Xue Huai'an leaned in the carriage, his eyes were half-squinted, and he was a little sleepy, but he still fought hard, looked at Zhu Lingyue opposite, and asked softly: "Governor Zhu, what do you think of Gao Lian?" ”

"Adults mean the grain planting?"

"Exactly!" The carriage didn't look very remarkable on the outside, but it was very comfortable inside, leaning on the soft carriage, Xue Huaian stretched his legs slightly: "Of course you understand, their purpose, in the final analysis, is to exchange grain for land!" ”

"Xia Guan understands." Zhu Lingyue said with a wry smile: "Lord Ministry, as the saying goes, it is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, and if the imperial court wants to rebuild the northwest, it is like making a meal, without rice grain, without rice to cook, there is no way to talk about the reconstruction of the northwest." He raised his hand and stroked his black beard under his chin, "If you want to rebuild the northwest, the top priority is to stabilize the people's hearts, so that the people will not wander around, and if you want them to keep to themselves, the first thing is to let them fill their stomachs." ”

Xue Huai'an bowed his head slightly and said, "What Governor Zhu means, this official understands. It's just that these local gate valves are already very powerful, if they really occupy the land with grain this time, the strength will be even more inflated, Governor Zhu, have you ever thought about this problem? Sitting upright, he said solemnly: "A piece of cake, ten people eat it separately, only a small part of each person, there is no need to worry, but if a piece of cake is eaten by two people, you can eat enough, and the people who are full will ...... Sometimes it's dangerous. ”

"Your Excellency, are you worried that these places will take the opportunity to make the gate valve bigger?"

Xue Huai'an sighed: "Others don't know, Governor Zhu, you should know that I have been a great Qin for 20 years, and although this northwest is part of the empire, it is also the place that the imperial court has always been most worried about. At the beginning, the countries of the world were in dispute, and the northwest land was the most fierce, although Feng Hanxiao attacked and destroyed the northwest countries, but the countries still had unfinished sins, hidden in the people, but they did not want to go against the court for a day, in order to make a comeback. Fu Xu said: "Feng Han is alive with a smile, and the northwest does not dare to act rashly, and the three gate valves in the northwest have always been in a state of mutual checks and balances, maintaining the stability of the northwest." But now that Feng Han is dying of laughter, the gate valve of Xiguan Road has suffered a heavy blow again, the stone pressing on the northwest is gone, and the check and balance situation between the gate valves has also been destroyed. ”

Zhu Lingyue said with a solemn expression: "Lord Ministry, the lower officials have the courage to say that the northwest change has occurred, and now we are not on guard against the change, but to suppress the change." ”

"Oh?"

"Xia Guan has reported to the adults before that the people in the northwest are in turmoil, and it seems that they are only small-scale bandits, but Xia Guan is worried that if the imperial court can't quickly come up with measures to appease the people in the northwest, then this group of small-scale people bandits will soon snowball, and in the end it will be impossible to clean up." He leaned forward and said in a low voice: "Xiaguan said a word that lost his head, the former dynasty that has perished, wasn't it because of the rebellion of a small group of displaced people at the beginning, but it could not be appeased, which led to the chaos in the world later?" ”

Xue Huaian nodded and said, "Not bad." ”

"Of course, the previous dynasty can't be compared with my Great Qin." Zhu Lingyue said: "But the people's troubles are not to be taken lightly in all dynasties. The court could not appease them, they were starving, and they could only wander around, and those with other intentions would definitely take this opportunity to bewitch them...... This is the case with the Northwest bandits now in turmoil. What Xia Guan is most worried about now is that the imperial court will not be able to appease the refugees in the northwest, which will make the riots in the northwest bigger and bigger! ”

Xue Huai'an said: "The imperial court will naturally think of something, maybe the saint is already thinking of a way." The situation in the northwest, Governor Zhu still has to stabilize, after all, we still have the army in hand. ”

"My lord, it's also the worry of the lower officials." Zhu Lingyue smiled bitterly: "The Northwest Army is the army of the empire, loyal to the Holy Lord, this is naturally true, but adults must not forget that most of the soldiers of the Northwest Army are also natives of the Northwest, and those refugees have their parents and brothers ......!" Lowered his voice: "Just a few days ago, there was a small group of rumors in the army who intended to mutiny, but fortunately, the subordinate got the news in advance and dealt with it secretly...... Xia Guan is only worried that this is not the last ......! ”

Xue Huai'an's color changed suddenly, and he lost his voice: "You mean...... Mutiny in the Northwest Army? ”

"That's true." Zhu Lingyue's expression was solemn: "This matter is very important, the old general is still recuperating, and the lower officials don't even dare to report it to the old general." In this mutiny, the subordinate got the news in advance, which can be regarded as a proper handling, but whether the subordinate can still know in advance about the next mutiny, then no one knows. ”

Xue Huai'an became nervous and said, "This is not a trivial matter, this is ...... if there is a mutiny!" Thinking of the possibility of a mutiny in the Northwest Army, Xue Huai'an trembled in fear.

At this time, he felt more and more the tension of the situation in the northwest.

The northwest did not become peaceful because of the withdrawal of the Western Liang people, on the contrary, when the external enemy retreated, the real civil strife had just begun, and the horror of the internal strife was often greater than that of the external enemy.

"If the military and civilians have no food, they cannot be stable." Zhu Lingyue said solemnly: "Before the lower officials, they thought that the imperial court could transfer grain and grass from the Guannei, but in the past two months, not a single grain has entered the northwest ......!" After a pause, he stared at Xue Huai'an: "Tianmen Dao rebellion, the imperial court has no energy to appease the northwest, Xia Guan really can't think of a way for a while, just a few days ago, Gao Lian's gang suddenly came to Beiyuan County, they originally wanted to find the old general, but the old general was in extremely poor health, and there was no time to meet them, it happened that Xia Guan also came to Beiyuan County, and learned that Gao Lian and they asked to see the old general, so they met them on behalf of the old general. ”

"They came just to rent land?"

"Yes!" Zhu Lingyue nodded and said: "At the beginning of listening to their proposal, Xia Guan only felt ridiculous, just taking out the grain seeds, he wanted to easily obtain the land of Xiguan Dao, this group of people is really whimsical. But after two days, Xia Guan calmly thought about it, Lord Ministry, although their proposal is very ridiculous, but ...... But there is no way out. ”

Xue Huai'an leaned in the carriage and sneered: "According to their proposal, there are as many large households as cattle in the customs with grain, and everyone takes grain to the northwest to farm, so can it be repaid?" ”

"In the northwest, the people in the customs are afraid that they won't be able to get through." Zhu Lingyue sighed: "Although there is no lack of intrigue between the gate lords in the northwest, if there are foreign forces, they will definitely unite and exclude them. Not to mention the others, the lower officials have been officials in Tianshan Road for many years, although there are also businessmen in Tianshan Road in the Guan, but it is impossible to form a foundation in Tianshan Road, as long as the merchants in the Guannai are a little bigger locally, the local gate valve will do everything possible to exclude them, and even the government cannot interfere. ”

Xue Huai'an frowned and asked, "Governor Zhu, in your opinion, do you really want to agree to their proposal?" ”

"If you don't agree, the lower officials naturally can't be the master." Zhu Lingyue said with a straight face: "But since the lower officials eat the king's luck, they naturally want to be loyal to the king." In the situation in the northwest, even if the lower officials offended the imperial court, they would be outspoken. If the imperial court wants peace in the northwest, it can only take out grain, and if it can't get food, the northwest will be chaotic. ”

Xue Huai'an narrowed his eyes.

"Lord Ministry, the gate valve provides food, which can solve the urgent need. The common people know that there is grain to grow, so naturally they will not make trouble again, and these gate valves have also promised to cultivate in Xiguan Road, and they can only hire the people of Xiguan Road to make their lives settle. Zhu Lingyue said: "Even if the imperial court is really exempted from paying taxes for three years, it doesn't need to spend another tael of silver in the northwest, and within three years, it will be self-sufficient in the northwest." Three years later, the Northwest regained its vitality and still paid taxes to the imperial court as usual. He sighed and said with a wry smile: "The northwest has suffered this catastrophe, if the imperial court can really be exempted from paying for three years, the lower officials believe that the people in the northwest will definitely be grateful to the saint, which is enough to appease the people of the northwest." ”

Xue Huai'an was silent for a moment, and finally said: "The stakes are high, you and I can't be the master." However, after the official returns to Beijing, he will explain the situation here to the saint, and if the saint deals with it, the official will not dare to guarantee it. ”

Zhu Lingyue took out a few silver tickets from his sleeve, "My lord, this is the entanglement they gave to the adults on the road, and please smile at the adults!" ”

Xue Huai'an was stunned, he had already seen that this silver ticket was actually fifty thousand taels of silver, and it added up to two or three hundred thousand taels of silver, and frowned: "Governor Zhu, what does this mean?" ”

"Don't get me wrong, my lord, the lower officials don't have any money to give to the ministers to make entanglements." Zhu Lingyue sighed: "They want the adults to say a few more good words in front of the saint, and these silver are just people who they use as an excuse to be filial." ”

Xue Huai'an raised his hand and retreated, shook his head and said: "This official also likes silver, but this silver is hot, and this official doesn't dare to take it!" Without waiting for Zhu Lingyue to speak, he had already changed the topic and said: "This official will stay for another day tomorrow, and set off to return to Beijing the day after tomorrow." Tomorrow, I will go to meet Her Royal Highness the princess first, and then visit the old general, and ask Governor Zhu to arrange it! ”

Zhu Lingyue asked, "My lord, how will this princess go to Xiliang?" Where is Princess Xiliang now? ”

Xue Huai'an did not hide it this time, and briefly talked about the situation in Xiliang at the moment, roughly that there was civil strife in Xiliang, and the newly appointed regent had abolished the marriage, and both parties no longer had to marry each other's princesses.

Zhu Lingyue's face was full of surprise, and he felt a little unbelievable.

The next day, under Zhu Lingyue's arrangement, Xue Huai'an and Chu Huan went to meet the princess first, and the princess was naturally protected by heavy soldiers and arranged in a mansion in the city.

Of course, the first person I saw was not Princess Jingyun, but the eunuch who came with Princess Jingyun on this trip, this eunuch, Chu Huan also knew, but when he entered the palace for the first time, he led himself into the palace with the general secretary Shui Lianshui Gonggong.