women were thrown together, and then rushed westward with a rumbling sound.

Fortunately, Cheng Qiyun called Di Zao. The forty people she brought out were originally personal soldiers. They were alert and were best at escorting and counterattacking. When they heard her call, they all raised their bows in their hands. At this time, they rode their horses westward and shot arrows into the reeds to suppress the ambush. More than a dozen "tax collectors" holding swords and guns in front could not catch up with the fast horses and did not pose any threat to them, so they ignored them.

In just a moment, the man quickly disappeared into the vast sea of ​​reeds. The reeds rustled, and more than 60 people walked out. One of them had a sharp hat, wearing a pure blue military uniform, and a small ribbon and white official boots. He looked at the disappearance of the carriage and horses and looked at the face of the gloomy face.

A fake tax collector Zhang Huang said, "Qiu Zhangtou, I heard from them that he had gone to Baiyangdian. Should we chase him?"

Qiu Chatou glared at him and said, "Can you see the person you are chasing into this reed tent? Where can you chase him? Humph, there is also a net of heaven and earth set up there, let his surname Yang go and break through."

The fake tax collector said embarrassedly: "I just shot a few shots, but the arrows fell on the ground. It seems that the inner factory owners are wearing golden silk soft armor. Look at their equestrians and archery skills are extraordinary. Can the people over there deal with it?"

Qiu Chatou smiled grimly and said, "The closer we get to the capital, the more people we have. This time we sent 20,000 people to block all the key passes into the Beijing Avenue and the road. But even if his surname is Yang Di, even if he knows it is a tiger's den, how can he not break through? There are only a few people, and it will be useless, hahahaha..."

The horse team had traveled for more than ten miles, and Cheng Qiyun had already recovered her complexion. She took the map and looked at it for a while and suddenly opened the curtains and said, "Stop moving forward, go back to Xiao Zhuze, rest for an hour, and go to the Yumatai."

Gao Wenxin looked at the picture and said, "As we go west, will they become suspicious?"

Cheng Qiyun said sweetly: "Be careful, they will determine that the adults are in the car. There are thousands of roads to Beijing. It is not easy to block us. When Dongchang gets news, he has to constantly transfer people from Beijing. The more he calls out, the better the adults will do. They dispose of soldiers everywhere and pose no threat to us. If things are really not done, we will turn around and go back to Shijiazhuang."

Gao Wenxin looked at her inspiration and seemed to be fascinated by this domineering and powerful feeling. She couldn't help but look at her with a strange look.

Cheng Qiyun said with a smile. After saying that, she looked strange and stunned, "What do you think I'm doing?"

Gao Wenxin asked, "Do you like this feeling very much?"

Cheng Qiyun asked back, "What's wrong with this?"

Gao Wenxin took a breath and sighed softly: "There is no woman in this world who has come out to do things. How long can you be an official? What should you do when you are fifty or sixty? Without men and children, do you live your life with cold money and power?"

Cheng Qiyun looked at her in a daze, and a trace of fear gradually emerged in her eyes, as if she was shocked to realize its loss now. However, this confusion only appeared for a moment, and she regained her former shrewdness and cunning.

She smiled and said with a clever smile to Gao Wenxin: "I know you have always been wary of me. The more talented and ambitious I show, the more you are, the more you are afraid. You are worried that I will gain the trust of Lord Yang today, and I will gain a better position. And I will even... I will deal with Lord Yang like I am dealing with Mo Qinghe in the future, so I advise me to be a true woman as soon as possible, right?"
To be continued...