Gangnam? The base of the Taiping Army?

Crazy, right?

Xie An looked at Li Xian with a foolish gaze and said nothing.

"I always think your eyes are a little rude......" muttered with a little strangeness, then raised his eyes to look at Xie An, and said with a chuckle, "What's the problem, Lord Xie?" ”

I saw Xie An staring at Li Xian intently for a while, and suddenly smiled and said, "Does Lord Prime Minister think the mansion is stupid?" ”

Rao is Li Xian's pedantic genius, and he can't grasp Xie An's out-of-the-box thinking, and when he heard this, he said in confusion, "Lord Xie is a pillar of the court, and I am a leader in my generation, why do you think Lord Xie is stupid?" ”

As soon as the words fell, I saw Xie An pretend to be relaxed and exhaled, patted his chest and said repeatedly, "It's okay, it's okay, it seems that it's not the ...... who is stupid."

Next to him, Li Shou couldn't help laughing out loud when he heard this, and after glancing at Li Xian, he reluctantly held back his laughter.

"......" Li Xian glanced at Li Shou, who was laughing for some reason, in surprise, and suddenly his heart suddenly realized that Xie An was scolding him around the corner.

But isn't it, since it's not Xie An who is stupid, isn't it just him Li Xian, after all, it was he who proposed to let Xie An secretly visit Jiangnan.

Thinking of this, Li Xian shook his head helplessly and explained, "Don't misunderstand, Lord Xie has no intention of pushing Lord Xie into the fire pit......

"You didn't mean to push me into the fire pit, you called Jiangnan?" Interrupting Li Xian's words, Xie An said angrily, "Who doesn't know that there are more than 100,000 Taiping troops lurking in Jiangnan, but it was okay to say a few years ago, but now the situation in Jiangnan is becoming increasingly tense, maybe when the Taiping army will jump out and occupy the city to make chaos, at this time you asked me to go to Jiangnan?" Crazy about you, right? ”

After being accused by Xie An, Li Xian sighed speechlessly and looked back at Li Shou. saw him shrug his shoulders with a helpless expression.

"Lord Xie, Lord Xie," comforted Xie An, who was a little excited, Li Xian said with a straight face, "Lord Xie misunderstood, not to let Lord Xie beat the gong and drum to visit Jiangnan, a secret visit, understand?" Investigations! -- It is precisely because the relationship between the imperial court and Jiangnan is becoming increasingly tense. It is very likely that there will be a war with the Taiping army the next day, so there needs to be someone to sit in Jiangnan and governor Jiangnan affairs! ”

"......" Xie An squinted at Li Xian.

With a wry smile, Li Xian had no choice but to continue. "Lord Xie also knows that Jijing is far away from the south of the Yangtze River, even if it is a fast horse to deliver the news, it will take at least two months, in other words, if the Taiping army attacks in February, Jijing will learn about it. It will be at least April, not counting the time to assemble soldiers and horses and prepare grain and grass, and to put it mildly, the imperial court will dispatch troops and horses at least in May. When will such soldiers and horses arrive in Jiangnan? At least in July...... Master Xie imagined that the Taiping anti-thieves attacked in February, but the soldiers and horses sent by the imperial court to suppress the thieves could not reach Jiangnan until July, and there was a full five-month interval during the period. Five months is enough for the Taiping Army to sweep through all the counties and counties in the south of the Yangtze River! ”

Xie An is not a fool either. Hearing what Li Xian said, he also quieted down, frowned and said, "So you mean, let me try to hold off the Taiping army in this May, so that the soldiers and horses of the imperial court going south to suppress the thieves will arrive?" ”

"Exactly!" Li Xian nodded.

"Why don't you go?" Xie An asked rhetorically.

I saw Li Xian staring at Xie An for a while, and suddenly said, "Xiang plans to go to Northern Xinjiang, one is to stabilize Li Mao, and the other is to investigate whether Northern Xinjiang is secretly colluding with the Three Kings, or is it necessary to exchange with Lord Xie?" ”

"Excuse me!" Xie An hurriedly raised his hand to refuse, after all, three years ago in Jijing, when Li Mao, the king of Yan, planned to kill him, but there was Liang Qiu dancing at that time, Li Mao did not dare to start, this time if Xie An went to Li Mao's territory, ten would be stewed by Li Mao, rather than so, it is better to go to Jiangnan, but there are still two relatives in the Taiping army, Chen Bei and Dry Sheep, even if they are accidentally captured, they will not be in danger of life.

Ignoring the depression on Xie An's face, Li Xian continued, "After going to Northern Xinjiang, I thought about going to Hanzhong for a while, and sent the three mothers of Qin King Li Shen, Han King Li Xiao, and Chu King Li Yan to Hanzhong, so as not to fall into the truth, and by the way, explore the reality of Hanzhong......

"To Hanzhong?" Xie An was stunned, and said strangely, "Aren't you afraid that Li Shen will detain you?" ”

Li Xian smiled slightly when he heard this, and said lightly, "Li Shen has always been careful in doing things, and he will definitely not act rashly until he is completely sure, since he has tried the imperial court by taking back his imperial mother, he might as well scare him...... As for what Master Xie said, will Li Shen be detained, hehe, he Li Shen will not dare! -- Xiang Wei escorted his mother away, if he dared to detain the prime minister for no reason, this move is a crime of rebellion for the time being, he will not be able to stand firm in the word morality, Li Shen has always been accustomed to doing things to occupy the righteousness, and will never dig his own grave, and it is still possible to be the one in the northern Xinjiang. ”

is worthy of being a wise man who is on a par with Xiangyu, and he can figure out people's hearts so thoroughly......

Looking at Li Xian's conceited expression, Xie Anxin praised him a little, after all, the person in front of him was indeed a national scholar, and in terms of talent, he was far from being able to compare.

"Oh, by the way," Li Xian added, as if thinking of something, "when I go to Hanzhong, I plan to borrow the Jizhou army and set up these 100,000 soldiers and horses in the Luoshui area, so as to deter the King of Qin and the King of Han, and when the time comes, there will be Lord Lao Xie......"

Not?

Xie An looked at Li Xian suspiciously, and after thinking about it, he suddenly realized, after all, the generals in the Jizhou army who seemed to be Fei Guo, Ma Dan and other generals did not have any friendship with Li Xian, and to command this army and horses, Li Xian really needed him Xie An to take care of the generals in advance, so as not to cause any embarrassment.

"No problem, the government will send someone to inform Fei Guo, and everything will be based on the Prime Minister!" Xie An patted his chest and reassured.

"This will trouble Lord Xie," politely thanked him, Li Xian paused, and continued, "And during the period when the prime minister sent to Hanzhong, Jiang Nan asked Lord Xie, it is best to find out the exact time of the Taiping army's rebellion in advance, and report to the imperial court as soon as possible...... All in all, before the arrival of the soldiers and horses sent by the imperial court, Lord Xie, the governor of Jiangnan, did everything in general, and saw that if a local official did not obey, he had the right to kill him immediately, regardless of the criminal law! ”

Xie An was stunned when he heard this. Hesitantly said, "In other words, I have the right to appoint and dismiss local officials at all levels in Jiangnan at any time, and I am the largest in the entire Jiangnan, and I can replace them if I don't like anyone?" ”

"......" Li Xian opened his mouth, looked at Xie An strangely, and said, "It means that this is true, but it seems that Lord Xie explained it like this." Somewhat...... It's a bit ......."

At this time, Xie An also noticed the language problem in his words, and smiled a little weakly, "Just kidding, how can the government casually remove some local officials from their official positions?" ”

"......" looked at Xie An intently, and Li Xian couldn't help but wonder if it was a mistake to let Xie An go to Jiangnan. After all, the criminal department secretary in front of him has never played cards according to common sense, and it is not impossible for this person to be exempted from the unpleasant sight of the official after he arrived in Jiangnan.

But after thinking about it carefully, Li Xian really couldn't find a more suitable candidate, you must know that he also thought about choosing Xie An.

First of all, Xie An had two groups of assassins under him, the Jinling people and the Dongling people. It is very suitable to probe the movements of the Taiping Army in Jiangnan; Secondly, this person is the secretary of the criminal department of the imperial court, and in terms of identity and status, he is indeed qualified to command local officials in Jiangnan; And most importantly, here's why. After getting along for three years, Li Xian felt that this person could be trusted, otherwise, Li Xian would never entrust this matter to Xie An.

Shook his head. Leaving behind the uneasiness in his heart for no reason, Li Xian Zhengse said. "When Lord Xie goes to Jiangnan, he might as well take half of the Dongling and Jinling people, and in addition, meet and ask the army that is enshrined in Daliang to move to Yangzhou! -- In order not to startle the grass and the snakes and alarm the Taiping army, I felt that it was more appropriate to settle in Yangzhou. -- Most of the 80,000 soldiers and horses of the Great Liang Army were the surrendered troops that Lord Xie had previously subdued in Luoyang and Chang'an, and they must be willing to obey Lord Xie's orders, once the Taiping Army rebelled, Lord Xie could levy troops and horses on this road to delay the Taiping Army, and in addition, the garrison forces in various places, Lord Xie could also be mobilized at will! ”

Xie An nodded when he heard this, and suddenly asked, "By the way, can the government take a trip to Guangling?" ”

Seeing that Xie An said such a sentence without a head, Li Xian was stunned, and after reacting, he nodded kindly and said, "Some small things, Lord Xie can handle it himself, but I heard that the Guangling assassins had an affair with the Taiping Army, when they arrive in Guangling, Lord Xie should be more careful, and it is best to bring a few more masters of the Dongling and Jinling crowds to escort ......"

As for why Xie An wanted to go to Guangling, Li Xian could guess to some extent, after all, Xie An was from Guangling, in a sense, this can be regarded as a return to his hometown, anyway, to investigate the movements of the Taiping Army, it was the Dongling people and Jinling assassins under Xie An's hands, Li Xian didn't bother to care where Xie An would go, as long as Xie An could supervise the affairs of the Jiangnan area when the Taiping Army rebelled, and organize troops and horses in time, this was enough.

After discussing it again, Xie An and Li Xian said goodbye to Li Shou, the son of heaven, one went to the Ministry of Criminal Affairs to work as an errand and the other went to the study to take up a post.

Back at the Criminal Department's office, Xie An stood by the window with his hands behind his back, although the window showed the scenery of the melting snow and ice in February, he didn't have the heart to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Guangling ......

When Xie An came to this era five years ago, his location was Guangling, I remember the first few days, even more difficult than when he was downtrodden in Jijing a few years ago, who would have thought that the Su family Ding, who was almost imprisoned in the prison of Guangling Mansion, climbed to the position of a high-ranking official in the criminal department of the Jijing Imperial Court in just five years, not only married four wives, but also had a lovely daughter, beckoning, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses kowtowed to obey orders, stomped their feet, and the entire Gyeonggi was shaken.

Indeed, although there are only a few people in Xie An's Mansion at the moment, looking at the entire Jingshi, who dares to say that the Xie family is not a wealthy family?

Xie An couldn't help but think of the ugly faces of the Guangling Mansion officials who colluded with the local government to frame the Su family when he was in Guangling, and a few sixth- and seventh-grade officials who are insignificant in Xie An's eyes today.

As the saying goes, it's never too late for a gentleman to take revenge for ten years, not to mention Xie An, a person who never feels like a gentleman? I have to torture those guys to cry dad and call my mother!

It's a pity that those guys were ordered by Duke Lu to be dealt with strictly by the local government four years ago, otherwise, Xie An doesn't mind taking revenge on them, after all, he is not a gentleman who repays grievances with virtue, what he advocates is to repay virtue with virtue and repay grievances with grievances, all of which are repaid tenfold!

However, when he thought of Guangling, Xie An couldn't help but think of the widowed daughter-in-law of the Lu family in the Lu Mansion, the woman who should be one of his wives, Su Wan.

Since the farewell of the Shangsi Festival three years ago, Su Wan has deliberately avoided Xie An several times, making Xie An so bored that she no longer takes the initiative to see her. Going to Nangong's Mansion every day is just to visit Lu Gong, after all, this old man treats him really well, and even entrusts the Southern Army to Xie An.

Xie An could more or less guess about Lu Gong's thoughts, but Su Wan deliberately avoided him taking into account his widowhood, and he couldn't do anything, he couldn't use force, right? If only he dared to do so. Su Wan will not say anything for the time being, the women in the family must turn their faces, after all, three years ago, the three daughters of Liang Qiuwu, eldest grandson Xiangyu, and Jin Ling'er guarded against Su Wan like thieves, although Su Wangen didn't mean that.

Time is like quicksand between your fingers, disappearing silently. When Xie An was awakened by the sound of the tuk tuk tuk door outside the house, he realized that he had stood at the window all morning.

"Come in!" Glancing at the door, Xie An said lightly.

The door creaked open, and Wang Jin, the squire of the [Autumn Trial Division], walked in, arched his hand and said with a smile to Xie An, "My lord." Today, the official is the east, I don't know which restaurant the adult intends to belong to? ”

Three years ago, when Xie An first took up the post of secretary of the Criminal Department, in order to have a good relationship with the four servants under him. Every day at noon, they were invited to the restaurant in the city to eat, and over time, Wang Jin and the other four felt a little embarrassed, so they discussed. The four of them plus Xie An, plus Xun Zheng, the servant of the Criminal Department. The six of them took turns to entertain guests, so it can be said that if Xie An didn't go back to his house to eat, most of them would be with this group of people, which can be regarded as a way to connect with each other.

But today, Xie An wanted to go back to his house, after all, he still had some important things to talk to the women.

"It's not a coincidence today, I have something to go back to the house, I'm sorry!" Xie An smiled and arched his hand.

"What did the adults say, in this case, the adults will be busy first, and the next official will retire for the time being!" Wang Jin, who was a little regretful, turned around and walked out.

After standing at the window for a while, Xie An also left the Ministry of Criminal Affairs and took the carriage back to his mansion.

Back home, Xie An walked to the east side hall of the front yard and saw Liang Qiuwu, Yiyi, and Jin Ling'er, the three daughters holding their daughter Nini, sitting at the dining table and preparing to eat.

"Husband?" Seeing Xie An return to the house, the three daughters were a little surprised, after all, if there was nothing to do on weekdays, their husband Xie An usually ate in a restaurant near the Ministry of Criminal Affairs.

"Sit, sit." Seeing that the third daughter was about to get up and salute, Xie An hurriedly shouted, after all, he didn't care about this unnecessary etiquette, and sat down next to Jin Ling'er's left hand, Xie An couldn't help but stretch out his hand and poke his daughter's chubby face, which caused Jin Ling'er to roll her eyes for a while.

"Why did my husband go back to the house to eat today?" Seeing that Xie An was only caring about teasing his daughter to play, Liang Qiu Dance was a little surprised.

It's not that Xie An is biased, but I have to say that since Jin Ling'er gave birth to a daughter for Xie An, Xie An spent most of his time in the house to tease his daughter, which undoubtedly made Liang Qiuwu, the eldest grandson Xiangyu, and Yiyi particularly blushing.

"Nini is going to call your aunt ...... in the future" Xie An said to Liang Qiu Wu teasingly, where could he not see that Liang Qiu Wu was a little jealous, but unfortunately, except for Yi Yi who understood his words full of meaning and snickered, Liang Qiu Wu and Jin Ling'er didn't understand, looking at their husbands in confusion, especially Liang Qiu Wu, wondering whether there was any connection between his question and her husband's answer.

Seeing this, Xie An shook his head with a wry smile and said, "When I come back for my husband today, I have something to tell you......" He glanced at the women and asked suspiciously, "Xiangyu hasn't gotten up yet?" It's been getting late lately......"

Hearing her husband's inquiry, Yi Yi hurriedly said, "The maid told me that Sister Xiangyu has gotten up...... just as he was speaking, the eldest grandson Xiangyu walked out of the side door, supporting his lower abdomen with one hand and covering his forehead with the other, and his eyebrows were furrowed.

"Sister Xiangyu......" Yi Yi got up and helped her eldest grandson Xiangyu sit down at the table, and asked worriedly, "Are you okay, Sister Xiangyu?" ”

"Don't get in the way, get used to it......" The eldest grandson Xiangyu shook his head, then looked up at Xie An, saw the look of concern in his eyes, reluctantly showed a little smile, and said, "What did the husband just say [I have something to talk to the concubine and others]?" ”

"Ah, yes," nodded, Xie An hesitated for a moment, and said, "Just after the early court, Li Xian discussed with me, and planned to ask Weifu to go to Jiangnan ......"

"A trip to Jiangnan?" The four girls exclaimed in surprise, and even the eldest grandson Xiangyu looked at Xie An in surprise.

"Such a big reaction?" Xie An was almost taken aback by the four women, and after calming down, he explained everything Li Xian said to the women.

"Jiangnan...... The slave family is going too!" The eldest grandson Xiangyu, who had gradually eased up, raised his little hand for the first time, with a look of great interest.

Among the other three daughters, Liang Qiuwu frowned and was silent, after all, as a general of the Eastern Army, it was impossible for her to leave the Eastern Army and follow Xie An to Jiangnan, as for Jin Ling'er, after glancing at the daughter in her arms, she wanted to stop talking, it stands to reason that she is the best personal escort for her husband Xie An's secret visit to Jiangnan, but the question is what about her daughter?

If you stay in Xie Mansion, Liang Qiu Wu and Yi Yi have no milk, and they are not at ease when they ask the nurse to feed Jin Ling'er; And if you take your daughter to Jiangnan with your husband, what if you encounter danger? Did you hold your daughter and fight the enemy? Not to mention that Jin Ling'er was pregnant for nearly a year and wasted her martial arts, even if she was still able to kill or repel an enemy while holding a baby, she didn't want to take this risk, after all, it was her baby daughter.

After counting, the only ones who can follow Xie An to Jiangnan are the eldest grandson Xiangyu and Yiyi.

And at this moment, the eldest grandson Xiangyu inadvertently caught a glimpse of the braised pork placed in front of Liang Qiuwu on the dinner table, and his little face turned pale for a moment, and his white right hand covered his mouth and couldn't stop retching.

"Still haven't recovered yet?" Xie An looked at the eldest grandson Xiangyu suspiciously.

Before the words fell, I saw Jin Ling'er holding her daughter in one hand, and probing the vein of the eldest grandson Xiangyu on her left hand with the other, and then showed a somewhat strange expression on her face.

"Xiangyu, Yu thinks that you can't go to Jiangnan this time......"