Chapter 78: Left Censor-in-Chief, Jiang Zhihong!
"The Taiping Dao opens its doors wide and welcomes you... What do you think, Lord?"
On the march, Ge Wanshan looked solemnly at Duan Yuanming who was riding side by side with him.
"Over the years, which senior official in the court has not been instigated by the Taiping Dao to rebel?"
Duan Yuanming looked calm, "But how many people have you seen actually switch sides?"
"But Jiang Zhihong is the Left Censor-in-Chief after all. He has offended all the ministers in the court over the years. If he retires at an old age and does not join the Taiping Dao, does he still have a way out?"
Ge Wanshan said bravely.
"Indeed, Censor Jiang has offended many people, but he is not a fool."
Duan Yuanming glanced at Ge Wanshan and said, "You have power and influence when you are in office. You have plenty of opportunities to defect. Why choose to defect when you are retiring? Not only will you be disgraced, but you may also end up in jail if you fail to defect."
"Well, that's true."
Ge Wanshan pondered for a moment, then frowned: "So... this is just a divisive ploy by the Taiping Dao? If we arrest people, wouldn't that be playing into the hands of the Taiping Dao?"
"It is true that they are trying to sow discord, but if we do nothing, the Taiping Dao can just kidnap the person. Why not pick up a martial slave who is above Tongmai for free?"
At this point, Duan Yuanming paused and said meaningfully: "Even if they can't control Censor Jiang, they can still kill people directly and put the blame on Prime Minister Lou."
"this……"
Ge Wanshan's face was shocked. After going around in circles for a long time, he finally figured it out.
No wonder Prime Minister Lou ordered that Censor Jiang must be captured alive. It was not that Prime Minister Lou really believed that Censor Jiang was rebelling, nor did he want to kill Censor Jiang. On the contrary, to some extent, this was a kind of protection for Censor Jiang.
Thinking of the grudge between Censor Jiang and Prime Minister Lou, Ge Wanshan didn't know what to say.
No more words were spoken along the way.
Half a day later, the army intercepted the target of this operation from a distance on the official road.
An old servant was driving an ox cart, with an old scholar and several large boxes on the cart.
It's that simple.
"Sure enough, it's here."
Jiang Zhihong got off the ox cart, his back straight, his face showing contempt: "Why, I've already resigned, but Lou Jian is still so afraid of me?"
As soon as he got off the cart, the old servant hurriedly drove the ox cart to the side of the official road, and he prostrated himself behind the cart, trembling all over.
"I, your humble servant, have no way of knowing what Prime Minister Lou is thinking."
Duan Yuanming said loudly, took out an imperial edict and unfolded it, "The criminal Jiang Zhihong accepts the edict."
“No need.”
Jiang Zhihong waved his hand and sneered, "Your Majesty has not been involved in government affairs for many years. The drafting, approval, and printing were all done by Lou Yan, and you want me to kneel to him?"
"wishful thinking!"
"Don't say anything more. I will never go with you."
"Or you can kill me here and use my blood to let the world and your majesty see the true nature of Lou Yan."
"Or, just get out of the way and don't block me from going home."
Jiang Zhihong was neither humble nor arrogant. Facing thousands of shining swords, spears, bows and crossbows, he just stood there defenseless.
However, Duan Yuanming suddenly smiled and said, "You are really wrong this time."
"What?"
Jiang Zhihong looked at it in confusion.
"Jiang Ergou, just surrender obediently and don't force me to come here in person."
Duan Yuanming did not wait for Jiang Zhihong to kneel down, but just read out the imperial edict in a calm tone.
Yes, I have finished reading it.
This imperial edict only contained this simple sentence.
However.
Just such a simple sentence made Jiang Zhihong suddenly freeze and stand there in a daze.
"Your Majesty... This is Your Majesty's tone..."
Jiang Zhihong murmured to himself, his eyes instantly reddened, and he no longer doubted the origin of the imperial edict.
No matter how daring Lou Jian is, he would never dare to draft an imperial decree in the tone of Your Majesty.
Then, his face turned pale.
so……
His Majesty clearly knew about this, but he still chose the latter between him and Lou Jian...
“Hahahahahahaha…”
Jiang Zhihong laughed wildly towards the sky, tears streaming down his face.
His originally straight back gradually bent, and he slowly bowed down in front of thousands of soldiers.
"The sinner Jiang Zhihong..."
"I understand your order!!!"
All the pride and grievances of those decades turned into roars and dissipated with the wind.
Duan Yuanming and Ge Wanshan looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.
With thousands of fully armed soldiers, it would be no problem for them to kill Jiang Zhihong.
But the order they received was to capture him alive, and if Jiang Zhihong refused to cooperate, they really didn't know what to do.
"Put on the shackles."
Ge Wanshan waved his hand.
Two captains rushed out of the blood-stained team, carrying heavy special shackles.
Only when Jiang Zhihong was put in shackles without any resistance did Ge Wanshan's mind completely relax.
"With the forbidden shackles in place, it's useless even if he changes his mind."
Ge Wanshan said with a smile, his expression was happy, "Now we just have to wait for the Taiping Dao to show up. With such a huge contribution, it must be that the person coming here is not an ordinary person."
Although he said this, his tone was clearly confident.
This is different from the last confrontation with Taiping Dao. The troops have to be dispersed and set up guard at the edge of Zhang Hua Mansion.
If the purpose of an army of thousands of people is just to protect one person, then even if the one coming from Taiping Dao is a being above the Tongmai level, he will have no choice but to flee in defeat.
However, Duan Yuanming suddenly shook his head and said, "I guess no one from the Taiping Dao will come."
"Um?"
Ge Wanshan frowned, thinking of the shocking number on the arrest warrant, "If no one comes, then the reward for this mission is totally disproportionate to the difficulty..."
"No, no, it's possible that they are equal."
Duan Yuanming chuckled, "Don't forget, the arrest warrant requires us to be detained on the spot. I guess the majority of those huge contributions are due to this."
" Detained on the spot?"
Ge Wanshan was still puzzled. "The Black Prison is hidden deep underground, surrounded by more than a thousand warriors. The Taiping Dao would not be stupid enough to come and attack. It is not difficult to detain them. Is it worth so much contribution?"
"Whether it's worth it or not, you'll know once you take a look at it, right?"
Duan Yuanming pointed his lips in one direction.
Ge Wanshan looked over there.
That's the direction of the prison van.
Jiang Zhihong, wearing shackles, staggered onto the prison van like a piece of wood.
It is obvious that he is determined to die.
“…”
Ge Wanshan's mood plummeted.
It turns out that this was Lou Xiang’s real order!
Duan Yuanming had guessed it long ago.
The mission this time is not to confront the Taiping Dao at all, because the Taiping Dao will not send anyone.
It was not an arrest. With the imperial decree, Jiang Zhihong was destined to surrender.
The real order is to detain Jiang Zhihong and ensure that Jiang Zhihong survives!
This is so fucking...
How can we ensure the survival of a person who is determined to die and has an extremely high status and complicated background?
"Well, why not lock him up in the city prison?"
Ge Wanshan showed a smile that was uglier than crying and looked at Duan Yuanming with hope.
If Jiang Zhihong died in the Qianhu Office, he would become the sinner who trapped the Prime Minister of Lou in an unjust way. Forget about his future. He should just work honestly in the position of Qianhu until his death.
"you sure?"
Duan Yuanshan looked at Ge Wanshan and asked in surprise, "I don't have any objection. Jiang Zhihong died, so what? It doesn't matter if Prime Minister Lou blames me... But with such a huge contribution, are you sure you don't want to fight for it?"
"this……"
Ge Wanshan suddenly became conflicted.
According to the actual task situation, that is close to 600 contribution points!
Even if half of it was divided among the centurions and general flag officers below, there would still be three hundred left.
Three hundred...it takes fifteen years to reach the position of a thousand households .
Even the last confrontation with Taiping Dao wasn't this intense.
How could he be willing to let such a huge contribution slip through his fingers?
"Damn it, done!"
Ge Wanshan gritted his teeth.
He just didn't believe it. How could he let Jiang Zhihong die under his nose if he watched him twelve hours a day?
