Thousands of people were mobilized before and after the construction of the Taiping, the scale is the largest in recent years, and the number of dispatches is more than 100,000, costing millions of dollars, so it can be successfully built in a short period of time. But no one thought that after only more than ten days, it would become a pile of scorched earth in the firelight.

There is no need for Xu You's orders, the winter solstice has already scattered all the resources in his hand, and all kinds of information have been sent to Jingyuan. From the common people to the wealthy landlords, from the slaves and tenants to the nobles, almost all of them were shocked by the fire in Taiping.

Gu Yun's letter to Xu You was full of sadness and frustration, and his words even revealed the intention of resigning. Zuo Yan was very puzzled, and said: "Although Gu Fujun has not been in the office for many years, what he has cultivated since he was a child is how to wander around the officialdom, and his mental strength should not be much inferior, why is he so discouraged when he encounters some difficulties?" ”

He Wei had a shameful smile in his eyes, and said: "The big snow and green pine, the proud frost and the cold plum, are all in the bitter realm to refine the heart, which has sharpened the real integrity and character, such as Gu Yun's background, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a thousand kinds of care and love, although the mastermind Bao Xi around him is extremely wise, but he is also afraid that Gu Yun will make a mistake with his assistance, so he does not seek merit but no fault, such a talented man raised by the gate valve...... Ha, haha! ”

Xu You expressed his understanding of this, Luling Wang An Xiulong led the Yangzhou Assassin History in Jinling, and the state governance was also moved to Jinling, such as Changshi, Sima and other second and third leaders all served in Jinling, that is to say, the construction of Taiping and even the disaster relief of many counties such as Wu County are actually fully responsible for Gu Yun, the responsibility is heavy, the time is tight and the task is heavy, but Gu Yun still lives up to expectations in more than a month to make Taiping successfully stand in front of the world, and raise grain and transport grain, there are rules and laws, from the market to the court, all praised, Won too much glory.

As the saying goes, the higher the hold, the heavier the fall, this is the unchanging truth between heaven and earth, Gu Yun knows it, he looks at the scenery, but I don't know how many people are waiting to see the joke, if the Taiping is lost, it will definitely lead to turmoil in Yangzhou, and even harm the country, such a big mistake, even if he is a child of the Gu family, he can't deal with the impeachment chapter like snowflakes.

Resigning is a manifestation of losing confidence in oneself under guilt and panic, Gu Yun lacks nothing, but lacks the experience of failure.

Xu You replied to the letter and asked Dong Zhi to send it to Wu County in person. Gu Yun met her in the back hall, opened the sealed letterhead, and the smooth jade-like white paper was presented to outsiders for the first time, and it felt like virgin skin, if it was in the past, Gu Yun would definitely be overjoyed and regarded as a treasure, but now he has no time to take care of him, because only one sentence of Xunzi's words was written on the full paper:

Perseverance, rotten wood does not break; Perseverance, gold and stone can be carved!

Gu Yun stared at it for a long time, his handsome face rarely showed a little sadness, and said, "What else did Weizhi say?" ”

"Back to the mansion, my Xiaolang has no extra explanation, just ......"

"Just how?"

"But he stayed up all night, and when he handed me the letter in the morning, I saw a ball of paper all over the floor, full of messy words......"

Gu Yun looked down at the letter again, there seemed to be water flashing in his eyes, and when he looked up again, he said resolutely: "Go back and tell Weizhi, I will never live up to his high expectations." Unless the Lord is angry and sends down thunder, I will not give up for a day as long as I reign! ”

The winter solstice fell to the ground, and said respectfully: "Remember, the servant, if you say the words of the prince, I will definitely bring it back to Qiantang." By the way, Fang Cai's maid remembered wrongly, Xiaolang did have an explanation when he came, if the prince has leisure these days, he can see Meng Fake Zuo in private! ”

Xu You and the winter solstice secret words when he was leaving, if Gu Yun rekindled his fighting spirit, he could point him to see Meng Xingchun, if he was really decadent and had no intention of political affairs, he didn't need to mention these words, and then find another way to admonish him.

"Meng Xingchun?" Gu Yun frowned slightly, in the hearts of these nobles, Si Lifu was an eagle dog raised by the emperor, with a bad character and low character, unless there was an official business that could not be avoided on the surface, otherwise, they would always stay away.

"Exactly! The incident of the Taiping water is too strange, Xiaolang expected that someone must have secretly set the fire, otherwise, with the precautions of Taiping, it would never have burned down overnight. Meng Xingchun's Crouching Tiger Si is sitting in Yangzhou on behalf of the Son of Heaven, and if something like this happens, he will not be able to get rid of it. The prince of the government can only speak with him, put the blame on the arsonist, and then ......"

The next word, the winter solstice is silent. No matter how deep the friendship between Xu You and Gu Yun is, such a plan cannot be declared.

Gu Yun stood up, paced back and forth a few steps, and after a while, turned around and said, "I understand what Weizhi means, okay, I'll go see Meng Xingchun tonight!" ”

"Mr. Bao's side, is the prince of the house asking for his opinion again......

"No need!" Gu Yun's eyebrows were full of unshakable determination, and he said, "Weizhi will never harm me!" ”

As soon as the day falls into the night, the stars are full of the Milky Way, like thousands of lanterns hanging high, which is beautiful. Gu Yun was wearing ordinary Qi Min's clothes, wearing a crown and hat to cover his face, and when he was about to go out, he was stopped by Bao Xi, he begged bitterly, and said: "Meng Xingchun is the lord's retainer, but the prince of the mansion is the minister's minister, colluding with the inside and outside, it has always been a taboo for the lord, the prince must not listen to Xu You's nonsense, put himself in danger and do not know it." What's more, the Taiping is ruined, the situation in Yangzhou is irreparable, and the government just takes this opportunity to get out, although it is inevitable that it will be a little infamous, but it is much better than falling into the quagmire in the future! ”

Gu Yun said softly: "Sir, I know that you are for my good, but what Wei Zhi said makes sense, if you encounter trouble, you will flee, you will avoid danger, even if you live safely, it is just a rotten wood." Besides, if you escape this time, where will you escape next time? ”

"This is Xu You's sophistry!" Bao Xi couldn't hide his anger and said sharply: "The situation in Yangzhou is complicated, and there is such a serious drought, one of the two is a rare occurrence in a century, let alone both?" A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall, and knows that he cannot do it, that is the real rotten wood! ”

Gu Yun raised his head, I don't know which star lit up, shining on his face, as if the white jade was flawless, and said: "Sir, let me stay out of the matter, watching the people of Yangzhou dying and struggling, then, such a gentleman, don't do it!" ”

Bao Xi was speechless for a long time, sighed, and let go of the door. Gu Yun saluted him and walked away, and Yingting's figure quietly blended into the night.

With Meng Xingchun's secret report and the full protection of the Wujun gate valve, although the voice of the DPRK and China accusing Gu Yun has always been high, An Zidao only issued an order to reprimand and punish Gu Yun for three years, and the specific aftermath is still in the hands of Gu Yun.

Such a big stick was raised high and gently fell, so that many people saw Gu Yun's status in An Zidao's mind, so the number of people who greeted the horse or intended to show favor did not decrease, but increased.

This is the so-called blessing of woe!

However, although the threat in Jinling City has been resolved, the drought in Yangzhou has continued to deteriorate, because the stable situation created by the completion of Taiping has gotten out of control again, and the price of rice has begun to rebound with a vengeance, and in just five days, it has risen to a high level of 4,000 yuan.

The people's grievances began to condense, boil, and roll, and no one knew when it would erupt!

Of course, Gu Yun was not idle, and Xu You secretly offered a plan, on the one hand, he persuaded the gate lords surnamed Yangzhou to be sympathetic to the national disaster and sell the old grain stored for many years to the government at a slightly higher price than in previous years, which was mainly due to his Gu identity, and it was impossible for ordinary officials to do it, but this kind of acquisition was secret and not publicized to the public; On the other hand, the entire Yangzhou has a division, opened up the passes on land and water, reduced or exempted tariffs on vehicles and ships transporting grain, and attracted grain merchants from other places to transfer grain to Yangzhou in large quantities for profit.

"The price of rice is high, but the relationship between supply and demand has changed, oversupply, rice is cheap, supply is less than demand, rice is expensive. If you want the price of rice to fall back to a normal level, you must have enough rice and grain to rely on, but to do this, it is far from enough to rely on the power of the government alone, so buy grain from the gate valve first, and let the court give a certain reward, but remember, you must not leak the slightest rumor. Then he showed that the government had no intention of suppressing the grain price in Yangzhou, so as to tempt the grain merchants to come for profit......"

At first, Xu You's plan caused a great backlash internally, not only Zuo Yan, Frost, Autumn Equinox, Winter Solstice, and Mountain Sect, but even He Wei felt that it was too risky, and persuaded more than once: "Qilang's original intention is good, but why should the food from the gate valve be kept secret and publicized, wouldn't it be more beneficial to the current situation?" ”

Xu You explained: "If it is publicized, the grain merchants will think that Yangzhou's grain reserves are enough, and they will be suspicious, where are they willing to transport grain to Yangzhou day and night?" ”

"This is my second question, Li Shu suffers from the high price of rice, but the government still publicly declares that it has no intention of interfering with the price of rice, this is going to spread, Gu Yun doesn't know how much infamy it will incur......"

A trace of perseverance flashed on Xu You's face, and he said lightly: "To do big things, it's nothing to bear some infamy!" For Yangzhou, for the people, and for Feiqing's own plan, he was wronged for a while to save the people, and this deal was worth it! ”

He Wei saw that he couldn't persuade him, so he didn't say more, but Bao Xi didn't have such a good temper, so he made a special trip from Wu County to Qiantang, and after facing Xu You, he just pointed at his nose and scolded, saying, "Xu Qilang, what are you going to do!" At a young age, a reckless martial artist, even if he has won a little fame, but how complicated the government affairs of Yangzhou are, and the disaster relief matter involves all aspects, how can you sit in the Qiantang and be able to spy on it? Why do you want to bewitch the prince of the mansion to do this plan that will leave a stink for 10,000 years? ”

Xu You said coldly: "Mr. Bao, your knowledge is even admired by his wings, but when it comes to government affairs, you may not be much better than me, a yellow-mouthed child." ”

"You ......"

"You have assisted Gu Dongyang for many years, have you made achievements that are enough to boast of?" Xu You didn't allow him to talk nonsense, and said word by word: "It's been ten years, Gu Dongyang's performance appraisal has always been only in the middle and upper, and after ten years, he is still just Dongyang Taishou, if it weren't for Gu Yun's promotion this time, the imperial court promoted him to the rank of General Jianwu and Governor of Yizhou on the grounds that his father's position cannot be lower than that of his children, you can also say that there is no merit." ”

Bao Xi's eyes were torn apart, and he said: "Xu You, even if you insult me, you dare to insult the old master, you are so bold!" ”

Xu You smiled, laughing contemptuously and proudly, and said: "Only a person like you who is a fly and a dog will care about the hypocrisy of respecting the elders and the young when life and death are at stake." The drought in Yangzhou, a hundred years has not been encountered, if the Taiping is still there, you can also slowly figure it, but a fire will burn the Taiping clean, the Lord does not seem to be held accountable, but everyone understands that Feiqing is dancing on the tip of the knife, if you can control the situation and survive the catastrophe safely, then the Lord has the wisdom to know people, Feiqing has the ability to govern the country, and the government and the opposition praise, all are happy. But have you ever thought that in order to build a Taiping, for those dozens of ships of grain, Yangzhou government funds have been spent, and now the eyebrows are burning, where to get money for disaster relief, where to buy grain relief? Once the disaster is out of control and causes civil unrest, Feiqing will be the first to die! ”

He paused, stared at Bao Xi's eyes, and said, "Mr. Bao, Gu Yun is dead, you can find another job, so there's no hurry, isn't it?" ”

Bao Xi's face turned pale, and he looked at He Wei, who was standing next to him without saying a word, and after a while, he scolded angrily: "Xu You, don't spew blood." If something happens to the prince, I will not survive in the world, but before I die, I must take you to Huangquan together. ”

Xu You didn't bother to look at him anymore, waved his hand, and said, "Wind Tiger, send off!" ”

Different from Bao Xi's strong opposition, Gu Yun chose to stand firmly on Xu You's side this time, and while buying and transporting grain, he took out most of the official funds to build pavilions and palaces, build embankments and dredge rivers, and called on the middle-class scholars in various counties to take the initiative to open porridge sheds and soup kitchens, reducing the rations of the old and young women and children who had no labor force and diseases to a bowl of gruel a day, so as to maintain not starving to death.

In this process, the phenomena of buying and selling human beings, annexing land, raising slaves, and changing from good to lowly are no longer important, as long as no one starves to death, or less people starve to death, all means are within the acquiescence of the government.

Life and death are big, freedom is small, and as for the good and the low, in the face of the catastrophe, it is no longer important!