If it weren't for the county king's mansion to take the initiative to contract, it would not have been Zhang Ping's turn to announce the decree.

However, in the eyes of outsiders, this matter is because the third prince is full of resentment against Han Qian's "defection", so he took over the matter of the decree so that he can send someone to question Han Qian.

Of course, Qianyang City was also full of vigilance against Zhang Ping and his party, and even on the first day of inviting them into the post house, they confiscated all the armor of their accompanying guards, and Zhang Ping and they did not enjoy the treatment of the envoys at all, except for seeing Han Daoxun on the first day, they were almost placed under house arrest in the post house, and they did not have the opportunity to meet other officials in Xuzhou.

Yao Xishui sat in front of the window, facing the newly opened peach water tree in the yard, plucking the strings in a distraught manner, at this time, it had been six days since they arrived in Xuzhou, and Han Qian had not appeared, thinking that Han Qian had been hiding in Longya Mountain and not returning to Qianyang City, so she and Chun Shisanniang didn't run to Xuzhou in vain?

Chun Thirteen Niang sat on the soft couch, bored looking at the fish pond under the window - Jinling rich and noble people dig fish ponds in the yard, raising koi carp, just to look good, the shallow pond in this yard is raised is Wuqing, but more or less can add some vitality, a year to the end of the fish can also fish out a good meal.

Listening to the sound ......of the soldiers and armor moving, Yao Xishui and Chun Shisanniang looked at the outer courtyard, and saw a team of soldiers rushing in without saying hello, Zhang Ping was so angry that his forehead was bruised, and he shouted: "We are the envoy of the decree, what do you mean?" ”

"I'm sorry, the young master will come over to see Lord Zhang in person after a while, but in case something unpleasant happens, please cooperate with Lord Zhang." The military general led by him said politely, but he did not hesitate to command his subordinates to go into the house and search the cage.

"The father and son of the Han family are really far away from the emperor of the mountain - no wonder this guy wants to defect, you see how happy they are here!" Chun Thirteen Niang sighed.

At this time, Xi Ying brought several healthy women wearing leather armor and carrying sabers at their waists into the inner courtyard, looked at Yao Xishui and Chun Thirteen Niang, and said: "If the two girls also want to see the young master, they will have to wronged you a little more, and please hand over all the hidden blades on your bodies." ”

"When did he become so daring?" Yao Xishui took out the two short swords hidden in the sleeve, put them on the case and asked the female soldier to take them, and asked disdainfully.

"As I said, I've always been afraid of death, but you think I'm so bold, so I always guess wrong." Han Qian stood at the gate of the courtyard and said from a distance.

"You fled to Xuzhou, and you were also afraid of death?" Yao Xishui asked.

"Otherwise, Miss Yao, what do you think?" Han Qian asked with a smile.

Seeing that Xi Ying personally started and searched Yao Xishui and Chun Thirteen Niang all over his body, Han Qian waved his hand and signaled the soldiers in this courtyard to go out first, leaving Xi Ying alone to accompany him.

At this time, Han Qian invited Zhang Ping and Yuan Guowei from the courtyard next door to come over and say:

"Lord Zhang and Master Yuan can go to Qianyang City safely, it seems that Tanzhou is convinced that my Han family father and son have the ambition to divide Xuzhou! Everything just now must be done for outsiders to see, I still haven't figured out how much eyeliner there is in Tanzhou, staring at my father and son, and please don't mind Lord Zhang and Master Yuan! ”

After the Xuzhou soldiers and their accompanying guards were invited out of the courtyard, seeing that Han Qian suddenly changed his face, Yao Xishui and Chun Thirteen Niang's lips were about to be stuffed with an egg, and Zhang Ping was also surprised and suspicious.

Seeing the beautiful faces of Yao and Chun, Han Qian smiled proudly, walked into the back room first, and sat down in front of the desk.

Among them, only Yuan Guowei, who was an ordinary accompanying secretary, knew the inside story, and he walked in at this time and arched his hand towards Han Qian, and said, "In the past few months, Lord Han has been tired. ”

Zhang Ping was already puzzled, so he calmed down first, sat down and stared at Han Qian and asked, "Lord Han, can you explain what is going on now?" ”

"I was ordered to 'abscond', His Royal Highness, Mr. Shen Yang, Master Zheng, Master Jiang, and Master Yuan all knew about this matter for a long time! I said that, Lord Zhang should understand what His Majesty is going to do next, right? Han Qian asked with a smile.

"Tanzhou?" Zhang Ping is also very intelligent, how could he not guess that the ultimate goal was Moutan Prefecture when he heard Han Qian pierce this layer of window paper?

And everything you do is to deceive Tanzhou!

"Why can't the Hou Ye know about it at the first time?" Chun Thirteen Niang has always been comfortable fiddling with style, and at this moment, in addition to being shocked, she could no longer suppress the dissatisfaction in her heart and asked.

She, Yao Xishui, and even Zhang Ping can be said to be unqualified, and they are not qualified to know the whole plan from the beginning, but Xinchang Marquis Li Pu, as the father-in-law of the third prince, in the eyes of everyone, he is the staunchest supporter behind the scenes of the Junwang Mansion, and he is completely kept in the dark, and it is difficult for Chun Shisanniang to feel satisfied.

To say that this was not Han Qian's intention to instigate the three princes to exclude them, who could believe it?

Yao Xishui stared at Han Qian with burning eyes, and then glanced at his father-in-law Zhang Ping, seeing that his father-in-law's eyes were calm, he thought that Han Qian actually suspected that the Evening Red Mansion was secretly colluding with Tanzhou, right?

If Han Qian hadn't confirmed that Wanhonglou had not colluded with Tanzhou at this time, maybe at the last moment, they might not have known the whole plan, right?

Han Qian smiled slightly, Yuan Guowei was here, he wouldn't explain the real reason, he just smiled: "It's not a secret." Tanzhou has spent a lot of money over the years to buy off officials in the court, and it is difficult to know who is really reliable, so the less people know about the overall plan, the safer it is, and only Lord Shen, the young eunuch of the Inner Chamberlain, knows about it. ”

Han Qian's words have no way to explain why Xinchang Marquis Li Pu was excluded at the beginning, but in Yuan Guowei's opinion, maybe Han Qian and the Xinchang Marquis Mansion are not all the way at all, and the intention is to suppress the Xinchang Marquis Mansion's right to speak around the three princes.

Yuan Guowei and Jiang Shu are supervisors in a larger sense, and they are executors to a certain extent, and they do not participate in the overall planning, so it is difficult to see through the relationship between Han Qian and Zhang Ping, Yao Xishui, and Chun Shisanniang.

Han Qian had already confessed to him that Yao Xishui and Chun Thirteen Niang were people cultivated by the Xinchang Marquis Mansion, and at this time, in his opinion, Zhang Ping should have been co-opted by the Xinchang Marquis Mansion, and at this time, they would work together for the Third Highness, of course, they were also trustworthy.

"Reminiscing about the past", Yuan Guowei really introduced the situation in Jinling in the past three months after Han Qian absconded: "Your Majesty originally considered sending the family of General Zuo Si to Xuzhou, but too many ministers in the court objected, so they had to give up, and at this time they were all handed over to the county palace for disposal. His Royal Highness will never be treated at all, and he wants Lord Han to ask General Zuo to relax. ”

Han Qian nodded, whether the situation did not allow it, or whether Emperor Tianyou was unwilling to give up the last bit of restraint on Xuzhou, it was not something he should study in detail at this time.

In addition, he and his father were officially awarded the title of Xuzhou this time, and did not openly break with the imperial court, and he arranged those Zuo Si generals who had families left in Jinling to serve as grassroots officials at the township pavilion level, and they should still be able to work with peace of mind.

For thousands of years, the central government's control over the local government has mostly stayed at the county level, and although most dynasties have established the township pavilion and fang system, these grassroots officials are almost all controlled by the township tyrants.

In the past, the central government only needed to be able to collect the corresponding levy taxes from the localities, and the control of the local tycoons could even effectively maintain the central government's rule over the localities to a certain extent, and reduce the generation of displaced people and rebellions.

Successive dynasties have also been happy to see this situation happen, but as long as the power of the townspeople is not so great as to threaten the central power.

It's just that Xuzhou can't.

The population of Xuzhou is still too small.

Even if the four clans did not make any resistance to show obedience, and even if Han Qian could further expel the forces of Tanzhou from Xuzhou, according to the old practice, the three counties of Xuzhou would not pay more than 3,000 stone grain and 3,000 pieces of cloth in a year; The total number of conscripts that can be conscripted will not exceed 600 per year; The city parking tax and commercial tax may add up to two or three thousand yuan.

This resource is only enough to barely maintain the public funds of the state capital, not to mention continuing to reclaim new fields and digging canals, not to mention raising an additional two or three thousand elite soldiers!

You must know that before he absconded, Han Qian invested more than 100,000 yuan in resources to build workshops and reclaim new fields in Xuzhou, and the money and food he received from this absconding coercion also exceeded 100,000 yuan, but it could support until April and May at most.

At present, the county prince's mansion has to prepare for war in Ezhou, and even if the Tanzhou side does not blockade the Yuanshui, it is impossible to have large-scale resources transported into Xuzhou to support the construction here.

In order to expropriate more resources from Xuzhou on the spot, it is not possible to do it with a single order, in addition to sufficient coercive force, it is also necessary to have strong enough enforcement force at the grassroots level.

Although it is a pity that the generals of Zuo Si cannot be used as military attachés, it is not beneficial to settle in the township pavilion, which is another acceptable option.

"The Han clan is currently moving into Jinling, and Jiang is in charge of harassing and blackmailing them every once in a while, to ensure that they are not likely to get too close to the crown prince. In addition to the decree from Xuzhou this time, His Majesty also issued a secret decree to Tanzhou, ordering Tanzhou to guard against Xuzhou and prohibit trade with Xuzhou, which requires Lord Han to be prepared! Yuan Guowei said.

Zhang Ping and the others didn't even know about Jinling's extra secret decree to Tanzhou, but now that they knew, it was not difficult to imagine the intention behind it.

The imperial court issued a secret decree to Tanzhou to blockade Xuzhou, on the surface, the imperial court held a grudge against the Han family father and son, and whether Tanzhou pretended to obey the will of the imperial court or wanted to put pressure on the Han family father and son, once Yuanshui was blocked, it actually gave Han Daoxun and Han Qian an excuse to confront Tanzhou in Xuzhou.

Otherwise, before the imperial court really took action against Tanzhou, what excuse did Han Daoxun, Han Qian's father and son have to uproot the forces that Tanzhou had infiltrated into Xuzhou?

As for the blackmail of the Han family, it seems that the county prince's mansion intends to calculate Han Qian's absconding account to the Han family's head, but in addition to continuing to hide people's eyes, this is also to raise money and food for the county king's mansion's preparations in Ezhou at this time.

Zhang Ping understood at this time that the three princes asked them to come to Xuzhou to deliver the decree, which was actually to cover Yuan Guowei's meeting with Han Qian.