After repelling the strong enemy Chahan, with the expansion of Haidong's territory, internal party disputes and contradictions began to emerge. In this volume, I am going to write about the content of the party struggle in addition to writing about the rest and recuperation.

——

After the council was dispersed, Hong Jixun, Ji Zongzhou and others left the palace separately.

Although since the siege of Chahan, they have been by Deng She's side day and night, looking up and not looking down, they are relatively familiar with each other.

But Hong Jixun relied on his old ministers in Haidong, his merits were high, and his eyes were too high, and he didn't look down on Ji Zongzhou's demoted officials. The two are also just like Deng She's evaluation, Ji Zongzhou is "more than wise", to put it bluntly, he is too tactful, too "aware of current affairs", and he knows his position very clearly, in order to avoid arousing Deng She's suspicion, he is also a little respectful of Hong Jixun.

Therefore, their friendship is actually general.

Out of the palace, Ji Zongzhou respectfully saluted Hong Jixun and said: "Today's discussion, Mr. proposed to use Han Wu's 'Martial Arts Jue' as the basis for rewarding, which is really pertinent and suitable for the present. People praised Mr. Haidong Zhuge as a taster, and under the fame, there is no vanity. Xia Guan was full of admiration. ”

Ji Zongzhou is thirty or forty years old, and Hong Jixun is only in his twenties. To be calculated by age, Hong Jixun is about the same as Ji Zongzhou's children and nephews. But looking at the moment, these two people are very respectful to the older ones, and the younger ones don't care, and their attitudes are just the opposite of their age.

Hong Jixun hurriedly gave up his hand, returned the salute, and said: "Those who are ministers should solve problems for the Lord." This is a matter of the official's duty, and Lord He Laoji praises it? He looked up at the sky and said, "It's almost noon, and the official still has some business." Master Ji, one step ahead. ”

Ji Zongzhou, Zhang Yu and others bent over, sent him onto the sedan chair, and said in unison: "Mr. go slowly." Hong Jixun opened the sedan curtain, nodded to them slightly, patted the board, and the sedan chair man lifted it steadily from all sides and walked away. And all the people looked at him and went away, and then they dispersed.

When Hong Jixun came to Yidu, he had no place to live, so he lived in Deng She's mansion. It doesn't hurt if it's short, but it's inconvenient for a long time. Later, the Liu family, a celebrity in the city, offered a big house, and Deng gave Yan Zhixi to buy it with official money and gave it to him to live temporarily. The Liu family, that is, the Jurchen family that was good friends with Tong Shengyang. His family has a son, Liu Mingjiang, who made meritorious contributions when Deng She entered Yidu, and now he also serves in the left and right divisions.

Deng She's favor to Hong Jixun is not unkind.

The houses of Haidong Wenwu are indeed rewarded by Deng She, such as the houses of Wenhuaguo, Chen Hu, Yao Haogu and others in Pyongyang, Liaoyang, Hanyang Mansion and other places. However, Hong Jixun is the only one, Shuangcheng rewarded him once, Pyongyang rewarded him once, Liaoyang rewarded him once, and now he is rewarded with another place in Yidu. Of course, a house is nothing to Deng She, and it is nothing to Hong Jixun, but this shows a kind of attention and courtesy. There is not only the friendship of monarchs and ministers, but also meticulous care.

Not only did he reward the house, but he also rewarded him with a large number of fertile fields in Shuangcheng, Pyongyang, South Korea and other places. Accumulated, let alone 10,000 acres. Thousands of acres of fertile land. Although it is said that compared with the Yuan court's generous efforts to reward temples and subordinates with tens of thousands of acres or hundreds of thousands of acres, this amount seems to be far inferior. But as far as Haidong is concerned, Hong Jixun is also the first. Deng She originally maintained a high degree of restraint in rewarding his subordinates for the fields, and the second ranked Wenhua State, as the relative of Deng She's uncle and the noble of the Korean province Pingzhang, was only rewarded with thousands of acres of fertile land in total.

In addition, there are countless rewards for New Year's holidays and even anytime and anywhere.

With the expansion of Haidong's territory, the magistrates of Liaodong, Korea, South Korea and other provinces sent more and more tributes, and there was no shortage of high-quality products; There are also good gifts from Fang Guozhen, Zhang Shicheng and others, as well as calligraphy, painting and jewelry copied from the original Goryeo Palace, Guanduo Treasury, and Yidu Treasury, among which there are many precious. No matter what it is, no matter how valuable it is, as long as Hong Jixun sees it, as long as he shows a look of liking, Deng She will never be stingy and will be generous to it.

In this regard, Wen and Chen are military generals, and they are not compared for the time being.

Yao Haogu, won the weight of Deng She, relied on it as his right-hand man, first served as the provincial imperial history Zhongcheng, and now holds the power of the South Korean provinces, and can already sit side by side with Wen and Chen. But if you compare the two, he is also beyond the dust.

All in all, Hong Jixun is now in Haidong, and it can be said that he wants wind and rain. It is not difficult to understand why Ji Zongzhou and others are so respectful to him. It's just that there are no absolutes in the world. Hong Jixun is so powerful, some people are in awe of him, and naturally some people will look down on him.

When Deng She gave him the land last time, Fang Buzhen raised an objection and said: "Fang Jinhaidong's foundation has just begun, and the people's livelihood has withered after a long war. 'What is good at the top, but what is good at the bottom. 'The lord should be frugal and thrifty, and should not open up the source of extravagance and waste, so he should not reward his subordinates too much. "Ask Deng She to take back his life and stop rewarding Hong Jixun with acres of land.

Deng She replied: "In the past, I Yongping had an incident, and if there was no Mr. Hong, there would be no twin cities." Without the twin cities, there will be no North Korea. Without North Korea, there will be no Liaodong. Without Liaodong, how can there be today? Mr. and I Haidong, great contribution! How can it be compared with ordinary courtiers? If there is no reward, it will not show its merit. If you don't show your merits, you will hurt the meaning of the world's scholars. Out of various considerations, he not only adhered to the original intention, but also doubled the number of acres of land that was originally intended to be rewarded, and finally reprimanded Fang Buzhen.

In Hong Jixun's house, there are also capable people. After hearing about this, a doorman suggested that Hong Jixun might as well take the initiative to resign, citing the reason: "There is profit and loss in the month, and if it is too full, it will overflow." The sage's 'golden mean' is for this also. Hold both ends of it, and use it. This is the truth of being a courtier. ”

Hong Jixun disagreed. He didn't say anything to his face, but mentioned it to his cronies in private, denouncing it as: "Rotten words!" He thinks, "Han Feizi said: Ming governs the country, rewards Ming, and persuades merit; Severe punishment, * pro-law. The Lord gave me a good land and a house, which is a reward. Why should I be denied the reward? If I refuse, wouldn't it be contrary to the original intent of 'rewarding and punishing severely'? For my own selfish interests, for the so-called 'moderation', and for the sake of self-preservation, I will violate the system of the province, and I will not take it. ”

Within a few days, he found an excuse and drove the guest away.

Sitting in the sedan chair, Hong Jixun thought about the past, and was a little upset for a while. He threw these thoughts out of his mind, subconsciously tapped his leg with a folding fan, and began to recall the scene of Shicai's conversation with Deng She in the palace.

Deng She agreed to use the "Martial Arts Jue" as the basis for the reward, which was not surprising to him. However, when talking about the specific number of rewards, Deng She seemed to disapprove of the "civil and military half", and seemed to have some opinions on the conditions of "Shandong should be the main and Haidong secondary". He also designated Wenhuaguo and Monk Li as the leaders of the discussion, and isolated him from the outside.

For Hong Jixun, this is rare.

He muttered to himself, "It's just a matter of not negotiating." However, what does the lord think about the condition of 'Shandong should be the main and Haidong secondary'? The sedan chair driver he used was originally the old man who carried the sedan chair for Wang Shicheng, and Deng She specially rewarded him. The sedan chair was also used by Wang Shicheng. It is also comfortable to sit and more stable to walk. Before I knew it, I had returned to the house.

He told Ji Zongzhou that he had something, and this was true. Before entering the house, a subordinate trotted over, waited for the sedan chair to stop, moved the pedal, and waited for him to get off the sedan chair, while saying: "So that the master can know that General Liu and several adults came an hour earlier." I'm waiting in the hall. ”

"How many adults is General Liu?" Hong Jixun was stunned for a moment and asked, "Who are they?" ”

"General Liu Guo Liu, as well as Chen, Li, Zhai, and Shi, all the masters of thousands of households and hundreds of households."

Chen, Li, Zhai, and Shi, these thousands and hundreds of households were all officers of the Shandong army. Some were born in the old army of Yidu, and some were later transferred from other places. They were all in the city when Chahan was besieged. Because Liu Guo is the highest official among them, Liu Guo has always been the leader.

Hong Jixun frowned and said, "Tell Liu Guo to send these people away." Just leave him alone. But he didn't go to the church first, but went to the backyard, changed into his homely clothes, and then came to the main hall. Chen, Li, Zhai, and Shi Zhu had already left, and the huge hall was empty, with only two or three maids waiting outside, and Liu Guo was sitting alone.

Seeing Hong Jixun coming, Liu Guo hurriedly stood up, took three or two steps to meet him, lifted his robe, and was about to kneel and salute.

Before he could kneel, Hong Jixun had already walked past him in great strides, without looking at it, he waved his hand casually, and said, "No need to be polite." ......Sit. He sat down and instructed the maid outside the hall, "Look at the tea." He opened the folding fan, closed it again, and raised his eyes to look at Liu Guo, "Why don't you sit yet?" Sit down, sit down. ......, if you come to see me again in the future, just be alone, and don't bring anything like Chen, Li, Zhai, and Shi. I'm the Zaizhi Mansion, not your thousand-family house! ”

Liu Guo's buttocks were just next to the seat, so he hurriedly stood up again, lowered his hand, and responded respectfully: "Yes." After waiting for a while, seeing that Hong Jixun had nothing else to say, he sat down cautiously again, pulled out a smile, with a little sycophancy, and said, "Sir is really a minister of my Haidong Zhuguo, who went out early in the morning and only came back now." Tire! Tire! The lord is really, can't he give Mr. a day and a half of rest? ”

He's a rough guy, and his sycophants aren't at any level, they're too obvious, and they're vulgar. Hong Jixun smiled, but he didn't know whether it was mockery, or he didn't bother to pay attention to it, so he didn't answer. The maid took the tea, took a sip, and said, "You came to see me, are you worried about the reward this time?" ”

Liu Guo was not only worried about the reward this time, he was more worried about his future net worth. Liu Jue's rebellion caused Yang Wanhu to be defeated and lost the important town of Jinan. Although Liu Qi was not in the army, he and Liu Qi were of the same clan, who knows if Deng She would be angry with him?

A while ago, it was easy to pass Liu Mingjiang and hook up with Hong Jixun. He was like a drowning man grasping a life-saving straw, and in just a few days, he met Hong Jixun no less than four or five times. The gifts he gave were almost wiped out of the family property he had saved for many years. Finally yesterday, Hong Jixun finally relented and agreed to help him move around to see if he could get some benefits for him in the upcoming reward.

Liu Guo has been in Yidu for a few years, and he can be called a psychic. Early this morning, when he heard that Deng She had summoned Hong Jixun and others to the mansion to discuss matters, he immediately guessed that it must be related to the meritorious service, so he immediately made an appointment with Chen, Li, Zhai, and Shi Zhuren to inquire about the news. ——, Chen, Li, Zhai, and Shi were involved with Hong Jixun through Liu Guo.

He twisted his body uneasily, and said to Hong Jixun with a smile: "This little bit of the villain's mind really can't escape the eyes of Mr. at all. But to tell you the truth, sir, the villain is self-aware of this reward, and he really doesn't have any excessive extravagant thoughts. I just don't know, today's discussion, the mind of the lord? ”

Hong Jixun said: "The thoughts of the lord, how can you and I be the courtiers guess?" ”

"Yes, yes. The villain lost his words, please don't blame Mr. ”

Hong Jixun's tone slowed down, his voice changed, and he said: "What the lord thinks, the official doesn't know, and he doesn't want to guess." However, at the council, the official also emphasized that 'if you are rewarded for your merits, you should pay attention to all the generals'. General Liu, you know best what you have done in defending the city. When you go back, you might as well think again. It is estimated that the matter of discussion will be put on the agenda soon. You just have to be ready. Remember, the official will not say good things for you, and the lord will be clear about everything, and the rewards and punishments will be strict, and you will not be wronged. ”

"Yes, yes."

"Anything else?"

Liu Guo didn't even sit on the chair hot, and he didn't drink half of the tea, and when he heard Hong Jixun say this, he hurriedly stood up again, and said respectfully: "Mr. has every opportunity, and the villain doesn't dare to disturb more." It was a surprise to be able to see Mr. There's nothing else to do, so I'll quit. ”

Hong Jixun nodded slightly, served tea to the guests, and didn't get up, only asked someone to lead him out. Outside the hall, it was midday, and it was lunchtime.

Not long after Liu Guo left, two more people came to the hall. One was forty years old, and the other was in his thirties. These two people, one is named Li Lan and the other is Hong Jiyin. The former is Hong Jixun's original friends and friends in North Korea, and the latter is his own clan with Hong Jixun, and now they are both serving as Hong Fu's staff.

Hong Jixun and the two of them, either friends or the same race, have an extraordinary friendship, and they have already reached the point of familiarity and informality.

In contrast, Hong Jiyin and Hong Jixun are closer. He looked at the tea bowl that Liu Guo left on the desk, and said with a smile: "This Liu Guo is diligent!" Is he using our Hongfu as his yamen to sign and draw the road? Three days and two ends to run. ......, yes, Twelve, have you done what you promised him? I saw that he had just gone out, and his face was full of joy. Noticing that Hong Jixun's expression was wrong, he was stunned and asked, "What?" Is there a discord? ”

"It's not harmonious!"

Hong Jixun motioned for the two of them to sit down, briefly explained the process of the meeting, and said: "In my opinion, although the lord did not explicitly refuse to join me, his original intention is that he still has a soft spot for the generals of Haidong. Even, before I could put forward the few arguments we had discussed before, the lord hurriedly retreated to the back of the hall. The two of them, hoping to use the Shandong Descending Future to boost our wings, so that they can compete with Yao Haogu, seems to be difficult to do! ”

Deng She's worry and vigilance are not bad at all.

The reason why Hong Jixun abruptly proposed that "rewarding merit should be given priority to Shandong" during the morning discussion was precisely for his own selfish interests. You must know that although his status in Haidong is very high, he has basically no friendship with the generals of Haidong. The generals of Haidong, including Wen Huaguo, Chen Hu, and Zhao Guo, are all old thieves who control heavy troops. If Hong Jixun is said to be an old man from the dragon, then these generals are older than him and have a very close relationship with Deng She, who will take him seriously?

Even if they are rising stars like Zhang Jier and Yang Wanhu, who joined the army halfway, in fact, they don't take him too seriously.

For example, Zhang Ji'er, when the Jurchens rebelled, Hong Jixun mobilized troops and horses from all over the world to help in order to relieve the siege of Shuangcheng. Although Zhang Ji'er put the overall situation first and accepted his order, he wrote a letter to Deng She at the same time. What does it mean to write a letter? It shows that he refused to obey Hong Jixun's dispatch, but only had to do it as a last resort for the stability of the twin cities. If you want to talk about the object of allegiance, if you want to talk about the only authority in Haidong, there is still only Deng She. They have respect for Hong Jixun, and that's it.

Hong Jixun's ambition is to govern the country and level the world. Whether the Haidong generals were convinced or not, or whether he had authority among the Haidong generals, he didn't care at all. As long as Dunshe trusts him and reuses him, that's it. However, things took a turn of events with the arrival of Yao Haogu.

Yao Haogu was ordered by Guan Duo to go to Shuangcheng to seize power, and he had a lot of friction with Hong Jixun. The personalities of the two of them, one introverted and the other outgoing, can be described as incompatible. Hong Jixun didn't have a good impression of him. What about Yao Haogu? To be honest, I don't like Hong Jixun's arrogance very much. It's just that Yao Haogu is deep and knows the way to be a minister, and he can still be so-so with Hong Jixun on face.

He can be so-so with Hong Jixun, it doesn't mean that Hong Jixun can also be so-so with him. Seeing Deng She's reuse of Yao Haogu, day by day. Can Hong Jixun run out of ideas? In the past, there were no competitors, and the power was monopolized, what a scenery! Now there is a fierce rival suddenly, not to mention that this fierce rival is still the identity of a descendant.

When Hong Jixun was in front of the saddle and after the horse and gave advice for Haidong, where was Yao Haogu? Why did he share the power that should belong to Hong Jixun alone? Does Yao Haogu have any talent? Indeed there is! As the head of a country, should Deng She vigorously reuse talents? Indeed it should! However, although the truth is so, it really has to be put on the individual, but Hong Jixun is inevitably still a little unbalanced.

If only there was some imbalance.

However, just before Deng She entered Yidu, in order to transfer Zhao Guo to accompany him, he actually sent Yao Haogu out again, took over Zhao Guo's original position, and actually became the Pingzhang of the South Korean province!

That's a big shortcoming. Haidong now has four provinces, Liaodong and Korea are barren, Yidu is new, and the richest is South Korea. It seems that Yao Haogu has stayed away from the center and taken up the position, but as long as he makes some merits in this rich land, judging from the importance that Deng She paid to him before, he will definitely not leave him in South Korea, and he will definitely be transferred back to the province.

And once he is transferred back to the province, if he has practical achievements, can he just be just a royal historian? Nine times out of ten, he will either be promoted to the throne or run the Privy Council.

Why does Hong Jixun think that Yao Haogu may be transferred to the Privy Council? South Korea is also a newly acquired land, and when Yao Haogu took office, there were some mountains and wilderness, and there were many Goryeo rebels. Along the coast, there are often pirates harassing them. These troubles can be regarded as military affairs. If Yao Haogu can solve one of them, coupled with his earlier military experience in Guan Duo's army, it is really common for him to be transferred to the Academy.

Zaizhi and Xingyuan are different from Yushitai. The official position of the Imperial Emperor is very important, but the ruling and the court are even more important. He is in charge of the decision-making of a province and the court is in charge of military affairs. No matter which position Yao Haogu gets, it is definitely a threat to Hong Jixun. How could he not prepare for this in advance and prepare for a rainy day? He carefully analyzed the differences between him and Yao Haogu and came to the conclusion that each has its own advantages.

His advantages, first of all, are older than Yao in seniority; Secondly, with the help of several rectifications of the rule of officials, the power in North Korea is also significantly stronger than that of Yao Haogu.

However, since Yao Haogu has taken up the post of Pyongzhang of the South Korean province, he will definitely not take this opportunity to promote his cronies and install his henchmen. In other words, in other words, Hong Jixun's second advantage is actually equivalent to being resolved by Yao Haogu. Hong Jixun's influence in North Korea is great, and Yao Haogu's support in South Korea is comparable. So, what about Hong Jixun's first advantage?

Yao Haogu's qualifications are definitely inferior to him, but Yao Haogu also has a place that Hong Jixun can't compare.

That is, after the fall of Guan Duo, there were many Liaoyang red scarves that surrendered to Haidong. Such as Xu Ren, Li Jing, Hu Zhong, and even Liu Yang and others, all of whom were born in Liaoyang red scarves, the same as Yao Haogu. Although among such generals, some people like Liu Yang and others do not have much contact with Yao Haogu, there are still some who use Yao Haogu as their backer and as their party leader. After all, Yao Haogu has a very good reputation in the Liaoyang red scarf, and most people admire it very much.

Yao Haogu has supporters in the army. Every time Hong Jixun thought of this, he was very uneasy. conspired with Li Lan, Hong Jiyin, etc. many times, and finally decided that he would also start to start and install some henchmen in the army. It just so happened that Liu Guo passed through Liu Mingjun and caught up with him. Hong Jixun also pushed the boat along the river, planning to take advantage of this reward to first attract Liu Guo and other generals from the Yidu faction.

For Liu Guo, he actually doesn't look down on him. However, the generals of Haidong couldn't win him over, so he was helpless. Let's use it first, and when the time is ripe, then use it as a springboard, if you can win over Chen Yutou and Gao Yanshi, he thinks that maybe in the struggle for power with Yao Haogu, he will probably be able to grasp it more. What he wants is not military power, but people in the army who speak for him.

Li Lan said: "It is understandable that the lord has a soft spot for the generals of Haidong. This reinforcement is led by Wen Pingzhang himself, and if the reward is thin, it will be unreasonable. Adults need not worry about this. In the following opinion, as long as we can get Liu Guo's thing done this time, it will actually be considered a success. Why? This is equivalent to giving a signal to the generals of Shandong. It is enough to get his favor first. ”

"That's what I said. What if the Lord is against it? ”

Hong Jiyin said: "Now the battle of Yidu has come to an end for the time being. I heard that Yao Haogu did a good job in South Korea, and he once wrote a letter with Polo. It seems that the withdrawal of Tsakhan also had something to do with this. Perhaps, His Highness will soon transfer him back to the province.

He had previously proposed to ask Liyan Shurong to be the princess, and he had already shown his goodwill to the officials in Shandong. Twelve, the situation is like this, even if the lord is against it, we must get this matter done before he returns to the province. Otherwise, this Yidu place, I'm afraid there will be no place for us to stand. ”

Hong Jixun was silent for a long time, sighed, and said: "Fighting for power and profit, I really don't want it." However, Yao Haogu seems to be modest and cautious, but in fact, he is sharp and too forceful. I have no way back. In order to show my ambition and help the lord to make some achievements, I can't say, that's the only way! ”