The two people in the study were slightly stunned, especially Sun Tu, who frowned: "Is Yuan Wang coming here now because of a guilty conscience?" If he had previously thought that he had colluded with the fierce dragon group, There was only a 60-70% chance that the person behind the scenes was Yuan Wang, but now he was more than 90% sure.
But somewhat unexpectedly, after thinking for a while, Cai Jiu still said: "Yuan Zhoutui, please come in and talk." It wasn't until he spoke that Cai Lian, who was blocking the door, stepped aside and let Yuan Wang in. , At this time, his face was full of humble smile, completely different from before: "I have seen the prefect, and I didn't expect that Sun Tuanlian was here. You have really eliminated a big trouble for me in Jiangzhou this time." ”
Sun Tu had quickly adjusted his mentality. After hearing this, he quickly stood up and saluted politely and said: "Yuanzhou has given you the honor. The official just mentioned to the prefect that annihilating the water bandits on the river is the responsibility of the official and others serving in Jiangzhou. I dare not take credit." When he said this, his eyes still fell on the other person's face with some suspicion, as if he wanted to completely see through his mind.
Not only him, but also Cai Jiu looked at Yuan Wang thoughtfully. Although he didn't ask, his expression already revealed the doubts in his heart. When Yuan Wang was looked at by two people like this, he didn't show any signs of panic. He just smiled in a flattering manner: "I have two things to say when I come here today. One of them is to plead guilty to the prefect."
"Oh? Yuan Zhoutui has been an official in Jiangzhou for many years and has a good reputation for being diligent and honest. How can he be guilty of it?" Cai Jiu asked with a smile, his tone was quite calm, obviously he had guessed that the other party would say this. .
"I know that I am stubborn, and because of my different stances in the court, I have been quarreling with you the prefect this year. Now that I think about it, I really shouldn't have done it. I am in a strategic location in Jiangzhou, and I am taxed by the imperial court. However, due to some of Xiaguan's previous thoughts, he repeatedly failed to pay the money, grain and taxes in full on time, which is really a big sin. In addition, as a subordinate of the prefect, Xiaguan often caused trouble to the prefect. Fortunately, the prefect had the magnanimity to do so. It was magnanimous that he did not accuse me, but now that I think about it, I feel even more embarrassed. Now that the official knows what is right and what was wrong, I hope the prefect can forgive the official for his temporary confusion!" At this point, Yuan Wang had already bowed down deeply. As soon as he reached the ground, he had already bowed to Cai Jiuxing, the most important ceremony in officialdom, second only to kneeling down, and his posture could not be lowered.
Cai Jiu's expression changed slightly and he quickly said: "Yuan Zhoutui, why are you doing this? Please get up quickly. Disputes between you and my colleagues are always inevitable. I have never blamed you. Such a great courtesy." I can't bear it." Even though he said this, he still sat there with a stiff body, with no intention of avoiding him or coming forward to help him. He only waited for the other party to show his courtesy before giving Sun Tu a spanking. With a wink, the latter helped him to get up.
"The prefect can treat me with such generosity, I really feel grateful to the official." After straightening up, Yuan Wang thanked him for a while, and then said with a bitter face: "Actually, there is something that the official has wanted to tell the prefect for a long time. It was indeed not my original intention to make things difficult for you several times, but I had to do so under instructions from others."
"Oh? But who dares to force Yuan Zhoutui to do such a thing?" Cai Jiu then faced him with a straight face, knowing that the real key was coming.
To be honest, the person who has made Xiaguan embarrass the prefect behind his back several times this year is Taifu Liang of Tokyo. He is Xiaguan’s benefactor. I owe everything I am today to his cultivation, so he has a destiny. Yuan Wang can only Follow orders. "Yuan Wang's answer was quite pleasant, and he immediately revealed his real background.
Sun Tu's reaction was stable when these words came out, but Cai Jiu's expression quickly changed: "You are actually from Taifu Liang? No wonder..." No wonder Yuan Wang, a small state government official, dared to deal with this person. He fought for Cai Jing's son, the governor of Yizhou, and even went so far as to openly antagonize him.
Originally, Cai Jiu only thought that Yuan Wang wanted to gain a good official reputation. In addition, he had many friends of the same age who were imperial censors in the court, so he was not afraid of offending him. It was only now that he realized that there was such a great god behind him. No wonder he had asked people to impeach Yuan Wang several times before, but the result was nothing.
The name of Taifu Liang was Liang Shicheng, and he was another highly favored high-ranking official around Emperor Zhao Ji. Not only did he serve as the Grand Tutor of the Imperial Academy, but he also led the military governor of Xingde Army from a distance. His honor did not belong to Cai Jingzhi who was the Grand Master In a sense, he is more trusted by today's officials than Cai Jing because of his background as a servant of the emperor.
Yes, Liang Shicheng, like Tong Guan, was both a palace eunuch, and in terms of status and power in the court, he was far above Tong Guan. Although he was also collectively referred to as the "Six Thieves" by the people, his official position was far higher than that of his peers. He was only below Cai Jing and was even called the "Hidden Prime Minister" by the world.
It is said that after the founding of the Song Dynasty, it learned the lessons from the collapse of the former Tang Dynasty and established a national policy of promoting civility and restraining military force. At the same time, it also regarded the eunuchs, a group that made trouble in the late Tang Dynasty, as a group and hardly allowed them to control military power or opportunities for government. However, after this tradition lasted for more than a hundred years, the rules were broken with the emergence of the arbitrary and arbitrary official Zhao Ji. Not only did he promote high-ranking officials like Tong Guan to the post of Privy Councilor to hold military power, he even transferred many political powers to him. It was handed over to Liang Shicheng and used to balance the power of Cai Jing's party in the DPRK.
Perhaps Liang Shicheng's power today is far less than that of Cai Taifu, who has been up and down in the court for decades and has disciples and former officials all over the world, but Liang Taifu still has the confidence and courage to fight openly and covertly with Cai Jing and his disciples in the court and in other counties. !
Cai Jiu really didn't expect that there would be such a powerful and terrifying enemy buried beside him. If Yuan Wang hadn't revealed his hidden identity today, he would still have been kept in the dark until now.
After his face changed several times, Cai Jiu just regained his composure: "I see, I really looked down on Yuan Zhou before I came to this. But what makes me curious is, why are you willing to tell the truth about such a secret matter?"
"This is the second reason why Xiaguan came to visit today." Seeing that Governor Cai was worried, Yuan Wangxuan finally felt relieved. He glanced at Sun Tuda and said, "Xiaoguan heard that After suppressing the water bandits, the soldiers once brought one person out of their lair... "
Sun Tu didn't understand what he was going to say at this time, so he didn't hide it at the moment, nodded and said: "Yes, that man's name is Cheng Jichang, he is a merchant in our Jiangzhou City, and as far as what those water bandits said , it was he who suppressed the bandits by our officers and soldiers.
Relevant information was passed on, which led to the failure of the government and army to suppress bandits several times. As far as the official knows, the deployment of military forces is a secret in the military. Even few people in my government know about it, let alone a mere businessman like him, so there must be someone behind this. "After saying the last sentence, he looked straight at Yuan Wang without any aversion, and his meaning was quite clear.
Yuan Wang had a slight tangle on his face, but in the end he could only sigh and said: "Now that the matter has come to an end, I no longer dare to hide it. Yes, I am the one who has leaked all kinds of military information to the water bandits in the past year."
Even though they had already made a judgment, after hearing him admit this, Sun Tu and Cai Jiu were still shaken and could not recover for a long time. Afterwards, Sun Tu spoke quickly: "Yuan Wang, do you know how big a crime you have committed? Because of what you did, you killed no less than five hundred soldiers, and made countless people live in desperation. I, Jiangzhou, All industries in the city are in decline... It's useless for you to call yourself a citizen, and to be called an upright and good official by countless soldiers and common people!" The more he spoke, the more excited he became. He had already stood up from the table. If Cai Jiu hadn't been there, he would have given him a The slap in the face vented the anger in my heart.
Cai Jiu, on the other hand, had calmed down after the initial surprise. He just frowned slightly and asked, "Why are you doing this? Is it just to make Jiangzhou under my rule tired so that the imperial court can punish me for my crimes?" ? But as a local promotion official, your crime is more serious when bandits are rampant."
"If I go back to the prefect, I am not doing this to cut off my Jiangzhou waterway, but for another purpose, to obtain enough benefits." Yuan Wang's attitude became more and more respectful, but the inner story he said was even more disturbing. Shocked: "On the surface, it seems that the Xunyang River has been cut off by the fierce dragon this year, but in reality this is not the case. Some merchants' ships can still pass through this waterway smoothly without being infringed by water bandits."
"Are these people spending money to buy peace? And Cheng Jichang is the broker in the middle?" Sun Tu understood immediately and asked aloud.
"Yes, the money will be divided between me and Fierce Jiao. This is the real purpose of setting up this game." Yuan Wang did not hide anything anymore, and nodded and told the truth.
Only then did Sun Tu understand why Jijiao and his group of water bandits had been entrenched on the Xunyang River for so long. You must know that since they robbed passing ships on the river, it seems that there are few merchants transporting goods by waterway anymore, so they can't get oil and water. But now it seems that what really keeps them here all year round is that they have colluded with the government.
"Why are you doing this?" Cai Jiu asked with some confusion: "If you are greedy for money and have other means, why do you have to take such a big risk? And as far as I know, you, Yuanzhou Tuiping, are frugal and honest in your daily life. Well, what do you need so much money for?" If the other party was really a corrupt official, he would probably have driven him out of Jiangzhou City long ago once he found out.
Yuan Wang gave a wry smile: "I am indeed not greedy for money, but that doesn't mean I don't need money. If I want my colleagues in the court to stand up for me, and if I want Taifu Liang to speak for me, I will spend more than hundreds of thousands a year." Guan... Just relying on a small prison camp is not enough to solve the problem, and I don't want to ruin my reputation for many years, so I have to find another way... "