In the middle of that day, Gou Jian and Fan Li were cleaning up the horse manure in the horse farm, and Feng Yi was cooking alone in the stone room.

The weather has begun to gradually become colder, Gou Jian was wearing a coarse cotton coat, he rubbed his hands, took a breath of heat, shoveled the horse manure on the ground, and said to Fan Li: "The widow is always a little unsteady in his heart these days, we have been in Wu for several months, and we don't know anything about the situation outside, and I don't know what the situation in the country is. This Jinon too, I haven't seen him for several days. ”

Fan Li frowned and said, "The minister is also a little puzzled, if you want to say that Jinong should also come to see us." He hasn't been seen since he was sent some cold stuff last month. Maybe you're stumbling up on something else? ”

Gou Jian supported his jaw with the wooden handle of the copper shovel, looking at Gusu Mountain in the distance, and Gusu City was faintly visible under Gusu Mountain.

But a guard led a man to him, and left him in the stable, and without saying a word, he withdrew. Gou Jian and Fan Li couldn't help but be happy when they saw it. People really can't talk about it, who is this person in front of him who is not Ji Nong?

Ji Nong was carrying a large cloth burden and looked tired. He saw that the guards had returned to the watchtower, and said that he was a frequent visitor here, and under the banner of Dazai Boyao, he paid a lot of tribute to these guards on weekdays, so Jinong came to the horse farm to come and go freely.

The three of them entered the stone room, and Gou Jian asked Feng Yi, who was cooking, to pretend to chop firewood outside the stone room, but mainly outside the door.

Jinong met the two, Gou Jian helped them up, and asked eagerly: "The widow hasn't seen any trace of you for several days, have you heard any news these days?" ”

"The villain has just come from China. A few days ago, the villain was ordered by the literary doctor to return to Yueguo, and today he just returned to Gusu. ”

Fan Li said: "Wen Chong summoned you back to China, there must be extremely important things to discuss. Is there a change in the country? ”

Jinong said: "Doctor Wen asked the villain to turn on the king and the general: Wu Guoxiang's soldiers have learned that there is a main force of our army stationed in the Guling area, and they also have objections to the 5,000 soldiers and horses left behind in Huiji City. The soldiers wanted to take advantage of these two things, which was not good for the king. ”

Gou Jian groaned: "This matter was investigated by the soldiers. But it's a little tricky. ”

Fan Lifu said to Jinong: "What is the way to crack the literary species? ”

"The doctor summoned the villain to return to China, so that the villain told the king and the general: the main force of Guling is purely imaginary, and it has already been scattered for the people, and there is not a single soldier; The 5,000 soldiers and horses of Huiji have been changed to patrol posts, which are mainly used to maintain law and order in the country and Huiji, not to defend the country. If the king of Wu asked, the king replied with this. Wu Dazai Boyao and the Chinese doctor of the country have unified their voices, so they came to report to the king to know. ”

Fan Li nodded and said: "Although this statement cannot dispel King Wu's suspicion, it can already protect himself, which is a good strategy." If the king of Wu is summoned to inquire. The king also has to pay attention to everything in the Yue Kingdom, including the way to govern the country and the strategy of supporting the people, especially the construction of the army. The king should pay special attention to the use of words, and he must say that the country is useless. So that King Wu can rest assured. Otherwise. King Wu will suspect that we have two hearts. In a word, holding the tail and being a man and gaining the sympathy of King Wu is the way for us to protect ourselves. ”

Gou Jian nodded and asked Jinong: "Is the real situation in China okay?" You travel all the way south, passing through many villages and towns. What is the livelihood of the people in China? ”

Jinong said: "The doctor of literature presides over the overall situation, and governs the country very well, first lightly conscription, reducing taxes, saying that it is to support the people and enrich the people. The second is to vigorously encourage childbearing. Implement the national support policy. ”

The more Gou Jian listened, the more interested he became, and motioned to Jinong to report carefully.

"Women in the country must report to the government before giving birth, and the government will send a doctor to wait for the delivery. Those who give birth to a boy will be rewarded with two pots of wine and a dog, and those who give birth to a girl will be rewarded with two pots of wine and a mouthful of pig; Mothers of three children are exempt from paying taxes, and if a family has more than five offspring, the government will send someone to help support them. Jinon gave a brief explanation.

Gou Jian was very relieved after hearing this, and said to Fan Li sideways: "Since the use of the army, the population of the country has decreased sharply, the money and grain treasury have been exhausted, the country is already full of holes, raising the people is the urgent need of the moment, the literature is well versed in its reasoning, and the widow is worry-free!" ”

Fan Li had a worried look on his face, and said to Gou Jian: "Governing the country with literature is of course reasonable. However, under the instigation of the soldiers, King Wu was very concerned about the governance of our country and the training of troops. That is to say, the better we do, the more King Wu will be suspicious of us. To put it bluntly, the soldiers have always advocated killing us, because they are worried that once we are revitalized, they will retaliate with the Wu State; And King Wu was able to pardon us because he thought that after this defeat, we no longer had the ability to compete with the State of Wu, so King Wu would let us go. If we expose our intentions of making great efforts, we will alarm King Wu, so that King Wu will be on guard and vigilant, and if we don't get King Wu right, he will regret it. ”

Gou Jian was surprised and said: "The general's words are really to the point!" The widow was bent on strengthening the country and rejuvenating the country as soon as possible, but he didn't plan for it. But how should China deal with it now? ”

"The domestic decree remains unchanged, but it is necessary to do a good job in diplomacy and public opinion. To show more weakness to the state of Wu, to report the worries but not the good news, so that the king of Wu thought that after the war, the country of Yue had been ruined. ”

Gou Jian said: "Jinong will convey the text according to General Fan Li's meaning: do more benevolent government, and take enriching the country and strengthening the army as the key." But we must pay attention to the ways and means, to be low-key and clumsy; The main purpose is not to attract the attention of King Wu, not to alarm the monarchs and ministers of Wu State, this is the main purpose. One more point, how about the search for beauties in China? ”

Dr. Wen said that a group had been collected and local officials had been dispatched to visit in detail. I heard that there is a beautiful woman named Zheng Dan, who is the best in the world. The scholar was training people more, teaching them singing and dancing, walking and etiquette, so that they could be dedicated to the king of Wu. ”

Fan Li smiled: "Oh, Zheng Dan? King Wu is a good woman, if this Zheng Dan can be favored by King Wu, there is Bo Yao to help him in the court, and Zheng Dan's kind words in the house, our monarchs and ministers will have the possibility of returning to China. ”

"The widow likes the literature, and as long as the widow proposes an outline, he can grasp the widow's intentions and implement it quickly. Since this Zheng Dan is as beautiful as Jinong said, this person will definitely not be bad. ”

Feng Yi heard a few words at the door, turned her head to the house and smiled: "You men, you just can't pass this beauty pass!" Although the concubine does not understand state affairs, I heard that King Wu is lustful, and his literature is favorable. But King Wu also has a lady in the main palace, and this queen is tightly controlled, so it is difficult for this plan to be effective. ”

Jinong said: "The villain heard that Dazai Boyao once said that the queen of the king of Wu was hired by the military members of the Xiangguo army, and the first king Lu was hired by the husband, not the king of Wu. King Wu has never been restrained by the queen, and now among the concubines favored by King Wu, there are beauties who we have sacrificed to the country. It's just that the doctor said that these beauties were in a hurry and didn't have much training, so there was nothing to use. ”

Gou Jian and Fan Li naturally understood what this "usable" meant, and couldn't help but smile at each other.

Fan Li was worried that Jinong's stay too long would arouse the suspicion of the guards, so he urged Jinong to leave the place.

Jinong put down his burden and left some daily things, especially to Feng Yi at the door: "The villain has found some things for the queen to use for the palace maids, the weather is gradually getting colder, and the well water is also very biting, the queen often washes and cooks, and I heard that there are some benefits to wiping some grease." ”

Feng Yi was speechless for a moment, looking at the grease and ointment on the case in a bit of a daze, and couldn't help but see the injury. These little things, when she was queen, were like water, as ordinary as air; But now, it's a very rare thing.

Feng Yi thanked Ji Nong, and the monarch sent Ji Nong out of the stone room, watched him go out of the sentry tower, and left alone.

At this time, I saw a team of chariots and horses coming towards Huqiu Mountain from a distance. Fan Li looked into the distance with his hand on the shed, and saw that the convoy raised a burst of dust, all the way to the pennant hunting, and the front of the convoy seemed to float a dragon flag of King Wu.

"It seems that King Wu is here!" Fan Li thought for a long time, and said to Gou Jian: "King Wu came here in person, there must be a reason. Jinon said the countermeasure, the king still remembers? ”

"Of course I do! You and I are now slaves of the state of Wu. King Wu will come, we will do what we have to do! ”

Fan Li nodded and said, "Now is the time to collect the horse manure." The king and queen sat down on the stone pier and waited for the ministers to do these trifles. ”

So Fan Li cleaned up, held a wooden hammer in his hand, bowed down and stood on the left side of Gou Jian's lower side, and Feng Yi bent down and sat on the right side of Gou Jian's body. The courtesy of the monarch and the courtier, the courtesy of the husband and wife. (To be continued......)