Chapter 1124 Sun Jingan’s friends!

Sun Jing'an had been in the officialdom for decades, and he worked his way up to become the governor, a high-ranking official in charge of a province. His political sense was very sharp...
From the moment Ye Mingsheng asked him to be transferred to Hebei and Henan, and then asked Ma Runchuan to replace him as the governor of Qi and Lu, Sun Jing'an realized that Ye Mingsheng might want to take action against him!

Despite this awareness, Ma Runchuan still held a glimmer of hope in his heart. He believed that he had made contributions to the Fengwu Army and Ye Mingsheng!
Not to mention that he turned against the Fengwu Army and surrendered to it, helping it stabilize the situation in Qi and Lu, nor that he has worked hard to develop the economy of Qi and Lu over the years!
Just take the amount of money, food and soldiers that Qilu was required to provide over the years, and Sun Jing'an always completed them in quality and quantity, or even exceeded them!

For example, if you ask me to raise 200,000 shi of grain in three months, I will raise it and send it to you in two months. You have to pay 300,000 taels of silver in tax, and I will pay 350,000 taels. If you want 20,000 young and strong people to join the army, I will recruit 23,000 people!
As the old saying goes, one good thing can cover up a hundred ugly things. Sun Jing'an believed that his merits and contributions to the Fengwu Army and Marshal Ye far outweighed the mistakes he made for the small amount of money he embezzled.

Besides, Sun Jing'an did not make any mistakes in principle. He was loyal to the Fengwu Army and Marshal Ye. As the governor, was it a big deal if he was allowed to take some money to play with a few women and kill a few people?

In addition, Ye Mingsheng did not directly remove him from the position of Qilu Governor, but transferred him to Youyan Governor. So Sun Jingan thought that although Ye Mingsheng might punish him, it would most likely be a minor punishment, and at most he would just ask him to pay some silver...

For this reason, Sun Jingan was also prepared to cut his losses. He planned to buy fifty or sixty thousand bonds of Liangdongsheng, and regard it as his own money to honor Ye Mingsheng!

Although he had made such preparations, in order to be cautious, Sun Jing'an wrote letters to some of his friends in Yijing when he was handing over to Ma Runchuan, hoping to find out Ye Mingsheng's attitude from these friends. The replies from these friends were also very positive, telling Sun Jing'an not to have too much psychological burden and to come to Yijing to serve as the Governor of Hebei and Henan with peace of mind!

Because these "friends" were very powerful, their replies dispelled Sun Jing'an's uneasiness and made him completely relieved. He also gave up the idea of ​​buying Dadongsheng bonds and no longer thought about cutting his own flesh and blood to honor Ye Mingsheng!

Just when Sun Jing'an was feeling somewhat complacent and even began to fantasize about his bright future in Yijing, something he never expected happened. His partner, Zhuang Shanhe, the Censor of Hebei and Henan, poured a bucket of cold water on him on the first day he arrived in Yijing. Knowing that he was going to arrive in Yijing, he still made up an excuse to leave and not see him!

Sun Jing'an was very angry about this. In the officialdom of the Great Zhou Dynasty, in the absence of governors or governors-general, the governor who was in charge of the government affairs of a province was the number one figure in the province, and the censor who was in charge of criminal law was the number two figure!

So even though the reasons given by Zhuang Shanhe were very legitimate and impeccable, Sun Jingan still felt that Zhuang Shanhe was too unruly and did not give him any face at all. He showed him a warning on his first day, which was clearly a challenge to his authority as the number one figure...
Although Sun Jing'an was very angry about this, if this happened in Qi and Lu, he would deal with you without saying a word. In three months at most, he would make you unable to continue your job as an inspector and resign on your own initiative!

But now he was in Youyan after all, and he, Sun Jing'an, had just arrived and a strong dragon could not suppress a local snake, so he remained restrained and did not confront Zhuang Shanhe right away!

Although he remained calm and restrained and did not act rashly, Sun Jing'an did not give up the idea of ​​dealing with Zhuang Shanhe. As the saying goes, knowing yourself and your enemy will ensure victory in every battle, and Yijing is a place where many hidden talents are hidden, so he began to secretly use some connections to investigate who Zhuang Shanhe belongs to, in preparation for dealing with Zhuang Shanhe next!
Sun Jingan's connections were also very powerful, and he quickly responded to Sun Jingan, telling him that Zhuang Shanhe was promoted by the current Minister of Justice Li Jian!

This answer made Sun Jing'an a little frightened. He knew that although Li Jian was not well-known in the Yijing court, he was a minister that Marshal Ye trusted very much!

I have no grudges against Zhuang Shanhe in the past or present, but he just confronted me for no reason. Was it because he heard something from Li Jian, so he wanted to use his attitude against me to step on me to get to the top?
The more Sun Jing'an thought about it, the more he felt that this possibility was very high, so he went directly to the Minister of Revenue Cui Shao, and wanted to curry favor with Cui Shao under the pretext of reporting work, in order to test Cui Shao's attitude!

However, what chilled Sun Jing'an's heart was that, faced with the active surrender of a provincial governor, Cui Shao, the old fox, always played Tai Chi and kept his distance from him...
As an old bureaucrat who has been in the officialdom for most of his life, Sun Jingan knows very well what Cui Shao's attitude means!

Although the Marshal is nominally the Prime Minister of the Cabinet as the Minister of Rites in the Yijing Court, everyone in the Yijing Court knows that the Marshal is actually the Emperor, and the Minister of Revenue Cui Shao is the real Prime Minister of the Cabinet and has a great influence on the affairs of the court.

Cui Shao must know what the Minister of Justice Li Jian knows, and he, Cui Shao, also knows things that Li Jian doesn't know!

After leaving Cui Shao, Sun Jingan also felt a sense of being deceived. If his friend had told him about this situation at that time, he could have made a lot of arrangements in Qilu to minimize his own guilt as much as possible!
But in the current situation, Sun Jingan was caught off guard, and it might be too late to make some arrangements now!
Sun Jing'an, who was angry about this, questioned his friend. However, his friend did not respond directly to Sun Jing'an's question. Instead, he told Sun Jing'an that the higher-ups had already sent people to Qi and Lu, and now he had to take drastic measures to destroy some traces before being discovered, so as to shut some people up and let some people take the initiative to take the blame!
Only in this way can we cover up the truth of the matter, minimize the impact of the matter, and prevent the matter from escalating and causing an unmanageable outcome.
Sun Jing'an was even more furious about this, but he did not care to hold his friend accountable for his deception. He could only write letters to his followers in Qi and Lu, telling them to be drastic and to abandon those who should be abandoned as soon as possible and to clean up those who should be cleaned up, but at the same time they should also be prepared to hand over a few scapegoats to the investigators!

Decades of ups and downs in officialdom made Sun Jing'an realize that Ye Mingsheng was really going to get rid of him and this time he would be skinned alive if he didn't die!

Therefore, it is impossible to completely escape the crime. The only way to survive is to try to turn the serious crime into a minor one, and then find a way to mediate and try to get away with it. This is also the most realistic way at present!
For his own safety, Sun Jingan not only cut off his own arm, but also broke off relations with his "friends". He threatened them, saying that everyone is now in the same boat, and if anything happens to him, Sun Jingan, no one can escape!
Therefore, you must mediate for yourself, and even write to the Marshal to plead for you. You must do your best to protect yourself and never sit on the sidelines and watch the fire burn, caring about your own survival and not caring about the life or death of Sun Jingan!
Under Sun Jingan’s threat, his friends also gave him some assurances, but even so Sun Jingan was still unsure. After thinking about it, he decided to go to Cui Shao again. After all, in the current Yijing court, if anyone was capable of saving him, Cui Shao would definitely be the first one...
Therefore, even though Cui Shao was very cold to him and even avoided him, Sun Jingan was still unwilling to give up. In addition to Cui Shao, Sun Jingan also asked his nephew to find Murong Yuliang, hoping that Lord Murong would be able to help him, Sun Jingan, because of their common stance on the locust plague issue!
Sun Jingan was very clear that his current actions might be a bit desperate, but Sun Jingan had no other choice. He knew that once the affairs of Qi and Lu were uprooted, then with Ye Mingsheng's temper, even if he, Sun Jingan, had ten heads, they would not be enough for him to chop off!
So Sun Jingan could only use all the ideas he could think of to try his best to save his life!
Judging from the recent feedback from all sides, Sun Jingan realized that things were sliding into an uncontrollable abyss, and the countdown to the truth being exposed was already here. However, whether it was Cui Shao, Murong Yuliang, or Gu Sansi, none of them were willing to lend a helping hand to him, Sun Jingan!
Sun Jing'an even heard that some people in the court had already started planning to take away the position of governor after he was brought down, and some officials in the provincial government had also begun to have other ideas!
These news put Sun Jingan under great pressure. He felt as if Ye Mingsheng’s butcher knife was already on his neck and his head might be harvested at any time...

For this reason, Sun Jing'an contacted his friends again, hoping that these powerful people could bring him some good news! As Sun Jing'an waited anxiously until the fifth watch, one of his old servants, Sun Cai, walked into the study. Under Sun Jing'an's gaze, he took out a secret letter from his arms and presented it to Sun Jing'an with both hands.

Seeing the secret letter, Sun Jing'an's eyes immediately lit up, and then he opened the secret letter, wanting to see what was written on the letter. However, when he opened the envelope and took out the letter that he had been looking forward to, his expression suddenly froze, because there was not a single word on the letter, it was just a completely blank sheet of paper!
The next second, Sun Jing'an looked at the old servant Sun Cai who had followed him for many years. Under Sun Jing'an's gaze, Sun Cai was also somewhat terrified and at a loss in the face of this situation. He could only open his mouth to defend himself:
"Master, I don't know why this happened. I just took the secret letter back according to your instructions!"

Sun Jing'an was about to say something when he suddenly felt dizzy. He immediately held his head with his hands to relieve the dizziness, but unexpectedly the dizziness became even worse.

The next second, before Sun Jingan could react, he fell to the ground. In the last moment of losing consciousness, he heard Sun Cai say in horror:

“Master, how are you? Someone come and save me…”

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An hour later, Ye Mansion
Ye Mingsheng was sleeping with Pei Zhixiu in his arms. Because Pei Zhixiu was pregnant and in confinement after giving birth, Ye Mingsheng felt a little sorry that he couldn't favor her.

Now that Pei Zhixiu has recovered, the two of them are fighting fiercely as if they have reunited after a short separation. Because he is very tired, Ye Mingsheng starts to have a dream. The dream takes him back to the night when he captured Liujing. When Ye Mingsheng was retracing his past journey in his dream, Pei Zhixiu's voice comes to his ears.

Although he was reluctant to give up his high-spirited self back then, Ye Mingsheng slowly woke up and rubbed his eyes. Ye Mingsheng looked at Pei Zhixiu with some confusion. It was not yet completely light outside, and he could still sleep a little longer, so why was she calling him?

Pei Zhixiu met Ye Mingsheng's gaze and said softly:

"Ye Cheng is here to see you. It seems like there's something important going on!"

Upon hearing the news, Ye Mingsheng frowned slightly, wondering what important matter Ye Cheng had that required him to be disturbed at this time?
Although he didn't know what was going on, Ye Mingsheng hesitated for a moment, then got out of bed, put on his clothes with Pei Zhixiu's help, and walked out of the room.

At this time, Ye Cheng was waiting outside the door. When he saw Ye Mingsheng coming out, he immediately reported to Ye Mingsheng:
"Sir, Sun Jingan died an hour ago!"

Ye Mingsheng was stunned by these words, and then he asked directly:

"This is how the same thing?"

Ye Cheng organized his words and reported:

"It is said that after Sun Jing'an received the letter without words, he fainted and died. The doctor from the medical school has gone to see him and said that Sun Jing'an seemed to have a sudden illness caused by anger, so he died very quickly. It may take some time for the detailed examination results to come out!"

Ye Mingsheng keenly grasped the key words from what Ye Cheng said and asked directly:
"A letter without words? What letter without words?"

Ye Cheng continued without hesitation:
“It is said that Sun Jing’an asked an old servant in his house to go to a pawnshop called Sanbaozhai on Xinchang Street to pick up a letter tonight. The old servant brought the letter back and gave it to Sun Jing’an. When Sun Jing’an saw that there was no word on the letter, he became so angry that he died…”

(End of this chapter)