Chapter 31: The Road to Heaven (2)

That night, Wang Kunjun accompanied the fourth brother Yu Xuzi to return to his small courtyard after dinner, and as soon as he entered the door of the main room, he was invited to Zhang Xiaofei's bedroom by Zhang Xiaofei's personal maid Lanxiang.

Wang Kunjun followed Lan Xiang into the bedroom, and saw Zhang Xiaofei sitting on the bed coaxing his son to sleep. At the table next to him, Lin Xiaoyu was watching his son Xing Zhengnan do math problems.

Since Xing Zhengnan was picked up in "Qingyuan" last time, after a period of adaptation, he decided to stay and not leave. In the past, Zhang Xiaofei and Han Qingwen were responsible for teaching him to study, but in the past few months, because Zhang and Han had children, Lin Xiaoyu took over. Of course, Wang Kunjun, as his stepfather, will also participate in his education. It's just that Wang Kunjun is usually busy, and he has less time to really sit down and tutor Xing Zhengnan.

Zhang Xiaofei saw that Wang Kunjun was coming, so he asked him to sit for a while, and then talk when he coaxed the child. Wang Kunjun nodded, sat next to Xing Zhengnan, and while watching him do the questions, he whispered about Lin Xiaoyu's recent study.

After the two chatted for a while, seeing that Zhang Xiaofei had already coaxed her son, Lin Xiaoyu sent Yahuan to send Xing Zhengnan back to his room to do his homework, so that it was convenient for adults to speak.

Xing Zhengnan saluted his father-in-law and mother-in-law, and after saying goodnight, he followed Yahuan out. Zhang Xiaofei came to the table and asked Wang Kunjun softly: "Husband, is there something important for the fourth brother to tell you today, I heard that you have sent a telegram asking all the brothers to go to the 'Liangyuan' for a meeting tomorrow." ”

Wang Kunjun nodded, and then sent a letter to the old fairy of Fuyaozi, asking them to send someone south to Kaifeng as soon as possible to tell his wife about meeting Chai Rong. Zhang Xiaofei was also excited when she heard the news, and said: "There can be such a good thing, it seems that God really cares about my husband." It's a pity that I have a Huan'er to see now, otherwise I would really want to go to Kaifeng to have a look. ”

Wang Kunjun shook his head when he heard this: "You, you think too simply. As the saying goes, 'a companion is like a tiger', although it is a godsend to meet Chai Rong this time, opportunities and challenges coexist. In case your husband's words are not right, and he commits Chai Rong's dragon face, he may be pushed out of the noon gate and beheaded. ”

"Phew, bah, bah, stop talking nonsense. How can anyone curse himself and be beheaded before he even sets off," Zhang Xiaofei complained.

Wang Kunjun said disapprerovingly: "When did you become so superstitious, I was just talking about it." ”

At this time, Lin Xiaoyu interjected: "Fifth brother, has the person who went to Kaifeng selected this time?" ”

"Not yet," Wang Kunjun replied, "the reason why I summoned all my brothers back was to hold a plenary meeting to discuss the candidates for Kaifeng." ”

"That can't be a pot of porridge," Zhang Xiaofei felt that the method of holding the plenary meeting was not appropriate, "This kind of opportunity for civilians to meet the Son of Heaven is basically comparable to winning the lottery in the previous life, I'm afraid everyone is not willing to give up." ”

Wang Kunjun waved his hand and said: "As I just said, this time there are opportunities and challenges, and no one can say what the outcome of this trip will be." Moreover, the main purpose of the plenary meeting was to announce this matter to the brothers in person, and to announce the candidates who would go to Kaifeng. As to who should be elected, it will still be decided at the previous enlarged meeting of the Committee, and it will not be voted on by the plenary meeting. ”

Hearing Wang Kunjun say that the candidate to meet Chai Rong in Kaifeng was decided by the enlarged meeting of the committee, Lin Xiaoyu moved his mind. She said tentatively to Wang Kunjun: "Fifth brother, what are the criteria for the selection of personnel by the committee?" ”

"This has not yet been decided," Wang replied, "and the specific standards and principles will have to wait until the enlarged meeting to decide." However, according to my thoughts, we must not all go, and only a few representatives can go. In addition, personnel should be selected in such a way that it does not interfere with the normal functioning of the team here. ”

Lin Xiaoyu heard this, and asked again: "Then according to the standard of the fifth brother, can I go to the little sister?" ”

"You?" Wang Kunjun asked with some surprise, "What are you going to do?" Let's go to see Chai Rong this time to promote ourselves, not to travel. Your specialty is the surgery of Western medicine, and in this era of lack of necessary equipment, you basically can't play a role, even if you see Chai Rong, you can't get the other party's appreciation, and you can't add points to the team. Moreover, in this era of male supremacy, no matter how capable a woman is, she will not be accepted by the imperial court. ”,

Seeing that Wang Kunjun looked down on his good sister so much, Zhang Xiaofei was unhappy on the side, and retorted: "Who said that Sister Lin would only do surgery, Sister Lin has been with Xue Shen for more than a year. Her level of traditional Chinese medicine is very different from when she first crossed over, and even Doctor Xue praised her as a genius in studying medicine, saying that she can now see a doctor for others. ”

"But the question is, no matter how good the eighteenth sister's Chinese medicine is, can she still be better than the doctors in the hospital? Besides, doctors are not a new discipline in this era, and compared to other members of the team, the eighteenth sister does not have any advantages," Wang Kunjun still insisted on his opinion.

Zhang Xiaofei didn't accept his words, and asked: "Chai Rong doesn't need it, don't our own brothers need it?" As far as I know, it is more than 1,000 miles from here to Kaifeng, and it takes nearly a month to walk on the road, and the long journey is not sure that the brothers are not sick. Once you get sick on the road, you can't ask a doctor to get it. If there is a doctor like Sister Lin in the team, whether it is a brother who goes to Kaifeng or a brother who stays in Youzhou, his heart will be a lot more steady.

Besides, how do you know that Sister Lin won't add points to the team if she goes. With our sister Lin's figure and academic ability, maybe Chai Rong will fall in love at first sight and stay in the palace as a concubine. In that case, she probably added more points to the team than everyone else combined. ”

"This ......" Wang Kunjun was given by Zhang Xiaofei's whimsical statement, and he really didn't know what to say to his wife.

Lin Xiaoyu was even more embarrassed by Zhang Xiaofei's words, so she jumped up and pounced on Zhang Xiaofei, wanting to reason with her. The two sisters quarreled for a while, because they were afraid of waking up the child, Lin Xiaoyu finally let Zhang Xiaofei go. However, what Zhang Xiaofei said earlier that the brothers should have a doctor to follow when they go to Kaifeng still makes some sense. Therefore, Wang Kunjun thought about it again and again, Zuihou nodded, and said, "Okay, I can put this suggestion to the enlarged meeting of the committee." As for whether the lynx can pass, I don't dare to guarantee the eighteenth sister. ”

Seeing that Wang Kunjun promised to make suggestions to the enlarged meeting, Lin Xiaoyu naturally expressed his gratitude again and again. Although no one can say what the final result will be, as long as Wang Kunjun puts forward this proposal to the enlarged meeting, there will be a possibility of its approval. Therefore, after Lin Xiaoyu thanked Wang Kunjun, he happily returned to his residence, just waiting for the next day's meeting to find out.

The next day, all the brothers who returned to the "Qingyuan" got up early, and after breakfast, they hurried on the road, and arrived at the "Liangyuan" at about three or four o'clock in the afternoon. Since they were the farthest away, the other brothers had been waiting there for a long time when they arrived.

After Wang Kunjun and others entered the "Liangyuan", they did not immediately convene a plenary meeting, but first convened an enlarged meeting of the committee, and gave a blow to the supervisors in advance on the content of Fuyaozi's letter, and studied the charter of Kaifeng in the south.

When Fuyaozi's letter was circulated in the hands of everyone, everyone felt that their luck was really good, and they actually encountered such a good opportunity of "pie in the sky".

Xu Shaoan even said to Zhang Weixin, who was sitting next to him: "Seventh brother, aren't we dreaming?" ”

Zhang Weixin, who has the most historical knowledge among the people, obviously agrees with Xu Shao'an's statement, and says: "Who says it's not, I still think it's a dream." Based on my knowledge of history, Master Tai was supposed to be summoned by Chai Rong at the end of the third year of Xiande, but now he has been almost a full year ahead of schedule.

Wang Kunjun shook his head and said with emotion: "The so-called world is unpredictable. Since you and I can be here, nothing else is impossible. ”

The brothers present all thought deeply of Wang Kunjun's words and echoed them. After everyone sighed for a while, Zhang Weixin turned the topic to the topic of this meeting, and said: "Brothers, don't patronize and sigh, but forget the purpose of our meeting today. Everyone talked about their plans for the candidates for this trip, how they should deal with Chai Rong and the officials of the court after arriving in Kaifeng, and made a charter to announce it to the brothers at the plenary meeting in a while. ”,

After listening to Zhang Weixin's words, everyone began to express their opinions word by word.

The first to speak was Wang Kunjun, who said: "That's how I think about this. First of all, the opportunity to see Chai Rong in Kaifeng this time is really rare, and I am afraid that all the brothers hope to have their own place in the team of this trip. But it was obviously impossible for everyone to go, and if there were too many people, there would only be hundreds of people including the entourage, which would be too eye-catching. Second, there are so many businesses and industries in Youzhou, and someone must take care of them.

Although seeing Chai Rong may be a road to heaven for us, but Youzhou is our foundation here. If the foundation is lost, this road to heaven will have no foundation, and it may collapse at any time. Therefore, on the issue of candidates to Kaifeng, everyone must weigh the pros and cons, and must not only care about themselves and the team, but only care about the present and ignore the future. If I were to be asked for my opinion, I would suggest that one or two representatives from each functional department should be selected to participate, but only on the premise that it does not affect the work of the department. In addition, I would like to suggest that not all four members of the Committee should go, but that someone must stay and take charge of the overall situation.

As for how we should act after Kaifeng, I think the most important thing is to show our ability, and the second is to show that we are sincere and want to serve the Later Zhou court. ”

"Not bad," Li Junwu agreed, "We have been operating in Youzhou for more than two years, although our strength is still very limited, but at least we have a foothold, so we have spent a lot of effort on this." Not to mention anything else, I don't know how much effort it took to build the 'Liangyuan' base where we are now. All of our current industrial production capacity is here, and these industrial production capacity are not only the foundation of our future development, but also the capital of our life.

Therefore, compared to seeing Chai Rong, everything here is probably more important. I'll make a statement here, I won't go to Kaifeng this time, I will stay and take care of my brother's home. In addition, I agree with the premise that Lao Wu just said that if it is not very necessary, the backbone of the Ministry of Science and Technology should not go. At present, the production tasks of our department are very heavy, and if the backbone leaves, it will seriously affect the production progress, which is not conducive to the development of the team. ”

Wang Kunjun echoed beside him: "Brother Xiexie has set an example for everyone, someone must be in control of the overall situation here in Youzhou, and it is best for Big Brother to be in charge here." You know, it will take a month or two to go to Kaifeng, although we have a radio station, but Kaifeng is seven or eight hundred kilometers away from Youzhou, which is much farther than the distance when the old 25 went to the Northern Han Dynasty, and no one dares to guarantee that the communication will be able to keep the communication smooth at that time. If there is a problem with communication, once something big happens on the side of Youzhou, there will be a situation where the dragons are leaderless, and the consequences can be predicted.

As for which brothers will go to Kaifeng on behalf of the Ministry of Science and Technology, I respect the opinion of the eldest brother. I suggest that the Ministry of Science and Technology can appoint one or two brothers who can not only represent the image of the department, but will not affect the production tasks of the department because of their departure. ”

"What the two brothers said is very reasonable," Zhang Weixin continued, "In a sense, our foundations in Youzhou are also the capital to meet Chai Rong." Only by being optimistic about the capital can we earn more benefits through it. As for how to make good use of these funds, in addition to our own careful consideration, we must also listen to Master Tai's opinions after Kaifeng.

Although Master Tai did not write in the letter how he recommended us to Chai Rong, I think Master Tai's understanding of us, and the focus of his old man's recommendation must be in our extraordinary knowledge. I think that Chai Rong judged whether we could be used by him, firstly, to summon and observe our conversation and behavior, and secondly, I am afraid that we would also see what help we could bring to his majestic cause.

As for the first one, because our previous education is far from this era, many brothers can't even recognize traditional characters, let alone be familiar with those so-called Confucian classics of governance. In addition to trying to be as calm and calm as possible in front of Chai Rong, there is nothing more to do. At most, I relied on my familiarity with history to tell Chai Rong some of the strategic ideas I learned in my previous life about this era that have been proven to be effective in practice. As for how it will work, I can't guarantee it.

Therefore, I think we should still show Chai Rong some things that can be seen and touched as much as possible, so that he can have an intuitive understanding of our abilities. Let him feel that with our group of people, it is possible to realize his ideal of dominating the world in advance. ”,

"What does Seventh Brother mean, let's bring a few rifles or a few cannons for Chai Rong?" Xu Shaoan asked beside him.

"Of course not," Zhang Weixin denied, "These two things can be regarded as our ability to press the bottom of the box, and it is not a good choice to show them too early." Once the great power of these two things is displayed in front of Chai Rong, then on the one hand, he may ask us to make more for him on the spot, so that he can equip the army. On the other hand, it is also very likely that he will have the idea of monopolizing this kind of jishu, so as to detain the people we go to Kaifeng, so as not to use this jishu for others.

When the time comes, we will be in a dilemma. If our people stay, then what should we do here in Youzhou, we can't brothers be thousands of miles apart from now on, so we can only wait for Chai Rong to see each other when they recover Youyun. What's more, even if he recovers Youyun, in order to keep this Jishu secret, he may not return our freedom. Besides, in the history of our previous life, he died on the way to the Northern Expedition.

I mean, we can show him something that shows us what we are capable of being different, but not too much for the level of technology in this era. For example, we can bring him a few flintlock pistols, and we can bring him a few barrels of black powder. The materials used to make these things are all existing in this era, and what people in this era lack is creativity.

In this way, these kinds of things are relatively simple to manufacture, and Chai Rong can find some skilled craftsmen to make them according to the gourd painting scoop, and there is no need for us to live in Kaifeng for a long time to make them for him. Second, the power of these kinds of equipment is much weaker than that of rifles and artillery, and it does not pose a serious threat to people who know their characteristics, so it is unlikely that Chai Rong will force us to keep the secret. ”

Zhang Weixin's remarks were endorsed by most of the people present, especially the members of the Ministry of Science and Technology represented by Li Junwu. Although Xu Shao'an and a few people in the military department preferred to join the Hou Zhou army with rifles and cannons, so that they could follow Chai Rong to establish a meritorious career. But they knew very well that to do so was to step on the shoulders of their brothers, and that their success was likely to be based on their great sacrifices. In that case, not only will the brothers not agree, but I am afraid that even they will not be able to forgive themselves.

Therefore, Xu Shaoan and the others could only turn this thought in their hearts, and did not dare to say it. In this way, Zhang Weixin's proposal was approved by the enlarged meeting and became part of the resolution of the meeting. As for the question of the candidates to go to Kaifeng, because of Li Junwu's statement of leading by example, except for the Ministry of Science and Technology, which only sent two non-production backbones, Huangshan and Lu Yue, most of the candidates proposed by other departments are mainly non-backbone members. Those departments with only one traverser did not even send a person to participate, with the exception of the Ministry of Security, the Ministry of Military Affairs, and the Infirmary. Since the two departments of security and military were responsible for the security of the southward trip, the Ministry of Security sent Xu Shaoan and Wang Feng, and the Ministry of Military Affairs was represented by Zeng Zhilin. And Lin Xiaoyu, the only member of the infirmary, was also selected by the enlarged meeting as the accompanying doctor of the southward trip due to Wang Kunjun's proposal, and went to Kaifeng together. In addition, as the leader of the group and the person who knows this era best, this trip to Kaifeng is naturally indispensable to Wang Kunjun and Zhang Weixin.

In the end, the enlarged meeting of the committee voted and approved, and the main members of the team, which Zhang Weixin called the "southbound delegation", included: Wang Kunjun, Zhang Weixin, Xu Shaoan, Zeng Zhilin, Wang Feng, Zheng Zhiwei, Xie Tian and Lin Xiaoyu. In addition, the Ministry of Security sent 12 personal guards to be responsible for close protection, and the Military Department sent a squad of the Ranger squad and two squadrons of the 1st Squadron of the Wyvern Pioneer Battalion to be responsible for perimeter security. As a result, the total number of members of the entire "delegation to the south" reached 56, which is quite large.

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