the enlightener says

After coming to Jingwu, he heard a lot of stories about how Jingwu fought against the Tang army, so he was naturally very interested in the story of how Gao Changgong led eight thousand cavalry to sweep across the territory of Tang.

However, when he and Abu walked onto the street, and there was still a long way from the theater, there was a sudden commotion behind them.

"Killed! Killed!"

A group of ordinary people pushed and shoved each other and gathered in one place.

Chapter 1

It was indeed a murder.

When Qin Ke, Abu, Xiaoqian and others rushed to Caishikou, they only saw a dense crowd of people, and countless people whispered to each other, their expressions were nervous and excited.

The execution ground was set up here, and just a few miles behind it was the royal palace of Jingwu Jianye City. The Hongwu Gate was wide open, the palace walls were vermilion, the eaves were strict, with solemnity and majesty, and the weapons in the hands of the imperial guards remained motionless.

"Gao Ruojiu... as the magistrate of Taicang, Hanoi County, privately embezzled [-] shi of grain, the evidence is solid; Lin Moshen... the county magistrate of Hanoi County, involved in the case of destroying dikes and flooding fields, the evidence is solid..."

Although the matter has not been mentioned for a long time, the reason for this silence is not because the people have been satisfied.

This time the Tingwei Mansion issued a notice to publicly execute the officials involved in the case who destroyed the embankment and flooded the fields. The emotions that the people had been suppressing in their hearts suddenly erupted like a long-quiet volcano.

"Let me just say, Prime Minister Zhuge is above, it is impossible for Jing Wu to allow these villains to act recklessly. Look, what's the use of greedy for so much food? Even if it is replaced with gold and silver, it won't be able to be brought into the coffin? "

"Hmph, bring it into the coffin? Now, even the whole body is gone. What kind of coffin? These rats are also worthy of being buried in the ground?"

"That's right. No wonder Ting Wei has been silent these days, and his feelings are secretly investigating the case!"

Therefore, Tingwei, who had been scolded by the common people for almost a "blood-soaked door" in the past month, suddenly turned into a delicate and beautiful flower in their mouths.Although most of the common people don't know much about literature, the words of praise on their lips are endless like a torrential river.

Qin Ke and the others struggled to push through the crowd, and finally got to the front row amidst the anger of the crowd being pushed and shoved, just in time to catch up with the officials of Tingwei's Mansion and waved lightly.

"The above-mentioned officials shall be beheaded in accordance with the laws of the country!"

The thin bamboo slices pierced the sky, and then fell heavily. The moment it hit the ground and bounced back, the burly executioner slashed down with a huge ax in his hand.

When the iron was in close contact with the flesh and blood, the bones and tendons were cut off by the heavy and sharp ax blade in an instant, and the head, whose hair was stained with blood, fell from the table like this.

There were a total of forty officials on the execution platform, and all of them lost their heads at this moment.

"Okay!" The common people cheered loudly, and some old women began to chant the mantra of passing away.

"Okay! Good kill!" The humble scholars of Taixuetang were also emotional, and among them, Shu Xiaoqian yelled the loudest.

Qin Ke's face was a bit ugly, even though he knew that these people deserved to die, but when the heads of these people really rolled down in front of his eyes, he still had some shock in his heart.

Of course he remembered these names, because these names had given him a headache for several days, making him keep repeating Jiuye's blood in his dreams.

These people... are all on the list.At that time, he gave the list to Zhuge Wanling, but Zhuge Wanling didn't read the list.However, today, the heads of these people fell to the ground one by one. He remembered the reasonable sentence "kill them all" that he said in the palace, but now that it became a reality before his eyes, he even doubted whether the deaths of these people were caused by himself. wrong.

"Ake, what's the matter?" Abu felt that something was wrong with Qin Ke, and asked in a low voice.

Qin Ke shook his head and said, "It's nothing, it's just... a little uncomfortable."

Abu looked at it, and immediately understood where Ake's discomfort came from. He only found out later that Qin Ke had given Zhuge Wanling such a list when he entered the palace, but he felt that there was nothing wrong with such a thing. If you don't die, how many people will be killed? How many families will be ruined just by destroying the embankment and flooding the fields?

"It's nothing. They are all villains." Abu comforted, "Their deaths are their own fault, and have nothing to do with you. Even if there is no such list, Mr. will have to deal with it sooner or later. This time... maybe the time has come? "

Perhaps Zhuge Wanling was already furious after being assassinated, so he really paid attention to the problems of these officials?

Qin Ke shook his head, his face was still ugly, but his eyes had eased a lot. He also knew that his unreasonable sense of guilt was unreasonable, but it was a bit uncomfortable to see so many people being separated under the axe. Willing to look again, pulled La Abu's sleeve, and slowly left the group.

The beheading of forty criminal officials at one time in Jianye City may not be unprecedented, but since Jing Wu saw it, it was unprecedented.When the common people return home with the hope of "clean and clear heaven and earth", their first task is to talk happily to their wives about the scene where the official's head was eaten by a dog.

Some people even came from the disaster-stricken areas themselves. After their families were destroyed, they fled to Jianye City and lived like wild ghosts. After today's scene happened, they weaved weeds at the door with trembling hands and wept bitterly.Although it is impossible for their relatives to see each other again, knowing that justice still exists in the world, they have more confidence in living in their hearts.

The whole city of Jianye is praising Ting Wei, praising the imperial court, praising the little ruler... most importantly, praising Zhuge Wanling.

On the contrary, in the entire Jingwu officialdom, all the officials' backs were bent a bit, and they didn't dare to make a sound when they walked, as if they were afraid of causing death, everyone was in danger.

Qin Ke finished listening to the chapter 1 of the storyteller. Today, because of this joyful killing, the teahouse also changed today’s content to say that Zhuge Wanling tongue warrior ethnic Confucianism in those days, and finally established Jingwu. s story.

It's just that few people in this world know exactly how Zhuge Wanling persuaded the gentry to reunite and help him establish Jingwu. Therefore, these romances are actually compiled jointly by good people and sour literati. Still lacking a bit of flavor.

However, this matter is not over.

On the second day, Tingwei Mansion posted a notice again.

Countless people gathered at the execution ground again. The second batch of corrupt officials, nearly fifty jailed officials in prison uniforms, tremblingly stepped up the steps that symbolized death in front of the executioner. , the people in the audience were even more excited, and someone shouted: "Kill that corrupt official!"

The rotten eggs and rotten vegetables that had been prepared in advance flew out of the crowd, but the accuracy was not very good, and most of them were thrown on the strong executioner.

However, there was still an unlucky official whose head was thrown by the people on the guillotine. One Buddha was born and two Buddhas ascended to heaven. However, according to the form, he was placed on the guillotine. When the ax fell, the body was divided into two, but many people cursed that he didn't suffer too much because of the cheapness.

But the third day, the fourth day, the fifth day, the sixth day...

Every morning, Ting Wei Mansion will post a new notice on the bulletin board. The officials involved in the case are getting more and more widespread. At the end, even many central officials who are difficult to meet with ordinary people have also stepped onto the execution platform. If he lost his life, no matter how the officials in Tingwei's Mansion washed it, the blood on the execution platform would have seeped into the wood.

The smell of blood is getting stronger and stronger. Hundreds of officials died in one day. Including those who were exiled to the border, within six days, at least a thousand officials died in this case of "destroying dikes and flooding fields" implicated...

When killing became a common occurrence, everyone went from being frantic and excited at the beginning to trembling in the end.

The people no longer dare to pass by the execution platform easily, and many people even claim that there are often screams in the middle of the night. Ghosts and ghosts risking their lives" thing.

But Ting Wei still didn't change his face, but replaced a group of officials who were exhausted from cleaning up the corpses, and still read the officials' crimes every day, and then... another round of killings.

"Tell me, what is he doing?" Mulan looked at the execution platform. There weren't many people who came to see the murder these days, so the area around the execution platform was very sparse. She could clearly see the heads rolling on the ground. But her face is calm, she has long been used to life and death.

Liu De stood by her side, with his hands behind his back, and the ancient sword on his waist, but his eyes were full of worry. After a long time, he shook his head and said, "Maybe only he knows this."

Chapter 1 Black Pan

"General...the general stays for a while...the prime minister is still resting...the general..." The old eunuch followed Gao Changgong closely with unsteady steps, and said eagerly: "The prime minister reviewed the papers last night until dawn, It's hard to sleep for a while now..."

However, Gao Changgong's eyes were sharp, and he still moved forward, as if he wanted to stamp the bricks and stones out of the hole with every step he took.

Seeing Gao Changgong like this, the old eunuch gritted his teeth, regardless of his old age, and quickly stepped in front of Gao Changgong. At this moment, the two of them were only about five steps away from the palace gate.

"Get out of the way!" Gao Changgong said angrily, his chest rose and fell, obviously filled with great anger.

"General... It's not that this old slave wants to make things difficult for you, it's just that the prime minister's health has been bad recently, and the state affairs are heavy. The imperial doctor just gave him acupuncture, and he fell asleep slowly. It's really not the right time to wake him up. .”

"Wake up? Hmph." Gao Changgong said coldly, "If he doesn't wake up, Jing and Wu will be in chaos. When the palace burns into ruins, how long can he sleep in it? Get out of the way!"

"General..."

"Eunuch Wang." At this time, Zhuge Wanling's calm voice suddenly came from the hall, "Let him in."

When the old eunuch heard Zhuge Wanling's voice, his shoulders trembled immediately, and then his back slumped, and he turned back into the humble old man in the palace. He lowered his head and slowly pushed open the heavy door of the inner hall.

Gao Changgong glanced at him, knowing that it was not easy for the old man to stay in the palace, so his voice softened a bit: "My lord, don't worry, Zhuge Wanling is not only your prime minister, but also a friend I have entrusted my life to all this time. I don't What would be done to him."

The old eunuch still lowered his head, and his voice was old and deep: "General Mingjian, the prime minister...he really needs a good rest. Our Jingwu military affairs are all tied to the prime minister's hands, and thousands of people are directly on his shoulders." If his body..." He paused, then said, "I'm too old, I don't want to see any changes in this palace anymore..."

Gao Changgong nodded, stepped over the high threshold, and walked straight to the side hall. Zhuge Wanling was sitting on the couch, his brows were full of tiredness, his spirit was a little listless, and his cheeks were even thinner.

When Gao Changgong saw this situation, the original anger in his heart disappeared without a trace. He walked forward quickly, stretched out his hand to stroke Zhuge Wanling's forehead, and went to check Zhuge Wanling's wrist. At this moment, his body was indeed very weak, and he lowered his voice and said, "How did you make yourself like this?"

"It's okay." Zhuge Wanling said, "It's just that I've been a little tired recently and haven't had a good rest."

"Nonsense." Gao Changgong gave him a blank look, "You also know that you haven't had a good rest? You don't know what's going on with your body? Notes can be approved at any time, and it won't cause any major problems if things drag on for a day, but you If you fall, who can replace you?"

"You're talking like someone can't wait to push me down..." Zhuge Wanling's expression relaxed slightly, and he joked.

Gao Changgong glared at him, and said: "I really can't wait for someone to replace you, so that you don't have to sit here and make troubles and disturb the world."

Zhuge Wanling knew what he was talking about, so he smiled and said: "You have endured these days, why do you think you will enter the palace today?"

"I wanted to enter the palace a few days ago! But I thought you should know it, so I endured it for a few more days... Now, I feel that I have to come." Gao Changgong frowned and said with a serious expression: "You What exactly do you want to do? When we said killing at the beginning, we only aimed at some insignificant people, those little nobles who were not valued, and the uncle of the king who was like a clown. If you kill it, you will kill it. The foundation of several big families, they are too lazy to come out to fight you..."

"Hmm..." Zhuge Wanling poured out some tea leaves from the tea barrel, put them into a cup, and listened patiently.

Gao Changgong's voice became more severe, and he said, "But what are you doing now? The case of destroying dikes and flooding fields, even if there are more officials involved in the case, after all, most of the officials in the central government have not directly participated. People's bribes, just turn a blind eye and close one eye. You are good, the officials who have been executed by the Tingwei Mansion in the past few days have already reached more than a thousand people, not counting those who were exiled, exiled, and demoted... ...Although they are indeed unforgivable crimes according to the law of the country, but if you are so enthusiastic about killing, can you get any benefits from it?"

Zhuge Wanling finally coughed, and stretched out his hand to grab the kettle beside the table. At the same time, Gao Changgong reached out to the table first, raised his hand and dumped it, and a stream of silver water slowly flowed out from the spout. , With the sound of clattering, a cup of tea is ready to be brewed.

"Thank you." Zhuge Wanling picked up the teacup and took a sip. He seemed to be in better spirits. In fact, the tea in the bucket was not the top-quality tea that ordinary people imagined. According to him, it was an old friend. The herbal tea prepared specially for him was sent from far away. It was bitter and astringent. Even the smell of it would be unacceptable to ordinary people, not to mention drinking it as white water in the morning and evening. up.

Not only morning, noon and night, Zhuge Wanling drank it for three years without a single day of interruption. Even when he went to Daoxiang Village and Ye Wang's Mausoleum, he did not forget to carry the concentrated pill made of this herbal tea with him. .

"Things always have to be done by someone." Zhuge Wanling said: "Jingwu...or in other words, since the split of the Wu Kingdom, there have been many evils. If you want to cure the poison, you must scrape the bones three layers before you can touch the lesion. Over the years, for the sake of the overall situation, I have allowed those people to be greedy and make troubles, making them more courageous, and now there is a shocking case of destroying dikes and flooding fields. Although it can't be done overnight for the gentry, it can't be true Never mind..."

"So, when you make a move, you really take a knife to dig out the flesh and scrape the bones?" Gao Changgong sighed: "There are more than a thousand people, and they will kill if they say so. Do you think the gentry can swallow this breath?"

"Those are things that I have to worry about. Now you mainly need to train your army well, the sooner the better. I have a hunch that it won't be long... I'm afraid there will be another storm of war in this world."

Gao Changgong's eyes widened, and he said in surprise, "How could it be so fast? The Four Kingdoms have only been stable for a few years now? Are we going to war again?"

Zhuge Wanling stretched out his hand, took out a piece of white silk from the desk case, handed it over, and said calmly: "You will know after looking at it."

Gao Changgong took the white silk, on which were a few lines of special characters written in strange shapes, but he had no trouble reading them, because this kind of characters originally originated from the military and were specially used to encrypt some extremely important messages.

Generals in the army sometimes garrisoned separately, on different sides of the sky, and want to send messages to each other far away. With such a text encryption method, even if the messenger is intercepted and killed on the road, the enemy country will not be able to immediately obtain the first-line information.

"Those people you mentioned... went to Canghai and Tang Kingdom?" Gao Changgong carefully read the content on the white silk, his eyes were full of solemnity, "When did this news come?"

"It arrived a month ago."

"A month ago? You didn't tell me earlier." Gao Changgong glared at him, "Such an important matter..."

Zhuge Wanling said softly: "Those envoys wearing black pans have started a new round of mission operations. I think many things will gradually become uncontrollable. Even if we can still sit still, Jingwu will not be able to do so." There isn't that much time left."

Of course Gao Changgong knew the power represented by the black pan, but until today, he still couldn't figure out what that power was and what it was going to do. They were like a nightmare hiding in the shadows, but he couldn't help it. to be vigilant.

Where is Liu De from Canghai?Has he already seen the shocking changes that his family is about to face?

Apart from Canghai and Tang, could there be some forces infiltrating into the Great Wall garrison?

Gao Changgong clenched his fists tightly, gritted his teeth in his heart and said: "That towering and stretching iron wall that has stood for thousands of years must not have any mistakes! Absolutely not!"

Thinking of this, Gao Changgong began to understand Zhuge Wanling a little bit. It seemed that he had a reason for dealing with the current internal troubles so urgently.

But he still worriedly said: "You, it's still a little too much... Serious illness requires strong medicine. Although it is not against the medical ethics, what if the dose is too heavy and the patient is directly put to death?"

Zhuge Wanling smiled and said, "It's okay, I have my own measure."

Gao Changgong glanced at Zhuge Wanling's calm expression, and snorted coldly: "Yes, yes, there seems to be nothing in this world that you can't grasp. What I'm worried about is not how things will develop, I'm worried It's your attitude."

"Tell me about something else..." Zhuge Wanling suddenly changed the subject, not wanting to continue the previous topic, and said, "The Qin Ke you told me about last time...why, what's wrong with him?"

"Hiss... your little friend," Gao Changgong gave him a meaningful look, and said, "Although he has gradually integrated into Jingwu's Taixuetang now, he still seems to be twisted. I feel that from the bottom of his heart, he I don’t consider myself a Jingwu person, at best I’m just a tourist living in Jingwu.”

"So?" Zhuge Wanling asked back with a smile.

Gao Changgong sighed with a smile, finally loosened his frown, and said jokingly: "In that case, why not let him and Abu learn how to fight with me, at least he won't suffer a loss if he leaves Jingwu in the future, right? ?”

Chapter 1: The Fight Between Teenagers

Although Jingwu Taixuetang is a place of study, this study does not mean studying hard with sage books every day. Confucianism has six arts: rites, music, archery, imperialism, calligraphy, and mathematics.Among them, the two items of archery and defense are the study of bow and horse martial arts.

In the world of great strife, these poor children will not only rule the country on the temple grounds, but also use troops on horseback. Naturally, the martial arts class has never been dropped in the Imperial Academy, and during these years, General Gao Changgong trained the army. As the days went by, after the martial arts in Jing and Wu became more and more popular, the two subjects of archery and imperial defense became the most important subjects in the Imperial Academy.

"Qin Ke! Come on! Hit him! Hit him!"

"Lu Qichao! Press his leg! Press his leg! Don't embarrass us!"

With a sound of "bang", Qin Ke's shoulders were the same as those of the opposite side, who was dressed in the same strong clothes, and the sons of the noble clan who were wearing a calfskin armor collided with each other. Intertwined in mid-air, the breeze blew the branches of the big trees, and some leaves gently passed the eyes of the two of them.

After all, Qin Ke's cultivation was better than the opponent's. Just after the two of them intertwined their hands for more than a dozen times, Qin Ke finally found a chance. His thumb and index finger suddenly grabbed the opponent's wrist, and as his blood surged Underneath, the other party's hands and feet softened because of the pulse door being pinched, and Qin Ke threw it over his shoulder forcefully, and fell heavily on the soft grass.

In this imperial school, he and Abu can be said to be the best. Even if the nobles on the opposite side have the convenience of background, the cultivation of qi and blood is not just determined by the background, the important thing is the talent... and hard work.

Although he is less interested in learning, he is not interested in practice. From the day he started to practice, he has hardly slackened his energy and blood practice, and even the hardships on the long journey to Jingwu It is to make the control of the qi and blood in his body more convenient, and it is reasonable to win.

Although the gentry boy fell hard to the ground, after all, the softness of the grass relieved a lot of strength. In addition, the gentry boy is also a practitioner of qi and blood, and his body is strong. There is nothing wrong with this fall. Just patted his butt and quickly got up.

It's just that his cheeks were flushed, and he was slightly annoyed. Behind Qin Ke, the moment he landed hard, countless children from the poor family suddenly let out a wave of applause. These voices were like a big hand like a cattail fan After he was slapped repeatedly, he snorted and walked slowly back to the crowd of gentry children.

"The eighth match, Qin Ke wins." Huang Hansheng stood in the middle. Although Qin Ke was a little surprised that the old man not only taught them reading, he even helped them in martial arts courses, but he remembered what his classmates once said about Huang Hansheng's battle on horseback. The glorious history is taken for granted.

In the past few days, the bloody smell of Jing Wu has become more and more intense.Although the number of officials going to the execution platform has decreased, Tingwei Mansion still maintains a "daily" way of wielding butcher knives. Countless officials who once looked down on the people from high places have taken off their official uniforms that symbolize their status. He took off the official hat on his head, and was pressed on the guillotine trembling.

The distance between life and death is so thin, like a layer of window paper, just by cutting with an axe, one world reaches another world.

And the common people no longer like to watch the bloody scene on the execution platform. From the crowd at the beginning, no one cares about it now.

The sky in Jingwu seems to be very gloomy these days, and everyone's speech has become much lighter, as if as long as they exert more strength, something will be alarmed.

The entire Jingwu is so depressed, so naturally the Tai Xuetang cannot be alone.In the past few days, Qin Ke has witnessed the sad departure of several students from noble clans.Although the crimes implicated by their parents will not fall on their heads, but for these children who were born with a golden spoon in their mouths, the big change in the family is like a slap in the head , Naturally, it is impossible to return to school.

Faced with such a situation, the remaining gentry children naturally would not be in a good mood. They are all young and full-blooded. Since they feel depressed, they have to be released to feel refreshed.

Coupled with the usual friction with the poor students, once the archery class is over, the original spark will be ignited into a prairie fire in an instant.