Chapter 383

This is the power of close ministers. Read the full text. Often a word from a close minister can change the master's mind, thereby changing a person's fate or the outcome of an event.

Tang Yin originally had a grudge against Yuan Qianyi, but after hearing Zong Yuan's words, he changed his mind and felt that what Zong Yuan said made sense.

He nodded and said to Qiu Zhen: "No matter what, Mrs. Hua Rong's identity still needs to be found out, and the matter will be resolved as soon as possible." "Yes!" Qiu Zhen handed over the order.

As soon as their conversation came to an end, someone knocked on the door, "Your Excellency, General Cheng, wants to see you!" "Please come here!" Tang Yin responded casually.

The door opened, and Cheng Jin strode from outside the door. He came to Tang Yin, knelt down on one knee, raised his hands in salute, and said, "Sir, the Zhan Ling case has been resolved!" As he spoke, he took the hand in his hand. A document was handed over respectfully.

Tang Yin was overjoyed. He reached out to take it and unfolded it. Well, it was covered with words, signatures and fingerprints.

He lowered his head and took a closer look. There was a confession from someone pretending to be Zhan Ling.

Because Zhan Ling was born between Zhan Xiong and a maid, she was not treated well in the house, and her status was even lower than that of an ordinary maid. Zhan Xiong’s wife and concubines all regarded her as a thorn in their side and a thorn in their flesh. When Zhan Ling was five years old, , Zhan Xiong's wife bribed several gangsters, kidnapped Zhan Ling outside the city, and planned to kill her secretly. However, the gangsters thought she was young and soft-hearted, so they did not kill her, so they kidnapped her to a remote mountain village in Lingnan County and sold her to a farmer. The woman pretending to be Zhan Ling is the child of this farmer, named Xu Daiman.

Because the old couple of this farmer's family loved Zhan Ling very much and regarded him as their own, Zhan Ling did not dare to go back to his home in the capital, so he settled here with peace of mind. She and Xu Daiman are similar in age, have similar temperaments, and are like sisters. They have been inseparable since childhood. In normal times, Zhan Ling often told Xu Daiman about the affairs of Zhan Xiong's house, and Xu Daiman was very willing to listen. Because of this, the latter knew the situation in Zhan Xiong's house very well.

Later, Zhong Tian killed the king and usurped the throne, and went on a killing spree against the Zhan clan. The grown-up Zhan Ling did not dare to return to the capital, and lived anonymously in a small village. Although his life was difficult, it was free and comfortable. Later, Tang Yin commanded Tianyuan's army to enter the capital, beat Zhong Tian away, and put up notices to search for the descendants of the royal family.

At this time, Xu Daiman asked Zhan Ling to enter the capital, so that he could enjoy the glory and wealth even if he did not become a king. Moreover, those who had murdered Zhan Ling had been killed by Zhong Tian, ​​so there was no need to worry about who else would harm Zhan Ling. She did.

Originally, Zhan Ling wanted to live in the village forever, and was really bored with the life of the royal family, but he couldn't stand Xu Daiman's repeated persuasion, so he finally nodded in agreement. Because the old couple who raised Zhan Ling were old and could not travel long distances to the capital, Xu Daiman accompanied Zhan Ling there.

Halfway through the journey, Xu Daiman felt evil in her heart. She felt that after arriving in the capital, Zhan Ling suddenly transformed into the only descendant of the Feng King family, and she was nothing. How could Zhan Ling, who grew up with her, become a god of heaven? A charming girl, but she is just an ordinary and ordinary folk girl?

When they walked to the wilderness, Xu Daiman took advantage of Zhan Ling's unpreparedness and hit her on the head with a stone, killing her and abandoning her body in the wilderness. He also took the jade pendant Zhan Ling was wearing and used it as a gift After entering the capital, she was revealed, claiming to be Zhan Ling, the daughter of Zhan Xiong.

This is how things started, happened, and ended.

After reading the confession carefully, Tang Yin couldn't help but laugh, shook his head and said, "Even if you make up a lie, you can't make it so perfect." As he spoke, he threw the confession down. He said to Qiu Zhen, Zhang Zhe, and Zongyuan: "Look!" When Qiu Zhen and others carefully looked at the offering letter, Tang Yin said to Cheng Jin: "Cheng Jin, make several copies of this offering letter and give it to Each of the ministers in the court will post a notice to inform the people of the world about what the thief has done. "Yes, sir!" Cheng Jin responded and said, "My lord, this woman is disgusting." To the extreme, he should be executed for his crimes." "Oh..." Tang Yin pondered for a moment, shook his head and said, "His parents have contributed to raising Miss Zhan Ling, so they can be exempted from death, so there is no reward or punishment." "Yes. !" Cheng Jin agreed again and asked, "The punishment for the thief is..." "Beheaded at noon tomorrow!" "I understand." Cheng Jin stood up and left with the order. At this time, Qiu Zhen and others had finished reading the confession. All three of them shook their heads and sighed, "Miss Zhan Ling did not die in the hands of Zhan Xiong's wife and concubine, nor in the hands of Zhong Tian, ​​but she died in a mere accident." In the hands of a wicked woman, it’s really a matter of fate.” Zong Yuan said, “Your Majesty should send someone to find and collect Miss Zhan Ling’s body and bury her later to show your kindness.” “It makes sense.” !" Tang Yin snapped his fingers and raised his head and said, "Mr. Zongyuan, you can arrange this." "Yes!" The Zhan Ling case has come to an end. Anyone who has read this letter will know. Whether they were ordinary people or princes and ministers, they were all filled with anger, calling the thief a disgusting woman, and hated Xu Daiman for causing Zhan Ling's death.

According to Tang Yin's order, at noon the next day, Xu Daiman was escorted to the execution ground and executed. During the execution, a huge crowd of people came to watch. From the moment people saw Xu Daiman, the curses never stopped. The people The crowd was furious, with some spitting at Xu Daiman for throwing vegetables, and some throwing stones. Even the soldiers escorting Xu Daiman could not get close to the front, so they hid far away and dragged her away with a rope.

Before execution, Xu Daiman was beaten half to death.

The case of Zhan Ling was over, but the discussion about it has never stopped in later generations. It also became the first unsolved case at the end of Feng State and the beginning of Feng Empire.

Some people in later generations believed that Zhan Ling was tortured into confessing. Even if the confession was not forged by Tang Yin, it was made up by Zhan Ling who could not bear the torture. Some people also believed that it was impossible for Zhan Ling to make up such a perfect lie at his age at that time, and it was indeed a fake by someone else.

Not to mention the historians of later generations, even Tang Yin, the mastermind behind the scenes, did not thoroughly figure out whether this Zhan Ling was true or false. In short, there was a confession and it could convince the public, so it was enough. As for checking the authenticity of Zhan Ling, he did not have the time and would not do such a stupid thing.

The case of Zhan Ling seems small, but it has far-reaching influence. If Zhan Ling was not identified as a fake, then the person who inherited the orthodoxy of Feng State might be her, and then there would be no Feng Empire in the future.

After this incident, Tang Yin's position in Yancheng was further consolidated. Because of his meritorious service in handling the case, his reputation among the people was greatly improved. At least when people talked about Tang Yin's name, they would show respect, give him a thumbs up, and praise him.

Next, the Tianyuan Army's southward march was like an arrow on a string. Even if the ministers in the court were not in a hurry, the people's voices were getting louder and louder. People hoped that the Feng Army could eliminate the traitors and expel the strong as soon as possible to end the current situation of national division.

Tang Yin followed the will of the people and mobilized the army to prepare to attack Wancheng in the south.

The general structure of the Tianyuan Army did not change. Although there were a large number of generals with nothing to do in the court, Tang Yin did not use them. The generals in the court were either lieutenant generals or generals. If they really joined the Tianyuan Army, would Tang Yin listen to them on the battlefield or would they listen to Tang Yin? Tang Yin did not want the military power in his hands to fall into the hands of others.

Before the expedition, Liang Qi gave Tang Yin a plan, which was unsolvable.

He asked Tang Yin to quietly split two waves of troops while commanding the army to attack Wancheng, one to attack Fengcheng and the other to set up an ambush along the way.

Fengcheng is located in the south of Wancheng. It can be said that it is the only way for Wancheng to go to the south. Once Fengcheng is occupied by his side, Wancheng will become an isolated city, and Zhong Tian can't even find a way to escape. So once he heard that Fengcheng was attacked, Zhong Tian had to split his troops to reinforce, and then the ambush along the way would be able to play a role.

The reason why this is an unsolvable plan is that no matter whether Zhong Tian can see through his intentions or find out that there are ambushes along the way, as long as Fengcheng is attacked, if he doesn't want to be trapped in Wancheng, he must go for help, even if there are mountains of swords and seas of fire on the way to reinforce, he has to bite the bullet and send reinforcements.

This plan is an unbreakable plan.

After hearing this, Tang Yin laughed and praised it. Even counselors such as Qiu Zhen nodded and thought that Liang Qi's plan was feasible. Tang Yin followed Liang Qi's advice and sent the Tianying Army led by Ziying to attack Fengcheng. Then he sent Wu Guang and Zhan Hu to lead 50,000 direct troops to set up an ambush in the central section of Wancheng and Fengcheng. He himself led the army and approached Wancheng from the front.

Excluding the 200,000 troops stationed in Tongmen, the Tianyuan Army currently has 600,000 troops in Yancheng. Tang Yin did not dare to take all the troops away, leaving 100,000 people to guard the capital. The commander of these 100,000 people was Bai Yong, who he trusted and was quite capable.

On the day when Tang Yin went out in person, the civil and military officials of Feng State came to see him off. Naturally, people sang praises, hoping that Tang Yin could lead the army to fight smoothly, annihilate the traitors in one fell swoop, return triumphantly, and so on. Tang Yin knew in his heart that there were not many officials and ministers who really hoped that he would come back alive. They wished that he would die in front of the two armies as soon as possible!

Although there were many ministers who came to see him off, they were not as many as the people who came.

The common people are the ones who really hope that Feng Jun can win. They stand on both sides of the street and follow Tang Yin's team to the outside of the city in silence. Even after leaving the city, Tang Yin joined his army waiting outside the city, but the common people still had no intention of leaving. Looking up, there were crowds of people outside the south gate of Yancheng, covering the sky and the earth, countless.

Tang Yin reined in his horse and looked back at the common people following his army. He bowed and said, "Everyone go back! Don't send us off!" "I wish you a speedy triumph!" Someone among the common people finally shouted.

The rest of the common people also shouted, "I wish you a speedy triumph?" Tang Yin's heart surged, and he said loudly, "Our army is mighty. We will definitely be able to take down Zhong Tian's head and wipe out the national humiliation when we go to Wancheng!" "The Feng army is mighty! The Feng army is mighty! The Feng army is mighty?" The common people shouted in unison, and the sound waves went straight to the sky.