In March, it was rainy and rainy, and the temperature that had just risen plummeted, and it rained last night, and when the heavy rain fell, Jiankang City seemed to be shrouded in a layer of gray white fog.

The rain in early spring is not as noisy as summer, it seems to be much lonely, with the chill of winter, it is soaked in the bones, like needles and cotton, and the wisps of cold air are pervasive, burrowing into Xu Ling's leather jacket.

Jiankang City has a long history, Sun Wu was named Jianye, and it was renamed Jiankang at the end of the Western Jin Dynasty. The northeast is surrounded by Zhongshan Mountain, the northwest is adjacent to the Yangtze River, the hills are undulating, and the southeast is surrounded by Qingxi and Qinhuai River, which has always been a place of beauty. The ancient capital of the Six Dynasties.

When the carriage entered Taicheng, Xu Ling lifted the curtain and looked at the green willows on both sides of the royal ditch, and the willows pulled out their buds and swayed gently in the breeze. Jiankang City is misty and misty, always with an intoxicating temperament.

The carriage crosses a royal road paved with regular bluestone slabs, and then an open area. At the end of the imperial road is the location of the Miyagi, which is also based on the Miyagi left by Sun Wu as the basis for the outward expansion. In the past, it was called Zhaoming Palace and Yuancheng, and now it is called Jiankang Palace.

There are three palace walls, eight miles in the outer periphery, and from a distance, people can see a trace of grandeur in the exquisiteness. For hundreds of years, the emperors of the Southern Dynasties, regardless of the Song, Qi, Liang and Chen, the residence of the emperors, were all here.

Xu Ling got out of the carriage, and soon the forbidden army came forward to search, and after asking if this was a person summoned by His Majesty, he quickly and respectfully put him into the palace gate. Xu Ling took off his fur fur, cleaned up his robe, and slowly entered the palace under the guidance of the eunuch, while secretly thinking about how to talk to the emperor about what he saw and heard in the Northern Dynasty later.

He had returned to Jiankang half a month ago, but Emperor Chen Ji was occasionally infected with a cold, and it was inconvenient to execute state affairs, so Xu Ling was idle in the palace for more than ten days, and waited for the emperor to summon him at home after submitting his table to the crown prince Chen Shubao.

Yesterday, he waited for the emperor's summons. Xu Ling followed the eunuch around and came to a remote palace.

This is not so much a palace as a more delicate warm pavilion, in which there are many rare antiques, as well as strange stones and woods.

As soon as Xu Ling looked up, he saw a thin middle-aged man pruning shears around a verdant dwarf wood, dressed in Yanju regular clothes, looking very relaxed and leisurely, and said to the young man standing on the side:

“…… In fact, this is also a principle of governing the country, if you want to prune it well, you have to go around and around, and look for flaws from different angles.

When you have a complete outline in your heart and know what you want to cut, then you can start building it to be sure, and if you want to be fast, you can't reach it, and as the king of a country, you can't be sloppy at all......"

His eyes were focused, and he slowly pressed down the scissors, cutting off a branch, "No matter how dense the branches and leaves are, growing on this tree, it is not good-looking, and no matter how good it grows, it is in vain, at this time, it depends on how you choose, whether to keep it better-looking, or to give up the better-looking, it is nothing more than to give up, at the moment of cutting, you have to make a decision immediately...... There are not so many regret pills in this world that can be bought......"

He patiently took the scissors and built the branches on the side, and slowly, a pleasing finished product appeared in front of everyone's eyes. Xu Ling smiled slightly, and exclaimed: "Your Majesty's craftsmanship has improved again, this originally ordinary dwarf tree, under the construction of Your Majesty, has become so tall and handsome, and it has a gentleman's spirit. Even the old minister can't find fault with it......"

The middle-aged man finally glanced back at him, shook his head and smiled, "Is Xu Qing praising me, or is he praising himself...... You old goods, the older you get, the more you like to boast about yourself...... "This Southern Dynasty, there are not many people who say that Xu Ling is an "old goods", and the one in front of you is one. Emperor Chen.

He walked to the couch on the side, sat down, and then looked at Xu Ling, "Why don't Aiqing come up and talk?" ”

"This ......" Xu Ling hesitated for a moment and looked at the crown prince Chen Shubao on the side. Chen Shubao smiled modestly and raised his hand to signal that Xu Ling didn't have to mind.

So Xu Ling took off his boots and knelt opposite the man. Several palace ladies stepped forward with light steps, boiled tea, and changed spices.

After a while, curling green smoke rose, and sandalwood slowly spread.

"I heard that Your Majesty is infected with a cold, I don't know what the situation is now...... Xu Ling asked with concern.

"Hey, it's okay, a little wind and cold, a few days of rest is enough. It's Aiqing, it's really hard to travel thousands of miles away......" Chen Ji and Xu Ling exchanged a few polite words, and then began to cut to the chase, "Aiqing is going to the Northern Dynasties, can I get something?" ”

Xu Ling took a sip of tea soup and said, "Your Majesty, I have gained a lot by going to the Northern Dynasty. Gao Wei, the lord of Qi in the Northern Dynasty, has promised to form an alliance with our dynasty to resist the Zhou State, and allow our dynasty to ...... the freight war horse in the southern Xinjiang of the Qi State! ”

"Hmm......" Chen Ji nodded, he naturally knew this, "Aiqing has seen Lord Qi, what is his impression?" ”

Regarding the Northern Qi Dynasty's promise to use war horses as trade materials, Chen Ji already knew, which had been clearly written by Xu Ling on the chapter, and he was still considering policies such as mutual markets, and he had to say that this was a very exciting condition, and he had agreed.

However, he summoned Xu Ling today not to listen to this, and his interest in Lord Qi today was much higher than his interest in war horses.

"Master Qi...... it should be a generation of Tianjiao Junjie...... Xu Ling's brows furrowed slightly, and then gave such an evaluation.

Chen Ji obviously heard the infinite sigh in Xu Ling's tone, and asked, "What do you say?" Aiqing once talked to Lord Qi face to face, Lord Qi is really a generation of heroes? ”

"The ministers and Turkic envoys were summoned by the Lord of Qi alone, and the Lord of Qi and the ministers discussed the mutual market for a long time, and the ministers have heard a lot about these days in Yecheng, so the ministers can be regarded as having an understanding of the Lord of Qi......"

Xu Ling said seriously: "Lord Qi is by no means a stupid person, on the contrary, the minister thinks that the reason why there were such unbearable rumors in the past is because the former Lord Qi deliberately covered it up. ”

Chen Ji's eyes froze, and he obviously became interested, and asked Xu Ling why.

Xu Ling informed Chen Ji of the establishment of the Privy Council and the cabinet system, the suppression of rebellion, the use of work for relief, the reclamation of famine, the rectification of the rule of officials, and the opening of examinations.

For the Privy Council, the Cabinet, cash-for-work, and what kind of examination is all new to Chen Ji. After Chen Ji asked some questions, his face slowly became solemn. Many of the policies are refreshing to him, like an initiation.

"So, all the mediocre and cowardly behavior he used to do was to cover up the eyes and ears of the world?" Chen Ji's fingers knocked on the table one by one, and his eyebrows, which looked gentle and moist, slowly revealed a sharp arc.

He analyzed the sequence process and motives of the Qi master's layout little by little: "First arrange, and then lure his younger brother and the rebellious party to take the bait, he just took this opportunity to kill a group of people who threatened the throne first, establish prestige, deter Xiaoxiao, and then reshuffle the power of the court......"

"Lure the rebel army into the palace, and then order someone to block the city gate, and separate the rebel army outside the city from the rebel party in the city, so that they can't echo each other and defeat them in one fell swoop!"

"After quelling the rebellion, he immediately began to meddle in the military system to prevent the lords from supporting the army and self-respect...... One ring is linked to another, and the water does not leak.

After killing all the rebels, he immediately restrained himself and opened up the net to the families of the rebel lords.

It seems to be gentle, but it is actually the safest way to do it. Knock and beat the lords, and occasionally give a little grace to show mercy and win the hearts of the lords.

If it were me, I would definitely not be able to help but kill him, but he could see it clearly all the time......

It was planned from start to finish, and the whole situation went according to his plan......"

"Hmm......" Chen Ji obviously agreed with Cushman & Wakefield's approach, "Aiqing said that he is Tianjiao, and now it seems that it is indeed true......"

Gao Wei is the emperor, Chen Ji is also the emperor, and only the emperor can clearly guess what the other emperor is thinking.

He looked at the prince standing on the side, and said with emotion: "I now understand why Gao Zhan was reluctant to abolish the prince in the first place, but he looks at this son and understands it better than anyone else, it turns out that he is not completely crazy, it is not him who looks away, it is everyone else......"

"Seriously, I admire him a little......"

"It is better to give birth to a son like a sheep than to give birth to a son like a wolf......"

When these words fell, Chen Shubao's fair and delicate face suddenly turned red, and he stood there crampedly.

Chen Ji glanced at the prince deeply, "Now that you know the gap, then you should work harder, otherwise after a hundred years, how can I rest assured that I will hand over this country to you?" Uncle Bao, when the effort is ......! ”

Although these words are encouragement, they are also a spur. In the mouth of Chen Ji, who has always been gentle to his son, it is already a very serious reprimand. This made Chen Shubao a little at a loss for a while. You know, Qi Lord Gao Wei is two years younger than him......

Chen Shubao buried his head deeply, and said respectfully: "Thank you for your father's teachings...... there was some insincerity in his words.

Chen Ji didn't want to say anything more, and looked at Xu Ling, "It seems that Lord Qi is also a generation of heroes, according to his age, he should be able to make a lot of achievements......

There was some jealousy in his words, and Xu Ling knew that the emperor also had some concerns about forming an alliance with Northern Qi. So he said, "Your Majesty, why don't you ...... this alliance?" ”

Chen Ji shook his head and said: "It's not proper, the matter of forming an alliance was originally proposed by my dynasty, and now the Qi country has agreed, if my dynasty repents, how will the Qi country view our dynasty, and how will the people of the world view our dynasty?" ”

"Besides, the main purpose of our alliance with the Qi State is for the sake of war horses, if we refuse now, we will never find such a good opportunity in the future......"

"Now the Zhou State is still the strongest in the world, the situation is still unclear, Yuwen Hu is also a generation of heroes, the Lord of Qi wants to curb the eastward advance of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, I am afraid it will be very difficult, so we still have to stand on the side of the Qi State, this is the safest choice...... Let's watch the dragon and tiger fight ......! ”

Xu Ling nodded, thought for a while, and said, "Actually, the relationship between my dynasty and the Qi State can be further improved......

Chen Ji looked at him suspiciously, "What do you say?" ”

Xu Ling arched his hand and said: "As far as the minister knows, there is only one Empress Yuan in the Qi Lord Palace, and the six palaces are useless, so it is better to ......."

"Marriage?" Chen Ji's eyes lit up, he pondered for a moment, and then said, "Feasible......"