Xunyang City welcomed a large flow of strangers.

There were wealthy merchants from the western part of Gangnam Province who sought refuge in the southeast.

There were also officials who escaped from the city and abandoned the city further south on the western border of Lingnan Road, rushing north in a hurry.

These non-stop groups of refugees brought more detailed news about the southwest to the Jiangzhou lobby. The news was summarized and gradually spelled out the full picture of the situation in the southwest.

"Master Wang, Master Ouyang..."

In the main hall of Jiangzhou Hall, there were many ministers and officials gathered. Chen Yishan, a lychee envoy who had fled from Lingnan and was responsible for purchasing lychees for the palace, said with tears in his eyes:

"This Li Zhengyan is despicable and shameless, and has no moral virtues like his grandfather, the old British prince. He got the emperor's handwriting and the envoy's seal from nowhere.

"He first asked someone to pretend to be the emperor's personal envoy and arrived in Guizhou. On the same day, he arrested Lan Changshi and imprisoned him for the crime of negligence in the mutiny of the Guizhou garrison.

"A few days later, Li Zhengyan arrived by post, pretending to be Sima Guizhou, and came to take up his post.

"He also said that according to His Majesty's secret order, because the Gao family, the chieftain of Rongzhou in Jisizhou next door, had rebelled, he wanted to send troops to attack him.

"So he opened the treasury, drove out the prisoners who had been exiled from various places, gave them armor, and built up armies. Then, he teamed up with the fake envoy Khufu to behead Lan Changshi in prison;

"Guizhou has no governor, a long history, and holds the so-called secret decree of His Majesty. All the military and political power of the state fell into the hands of Li Zhengyan.

"Qian Zhaodu and other state officials who resisted were beheaded in public, and no one in Guizhou dared to resist.

"Then, this traitor bared his fangs, raised the army of a state, held high the wild banner of restoring the previous dynasty, and rebelled against me, the Great Zhou Dynasty!"

The main hall was packed with people, but there was no sound.

Lychee made Chen Yishan's voice echo from the rafters.

"Kuang Fu Li Qian?" Wang Lengran asked in a low voice.

"That's right." Chen Yishan nodded bitterly.

"They also used the name of King Xunyang Lixian... when he ascended the throne?"

"right!"

Chen Yishan gnashed his teeth and said:

"After taking control of Guizhou, the largest state capital in the west corner of Lingnan Road, and raising the rebel flag, Li Zhengyan stopped pretending and actually established three government offices, one called Kuangfu Mansion, one called British Government Mansion, and one called Guizhou.

The governor's office of the state.

"This rebel claimed to be General Kuang Fufu and took over the position of Governor of Guizhou. He appointed his former imperial censor Wei Shaoqi as chief historian, his former minister Du Shuqing as Sima, and a Hongzhou man named Yue Zi'ang as the recorder.

"The latter also wrote a remonstrance that was highly treasonous and slanderous against the saint.

"They have gathered more than 30,000 soldiers in the past ten days. They are holding high the banner to welcome King Lixian of Xunyang as emperor. They are marching northward from Guizhou on the southwest border. They are very reckless along the way, attacking cities and territories, hoping to restore Liqian...

"

"Where's the message?"

"Here it is." Chen Yishan immediately took out the manuscript.

Wang Lengran took it and opened it hurriedly. During the browsing process, the muscles with deep nasolabial folds on his face began to tremble.

"This Yue Zi'ang is so presumptuous, so presumptuous!"

A certain "request" was thrown to the ground and stepped on twice.

Wang Lengran's nose trembled, and he looked sideways at Ouyang Rong, who was frowning and pursed his lips.

"Ouyang Changshi, if I remember correctly, does this rebel named Yue Zi'ang have the same name as a scholar in the state school under your management? This treasonous person is also from Hongzhou. This

It shouldn’t be a coincidence, right?”

Ouyang Rong didn't squint his eyes and nodded:

"Well, it should be the same person."

Then he said softly:

"However, if Xianguan remembers correctly, Xianguan is the deputy of the governor, and this state school is also the state school under your rule, the governor."

"Don't shirk the blame. I trusted you, so I entrusted you with the people's livelihood affairs in Xunyang City. I am not familiar with the state studies."

In front of everyone in the audience, Wang Lengran rolled up his sleeves righteously, widened his eyes, and pointed his finger at Ouyang Rong, who was sitting upright:

"Besides, Li Zhengyan and other traitors passed through Xunyang City before, and I remember that you were there to receive them all the time. You were very close to them. You were always present at every banquet, and you played the flute every night...

"Oh, does Ouyang Changshi know about their rebellion?"

The whole place was silent.

Under the quiet gaze of everyone, Ouyang Rong looked calm:

"Li Zhengyan's banquet in Xunyang City was not only attended by Xiaguan, but also most of the officials in Jiangzhou Hall, as well as celebrities from Kuanglu Mountain. They were much more active than Xiaguan, and even interacted with the governor.

The famous monk Sihui who is too esoteric.

"If you follow the standards used by the Governor to identify the rebels' accomplices, you have already been surrounded by the rebels.

"Everything is fine so far. It seems that the governor is also an accomplice of the traitors."

"You fart." Wang Lengran laughed angrily: "I have never seen Thief Li before."

Ouyang Rong nodded:

"So many people have seen it in the Jiangzhou lobby, but the governor has never seen it. You are the white lotus in the mud everywhere. It is difficult not to believe that Li Zhengyan and others did not do it on purpose. They deliberately avoided suspicion for the governor."

Except for the outsider Chen Yishan, the Litchi ambassador who was looking around in confusion at the den of rebels, the Jiangzhou officials who were listening around looked at each other, with some agreement in their eyes, feeling that someone's logic was quite reasonable.

"You, you... are so glib and talk nonsense!"

Ouyang Rong ignored Wang Lengran, who immediately blamed him and drew a clear line, and raised his eyebrows at Chen Yishan and asked:

"Guizhou is located on the western border of Lingnan Road. It is the core state capital with the largest concentration of Han people in the southwest. It is also located in the largest number of military mansions on Lingnan Road, with a large number of garrison troops stationed.

"In addition to Lan Changhao, there are many senior officials and generals at the same level, as well as the supervisory censor... How did Li Zhengyan take this away?

"And how could the people of Guizhou Prefecture allow Li Zhengyan to gather so many troops in just a few days and follow him to rebel?"

Chen Yishan immediately replied: "It's all Li Zhengyan's evil words that confuse the public."

"It's not just that." Ouyang Rong shook his head and suddenly asked: "Lan Changhao was sentenced to death. How did the soldiers and civilians of Guizhou Prefecture react? Did they applaud?"

Chen Yishan choked.

Wang Lengran scolded: "What does Ouyang Changshi mean? Mr. Lan died unjustly, and you still ask such malicious questions and are so offensive. What is your intention?"

Ouyang Rong turned a deaf ear and stared at Chen Yishan.

The latter hesitated, looked away, and whispered:

"There are evil people taking the lead among the common people, and there are indeed cheers, but Lan Changshi is absolutely loyal to the court..."

"I have one more question."

Ouyang Rong interrupted, asking a question that hit the point of pain: "How is the giant Buddha built by Lan Changhao doing now?"

This question silenced the entire audience.

Wang Lengran also frowned and looked at Chen Yishan hesitantly.

The latter was embarrassed and had no choice but to bite the bullet and answer truthfully:

"On the day of Li Zhengyan's rebellion, he immediately sent people to overthrow the Buddha. Many people gathered to watch this..."

He explained:

"Master Ouyang, Master Wang, Li Zhengyan is so good at winning people's hearts. The court has worked so hard. Who knows that he is a rebel with evil intentions and deceives the ignorant people."

Everyone in the main hall remained silent.

Chen Yishan was a little embarrassed.

Ouyang Rong nodded slightly to him: "I know, thank you for your hard work."

Ouyang Rong took the article asking for payment and glanced through it.

After putting down his hand to pay the documents, he looked at the sky outside the main hall and sighed to himself:

"The morning glow will travel a thousand miles without going out."

Ouyang Rong had to admit that Mr. Li was indeed good at "choosing the day" and seizing the opportunity.

Seemingly dissatisfied with the weird atmosphere in the main hall, Wang Lengran frowned and answered Chen Yishan:

"More than just deceiving people, the old British man was highly respected for his public morals, but somehow he had such an unworthy descendant. His family was unfortunate, and all his connections in the British government were used by him as the basis for rebellion.

"I don't know how many of the military generals in Guizhou, Lingnan, were promoted by the old British Lord, or served under his command. They were originally a blessing, but they were used to commit treason and cause countless harms!"

Yan Liulang put down the southwest line report in his hand, handed it to the people around him, and muttered without raising his eyes:

"Li Zhengyan's army was overwhelming in the southwest. Along the way to the north, they responded like clouds and surrendered continuously. They were almost reaching the borders of Lingnan Road and Jiangnan Road.

"This kind of morale is much greater than that of Cai Qinjun. It cannot be explained by a British government connection alone."

This muttering was particularly harsh in the main hall where the drop of a needle could be heard.

"What does Yan join the army mean?"
To be continued...