After the morning discussion was over, Gongsun Xu and Tian Jing and others returned to the camp. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 In the afternoon of the same day, Gongsun continued to prepare gifts and went to Gongsun Gong's house to pay a visit. Don't look at Gongsun Gong as just a Jin Cao Peng, but the currency, salt and iron are in his heart of management. It can be seen that Gongsun Du also worked hard to arrange a position for his son.

Liaodong is richer than other states and counties, mainly because there are open-pit iron mines in Liaodong County, and Liaodong is located in the Bohai Bay, and there are salt pans everywhere. In the Han Dynasty, salt and iron were all government-run, just for the official monopoly of wealth. Gongsun Du here, a small imperial court of its own, salt and iron are not only self-sufficient, but also circulated to the interior through business travel, and even traded with Korea and Ryukyu by sea, so they accumulated a lot of wealth. And these are now under the jurisdiction of Gongsun Gong.

This time, Gongsun Gong brought Tian Jing to Gongsun Gong, and the steward brought gifts to visit Gongsun Gong's house. When he arrived at the mansion, Gongsun Gong was marquis in the main hall, but it turned out that Gongsun Gong had already guessed that Gongsun Xu had suffered the loss of Gongsun Kang during the day, and he definitely came to find him at night. This Gongsun Kang had no intention of making enemies, so he gave himself a chance to recruit Gongsun Xu in vain.

The three of them sat down separately, and Gongsun continued to offer gifts, and the gift list was ten hundred-year-old Liao ginseng, 100 high-quality mink skins, ten Karasuma BMWs, and ten Karasuma beauties. Gongsun Gong smiled after reading it, but said, "When we meet for the first time, how can we make the general break the bank?" ”

The two pushed, and Gongsun Gong ordered the housekeeper in the house to receive the gift. He accompanied each other in the hall, and after a while, the banquet came up, and the three of them chatted about some Liaodong and rivers and lakes. After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, Gongsun Gong turned the topic to Gongsun Xu, "Don't worry about the general, you stay in the army for a few days, and in a few days I will enter the Taishou Mansion to discuss with my father, and I will find a good place for the general." ”

Gongsun continued to say, "Thank you so much, Lord Gongsun. But I'm not here for myself, but for adults? ”

Gongsun Gong said: "I don't know what the general means by this? ”

Gongsun continued: "May I ask the general, has you ever thought that once the Taishou Immortal dies, who can inherit the foundation of Liaodong?" ”

Gongsun Gong said: "Although my brother Gongsun Kang is a few years older than me, he is not a descendant. Both of us are now serving in the Taishou Mansion, one is in charge of soldiers and horses, and the other is in charge of money and food, so I can't see any difference between my father's relatives and relatives. Is this future heir, I'm afraid it depends on the father's will. ”

Gongsun continued, "My lord, you must know that in this troubled world, only military power is the most important. When Lord Taishou is here, it is easy to say how to arrange everything, because Lord Taishou Yu Wei is still there, and no one dares to make a mistake. But once the Taishou Lord Immortal dies, in case there is no time to clearly arrange the heir, then Gongsun Kang will take charge of the military power and will be surrounded by Xiangping, do you say that these officials support you or Gongsun Kang? Even if Lord Taishou passes on the position of heir to you, but Gongsun Kang is in charge of the army, if he has the heart of disobedience, what arrogant soldiers and fierce generals does the Lord control? “

Gongsun continued to say this, and Gongsun Gong hesitated a little: "Then according to the general, how about Gongdang?" ”

Gongsun continued, "It is only right for a general to master a force of his own. ”

When Gongsun Gong heard this, he didn't understand what Gongsun Xu meant, "Then the general is willing to help me?" ”

Gongsun continued to straighten his clothes, and then bowed to Shili, "The first time I came to the narrow, I can naturally ask for it from Toby and the adults." In the future, when the Lord will take charge of Liaodong, Gongsun will continue to open up territory for the Lord. ”

Gongsun Gong was overjoyed and helped Gongsun Xu, "If I am the lord of Liaodong, the general will definitely be rich and noble." ”

Gongsun Xu saw that he had won Gongsun Gong's trust, and continued, "Although I have 10,000 soldiers and horses to help, but the lord still has a lot to think about if he wants to ensure that he gets the throne, and my second brother Wang Qing is resourceful and can give advice to the adults. ”

Gongsun Gong glanced at Tian Jing meaningfully after hearing this, and said, "I didn't expect this Wang Sima to be so young and good at strategy. ”

Tian Jing said: "In the morning, I saw that the Taishou Lord was not angry, could it be that he was sick?" ”

Gongsun Gong said, "My father has always been healthy. It's just that I've been old and a little old in the past few years. Complexion, originally it was not bad, but in the past few months, my father invited a master from outside the party to make alchemy in the house, since taking the elixir, it seems that the furnace is needed regularly to disperse the medicinal power, after all, the father is more than fifty years old, and these girls who do the furnace are young and strong, so it is inevitable that there is some fatigue? ”

Tian Jing had seen that Gongsun Gong seemed to have excessive sexual intercourse, and it was inconvenient to ask directly, but he didn't expect to ask about taking the elixir, and these Taoist so-called elixirs were only afraid of a lot of highly toxic things such as lead and mercury. Many emperors of the past dynasties died on it, but they didn't expect Gongsun Du to like this mouthful, but they were afraid that he would die soon.

Tian Jing said: "Do you know the origin of this Taoist priest?" ”

Gongsun Gong said: "I don't know about this, but I heard that this person has been learning Taoism with the immortal Zuo Ci for many years, and he is very famous in the south." When the navy went south to Qingzhou, it was invited in Donglai County? ”

Tian Jing didn't expect that Gongsun Du's navy would be able to reach Xuzhou, and he asked, "Who is the commander of the navy going south this time?" What is his relationship with Gongsun Kang? ”

Gongsun Gong said: "The commander is He Sheng, the captain of the Lou boat, and he is a good friend of his brother Gongsun Kangnai, Mr. Wang suspects that there is something wrong with this Taoist priest?" ”

Tian Jing said: "I can't hide it, I also know a little bit about this health pill." Since the first emperor of that year, more than 200 years, there have been countless people who have taken pills during this period, but most of them have rarely died well. Just because there is a thing in the elixir, called lead and mercury, and these are toxic to the human body. Taking pills not only does not give longevity, but also makes people chronically poisoned and accelerates death. ”

Gongsun Gong said: "Sir's statement is peculiar, this is the first time I have heard it. After all, people say that the elixir can prolong life, but this matter is unbelievable? ”

Tian Jing said: "This matter is only known after the fact, and it is useless for us to talk about it now." However, Brother Ling invited a Taoist priest to give Lord Taishou alchemy, but he was afraid that what he saved might not be kind. He was afraid that he wanted to make Lord Taishou uninterested in handling government affairs, so that he could control power more effectively. There is also the fact that this Taoist priest is with Lord Taishou every day, but I am afraid that there is any news, including some thoughts of Lord Taishou, only this Taoist priest knows best. At that time, if Taishou arranges a successor, his grandson Kang will have the advantage. ”

Gongsun Gong said: "That's right. Ever since the Taoist priest came, his father had discussed the matter of immortality with him almost every day, and if there were no important matters, he had paid little attention to the various affairs under his rule. Moreover, my father built another courtyard after the Taishou Mansion, thinking that it was a place for alchemy, which was heavily guarded, and they were all henchmen arranged by Gongsun Kang. ”

Tian Jing said again: "I don't know if there are any adults who are familiar with each other from the guards of the Taishou Mansion to the guards of Xiangping?" ”

When Gongsun Gong heard this, he said, "I'm ashamed, I didn't pay much attention to this matter before. I'm afraid that most of these generals will fall to the side of their brothers. However, there is an army under the command of the Governor of the Sect and the thieves, surnamed Ma Mingtai, who has received my favor. ”

Tian Jing said: "That's right. Adults can invite Ma Tai to come to the house tomorrow, so that he can be enveloped, and if there is any wind and grass in the mansion, let this person report. Since there are no of our people in the city, then we have to find another way, the adults may get the Taishou token, once something happens, you can hold this order to let the defenders open the door and let General Gongsun's soldiers and horses enter the city? ”

Gongsun Gong, "This matter is not difficult, I can handle it." ”

Tian Jing said: "In this case, the adults will arrange these things first, especially the matter of letting Gongsun continue to garrison the army, and the adults must fight for it." If it really doesn't work, we will delay it under the pretense that the soldiers will not have enough food, but that is not a long-term solution after all. When we go back, we will also arrange some capable people to disguise themselves and blend into the city first. As for the future, we can only wait for the development of events. After all, we don't know how the Brotherhood will move. Gongsun Kang currently has the upper hand, and we can only plan and move later. ”

Gongsun Gong nodded in agreement and sent the two out of the house. Early in the morning of the second day, Gongsun Gong went to the Taishou Mansion to ask Gongsun Du for peace, and at the same time suggested to Gongsun Du: "Cao Cao and Yuan Shang have a battle in Youzhou sooner or later, although we are located in Liaodong, we should also prepare early, I hope to leave Gongsun Xu's troops and horses near Xiangping, thinking that it is mobile, or send it to Liaodong Shu to assist in the nearby defense of Yangle?" ”

Gongsun Du nodded in agreement.

Gongsun Gong said again: "Father, as the New Year approaches, the child has to go to various salt farms and mines to inspect them. Sometimes, for the sake of convenience, it is also possible to go out of the city early and come back later, and the child does not want to negotiate with the city gate guard alone every time, and then ask his father for a warrant. The child wanted a token to enter and leave the city gate at any time, and he hoped that his father would allow it. ”

Gongsun Du said: "This makes." Is there anything else, if not, my father will go to alchemy with the Taoist leader. ”

Gongsun Gong hurriedly said: "The child is fine, so he will retire." I didn't dare to disturb my father's cultivation. ”

Out of the Taishou Mansion, Gongsun Gong said secretly, what Wang Qing said is true, my father is obsessed with alchemy, I am afraid that the influence of the Taoist priest on my father will become greater and greater, and I am afraid that this will definitely not be a good thing for me in the future.

When Gongsun Gong went out of the house, just in time for the guards to change the guard, under a question, it happened that today was Ma Tai on duty, Gongsun Gong went over to greet Ma Tai a few words, and invited him to come to the house after the shift tonight, Ma Tai was flattered and hurriedly agreed. That night, Gongsun Gong rewarded Ma Tai with a lot of gold and silver, and asked him to carefully observe the news in the mansion, including the physical condition of his father Gongsun Du, whether there were doctors entering the mansion, when Gongsun Kang entered the mansion, and who he had seen. Every day, Gongsun Gong will contact him with a confidant.

Five days later, Gongsun Du once again convened the generals to discuss important matters. In the end, it was decided to let Gongsun continue to garrison the Liaodong Shu Kingdom, and at the same time, the thousands of miles of grassland around the Shuangtaizi River were used as the place for Wuhuan to settle.