"Why did the queen fall out of favor, I don't know the specific reason yet, but I want to ask, do you know what Your Majesty is most worried about now, and what have you done to help him share his worries?"

Song Qi was a little dazed: "Your Majesty is the most worried...... What's the matter, is he worried? ”

Liu Xiu was speechless and turned his gaze to Cao Luan and Cao Ying. Cao Luan felt very embarrassed, before Liu Xiu came, she had specially discussed with Song Feng what to talk about with Liu Xiu, but she didn't expect Song Feng to only care about his Song family's affairs, and he didn't remember anything else. Facing Liu Xiu's disappointed gaze, she was embarrassed.

Cao Ying coughed and half-jokingly quipped: "Your Majesty's most worrying thing is, of course, the war in Northern Xinjiang, and now only Deran's good news is what Your Majesty likes to see the most." ”

"There is also the matter of the new policy of merging the state, Your Majesty has convened the three princes and nine ministers to discuss it several times for this matter, and even the hussar general and the chariot cavalry general have been edicted to attend the meeting." Under Cao Luan's signal, Song Qi also thought about it, and hurriedly said to Liu Xiu with a very concerned look: "Deran, it's not me who said, how can you come up with such a solution." You have a war in the northern Xinjiang, and it is reasonable to take advantage of the salt and iron of the mountains and rivers of the annexed state, but why do you want to make a contract, isn't this a rope on your head? In this way, it is not easy to do something. ”

Song Qi ran away as he spoke, and Cao Luan was so angry that he glared at him fiercely, and then he stopped for some reason.

Liu Xiu pretended not to see the small movements between their husband and wife, took a breath, and said with a very serious face: "Actually, these two things are just one thing, that is, money." If there is money, it is easy for the Han to raise 200,000 troops to fight a decisive battle with the Xianbei people, and if there is money, I don't need to tear down the east wall and repair the west wall in Bingzhou, and pan for gold in the cracks of the stones. Meng De, you took a trip to Jiaozhou and transported 500,000 stone of rice to Wuyuan, which solved my urgent need, but you also made a lot of money from it, right? ”

Cao Ying's face flushed and he twisted his face away in embarrassment.

"I'm not accusing you." Liu Xiu waved his hand, signaling him not to be embarrassed, "Your Majesty made you the captain of Changshui, not because you fattened yourself from it, but because he really needs someone to control the Changshui camp." The fifth school of the Northern Army, the strongest combat power at present is the Changshui Battalion, Yuan Shao has experience in actual combat, and it is very unfavorable for His Majesty to control the Changshui Battalion, so it is actually a move for His Majesty to transfer him out of Luoyang. For you to do it, you trust you, not just because of my recommendation. ”

Cao Ying nodded gratefully.

"Then what has Song Jun done in the past year or so, just taking the cavalry and the halberd around the palace three times a month?"

Song Qi nodded: "Isn't it just such a task to hold Jinwu?" ”

Liu Xiu really had nothing to say to him, sighed slightly, and picked up the wine glass on the case. At the beginning, in order to survive in a desperate situation, he came to burn the cold stove of the Song family, and now it seems that the cold stove must have the truth of the cold stove, and the sad person must have something to hate. Song Qi, as the elder brother of Queen Song, now only thinks about enjoying glory and wealth, does not want to share worries for the Son of Heaven, and thinks about being a majestic relative in the future, which is extremely stupid. He compared himself with the ambitious Yuan family, and it was a great insult to pigs to say that he was a pig.

Cao Luan saw a deep disappointment in Liu Xiu's eyes, and felt even more uncomfortable, she thought about it, and said tentatively: "Could it be that Deran means that we should quit this errand and take over the task of trafficking in Jiaozhou?" ”

"Zhijinwu is now just a noble idle position, it doesn't matter whether he resigns or not, presumably His Majesty will not be stingy with this position." Although Liu Xiu was disappointed, he didn't show it too obviously, so he had to continue Cao Luan's words. "Selling goods to the state can not only support the war in northern Xinjiang and share the worries of the Son of Heaven, but also individuals can take advantage of it by the way, which is a difference between public and private, and should not fall into the hands of others." He looked at Song Qi, "Do you remember Your Majesty's look when you came back from Jiaozhou?" ”

Song Qi put down his wine glass, recalling that he returned to Luoyang from Jiaozhou with three million stone rice, relieved the urgent need of the famine in Luoyang, and forced Yuan Kui to excuse himself, and his father Song Feng was appointed as Situ, and couldn't help but say: "I will never forget it in my life." When His Majesty saw me, it was like seeing a life-saving benefactor, and the joy that came out of his heart could not be pretended. ”

"Deran mean let me go again?"

"It's great if you can go in person, and if you can't do it, you can arrange someone else to go. The Song family is a big family of Fufeng, so it must not be impossible to find a few shrewd and capable children of the clan. This route is accustomed to walking, both His Majesty's edict and official ships, and no one will dare to make up their minds. ”

Song Qi and Cao Luan glanced at each other, with some hesitation in their eyes, although this is a good thing, but Jiaozhou is far away, and it will take at least three or four months to go there. In order to survive in the first place, Song Qi was willing to let go, and now he is really afraid of letting him go. Cao Luan was very firm, "De Ran is reasonable, how can such a good thing be taken away." ”

"If it's really a good thing, then why has Meng De resigned for a few months, and no one has come to fight?" Song Qi hurriedly retorted.

"They're afraid of getting into a bad reputation for doing business." Cao Ying also reacted at this time, "But with the current status of the Song family, there is no need to care about such accusations." What's more, business is one of the fastest ways to make money, and those who disdain business are either poor pedantic scholars or hypocrites who don't say anything, so they are not to be feared. ”

"It's still Brother Mengde." Liu Xiu gave a thumbs up, knowing that as long as the Cao brothers and sisters made up their minds, Song Qi wouldn't be able to run away if he didn't want to go.

"Alas, I also want to go wrong, and I have to be reminded by Deran, otherwise I really lost a good opportunity." Cao Ying arched his hand in shame, and then brought the topic to the affairs of the state, his father Cao Song is the great Sinong and one of the Jiuqing, and he is directly in charge of money, because he and Yuan Shao can now be regarded as parting ways, after Yuan Kui was reinstated as Situ, he did not give Cao Song much trouble.

"The matter of merging the state seems very simple, but it is actually very complicated." Cao Ying explained that among the three dukes, although Zhang Huan did not express his attitude, he actually supported Liu Xiu's measures from the war in northern Xinjiang, but Liu Xiu did too much deviant in this matter, so he was not easy to support, so he had to not speak, and occasionally objected a few times; Situ Yuan Kui's attitude is the most ambiguous, he was supportive at the beginning, but now when he is arguing in court, he is silent as Situ, but lets Situ Peng Fayan speak in support, in fact, his attitude is already very clear, but his intentions are obscure; As for Sikong Tang Zhen, that person has the ability to make money, but he is incapable of governing the country, and no one considers his opinion at all.

Among Jiuqing, there are also inconsistencies in opinions, Wang Yu has been unwilling to express his opinions because of avoiding suspicion; Song Qi, who is in charge of Jinwu, does not know how to govern the country, although Cao Luan is behind his back, but after all, he is not on the scene, in order not to be embarrassed, he has been following the crowd; Cao Song, the great farmer, was against it, because the profits of salt and iron were taken away, and the task of the great Sinong was even more intense, and for his own interests, he had to oppose it.

The one with the loudest opposition is Dahonglu Han Rong. He quoted scriptures and scriptures, and vigorously criticized Liu Xiu for doing this to compete with the country for money, and the implementation of this new policy under the condition that the country's finances are so tight is not conducive to making matters worse, and this also violates the established policy of the Han Dynasty has always pursued the strong cadres and weak branches, and in the future, the family of the state will be strong, and it will inevitably become a force to confront the imperial court.

This is the most lethal, in fact, it has been directed at Liu Xiu, in this case, even those who want to support Liu Xiu should think twice, in case Liu Xiu really becomes a rebel, and the Son of Heaven will be held responsible, won't all of them be implicated?

"This sentence is the deadliest." Cao Ying finally concluded, "Your Majesty hesitated, it should be for this reason, no one dares to risk offending Your Majesty's rebellion to support you." ”

Liu Xiu had expected it, but he didn't seem surprised, he asked rhetorically: "Then Mengde, what do you think yourself?" ”

Cao Ying smiled silently.

Liu Xiu didn't ask again, Song Qi prepared wine and food, and planned to leave Liu Xiu to eat, but Liu Xiu said, I don't know when Your Majesty will summon me again, and I have to rush to my father-in-law's place for a trip, so I won't eat here this time.

Song Qi said, then when will you have time to meet the queen?

Liu Xiu was a little impatient, now he needed the help of the Song family, whether it was the Song family or the Cao family, they stood by one by one, refusing to help, and in turn asked him to care about the affairs of Queen Song, he really didn't know how to advance or retreat. But he didn't say anything, he couldn't turn his face with the Song family at this time, otherwise he would really become a bare pole.

"As soon as I have time, I will go to see the Empress." Liu Xiu said a perfunctory sentence and hurried to the palace.

Wang Chu had already returned home in advance and told Wang Yu the news that Liu Xiu would be coming soon. Wang Yu was ready, and as soon as Liu Xiu got off the horse, he introduced Liu Xiu into the inner courtyard and took him all the way to Wang Bao's room. Liu Xiu was very surprised, but he also felt the support of the Wang family for him, among the three generations of their father, son, grandfather and grandson, the one who had the most insight into the government was the old man Wang Bao. Wang Bao is old, Wang Yu has become one of the Jiuqing again, and he is satisfied with Yiyang Tiannian, and he has not participated in these things for a long time.

I haven't seen him for more than a year, Wang Bao's beard and hair are all white, and there are more old age spots on his face, but his complexion is okay. He was dressed in a single cloth and sat on a chair under the flower stand in the backyard, enjoying Wang Chu's massage, and gossiping with no match.

Liu Xiu stepped forward to salute.

"Sit down." Wang Bao sat up, opened his eyes and looked at Liu Xiu, although he was old, his eyes were still very vicious. He looked at Liu Xiu fixedly for a long time, nodded with satisfaction, and said to Wang Yu: "It seems that we were really wrong at the beginning, this young man is much stronger than your sons." Achu is blessed, but it's a pity that he was delayed by me, a bad old man. ”

Wang Chu knew what he was talking about, so he looked at the respectful Liu Xiu shyly, and shook Wang Bao's shoulder: "Father, what are you talking about." ”

Wang Bao patted her hand and smiled: "Okay, you go and see your grandmother, I'll have a few words with him." ”

Wang Chu answered, gave Liu Xiu a reluctant look, and turned to leave. Only the three ancestors of the Wang family and Liu Xiu were left under the flower stand. Wang Bao put away his smile, coughed, spit out a mouthful of thick phlegm, drank another sip of water to moisten his throat, and was ready for a long talk, and then he spoke:

"Let's start with family matters. Achu has been back a few times and is full of praise for you. I can see that you like Achu from the bottom of your heart. It stands to reason that I should be happy, but, Deran, I want to remind you that Master has long said that only women and villains are difficult to raise, and those who are close are not inferior, and those who are far away are resentful. Governing the family is like governing the country, and the combination of grace and power is like the miscellaneous use of the king, not to be biased, too soft-hearted, it is inevitable that there will be arrogant people. Those who have a good tutor also know how to keep their own way, and when they encounter those with poor tutors, family restlessness will be inevitable. ”

Liu Xiu smiled awkwardly: "What the eldest father taught me." ”

"Well, self-cultivation and family, governing the country and leveling the world, its way is consistent, I think you have a gentleman like Lu Zigan, and I shouldn't be the one to put the beak. I'm just saying a few words in passing, and I'm very glad you can listen to it. Wang Bao smiled with satisfaction, "You just came from the Song Mansion, and you must know that the imperial court has some understanding of what you have done in Bingzhou, so you can tell me about your experience." ”

"Whoa." Liu Xiu bowed very solemnly, first told him the opinions of several people he had heard after returning to Luoyang yesterday, and finally said: "Now it seems that this move is nothing more than not in line with the sage's scriptures, so it is difficult for everyone to accept it for a while." ”

Wang Bao's eyes narrowed, and the beard at the corner of his mouth trembled: "So you think you don't need to pay attention to it, just use the facts to convince them?" ”

Liu Xiu hesitated for a moment, he originally planned to do so, but listening to Wang Bao's tone, it was obvious that he didn't think so. Wang Bao is old and refined, and he has been in the court for so long, and this person is different from Lu Zhi, he is not pedantic, he can even be said to be very snobbish, he is a real bureaucrat. His speculation about these people must be above that of him, a newcomer to officialdom, and when there is a disagreement, it should be very beneficial to listen to his advice first.

"Dare to ask the eldest father." Liu Xiu swallowed the words that had already reached his lips, and politely saluted Wang Bao.

Wang Bao took in the changes in Liu Xiu's expression for a moment, smiled slightly, stroked the beard under his chin, and glanced at Wang Yu and Wang Bin's father and son proudly: "What, I said he is better than all of you." Leave three points on your lips, and you can't be wrong at any time. ”

"That's what my father taught."

"What the Great Father taught."

Wang Yu and his son hurriedly complimented. Wang Bao smiled, leaned back on the chair, and swayed unhurriedly, the old voice was like an old bell that had gone through countless ups and downs, although the timbre was no longer beautiful, but it was full of the cangsang and cunning that had gone through the world.

"Old man, I hope that your method will be promoted in the world, because in this way, we can reap more benefits." Wang Bao said lightly: "It's not just me, the world's powerful families, including those who oppose you, all think so." ”

Liu Xiu was stunned for a moment, pricked up his ears, and listened to what Wang Bao said word for word.

"But why am I still against you at court? Because if you don't oppose you, you are against the Son of Heaven, and you are against the teachings of the saints. The saint will not crawl out of Qufu to find trouble for you, and those Confucian students who claim to be the protégé of the saint will not really treat you except for a few scolding, but the Son of Heaven will, and the Son of Heaven will make you never turn over. He pointed at Liu Xiu, "You have dismissed the party, but you don't know why there is a party, why Emperor Xiaohuan raised the party, doesn't he know that those eunuchs are not good people?" No, that's because although the scholars are good, they oppose him, and they have always hoped that Liu Garlic, the king of Qinghe, will ascend the throne, although the eunuchs are evil, they can only live by him, and they are at his mercy and have no power to fight back. ”

Liu Xiu was inexplicably surprised, this was the most appalling reason he had heard so far.

"Your new policy, even if it is beneficial to everyone in the world, and can even continue the Han Dynasty for thousands of years, but as long as it endangers His Majesty himself, you are a heinous rebel and thief." Wang Bao said more and more slowly, but his words became more and more serious: "The Son of Heaven is still young, and he may be moved by you for a while, but as long as he calms down and is alone, when he is alone, he always thinks about whether he is in danger to himself." He may not be that smart, but there is never a shortage of smart people around him to remind him that as long as there is one person who says a word, he can plant the seed of doubt in his heart, and this seed will one day grow into a big tree, and it doesn't matter whether he is a pillar or a miscellaneous tree. ”

Liu Xiu was shocked, Cao Ying's strange expression flashed in front of his eyes, he immediately reacted, and immediately understood Wang Bao's intentions: "So...... The people who oppose me are not really against me, but actually want me to be a substitute for the dead? ”

Wang Bao said too much, she looked very tired, and her thin chest rose and fell violently under Yuebu Single, and it took a while to slowly calm down. He stretched out his somewhat clammy hand and patted Liu Xiu gently: "The son can be taught." ”

Liu Xiu was in a cold sweat, but he was glad, as if he had his eyes closed, he had enough strength to rush forward, and he was suddenly pulled by someone, and when he opened his eyes, he found that he had stepped on the edge of the cliff with one foot, and then he took a step forward to be an abyss, and there was no place to die.

Everyone hoped that he could convince the Son of Heaven, and that the Son of Heaven would implement a new policy and benefit from it, but no one would take this responsibility. If the Son of Heaven wants to defeat the Xianbei people, he has to agree that he will show his strength in Bingzhou, but if he convinces those "opponents" in the court debate, the Son of Heaven will either desperately veto everything he has done to stifle the greed of those people, or submit to the will of everyone and fully implement the new policy, in which case the Son of Heaven will lose control of the empire, and he will be the one who triumphantly thinks he has won a great victory.

In other words, he is the one who raises his arms and shouts.

"Thank you, Father." Liu Xiu bowed to the end.

"What are you going to do?" Wang Bao turned his head and looked at him quietly.

Liu Xiu smiled slightly: "My implementation of the new policy in the state is a special measure under special circumstances, how can it be generalized and indiscriminately promoted to the whole world?" I think that it should be implemented in the state for at least a few years to see the effect. If the state can become rich and strong because of this, it will not be too late to promote it. ”

Wang Bao laughed, and the more he laughed, the louder he became, and he coughed with laughter. Wang Bin hurriedly took the spittoon, served Wang Bao and spit it, and helped him calm his breath for a while. Wang Bao slowly calmed down, panting and waving his hand: "Okay, old man, I'm tired, I want to take a nap." Bin'er, you take him to meet your mother. ”

Liu Xiu and Wang Bin gave a salute and withdrew together. Wang Yu quietly accompanied Wang Bao, Wang Bao did not speak, closed his eyes, as if he was asleep, after a long time, Wang Bao said slowly: "The world will be chaotic, if this son has different aspirations, that Xiangshi is not wrong." ”

Wang Yu nodded, and asked with some puzzlement: "Father, will the world be chaotic?" ”

"I think nine times out of ten...... Yes. Wang Bao muttered and snored.

Wang Yu wanted to speak and stopped.

…… The Barbarian Mansion is located in the west of Luoyang City, between the various forests and gardens, the scenery is beautiful, even in the middle of summer, it has its own shade that is rare elsewhere, which fully reflects the sincere goodwill of the Han Empire to the subject countries or tribes that are willing to belong.

Cracking Storm stayed in a small courtyard newly cleaned up in the Barbarian Mansion, which was originally for the Xianbei envoys, and since the Xianbei people defected from the fortress, this small courtyard has been empty. The imperial court has always been counting on recruiting An Xianbei people, hoping that when they come to Luoyang again, they can still see the traces of the past, and they feel a little bit like going home, so they have not arranged for others to move in. Later, Emperor Xiaohuan hoped to recruit peace with the method of affinity, and after being slapped hard by Tanshi Huai, the Han Dynasty no longer had this extravagant hope, and this time the envoy of the North Kingdom came back and was arranged here.

Although the decoration in the small courtyard has been removed, the overall structure of the house has not changed much, and there is some fresh taste. Cracking Wind smelled the familiar smell with mixed feelings. He didn't expect that he would one day come to Dahan in this capacity, he used to hear Tanshihuai talk about Dahan, and always looked down on the Dahan people with a wolf-like gaze, and never thought that today he would pay tribute to Dahan as a person who is close to surrendering.

Cracking Wind sat in the lobby like a Han man, recalling the scene when he met the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, and couldn't help but shake his head. He always thought that the Son of Heaven of the Great Han was a tall and mighty man, but he did not expect that the Son of Heaven of the Great Han was not only not mighty, but also very thin, and his face was also very bad.

Can such a person manage such a large empire? How could a warrior like Liu Xiu succumb to such a heavenly son? Crack Wind thought it was incredible, if he was on the grassland, such a person would not even be qualified to be a prostitute, let alone a son of heaven.

Cracking Wind faintly regretted it.

"Brother!" Feng Xue carried the corners of her skirt and ran all the way in, and when she saw the heavy expression of the cracked wind, she couldn't help but giggle: "What's wrong, what are you thinking?" ”

"Nothing." Seeing the wind and snow, the mood of the cracked wind was much happier, he pulled the wind and snow to the hall, and invited the iron wolf to sit down, and some rusty according to the etiquette of the Han people to drink and eat, said with a smile: "I have been here with the Han people for so long, and I still think that they have the best wine in addition to iron and salt." ”

Iron Wolf nodded sympathetically, raised his glass and drank it all, and said with some regret: "It's a pity, it's still too soft and weak compared to the wine in Bingzhou." ”

Windstorm and Cracking Wind looked at each other and laughed.

Outside the courtyard, Dahonglu Han Rong pointed to the carriage with the Taiji Taoist Hall logo and asked puzzledly, "Liu Xiu is here?" ”

The guard at the door replied, "It doesn't seem to be, it's the orchid he has accepted." ”

"Orchid?" Han Rong was even more confused, "What is she doing here, is she also the one from the North Kingdom?" ”

"Not really." The guard shook his head, "I heard that this orchid seems to be a Xianbei person, and he was captured by Lord Liu. ”

"Xianbei people?" Han Rong suddenly seemed to understand something, raised his eyebrows, and laughed.

(To be continued)