Chapter 300 The hometown voice has not changed, and the heart has failed

Meng Xisheng also took the B-word 106 passenger train, this kind of passenger train, in addition to ordinary seats, there are also private rooms for the rich and powerful, he and his subordinates, when they entered their own private room, they saw that in front of the bread room, a big man from the military intelligence department stood with a straight face, showing a look of rejecting people thousands of miles away. But when he saw Meng Xisheng, the big man immediately saluted respectfully: "Dudu." ”

There are few people who come out of Liuqiu who don't know Meng Xisheng, some of them were sent by Meng Xisheng in person, and some of them have been seen in Tamsui or Keelung for more than ten years. Especially after Meng Xisheng was appointed as the governor of Nanyang, he was in a high position, and all departments had to deal with him.

Meng Xi said knowingly and pouted to the box: "Who is it, look at your appearance as if you are facing a great enemy." ”

The big man's lips trembled, and then he smiled bitterly: "Governor, the principle of secrecy, but if you want to know, even if you go in, the rules above prohibit us from talking nonsense, but they don't say that no one is allowed to contact him......"

Meng Xisheng's curiosity was even greater, and he motioned to his subordinates to move their luggage into the private room and push the door himself. As soon as the door was pushed open, the people inside all looked here, and when they saw that it was Meng Xisheng, they all got up and saluted him except for the old man.

"Mr. Shi, don't come to harm?" Meng Xi returned the salute to everyone with a smile, and then bowed his hand to the old man.

This old man is Shi Miyuan, who has been exiled to exile by Zhao and Ju for seven years.

When he first arrived in Liuqiu, he was quite depressed for a while, but then he raised flowers and planted trees to entertain himself, anyway, Zhao and Ju did not treat him badly in life, not only for him to provide food and clothing, but also to pay him half of the prime minister's salary every month - not that Zhao and Ju are soft-hearted, but on the issue of Zhao and Ju's ascension, Shi Miyuan has made great contributions, and the contradiction between the two is in the struggle for power, since Shi Miyuan has completely failed, Zhao and Ju can't show their narrow-minded side in such a young man. After two years of silence, Shi Miyuan began to apply to walk around in Liuqiu, and Zhao Heju did not object after receiving the report, but only ordered people to "strictly protect", which led to the fact that Shi Miyuan followed closely everywhere he went.

"Meng Dudu, I heard that you have done a great job in Xilanyang." Shi Miyuan slowly returned the salute and said lightly, he also thought that Meng Xisheng was.

At this time, the so-called India was only a geographical term, there was no country called India at all, and the name of the Indian Ocean did not exist.

"Mr. Shi has been away from his hometown for a long time, do you have any feelings after coming here?" Meng Xi laughed.

This is inevitable, not to mention that when Shi Miyuan lived in Tamsui seclusion, someone came to the door every once in a while to instill some new ideas of governance into him in the name of asking for advice on statecraft, just the newspaper from Lin'an, the various information introduced on it was enough to make this treacherous and cunning minister rethink some things.

At the beginning, he was full of hatred for Zhao and Ju, only felt that he had a thousand picks, but he picked out a white-eyed wolf, but the situation was stronger than people, to the Yanhuang four years of the Song Dynasty to recover the Central Plains, he found that the previous generations of the Son of Heaven and the famous ministers spent more than a hundred years and did not realize the dream, when today's son of the government was only five years to realize, that hatred was diluted by a greater sense of loss - if he was not blocking the way of the Son of Heaven's government, then he is now still the prime minister of the Great Song Dynasty, the head of the Zhongxing ministers, naturally he is the only one.

At his age, he will look down on Lilu and the like, but he will pay more and more attention to the name behind him. Although he is in good spirits now, and he is diligent in maintaining his begging, but he knows his own family affairs, and the weakness of his body makes him realize that his time is short, and he will never have a chance to get it back, so how to leave a good reputation behind him as much as possible has become a problem he thinks about day and night.

It is precisely for this reason that he tried to write to the emperor, begging to be able to return to his homeland alive, but to his surprise, Zhao Heju not only agreed, but also said that he would see him in Lin'an.

"The ability of officials to govern the country is beyond the reach of extraordinary people." After a long time, Shi Miyuan replied to Meng Xisheng like this.

"Hehe......" Meng Xisheng didn't say anything to him on this topic, and turned to Liuqiu: "I haven't been to Liuqiu for more than a year, I don't know what Liuqiu's situation is now, where is Mr. Shi from, should he teach me?" ”

"Very good, when I came, I read the Liuqiu Times, saying that the census has ended, and the entire Liuqiu Five Prefectures have a total population of 2.5 million, nearly half of whom are children under the age of 14." After all, Shi Miyuan has been governing the country for a long time, and he is the most sensitive to the population data that can best reflect whether he is too safe or not.

As an immigrant island, Liuqiu has two major characteristics in terms of age, one is that there are more children, and the other is that there are many young and strong people, and as for the elderly, the proportion of the population is almost negligible.

However, one of the problems brought about by the growth of the migrants is the increase in the financial expenditure of the public office, so many children need education, food and clothing, so that most of the profits generated by the migrants are used by these children. In his opinion, it doesn't matter if the railroad is built slower and the factory is built slower, and if the education of children is slow, it means that a generation will suffer.

The two chatted about the situation of Liuqiu, and Shi Miyuan found that although this Meng Xisheng was young, he was very amiable in conversation, and he was not arrogant and arrogant because he was reused by the Son of Heaven, and his expression was always smiling, even if he sneered a little, he never blushed and had a thick neck. This person is very deep in the city, and he can't find out anything, so Shi Miyuan turned the topic to outside the boundaries of the Great Song Dynasty: "Governor Mengdu, I heard that you came back from Xilan, but you returned to Beijing to report on your work?" ”

"Exactly, Your Majesty has stipulated that those who are away all year round like us must return to Beijing every two years to report on their work." Meng Xisheng responded half-truthfully.

"The old man closed his eyes and listened at the beginning, only saying that there were only the Great Song Dynasty, Jin, Dali, Western Xia, and Menghu in the world, and at most what Goryeo Wa Kingdom was, and he never paid attention to the fine orchid at all...... When Governor Meng Du came back from Xilan, he should be familiar with the customs of this country, and the journey was long, I wonder if Governor Meng Du can talk to the old man and let the old man have a long insight? ”

He is an old man, after all, he is still a little arrogant, Meng Xisheng picked up some strange places, especially some products of fine orchid and Shi Miyuan listened, Shi Miyuan twisted his beard and his head, and kept asking, when he learned that the two clans on Xilan Island were fighting, causing the people to flee to Gaolangbu Port to ask for protection from the Great Song Dynasty, Shi Miyuan sighed and said: "When it is like the ear, when it is the ear...... In the past, Tang Taizong asked the ministers why they were king, and Wei Zheng admonished and said, "Yan Ge Xingwen Bude is benevolent, China is both peaceful and far away, and the Son of Heaven is deeply involved in it. ”

Meng Xisheng shook his head and said: "Mr. Shi, if this is the case, there will be no Gao Lang Bugang, which was taken by my Great Song Sailor after expelling the big food profiteers." What Wei Zheng said, although it is not necessarily too wrong, but after all, it is a little negative, now that my Great Song Dynasty is thriving, millions of tigers, billions of industrious people, how can Wen Tianwu sit and wait for people from afar to come to the court? I am the gun of China, and I should be the ploughshare of my China, and the scholar of the Great Song Dynasty should be the preaching of the doctrine of my sages. ”

Shi Miyuan smiled and said nothing, too lazy to argue with him, and turned the topic to the rest of the topic.

From Qingyuan Mansion to Lin'an, it was only a matter of eight or nine hours, they chatted for a while, Shi Miyuan showed tiredness, and Meng Xisheng got up to say goodbye. There was nothing to say all night, at one o'clock in the middle of the night, the train arrived at Lin'an Station, although the sky was still completely dark, but the gas lamp at the station platform was lit, they arrived at this time, naturally they could not get out of the station, they had to rest in the station first, if you want to save money, you can also squint at the waiting station of the station for half a night.

Originally, the people who followed Shi Miyuan's Military Intelligence Department asked for a room at the bottom of the pavilion for him, but Shi Miyuan insisted on changing to the top level after learning about it. The top floor of the station is five floors, and under the reinforced concrete structure, it just has a panoramic view of the near and far, but for people of Shi Miyuan's age, it is a little difficult to climb upstairs.

When it was daylight, Shi Miyuan used the flush toilet and stood on the balcony for a long time. The railway station is in the original Wulinfang, and the top floor where he is located is a few points higher than the Lin'an city wall, although it is a reinforced concrete structure, the appearance still maintains the ancient architectural style of Lin'an as much as possible. From here, you can see the buildings and factories outside the city walls to the north, and many of the boilers are smoking, making it look like smoke is rising. Within the city wall, there is still a pavilion with flying eaves and bucket arches, and the dilapidated houses of the poor families who originally leaned against the city wall have now been demolished a lot, and replaced by the gardens expanded by rich merchants and dignitaries.

The biggest change is the street, in addition to the original royal street, the streets in Lin'an City are very narrow, that is, the royal street, and the royal street in Bianliang is not the same. However, this is not the case now, as the poor moved closer to the city walls of the factory, and the large-scale road planning and construction has greatly changed the streets of Lin'an. The road is straighter, wider and not to mention, the green separation on both sides of the road separates the carriageway from the sidewalk, and in many of the slightly more spacious places, there are street gardens, or a living spring, or a small pavilion, which is always inseparable from the green. Although it is winter at the end of the year, the grass and trees are withering, but when you look at it from a high place, you still feel that the spring scenery is permanent.

Shi Miyuan was silent, if it is said that the recovery of the Central Plains is the martial arts of the Son of Heaven, then the beautiful city in front of him is the Wenzhi of the Son of Heaven.

Shi Miyuan's return to Lin'an, only Zhao Youju and Cui He knew, Shi Miyuan's own family was also very cautious, and after reporting to the emperor that he had arrived in Lin'an, he stayed in the pavilion and did not move an inch. Zhao Youju was also very relieved after getting the report of the Military Intelligence Department, Shi Miyuan made a contribution in helping him to take the position, many things that Zhao and Ju were unwilling to do, Shi Miyuan did it for him, he had a great deal for the Great Song Dynasty, but for Zhao and Ju personally, he was meritorious, he could have self-knowledge and no longer make waves, so Zhao and Ju could also ensure a good death.

Half a month has passed in a blink of an eye, the New Year has passed, but Shi Miyuan has never received the news of the Son of Heaven. Originally, he was just begging to return to his hometown to retire, but the Son of Heaven summoned himself to Beijing, but he entered Beijing for more than half a month, but he didn't see himself, how did the Son of Heaven want to settle himself in his heart?

On the night of the Spring Festival of the seventh year of Yanhuang, Jinwu in Lin'an City couldn't help it, the sound of firecrackers was endless, the fireworks passed through the night, the sky above Lin'an City was like day, Shi Miyuan saw more than one place bursting with fire, and the sharp whistle of the water dragon team also sounded everywhere. Although the festive brought excitement, but also brought more than usual fires several times more, fortunately, Lin'an Mansion responded in time, the water dragon team did not take a holiday, and increased the commission, which quickly extinguished the fire and did not cause a catastrophe.

The train station has quieted down, no longer returning to the hustle and bustle of the past, that is, the errand officers of the railway station, except for a few on duty, most of them have gone home for the New Year. Shi Miyuan stood in front of the balcony, looking at the lights of thousands of homes in Lin'an City, he stood alone for a long time, only feeling physically and mentally exhausted. After struggling in the officialdom for fifty or sixty years, in the end, it was a person who faced the prosperity in the dark night: the excitement was someone else's, and he had nothing.

Just then, he heard a knock on his door.

Shi Miyuan's heart moved, and before he could greet him, the people from the Military Intelligence Department went to open the door, and then he was stunned, turned his head to Shi Miyuan and said, "Mr. Shi, someone is visiting." ”

The person who came to visit Shi Miyuan was a completely unexpected figure: Cui He.

Cui He was afraid of the cold, so he was dressed thickly, and his body looked a little bloated, because he had just climbed five floors, he was so tired that he was out of breath, and he was supported by a few relatives, compared with Shi Miyuan's calm and leisurely, it looked a little embarrassed. Shi Miyuan knew him, but he hadn't met for many years, and he hadn't recognized him when he first met, so Cui He relieved himself and said: "Old Cui and I've seen Mr. Shi." ”

Shi Miyuan was shocked, Cui He put his posture so low, but he didn't dare to hold it up, and hurriedly stepped forward to hold Cui He's arm: "Why did Cui Xianggong say this, it turned out that Shi Mou should go to see Cui Xianggong, but Shi Mou was not good at coming to the door, so it was postponed to this day...... Cui Xianggong, please come in, please come in, there is a charcoal fire in the house, it is warmer than outside! ”

At the beginning of this meeting, the two old men did not burst out of any sparks or anything like that, they were used to swimming in the sea, even if they had some disdain for each other in their hearts, they would not show it on the surface.

After taking a seat, Cui He smiled and said: "Cui is here, first of all, it is the meaning of the official family, the official family said that Shi Lao was alone in Lin'an, but he was afraid that Shi Lao would be lonely, so he sent Cui to talk to Shi Lao." ”

"Don't dare, don't dare, how dare the criminal minister pay attention to the officials......" Shi Miyuan's face remained unchanged, so he was not surprised to watch the flowers bloom and fall in front of the hall, but Cui He secretly laughed in his heart, but his face was as warm as spring: "Mr. Shi has made great contributions to making decisions, and the Son of Heaven has never forgotten it, although he has been idle in Liuqiu all these years, it is to let Mr. Shi see more of the way to govern Liuqiu, and it is also the intention of protecting the heroes......"

Cui He talked wildly, but the most important reason for not mentioning the exile of Shi Miyuan was that he threatened the imperial power, and the two went around for a long time, and Cui He finally mentioned the right thing.

"Tomorrow is the first day of the Lunar New Year, Your Majesty will sacrifice heaven and earth, and after the sacrifice, you will set up a banquet in the banquet hall to entertain the envoys of various countries, noble relatives in Beijing and important ministers of the dynasty, Your Majesty sent Cui to invite Mr. Shi to participate, tomorrow there will be a carriage to pick up, and please Mr. Shi do not refuse."

Shi Miyuan didn't know what Zhao Youju's idea was, so after hearing the news, he was stunned for a moment, and then responded.

Note 1: Shi Miyuan has been an official since he was sixteen years old, so it is said that he has been up and down in officialdom for fifty or sixty years, but in fact, the ancients took on great responsibilities much earlier than people now think.