The one-month deadline set by the crown prince Li Bing had passed in a blink of an eye, and the plan for the management of the main road of the Jinhe River, which had been drafted by the Ministry of Household and the Ministry of Industry in accordance with the edict, was also completed a few days ahead of schedule, and it was sent to Luoyi as soon as possible.

According to the results of the meeting between the officials of the two ministries, the funds required for the entire treatment project are estimated to be as high as 40 million yuan, and this astronomical amount far exceeds the financial revenue of Shengtang in a year. From this point of view, it is certainly not possible to do so without a separate tax on the river.

In addition, the construction period and manpower are also big problems.

The Jin River stretches for thousands of miles, traversing the northern land and the Central Plains of the Shengtang Dynasty, and the places where it flows are mostly rich in grain, so out of the consideration of important factors such as agricultural time and climate change in the north, the original two-year construction period of Yuzhou Thorn History has been extended to about three and a half years to complete.

Correspondingly, the number of people invested in the project has also doubled, and the scale of nearly 400,000 is required.

In addition, the Ministry of War also proposed that, in accordance with the past experience of previous dynasties, in order to ensure the safe and smooth progress of the river control project, the government soldiers of the 12 prefectures along the river must also suspend their annual routine training plans and change them to patrol and defense tasks, and transfer most of the troops to the construction site to guard against the people and the people.

In order to see that more than 400,000 young and strong laborers do not make trouble, at least tens of thousands of horses must be mobilized to carry out bomb pressure.

As for the post of river chief who is responsible for the full command of the implementation of the project, Shangshu Province recommended two candidates. One is Qiao Yunliang, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, and the other is the eldest son of the emperor Li Chengwu - Li Jiong, the king of Huaiyang.

To be honest, both of these candidates are slightly less interesting.

Although Qiao Yunliang has good qualifications and rich experience in river control, it is really unqualified for such a huge national project to be in charge of such a three-grade Ministry of Engineering.

As for the King of Huaiyang, although his identity is noble, and he is also the earliest prince among the princes to participate in the government, what he is keen on and good at is the power struggle above the court.

But there was no way, and it was true that there was no better candidate to choose from in the imperial court for a while.

Li Bing looked at the official document sent by the imperial capital, smiled helplessly, raised his eyes and asked the subordinate officials, "How is it?" What do you think of the opinions of the ministries of Shangshu Province? ”

Listening to the prince's inquiry, Yuzhou Thorn Shi took the lead in speaking: "Your Royal Highness, Weichen thinks that the lords of the Emperor's Capital Division are experienced and old in planning the country, and the strategies for governing the Jinhe River are indeed more clever and accurate than Weichen's previous plans, and they are also more feasible. In this regard, Wechen fully agrees. It's just that...... I'm afraid that the candidate for the head of the river is a little inappropriate. ”

"Oh? What's wrong, you talk carefully and listen to this palace. Li Bing asked lightly.

Yuzhou stabbed Shi Qing to clear his throat: "Your Highness, please forgive Weichen for his courage." Let's ask the whole country now, the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, in terms of merit, prestige, and ability, who else can be more suitable for such an important position than Mrs. Xie and Master Xie? Even the people on both sides of the Golden River are looking forward to the situation being presided over by Master Taifu! ”

Hearing him say this, Murong Xue, who was standing aside, laughed and said, "Lord Assassin Shi, you don't have to move out of the so-called public opinion at every turn to persuade Your Highness. Do the people on both sides of the strait hope that Mrs. Xie will preside over the river control project? Have you asked them one by one? ”

"This ...... This ......" Faced with Murong Xue's tricky question, Yuzhou Assassin Shi held back for a long time, and did not dare to reply. Indeed, if you ask them one by one, a fool will not believe it. said that he didn't ask one by one, and he immediately had to be labeled as a bully by this Lord Zhan Shi.

It's a dilemma.

Lao Jianhua snorted coldly, and relieved the siege for the assassin history: "I said the assassin history, you are really honest, Lord Murong's jokes, you are also serious?" The so-called public opinion always has a representative reason, and it is impossible for "everyone to call it yes" to be regarded as public opinion. The last time the local squires and people came to visit you, didn't they seriously bring it up and ask Lord Taifu to come forward to control the river? ”

Yuzhou Thorn Shi reacted, and hurriedly nodded yes, saying that he had listened to the opinions of the representatives of the squires and the people, and said that the public opinion was like this.

Lao Jianhua glanced at Murong Xue and continued: "Your Highness, there are indeed many inappropriate things about the nomination of candidates in Shangshu Province. Although Qiao Shangshu is experienced and honest as an official, he is not a high position after all, and if he wants to shoulder the heavy responsibility of coordinating and commanding 12 state capitals, 400,000 people and tens of thousands of soldiers and horses along the river, it is difficult to convince the public in terms of ability and prestige. And His Royal Highness the King of Huaiyang, forgive the ministers for being disrespectful, with his conditions, I'm afraid even Your Highness will not agree with it. ”

Li Bing couldn't help laughing when he heard this: "My brother Wang...... He hunted horses and crickets, and was the first in the world. ”

"Yes, Your Highness. How can such a person afford to take on the heavy responsibility of governing the river that is related to the fortunes of the country? Lao Jianhua looked distressed: "Shangshu Province is so negligent of the Jinhe River control project and hastily recommends the candidate for the chief manager, which is really a misleading move for the country and the people, and His Royal Highness should edict the emperor!" ”

Li Bing bowed slightly, and said calmly: "There is no need to apply for it. Bengong thought that Shangshu Province must have made this recommendation after careful consideration, and there was no intention of neglecting it. The question now is who should take on the responsibility. Do you also approve of letting Mrs. Xie go out? ”

Lao Jianhua looked at Murong Xue next to him again, and shook his head: "The minister suggested that Your Highness should personally assume the position of the head of the river, and the Taifu should be the most secure and proper." ”

Such a proposal did not surprise Murong Xue, on the contrary, he secretly scolded in his heart: Lao Jianhua is really cunning, and intends to use the trick of retreating to advance to fool His Royal Highness the Prince.

According to his Lao Jianhua's idea, the prince served as the chief manager, and Xie Guang was responsible for cooperating, in the face of such a myriad and huge river control project, they only needed a little trick, they could easily put the prince in the air, and they would monopolize the power in the dark and cover the sky with one hand.

Li Bing also seemed to see Lao Jianhua's intentions, and smiled indifferently: "Aiqing's idea is not bad. This palace is ordered to supervise the country, and such a big event should be bowed to himself. However, the imperial capital can't help but give face. It's better to be like this, the palace is at the helm of the governance of Jinhe, Xie Taifu, Qiao Shangshu, and the emperor's brother Huaiyang Wang, they all serve as deputy positions, and everyone cooperates with each other and shares the burden. ”

Hearing this, Murong Xue secretly praised in her heart: The prince is also a good means! Although they knew that Qiao Yunliang and Li Jiong were by no means Xie Guang's opponents, it was much better to have two more people come forward to restrain Taifu than to let Xie Guang act arbitrarily. What's more, since His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is willing to provoke the big beam, then he Murong Xue also has room to show his strengths, staring at Xie Guang and Lao Jianhua, and will never give them the opportunity to make a ghost behind their backs.

-

At the beginning of the lanterns, Murong Xue returned to his mansion, gathered the oil lamp in the study, and hurried to write the report of today's court meeting, so that it could be sent to the imperial capital through secret channels early tomorrow morning.

Rui Ji came to the study with the freshly fried fragrant tea, lightly put the tea tray on the table, and then walked around behind Murong Xue, gently hugged Murong Xue's broad arms, and whispered in his ear: "Childe, it's time to rest for a while." ”

Murong Xue showed a smile on her face, put down the brush, turned her hand to hold Rui Ji's jade arm, rested her head on her fragrant shoulder, and said softly: "Rui girl, you go to sleep first, and I'll accompany you when I finish writing, okay?" ”

"No, the concubine wants the princess to accompany me now," Rui Ji said coquettishly: "Otherwise, the concubine has learned the art of massage before, and the princess writes while the concubine serves you, how about it?" ”

Murong Xue heard her say the word "service" from her mouth, and couldn't help but think of Rui Ji's gentle and touching posture that catered to her every night between the bed, and her heart was hot, and she hurriedly said: "Don't, how can I continue to write in that case?" Wait, okay? ”

"No, I want it, I want ......" With the words, Rui Ji turned around and fell into Murong Xue's arms, looking unrelenting and shy.

The two were laughing when there was a soft knock on the door outside the courtyard.

At this time, it is already the third watch, and there are still people visiting, which must be unusual. Murong Xue hurriedly got up, walked out of the room, and asked in a deep voice, "Who?" ”

"General Murong, I'm Tao Yuan."

When Murong Xue heard that it was Tao Yuan, the flag envoy of the Luoyi branch of the Reverse Scale Division, she hurriedly stepped forward and opened the courtyard door.

"Is something happening at this late hour?"

"General, let's go into the house and talk about it in detail."

Murong Xue nodded silently, and then led Tao Yuan into the room, Rui Ji saw that there were guests, and hurriedly got up to salute.

Tao Yuan returned the salute slightly: "Please forgive my sister-in-law, I have important matters to discuss with General Murong in my humble position, disturb me late at night, and forgive my sins." ”

Rui Ji lowered her head, said softly, "Your Excellency", and then obediently walked out of the study and closed the door from the outside.

Tao Yuan heard that Rui Ji had left, turned his head and lowered his voice and said: "General, His Royal Highness the Prince of the Day After Tomorrow will go to the White Horse Temple to make incense, this is a rare opportunity, and he plans to secretly arrest Lao Jianhua!" ”

Murong Xue was slightly stunned when she heard this, and said strangely: "I only learned about the prince's travel arrangements during the afternoon court meeting, how did you know so quickly?" ”

"Don't hide it from the general, Your Highness also has people from our Reverse Scale Division by his side." Tao Yuan obviously didn't want to talk about this issue more, so he only explained it lightly, and continued: "The day after tomorrow is the death anniversary of the first queen. His Royal Highness will go to the Great Mercy and Grace Temple on the outskirts of the imperial capital at this time of year to offer incense to his deceased mother. This year's festival was held at the White Horse Temple in Nakup. His Royal Highness specially instructed that because of the special time, Xie Guang was not allowed to send Xuanjia soldiers to accompany him on guard, so as not to disturb the monks' cultivation. If he only brought a few subordinates and guards from the East Palace, it would be a rare opportunity, and he must not miss it. ”

Murong Xue was a little embarrassed: "Are you sure about this operation?" Did Shen Changshi agree? ”

Tao Yuan hurriedly said: "Oh, my general, there are thousands of rivers and mountains between Luoyi and the imperial capital, and when I ask Changshi to nod, the daylily is cold." His old man once told us that as long as there is a chance, there is no need to ask for instructions, and we can make a decision with General Murong. The certainty of action is absolutely there, and when the time comes, I will dispatch all the elite forces of Luoyi, and there are seventeen or eighteen masters, who can ensure that nothing goes wrong. ”

Murong Xue was still not at ease: "What are you going to do?" Don't forget, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is also there, so don't disturb the Holy Driver. ”

"That's why the lowly position came to the general," Tao Yuan explained, "When it comes to action, the lowly position requires you to cooperate with two things. The first is to find a way to leave Shan Tingxian, the squire of the Yellow Gate, in Ziwei Palace and not let him accompany him; The other is to find an excuse in the temple to separate Lao Jianhua alone. As soon as he left His Highness's side, our brothers saw the opportunity to first wound him with a short arrow soaked in linen, and then take advantage of the situation. The White Horse Temple is outside the city, and it is easy to get away after success, so the general can rest assured. ”