Human dimension reduction

Several days after the meeting with the fourth prince, there was no opinion about Xie Sanlang's disposition from the court hall in the palace, as if everyone had forgotten the person who caused the uproar overnight, but just as they could roll up The undercurrent of the monstrous storm is always entrenched under the deep water, and the fuse that can detonate the court is also hidden in the subtle interlacing of eyes, waiting for that insignificant spark to explode in front of everyone.

——Either blow up everyone to pieces, or blow up that ignorant Xie Zhuo to nothing.

And in order to avoid the first ending, countless people are racking their brains to decide Xie Zhuo's exile judgment before Mars lands.

As for the central figure in all these turbulent whirlpools, Xie Sanlang, who has been closely watched by all parties, has been peacefully nesting in his yard for the past few days. He never stepped out of the yard, and even the meals were brought in by a dull servant, and he never once asked to look up documents related to the Six Years' War.

...It's like realizing that I'm in a bad situation, and trying to fix it after the fact.

Such a sensible move made many people secretly heave a sigh of relief, and more or less relaxed their attention.

All the servants were expelled and imprisoned in a secluded courtyard. The only advantage is that the spies from all sides lost the opportunity to spy at close range, so no one can see exactly what happened in this courtyard.

The original quiet and elegant vast hall was covered with bamboo scrolls and bamboo scrolls, the cowhide ropes were scattered and dragged everywhere, and the ink stains were stained on the bamboo platform. He was simply wearing a large cloak to keep out the cold, and the thin and loose inner skirt was slightly opened, revealing a smooth collarbone, and the pale skin wrapped around the bones, slowly rising and falling with his movements.

His black ink-like long hair was randomly tied into a bundle and scattered behind his back, a little messy because no one combed it, but this did not detract from his elegant and upright demeanor.

His eyes are pale and black due to lack of sleep, his eyeballs are bloodshot, and he holds a silk-wrapped bamboo knife between his slender fingers. Because he has held the knife for a long time, his knuckles are covered with bloodstains and fine wounds.

"Mr. Saburo."

There was a light knock on the closed wooden door, and before he could answer, a servant with a bowed back pushed open the door and walked in.

The domestic servant had a dull face and was carrying a food box in his hand. He walked in with ease, and at the same time opened the door a little wider to let in the fresh air and gentle morning light from outside. He turned his head, Seeing the scattered letters all over the floor, and the oil lamp that had been extinguished for an unknown amount of time, he immediately showed a bit of sadness.

He hesitated to speak for a while, then put the food box on an open space, knelt down and picked up the scattered bamboo rolls on the ground little by little, gathered them one by one, and put them within easy reach of the young man.

Then he walked up to the young man with the food box on his knees, took out the dishes inside and placed them one by one, and softly persuaded: "Mr. Sanlang, it's time for breakfast. You have stayed up all night, take a rest."

The young man seemed to have just been awakened. He opened his blank eyes and looked outside the door. Then he was stabbed by the light outside. He closed his eyes reflexively. The servant hurriedly called out, "Mr. The body stood in front of him, blocking the light that was too glaring for him.

Mr. Sanlang closed his eyes, and after a while, two transparent tears fell from the end of his eyes, which wet his black temples, as if he was crying silently.

The servant stared at him blankly, then suddenly lowered his head after a long while, and looked away as if evading, and said in a dry voice: "Mr. Lang, the servant has brought all my belongings according to Mr. Lang's order, but my brother died suddenly in battle, and I'm still waiting for you." Because the Dingzhou Army was later judged to be a cowardly and sneaky army, many things were buried in Dingzhou, and they were not allowed to be returned to their families..."

Mr. Xie Sanlang opened his eyes, his expression was indifferent and calm, the tear pierced by the light dried up silently and disappeared, he leaned forward slightly and stretched out his hand.

There was blood oozing from the thin wound made by the bamboo knife on the bony and thin palm, and he wiped it on the sleeve without hesitation. On the last layer of the food box, a roll wrapped in oiled paper was pulled out from the bottom layer.

Inside were a few letters from home and a small coarse cloth bag. The servant untied the top of the small bag and poured out the contents. Dozens of old copper coins hit the floor and made a dull sound.

The servant said in a low voice: "This is the last military salary my brother sent home. I used more than half of it, and I still have this left over."

Third Young Master Xie stared intently at the copper coins for a moment, raised one and flipped it over twice in his hand. Suddenly his expression became concentrated, and he tossed the copper coins twice, pondering for a moment: "Are there any deficiencies?"

The servant shook his head: "Although there are some arrears, the total amount is basically the same. Most of the discrepancies are tribute money in the military. Can't send it off."

The young man hummed, pointed to the family letters, and asked the survivor gently: "Can I read them?"

The servant bowed his head and pushed the family letter over: "Mr. Sanlang please do what you want."

It is said to be a family letter, but in fact, how can ordinary soldiers afford expensive silk and bamboo paper? Heirloom, even ordinary domestic servants can also know a little bit of writing. After joining the army, the younger brother of this servant became a lieutenant in the army, and the family letters were all written by himself.

The lettering on the bamboo slices is crooked, and some of the characters are missing arms and legs. There is a sense of simplicity, and the words are straightforward. Each letter is very short, but it can also be seen that the brotherhood is deep.

"...The army will send you [-] Wen for one white, and [-] Wen for your journey. I will guard the city gate, and there will be broth in the fire room at night. How is your family? Brother Zan Qian can marry a wife, and the general said that the barbarians will be dismissed The brothers are all happy to be able to come back.”

"The barbarians are vicious. The scouts came back and said that the docks outside are empty."

"They have devices that can make loud noises and fire, which can hurt people from a distance. There are many casualties in the army. Fortunately, the devices cannot be fired continuously, and they will be cut off after one sound."

"How is the capital? How is the home? Everything is fine in Dingzhou. The barbarians are wandering around outside the city, but they can't come in. We scolded them from the top of the city, and they won't listen, hahaha."

The family letter is short, with frequent typos, and can be read at a glance. The young man picked up the last piece of bamboo slips. Compared with the previous short text, there are only four large characters on it this time, showing fear and trembling. The lieutenant trembled as he wrote these words.

—“They eat people.”

Northern barbarians cannibalism, this is not a novelty in the middle and late period of the Six Years War, but in the first few years of the confrontation, Great Xia knew nothing about it.

Beiman cooks prisoners of war and civilians without worrying about food and grass shortages. In contrast, the depleted Daxia has no power to continue, especially seeing his dead comrades and captured comrades being roasted and shared alive. This extreme fear is unbearable for most people.

As a result, many soldiers fled from the battle, many guards surrendered, and the morale of Daxia was once in a slump.

The servant was as motionless as a solidified stone statue, when he heard Lord Sanlang suddenly ask: "Is there no shortage of food and grass in Dingzhou City?"

Before the Six Years War, a large-scale famine had already broken out in Great Xia, which was also one of the important reasons why the northern barbarians went south. Dingzhou, as the front line of defending the northern barbarians, was originally a military town, and it exercised the responsibility of stationing troops for defense , military supplies, food and other important things need to be transported from other places.

The northern barbarians were hungry enough to eat people, but Dingzhou was able to maintain ample food and grass. The guards and logistics officers in the city were really talented in the world, much more powerful than the Hubu Shangshu and others in the court.

The servant was stunned for a while, then shook his head after hesitating for a while: "This...brother has never mentioned this matter before."

The Dingzhou Army surrendered and fell at the beginning of the fifth year of the Six-Year War, and this letter was written at the end of the third year. Only a few words, only the regular return of military pay proves that he is still guarding the border town of Daxia.

Xie Zhuo half-closed his eyes and pondered for a while, then gathered the copper coins into a pile and pushed them back to the servant: "Put it away."

The servants collected the copper coins, waited for Xie Zhuo to hastily finished his cold breakfast, then gathered the dishes one by one, bowed and left the place.

When he left, the San Lang spread his hand again, and in his palm was the old copper coin.

He held the edge of the copper coin with two fingers, looked at it over and over for a while, and then threw it on the table again and again. The copper coin and the wooden table made a jingle sound, quite pleasant texture.

He tossed it aimlessly for a while, then got up suddenly, rummaged through the cabinets inside for half a cup of tea, and finally found a similar-looking copper coin from a cabinet.

Most of the coins used by Mr. Xie are gold and silver. Finding a copper plate with the smallest unit is much more difficult than digging out half a catty of gold cake.

This copper coin is covered with a thin layer of dust, but it is much newer than the money brought by the servants, and it has obviously never been used. One side of the coin is engraved with the word "army", and the other side is the "Yiqian" marking the unit.

This is military money specially used for the distribution of military pay. It is not very similar to ordinary civilian money. The weight and specifications are different. The Ministry of War is in charge of printing and distributing military money. In order to make profits, military money is often restructured. It was once a year At the point of change, the first emperor made a lot of efforts to rectify the situation, and the situation improved. After that, each piece of military money weighed half a tael, and its value was equivalent to one tael of civilian money.

In other words, one piece of military money is equal to two pieces of civilian money, but military money cannot be directly circulated in the market, and must be exchanged for civilian money at an exchange established by the military department before it can be used.

The young man put the two coins in the palm of his hand and felt it, and a look of expectation appeared on his face.

The weight of the two military coins is not equal.

The military coin brought by the servant was lighter, only about three-quarters of the other coin.

Someone is casting fake military money?

Not only that, it seems that the texture of this copper coin also...

He closed his eyes and thought for a while, then casually picked up a copper arm rest beside him, and smashed it hard on the counterfeit coin.

After two relentless noises, the counterfeit coin shattered into several petals, and what was exposed in the cracks on the edge was not the color of brass, but a strange black and blue...

Qiao Zhou stretched out his fingers to touch it twice, rubbed his fingertips twice, and he understood.

It is fine sand mixed with copper and poured.

The cost of such a piece of military money is only one-two tenth of real money, and it can almost be regarded as a profitable business.

But until the end of the six-year campaign, there was no news of counterfeit military money. In the final analysis, because the military money cannot be directly circulated and used in the market, it is actually the military that needs to bear all the losses for the fake military money. The exchange office is connected to the big treasury of the household department, so in the end, it is the court itself that bears the loss.

That person who forged military money...is brazenly trying to plunder the court's wool.

This matter does not seem to have much to do with the Six Years' War. In the final analysis, the military money is actually related to the military department and the household department. In order to recover the losses, the Ministry will definitely hold on to the Military Ministry, so the conflict between Xie Zhuo and the entire court will turn into a conflict between the Ministry of Finance and the Military Department represented by Xie Zhuo who uncovered the matter, and the reduction of the conflict will also mean……

There will naturally be many allies of the Ministry of Finance standing behind him, at least until the end of the military money matter, they will do their best to save this ally who charged ahead.

And this period of time is enough for him to do many, many things.

There was a smile on Xie Zhuo's face that was not bright at all, that belonged exclusively to Qiao Zhou.

The next day, after all the nobles from Xie's family who had the qualifications for court council drove to the Phoenix Terrace, the doorman was about to close the two heavy doors when a thin but promoted figure stepped on his door first. on the back of the hand.

The doorman was about to yell at him, but when he saw the person coming, his voice suddenly became stuffy in his throat and let out a series of weird grunts.

"Three, Mr. Saburo?!"

There is no one in Xie's mansion who does not know this Mr. Sanlang. For a long time, what the doorman often does is to open and close the doors for Mr. Sanlang's guests, watching the suave young masters all over the capital come in an endless stream. Come to visit Mr. Sanlang, or watch Mr. Sanlang and his sons go out for an outing.

But now, everyone knows that Mr. San Lang has been locked in the yard by the head of the family because of his big mistake, and he can't come out for a long time.

A series of guesses flashed through the doorman's mind, and he stammered and asked, "You... where are you going?"

Mr. San Lang, who had not stepped out of the Xie family's mansion for a long time, looked outside, his expression was full of a meaning that the doorman could not understand. Instead of a thin coat and a crane cloak, he was neatly dressed in dark ocher clothes, embroidered with orchids and whites, a brocade belt around his waist, and a collection of jade pendants. His black hair was tied in a high crown, revealing a handsome and indifferent face.

He is very familiar with this attire. The gentlemen who went to Phoenix Terrace earlier all dressed in this way, the only difference is that the dark clothes have different textures.

Lancao and Baize are the special totems for the historians of Danqingtai, implying that the historians write straight, upright and fragrant, understand the past and enlighten future generations.

In any case, this attire was obviously the attire for court meetings at the Phoenix Terrace.

The doorman was speechless: "Mr. Sanlang, you can't—"

"The Ministry of Punishment detained me in the mansion, and the head of the family did not allow me to leave without authorization, but did they say that I was not allowed to go to court?"

The handsome Xie Sanlang asked.

This...of course I didn't say anything.

Imprisoning people in the palace is already a very clear instruction, why would it be unnecessary to explain that people are not allowed to enter the palace?

The door boy was stunned by this fallacy, and saw Mr. Sanlang nodded in satisfaction: "So, it's the time of the court meeting, why can't I go to Phoenix Terrace?"

The doorman knew in his heart that things couldn't be counted that way, but he was a servant after all, and no matter how downcast Lord San Lang was, he was still a son of the master's family. The domestic servants, one by one, stepped aside early on, forcing the determined Lord San Lang to walk out of Xie's mansion.

In order to avoid accidents on Mr. Sanlang's road, and to maintain the dignity of Xie's mansion, the doorman had to order someone to chase after Mr. Sanlang's car.

The cars of the Xie Mansion were let in without much inspection in front of the palace gate. In front of the Phoenix Terrace was an endless open square, where the cars and cars of various families gathered here in an orderly manner, and they would greet each other politely. .

When the Xie Mansion's car drove into it unhurriedly, the people who saw the Xie Mansion's emblem from a distance planned to go up and have a conversation, but when they got closer, the words they wanted to say were all blocked in their throats .

"Didn't all the people from the Xie family go in? Why is it so late?"

"The Xie family has always been united in the same hatred. They have to unite in advance and retreat. It is rare to meet a single person..."

"Wait a minute, this mark... seems a bit..."

"……Not this one--"

Their words were cut off one after another, and they only gestured to each other with surprised and uncertain eyes, and each of them saw what they wanted from the other's sight.

Isn't this the emblem of Xie Jiasanlang? !

This emblem was once highly sought after in the capital, and everyone in the capital recognized Xie Sanlang's logo. They would not have forgotten this totem engraved in their hearts like a soldering iron in such a short period of time.

But no matter what, it shouldn't appear here, because its owner is already a dying person.

The car was still moving forward unhurriedly, and the chariots and horses on both sides gave way subconsciously. Although they gave way out of evasion, from a height, it seemed as if they were fighting for Jingchengzhi in the past. Gui moved away from the way forward.

When the car drove up to the hundred-step high platform, the driver lifted the curtain, and the young man in blue grass and white deep clothes got out of the car calmly, brushed off the corner of his clothes, and calmly looked up at the long steps in front of him.

At the moment when he raised his face, many people who were secretly watching this side could not help but let out a low gasp.

"It turned out to be him..."

"How dare he come to Phoenix Terrace..."

"Does this mean that you think you have a long life?"

Whispers rang out in the dimly lit compartment, but these voices were like catkins blowing away in the wind, and they couldn't reach Xie Zhuo's ears at all.

He looked at the long steps for a while, and then his eyes fell on the two-person tall vermilion drum under the steps.

In front of the Que Gate, the drum is heard, and the thunder moves the high platform, and the world knows it.

People who feel that they have grievances can beat the Dengwen Drum. When the Dengwen Drum sounds, the emperor and civil and military officials must listen to it at court. Everyone comes to beat the drums, no matter who is playing the drums, they should be severely punished first.

The moment his gaze fell on the Dengwen drum, many keen people also noticed the point of his gaze.

Their hearts suddenly thumped.

No way? !

This Mr. Xie Sanlang is really so stubborn that he wants to risk his life for the sake of compiling history?

Seeing that Xie Zhuo had raised his feet, and seeing that he was walking in the direction of Dengwen Drum, their hearts were raised higher and higher. Although there were different reasons for it, their thoughts of wanting to stop him were unprecedentedly consistent.

In the end, a voice called Xie Zhuo, who was walking freely, as they wished.

"Drink jade!"

Xie Zhuo's footsteps stopped.

He didn't look back, he stood there for a while, and it seemed that he was about to move forward again. The man who only heard the sound and saw no one opened the curtain of the car with a swipe, got out of the car, and threw it away to help him His servant lifted up the hem of his dark clothes and jumped to the ground. He walked swiftly behind Xie Zhuo, dragged him back two steps, and moved away from the majestic vermilion drum as if he was afraid of some scourge.

"Why, it's only been a few days, don't you recognize Wang Yuanzhi?"

The visitor gritted his teeth and asked.

In fact, it was because he only had common sense memory and no specific relationship network, so Qiao Zhou, who didn't know the person who came here at all: ...

He finally matched the name of the future person with the name he got from the servant's mouth.

He is one of those friends who are friends who fly separately in the face of adversity!

Wang Yuanzhi's questioning words felt wrong as soon as he uttered them, Xie Zhuo slowly waved his hand away, and said politely: "It turns out that Fengzi still recognizes Xie Zhuo."

His tone was not harsh, but Wang Yuanzhi seemed to have been stabbed.

After Xie Zhuo's accident, he did not go through the door of Xie's mansion again.

If he hadn't seen Xie Zhuo desperately going to beat the Dengwen drum this time, maybe he wouldn't have stopped him at all.

"You shouldn't have come to Phoenix Terrace." Facing the calm eyes of his old friend, Wang Yuanzhi only said this.

After Xie Zhuo was imprisoned in the mansion, Wang Yuanzhi followed the usual practice to enter Fenghuangtai to appoint officials. Unlike Xie's family who started their official careers from Danqingtai, most of Wang's children started their careers from Chaomingtai. It means that it is the office of the Ministry of Officials. Wang Yuanzhi, as the son who can take over the position of the head of the Wang family in the future, is currently only a Chaoming Tai Shuling.

"If I don't come, who do I want to come? Wait until the damned people are dead, and then lightly launch a Danqing Order that will last forever?" Xie Zhuo's voice was very soft, so soft that only one person, Wang Yuan, could hear it.

"But I didn't come here for this matter this time." Xie Zhuo noticed that Wang Yuanzhi's drooping fingers twitched nervously, and changed the subject sharply, "I heard that the Wang family has been dissatisfied with the military department for arbitrarily setting up vacancies for a long time. , I’m here to pass the knife to the Wang family this time.”

What he said was meaningful, but Wang Yuanzhi suddenly noticed something unusual: "What do you want to say?"

However, Xie Zhuo avoided his hand faster, stepped on the high white jade steps, and looked down at him condescendingly.

"Fengzi, I have been friends for many years and have nothing to report. Today I will send you a climbing ladder to ride the wind straight up to Baiyujing. You are going to step on it firmly."