Sima Lan drank the imperial poisonous wine. This force was leaderless, and Sima Lan's biggest weakness during his lifetime was that he did not control the military power. In this situation, the tree fell and the hozen dispersed.
Longtai did not immediately set off to return to the capital. Before dusk, the ministers who came with him had already presented the zhezi to the emperor. There were hundreds of zhezi, and naturally they all denounced Sima Lan for causing harm to the country and the people. The ministers also asked the emperor to send Sima Lan to the emperor. The family confiscated the family and destroyed the ancestors.
Longtai himself said that he would only kill the first culprits, and promoted Qu Yanzhi to be the commander of the Black Knife Battalion. His attitude was naturally understood by the ministers, but no one asked in the book to trace the Sima clan members.
In Ping Lin Qiu Shou, Longtai originally set up a scheme to eradicate Sima Lan. After the officials revealed their secrets, it seemed that Longtai complied with the people's wishes and eradicated the traitorous official of Chu State.
After Sima Lan was eradicated, Longtai naturally would not continue to hunt in Pinglin. Early the next morning, the imperial driver set off back to Beijing.
Along the way, Qi Ning clearly felt that the attitude of the ministers towards him had changed greatly. Whenever he looked at him, all the ministers who made eye contact with him immediately showed respect and looked very humble
Qi Ning naturally knew it.
Previously, the Sima family was so powerful that almost no one in the court dared to offend them. Many ministers knew that the Sima family would have to deal with the Jinyi Qi family sooner or later, and there was a huge disparity in power between the two sides. There was no way that the Jinyi Qi family could be Sima's opponent. Therefore, among many ministers In his eyes, the downfall of the Jinyi Qi family was only a matter of time.
Now that Sima Lan has fallen, Qi Ning has always been Longtai's trusted minister. From now on, the status of the Jinyi Qi family in the court is naturally very different.
Although Longtai said that he would only kill the culprits and would not continue to pursue the Sima clan's accomplices, no one could guarantee that the emperor would really stop there. Qi Ning, who was named the Protector of the State in Jin Dynasty, would naturally have a lot of influence on the emperor in the future. I know this very well, and it is reasonable for me to show respect to Qi Ning now.
The team returning to the capital was very fast, much faster than the time they came to Pinglin before. They could already see the outline of the capital in the distance, but the cavalry at the front of the team saw several horses galloping towards them.
Several cavalrymen immediately drew their swords and rushed forward. They formed a row and one of them said in a deep voice: "Stop!"
However, those riders also quickly reined in their horses and stopped. They all turned over and dismounted. The first person came quickly, while the others prostrated themselves on the ground.
The team suddenly stopped, and the officials were a little strange. Qining was riding on horseback, following Longtai. Soon, a cavalryman ran over quickly, holding a letter in his hand and presented it to Longtai. He took the letter and quickly opened it. Although Qi Ning was right behind Longtai, he couldn't see what was written on the letter. Suddenly, he saw Long Tai swaying and holding the letter in his hand. , Qining vaguely saw Longtai's hand trembling.
He frowned, thinking that although the emperor was young, he was a calm man. After reading the letter, his uneasiness was revealed. He couldn't help but shake the horse's reins, came closer, and asked in a low voice: " Your Majesty, is there something going on in the capital?"
Longtai turned his head and glanced at Qining, his expression unusually solemn, and handed the letter in his hand to Qining.
The ministers were following the team. Most of them only knew that the team suddenly stopped and what happened, but they had no idea. The ministers near Longtai saw that someone was delivering a letter, and something seemed wrong after seeing Longtai reading the letter. , but my heart sank, thinking to myself, what big changes happened in the capital when the emperor left the capital
Qining only glanced at it and understood why Longtai reacted like that.
The letter contained just a simple piece of news.
The righteous Duke Tan Taihuang passed away!
Tantai Huang, who had conquered the world for the Chu Empire since Emperor Taizu, passed away at dawn.
Qining saw Tantaihuang for the last time a few days ago. He knew that Tantaihuang's time was running out, but he didn't want to leave so soon.
"Go back to Beijing!" Longtai tried his best to calm down, shook the horse's reins, and the team continued to move forward.
Qi Ning was also in a rather sad mood.
The four hereditary princes of the empire, the old princes of Jinyi and the old princes of Wuxiang have passed away long ago. Sima Lan was ordered to die by the emperor, and now Tantai Huang has also passed away. None of the four founding heroes who have made outstanding achievements in the past are still alive.
Qi Jing passed away, and the only famous general in the Chu Kingdom who was famous in the world was Tantai Huang. Now that Tantai Huang has passed away, looking at the Chu Dynasty, there are no more feared generals. Although Yue Huanshan commanded the Qinhuai Army, but the North However, the Han people may not be afraid of Yue Huan Mountain.
Qining suddenly thought of what Tantaihuang said last time. If Beitang Qing, the Marquis of Changling of the Northern Han Dynasty, had really passed away, then the Chu State would be able to fight the Northern Han Dynasty. But if the Marquis of Changling was still alive and in times of crisis, , and was also used by the Northern Han Dynasty, Chu State will definitely face a terrifying opponent.
Ping Lin Qiuqiu's team entered the capital, and the ministers sent the emperor into the palace. However, Longtai sent a message to Qining to wait outside the palace.
Qi Ning actually waited for nearly two hours, and finally waited until Fan Dehai came out in person to summon him.
Fan Dehai seemed to be in a really good mood this time. When he saw Qi Ning, he immediately beamed and said, "Congratulations to the Duke on the promotion, Duke, the Emperor is waiting for you."
Qi Ning followed Fan Dehai into the palace. Seeing Fan Dehai's brisk steps, he said with a smile: "My father-in-law seems to be in a good mood?"
Fan Dehai said with a smile: "The Za family always thought that the emperor no longer wanted minions, but today I found out that the emperor still cares about minions." At this point, he sneered and lowered his voice: "My lord, just now the emperor handed Liu Wei over to the minions. Now The dog slave was eaten inside and out, and the Za family was beaten to death with thirty sticks. The dog slave Liu Jin couldn't bear to eat and was beaten to death."
Qi Ning was startled, but he also understood in his heart that Liu Jin had been beside Longtai as Sima Lan's spy. Naturally, Longtai could not tolerate such a young man. But as the king of a country, Longtai certainly did not need to issue an order to deal with it himself. When he threw it to Fan Dehai, it was equivalent to directly giving Liu Jin's life to Fan Dehai. Fan Dehai hated Liu Jin deeply, and Liu Jin would naturally have no way to survive if he fell into his hands.
However, it is not a bad thing for Qining that Fan Dehai is used by Longtai again.
Liu Jin is a villain and his relationship with Qining is not good, but Fan Dehai gets along quite harmoniously with Qining.
Fan Dehai took Qi Ning directly to the imperial study room and left immediately in front of the door. Qin Ning thought that only Longtai was waiting in the imperial study room. When he entered the room, he was surprised to find that Xiao Shaozong, the prince of Huainan, was also in the imperial study room.
Qi Ning stepped forward to salute, and Xiao Shaozong already said with a smile: "Congratulations to Jinyi Hou Jin for the title of Duke."
Qi Ning immediately said: "This is the emperor's grace." But he was confused in his heart, thinking that Xiao Shaozong was here just after Longtai came to Beijing. It seemed that while he was waiting, Longtai had already sent someone to tell him Summon Xiao Shaozong.
He remembered that night when Xiao Shaozong sneaked into the palace from the underground passage of Maitreya Temple, but he didn't know what the prince of Huainan wanted.
Longtai motioned Qining to sit down, and then said: "I am deeply saddened by the death of Duke Yiguo. From now on, I will rely on you to assist me in governing Chu." He said to Qining: "You have been able to eradicate Sima Lan, and you have done a lot of credit." Small."
Qi Ning cupped his hands and said, "It's all the Emperor's planning."
"It's not like I'm strategizing." Long Tai smiled slightly, glanced at Xiao Shaozong, and then said: "If there was no prince, I wouldn't be able to eradicate the traitors so smoothly."
Qi Ning was startled, and Long Tai said: "Sima Lan's ambitions are getting stronger and stronger, and he wants to use the Northern Expedition to control military power. If the military power falls into his hands, he will probably seek to usurp the throne. Naturally, I will eradicate him completely before the Northern Expedition. .”
Qi Ning nodded slightly, and Long Tai said again: "I said that you are my close minister. If I and you are often together, Sima Lan will naturally think that we are planning to deal with him, and we must be cautious. He is old and cunning, and if I notice it, I will I can’t find a chance to take action.”
Xiao Shaozong nodded slightly and said: "Sima Lan can keep his composure. He must have planned carefully before taking action. Everything about the change in the imperial mausoleum is under his control."
Longtai nodded and said: "Yes, so my plan must not be noticed by him."
Qi Ning seemed to understand and asked: "Your Majesty, has this always been... the Crown Prince and the Emperor planning together?"
Longtai nodded and said: "Exactly. I grew up with the prince since I was a child, and I know that he is very resourceful. I am not enough to deal with Sima Lan alone, so I secretly discussed countermeasures with the prince. Sima Lan only thought that when I wanted to take action, he would definitely I will plan with you, so I keep a close eye on you. I can use you to attract Sima Lan’s attention and secretly prepare with the crown prince.”
In an instant, Qining suddenly realized.
Longtai is naturally very smart, but he has only been on the throne for a short time, and he has not been too involved in political affairs. However, this time his actions were crisp and clean, and his acting style was quite different from Longtai's temperament. At this time, Qining finally understood that it was Xiao Shaozong who was behind the throne. Help Longtai make plans behind the scenes.
In this way, Xiao Shaozong entered the palace through a secret underground passage not because he had any other agenda, but because he entered the palace to discuss secretly with the emperor.
"Although I have tried my best, the emperor is wise and decisive." Xiao Shaozong said: "In the incident at the imperial mausoleum, Sima Lan exposed almost all of his own strength in order to bring down my father. We know the strength in his hands, so we can Know yourself and your enemy, and hit the target with one blow." At this point, Xiao Shaozong suddenly coughed violently. Longtai frowned and said, "How is your health?" He shouted, "Come here, call the imperial doctor quickly."
Xiao Shaozong waved his hand slightly, but his cough became even more violent. He took out the brocade handkerchief from his sleeve and covered his mouth. After the coughing stopped, he wiped the corners of his mouth and was about to put the brocade handkerchief into his sleeve. However, Long Tai had already stood up quickly and grabbed Xiao Shaozong. On the wrist, at this time, I saw that the brocade handkerchief was covered with blood, and the blood was even a little black.
Longtai looked solemn and said, "I will let the imperial doctor do his best to cure you."
Xiao Shaozong shook his head and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, you know very well about my illness. I am already terminally ill. I know it myself, but I am afraid that I will not survive this year. But before I die, I am satisfied that I can help the emperor to eradicate the traitors."
"Don't say that." Longtai said: "There are many strange people and scholars in the world. I immediately issued an edict to seek medical treatment from the world."
"Your Majesty, when my father was alive, he spent a lot of money over the years, searched for famous doctors, and found countless precious medicinal materials, but his fate was like this, and there was nothing he could do to save it." Xiao Shaozong looked a little pale and smiled faintly: "I have accepted my fate, Your Majesty. Now I can personally govern and manage my ancestors' country well." There was another violent cough.