***
Looking at Yang Zhi kneeling in front of him, Qin Mu felt a little complicated, but he still reached out and helped her up: "Zhi'er, you get up first. There is no need to mention the divorce. Mr. Sima must have a letter for you to bring. Bring it to me quickly."
"Husband..." Yang Zhi sobbed softly, took out a letter from her cloth bag and handed it to him.
Qin Mu immediately tore open the letter. Sima An's letter was very long, and it gave a detailed account of the recent situation in Ganzhou. He listed all his ideas and practices in the letter, and asked for Qin Mu's final opinion. He also put forward his own views on the affairs of Huguang for Qin Mu's reference.
But there is only one line about the Yang family: Married as husband and wife, and never separated. Sir, nothing can be repeated.
Qin Mu finished reading the letter and closed it gently. He understood what Sima An meant. He had just divorced his wife in Nanjing that year. Now, less than a year later, if he divorced Yang Zhi again, no matter who was right or wrong, others would not delve into it and would only think that he was a heartless person.
Even his first wife divorced him again and again, as if it were a child's play. What about the people who followed him? Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, so does that mean that they should lose their heads for the slightest mistake? Once this mentality is formed, won't everyone be disheartened
As for whether letting Yang Tinglin go would encourage some people to plot against him, such worries were a bit unnecessary. To use a simple analogy, the first person who poked a hornet's nest was lucky enough not to be stung, and the second person said, "Don't worry, hornets don't sting, so I'll poke them too." That second person must be a fool.
As Sima An said in his letter, some things can only happen once and never again. Wasps are bound to sting people, and everyone knows this. The first person was lucky enough not to be stung, but that doesn't mean anyone who tries to poke it won't be stung.
"Zhi'er, don't think too much. It must have been very tiring to come here. You take a rest first. I'll go out to handle some government affairs and will be back soon." Qin Mu took Yang Zhi's hand and patted it gently, then said to the little girl, "Qiao'er, take good care of your sister Zhi'er. By the way, is that an egg or a pancake hidden in your arms?"
"Hehe. I won't tell you." The little girl dodged lightly and made a face at him.
Qin Mu left the back court and first instructed Li Shi outside: "Tell Huang Lianshan to pass my order to Ma Yongzhen as soon as possible. Once Hengyang is stabilized, let Ma Yongzhen come to Changsha immediately."
"Yes, sir."
In the lobby of the governor's office, the dusty Lu Daqi could not help but stand up and pace back and forth. When he was about to get angry, Qin Mu finally showed up.
However, what made Lu Daqi even more angry was yet to come.
List the cases. Make a noise and receive the order.
After the procedure was completed, Qin Mu stood up and immediately shouted, "Someone come!"
Niu Wanshan and Li Shi immediately stood up and responded in a loud voice: "Please give your orders, sir!"
Qin Mu said with a sneer, "Commander-in-Chief Lu has come from afar. He must be exhausted. You two should quickly lead Commander-in-Chief Lu to Prince Ji's mansion to have a good rest."
"Yes, sir."
Lu Daqi finally couldn't stand it anymore and shouted, "Master Qin, what do you mean? I am an official appointed by the court, how can I live in Prince Ji's mansion?"
"General Lu has misunderstood. This is what happened. Princess Xiangyang has been making a fuss in the palace, and I have no way to deal with these princes and grandchildren. I asked General Lu to stay in Prince Ji's palace because I wanted him to persuade them. Otherwise, if someone dies, it will be troublesome. Come on, take General Lu to the palace."
No matter how angry Lu Daqi was, he was still forcibly dragged out of the yamen by Niu Wanshan and Li Shi. Qin Mu, holding Chongzhen's imperial edict in his hand, stood in the lobby with an ambiguous sneer on his face.
When the officials in the yamen saw this scene, they were all silent. After all, Lu Daqi was the governor of four provinces, and he came with thousands of soldiers and horses, holding the imperial edict in his hand, but Qin Mu squeezed him around and then squeezed him flat. At this moment, if there is still someone who can't recognize who is the boss here, he must be crazy.
"By the way, where is Lu Qi?" Qin Mu suddenly thought of this person.
The guard beside him smiled and said, "Sir, Eunuch Lu is cleaning the toilet in the barracks."
"Haha, go and see if Eunuch Lu's parts are all complete. Find him. Uh, there's no need to call him here. Send him directly to Prince Ji's Mansion to serve Commander Lu." Qin whispered some instructions to the guard, and the guard laughed and ran out of the yamen.
Qin Mu then hurried back to the second hall, where Zhuge Min and other subordinates had already been waiting. The way Qin Mu treated Lu Daqi just now was not only to give him a warning and make him realize the situation, but also to find his subordinates as soon as possible to discuss countermeasures.
Chongzhen's edict came so quickly that it was beyond Qin Mu's expectations. Considering the distance from Jiangxi to Beijing, it would be impossible to travel so quickly unless the round trip was 600 miles by express train without any delay on the road.
Qin Mu handed the imperial edict to Yang Shen and asked him to read it to everyone. Strictly speaking, this imperial edict was not for Qin Mu alone, but for Qin Mu, Meng Ke, and Ma Yongzhen.
After hearing Yang Shen finish reading, everyone looked a little strange.
Meng Ke couldn't sit still any longer, so he stood up, clasped his fists towards Qin Mu and said, "My Lord, you know me."
Qin Mu nodded with a smile and said, "General Meng, there is no need to do this. Please sit down."
Zhuge Min and others breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the conversation between the two. Who would have thought that Chongzhen was too generous this time? As Li Yuan had expected, Chongzhen gave Qin Mu the post of Governor of Southern Jiangxi, but not only that, he also gave him the title of Marquis of Huaiyin.
This is not the key point. The key point is that Meng Ke and Ma Yongzhen were also conferred titles of nobility. Meng Ke became Marquis of Xiangyin and Ma Yongzhen became Marquis of Ningnan. Meng Ke was also appointed as the General-in-Chief of Jiangxi and Ma Yongzhen as the General-in-Chief of Huguang.
What did Chongzhen mean by this? Could it be that the boss's wife had run away with someone, the store was not doing well, and he was having a big sale
This is one of the reasons why Qin Mu unceremoniously drove Lü Daqi to Prince Ji's mansion. It's already this time, and Chongzhen still wants to play the trick of killing three men with one peach. Since you have no sincerity and still want to poach my people, I am too lazy to be polite to you. Chongzhen doesn't want to rebel yet, but you might as well give Lü Daqi a basin of foot washing water first.
Zhuge Min pondered and said, "Sir, since the emperor has ordered you to lead the army north to hunt down Zhang Xianzhong and wait for an opportunity to recapture Xiangyang, I think you might as well follow Zhang Xianzhong and pretend to do so. Maybe you can get some benefits from the court."
"Benefits?" He Liang immediately refuted: "Impossible, let alone whether the court can provide food and wages, even if it can, it will find excuses to delay payment. Otherwise, General Meng Ke and General Ma Yongzhen would not have been conferred the title of marquis as well."
Although Meng Ke remained calm on the surface, when He Liang mentioned the matter of being conferred a title of nobility again, Qin Mu clearly noticed a flash of embarrassment across his face. This was what Qin Mu was worried about. Why was Meng Ke embarrassed
Qin Mu did not doubt him, and Meng Ke probably did not intend to set up a new sect, but he was afraid that Qin Mu would doubt him, and that everyone would doubt him. This fear led to suspicion between them.
So, Chongzhen's move seemed to be a conspiracy that could be seen through at a glance, but it was actually an open conspiracy, a naked open conspiracy. The difference between a conspiracy and an open conspiracy is that once a conspiracy is seen through, it is worthless. But an open conspiracy is not afraid of you seeing through it, and even if you see through it, it is difficult for you to resolve it.
"Brother Meng, you owe me 120,000 taels of silver." Qin Mu suddenly spoke up and laughed. "Don't think too much. Just pay me back first. When you pay me back, I'll treat you to chicken butts. As much as you want."
Zhuge Min, He Liang and others had never heard that Meng Ke owed Qin Mu money. They didn't even know that Meng Ke had a hobby of eating chicken butts, so they were all confused and could not understand what he meant.
In fact, the key to Qin Mu’s words is not what he expressed, but his address.
Meng Ke stood up again and clasped his fists, saying, "Sir, I cannot pay you back the 120,000 taels of silver, so I will give you my life instead."
"I never do business at a loss, and you know this, Brother Meng. In this case, I will take your life. Now I will give it to you for safekeeping, but there is one thing you must pay attention to. Don't let it depreciate, otherwise I will treat you to a ten-year-old chicken head, hahaha..."
"Please rest assured, sir." Meng Ke also smiled brightly, as if to let all grudges be forgotten with a smile.
Zhuge Min and the others came to their senses, but they wisely did not mention it again. Yang Shen said, "My Lord, General Meng has become the commander-in-chief of Jiangxi, and General Ma Yongzhen has become the commander-in-chief of Huguang. This is not a bad thing. In my opinion, General Meng does not need to rush to show his loyalty to you. Time will tell. Instead of doing this, it is better for General Meng to go to Nanchang earlier. Of course, you cannot go empty-handed. The emperor has appointed you to this position, so he must be on guard, but this is not important. General Meng can bring 10,000 soldiers and horses to defend Nanchang..."
Before Yang Shen finished speaking, Zhuge Min couldn't help but clap his hands and said, "Not bad, not bad. He has his own plan, and we have our own way. Since the emperor has appointed this position, we must make full use of it."
Li Yuan also said excitedly: "Once Nanchang is taken, the gate of Jiangxi will be closed. Zuo Liangyu can forcibly occupy Jiujiang. We have the title, so why can't we forcibly occupy Nanchang?"
"Brother Li, what you said is wrong?" He Liang said with a confident look, "Brother Li, don't contradict yourself. What do you mean by occupation? General Meng is now the general of Jiangxi Province appointed by the emperor. It is only natural for him to lead troops to defend Nanchang."
"Hahaha, Brother He is right. I made a mistake. The court has shot itself in the foot this time."
Qin Mu glanced at the three guys and couldn't help but stroke his forehead and sighed, what kind of people are they? Look at how happy they are, it's as if they were the ones who came up with this plan. They are really good at hindsight.
If it weren't for the fact that these three people were doing a great job in handling military and political affairs, Qin Mu might have kicked each of them.
"If you think it is feasible, I think this matter should be done as soon as possible." Meng Ke stood up and clasped his fists.
Qin Mu waved his hand and said, "This matter is not urgent. Nanchang has no legs and cannot run away. Jiujiang is also under the jurisdiction of Jiangxi. Since you are the general of Jiangxi, haha... Well, we have to eat one bite at a time. Let's talk about the urgent problem at hand. Zhang Xianzhong's departure to Sichuan is almost a foregone conclusion. I have an idea. In the name of pursuing Zhang Xianzhong, we should send a large number of troops to the north to force Zuo Liangyu away from Jiujiang. Huguang is vast and the northern gate is not easy to defend. But Jiangxi is different. As long as Jiujiang is in hand, the northern gate of Jiangxi can be basically closed. Let's use our brains now and think about how to force Zuo Liangyu away from Jiujiang."
*****************************
ps: Dear friends, if you have recommended votes, please support us, thank you. (To be continued..)
...