The Son of Heaven fiddled with Liu Xiu's urgent letter, and couldn't help but want to laugh, if it weren't for Situ Yang Ci, who was sitting opposite, who had been his teacher, he would almost have laughed out loud.

The Huns died two great wizards in succession? The Son of Heaven doesn't have to think about it, he knows that this matter is definitely not as simple as Liu Xiu said, Liu Xiu probably played a very key role in it, maybe he couldn't get used to the Huns, maybe he really wanted to split the Huns, this is not clear, but if you want the Son of Heaven to believe that Liu Xiu has nothing to do with this matter, he absolutely refuses to believe it.

"What do you think?" The Son of Heaven pointed to the book on the case, coughed dryly, and forced back the smile that came to his lips.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that this matter is very important, and you must not take it lightly." Yang Ci said, his brows furrowed, not feeling any relief or joy at all, but feeling worried. "Your Majesty, the Huns still support this Shan Yu, so as long as Shan Yu obeys the orders of the imperial court, they can still hold their place in the state, if they go their separate ways......"

Yang Ci gasped and didn't dare to say any more.

"If they go their own way, then the annexed states will be chaotic, and the current strength of the annexed states is simply not enough to quell the chaos." Taiwei Zhang Huan continued: "More importantly, if the Huns are in chaos, we are too busy to take care of ourselves, and there are no soldiers available, the Xianbei people will take advantage of the weakness, and at that time, I am afraid that the entire state will suffer." ”

The Son of Heaven trembled his eyebrows and stopped smiling. He tapped lightly on the desk and pondered for a moment, "So what?" ”

"Adapt to the situation and focus on stability." Yang Ci said without thinking: "The current enemy is the Xianbei people, not the Huns. After the threat of the Xianbei people is solved, the Huns will naturally be no problem. ”

Zhang Huan also nodded, expressing his agreement with Yang Ci's opinion, and the Huns are currently in chaos. The Son of Heaven was a little frustrated, his eyes swept over the faces of Yang Ci and Zhang Huan, and finally fell on Zhang Jiao's face. Zhang Jiao was very calm, but when the Son of Heaven looked at him, he blinked his eyes.

"Anyway, the Huns will not arrive in a few days, Rong Zhen will think about it again." The Son of Heaven waved his hand and signaled that today was over. Yang Ci and Zhang Huan exchanged glances, sighed silently, got up and saluted and left. They could hear from the tone of the Son of Heaven, the Son of Heaven was not satisfied with their answer, he had to listen to Zhang Jiao's opinion next, and Zhang Jiao's opinion must be different from theirs, the Son of Heaven just didn't want them to quarrel, so let them back down first.

Zhang Jiao is an outlier in the imperial court, and if he is not cleared up as soon as possible, he is afraid that he will be a bane. Yang Ci thought as he walked. It can't be said that Zhang Jiao is a bad person, he also thinks about the people and wants to bring peace, but he is too extreme to do things, and he can't wait to solve all the problems at once. After Yang Ci took over as Situ, he tried his best, but Zhang Jiao was obviously not satisfied with his efforts, and asked him several times in front of the Son of Heaven, after you took over Situ, how much better can you be than Song Feng, and how much tax can you increase.

Yang Ci was the most annoyed by this question, but he was the most helpless. Because Yuan Kui was dismissed by the Son of Heaven because he had no political achievements, and Song Feng was forced to resign because he had no political achievements, with these two precedents, if he couldn't make achievements, he would become the third Situ to be dismissed because of his poor political performance.

In the past, Situ was often replaced, but most of them were officialdom struggles or disasters, and everyone knew that it was not a question of who was capable or incapable, and there was no shame in being dismissed. Now it's different, being dismissed from office is tantamount to incompetence, not only is the possibility of being Situ very small in the future, but the possibility of doing other similar official positions is also very small, and there is even a trend that Situ is the highest peak of civil officials, but it is also very likely to be the last official position with real power, and then up - if Situ is doing well - it is an honorary position such as Taifu. In the past, there was a shortage of Taiwei, and Situ took advantage of the situation to replace him, but now the Son of Heaven requires that he have a military background and does not want a civilian official to be a Taiwei, and Taiwei, the head of the three princes, basically has nothing to do with the literati.

None of this is explicitly stated, but everyone is aware of the implications, but they just don't say it.

Yang Ci didn't want this Situ to be the final end, let alone a failed end, but he also found that it was not easy to do a good job in Situ's position. Where does the wealth come from? If you want to increase your hukou and resettle displaced people, where will you get the land? Countless powerful families are like a group of large and small parasites, devouring the wealth of the Han at an increasing speed, and no one cares that the edifice of the Han will collapse because of this.

He can do that he is not greedy, but he can't make everyone else be like him.

In addition, there is a direct problem, the Son of Heaven took 300 people for the first time, and was finally digested by Song Feng in the Sangong Mansion and Jiuqing Temple, and today the Son of Heaven took 500 people, how to arrange these people has also become a problem that makes Yang Ciliao uncomfortable.

In general, Yang Ci, Situ, is struggling, and many of Zhang Jiao's accusations seem to be right, the problem is that it is easy to accuse, but it is difficult to find a solution, and compared to his accusation, his solution seems very naïve.

Zhang Jiao suggested that the Son of Heaven should be in the field.

Dutian? As soon as this proposal was put forward, it was unanimously opposed by the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, and it cannot be ruled out that there were those who were worried that their own interests would be damaged, but there were also those who were really worried about causing chaos because of it, and Yang Ci and Zhang Huan were among the representatives. After Lu Zhi, a candidate in the Northern Army, heard about it, he quarreled with Zhang Jiao, and Situ Mansion Peng Kongrong simply came to the door and scolded Zhang Jiao.

Zhang Jiao did not change his original intention, he insisted that the biggest problem of the Han Dynasty now is the inequality between the rich and the poor, and only by equalizing the wealth and the poor can the world be peaceful. Only by killing those powerful people who have no land and can the cultivators have their own land, can the problem of displaced people be solved, and the financial endowment can be increased.

Yang Ci was so anxious that he scolded Liu Xiu when he talked to Lu Zhi several times, it was he who led Zhang Jiao into Luoyang to discuss the Tao, which caused so many things. Zhang Jiao is a mess, and sooner or later he will cause trouble.

What makes Yang Ci even more worried is that the Son of Heaven has more and more trust in Zhang Jiao, even if the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty are scolding Zhang Jiao, it still can't change the Son of Heaven's good impression of Zhang Jiao, but makes the Son of Heaven feel that Zhang Jiao is a loyal minister.

"Ranming, there can't be chaos in northern Xinjiang." At the gate of the palace, Yang Ci looked up at the warm sunshine, and suddenly said a word.

"Yang Gong, there will be no chaos in Northern Xinjiang." Zhang Huan sighed: "I'm not worried about Northern Xinjiang, but Luoyang. ”

Yang Ci turned his head to look at him.

"It doesn't matter if this matter was provoked by Liu Xiu, even if it was, his suggestion is not bad. With the death of the great wizard, he gradually intervened in the affairs of the Huns, and eliminated the internal troubles of the Huns as much as possible, which is not bad at all. The key lies in how to grasp the proportions and to what extent to intervene, if it is too urgent, it is not appropriate to force the Huns to rebel, but to let go of this opportunity and sit back and watch the Huns sit big, it is also a good opportunity to sit. ”

Zhang Huan shook his head: "Yang Gong, I have been in Northern Xinjiang for many years, thanks to the grace of the Son of Heaven and the praise of the princes, I was made a captain." But seriously, I feel ashamed. ”

Yang Ci pondered for a moment and sighed, he knew that although Zhang Huan was famous in Northern Xinjiang, he had actually suffered a lot of grievances. He brought up another topic: "You just said ...... There will be no chaos in northern Xinjiang? ”

"Well, at least not for the time being." Zhang Huan nodded very confidently: "Duan Jiming is in Taiyuan, the south of Taiyuan can be safe, how to toss in the north, how far it can be tossed, it depends on the ability of several of his disciples." ”

Yang Ci rolled his eyes: "What if Duan Jiming can be a million soldiers alone, if there is no food, what can he do?" Do you mean that it is your credit to win the war, and it is my responsibility to lose the war? ”

Zhang Huan hurriedly waved his hand, leaned over to Yang Ci and said, "Yang Gong, you misunderstood." I mean, and the state of that mess thing...... Just throw it to Duan Jiming, don't worry about it, I don't care about it. ”

"What are you talking about?" Yang Ci smiled angrily: "Do you want to let them divide one side and establish themselves as kings?" ”

"He has the ability to divide one side, that is, success." Zhang Huan smiled, and then said: "Besides, do you think Your Majesty will give him a chance to secede?" Do you think it is Duan Cheng or Liu Xiu who has the possibility of separating one side? ”

Yang Ci pursed his lips, glared at Zhang Huan, and walked away. Zhang Huan touched his nose a little boringly, Zhang Chang walked over and looked at Yang Ci's back dissatisfied: "Hmph, what's the smugness, see how many years he can do as a Situ." ”

"Shut up!" Zhang Huan lowered his face and sighed, and Zhang Chang reluctantly closed his mouth. He didn't understand why his father was so reluctant to swallow these Confucian students, as the head of the three princes, the Taiwei was a few years older than Yang Ci, but he wanted to treat Yang Ci with a Yang Gong, but Yang Ci didn't appreciate it very much.

…… The Son of Heaven walked slowly with his hands behind his back, in the middle of winter, there are basically no flowers in the garden, only the plum blossoms are in full bloom, and the goose yellow petals that usually look inconspicuous are like small yellow balls adorned on the pale black branches, and the fragrance is bursting, refreshing.

"What do you think?"

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that he should seize the opportunity to split the Huns." Zhang Jiao followed closely behind and said softly: "The Huns believe in witches and witches, the death of the Great Wizard is a very big blow to them, if they can control the abolition of the Great Wizard, it will be more effective than the abolition of Shan Yu." If you can hold the Huns in the palm of your hand, and even turn them into household Qi people, not only will you not have to spend so much money on rewards every year in the future, but the state will also increase the population by nearly one million at once, adding countless wealth. ”

"How to control it?" The Son of Heaven stretched out his hand and pulled a plum stick, put it on the tip of his nose and sniffed it, his eyes flashing with excitement.

Zhang Jiao was silent for a while, the Son of Heaven was a little strange, and turned his head to look at him: "Is there anything you can't say?" ”

"Your Majesty, I don't know if Your Majesty knows or not, Liu Xiu has a divine object in his hand."

"Fetish?" The Son of Heaven rolled his eyes: "You mean that dagger?" I know, it's sharp, but if it's a fetish, I'm afraid it's not like it. ”

"Not a dagger." Zhang Jiao said very seriously: "It's a ring, a ring that can please the gods." ”

"God, please?" The Son of Heaven's face suddenly sank: "He never told me. ”

"Your Majesty may wish to ask my junior sister if she has seen that ring before." Zhang Jiao continued: "That ring was originally used by ministers to preach, and later fell into the hands of Liu Xiu, and Tang Yingzi is the owner of that ring, she used to be the holy daughter of Taiping Dao. ”

"Is there such a thing?" The Son of Heaven's eyes widened in shock.

"Yes, later the saintess disappeared with the ring, and by the time the minister knew, Liu Xiu had already become the owner of the ring."

"You didn't go and you wanted to come back?" The Son of Heaven crooked the corners of his mouth, trying to make himself appear as if nothing had happened, but the lingering anger in his eyes revealed his thoughts.

"This is the will of God, and the will of God cannot be violated." Zhang Jiao saw that the face of the Son of Heaven was not good, and hurriedly comforted: "Your Majesty, the gods are all recognized by the Lord, and they are not known to others, and they are not preached." Liu Xiu is His Majesty's courtier, and it is also a blessing for His Majesty to become the owner of the ring. ”

"Yes." The Son of Heaven said disapprovingly and walked forward again. He was disappointed and angry, he built an ancestral hall in the palace, worshiped Lao Tzu, Futu, and worshiped very devoutly, but he did not get any gifts from the gods, Liu Xiu had divine objects, and he knew his desire for the gods, but he never mentioned it.

He didn't tell me about such an important matter, how much did he hide from me?

"Yes, Liu Xiu learned the Mozi Five Elements Technique from it, and his martial arts have advanced greatly."

"Mozi Five Elements Technique? Martial art? The Son of Heaven turned his head in surprise: "In addition to martial arts, what else?" ”

"There is also Taoism, but he doesn't believe it."

"Don't believe me?" The Son of Heaven was curious.

"Yes. There are many unfathomable Taoist techniques in the ring, which are the coveted artifacts of cultivators, but he doesn't believe it, except for learning the Mozi Five Elements Technique from middle school, he doesn't take those Taoist techniques seriously. Zhang Jiao said helplessly: "Not only did he not believe it, but he also said that we had gone the wrong way and used some illusions of Jianghu warlocks as treasures." ”

The Son of Heaven couldn't help but laugh. Zhang Jiao and Lu Shi both performed aisle tricks in front of him, and to be honest, he also felt that the illusions performed by those vaudeville haiyu were similar. There are these people in the palace, some of them are still from the distant Great Qin, and they will perform tricks such as swallowing swords, making pills, and spitting fire, which is indeed similar to what Zhang Jiao and them performed.

"What is Mozi's Five Elements Technique?"

"It's a hand-to-hand technique."

"Will you?"

Zhang Jiao shook his head: "The minister has studied, but he felt that it was not suitable for the minister, so he gave up later." ”

"Not suitable?"

"Yes, I practiced for about half a year, and found that my body was getting weaker and weaker the more I practiced, so I gave up later." Zhang Jiao smiled bitterly: "Although the Tao is not far away, but it can't be forced, you should go with the flow." The Mozi Five Elements Technique is not suitable for everyone to practice. ”

The Son of Heaven nodded thoughtfully, thought for a moment, and suddenly asked, "Then you say, is the key technique in the room you taught not suitable for me?" ”

Zhang Jiao hesitated. He passed on the Fang Zhong Shu to the Son of Heaven, and specially sent a few female disciples who had practiced the Fang Zhong Shu into the palace, but according to the reward, although the Son of Heaven liked those female disciples very much, the cultivation of the Fang Zhong Shu was not satisfactory, and the body of the Son of Heaven showed some signs of loss. This can also be seen from the face of the Son of Heaven.

"Your Majesty, cultivation should be gradual and abstinent."

The Son of Heaven touched his nose in embarrassment and did not say any more. He continued to walk forward, "How do you think the affairs of the Huns are handled?" ”

"Your Majesty, my junior sister is a woman, why don't you let her go and find out what kind of Dao technique the Great Wizard of the Huns is cultivating first?"

"Well, that's a way to do that, too." The Son of Heaven nodded, thought for a while, and said, "At the same time, let's see if Liu Xiu can fight, it's been a few months, and there is no good news at all." By the way, can you curse the Xianbei people with Taoism? ”

Zhang Jiao wanted to speak and stopped, his heart was based on Liu Xiu's soldiers, if he wanted to take advantage of the heads of the Xianbei people, it was really not an easy task, it was a great luck to be able to return with his whole body, and he still wanted to win the battle? Unless he lied about his military exploits. However, he also knew that the Son of Heaven was now looking forward to Liu Xiu winning a few battles every day, proving that it was a wise decision for the Son of Heaven to let him go to the state, not a nonsense with a temporary surname.

As for Taoism, if he could curse people to death, then he would have cursed all those damned ones to death, where would he need to wait for the Son of Heaven to remind him.

…… Yang Ci returned to the mansion unhappy, and as soon as he entered the door, he learned that Yuan Feng was coming, saying that he was coming to see his daughter and grandson. He was stunned for a moment, knowing that these were all disguises, and there was a lot of ** related to the government. Yuan Feng is now just a tiger general, and he is also two thousand stones, but he basically has no chance to participate in the court meeting.

"Yang Gong." Yuan Feng, who heard the news of Yang Ci's return to his home, walked out of it and greeted everyone from afar, with a bright smile on his face. Yang Ci was a little unaccustomed to it, and waved his hand: "My own relatives, don't be so polite." Let's sit in the hall. He heard the cry of a child in the room, mixed with the laughter of a man, and he couldn't help but be a little strange: "The highway is coming?" ”

"Yes, he is idle at home, so he will come to see his sister and nephew, if Yang Gong is free, he can ask Yang Gong for benefits."

"He also wants to go to the North?" Yang Ci said deliberately.

"What kind of northern frontier is he going to with that little ability?" Yuan Feng hurriedly said: "He took the exam last year, and his grades were not good, but he worked hard this year, and he did well in the exam, but I don't know when these people will be able to be appointed this year?" ”

Yang Ci sighed secretly, scolded Liu Xiu again, and said perfunctorily: "I'm thinking of a way." ”

Yuan Feng nodded considerately: "I also know that you Situ has worked hard." Among the three princes, if you want to say that it is comfortable, it is still Tang Zhen's commonplace, and your hard work has fulfilled him. ”

Yang Ci didn't say anything, picked up the cup and drank to cover his face. He looked down on Tang Zhen, but he knew that behind Tang Zhen were Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong, and he couldn't act rashly until Tang Zhen had no obvious fault. Yuan Feng came to provoke him, it was really not interesting.

"Yang Gong, is there any news from Northern Xinjiang?" Yuan Feng quietly changed the topic, "Chen Taiqiu came to ask a few times, but I didn't know anything, and I didn't know how to answer him." ”

"Not yet."

"So what is Liu Xiu doing? Did the Changshui Battalion engage the Xianbei people? ”

"If there is an engagement, will Yuan Shao have no news back?" Yang Ci couldn't help it, and said angrily: "You really don't know anything about the situation in Northern Xinjiang? The Changshui battalion is a newly trained soldier, don't look at the martial arts when it is still like it, when it is really on the battlefield, who knows what it will become. You should be glad that there is no news back yet. ”

Yuan Feng was a little embarrassed, as Yang Ci said, there was no news coming back, in a sense, it was good news, because the chance of the Changshui Battalion winning the battle was too small, once the battle was engaged, the likely defeat was very large, and the sword was not long-sighted, in case Yuan Shao made any mistakes, then the loss of the Yuan family would be great.

"Actually...... We are also worried about the war in northern Xinjiang. Yuan Feng said curtly: "Although Liu Xiu is smart, he is too young, he should be allowed to go to the frontier to adapt for a period of time, starting from the army or something, this time he became a captain of Changshui, the burden is really too heavy, I'm afraid he can't bear it." ”

Yang Ci was worried, the young son of heaven, the young minister, these people all saw things too simply, is it so easy to manage such a big country? Even people like him, who are familiar with poetry and books, and have been in politics for many years, feel nervous, but they think this matter is very simple. Especially that Zhang Jiao, who says "governing a big country is like cooking a small fresh" at every turn, what does he know, is this what this sentence means?

"You can wait patiently." Yang Ci was in a very bad mood and didn't have the heart to talk to Yuan Feng anymore. He stared at Yuan Feng and said, "You have equipped Ben Chu with fifty personal guards, but have you thought about it, fifty personal guards may be able to keep Ben Chu's life, but they may not be able to affect a war." If you really want to make meritorious contributions at the beginning, shouldn't you raise more food and send it to northern Xinjiang? ”

"This ...... This is not my Yuan family's business. Yuan Feng said embarrassedly: "Yang Gong, I know what you mean, but Changshui Camp is the Changshui Camp of the imperial court, and I can't just because I was the Sima of Changshui Camp, so my Yuan family will support Changshui Camp." ”

Yang Ci saw that Yuan Feng was messing around, deliberately distorting his meaning, he was in a bad mood, and he no longer had the patience to talk to him, waved his hand, confessed his guilt, and got up to leave. Yuan Feng was hung in the hall by him, and he was also very unhappy. Thinking that if Liu Xiu suffered a defeat, the pattern of the imperial court might change greatly, he just looked forward to it, but when he thought of Yuan Shao, he couldn't help but be a little worried.

Yuan Feng left Yang's mansion and did not return to his home, but went directly to Yuan Kui's mansion. After going to the hall, in addition to Yuan Kui and Chen Yu, there was also an old man of about fifty and a young man of about twenty in the hall, and he couldn't help but be a little surprised. Yuan Kui saw it, and introduced with a smile: "This is Xun Shuang Xun Ciming, one of the eight dragons of the Yingchuan Xun family, this is his grandson Xun Yu Xun Gongda, just arrived in Luoyang, first to your house, I heard that you were not there, so I came to sit here." ”

When Yuan Feng heard this, he hurriedly stepped forward and saluted: "It turned out to be the descendant of the Divine Monarch, unparalleled mercy, look up for a long time." ”

Xun Shuang returned the salute with a light smile. After Yuan Feng took his seat, he said some polite words before asking about Xun Shuang's intention. Xun Shuang turned his head to look at Xun You and said with a smile: "I, Congsun, is a good soldier, and I was quite moved to hear He Boqiu say that there was a war in northern Xinjiang, so I came to the mansion to inquire." ”

Yuan Feng had an idea, glanced at Yuan Kui, Yuan Kui nodded quietly, Yuan Feng smiled and said: "There is no news for the time being, but since you are excited, why not take action and travel to Northern Xinjiang?" Taiqiugong's son Chen Jifang is also in northern Xinjiang. ”

(To be continued)