Pei Gonggui

Chapter 118 The crime 73 · Don't change

Jiang Zhan watched Zhang Ling's back walk out of the corridor at the corner of the hall, and couldn't help but secretly clenched the jade ring in his hand.

He knew that Zhang Ling's jade ring was originally given to Zhang Jin, the ancestor of the Zhang family, by the emperor's ancestors. It was the same as the golden ink inscription on the big black-headed coffin in the main hall of the Zhang family mansion, both to praise the Zhang family for their dedication and loyalty Serve the country.

He thought for a moment when he put on the dragon robe for the first time many years ago, when he was held by the Queen Mother and saw Zhang Ling for the first time in Zhongqing Palace.

At that time, he was 12 years old and timid, while Zhang Ling had a face that never smiled.

He was afraid of Zhang Ling, so he went straight to hide beside the queen mother.The queen mother pulled him out from behind, saying that Zhang Ling had inherited the Zhang family's lineage of respecting the law and being loyal to the emperor, so he would be trustworthy, and told him not to be afraid.

Jiang Zhan put away the jade ring and put it in his sleeve, Shen Mei thought for a while, and called Hu Li who was a few steps away:

"Right now, the uncles of the emperor have all run away, and the relatives of the nephew and nephew are in danger. I think it's time to appease them. The lotus cake in the Imperial Dining Room tastes good this month, so you can share it with others and let others enjoy it." They have a taste of something new, and there are new materials from the Shangzhi Bureau, which will also be rewarded for them to share."

Hu Li looked down at Jiang Zhan putting away the sleeves of Yujie, and lowered his head a little uneasy: "Yes, Your Majesty."

"As for the affairs of the officials..." Jiang Zhan continued to order, "In order to prevent the king of Thailand and others from gathering troops and horses, let Zhang Ling send Yushi Zhongcheng to patrol the capital and strictly check the dispatches. The Ministry of War is empty, and Jingzhao The Commander of the capital has made good friends with Pei Jun again, and there are also many dark men promoted by Pei Jun in the four gates of Jingguan. If they do not change, Jingzhao's defense will be restrained by Pei Jun. Zhang Ling and the cabinet will also consider these Also, transfer General Weiyuan back to Beijing, and then list the camps that King Jin has garrisoned over the years, and show them to me, and I will know when and where each battalion is."

Hu Li bowed his head in response, rolled his eyes secretly and said: "The King of Jin is also considered as the royal family who stayed in Beijing, this reward..."

"Of course I want to reward him." Jiang Zhan glanced at Hu Li and smiled coldly, "Reward, give me a lot of rewards. I will tell him to go well, and it is best not to come back..."

The heat of midsummer is transpiring between the heaven and the earth, making the capital a hot jar.Zhongyihou's mansion was secretly busy. After rushing to treat Jiang Xuan's smallpox, people came and went to wash clothes and change medicines, and they were sweating profusely and extremely hot.

Uncle Dong made the decision and carried the ice from the cellar to Jiang Xuan's house.Pei Jun also told the kitchen to cook heat-relieving soup to distribute to the doctor, the medicine boy and the servants, and replaced Pei Yan, who stayed up all night and was extremely haggard, to stay by Jiang Xuan's side for two days and two nights, watching Jiang Xuan with the doctor The condition of acne.

On the morning of the third day, Jiang Xuan's fever finally subsided.Someone came from Prince Jin's Mansion, and brought the puppy who had stayed with Jiang Xuan in Prince Jin's Mansion before, and sent a message that Jiang Yue had packed up his luggage and was going to the Jingnan Camp to enlist troops, and he was about to leave immediately.

Jiang Xuan's dog is seven or eight months old, and his back reaches the human knee when he stands up, and the bean eyebrows above his eyes are becoming more and more clear.At this time, when Uncle Dong called "Puppy", it immediately sat on the ground obediently, but when it saw Pei Jun come out to receive the letter, it started howling in dissatisfaction.

Pei Jun took half a step back, frowned and said, "I'm still a 'puppy' when I grow up so big. Mei Linyu really thought I was blind after looking for this dog."

The dog grinned at him and whined in protest. Uncle Dong pulled the dog leash, handed him the letter, and said, "This dog is big, as long as it is obedient. I am afraid that Prince Jin spent a lot of time taming it. After sending the dog here, why don't you go to see the little highness yourself?"

Pei Jun didn't answer, just took a look at the letter from his hand, but his brows were even more frowned, and the next moment he changed his clothes without saying a word, smoked herbs, and hurriedly rode his horse to the Jingnan Camp.

The official roads in the suburbs of Beijing are covered with pink and white flowers, blowing in the summer wind.When Pei Jun ran all the way to the South Camp, Jiang Yue had already ordered his soldiers and horses and set off.

Pei Jun rode his horse and galloped all the way, only to catch up to the end of the army. At this time, he looked around and saw a figure in military uniform riding on a tall horse, his silver helmet and red tassels against the rising sun, shining brightly. Hui.

He couldn't help clamping the horse's belly with his legs, and drove the horse forward until he reached the ten-mile post pavilion before finally yelling:

"King Jin stay behind!"

Jiang Yue shuddered when he heard the shout.He looked back suddenly, and saw that a hundred paces away, Pei Jun was reining in his horse and waving to him.

Jiang Yue's eyes flickered slightly, and he hesitated for a moment, but he still raised his right hand to stop the army behind him, then pulled the rein with his left hand to turn the horse's head, and trotted towards Pei Junxing.

The two led their horses to meet outside the post pavilion. Pei Jun got off his horse, glanced at Jiang Yue with a sigh, and said while tying the horse: "I thought you would come to see Xuan'er today before leaving... even if you don't Xuan'er, don't you want to look at me anymore?"

Jiang Yue also dismounted at this time, walked forward with downcast eyes, tied the horse and Pei Jun's together, and said after a while: "I don't want to leave too sadly."

Pei Jun was slightly taken aback when he heard the words, and immediately felt a pain in his heart, secretly thinking that Jiang Yue is really a fool, looking around, he dragged Jiang Yue to a few big trees next to the post pavilion, opened his arms and hugged Jiang Yue tightly In his arms, he leaned into his ear and said: "If you are reluctant, I will give you more."

Jiang Yue lightly rubbed against his shoulder, and said in a low voice, "Since we have to say goodbye eventually, don't give it up again." Then, he raised his hand and pushed Pei Jun away, endured the redness in his eyes, and patted him on the shoulder Said: "Although I went out to fight this time with the intention of persuading Li Si to surrender, I still have to guard against it, and I still want to fight. Among my advisers, the Guo brothers are the best at deploying military tactics, so I let them go out with me. Leave Mr. Zhao to help you in Beijing. I have told Mr. Zhao that if you are in a hurry, you can dispatch all the people in Beijing, and you must take good care of yourself—"

"I know, I know...don't talk about it." Pei Jun interrupted him by touching his forehead. At this moment, he closed his eyes and remembered what happened when he was a child. When I was seven years old and saw that you were going to go to war, I didn't feel at all reluctant to leave, I gave you the book and left quickly... Now this farewell seems to be plucking out my heart."

Jiang Yue raised his hand to caress his face, his clear eyes under the long lashes were stained with water vapor, and he looked at him for a moment and said: "Don't talk about the past again. I used to think that I could forget you when I went to war, but I didn't know you until I returned to the court." Goodbye to you, only to realize that I have never forgotten—”

"You must not forget." Pei Jun interrupted him again, clasped the back of his neck, kissed him deeply, and entrusted him with great reluctance, "Jiang Yue, don't forget me for a moment when you go, and you must Take good care of yourself, write letters often, come back early, do you hear me?"

Jiang Yue nodded reluctantly, leaned forward to kiss him again, hugged him and said: "Then take care of Xuan'er, and wait for me to come back."

Pei Jun patted him on the back, and replied in a muffled voice in the hollow of his shoulder: "Okay, I'll wait for you."

When the two gradually separated, Pei Jun's shoulders were still stained with tears, and he wanted to continue to extend the hug, but Jiang Yue finally raised his hand to wipe his eyes, pushed him away, and turned around without looking back. Go to the war horse outside the post pavilion.

They stay here.When Pei Jun got on his horse, he saw that the mighty army turned their backs to the capital and headed towards the south.In the extreme, the black and red battle flag fluttered in the air. Jiang Yue turned his head to look at him amidst the shouts of thousands of troops, raised his hand and waved it at him. Seeing that Pei Jun was also looking at him, he smiled.

This smile was like returning to the wind and blowing the snow, or like spring cherry blossoms falling into the spring. Pei Jun saw it from a thousand troops away, and seemed to hear a voice in his ear:

"Master Pei!"

……

The memory flickered back to his previous life, and he remembered what happened after Jiang Xuan's death.

It was the spring of the ninth year of Yuanguang, when the envoy of the Taiping Kingdom came to court and brought a marriage contract with his relatives.After Pei Jun had quarreled with Jiang Zhan several times, he still put state affairs first, followed the cabinet's proposal rarely, and got the six ministries to vote for marriage at the court meeting.

When the bright red brocade was laid out from the palace to the outside, and the people who sent off relatives from Taiping came to the palace one after another, Pei Jun stood in the queue of the ritual department and watched quietly, as if he felt that the foundations of his body that built his various emotions were just in place. It was collapsing from bottom to top, everyone in this world seemed to have no inseparable relationship with him, and a certain part of his spiritual life called "self" seemed to be stagnant.

But the government has not stagnated a bit.

At the banquet of Jiang Zhan's wedding, Jiang Yue, who had returned to Beijing from the Northwest station for a short time to report on his duties, stopped him who was about to leave the banquet, stood beside the golden pillar outside the Feihua Hall with his hands behind his back, and asked him lightly: "Master Pei today Don't talk too much, isn't it going your way recently?"

At that time, he thought that Jiang Yue was going to expose his scars and make sarcastic remarks, so he smiled and sarcastically said: "Whether you like it or not, it's not as good as the prince of Jin. I heard that this is going to lead the army to the west again? Congratulations." Said Stop clasping fists to salute, and leave with sleeves folded.

His departure was just a corner of that huge palace banquet, and as for the political affairs, after Jiang Yue watched him leave sadly that night, they were still going on like a raging fire.

Taking advantage of the New Deal, Zhang Ling proposed to "reform schools", admonishing the establishment of a new style, to make the people of the world understand the law and abide by the rules, so the large-scale construction of the law school under Zhang's career.Pei Jun expressed his disapproval many times, and he and Zhang Ling went back and forth to criticize each other in court, but Jiang Zhan thought that building more schools was harmless and nothing more than learning. In terms of academics, he did not stop Zhang Ling's family from dominating situation.Therefore, Pei Jun had no choice but to lead some officials in the Hanlin Academy who advocated a free style of study to propose revisions to the textbooks and teachings nationwide, advocating that Law Studies is one of many disciplines and should not stand alone on top of other disciplines, and set up a forum in Beijing to hold a discussion meeting. , exchanging gold and silver for advice, advocating that students all over the world speak freely.

This move was ridiculed by those in the court who claimed to be clean-blooded as a provocative and treacherous act, and even said that Pei Jun wanted to let all the people in the world come to the Pope to do things, which was simply a ulterior motive.At this moment, the relationship between Pei Jun and Jiang Zhan became more subtle after the marriage.

Resistance to reform and political pressure piled up on Pei Jun's back amidst Jiang Zhan's vacillations.Pei Jun bears all the incomprehensible infamy.Since the Ministry of Rites began to study teachings, local academies can no longer restrain candidates with the rigid dogmas of the past, and fewer and fewer people are willing to spend money to study in academies.This caused the local gentry's pockets to become empty and full of complaints, which in turn caused Pei Jun's reform of the temple house, official administration, and tax laws to be completely unable to be implemented in the township.

The courtiers waited to see his joke.Except for the six backbones in the DPRK and China, no one wants to support his resolution in the face of day-to-day noisy public opinion.Every remonstrance is just pushing back and forth among the courtiers.

In this way, the political game back and forth has been accompanied by the New Deal until the 13th year of Yuanguang.After the spring tide, the salt people rebelled.Many regions responded together and played a banner: corrupt officials must die.

The purpose of the New Deal is to appease the living people and accumulate the treasury, but the people of Yan have been drawing their salaries from the bottom of the pot, which fully shows the decline of the New Deal.

Taifu Xue took the blame and resigned, Zhang Ling couldn't afford to be sick, Pei Jun had no choice but to put on a robe and entered the cabinet, and took the position of Taifu. With the cover of "New Deal", he bore more insults and started a war. A five-year transformation led by himself.

From this moment on, time seemed to be suddenly stuffed into a fast-moving carriage, and it became fast in an instant; the scenery outside the window also flew by, and those forgotten or unforgettable things slipped through the fingers like flowing water.

In terms of military affairs, Pei Jun repeatedly strengthened the control of the central imperial power over the local army in order to prevent the precedent of rebellion by the soldiers of the previous dynasty; Zhang San was transferred from the Judiciary to be an academician of the Imperial Academy, and he only worked as a civil servant. He was not allowed to build all Zhangjia schools in the country, and all existing ones were demolished. Violators were severely punished for manipulating people's hearts.

So far, the cabinet has mostly been the place for writing edicts and discussing affairs, and the power and interests of drafting have weakened accordingly. Gradually, more choices and control powers are in the hands of the emperor Jiang Zhan.

Pei Jun is good at discussing with Jiang Zhan.He taught Jiang Zhan how to think, analyze, and draw political opinions, and also taught Jiang Zhan how to issue orders.When Jiang Zhan had his own choice, he began to travel south and north with more confidence, to see the real world and the world, to see the endless battles in the southern borders and the northern lands and the refugees everywhere.

After he left, Jiang Zhan panicked in the palace.Jiang Zhan, who has lost the protection of those around him, is afraid of being assassinated every day.So Pei Jun wrote letters back to the palace every day without interruption, one was to write about the people's livelihood in the world to the emperor in that day's palace, and the other was to let Jiang Zhan have trust every day so that he could feel at ease.

However, after the letter was sent, he read Jiang Zhan's reply and found out that Jiang Zhan often did not receive the letter for ten and a half months, or suddenly one day he could receive all the letters for ten and a half months.This means that the post delivery is blocked and the official road is not smooth.So Pei Jun thought that there must be a reason why the government order was blocked and the situation could not be communicated.Therefore, he checked one by one, banned the noble monopoly along the official roads in one fell swoop, did not allow local exploitation and deduction, and rectified the post delivery system, setting up a "shop" ten miles away and a "post" every sixty miles on each main road. , increase the two values ​​of Pu Chang and Yi Cheng, and specialize in post delivery.

This move greatly dissatisfied the Jiang family's relatives, and the flames of fighting for Pei were blazing in Beijing. However, it happened that the king of Jin returned to Beijing after a truce, and he had made military achievements again. Those shouts of denouncing Pei Jun were suppressed, and it was not until King Jin went out again the following year that the fire quietly ignited again.

Pei Jun refused to let Xungui take advantage of it, so Xungui held the money to prevent Pei Jun from reforming.Only then did Pei Jun finally realize that his reforms could not be truly implemented because the country's money had always been held in the hands of those who opposed him.

Without money, there can be no reform.

After failing to raise funds for water conservancy several times in a row, he sat for several nights in the study of the Zhongyihou Mansion, his black hair falling into his hands.Just when the officialdom in the middle of the capital sneered at rumors that Pei Ziyu had finally given up this time, he rushed out of the mansion, put Fang Mingjue and Yan Yuliang into the carriage without any explanation, and asked them to go with him to see the miserable situation of the people's livelihood in the world, and said earnestly:

"The ministers in the court who ridiculed this policy did not know that the world was in panic and the people starved to death. For example, Emperor Hui of Jin said, "Why don't you eat minced meat?" , it should be used on the common people. Brother, Ming Jue'er, please help me."

Under his persuasion, Yan and Fang finally started a long-term plan for the treasury with him.They began to arrange manpower layer by layer, conceal taxation at all levels, and allocate various proportions of silver and grain from various water transports, transform them into money and materials, and use them where they are worth using.

But the money gradually became available, but the Yan people's rebellion could not be conquered for a long time.When Pei Jun was worried about this, the Northwest Garrison changed generals, and Jiang Yue returned to the court with meritorious service. Jiang Zhan in the palace began to worry about the power of the emperor's uncle every day, and could not sleep peacefully at night.So Pei Jun thought about it, and proposed to Jiang Zhan that Jiang Vietnam could be ordered to suppress the rebellion.

So in the winter of the 16th year of Yuanguang, after Taifu Pei Jun made a plan and emperor Jiang Zhan approved it, Jiang Yue knelt down in the Jin Palace to accept the order, and promised to go to Wuzhou to suppress the rebellion in three days, and he was not allowed to return to Beijing without the emperor's order.

Before his departure, a rare farewell banquet was held in the usually clean Prince Jin's Mansion, as if it was such a grand farewell, as if we would never see each other again after the farewell.

At that time, something went wrong with Pei Jun's concealed grain store account book, so he had to go to Jingnan Ferry in person and waited for two days and three nights to make up the wrong account book.Back in Beijing, he hurried into the palace to meet Jiang Zhan and wanted to go to the Ministry of Rites to do something, but Jiang Zhan suddenly became angry, saying that his whereabouts were uncertain and he had a different intention, and asked him if he didn't want to be with him anymore.

The two had a big quarrel, Pei Jun was impatient and unable to tell the truth to Jiang Zhan, and suddenly felt powerless like never before: "Jiang Zhan, you already have the queen and the imperial power, so you don't need to keep me by your side. I, Pei Jun There is only one, and I can't take care of everything; if I accompany you, who will take care of your world for you?"

Jiang Zhan blushed with anger, and hurriedly slapped the table and said, "Is this world still my world? Pei Ziyu, this is your world! Only this palace is my palace, but you don't want to come back at all! Then since If so, you might as well go! Get out of here now!"

Pei Jun had nothing to say to him for a moment, and walked away in a huff.At this time, he didn't want to go to the Ministry of Rites to do things again. He wanted to drink but was too lazy to go to the half-filled kitchen, so he couldn't help thinking that there was a banquet in the Prince Jin's mansion, and he thought about going to ask for a glass of wine.

He arrived very late that night, half of the guests had dispersed, and Jiang Yue was supposed to have a drink with the guests at that time, but he still stayed in the hall at this time.

Seeing Pei Jun coming, Jiang Yue's eyes lit up. He was in his thirties, and at this moment, he was as clear as when he was a teenager.

His smile was soaked in the wind and rain in the southeast and northwest and the yellow sand outside the Great Wall, the stars stained the black temples, and the fine waves opened the end of his eyes. Just like before, he hooked his fingers at Pei Jun and waited for Pei Jun to approach So, he spared Pei Jun's courtesy first, then stood up from the seat, invited Pei Jun to sit down with him and said, "Teacher Pei is fine."

Pei Jun clasped his fists in shame: "Where is it? Prince Jin is the one who has been heroic for many years. I am old, so I am not safe."

Jiang Yue looked at him, his eyes were covered with wine, his eyes seemed to reveal a touch of tenderness, and he said for a moment: "Then the master is not good, how is the world?"

Pei Jun replied: "Okay, great rivers and mountains, but it's not easy to live and live."

Jiang Yue listened while pouring wine for him, and asked him for a moment: "Aren't you afraid of defeat?"

Pei Jun took the wine cup he pushed, and smiled in a low voice: "What's the use of being afraid? It doesn't matter whether it's good or bad, someone has to do it, and I'm just doing it. Prince Jin, I, Pei Jun Jun said something crazy here today: If the changes are really carried on like this, the world will definitely be better."

Jiang Yue looked into his determined eyes and asked softly, "Then how long has this change been?"

Pei Jun poured another glass of wine, swirled the glass, and said confidently: "Five years. My lord, within five years, I will let you see the prosperity of the past reappear."

Hearing what he said, Jiang Yue was almost fascinated.He seemed to be able to see from Pei Jun's slightly drunken eyes the gradually prosperous world under his few numbers and magnificent momentum.

However, Jiang Yue turned his eyes to look out the window.It was raining lightly in the courtyard.Jiang Yue looked at the ink-like sky and sparse stars in the drizzle, raised his hand to caress the perilla embroidered umbrella leaning on the edge of the table, turned his head to look at Pei Jun and smiled:

"Okay, then I'll just wait for Master Pei's prosperity."

This was the last time Pei Jun saw Jiang Yue in his previous life.

At noon of the next day, Jiang Yue and his army set off south to suppress the rebellion. Everyone in the capital said that it was Pei Ziyu who drove away Prince Jin, but Jiang Yue seemed to understand the meaning of the word "drive" better than they did, so it was after In the past two years, he never returned to the capital once.

In the past two years, there have been frequent reports of great success, and in the third year, the rebellion ended.Soldiers and horses from all directions came together to suppress the aftermath of the rebellion, and the country returned to the long-lost peace.The eyes of the courtiers and the royal family returned to Pei Jun again. In three days, someone impeached him for being too powerful. This caused Pei Jun and Jiang Zhan to quarrel several times and reconcile several times, but the feeling of estrangement between the two continued to grow.

Whenever the situation in the DPRK and China is difficult to deal with, it is a coincidence that the news of King Jin's deployment of troops for drills comes from the southern border.This caused the officials in central Beijing to think that the King of Jin would rebel soon, and they relied on Pei Jun's defense and dispatch from time to time, and they inevitably lost their arrogance to impeach Pei Jun.

At that time, a thought flashed through Pei Jun's mind: his stability seemed to come from Jiang Yue's restlessness.But this is just a flash of thought.The burden of reality is still the papers piled up on his desk every day, which contain the daily necessities of the whole world and cases of all sizes.

Thinking about living another life now, he has to sit in an important position in the capital, and it is indeed Jiang Yue who is using his life to ensure that he can carry out his ambition safely and steadily.If there was no Jiang Yue in the previous life, he might not be able to make it to the last moment... And at the end of the previous life, if there is no later event, then the "five-year" agreement between him and Jiang Yue seems to be indeed expected .

Pei Jun withdrew his thoughts. Seeing that Jiang Yue had disappeared into the official road in the distance, and most of the soldiers and horses had passed by, he reined in the reins, turned the horse's head, flicked the whip and ran towards the capital, secretly determined:

Even for Jiang Yue in this life, he must complete all the unfinished business in the previous life.