The battle of Wuling for Qi and Man, can be said to have a great impact, the defeat of Suo Lang caused the morale of the main force of the barbarian army to invade Jiangyang and Jiawu plummeted, and the surprise attack tactics that the barbarians had high hopes for were completely in vain.

Wuling City Guard.

"Why is the girl of the Wang family willing to release Captain Yi today?" Wei Yang looked at Yi Tianhang and teased.

"Lord Wei, don't make fun of the general, I have been trapped in the mansion for two months, and today I finally regained my free body." Yi Tianhang smiled bitterly.

"The captain came to find the old man, but there is something important?"

"It's not very important, but I'm here to thank you for giving away war horses and helping Yan Chun to distribute the shirts of the fallen soldiers."

"The athlete sacrificed his life for the country, and the old man did his best, which is nothing." Wei Yang waved his hand and said.

"How did the adults find out about the internal response?" Yi Tianhang asked.

"Alas, even if the captain doesn't ask, the old man has to mention it, the old man sent someone to secretly check for more than a month, but he has no clue, there is no clue, he didn't even find out where these war horses were hidden before, and he didn't find out through which horse shop, these hundreds of war horses are not hundreds of stone grain, a group of living creatures should always have a little movement, it's really strange." Wei Yang said dejectedly.

"I can't find anything, that means that the people who respond to the barbarians or a certain force are extraordinary, the last general has carefully inspected those war horses, all of them are good horses in the northern horse farm, I have no horse farm in the south of Qi, and the horses are purchased from the Northern Zhou or Saiwai, but these good horses are only available in the army, and the people are rare, and the military is extremely strict in the control of war horses, if there is one less war horse in the army, the whole army will thoroughly investigate, not to mention five hundred? Therefore, it is necessary to start with the investigation of non-governmental forces, such as wealthy businessmen who travel back and forth to the north all year round. "Yitianhang's analysis is methodical.

"Could it be Han Xiang? This person has been in charge of the defense of Wuling for many years, and it is not difficult to hide five hundred war horses. Wei Yang said.

"What my lord said is not unreasonable, but Han Xiang's power has been uprooted by you and me, even if he did it, how can the dead Gou Lang not know? I'm afraid I have already taken the initiative to recruit. And I have checked the details of Han Xiang, this person is purely an arrogant and lawless villain, he is reluctant to the glory and wealth of Nanqi, how can he take risks to be the internal response of the barbarians? If he hadn't acted too much, he would have been afraid that he would still be covering the sky in this Wuling at this moment, and he might have taken the credit for repelling the barbarians. Yi Tianhang said.

"Alas~ If the matter of Neiying is not clarified, the old man will be troubled all night."

"Lord Wei, the last general will send you six words, 'do your best, obey the destiny of heaven', how can people be satisfied with everything in this life? Since we can't find out after racking our brains, that is, the other party's methods are far beyond our capabilities, so it is better to calm down and go with the flow, and one day, the people behind the scenes will be exposed. ”

When Wei Yang heard this, his eyes flashed, and he said excitedly: "I don't want Captain Yi to have such a feeling at a young age, the old man really didn't expect it, admire, admire." Listening to the words of the school captain, it was like an enlightenment, which made the old man suddenly brighten, and he really felt that the clouds were open and the fog was dispersed, okay, good, haha, I don't know if the school captain is free? How about a lunch at my castle guard? ”

"It's better to be respectful than to obey your fate, then the general will not be polite."

Yi Tianhang also intends to make friends, Wei Yang is sixty years old, and he is also an old man of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and now he is in charge of the party, and it is very beneficial to make friends with him.

Wei Yang stayed and Tianhang to dine together, the two sat down, because they had official business and it was inconvenient to drink, so they replaced the wine with tea, the two talked about the world, the atmosphere was not harmonious, Wei Yang had the intention of talking about the night, talking about political affairs and state affairs, and actually separated the subordinates, quite free to speak.

"The old man thought that the captain was a rough man in the army, and he only knew about the army, and he didn't want the captain to have a wide range of knowledge, and he also had great insights into national affairs and people's livelihood, which was rare and rare." Wei Yang said.

"Lord Wei has said it, Yimou is just a reckless man in the rivers and lakes." Yitianhang was a little embarrassed to be praised.

"Just talked about this matter of governing the country, there are subordinates, and it is inconvenient for the old man to say deeply, at this time, only you and I are left, and you can speak freely." Wei Yang was very interested.

Yi Tianhang took a sip of tea and said: "The last general thinks that governing the country is like cooking a small fish, the heat should not be too big, and the spatula should not be stirred too much, otherwise the fish will either be mushy or rotten!" ”

"The old man is familiar with the scriptures and countless people, but there are very few people who can truly understand 'governing a big country if you cook a small fresh', and the captain is one of them!" Wei Yang said excitedly as if he had found a pearl.

"What does the Captain think of the current state of my Great Qi?" Wei Yang then asked.

"What do you think, Lord Wei?" Yitianhang is not stupid, when it comes to government affairs, it is natural to be cautious.

"The old man thinks that today's great Qi, the country and the people are safe, and the treasury is full, which can be described as a peaceful and prosperous era, although there are barbarians knocking on the side, but the athletes are vying to enlist in the army, the government and the opposition are united, and the southern barbarians are not afraid!" Wei Yang said confidently.

"Lord Wei is right or not." Yitian sails back.

"Oh? Is there still a high opinion of the school captain? ”

"Huh?" Yi Tianhang didn't want to talk deeply, if he said the wrong thing, who knew if this Wei Yang would sell him.

Wei Yang saw that Yi Tianhang seemed to have scruples and didn't dare to say much, so he said again: "Is it right or not? What's wrong with the old man's words? ”

"Adults are talking about appearances, and appearances are true." Yitian sails back.

Wei Yang said again: "Captain Yi is worried that the old man will tell others about today's conversation? Don't dare to say more? ”

Yi Tianhang smiled lightly, noncommittal.

Wei Yang sighed: "Alas! The old man thought that the captain was far from being comparable to those mediocre people, but he didn't expect that the captain was also clichéd, and he didn't dare to say it clearly. ”

Yi Tianhang smiled bitterly: "Being in officialdom, I have to be cautious in my words and deeds. However, since the adults said so, the last general will say it, what the adults said about the athletes competing to enlist in the army, and the government and the opposition are united, which is right and wrong, and it is true that they are competing to enlist, but it may not be the government and the opposition together. ”

Wei Yang was puzzled: "Oh? Please elaborate, the old man listens. ”

Yi Tianhang said: "Why did Zhuang Ding enlist in the army? Although there are people who are dedicated to defending the country, most of them are just running for a future for meritorious service, no matter how poor they are, they still have food to eat and military salaries, how can the people know the cruelty of the battlefield? Therefore, the last general thinks that this is just a matter of profit, and there is nothing to talk about the government and the opposition. ”

Wei Yang thought for a long time when he heard this, and suddenly clapped his hands and said: "The words of the captain hit the nail on the head, it was the old man who was stupid, and it was true if you think about it carefully." ”

Yi Tianhang didn't want to say more, but when he said this, he was a little unhappy, and when he saw Wei Yang talking about governing the country sincerely, he said again:

"The country and the people are safe, the treasury is full, the soldiers are strong and the horses are strong, and the armor is complete, which can be described as the elephant of a strong country! But there are important ministers who welcome and shoot horses! There are officials who are greedy and pervert the law! The nobles do not care about the suffering of the soldiers, and the adults do not pity the difficulties of the people! Although the king of Qi has set up advice boxes in various places to collect public opinion, the public opinion is not up to heaven, as if it is a fiction! In this way, there is no appearance of strength, but in fact there is corruption inside! ”

Yi Tianhang's words can be said to be disrespectful.

Wei Yang was shocked when he heard this, hurriedly got up and walked to the door, looked out, and saw that there was no one outside the room, so he breathed a sigh of relief, returned to the table and said: "Captain Yi is really very human, outspoken, although the words are aggressive, but in one sentence, the old man is not as good as the old man." However, for the sake of the captain's future, it is better to be cautious in the future. ”

Yi Tianhang glanced at Wei Yang meaningfully, and said secretly in his heart: "This old boy is afraid that he has long been dissatisfied with the Southern Qi court, but he deliberately deceived me. ”

Yi Tianhang said: "My generation should have a strong iron backbone, how can I only make promises?!" ”

Wei Yang sighed lightly: "It's not a secret, the old man was convicted for his words back then, so he was demoted to this Wuling, if it wasn't for the old marquis who remembered the old love and excused me, the old man would have turned into a handful of loess." ”

Yi Tianhang deliberately probed: "I don't want people like Lord Wei to be so calm and have such an experience. ”

Wei Yang raised his head lightly, looked at the clear sky outside the hall, and said: "When the old man was an official in the Southwest Governance Department, because he was not used to seeing the smoke and miasma of the official mansion, he wrote to the king of Qi. ”

After many years, Wei Yang is still worried about this matter, and his hand serving tea is trembling faintly.

Seeing this, Yi Tianhang persuaded: "Lord Wei, don't be angry, if people are unsatisfactory, nine times out of ten, if everything is big, won't you be angry with your body?" At that time, the relatives will be painful, and the enemies will be happy. ”

"What Captain Yi said is very reasonable, the old man has lived in vain for sixty years, and he is not as thorough as the captain of the school, but the old man is not angry that he has been degraded, but that these years have passed, and those pickled things are still above the court!" Wei Yang said.

Yitianhang has nothing to say about this, how to say it? You can't persuade Wei Yang to go along with those powerful people, right? He couldn't persuade Wei Yang to kill those people.

Wei Yang saw that the topic was a little off, so he said again: "Getting back to the point, in the opinion of the school captain, can you continue to talk about the shortcomings of the imperial court and local government affairs?" The old man is in charge of this place, but he doesn't want to be poked in the backbone by the people. ”

"Yi Mou dares to say, can Lord Wei dare to listen?"

"Why don't you dare?"

Seeing that he had already started, Yi Tianhang simply opened up and said: "Okay, let's first say that the 'governing a big country is like cooking a small fresh' just mentioned, and now the Southern Qi is completely contrary to this!" The imperial court was too involved in the local area, which seriously disrupted the normal official duties of local officials. ”

Wei Yang looked solemn, as if he was listening carefully, and said, "Can the captain elaborate?" ”

Yi Tianhang continued: "At the beginning of the drought in Shu more than ten years ago, the grain harvest was halved, and the local government and the people should have stockpiled grain to deal with the disaster, but the powerful man in the imperial court didn't know what to eat and lost his brain, so he encouraged the people of Shu to save grain and make wine, and then buy grain after getting silver!" The reason is that wine is much more expensive than grain, and you can earn some silver taels to buy more grain. Master Wei, you say it's ridiculous, it's not ridiculous. ”

How could Wei Yang not know about this, when he had just arrived in Wuling to take office, he did receive instructions from the imperial court, and the county officials were afraid of offending this official, so they all complied with it and encouraged the people to make wine.

"What happened after that, I don't need to say it, right?"

Wei Yang looked at Yi Tianhang, remembered the tragic situation of the people in Shu back then, and said: "During the great drought in the second year, the people only had rough wine in their hands that could not be sold, but there was not a single grain of grain. Then came starvation and plague! ”

Yi Tianhang said: "The court said a few words at will, but the people lost their lives!" What is even more tragic is that they are treated like animals, but they still have to shout long live with gratitude. ”

"Alas!" Wei Yang sighed.

Yi Tianhang said again: "With such a tragedy ahead, those important ministers in the court don't seem to have long brains, not only do they not learn a lesson, but they also frequently make stupid moves!" They have pointed out local government affairs, such as the land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River, which is the granary of my Southern Qi, but iron smelting is a short board, and a large number of iron tools need to be bought from Shu and Jingnan, so some important ministers proposed that Jiangnan iron tools should be self-sufficient. When local officials heard the news, they did not dare to slack off, and used various means to tempt and force farmers and fishermen to switch to iron-mining, but as a result, the grain harvest was greatly reduced, and iron tools were still purchased from outside. ”

Wei Yang sighed repeatedly.

Yi Tianhang seemed to be unsatisfied, and continued: "The trend of the imperial court is related to the people's livelihood, how can you think of one out and one out and casually point out? The ministers of the court are in high positions, they don't know much about the affairs of the people, but they don't know it yet, they think they are aware of the people's feelings and seek the welfare of the people, if such mediocre people are allowed to guide local government affairs indiscriminately, the harm is even worse than corruption, bribery, and inaction! ”

"The words of the captain are deafening, but it's a pity that those people can't hear them!" Wei Yang's words were full of powerlessness.

Yi Tianhang smiled and said: "These things just said, their original intentions can be regarded as for the country and the people, if you want to say that the country and the people are harmed, even worse!" ”

Wei Yang's face was full of doubts, and he asked: "Storing grain and brewing wine, fishery and agriculture smelting iron, these stupid tricks are absurd enough, but what is more serious than this?" ”

Yi Tianhang said: "Although the consequences of these two incidents are extremely serious, they have not hurt the national body, and what we will say next has touched the foundation of the country!" ”

Wei Yang was shocked and asked again, "What's the matter?" Let Captain Yi say so? ”

Yi Tianhang replied: "Lord Wei can know the 'two or three things of King Qi'? ”

"This, the old man knows, is Zhao Shilang personally wrote the newspaper to record the deeds of my king's diligence and love for the people, and it will be sent to the counties and counties by the official post every quarter."

"What has moved the foundation is this'Two or Three Things of King Qi', does Zhao Shilang strictly order that officials from all over the country must read it, and also mention the feelings after reading it, and use this as the standard for evaluating and selecting officials?"

Wei Yang didn't expect Yi Tianhang to say this, and said hesitantly: "What the captain said is good, it is true, but this is just urging officials to follow my Wang Qinzheng." ”

Yi Tianhang said: "Lord Wei only saw the positive side, but did not see the negative side, these 'two or three things' not only disrupted the normal official duties of local officials, but also many sycophants saw the opportunity from it, and they were bent on making a fuss about it, and tried their best to slap the horse, how many villains were appreciated by Zhao Shilang because of this?" is immoral and incompetent, but he is in a position of responsibility. Wouldn't such a move that does not know the importance of the matter and put the cart before the horse damage the foundation of the country? What's even more sad is that King Qi is actually enjoying it. ”

Wei Yang was silent after hearing this, and what Tianhang said was indeed reasonable.

Yi Tianhang talked eloquently and continued, "This move makes Xiaoxiao enter the house, if it goes on like this for a long time, the good and loyal people are squeezed out, and the villains inside and outside the temple are in charge, can this half of the country be stable?" ”

Wei Yang fell into deep thought after hearing this.

"Today's officialdom, with the talent and knowledge of Lord Wei, I am afraid that I have already seen the filth and filth inside." Although Yi Tianhang's words were sharp, his expression was extremely indifferent, as if these words were not what he said.

"Alas, throughout the ages, which dynasty and generation have not been like this?" Wei Yang sighed and said.

"The corpse is a vegetarian meal, and there are many donors and buyers! But the imperial court blindly acquiesced, in the end, aren't these moth-eaten pillars of the Great Qi? Yi Tianhang continued, "In the time I have been in Wuling alone, I have known that there are favoritism, corruption and perversion of the law under the rule of Lord Wei, and some officials use their power to accept bribes and install relatives and friends in the government on errands. If these people don't oppress the people, their ancestral graves will be smoky! ”

Wei Yang said ashamedly: "The old man has already heard what Captain Yi said, alas, he blames the old man for being slack, and he didn't take it seriously." The rectification of officialdom will start from Wuling, and tomorrow the old man will thoroughly investigate the officials who bend the law for personal gain, and remove all the scum among the officials! ”

"Lord Wei has the style of an elder, and he cares about the people, which is really a blessing for the people of Wuling." Yi Tianhang took advantage of the situation and patted a sycophant.

"Captain Yi, don't make fun of the old man, the old man is really ashamed. It's not been a year or two since I had a big Qi, and the old Qi king had already begun to emerge. Wei Yang said helplessly.

"There are many disrespectful words in the last general today, but it is really for the people and the country, although there is a way to crack it, but people are soft-spoken." Yi Tianhang said.

"Oh? In such a situation that is difficult to return, does the captain still have a good plan? Wei Yang said in surprise.

"It's easy, but it's also hard to do." Yi Tianhang pretended to be profound.

"The captain might as well speak bluntly, and the old man will listen to him."

"As long as the king of Qi leads by example, as the so-called 'upper beam is not right and the lower beam is crooked', as long as the king of Qi purge the flattering and incompetent people around him, and reuse the ministers who are self-denying, honest and upright, the government and the opposition will naturally take on a new look, sweep away the corrupt and decadent scene of the past, and return a bright and prosperous world!"

"It's really simple but difficult to do, who dares to order King Qi in the whole world?" Wei Yang said.

Yi Tianhang didn't answer, and continued to take care of himself: "Up and down the court, all forces are intertwined, even if the King of Qi intends to purge the small people around him, he may not dare to make drastic moves, and it is difficult to change the situation where this villain is in charge and demons are rampant." ”

Wei Yang looked sad: "Isn't there any good way?" ”

Yi Tianhang replied: "This requires an upright official like Lord Wei to rise up and fight, the knife can cut gold, cut water without a trace, since you can't move those powerful and important ministers, then be flexible, start with the corrupt officials in the local government!" ”

Wei Yang was still frowning, and said: "The rectification of officials will inevitably involve the interests of important ministers in the court, and the old man dares to do it, but not all the county guards in the dozens of counties in Qi can be like the old man." ”

Yi Tianhang said: "Lord Wei, have you forgotten the Marquis of Danqu and the Imperial Supervisor? The ministers of the DPRK and China can't move, and neither can this low-level official? As long as the wind and waves of punishment and evil are set off, it will not be long before people with lofty ideals in the Qi country will compete to support and rise up in groups. Whatever the wisdom of the crowd does, nothing can be done'. ”

Wei Yang was shocked when he heard this.

Yi Tianhang talked a lot today, and his words were full of disrespectful words, but they were all to the point, and Wei Yang was sometimes excited, sometimes ashamed, at this time the old man was already full of sweat, but he admired Yi Tianhang from the bottom of his heart.

"Captain Yi, no, Mr. Yi, please bow to the old man!" Wei Yang suddenly got up and bowed.

Seeing this, Yi Tianhang hurriedly got up and saluted.

"If Captain Yi doesn't dislike the old man's old man, how about being called a brother in the future?" Wei Yang said.

Yi Tianhang didn't expect this Wei Yang to put down his body and want to call him a brother, so after a little thought, he said: "Thanks to Lord Wei's high esteem, Yi is disrespectful." ”

"Okay, Brother Yixian." Wei Yang clasped Yi Tianhang's hands and shouted.

"Brother Wei is polite." Yitian sails back.

Wei Yang took Yi Tianhang's hand and re-seated, shouting for the servant to serve the wine.

After a while, the servant brought a pot of wine, Wei Yang first poured a cup for Yi Tianhang, and then poured a glass for himself, raised his glass and said: "Brother Fool has been taught today, thank you Brother Xian!" ”

"Brother Wei, please!"

The two of them raised their glasses and drank them all.