Extra 7 is about Lord Shenmao.
No more than three days before and after.
The Enke fraud case was successfully concluded in a very short period of time.
For many court officials, it was over as soon as they heard the news.
It is really vigorous and resolute.
Prime Minister Song publicly destroyed the leaked exam papers in Meridian Gate Square, stating that the exam questions would be revised and the dates for the special examinations would remain unchanged. The students cheered with jubilation, excitedly chanting "We must live up to the emperor's grace." No one was so foolish as to suggest "being lenient and benevolent" or other such nonsense.
The court was stunned for a while, and soon, a few ignorant people began to impeach frantically.
More than a dozen memorials flew onto the imperial desk like snowflakes, and every word denounced Shen Xu for forming a clique for personal gain and deceiving the emperor.
They kept saying that Shen Xu was always arrogant and conceited, and that he monopolized power. The Marquis of Qingyuan was devoted to the emperor, so his feelings were sympathetic and his actions were excusable.
After reading it, Xie Yingchen sneered and gave the memorial to Gu Zhizhuo.
Bang!
Gu Zhizhuo angrily slapped the imperial desk.
She accidentally hit him a little too hard and she gasped slightly.
Xie Yingchen hurriedly grabbed her hand and rubbed her palm.
He had read all the case files of the fraud case. The East Factory interrogated all the people involved in the case. There were more than ten main culprits and accomplices in total. These confessions were infuriating.
Especially Rong Zhi's phrase "hens crow at dawn"...
They were self-righteous and believed that the East Factory was Yaoyao's backer. As long as the East Factory was abolished, Yaoyao would lose her backer and confidence, and they could put people into the palace.
"Does it still hurt?"
Xie Yingchen blew on her palm again and again, and his warm breath tickled her.
"It doesn't hurt anymore."
"I'll have someone put a layer of cotton padding here later. You can take pictures next time you want."
Gu Zhizhuo's eyes lit up: "The cotton has been delivered?"
Xie Z and the rest of the deposed emperor's children and family members were all exiled to Minzhou, except for Ji Nanke, who was kept by Gu Zhizhuo and is still in the imperial prison.
Ji Nan Ke was specially brought in by Heaven to balance the destiny that had been arbitrarily changed.
She said she came from a place called "Modern".
Whether it is modern or not is not important.
The important thing is that Gu Zhizhuo has dug out a lot of things from her in the past two years, such as corn and sweet potatoes, new methods of making sugar and salt, cotton, new spinning wheels, and even something called "electricity"...
Some of the first batch of cotton planted was sent to the palace as tribute.
"I'll go check it out later!"
"There are also some sweet potatoes. I'll have someone cook them and try them later." After saying that, he said to Shen Xu, "When Governor Shen goes to Yongzhou, take some with you and try to grow them to see if they can survive in Yongzhou."
Chen Xu: “…”
He sat here for half an hour, and they finally remembered him.
snort!
He summoned Chen Xu here, thinking it was for the memorials impeaching him, but...
hehe.
Xie Yingchen smiled, and said gently, like a spring breeze and drizzle, "Lord Shen, before you leave, please do me one more favor."
As he spoke, he took out an ebony box the size of a palm, and inside the box was a brass key.
"Look around and see if there's any evidence against these people. Pick out whatever you can and convict them. If you can, dismiss the innocent and never hire them again."
He casually pushed a pile of memorials on the table over, tapping the imperial desk rhythmically with his fingers, his smile not reaching his eyes.
"It's been two years. The court is now stable and can take action."
"So that they won't be confused and won't even know who is sitting on it."
Shen Xu took the box.
After Prince Jin died, the couple took over the secret room left by Prince Jin, and they did not hide this from him.
All the things in the secret room were moved out, most of which were the evidence collected by Prince Jin on the officials. Now they were all locked in the Chengxin Hall of the Purple Palace.
This is the key to Chengxin Hall.
"good."
Shen Xu agreed.
Xie Yingchen knew his intention and said with a gentle smile, "You should make your own arrangements for the personnel in the capital. If the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guards are not withdrawn, you should leave behind people you trust."
Shen Xu nodded and said: "I will take Sheng Jiang away and take over the position of commander of the imperial guards. Please ask the emperor to make another appointment."
"Alright," Xie Yingchen nodded. "Let Sheng Jiang be the general of Yongzhou. When you arrive, Qi Guangping will be under your jurisdiction."
Qi Guangping was the general-in-chief of Yongzhou. He had been the general-in-chief of Yongzhou before the incident in Heishui Fort City.
Chen Xu pinched the small jade token on his wrist, his long eyelashes trembling slightly.
Xie Yingchen said to Gu Zhizhuo, who was still flipping through his papers, "Yaoyao, do you want to go?"
Shen Xu's eyes paused.
Gu Zhizhuo raised his eyebrows and looked at him: "Commander of the Imperial Guards?"
"I promised you."
"Is there?"
She thought about it and couldn't remember.
It was better not to remember, lest she start thinking about becoming a monk and becoming a national teacher. Xie Yingchen interrupted her thoughts, "It's not important. Do you want to go?"
She happily agreed: "Go!"
Commander of the Imperial Guards, very good!
Xie Yingchen curled the corners of his mouth, and her figure was reflected in his pupils, as if containing a little light.
Humph, you're calling Yaoyao a "hen crowing at dawn"? Let the whole world see what it means to be a queen in charge of military affairs.
When Shen Xu made his move, it was as powerful as thunder and as loud as thunder.
All those who submitted impeachment petitions and whose crimes could be found in the Chengxin Hall were thrown into prison and severely punished according to the law. The rest did not escape either, and were all charged with crimes of varying severity and dismissed from their posts for investigation.
The Jinyiwei came out in full force, confiscating houses and arresting people.
Wherever the Embroidered Spring Knife passes, there will be panic.
The court was still immersed in the imperial examination cheating case, and was discussing persuading the emperor to pardon Qingyuan Hou's death sentence, when a bloody storm suddenly broke out.
The new emperor ruled the world with benevolence.
He had always been lenient towards his officials, to the point that they had almost forgotten how the man sitting on the throne had risen from a desperate situation, facing certain death, to the throne. How could he have done it without some cunning and ruthlessness?
For a moment, everyone felt insecure.
The smart ones go to and from the government office honestly and focus on doing their work, while the not-so-smart ones fly around like headless flies.
The foolish upper and lower levels colluded to impeach Shen Xu for abusing his power and being arrogant and lawless.
So, another group was arrested.
“Serves you right.”
Prime Minister Song spoke privately to his wife.
"You're treating the emperor like a soft persimmon."
"If the deposed emperor hadn't left behind such a mess, and if the people's livelihood hadn't been the most important thing, the emperor wouldn't have cared about these insignificant villains in the past two years, and how could he have allowed them to run around like that until now?"
He stayed at home and focused on setting questions. He told others that his old illness had recurred and he would not see anyone.
When the Duke of Wei saw that he was sick, he also fell ill and cried out in pain.
In just three days, those who jumped around the most, talking nonsense all the time, and shouting "The eunuch party is rampant, the harem is interfering in politics, and the country is about to perish" were all sent to prison.
It was suddenly so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
The ministers shrank their necks like quails, but before they could catch their breath, another imperial decree, like thunder, exploded above their heads.
Empress Gu Zhizhuo was appointed as the commander of the imperial guards, in charge of the military defense of the capital.
The whole court was in an uproar.
The Queen stayed in the harem, managing the concubines, raising the princes and princesses, and occasionally meeting with the ladies of state. - Of course, there is nothing now, but this is the Queen's duty.
Control the military?! You're crazy.
They didn't dare to impeach again, so they could only go to see Prime Minister Song together and ask him to put aside his illness and come out to persuade him.
"Persuade? Persuade what?"
"Where were you when the Queen chased Duo Ling for thousands of miles?"
"Where were you when the Queen was suppressing the Liang people's rebellion in the capital? Don't forget how your families survived."
If it weren't for Empress Gu guarding the capital, who knows how many people would have died in the capital when the deposed emperor colluded with the people of Liang to rebel.
"Isn't such military achievements enough for her to take over the Imperial Guard?!"
Furthermore, Empress Gu was behind the scenes, orchestrating Princess Jiaye's incitement to civil unrest within Liang. The Liang prince and his wife were now at war, their conflict raging and eroding, severely weakening the Liang people. Years ago, Jiang Youzheng, acting on Empress Gu's orders, feigned a declaration of war, frightening the Liang prince into immediately offering seven cities in exchange for a truce from Daqi. This was a remarkable achievement in expanding territory. However, this matter remained top secret, and few knew of it.
Duke Wei slammed the table and snorted. Chu Handaisang yelled, "If the Queen was a man, would you still think she's unworthy?"
Of course not.
Duke Weiguo, a mere warrior, was incapable of learning to be refined, so his words were blunt: "What have you done to benefit the country and the people? Do you have a thick skin? You only got this position because you have a few pounds of extra flesh under your hips. And yet you're questioning whether the queen is worthy of you? Pah."
“…”
They all returned empty-handed.
When Gu Zhizhuo returned home to see the lady and the others, he heard that someone had found Gu Baibai and wanted her to persuade her to resign from the job.
No matter what, one should not be proud and complacent because of a few military achievements.
As a result, Gu Baibai captured him and sent him to northern Xinjiang.
Gu Zhinan chuckled and said, "Dad said that since we are about to launch the Northern Expedition, if he can come back alive, we can discuss what is a mere military achievement."
"He was terrified right there, crying and yelling and hugging his daddy's thigh. It stinks."
Gu Yican took Gu Yiqun to the northern border just after the Chinese New Year. Once all the food and grass were available in April, they would set out on the Northern Expedition.
Besides the Dowager's sighs, she was terribly worried that she would one day wear armor and go to the battlefield, and kept muttering, "How can I become the Queen and have to go to war?"
All the sisters surrounded her happily.
Thus, Gu Zhizhuo smoothly took over the job of commanding the imperial guards, and gave a slap in the face to those censors who kept shouting that "the harem should not interfere in government affairs."
When Xie Yingchen first ascended the throne, the deposed emperor's court was divided into three factions, and the court officials were acting independently.
At that time, he could only focus on resolving party disputes.
Although he seemed lenient, he actually spent two years holding the entire court in his hands. Now that the time has come, he has put down the heavy power and the court is in chaos.
Shen Xu once again stood above all the officials.
It's terrifying.
Everyone thought that Shen Xu had truly become the new emperor's confidant this time, with the poisonous knife in his hand, and everyone in the court would have to act according to his mood from now on.
Unexpectedly, he immediately resigned from his post as the head of the East Factory and accepted the imperial decree to become the governor of Yongzhou, in charge of the military and political affairs of Yongzhou.
ah? ? ?
Are you kidding?
After the shock, all kinds of conspiracy theories came to mind one after another.
It turns out that the emperor deliberately promised Shen Xu a high position to trick him out of the capital, and then took the opportunity to take over the inner court and the Jinyiwei!
It’s really high!
Some people claim to be smart and always like to secretly guess their superiors' intentions, but this time they have learned their lesson.
The Emperor can make clouds and rain with a flick of his hand. Can they even imagine it?!
The impetuousness in the court has faded a lot.
Surprisingly, no one raised any objection to Chen Xu's appointment as the governor of Yongzhou.
This time, nearly 30% of the officials in the capital were imprisoned.
Even with fewer people, work still needed to be done. With tasks piling up one after another, one person was doing the work of two. With so much work, there was barely time for even meals, let alone free time for daydreaming or pondering the divine mind.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he ran to the yamen, and as soon as he closed his eyes, he lay down on the couch.
I live a very "fulfilling" life.
It was so full that he almost forgot what his new concubine looked like.
No one noticed when Shen Xu left the capital to take up his new post.
After Yin Xiyan took over the Yin family's business, she traveled around and is still in Minzhou.
Xie Yingchen and Gu Zhizhuo came together to see him off.
Chen Xu brought Sheng Jiang with him on this trip, while Wu Shang and Feng Zheng stayed in the capital. For this reason, Sheng Jiang showed off in front of Feng Zheng for a few days.
Sheng Jiang: It turns out that the master values me the most!
Shen Xu took away two thousand Jinyiwei, and Xie Yingchen allocated an additional three thousand five hundred military camps to him.
He smiled and said, "If you meet someone who doesn't know what's best for you in Yongzhou, just go ahead and do it."
These people were specially selected to protect him, and they would stay with him in Yongzhou permanently.
"hehe."
Chen Xu stroked his sleeves lightly, his sparkling peach blossom eyes filled with sharpness.
Don’t you know what’s best for you?
Who dares to try it without knowing what’s best for him?
He asked, "Where is the military supervisor?"
Xie Yingchen had said that a military supervisor would accompany him, but now that they were about to set off, he still hadn't seen what the military supervisor looked like.
It doesn't matter who the military supervisor is.
This was a common practice in the imperial court, so Shen Xu didn't care. No matter who it was, they couldn't turn the tables in his hands.
"Here, here, I'm already here."
Gu Zhizhuo said with a smile.
"Um?"
Where? Chen Xu looked at Sheng Jiang, who shook his head imperceptibly.
Chen Xu looked at Gu Zhizhuo again and raised his eyebrows: What do you mean?
Gu Zhizhuo pointed to the black lacquered carriage behind him.
"Military Supervisor..."
Shen Xu turned around.
No one was in sight, only a cat.
Cat Shen lay on the window of the carriage, looking left and right. Seeing that everyone was looking at him, the cat raised his whiskers proudly, and looked down with his golden cat eyes... It was not easy to look down from this position, so Cat Shen jumped nimbly onto the roof of the carriage, raised his neck, and looked down at everyone with difficulty.
"Meow!"
"Lord Shen Mao!"
Pfft. Sheng Jiang almost couldn't hold back his laughter. He quickly covered his mouth, feeling extremely painful.
Chen Xu: ???
This was the first time that Gu Zhizhuo saw confusion on his face.
These beautiful peach blossom eyes blinked blankly once, and then blinked again.
With so many people surrounding him, Cat Shen shook his fur and excitedly raised his paw to pat him: "Meow~"
Xie Yingchen took a transfer order and handed it to him personally.
Shen Xu opened it blankly. After a string of official language, it was written in a serious manner:
Chen Mao was appointed as the military inspector of Yongzhou, a fifth-rank official.
Xie Yingchen: "Chen Mao is a cat that has made great contributions. I will reward him according to his merits."
"Master, look at this, isn't it majestic?"
The transfer order was still in Shen Xu's hand, and he almost subconsciously looked in the direction of the sound.
The black tabby cat wore the official uniform of the fifth rank. The uniform was specially made and fit him perfectly. There were bear-patches on it and the embroidery was extremely fine.
Cat Shen sat majestically on the roof of the carriage, with his unicorn tail held high.
"Meow~"
Gu Zhizhuo bowed to it seriously and said, "Master Cat, when you arrive in Yongzhou, you must protect the people under your jurisdiction."
"Meow!"
The corners of Shen Xu's mouth curved up slightly.
He touched Shen Mao's soft head, and the cinnabar mole at the end of his eye was dazzling red.
It’s Mr. Cat!
*
The General History of Yongzhou in Daqishi states:
Shen Xu served as governor of Yongzhou for ten years. He suppressed bandits thirteen times at Fengtang Pass and cast nine iron tokens to guard the border. When he first took office, the land was teeming with famine. On his departure, children played on the Long Mountains. He reorganized the army, forcing the Hu cavalry to retreat 300 miles. He also opened trade, allowing herders to trade their cattle and sheep for grain and seeds. Eventually, Yongzhou became a place of prosperity, with smoke rising from cooking fires and people leaving their doors open at night.
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