June 14th. .

Early in the morning, Chen Xi took his personal side out of the Governor's Mansion and headed west to the city.

Yang Wu was waiting at the west schoolyard of Xuanfucheng very early.

The troops garrisoned in the border areas are different from those in the capital. The troops are basically stationed in the city. In order to ensure the safety of the city defense, barracks are set up in places near the city gates in the east, west, south and north. For the convenience of training, the camps have built large schoolyards. Historically, the troops of Xuanfu rushed to the three sides and mostly set off from the western schoolyard.

Yang Wu knew that Chen Xi would come to wait for some soldiers, so he came to wait for it all the time.

"Shangshu Chen..."

Seeing Chen Xi coming from afar, Yang Wu raised his hand and greeted him loudly. Behind him, Bai Yu, the general of Xuanfu, stood tall with his deputy general, general, guerrilla general and others.

Although Bai Yu is also a member of the eunuch party, she is not a core member. If an ordinary civil servant comes, she may be disdainful, but when facing Chen Xi, she can only put down all her airs and serve him respectfully.

Chen Xi's status in the Ming army system was extraordinary. Even if he was suppressed by Liu Jin in the court, the local military generals still praised Chen Xi high and obeyed the orders.

When Chen Xi approached, Bai Yu stepped forward and said, "Yesterday the imperial edict and military order were delivered. I went to the Governor's Office to visit. Today I learned that you have been going to fight against the rebellion. I came to see you off..." Speaking of this, a group of personal soldiers behind him carried the five big boxes over, and the lid was closed tightly. From Chen Xi's observation, these boxes were very heavy. Obviously, they were not filled with daily necessities, but gold, silver and jewelry.

Chen Xi did not open it and said in embarrassment: "How can I be embarrassed about this? This time, I was just ordered to send troops to quell the rebellion, and will return to Xuanfu when the day of success... Let General Bai take these gifts before leaving!"

Bai Yu was very embarrassed and didn't know what to say for a while.

Yang Wu smiled and said, "It's all the same as General Bai's will. You don't have to be polite. Secretary Chen... Who doesn't know that this time the troops were sent by His Majesty himself to order generals. If you succeed in Ningxia, you will probably have to return to the capital to become the Minister of War again. In the future, the officials and local generals will also be taken care of by you..."

Chen Xi roughly guessed from Yang Wu's words that among the gifts Bai Yu sent, there was obviously a copy of the Governor's Yamen.

Yang Wu was a civil servant, and his status in Xuanfu was only under Shen Xi. However, Hu Ruli, who was sent by Liu Jin to manage the military farm, was watching him. Yang Wu did not dare to give gifts blatantly, so he simply employed the hand of white jade.

Anyway, Bai Yu, the general, was not worth mentioning in the eyes of civil servants. He gave gifts to Chen Xi, and even Liu Jin would not mind.

Chen Xi thought to himself: "Yang Wu gave gifts, and I wanted to write a list of them in the gifts to let me know which ones were given by him. These are not simple gifts, but also the 'buy money' he gave me."

Chen Xidao: "Since that's the case, I'll thank General Bai for his kindness. He came and brought the things onto the carriage."

“No need not.”

Bai Yumei smiled and said, "Just let the humble official send someone, the carriage is ready for you!"

After saying that, eight carriages came from afar. In addition to five trucks carrying boxes, three other box trucks with tents were obviously provided for Chenxi to ride, while the other two were seated inside.

Yang Wu came over and said with a smile: "General Bai knew that Shangshu Chen had a hard journey and had some arrangements. You just need to lift the curtain on the road and look at it."

This is no longer a hint. Yang Wu just told Chen Xi that the carriage was carrying women, and not only Bai Yu was given, but Yang Wu also had a share.

Chen Xi said in his heart: "I accept your farewell gifts not for your little money, but for you to leave a way for you to keep hope and act with great scruples. After Liu Jin fell... But what does it mean to send a woman to you now?"

Bai Yu and Yang Wu both have smiles that men understand, which are very ambiguous.

"Thank you."

Chen Xi's tone turned a little colder, and said, "If I can return from triumphantly, I will thank General Bai and the generals of Xuanfu for their kindness... The green mountains will not change, and the green water will flow forever. I will go now!"

...

...

Chen Xi led his troops to the expedition, went out of Xuanfu and Datong, crossed the Yellow River through Bitou Pass, and went all the way.

For the officials and generals of the Xuanfu Palace, this can be regarded as sending away a plague god.

After Yang Wu returned to the governor's yamen, he was still thinking: "Why is my career so unhappy? I finally got to Liu Jin and got the position of governor. I thought I had hope of entering the court to become an official in the capital, but I had such a direct boss? Who in the court is more difficult to deal with than Shen Zhihou?"

Bai Yu, who was following Yang Wu, seemed very happy and said, "Mr. Yang, I didn't expect that giving gifts to Mr. Shen would be so smooth. I used to think that he was the kind of stubborn and rigid Zhengchen who refused to accept gifts."

Yang Wu said angrily: "Do you know what the purpose of receiving gifts is?"

"Um?"

Bai Yu looked surprised and thought for a while and bowed, "Please give me some advice."

Yang Wudao: "As soon as he accepted gifts in an abnormal manner, things were unusual... Now he only hopes that he will leave Xuanfu completely and return to the court to be his Minister of War, so that you and I will not have to cause trouble again."

Because Yang Wu did not explain the purpose of Chen Xi receiving the gift, Bai Yu laughed awkwardly and said, "It's actually nothing that Lord Shen stayed in Xuan Mansion. Now Your Majesty asked Eunuch Liu to send someone to Xuan Mansion to build the palace. Maybe when the Holy Lord will move to Xuan Mansion... Isn't it that Your Majesty has decided to ease the grassland for two years?"

"Nonsense, nonsense..." Yang Wu cursed. Bai Yu didn't know what he was dissatisfied with. After all, Yang Wu also had a share of giving gifts this time.

Just at this moment, a guard outside came in and reported: "Two lords, Lord Hu, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, asked for a meeting."

Yang Wu suddenly became nervous: "This... this is a bit troublesome. When you see Mr. Hu later, you should be careful and don't tell me about the gift."

Bai Yu nodded and then followed Yang Wu and went out to greet Hu Ruli together.

As soon as Hu Ruli entered the main courtyard, he saw Yang Wu and Bai Yu. Before they could stand up to salute, he shouted in a stern tone: "Yang Junmen, look at the good things you have done!"

Yang Wu pretended to be confused: "Why did Brother Liangbi say this?"

In the Ming Dynasty, Hu Ruli, who was born in Liyang County, Yingtian Prefecture, Nanzhili, and was born in Zuotunwei, Ningxia. He became a famous scholar in Ningxia for three generations. He gradually enjoyed a high reputation among the scholars. Even if he was excluding Liu Jin's special envoy, Yang Wu, as a backward, had to speak respectfully in front of Hu Ruli.

Hu Ruli looked at him with a frown. Perhaps he noticed that there were officials and clerks around the governor's office and the clerks were there, so it was not suitable to speak openly. He waved his hand and said, "Go in and speak again."

Yang Wu and Bai Yu looked at each other, and then they entered the back hall together. At this time, Hu Ruli had already sat down and picked up the cup of freshly brewed tea and drank it. It was obvious that he had received the news that he had been rushing back all the way.

After Hu Ruli put down the teacup, he asked, "Is Shen Zhihou leading his troops west today?"

Yang Wu thought about it for a moment, felt that there was no need to hide it, and nodded, "That's right, Your Majesty's imperial edict and the Ministry of War's dispatch of troops arrived at Xuanfu yesterday... today... The time was just right... Brother Liangbi, is this okay?"

Hu Ruli said angrily: "Dad father-in-law has said before, asking you to block Shen Zhihou's troops from sending troops. Why was he able to complete the rectification of the troops today just after receiving the order yesterday?"

Now Yang Wu doesn't know how to answer.

Although Liu Jin wrote a letter to him urge Chen Xi to go on the road, according to common sense, the troops could not be rectified without three or five days, and Chen Xi would never be able to lead the army west so smoothly.

If the Governor's Office and General Office had already rectified the troops for Chen Xi, but Chen Xi insisted on delaying sending troops, I wonder how Hu Ruli would make a big fuss with this.

Yang Wu looked at Bai Yu and winked.

Bai Yu looked embarrassed, gritted the bullet and rudely said, "This is not... Lord Shen has greeted the General Office long ago, asking us to prepare, and set off when the imperial edict and the Ministry of War order arrive?"

"Mr. Shen himself has five hundred personal soldiers, and he had previously transferred 2,000 troops for training. This time, the General Office can only transfer three thousand households to the station. There is no trouble. You can go to the expedition after a little tidying up... Master Hu clearly understands that we have not violated the orders given by Eunuch Liu..."

Yang Wu embarrassedly smoothed out: "Yes, yes, we are just following the orders of our father-in-law... Eunuch Liu sent a secret letter, saying that the Xuanfu was delayed for too long and asked me to go to the Governor's Office to urge Mr. Chen to send troops as soon as possible... Perhaps because His Majesty had already started to inquire, the father-in-law could no longer delay the matter, so he sent a letter to urge him."

Hu Ruli looked angry, but he didn't say anything, and picked up the teacup and took a sip.

Just at this moment, someone came in outside the door. Both Yang Wu and Bai Yu knew each other. It was Jiang Liwei who followed Zhang Wenmian to Xuanfu.

"grown ups."

Jiang Liwei came forward and saluted Hu Ruli.

Hu Ruli nodded and said, "Gu Yan, let's talk about the matter you investigated in detail."

Jiang Liwei glared at Yang Wu, as if seeing the enemy who killed his father, and said, "As far as I know about the humble investigation, Lord Yang and General Bai secretly actively cooperated with Shen Zhihou, dispatched troops and generals, and prepared money, grain and weapons. It seemed that he had a bad intention. Before Shen Zhihou went to war today, the two even gave generous gifts, which clearly meant to make friends with Shen Zhihou and be the fence-bearer."

"Jiang Zhenfu, you can eat food randomly, don't talk nonsense, don't talk nonsense!" Yang Wu was shocked and pointed at Jiang Liwei and retorted loudly.

Jiang Liwei wanted to continue talking, but Hu Ruli reached out to stop him.

Hu Ruli stood up and said, "Yang Junmen, the Xuanfu where you are is the most important town on the nine sides. You are in charge of this place, not only to serve the court, but also to serve your father-in-law to the death... Not only do you not think about your father-in-law's grace for you, but you actually secretly colluded with Shen Zhihou, which was obviously intentional betrayal..."

"Nothing happens."

Yang Wu found that he could not argue, and wanted to explain but didn't know how to say it.

Hu Ruli stared at Bai Yu again and said, "General Bai, what did you say in the letter to Eunuch Liu? If you say that you are in Xuanfu, you will definitely not let Shen Zhihou take control of military power. Look at all what you are doing now. Isn't this a lip service?"

Bai Yu rudes out, "It's all arranged by Lord Yang, and the humble position is just to act according to Lord Yang's instructions."

In the officialdom, there are so many cases of mutual controversy, that no one knows who said it is true and who said it is false.

Yang Wu said angrily: "Who asked you to do things? It was you who secretly helped Shen Zhihou, but when will I ask you to help him send troops..."

Yang Wu and Bai Yu were as close as brothers before, but now they are quarreled in front of Hu Ruli and Jiang Liwei, and they are so quarreled that they are red and can't get along.

Hu Ruli said angrily: "Okay, why are you pretending to be a pretentious person in front of me? Let's think about how to explain to my father-in-law... The person whom I am most afraid of when I am planning to rebel in Ningxia is not King Anhua, who has launched a rebellion, but Shen Zhihou, who is deeply favored by His Majesty. Now you are not only not considering things from the standpoint of Eunuch Liu, but even privately granting and receiving treatment with Shen Zhihou. How can Eunuch Liu support you in the future?"

Yang Wu didn't understand what was wrong with obeying Liu Jin's actions, but he knew that Hu Ruli could speak in front of Liu Jin. If he deliberately slandered himself, he would not be able to escape the blame. He quickly said in a begging for mercy: "Brother Liangbi, look at what he said? I am not trying to leave a way out for myself..."

"Hmph, the way out? What you mean is that you can't rely on Eunuch Liu, you can't rely on this big tree, or you can't rely on something else?" Hu Ruli sneered.

Yang Wu didn't want to reason with Hu Ruli, so he waved his hand to Bai Yu.

Bai Yuxin understood and was about to close the door, but was stopped by Jiang Liwei.

Bai Yu shouted, "Get out of the way!"

Jiang Liwei did not avoid it and looked at Hu Ruli as soon as possible.

Hu Ruli opened his eyes wide open and shouted, "Simply open the skylight and say something bright... Why do you want to be tough and not let me leave?"

Yang Wu smiled bitterly: "How dare you? You and I are in the same court, and it is convenient for others to be convenient for yourself. Brother Liangbi, we should talk with you."

Hu Ruli has been in the officialdom for many years and understands the rules of the officialdom. Even if he is angry before, he can only calm down his anger and say, "Then close the door and listen to you, what's going on."

...

...

Things in the officialdom are very easy to handle. Apart from favors, they are just money.

Although Hu Ruli is not a lustful person, he is not immune to the common people. He has a banquet, appeals to the table, and then takes some benefits to settle it. Everything is over.

Hu Ruli drank a few more cups, held his forehead and said angrily: "Zong Wen, Eunuch Liu treats you well, how can you ignore your kindness because of your own selfish interests?"
To be continued...