The powerful Grand Master Cai Jing was now seventy-four years old and serving as prime minister for the third time. Although since this dynasty, there has been a regulation that the prime minister should not be in office for more than eight years. But when it comes to the monarchs and ministers Zhao Ji and Cai Jing, it becomes difficult.
Just because Cai Jing was able to figure out Zhao Ji's preferences, he blindly advocated "prosperity and prosperity in Henan", and he could also use the name of the reform to siphon all private wealth into the imperial treasury to provide Zhao Ji with a luxurious and lustful life. Therefore, although he was dismissed as prime minister twice before, it didn't take long for Zhao Ji to think of his benefits and reinstate Cai Jing as prime minister again.
It has been eight years since the third appearance of the Prime Minister in the second year of Zhenghe. The Cai family is extremely prominent, but after all, it is already in its seventies. In recent years, Cai Jing's energy has been far less than before. He originally wanted to support a few more sons. Cheng, then retired and returned to his hometown.
Unexpectedly, a document suddenly came from Jiangzhou more than ten days ago. Cai Dezhang, the ninth son who was sent to Jiangzhou to serve as the magistrate, was actually assassinated in the street.
The pain of the white-haired man sending the black-haired man away made this powerful traitor who had experienced many ups and downs in the court seem to have aged several years and no longer had the energy to interfere with the affairs of the court.
Cai Jing leaned back on his chair weakly, looked at the officials standing under the hall, and said, "How is it? Is the assassin's whereabouts known?"
This official is a cadre of the Ministry of Punishment, who is good at finding traces and catching prisoners, so he was sent by Cai Jing to Jiangzhou to catch the assassin.
"Reporting to the Grand Master, the first few assassins in white clothes and black hats must be from Manichaeism in the south of the Yangtze River. Some people also heard that the assassins called the women among them holy aunts, so they thought that the first batch of assassins were all from Manichaeism. Later, the assassin who killed Master Zhizhou turned out to be a carrying pole, and he was not considered to be a group of them. It must have been a temporary act. However, he was not from Jiangzhou and fled immediately after the incident, so his whereabouts have not been found yet. "
Cai Jing nodded and was about to speak when he saw his eldest son Cai You, who had opened his own mansion, come in. He couldn't help but ask, "Why are you here today?"
The official from the Ministry of Justice saw another dignitary of the Cai family coming in and quickly retreated.
Cai You said: "I heard that my father has been in poor health these days, so I came here to visit."
Hearing this, Cai Jing's expression changed. He had already ordered his servants not to tell anyone about his frail health, but he didn't expect that he would still let this traitor know about it.
He then said in a deep voice: "This is nothing, please come back."
Cai You ignored his father's expulsion order, but stepped forward, grabbed Cai Jing's wrist and took his pulse.
Cai Jing could not help but tremble with anger when he saw Cai You being so presumptuous.
Cai You said with a smile: "My father's pulse is a little disordered. I'm afraid he has been feeling unwell recently."
Cai Jing naturally knew what Cai You was thinking, and said angrily: "You are such a rebellious son, you really wish that your father would be sick, right?"
Cai You let go of his father's wrist with satisfaction and said with a smile: "Father, I misunderstood. It's just that you are already over seventy years old, and the affairs of the court are complicated and heavy. I don't want you to be upset anymore. Now my brothers and I can all serve in court." With a foothold in China, my father can enjoy his old age in peace."
Cai Jing glared at Cai You and said, "Now that you are the third official of the Kaifu Yitong Division, you have become an official of the first rank, and you can be on an equal footing with your father. You just don't know my position, how are you going to treat your second brother?"
Cai You said without hesitation: "My Cai family's reputation has been ruined by him. Now the people are eager to eat his flesh and sleep on his skin. For the sake of my Cai family, my son can only ask the emperor to kill him to show the anger of the people."
Cai Jing couldn't help but his eyes darkened, he leaned back on the chair and calmed down, then said: "Treason, Trick, as long as I live, you will never succeed."
Cai You saw that his father was indeed weak and that the purpose of this business had been achieved, so he patted his forehead and said, "Suddenly I remembered that there were some things in the palace, so my son resigned."
Cai Jing watched Cai You's resignation with a happy face. He couldn't help but sigh and said to the official of the Ministry of Justice: "You can go down now. You can just report the assassination to the Ministry of Justice. I will have no right to interfere in the future."
Sure enough, within a few days Zhao Ji ordered Cai Jing to become an official, but because he had contributed so much to the country, he was allowed to go to court on the first and fifteenth day of each month.
After Cai Jing was deposed, Chao Gai and others only raised troops in Liangshan and stopped plundering cities and mansions. None of the traitorous officials in the court meddle in their own business and only focused on fighting for power and profit in the court.
But it was said that after Li Kui had a good time in Liangshan for a few days, he saw Zhang Shun's mother living happily in the mountain, and he also thought of his mother. Immediately he came to find Chao Yong and wanted to go down the mountain to fetch my mother.
Although Li Kui had just arrived in Liangshan, the nearby state capital did not know his murderous name. The previous murders in the countryside were all over after several amnesties.
It¡¯s just that Li Kui was reckless, and Chao Yong was afraid that he would get into trouble on the way, and if he told the story about Luocao Liangshan, he would be caught by the government, so he asked Mu Hong to accompany him back.
All the way north from Jiangzhou, Li Kui often interacted with everyone.But Li Jun, Zhang Heng and others were all heroes in the water, and they were often annoyed by him. Only Mu Hong was good at martial arts. Li Kui flirted with Mu Hong several times, but was taught a lesson by Mu Hong, so Li Kui was a little afraid of Mu Hong.
The two of them went down the mountain. Mu Hong restrained Li Kui all the way. He was not surprised. He was silent all the way. He arrived at Baizhang Village in Yishui County early.
Li Kui has been away from home for more than ten years, but the people in the village did not recognize him. When they saw the two entering the village, they just looked at them curiously.
Li Kui was impatient to chat with them and came home alone.
When Mu Hong looked at it, he saw two dilapidated thatched houses, which were very dilapidated.
The two pushed open the firewood door and entered the room when they heard an old woman's voice coming from inside: "Who is coming in?"
When Li Kui heard the familiar voice, he called out "Mother", then he knelt down and walked inside.
When he entered, he saw my mother sitting on the bed and chanting Buddha's name. He threw himself into my mother's arms and shouted, "Mom! Tieniu is back."
When I heard Li Kui¡¯s voice, my mother immediately started groping for Li Kui¡¯s face with her hands. After touching it for a while, she said, ¡°It¡¯s my son Tieniu. Tieniu, where have you been all these years? I thought I couldn¡¯t see you anymore.¡±
Li Kui saw that my mother was just touching her face without looking down at him, so he couldn't help but said: "Mom, can't you see?"
"You have been gone for so long. My mother misses you day and night. Her tears have dried up, so she can't see you. I didn't expect you to come back. It's really the Buddha's blessing. It's not in vain. Mother chants the Buddha's name every day to keep you safe."
Along the way, Li Kui had already thought about it and responded: "The crime of killing before has been forgiven. Now Tieniu is an officer in Jeju and has money to use every month, so I come to take my mother to enjoy the blessing."
The old lady didn't think much about it and said after hearing this: "I didn't expect my Tieniu to be so blessed. When your brother comes back, take him with you. He works as a long-term worker in someone else's house. Not only does he get some food to eat every day, but he also has to give it to my mother. Share a share. I haven¡¯t even asked for a wife in these years, so you can take him to enjoy some blessings.¡±
Li Kui and his brother Li Da are from different walks of life. Hearing this, he said impatiently: "He loves to work for others. When he does anything, mother and I will go."
With that said, he picked up my mother and left.
(Thanks to the book friends "Shen Zhongche", "Cuba Project", "Haoshan Tiancheng", "hansire", "Wind Xiangda Desert" and "Wenyuan Pavilion University Scholar" for the reward. Congratulations to "Cuba Project" for becoming a disciple)