Wang Shichong said curiously: "The early years of Renshou? Is it that early? ”

Li Jing nodded: "Yes, the Han family actually saw that when the emperor abolished the former prince Yang Yong, he dismissed the high servant and killed generals like Wang Shiji and Shi Wansui, they already had a sense of sadness for the rabbit and the fox, and the king was like a tiger, even if the emperor was already very wise, when the world was stable, he no longer needed a general like the Han family, and the relationship between Yang Guang and the Han family has not been good, Han Shige is afraid of his future and does not want to sit still." ”

Wang Shichong breathed a sigh of relief: "So Han Shige intentionally befriended us?" ”

Li Jing smiled: "This is natural, I came here today to have a showdown with you, and I also discussed it with him in advance." Although my cousin is not so scheming, he is straightforward and bold, and if there are really troubled times in the future, he will definitely be a pioneer under the lord. ”

Wang Shichong smiled and said, "Brother Han is willing to live under me? ”

Li Jing nodded and said, "Cousin has carte blanche to entrust Li to negotiate with the two of you, if the lord is the lord of heroes, then our Han family and the Li family are willing to be driven by the lord; On the other hand, if you are not the person we expect, then you can cooperate equally; If you are an ambitious wolf like Xiao Miao, then we will be enemies in the future, this is what I Li Jing thinks, and it is also my cousin's answer. ”

When Wang Shichong heard this, he sat up straight on the horse, and solemnly clasped his fists and saluted: "Brother Han and the pharmacist are willing to look up to me Wang Shichong like this, which really makes me terrified. Shichong's heart sincerely hopes that the world is peaceful, and the troubled times we are talking about are better never to come, but if there is really that day. I have to rely on the two of you to help. ”

Li Jing smiled. He saluted on the horse: "Lord, you are too polite." Now we all have to call you the lord, I, Li Jing, am optimistic that the lord can lead everyone to a peaceful world and come out. ”

Wei Zheng smiled and said, "We have a pharmacist and Brother Han to join, so why worry about a big deal!" By the way, what is Hu Sizheng's position? ”

Li Jing thought about it carefully and said, "This Hu Sizheng's attitude is elusive. When my cousin came here to be a stab. He's been here for a long year now. The relationship with the previous assassin is not bad, Hu Sizheng is now in the year of knowing the destiny of heaven, Hu Si family has few friends in Daxing, and he himself has been serving in the field for many years, Sima and other official positions, so I may not have hope of returning to the center of the court as an official. ”

As soon as his cousin came here, Hu Sizheng took the initiative to say that he would not fight for credit, would not push over, and gave all the achievements to his cousin, and his cousin was very strange for a while. There is even a suspicion that he has some conspiracy. Later, I learned that this Hu Sizheng was a foreign official when he was young. also has the mind to climb up, and it is not good to follow several assassins in a row. ”

"Because if the officials under the assassin are too capable and steal all their political achievements, they will still suffer losses in the assessment, so Hu Sizheng does not suffer less of this kind of thankless and hated and excluded by others for doing many things. He is only doing things now, giving all the credit to his cousin, so that he can assist several assassins in Yingzhou safely, and he will no longer be demoted and transferred as before, and maybe there will be a chance to rise in the future. ”

Wang Shichong nodded and asked, "Then is this Hu Si Zhengken willing to cooperate with us to seek great things?" ”

Li Jing thought about it carefully, but still shook his head: "It's hard to say this. Although Hu Sichun has a bad reputation, after all, he became the prime minister in the Northern Wei Dynasty, but when it came to Hu Sizheng's generation, he was completely excluded from the center of power, and he didn't even do it. It is impossible to say that Hu Sizheng has no ideas in his heart, after all, he is not incompetent. ”

"But in Li's opinion, Hu Sizheng was dissatisfied in his heart, and secretly complained, and it is very likely that he has some resentments that he will never meet, but if he wants to hold his head and follow us with one heart, in order to prepare for an uncertain and troubled world in the future, it is basically no fun."

Wang Shichong nodded: "In this way, the pharmacist means that there is no need to befriend Hu Sizheng, just need to do business with him?" ”

Li Jing blinked his eyes and said, "No, that's not what Li meant, Li felt that he could establish an unusual personal relationship with Hu Sizheng, in other words, he could be friends with him." If it is convenient for the lord, he can also help recommend him in the court, and if he can be transferred from the local government to the central government and enter some real power departments in Shangshu Province, then presumably the Husi government will be grateful to the lord and Dade, and may take the initiative to help us in the future. ”

Wang Shichong smiled: "The pharmacist means that we are friends with Hu Sizheng, but we don't reveal major matters to him, but we just don't ask for retribution, if he can help us in the future, it's best, if he can't help us, at least it won't harm us, is that what it means?" ”

Li Jing smiled: "Yes, that's what it means." The lord just said that he wanted to establish his own power and intelligence network here, to be honest, Hu Sizheng has been in Yingzhou for four or five years, with his shrewdness, will he not see what Xiao Mo has done? I don't believe it at all. But he pretended to be confused, ignored it, and actually didn't want to offend the deep-rooted Xiao Liang forces here, from this point of view, he was not much loyal to the imperial court. ”

Wei Zheng sighed: "I see, Wei has always wondered, why Xiao Miao's conspiracy was discovered by an outsider like the pharmacist, and Hu Sizheng, who knows everything about the situation in Yingzhou, knows nothing about it, listening to you say this, he can't do it, he can't do it!" ”

Wang Shichong's brows furrowed, and he asked, "Does this Hu Sizheng have established his own forces in Yingzhou, such as a secret intelligence network, to control the situation here?" ”

Li Jing shook his head: "No, although this point is quite unexpected by Li, but it is really not." Hu Sizheng only has a businesslike attitude here, and for such things as arresting thieves and arresting fugitives, he is completely handed over to Sima in the state to handle, and he is only responsible for civilian affairs such as money, grain, and persuasion, and agricultural mulberry, and does not mix with the affairs of the government soldiers and espionage. ”

Li was also a little surprised by this at first, and later learned some things from other sources, as if it was because Hu Sizheng was fighting with the then assassin Shi when he was serving in other states and counties. The hand is stretched too long. He also snatched military and intelligence matters that did not belong to him. As a result, he was impeached and demoted. ”

"This kind of thing has happened many times in his more than 30 years of exile career, so he should have learned his lesson now and didn't care about anything else."

Wang Shichong said curiously: "Oh? How could it be! In this way, the intelligence matter in this state is handed over to Lei Shimeng, the head catcher, and Dong Jingzhen, the deputy head catcher? ”

Li Jing smiled: "That's right, these two people are from big local families in Yingzhou, and their ancestors have been local officials in Xiao Liang's court before, and they have always been thinking about the benefits of the Xiao family." So after Xiao Mo came here. It was very easy to gain their allegiance, and with them as an umbrella, it was very convenient for them to develop naturally. ”

"As for Chen Ling, he is just the Sima of Benzhou, in charge of the affairs of the state's government soldiers and ordnance, according to my observation, he moved a lot of doormen and villagers in Lujiang to this Yingzhou, naturalized, and became the people of Yingzhou, and he can also justifiably be his personal guard in the name of service."

"The more than 100 soldiers who escorted us to Xiao Miao's courtyard today. It was the personal guards he brought from Lujiang, and Chen Ling heard that Xiao Mo had a murder here. Immediately came to such a hand, wanting to use his cronies to control the scene, in case Xiao Mo exposed something unfavorable to him and Empress Xiao here, he would destroy the evidence first. ”

Wang Shichong sighed: "No wonder this Chen Ling didn't go to the lobby with us to try the case today, but directly transferred troops, and after we left, he insisted on sending someone to send us back to the inn." ”

Li Jing said: "So Li pretended to have a big quarrel with Xiao Mo today, and left in a bad mood, at that time, Chen Ling's main mind was still on the death of Aunt Liu, and he didn't pay much attention to Li, so Li found the lord's inn so easily, but after all, there were many people there, so Li would ask the lord to go out of the city there." ”

Wang Shichong stretched out his hand and raised a big thumb finger: "The pharmacist has a far-reaching calculation and a careful mind, Wang admires." But listening to your analysis, this Chen Ling doesn't seem to be willing to give Xiao Mo a hand here, and be an overseer by the way, but also intends to establish his own power? ”

Li Jing said with a smile: "That's right, but he doesn't have too much idle funds in his hands except for the fixed amount of military salary." Although Hu Sizheng does not meddle in other people's affairs, but his own responsibilities are firmly grasped, and the money and food are strictly distributed according to customization, Chen Ling has never asked for additional money and food subsidies from Hu Sizheng, and even spent his own savings in order to let those cronies of Lujiang come here to settle down. ”

Wang Shichong smiled: "In this way, what Chen Ling hates the most should not be Xiao Miao, but this Hu Si Zhengcai." ”

Li Jing nodded: "This is inevitable, but he has no choice but to scold the eighteenth generation of ancestors of Hu Sizheng in his heart." Lei Shimeng and Dong Jingzhen are Xiao Miao's people, and he knows this, so he knows that he can't interfere with the intelligence network established by Xiao Miao, and can only secretly manage his own forces in the army, and the most important thing is money. ”

Wei Zheng and Wang Shichong glanced at each other, understanding each other, Wang Shichong sighed: "Xuancheng, thanks to the pharmacist who told us a lot of unknown secrets today, it seems that we have to think about the matter of giving Chen Ling five million money." ”

Li Jing smiled slightly: "Actually, when I heard the two of you mention the six million money just now, I was secretly shocked at first, but if you think about it carefully, there is no problem with the disposal of the two, and it doesn't hurt to give Chen Ling five million, he can't develop." ”

Wang Shichong shook his head, and a trace of doubt flashed in his eyes: "The pharmacist just said that Chen Ling was short of money, and he couldn't develop it, and now he said that it would be okay to give him five million, isn't this a bit of a contradiction?" ”

Wei Zheng laughed: "Lord, I understand what the pharmacist means, he should be saying that Chen Ling can only control the government soldiers in this Yingzhou, but he can't control the arrest of thieves and bandits in the yali of this state, and only these people are dealing with the three sects and nine streams in the market all day long, and can establish their own intelligence network." ”

"As for the soldiers under his control, they just farm and cultivate in peacetime, and they are ordered to be requisitioned in wartime, and it is impossible for him, Sima, to summon and command these people casually, at most let his cronies from Lujiang run errands, so Chen Ling can't spend it even if he has money, right?"

Li Jing nodded and said, "Mr. Wei is right. As long as Lei Shimeng and Dong Jingzhen are in Yingzhou, they will not let this Chen Ling let go of his own intelligence line, relying only on his foreign soldiers. You won't be able to get acquainted with the ground here for a few years. ”

"Li has a deep understanding of this in the year he has been here. This Yingzhou people are quite repulsive to people from other places. Probably because this place has changed hands between several large countries for many years, they feel that outsiders cannot be trusted, and only the villagers who have lived together for hundreds of years are worthy of dependence. ”

"And there are a lot of Jingxi cave barbarians in this Yingzhou, which are the barbarians in the villages that Li visited last time. They did not obey the king, and from time to time they would go down the mountain to rob the Han people, so the local Han people often formed associations to defend themselves, and they had a natural wariness of outsiders. The last time Li visited the area of the Great Hongshan Mountain, he felt very deeply. If it weren't for this official body, plus more than a dozen capable guards accompanying him, I am afraid that this life would be confessed there. ”

Wang Shichong said: "Are people here really so xenophobic? So if you say that, it won't be easy for me to establish my own power here in the future? ”

Li Jing said: "Yes, unless the lord can control this Lei Shimeng and Dong Jingzhen, or drive these two away, let his trustworthy and capable person be the head catcher here." ”

Wei Zheng's eyes flashed with light: "Pharmacist, you just said that the locals are xenophobic, but the officials such as the Assassin History, Changshi, and Sima in this state were sent by the imperial court. They have no choice but to accept it. But these headhunters and other out-of-house officials are all locals, can they arrange their own people after driving away Lei Dong and the others? I'm afraid not. ”

Li Jing smiled: "That's what the two of you have to think about!" Li will soon follow his cousin back to Beijing, and the matter here is also weak, but I believe that the lord will definitely find a good solution, of course, the premise is to kick Lei Dong and the others away. ”

Wang Shichong thought about it carefully and said, "I will find a way to solve this problem myself in the future." I have one last question left, is Hu Sizheng really to the point where he doesn't even turn a blind eye to the big case of rebellion? Is he wise enough to protect himself, or is he also ambitious? ”

When Li Jing heard this, he didn't speak immediately, lowered his head and pondered for a while, before he slowly spoke: "This matter is really difficult to say, because Hu Sizheng is a person who hides himself very well in Li's opinion, and it is difficult to see his true thoughts clearly. He should know about Xiao Miao, but he never pokes it, and even for a while I thought he might be Xiao Miao's person, because he never gave Chen Ling convenience. ”

"But later, I stared at Xiao Mi for a long time and found that he actually had a secret connection with Chen Ling, but he never had any contact with Hu Sizheng, and it should be possible to rule out the possibility that Hu Sizheng was Xiao Miao's party. As for whether he is anti-minded himself, or simply doesn't want to take care of things, it is unknown. ”

Wang Shichong smiled and said, "We'll figure out this matter, pharmacist, are you going back to Daxing with Brother Han in three days?" ”

Li Jing waved his hand: "No, let's go back to Luoyang, just when you left Luoyang, Yang Guang also officially moved the capital, and ordered us to go directly to the Eastern Capital when we go back to restore our lives." ”

Wang Shichong was slightly stunned: "So fast? ”

Li Jing nodded and said: "Yue Guogong moved the entire Luoyang City to the east for more than ten miles this time, and it can be said that he built another new city, which is completely different from the old Luoyang in the Han and Wei dynasties, but after all, he has hundreds of thousands of servants to do it together. ”

"And Luoyang is close to Luoshui, the transportation is convenient, the wood for building the city can float down the river, and the stones are everywhere in the north of the mountain, and it is not slow to repair. Before you leave, most of the entire project has been completed, and the Xianren Palace has been completed and can be moved in by Yang Guang. ”

In addition, Yang Guang has always been obsessed with the Yangzhou River where he stayed before, and he wished to set off from Luoyang as soon as possible so that he could revisit the old place. Therefore, as soon as Yang Guang heard that the palace in Luoyang was completed, he couldn't wait to move over, and by the way, he asked the civil and military officials and princes and nobles to move with him. ”

Wei Zheng smiled and said, "The pharmacist is right, a very important reason why Yang Guang moved the capital to Luoyang is to facilitate him to go to Jiangdu to play. I heard that at the same time as the construction of Xianren Palace, he also asked the famous skilled craftsman, the nephew of the former Guozi priest He Tu, and the current Taifu Secretary He Chou, to build the dragon boat he took when he went down to the river capital. ”

Wang Shichong's heart moved, and he hurriedly said, "What's the matter? Is it the old pedant who wrote to the emperor during the opening of the emperor's reign, saying that Su Wei formed a party for personal gain, and caused the first emperor to let Su Wei read Xie Hui's biography in public above the court, and then dismissed him from office? ”

Wei Zheng nodded, and said: "It is this person, He Tuo is a famous scholar, his son He Chou, is a famous skilled craftsman, during the Kaihuang period, he once went to Lingnan, said that the Lingnan barbarians and Ning came violently, He Chou was added to the opening of the mansion because of merit, and became a four-grade official, and later he was also responsible for the construction of the mausoleum of the Empress of Literature and the Emperor of Literature together with Yu Wenkai, the Emperor was very satisfied with the Empress of Literature and his own mausoleum during his lifetime, and finally when he was dying, he also said in front of Yang Guang that thanks to He Chou, he was able to travel underground with the Empress of Literature, If you want Yang Guang to reuse it in the future, he will be thick. ”

Wang Shichong nodded again and again when he heard this: "This He Chou sounds the same as Yu Wenkai, who will be the chief eunuch, just a professional technical talent, the first emperor was frugal by nature, he didn't like exquisite and luxurious things, and he didn't like to build a lot of buildings." Therefore, He Chou was useless as a hero in the first emperor's dynasty, probably because of this reason, the first emperor wanted to give him an errand to quell the rebellion, so that he could make up for his military merits to be promoted, which could be regarded as making up for his apology. ”

Wei Zheng laughed: "What the lord said is extremely true, according to the law of our dynasty, those who do not have military merits or outstanding political achievements and are excellent in the assessment shall not be promoted." Because the emperor was not good at luxury, a skillful master like He Chou had nothing to do for many years, and naturally he couldn't be promoted, so the emperor would send him to fight a battle without difficulty, and accumulate some military merits to be promoted. ”

Wang Shichong laughed, waved his hand on the horse, and said: "Pharmacist, Xuancheng, although this He Chou had nothing to do in the first emperor's time, but now that the new emperor has ascended the throne, I am afraid that he will be busy soon." ”

When Wang Shichong said this, he suddenly remembered something, his face changed slightly, and said: "No, Yang Guang is going to build the eastern capital Luoyang this time, and he is designated to be supervised by the Yue Guo Gong, Yu Wenkai and Feng Lun are both leading majors, why is there less of this?" ”

Li Jing smiled and said, "Because He Chou was sent to do another thing, which is to repair dragon boats." ”

Wang Shichong had heard about this just now, and now he reminded Li Jing that he immediately remembered it, and he smiled: "This is too big and useless, isn't that the dragon boat the kind of boat used for racing during the Dragon Boat Festival, is it necessary to build it with a master like He Chou?" Besides, does the emperor want to compare the speed of rowing with people? Do you want to take a dragon boat instead of a big boat? ”

Li Jing shook his head: "The lord misunderstood, the dragon boat built by He Chou is not the kind of thing for the Dragon Boat Festival, but a luxury boat for Yang Guang to ride when he goes down to Jiangdu." Li only heard it slightly, but what he heard also surprised Li, which Mr. Wei should know best, so let him say it. ”

Wei Zheng nodded, and said, "That dragon boat Wei has seen it with his own eyes, it is forty-five feet high, two hundred feet long, and there are four floors of buildings on it. The top floor is the main hall and the inner hall, the main hall can meet hundreds of courtiers, and the inner hall can also receive more than 20 people. In addition, there are also east and west court halls for officials to rest. ”

"The two floors in the middle add up to more than 120 rooms, all made of fine sandalwood, and inlaid with gold and jade. There are also dozens of rooms on the lowest floor, all of which are used by the palace ladies and chamberlains. This is the big dragon boat that Yang Guang himself rides. ”

"And the boat that Empress Xiao is riding is called Xiang Yan, except that it is a little smaller than Yang Guang's dragon boat in terms of specifications, and it is also a four-story building. In addition, there are nine floating boats, all of which are three-storey water palaces. ”

"When I went to the shipbuilding site at Luokou in the eastern capital, these giant dragon boats had already been built, and there were also thousands of ships according to different sizes and scales, such as Yangcai, Vermilion Bird, Cangyan, White Tiger, Xuanwu, Feiyu, Qingjiao, Lingbo, Fifth Floor, Dojo, Xuantan, Ban, Huangfu, etc., for the harem, kings, princesses, hundred officials, monks and nuns, Taoist priests, and Fanke, most of which have been built."

In addition, thousands of warships, large and small, were built for the accompanying sergeants. Lord, have you ever seen it, the water surface at the mouth of Naluo has been filled with tens of thousands of boats, and the more than ten big dragon boats with three or four stories can be seen at a glance. ”

Wang Shichong was so shocked that his mouth couldn't close, and after listening to Wei Zheng finish speaking in one breath, it took a long time to react, and he sighed: "My God, is this going out to patrol the Jiangdu?" I'm afraid that there weren't so many ships when the Great Sui destroyed Nanchen. (To be continued......)