Usually I didn't think that it was only after Chen Ping went south to Wuguan with Zheng Bu, the general of the Han army, and temporarily left his side, that Xiang Kang found out how much Chen Ping had helped him.

In the past, with Chen Ping by his side, whenever there was anything within the Han army and the major official temples in Xianyang that needed Xiang Kang to know, Chen Ping, who was in charge of supervising the generals and officials, could always let Xiang Kang know in a very short time, either directly reported, or reminded him, or mentioned it casually and quietly, so that Xiang Kang could know the internal situation of the Han army well even if he was in the deep palace and made the necessary decisions in time.

The same is true for dealing with government affairs and military affairs, although Chen Ping rarely takes the initiative to influence Xiang Kang's decision-making, he can always guess Xiang Kang's intentions, and handle many military and government affairs that are not too important beautifully, not only making decisions that Xiang Kang needs, but also sharing a lot of work pressure for Xiang Kang, so that Xiang Kang can free up his hands to think and deal with more important affairs, and he perfectly plays the role of Secretary General Xiang Kang.

As for the staff and military aircraft and making suggestions, not to mention, in these aspects, Chen Ping can play a role, even Zhou Zeng, who was named the minister of state by Xiang Kang, is beyond the reach of the dust, Xiang Kang has long been accustomed to handing over the problem of money and food to Zhou Zeng to deal with, and first consult Chen Ping when encountering major military affairs.

After Chen Ping left temporarily, Xiang Kang soon tasted the pain of over-dependence, and he could be busy until late at night just by reading and annotating official documents every day, and he had to find time to read the secret reports submitted by the Han army spies, grasp the words and deeds of the Han army's civil and military officials, and the people's likes and dislikes and dislikes and support for himself and the Han army in Guanzhong.

The same is true for the major military aircraft events, without Chen Ping's help to sort out the summary of military information, and provide all kinds of important information held by the Han army from back to heart, no matter how decisive Xiang Kang is, he is cunning, and he is still restrained when making decisions, for fear that he will not handle it properly and think it out of consideration, which will lead to uncontrollable consequences.

After a few days of hard work, Xiang Kang, in addition to regretting sending Chen Ping away, had to invite Zhang Liang, who was still a Korean courtier, to temporarily replace Chen Ping's position as secretary general and help him deal with military and political affairs. The result was okay, after a little push to temporarily take over Chen Ping's mission, Zhang Liang, who was also a famous minister through the ages, quickly replaced Chen Ping's role and helped Xiang Kang share the huge work pressure, so that Xiang Kang could finally spare a little time and sneak back to the harem to comfort Qi Min's little girl who was sent by Qi Gill in advance to cover her feet.

Because of this, Xiang Kang, who originally hoped that Zhang Liang could stay forever, strengthened his determination to keep Zhang Liang, and once when he was taking a temporary break, Xiang Kang opened his mouth directly to Zhang Liang and said, "Mr. Zifang, can you not go back to South Korea?" Stay and help me, I won't say much other nonsense, as long as you can stay, no matter how you want me to compensate King Han, I can try my best to agree. ”

Seeing Xiang Kang's sincere attitude, Zhang Liang couldn't help but sigh and said: "King, your trust and wrong love for the foreign ministers, the foreign ministers are broken bones, and it is difficult to repay them in case, and you are really willing to serve the king." But there is no way, the foreign minister's family eats Han Lu, his grandfather and father have served as the minister of South Korea five times, and they have been favored by the country, and now South Korea has fallen into such a field, no matter how ungrateful the foreign minister is, he can't bear to turn his back on the Korean royal court and become a courtier of the Han State. ”

has long understood Zhang Liang's intention to restore the country, and Xiang Kang has no choice but to sigh: "The younger generation is blessed, in Huaisi before, because of all kinds of mistakes, it is already a great pity that I failed to reuse Mr. Zifang." I didn't expect to be the king of Han today, and I still have to pass by a talent like you, sir, God is really playing tricks on me. ”

"The king must not be so prestigious, the foreign minister is really ashamed." Zhang Liang hurriedly humbled and said: "Besides, the king already has Mr. Chen Ping's help, so why worry about the great cause?" Previously, the foreign minister was on the outside, and he didn't know it all, but he was wrongly loved by the king, so that the foreign minister temporarily took the position of Mr. Chen Ping, and the foreign minister really understood what kind of talent Mr. Chen Ping was, and he had to admire the king's wisdom like a torch, and he was able to discover such a talent as Mr. Chen Ping. ”

"It's not enough to have just one Mr. Chen Ping." Xiang Kang smiled bitterly and said: "Mr. Zifang, you have also seen it with your own eyes, although my Royal Highness has many ministers, but the only ones who can really help me a lot are Mr. Chen Ping and Uncle Ya, Mr. Li Shiqi, who was forcibly detained by my brother, and Mr. Zifang, who does not want to be Hanchen. ”

The speaker is unintentional, the listener is intentional, Xiang Kang's heartfelt words suddenly reminded Zhang Liang, and after a little calculation, Zhang Liang immediately said: "If the king thinks that His Royal Highness is short of talents, then the minister wants to recommend a few masters to you, but I don't know if the king is willing to use it." ”

"Of course I do." Xiang Kang replied without thinking about it: "The talents who can be praised as Masters by Mr. Zifang, of course the younger generations are willing to reuse, but I don't know where Mr. Zifang wants to recommend those Coats, and where they are now." ”

"They live in seclusion in your land, Lord King." Zhang Liang immediately replied, and said, "I don't know if the king has ever heard of the great name of Shangshan Sihao?" ”

Although the history is sparse, I have not seen the name of Shangshan Sihao in the history books, but Xiang Kang has really heard of Shangshan Sihao in this era, so he immediately nodded and said: "I have heard that Mr. Chen Ping once mentioned them in front of his juniors, saying that they were originally doctors recruited by the first emperor himself, and once served the tyrannical Qin court, but because he didn't like to be an official, he resolutely resigned from his doctor's official position and went to Shangshan to live in seclusion. ”

"They are the ones the minister wants to recommend." Zhang Liang replied: "The Shangshan where they live in seclusion is in the area of Shangting between Yaoguan and Wuguan, and if the king is interested in seeking talents, he can send someone to invite them out of the mountain at any time." ”

Xiang Kang didn't agree immediately, he frowned, and said with some embarrassment: "Of course, there is no problem with hiring them out of the mountain with a lot of money, but there are two points, first, although the fame of Shangshan Sihao is indeed not small, but as far as the younger generations know, when they were serving the First Emperor, they didn't seem to show any particularly outstanding talents, and they didn't hear of what they did. ”

"As for the second." Xiang Kang said very frankly: "I heard that the tempers of these four celebrities are a little old-fashioned, and the old-fashioned ones will inevitably be stubborn, if they are all like my brother's father Fan Zuoshi, even if they are invited, they can't get along with the juniors, and they have to resign and go into hiding, then the juniors will be difficult to be." ”

"Fan Zuoshi is not enough for example." Zhang Liang immediately said: "Why did Fan Zuoshi abandon the king and go to you, what is the real reason, the younger generation and the king both understand in their hearts, there is no need to use him as an example." Now the king is not in the same situation as when you were in Huaisi, and Shangshan Sihao does not have the same opportunity as Fan Zuoshi at that time, and he will definitely not be as ruthless as Fan Zuoshi. ”

"As for whether Shangshan Sihao has real talent and learning?" Zhang Liang dragged out the end and said: "King, with all due respect, if you raise such a worry, your shortcomings will be exposed. ”

After directly pointing out Xiang Kang's shortcomings, Zhang Liang said: "For you, the king, it doesn't matter whether Shangshan Sihao really has real talent and learning, the most important thing is their outstanding reputation. Shangshan Sihao abandoned the tyrannical Qin Emperor Yingzheng before, and was already famous, and lived in seclusion in a remote place in Shangshan, and was still able to spread his reputation, which shows that their influence on the world's scholars is extraordinary, if you can hire them out of the mountain and let them work for you, how will the world's scholars treat you? Wouldn't the people of the world think that the king is better than the first emperor who ruled the world? ”

After waking up the people in his dreams, or listening to Zhang Liang's words, Xiang Kang found that he was indeed lacking in discovering talents - Shangshan Sihao may indeed be unworthy of his name and lack real talent and learning, but if he can recruit them as a hand, even if he is a political vase, he will be able to immediately receive the effect of a thousand gold bones, so that countless capable people with real talents and lofty ideals will take the initiative to vote, so that they can choose at will and find the real talents available!

Seeing that Xiang Kang woke up, Zhang Liang said again: "In addition, the foreign minister also thinks that Shangshan Sihao is not necessarily famous when they meet, but they do have real talent and learning. There is no other reason, the tyrannical Qin Emperor Yingzheng, who unified the six countries, is so eloquent and strategic, how can he not see what kind of characters they are after recruiting them to the court as officials? Let them know the past and the present, distinguish whether they are not and teach the profession, won't they have clearly told the world that Yingzheng has recognized their talents? How can a person who can be affirmed by Yingzheng be a person who deceives the world and steals his name? ”

"That's not necessarily, at least Xu Fu is an exception."

Xiang Kang muttered in his heart, but after thinking about it, Xiang Kang found that even if Shangshan Sihao and Xu Fu were all the way, it didn't matter, at least they could flicker and dare to flicker, and they also had more appetite for themselves. So Xiang Kang didn't hesitate, and immediately thanked Zhang Liang and said: "Thank you Mr. Zifang for your guidance and recommendation, the juniors understand, and the juniors will immediately send someone to Shangshan and ask Shangshan Sihao to go out of the mountain to serve me." ”

"King, I don't know who you plan to send to invite Shangshan Sihao?" Zhang Liang asked, and then said: "Shangshan Sihao is determined to go into hiding, and he also made Zizhi Song Mingzhi, I am afraid that it will be difficult for ordinary envoys to invite them, and the foreign minister thinks that if you want to invite Shangshan Sihao, you had better send Mr. Uncle Sun Tong to come forward, so that it is possible to invite Shangshan Sihao." ”

"Uncle Sun Tong? That sycophant is more famous than me, let him invite Shangshan Sihao, don't make Shangshan Sihao even more angry and don't want to go out of the mountain, right? ”

Xiang Kang's heart was stunned, and he just wanted to question it, but seeing that although Zhang Liang was smiling, his eyes were fixed on his expression, Xiang Kang's heart immediately moved, and he said secretly: "No, Zhang Liang is testing me, and his proposal to send Shusun Tong is definitely not untargeted." ”

Thinking about it carefully, Xiang Kang also found that among the accomplices and lackeys under his command, only Shusun Tong came out of the horse, and he was most likely to invite Shangshan Sihao to come, for no other reason, although Shusun Tong's character is not very good, but his reputation among the scholars is quite large, and he used to be a colleague of Shangshan Sihao, and now he has been reused by himself, and has a lot of real power, so that he can invite Shangshan Sihao to come out of the mountain, which can not only satisfy Shangshan Sihao's vanity, but also prove his sincerity in seeking talents. can also let Shangshan Sihao see it directly - even sycophants like Shusun Tong can be reused by themselves, let alone them?

After quickly figuring out Zhang Liang's true intentions, Xiang Kang nodded immediately, and sent someone to call Mr. Shusun to arrange an errand for him on the spot. ”

Not to mention, although Mr. Uncle Sun does not like to go out to the enemy camp to live and die, but in the Han army control there is no danger to visit the reclusive celebrities, Mr. Uncle Sun is very willing to work hard, just after listening to Xiang Kang's instructions, he immediately hugged his fists and agreed, patted his chest and promised to invite his old colleagues out of the mountain for Xiang Kang, Xiang Kang was also very happy, and personally arranged five gorgeous floats and a team of guards to invite Shangshan Sihao with Shusun Tong, so as to satisfy the vanity of Mr. Shusun and Shangshan Sihao, Shusun Tong was very happy and thanked, On the same day, he went south to Shangshan to carry out the order.

The next day's official business was still busy, the whole morning, Xiang Kang was buried alive in the Wenmu Mountain, annotating official documents was so busy that his head was dizzy, and the result was also to add chaos to Xiang Kang, just when Xiang Kang rubbed his temples in pain to rest for a while, the envoys of Zhao came to visit him with his credentials, and asked the Han army to send troops north from Hedong to help the Zhao army to attack the army of Zhang Han, Sima Xin and Dong Peng who were attacking Taiyuan County.

Xiang Kang did not reply to the envoy of Zhao State on the spot, but under the pretext of discussing with the ministers, he sent the envoy of Zhao State back to the pavilion to rest first, and then said to Zhou Zeng and Zhang Liang quite dissatisfied: "It's easy to say, I don't look at my current situation, it's only been more than two months since I took Guanzhong, and I haven't finished the affairs of Guanzhong, where can I free up my hands to enter Taiyuan County?" Help them keep Taiyuan? ”

"At most, I can only help Zhao Guo in other aspects, and I definitely can't really contribute." Zhou Zeng also immediately said: "On the issue of the ownership of Shangdang County, we still have to fight with Zhao Guo, and we must not help them keep Taiyuan County, and they have the strength to bargain with us on the issue of Shangdang ownership." ”

Xiang Kang nodded, rubbed his temples again and said, "Let's delay it for a few days, and then discuss how to reply to Zhao Guo." ”

Seeing Xiang Kang's tired expression, Zhang Hao said kindly: "King, why don't you take a rest, the matter here will be handed over to the ministers and Zhou Xiang for the time being, don't be tired." ”

"It's not tired that I'm tired, it's just that I use my brain too much, and my head swells up badly." Xiang Kang replied casually, but because he was indeed a little dizzy, Zhou Zeng was also persuaded by the side, and Xiang Kang, who did not want to die young, still accepted their kindness, put down his business and returned to the apse to rest.

It was also on the way back to the apse that Xiang Kang suddenly remembered that he hadn't walked out of Xianyang Palace for several days, and knew that walking could relieve the overuse of his brain, so he made a temporary decision and decided to lead a team of guards out of the palace in casual clothes and go to the streets of Xianyang to visit - although Xianyang has now actually fallen into the clutches of Xiang Kang, but because of too busy affairs, Xiang Kang really hasn't been on the street a few times.

Ignoring the dissuasion of the guards, Xiang Kang insisted that Xu Ji and the twenty guards change into civilian clothes, and also changed himself into Confucian clothes, dressed up in fancy clothes, and hung the sword of Qin Shi Huang, who had hacked Jing Ke to death, on his waist, and then went out of the palace through the side door, and slipped to Xianyang Street with a lively spirit.

Thanks to Xiang Kang's blessing, the Xianyang palace that was lucky enough to get rid of the robbery of the princes' coalition and Xiang Yu's arson of the city is still outrageous, and the twelve shining golden people are still standing outside the Xianyang Palace, but unfortunately Xiang Kang has no interest in the palace building, and under the secret protection of the guards, he specially drilled into the crowded place, visited the Xianyang street scene, and saw the folk customs in Guanzhong.

Of course, the most lively place in a city is the commercial street of the city, Xianyang without the protection of the city wall is no exception, and the Xianyang city on the north bank of Weishui is even more crowded, and Xiang Kang, who has long been stuffy, also insisted on entering the most densely populated market despite the good intentions of Xu Ji and other guards.

Xiang Kang didn't really have nothing to do before entering the market, before the Han army officials had reported several times, saying that because of the war, the price of grain in Guanzhong had risen several times, and the people in Guanzhong were also complaining about it, taking this opportunity, Xiang Kang wanted to go to the scene to understand the situation in person. As a result, the price of rice at 140 yuan per stone during the Qin Shi Huang period has now risen to nearly 2,000 yuan, causing many poor people in Guanzhong to buy cheaper wheat and beans to satisfy their hunger, and complaining that the Han army could not curb the rise in rice prices.

Xiang Kang had no way to do this, because the rice-producing places were basically controlled by the princes' coalition forces, and Nanyang, the only rice-rich land in the Han army's controlled area, was also about to be lost, and there was no enough rice to stabilize the price of rice, so Xiang Kang could only make up his mind and decided to speed up the promotion of stone-ground flour and change the staple food habits of the people in Guanzhong.

Thinking about taking a casual walk, Xiang Kang unconsciously walked to the vicinity of the column that specializes in selling valuables, Xiang Kang, who has a mountain of rare treasures in his hand, of course has no interest in folk luxury goods, and is about to speed up and leave, he never thought about sweeping the corner of his eyes, but he was quite surprised to see that there were still a few high-nosed and curly Western Regions Hu merchants in the columns, and then curiously took a closer look at the goods sold by those Hu merchants, Xiang Kang's eyes suddenly froze, and he couldn't help but rub his eyes, and said in his heart: "I'm not wrong, right?" In this era, Xianyang already has this thing? ”

Rubbing his eyes and looking at it again, to confirm that he was not mistaken, Xiang Kang was very excited, and hurriedly rushed forward, ignoring the other customers in front of Hu Shang's stall, he just picked up a commodity sold by Hu Shang and looked at it carefully, and shouted in surprise, "That's right, this is this thing!" ”

"Ouch! Do? You're so rude, why did you hit me from behind? ”

The delicate girl's voice came into Xiang Kang's ears, but unfortunately Xiang Kang didn't even look at her, but asked Hu Shang quickly behind the stall, "This thing you sell?" What is your name? ”

"I haven't seen the local buns outside the Guanwai, and I haven't even seen garlic." The girl's low grumbling voice came into Xiang Kang's ears again......