When Ma Chaozheng was surprised, Yuan Shao casually opened a box. The moment the lid of the box was opened, Ma Chao looked at it, and was immediately illuminated by the golden light, and couldn't help but squint. If you look closely, the box is full of neatly stacked gold cakes, horseshoe gold, and lintoe gold. Ma Chao knew that the Han Dynasty was the dynasty with the richest gold reserves in all Chinese dynasties. Even when the Han Dynasty was at its lowest, that is, when Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, there were 700,000 catties of gold in the treasury; Han 1 jin is equal to 248 grams in modern times, so 700,000 jin is 173.6 tons. The relatively well-preserved tomb of the Marquis of Haiyang in the Western Han Dynasty, excavated in 2015 alone, unearthed 128 kilograms of gold. When Ma Chao looted the Sanfu family, he also seized more than 76 tons of gold and transported it back to Liangzhou.

Despite this, when he suddenly saw the golden cakes, horseshoe gold and lintoe gold, Ma Chao couldn't help but feel a sigh in his heart.

Ma Chao immediately bowed his hand slightly, and said with a smile: "Yuan Gong personally came to the door, and it is already the best gift." Why bring such a valuable gift? ”

Yuan Kui also said politely: "It's just a little cautious, and I ask Ma Qing not to refuse." ”

Ma Chao thought to himself, accepting Yuan Kui's gift was also a gesture of goodwill to him, so that Yuan Kui and the families he represented could let down some vigilance, and might even help him. Ma Chao bowed again and said, "Since Yuan Gong's words have reached such a point, if I don't accept it, it will be rude." Thank you Yuan Gong for your kindness! ”

"Don't dare, don't dare to ......," Yuan Kui also happily excused himself.

Ma Chao waved his hand and asked dozens of first-timers to accept the box. Ma Chao stood sideways again, gave Yuan Kui the way to the middle door of the Ma Mansion, stretched out his hand and posed in a "please" posture, and said, "Yuan Gong and the two, please come in quickly." ”

Yuan Kui also made a "please" action, he took a step first, Ma Chao followed, and then Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao followed, walked to the main hall together, and sat down the guests.

Ma Chao knew that Yuan Kui must have come this time to test his attitude towards the Kanto family, and even intended to win him over, so he needed to talk to him secretly. After Ma Chao and his uncle and nephew exchanged a few polite words, they said: "Yuan Gong, there is a back garden behind the next house, and the plum blossoms are blooming now, which is very cute." Yuan Gong may wish to take a trip with him and enjoy the plum blossoms. ”

As soon as he heard Ma Chao's words, he only invited Yuan Kui, but he didn't say a word to the two nephews who came together, who were Yuan Kui's dearest, Yuan Kui, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu immediately realized that Ma Chao wanted to talk to Yuan Kui alone.

Yuan Kui readily agreed, saying: "Since Ma Qing has such an elegant taste, the old man should not be disappointed." The original and the highway, the two of you are waiting here, and you must not lose your courtesy. ”

"Whoa." Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu both responded.

Ma Chao said to Jia Xu: "Wenhe, you entertain the two sons for me." ”

Jia Xu said: "Huh." ”

Ma Chao and Yuan Kui stood up, Yuan Kui stretched out his hand to make a "please" action, Ma Chao led the way, and the two walked out of the main hall and walked back from the verandah next to them. The horse house was very spacious, and the two walked for a long time, and after a long time of polite words along the way, they finally stepped into the back garden. Yuan Kui looked at it, and there was no plum planted in the back garden, and all the plants and trees were withered, a bleak scene.

Seeing that there was no plum in the back garden, Ma Chao's words were really an excuse to separate him, Yuan Kui was a little calm, and secretly thought that Ma Chao was very smart.

Yuan Kui deliberately asked, "Ma Qing, where is the plum I want to reward?" ”

Ma Chao saw that Yuan Kui was pretending to be confused, so he said bluntly: "There is no plum in the back garden of Xia's house, and Yuan Gong is not here to celebrate his housewarming in Xia's new home." ”

Between smart people, there is no need to cover up too much. After Ma Chao picked up this layer of cloth, Yuan Kui simply said: "Everyone in the world says that Ma Qing is extremely smart and uses more tactics on the battlefield, but today it seems that this is really the case." ”

Ma Chao walked side by side with Yuan Kui in the empty back garden, Ma Chao smiled and said, "Yuan Gong came today, could it be that he also came with the same intention as the Ten Standing Servants?" ”

Yuan Kui and Ma Chao walked slowly side by side, and said slowly: "With the power of the ten permanent servants, Ma Qing still doesn't pay any attention to it. What's more, the old man is just a master, a vain position, powerless and powerless? ”

Ma Chao said: "Yuan Gong is too modest! Who in the world does not know the fourth and third princes of the Yuan family in Runan, the high-ranking family, and the protégés and former officials, all over the government and the opposition. Although it seems that the power of the general and the ten permanent servants is far above that of Yuan Gong, who does not know that Yuan Gong's power is actually the greatest? On the surface, only Yuan Gong's family came to congratulate him today. But in fact, those who came with Yuan Gong must have the wishes of almost all the great families in the east. ”

Seeing that Ma Chao could see at a glance that he not only represented the Runan Yuan family, but also the representative of the Kanto family, Yuan Kui couldn't help but look up at Ma Chao. Yuan Kui asked: "Since we are talking about families, then may I ask Ma Qing, what do you think of these families such as us?" ”

Ma Chao stopped, turned his head, took a deep look at Yuan Kui who was smiling, and said with a smile: "Everything you have done in Guanxi, Yuan Gong's hands and eyes are all over the sky, how can you not know?" If Yuan Gong didn't know, how could he join forces with the general and secretly order the left cavalry general Huangfu Song to attack his father and his subordinates? ”

Yuan Kui also turned his head for a while, looked at Ma Chao with a kind smile, and said, "Ma Qing still minds in his heart? ”

Ma Chao lowered his head and smiled in a low voice, raised his feet and continued walking, saying, "Although I am young, I am not stupid. Know that in the struggle for power, there are no eternal enemies and no eternal friends, only eternal interests. Yuan Gong used to be an enemy of Zaixia, and it is indeed true. But I also know that Yuan Gong is also very likely to turn enemies into friends, and it is not known. Otherwise, Zai Xia would have blasted out Duke Yuan and the two sons as he did with the eunuchs of the Ten Standing Servants, how could he respectfully welcome the three into the house? ”

Yuan Kui also continued to walk slowly, saying: "Ma Qing is young, and he already has such a transcendent insight, which shows that Ma Qing's future is bound to be limitless. ”

Ma Chao smiled and said: "But Zai Xia is still very curious, since Yuan Gong clearly knows what Zai Xia is doing in Guanxi, why is he still willing to condescend and come to the door in person?" You must know that in Xia, he plundered all the big and small families in Guanxi, that is, Guanzhong and Liangzhou. They robbed their arable land, seized their vacancies, plundered their grain, plundered their wealth, burned their dock walls, and destroyed their buildings. Isn't Yuan Gong afraid that once he gains power in the next dynasty, he will also treat the powerful family in Kanto like this? ”

Yuan Kui didn't care and said, "I'm afraid, of course I'm afraid." However, the old man also knew that Ma Qing did not dare to do that. The reason why Ma Qing was able to sweep away the Kansai family was not only because he had the fierce Xiliang Iron Horse in his hand, but also because the strength of the Kansai family was too weak. Among them, the only ones with greater influence are Fufeng Ma and Hongnong Yang. ”