Hao Zhao quickly calmed down, quickly lit a fire with his hands and feet, put a pot of water on the stove, and brought a few dishes of the famous snacks of the Taoist hall. The Son of Heaven looked at Liu Xiu's study with his hands behind his back, and was quickly attracted by a strange thing in the corner.

"What is this?"

Hao Zhao glanced at it, and hurriedly bowed down and replied: "Back to Your Majesty, this is a big ......" He hesitated a little, now that Liu Xiu has no official position, and he is not the owner of the Taiji Dao Pavilion, how to call this is really a problem. The Son of Heaven saw it, waved his hand gently, and signaled Hao Zhao not to be nervous. Hao Zhao breathed a sigh of relief, and then said: "For pottery." ”

"Pottery?" The Son of Heaven raised his eyebrows, "What is pottery?" ”

Hao Zhao opened a curtain, revealing a Bogu shelf, on which were several teapots that had been formed. The Son of Heaven was overjoyed when he saw the hunt, and was about to reach out to take it, when Hao Zhao said again: "Those have not yet been burned and are not strong, and there are a few just burned here, please appreciate them for Your Majesty." As he spoke, he opened another shelf and took out a few teapots with a unique form.

The Son of Heaven couldn't help laughing, and while playing with the teapot, he asked, "He's been playing with this all these days?" ”

"Pottery requires full concentration, and the demands on the hand are very high." Hao Zhao introduced: "Adults are not doing well in practicing Dao techniques, so do this to adjust. ”

The Son of Heaven looked at the walls of the pots, a little disapproving. This thing is just a handicraft work, does it have anything to do with monasticism? However, he was very satisfied with the young man in front of him, not only with his hands and feet, but also with a good voice and a proper answer.

"Merges?"

"The grass people are from Taiyuan."

"Taiyuan people?" The Son of Heaven thought for a while, "There is a famous man with Hao Jie in Taiyuan, what does it have to do with you?" ”

Hao Zhao's eyes turned red and he burst into tears. "That's the first father of the grass people."

The Son of Heaven sighed and did not say any more. After a while, Liu Xiu pushed the door and entered, greeting the Son of Heaven repeatedly. The Son of Heaven smiled and said non-seriously: "So fast? ”

Liu Xiu secretly scolded himself and asked the Son of Heaven to take a seat. The Son of Heaven took the pot, "You've been doing this all these days?" ”

Liu Xiu was a little puzzled and nodded, "Yes." ”

The Son of Heaven is a little sour. "You're so busy, no wonder I can't see you entering the palace to talk to me."

Liu Xiu said calmly: "Hehe, Your Majesty is in charge, how dare you disturb Your Majesty at this time." ”

"I want this pot." The Son of Heaven honestly and unceremoniously checked it, and was ready to stuff it into his sleeve. Liu Xiu hurriedly stopped, and the Son of Heaven's eyes glared: "What, reluctant?" ”

"If you can be liked by Your Majesty, the minister is flattered, how can there be any reluctance." Liu Xiu smiled as he took out a brocade box, took the teapot from the Son of Heaven and put it in, and then pushed it in front of the Son of Heaven. "This pot is very thin and can be easily broken, so you need to be careful. In addition, it will be hot after just pouring tea, so Your Majesty should also pay attention to one or two when using it. ”

The Son of Heaven was in high spirits, waited for the water to boil, brewed some tea into it, took a sip of tea at the spout, and then laughed exaggeratedly. After a few sips of tea and a few gossips, the Son of Heaven breathed a long sigh of relief: "Deran, only when I come to you, I can feel comfortable for a moment." ”

"I can't thank you enough." Liu Xiu bowed down: "It is the greatest honor of the minister to be able to relieve His Majesty's worries." ”

"Well, I know your loyalty." The Son of Heaven held the teapot in both hands and said slowly: "It's just that I have a bigger worry right now, I don't know if you can help me solve it." ”

Liu Xiu looked at the Son of Heaven with innocent eyes.

The Son of Heaven said that after the Northern Expedition was decided, he had been feeling very uneasy, but he didn't know where the problem was, today Zhang Huan suddenly went to ask for resignation, and at the same time reminded him: This large-scale expedition is almost all the troops that can be used in Northern Xinjiang, in case things don't go well, such as defeated, what if the Xianbei people come in, who will protect the state and Yizhou at that time? Will the Xianbei people kill all the way to Luoyang?

Liu Xiu pondered for a moment, he heard the sound of the strings from the tone of the Son of Heaven, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, but he didn't feel that relaxed. The Son of Heaven defended not only the Xianbei people, but also Yuan Shao, he was afraid that after Yuan Shao took advantage of the Northern Expedition to grasp the military power, he would stay in front and support his own troops, or no one could compete with him after winning the battle, and the Yuan family would be out of his control.

The Son of Heaven wants him to take on this responsibility.

"Hold the annex state, and it will be impossible for the Xianbei people to drive straight in. As long as Youzhou holds the military capital, even if the Xianbei people occupy the entire territory of Shanggu, they should not be able to enter Jizhou. Liu Xiu said carefully: "Luoyang has five colonels of the Northern Army and the Liyang battalion, if you add 10,000 elite cavalry from Bingzhou, it should be no problem to do a good job as a backup for the army." ”

The Son of Heaven nodded with satisfaction, sipped tea, and stared straight at Liu Xiu: "Tomorrow's court meeting, you can come and tell them your suggestions." ”

Liu Xiu's brows furrowed slightly, the Son of Heaven is a little irresponsible. asked him to compete with the Yuan family, but he refused to support him directly, hoping that he would jump out and compete with the Yuan family by himself, at least to protect the safety of Luoyang, no matter whether the opponent was Xianbei or Yuan Shao, he had to do it logically, so that people couldn't find fault with it, even if he had any responsibility, he had to bear it with hard work, anyway, he couldn't provoke the Son of Heaven to do it.

This is the difficulty of working for people, especially when you meet a boss who is not responsible.

"Do your best." Liu Xiu hesitated, "However, this time, the courtiers will not participate." There are some small means, and the minister has to prepare them. ”

"Small means?" Seeing that Liu Xiu agreed, the Son of Heaven felt relaxed, and couldn't help but smile: "Who do you want to pit again, Yuan Shao or Zang Min?" ”

Liu Xiu shrugged calmly: "I can't afford to mess with Yuan Shao, so I have to bully and bully Zang Min, an outsider." ”

The Son of Heaven's face was a little unnatural, and he felt that Liu Xiu's words were very unpleasant, but he didn't blame Liu Xiu, he felt that Yuan Shao couldn't be provoked, so how could he force Liu Xiu. He felt that the topic was a bit heavy and didn't want to continue, so he asked instead, "I heard that you have been practicing in the room during this time, how is it going?" ”

Liu Xiu shook his head: "Very bad." ”

He and Lu have been studying the atrial technique for a while, and the massage, guidance, and taking of food at the beginning are all very smooth, and he quickly mastered the key to it, especially the massage technique, which he mastered the best. It's just that when it comes to meditation, he can't get over it, Lu wants him to meditate, and he sits for more than an hour, and he can't sit down at all if he wants to listen to the sound of nature, and his thoughts fluctuate as soon as he takes a seat, not to mention the sound of nature, and he can't even count his breaths.

This made Lu Shi very surprised, she originally thought that Liu Xiu's practice of the Mozi Five Elements Technique had progressed so fast, and there would be no problem in meditating, but she didn't expect Liu Xiu to be like a monkey, so he couldn't sit still at all.

"Mrs. Lu said that if you can't pass the meditation level, it will be difficult to hold on to the emotions when practicing the Chambers in the Arts, and then it will be reduced to an ordinary way of intercourse, and may even evolve into a silver technique, which is harmful and useless." Liu Xiu rubbed his eyebrows in embarrassment, "This room technique is really not something that ordinary people can practice, but they can't be emotional in the face of a beautiful woman like flowers and jade, this requires...... It's also high. ”

The Son of Heaven was thinking that he followed Zhang Jiao's advice to practice the postoperative situation in the room, which seemed to be in line with what Liu Xiu said about becoming a silver technique, not only did he not get benefits from it, but he said that he saw a loss, and even had doubts about the operation in the room, according to Liu Xiu, it was not that there was a problem with the operation in the room, but that his heart was not firm enough, so he took a fork in the road?

His mood was quite heavy, but he couldn't help but laugh when he was amused by Liu Xiu's expression. "I'll tell you a master who might be able to help you overcome this."

"Who can be more skilled than Mrs. Lu and Zhang Jiao?"

"One month branch people, what is called a prophecy, he has translated some Tianzhu people's Buddhist scriptures, as if he will have a kind of white bone view, specifically to treat you this kind of forgetfulness disease." The more Tianzi spoke, the more funny he felt, and he couldn't help but laugh out loud, almost laughing out loud: "He is in the White Horse Temple in the west of the city, you can go and ask for advice when you have time." ”

Looking at the Son of Heaven, Liu Xiu felt speechless, this is like a Son of Heaven, it is simply a narrow ghost. However, there are people who are proficient in Sanskrit, and he is very curious to know whether Buddhism, which originated in India, has preserved almost science fiction war stories such as the Battle of Zhuolu.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your advice."

The Son of Heaven was even happier, and said while laughing, "If you are successful in your cultivation, don't forget my merits." ”

…… Jia Xu strode into Hu City, Cao Hong hurriedly got up to greet him, and while letting him inside, he lowered his voice and said, "That surnamed Zang is coming soon, what should we do?" ”

"What should I do?" Jia Xu glanced at him, "Do what you have to do." Winter is coming, and it won't be long before the end of the year, so you will immediately give me the city rent that should be paid this year. ”

Cao Hong was stunned for a moment, and his face sank: "The money we worked so hard to earn was just given away?" ”

"Who?" Jia Xu sneered: "It's the end of the year, will the soldiers get the annual gifts?" Winter coats don't come out? Don't give money to the workshops in the cities? ”

Cao Hong's face eased, still a little puzzled: "If all this money is distributed, we will have nothing on hand." And...... What shall we do if we send it into the hands of the people and the soldiers, and they will collect it again? ”

"I'm afraid he won't levy it." Jia Xu smiled gloomily and waved his hand: "I am still the general of Beizhong Lang, and the adults are not here, so I have the final say." Don't hesitate, just do what I say. I still have several places to go, so I don't have time to go into details. ”

Although Cao Hong didn't know what Jia Xu was thinking, but since he arrived in the state, Liu Xiu let him make a long history, and after Liu Xiu returned to Luoyang, he handed over all the affairs that originally belonged to Beizhonglang to him to take care of, so it is reasonable to listen to him now.

"Don't worry, I'll be in half a month...... No, it will be done in ten days. Cao Hong patted his chest and said.

"Well, also, if you still have spare money in your hand at that time, you will replace it with wood that can build equipment to defend the city and hoard it, check what is missing in each pass, and make up for it. If you really can't spend it anymore, you hire people to repair the city and hunt in the mountains. ”

Cao Hong understood and agreed.

After Jia Xu took care of it, he took dozens of guards and rode away. He walked around the northern counties of the state along the river, and after visiting Lü Bu, Wang Zhi, Zhao Yun and Han Sui in turn, he turned around and went south, went straight to Taiyuan, and found Wang Yun, who was the governor of the state.

Wang Yun was very surprised by Jia Xu's arrival, Beizhong Lang General and Bingzhou Assassin Shi are two positions that have little to do with each other, although he and Jia Xu are Liu Xiu's deputies, but there seems to be nothing to talk about between them.

Jia Xu was not polite at all, and asked straight to the point: "Zang Min is almost here, I want to ask, do you want your family to be ruined." ”

Wang Yun was very unhappy, although it was not yet Layue, but who wanted to hear such words.

Jia Xu was not polite, he said to Wang Yun, the lord owes you 300 million, and it is mortgaged with the profits of salt and iron, and now the three-year period is almost two years old, do you think the adult's plan is feasible, and is the contract he made with you beneficial to you? Do you want to continue to follow this contract, or even set another three-year, two-year and three-year contract after this three-year contract?

Wang Yun hesitated for a moment and nodded.

"In that case, you give me 300 million this year." Jia Xu stretched out his hand and said without refusal.

Wang Yun was suddenly anxious, how can I give you money now, Lord Liu has been dismissed, Zang Min has already arrived in the party, and he will be able to rush to Bingzhou in a few days at most, I will give you the money, will Liu Xiu admit this account or Zang Min will recognize it?

Jia Xu smiled slightly, if you give me the money now, Lord Liu will definitely admit it when the time comes. After Zang Min came, he asked you for money again, you can spread it with both hands, this year's money has been given to the Beizhong Lang General's Mansion, and there is no money. If you don't give it, you won't be able to keep it, Zang Min can't pay back your 300 million money, and he will continue to apportionment it to you for the Northern Expedition. Let me remind you that he will not pay back this money, and Lord Liu will not admit it at that time.

Wang Yun's heart moved: "Will Lord Liu come back?" ”

"If you give it, he will come back and continue to work with you according to the established contract, if you don't give it, it will be difficult to say."

Wang Yun hesitated, but he saw that Jia Xu was confident, and thought of Liu Xiu's trust in Jia Xu, gritted his teeth, and stomped his foot: "I'll discuss it with them." ”

"Okay, I'm very short on time, I only have one day, and if you don't give me the money at this time tomorrow, I'll be out of date."

Wang Yun was very annoyed by Jia Xu's rudeness, but at this time, he didn't care about Jia Xu's attitude, and hurriedly went to discuss with those families. They discussed for an all-nighter, and finally decided that instead of letting Zang Min snatch it away for nothing, it was better to give it to Jia Xu, Liu Xiu was very favored, and if he could come back, the money might be recovered.

They had already prepared the money, but they didn't expect Liu Xiu to be gone, so the matter was delayed, and now it happened to be all handed over to Jia Xu. Jia Xu didn't say a word, took half of the money and went to Jinyang Academy first, and handed it to Duan Cheng and Cai Yong, this is the funds given to Jinyang Academy by adults in the next three years, you take it first, if someone gets it, no one will make up for you.

Cai Yong buried his head in the professor, and he didn't know what was going on, but Duan Cheng had already received a letter from Tian Yan asking for instructions, and after listening to Jia Xu's analysis, he immediately understood. After getting the money, I immediately placed orders with several large merchants, ordering a large number of books, paper, pen and ink, as long as it was something that could be used in the school, all of them were ordered for three years, and the money in my hand was spent in a few days.

At the same time, Jia Xu hurried back to the Yangshu Lake area, and along the way, like a boy with scattered wealth, he distributed the money to everyone, only telling them one sentence, hurry up and distribute it in place, don't keep it in your hands, maybe tomorrow the money will not be yours.

After doing all this, Jia Xu'an settled down in Yangshu Lake, waiting for Zang Min's drive.

…… Zang Min was very annoyed, although he had already estimated that this merger was not easy to do, but when he came face to face with Wang Yun and the others, he found that he still underestimated the difficulties. Wang Yun handed him only a letter of resignation and a bill, which clearly stated that the Beizhong Lang Prefecture owed a total of 630 million money to the various families in the state, which had to be repaid with the salt and iron of the state and the profits of the mountains, in other words, in the next ten years, the state of the state will be in debt, Zang Min can not pay back the money, but he can't get a single money from the state during this period.

Zang Min was furious, especially when he learned that just a few days before he arrived in Jinyang, Wang Yun handed over 300 million to Jia Xu, he was almost furious, and almost scolded Wang Yun. However, Wang Yun didn't give him a chance, threw down the resignation letter and the ribbon, and left.

Wang Yun quit, Wang Rou immediately handed over the letter of resignation, Guo Yi did not lag behind, followed by resignation, it only took half a day's effort, and the state assassin mansion was empty, several officials were gone, and only the officials who did chores remained.

Zang Min was furious, but there was no way, his eyes were most anxious to recruit the officials, but he soon found that no one responded to his recruitment, some were very polite, using some excuses, and some were very direct, do you have the money to pay back? If you don't have money, who dares to be this official, you will be scolded by the township party when the time comes.

Zang Min was furious, he found Wang Yun, you can't just leave it alone, the Northern Expedition is a matter decided by His Majesty, if it affects the Northern Expedition, no one can protect you. Wang Yun sneered, Northern Expedition? Which pig's brain came up with an idea, you think that with enough troops and a few months of money and food, you can defeat the Xianbei people? Wei Qing and Huo Qu's illness is so bad, with the wealth accumulated by the Han Dynasty for 70 years as the foundation, and it took decades of intermittent fighting to cripple the Huns, Yuan Shao is just a Sima under Lord Liu, can he destroy Xianbei in one battle? Don't scare me, I'm about to write to Your Majesty to accuse some people of bullying the king and misleading the country.

Zang Min was speechless, he himself was one of the formulators of the Northern Expedition strategy, of course he knew the trickiness in this, Wang Yun was a civil and military all-rounder, and he had fought side by side with Yuan Shao, and he was also clear about Yuan Shao's ability, and he knew the prospects of the Northern Expedition well, where would he leave him with irresponsible remarks.

Of course, he would not admit that Yuan Shao had other intentions in doing this, but he could not say that Wang Yun was talking nonsense, in fact, he knew very well that the Northern Expedition had lost its due meaning, and it was just a performance of the Yuan family's demonstration to the Son of Heaven.

Zang Min looked at this posture, and then thought about the Beizhong Lang general Jia Xu, knowing that what Yuan Hui said was true, this Jia Xu was not an easy character to deal with, and he probably couldn't handle the matter of merging the state, so he had to immediately go to the book to the Son of Heaven to report the plight of the state.

…… When the news reached Luoyang, Yuan Kui was so angry that he scolded. The first is to scold Wang Yun and Jia Xu for being bold and daring to confront the imperial court, and the second is to scold Zang Min for being incompetent, and he can't even handle a small merger, which disappoints his weight and recommendation.

Yuan Kui immediately convened Yuan Shao and others to discuss, what to do with the merger of the state, Zang Min is incompetent, and the matter of merging the state is not fair, it seems that he can't be counted on, is it to transfer him back and change him to another person? How to deal with Wang Yun and Jia Xu, if they don't stop their arrogance, this merger state matter will not be able to be handled.

Yuan Shao's face sank like water, and it took a long time to say that Wang Yun was a famous man in Bingzhou, and he acted according to the contract signed between the imperial court and the Bingzhou family at the beginning - this contract was also signed successfully with the support of Situ Fu, and he was not wrong, and if he was to deal with him, he might offend the entire Bingzhou family. The root cause of this matter should be Jia Xu, Jia Xu is a native of Liangzhou, and he had a deep friendship with Liu Xiu when he was in Luoyang, and if he is not treated, it will be difficult to subdue Han Sui and Zhao Yun, and he will not be able to master the more than 10,000 elite horsemen who originally belonged to the Beizhong Lang General's Mansion.

As for Zang Min, he is also helpless, when he first arrived in Bingzhou, he was not familiar with life, and it was not easy to make some achievements immediately, with Liu Xiu's cunning and favor, when he first arrived in Bingzhou, he was excluded by Wang Yun and them, not to mention Zang Min. He can't do it as a state assassin, but his ability to use troops is still good, so let him be a border general and go out with the army.

Yuan Kui thought about it, and felt that what Yuan Shao said made sense, and asked the emperor to ask Ren Zang Min to be the general of the Xianbei Zhonglang, and at the same time appointed another one to assassinate the state, and recommended a candidate, needless to say, this person named Zhang Yi is naturally the former official of the Yuan family.

As soon as the Son of Heaven saw this note, he knew that Liu Xiu's small tricks had worked, so he didn't say a word, but he was approved.

Zhang Yi received the appointment and set off immediately, and he took with him another inconvenient instruction to arrest the late Beizhong Lang General Shi Jia Xu and correct the law on the spot.

Zhang Yi did not stop in Taiyuan like Zang Min, he went all the way north, straight to Yangshu Lake. This road is very hard, although there is no snow in the state this year, but it is very cold, Zhang Yi in order to hurry, day and night, eating and sleeping in the open air, all the way to the hardships, finally rushed to Yangshu Lake before the end of the year, and saw Jia Xu who was wrapped in fox fur and drank a little wine with fresh fish in Yangshu Lake.

Zhang Yi took out the chief's style, and told Jia Xu majestically, Beizhonglang has dismissed Liu Xiu, and your long history has also been revoked, and you took advantage of the gap before the imperial edict arrived to take 300 million from the Bingzhou Assassin Mansion, this is a crime, the case is serious, and I am now ordered to arrest you.

Before he finished his words, Lu Bu walked out from the side with a gloomy face: "The edict has not arrived, and the Beizhong Lang General's Mansion has not been withdrawn, and the long history is justified, who dares to say that he broke the law?" ”

Zhang Yi was furious, who are you, dare to be presumptuous in front of this official?

Lu Bu sneered and drew his knife out of its sheath. "Since Beizhonglang has abolished the mansion, then Lao Tzu, the long history of Shuofang, can't be done, in this case, it's better to slaughter you, a birdman, with a knife, and go to be a horse thief, wouldn't you be happy?"

Zhang Yi was taken aback, and was just about to call someone, when there were screams outside, and after a short time, Wei Yue and Cheng Lian walked in with bloody knives and stood in front of him without saying a word. Before Zhang Yi could scream, Lu Bu's long knife came out of the sheath, and the knife flashed, and Zhang Yi's head fell to the ground.

Lu Bu raised his fingers to wipe the blood from the knife, and sighed: "It's a pity that the good knife was stained by the cheap blood of this birdman." ”

Jia Xu smiled silently, took a sip of wine with a "squeak", lifted the wine jug and invited: "Have a drink?" ”

Lu Bu sat down, picked up the cup and drank it all, and said with some worry: "Can the adults really come back?" ”

"Yes." Jia Xu glanced at Lu Bu and smiled confidently: "Don't worry, someone is more anxious than you." ”

(To be continued)