Xiao Jiu looked at County Lieutenant Zhang, who was going to Hare Mountain alone, and his mood was a little complicated.

When Xiao Jiu and the county swords and soldiers met before, he and this county lieutenant were still hostile parties, and at this time, he dared to come to Hare Mountain alone, but he was a little bold.

After County Lieutenant Zhang explained his intentions, Xiao Jiu's brows furrowed slightly, as if he was thinking about the pros and cons.

This time, County Lieutenant Zhang did not represent the county government, but on behalf of his brother-in-law Wen Jie, he came to Xiao Jiu to prepare to form a business alliance together.

Xiao Jiu knew that Wen Jiu saw that he could pay the liquor tax in full every time, so he set his sights on the caravan, and at this time, he recruited Xiao Jiu to form a business alliance, just to get benefits from the Lingshui caravan.

Wen Jie will not affect the operation of the caravan, but only in the name of the individual to share dividends, as feedback, Wen Jie will provide some political protection, from then on the caravan will be labeled as Wen Jie, at least will not be blackmailed by officials all over Qingzhou.

Interestingly, this income will not be handed over to the county government, but will be obtained by Wen Jie.

This is undoubtedly an admission ticket to the upper circle, and from now on, Xiao Jiu will become Wen Jie's own person and be protected by him.

Thinking about this, Xiao Jiu directly agreed, a chuckle flashed across the corner of his mouth, and began to work out the details with County Lieutenant Zhang.

Wen Jie naturally did not directly invest in the shares, but chose to find a middleman in Lingshui County, County Lieutenant Zhang.

This county lieutenant Zhang is Wen Jie's brother-in-law, and his position in Lingshui County is almost equivalent to the police chief in Xiao Jiu's previous life, although he is not in the rank of the imperial court, he can effectively control the armed forces of a county town, which can be regarded as a small means to check and balance the county order.

Wen Jie is not a mediocre person, and Zhang County Lieutenant is not a simple-minded reckless man, the negotiation between the two reached an impasse because of the price, but in the end, Zhang County Lieutenant made concessions, finalized a price that was not excessive, and went back to his life.

After Zhang County Lieutenant left, Xiao Jiu was actually a lot more relieved, if he didn't have any core value for Wen Jie, he would be able to abandon it at any time when he found a replacement.

But when Xiao Jiu really became a tool to make money for Wen Jie, as long as the caravan could make money a day, he would have the confidence to negotiate with Wen Jie, at least he would be afraid to remove Xiao Jiu's influence on him.

What Wen Jie threw out, that is, an olive branch, is also an umbrella.

The matter came to an end, and Xiao Jiu just informed Li Gui in Lingshui County and stopped asking.

Now that the year is approaching and the first snow is beginning to usher, Xiao Jiu looks at the snow flakes flying in the sky, sees things and thinks about people, and can't help but recall the old people in his previous life.

Just a little reminiscence, Xiao Jiu came back to his senses from his memories, and now he has a lot to do, temporarily suppressing these sad emotions in his heart, and began to purchase New Year's goods for the cottage.

Just when Xiao Jiu began to prepare for the first New Year in this world, a major event happened in Kyoto.

Kyoto, the Imperial City.

In the inner courtyard of the palace with high walls, a pearlescent middle-aged beautiful woman hurried to the emperor's palace to recuperate, surrounded by a group of eunuchs and palace maids.

"The queen stays, the emperor and the prince have important matters to discuss, and order that any idle people should not approach, Queen Jiang, please respect yourself."

A white-faced and beardless majestic guard scolded the beautiful woman in front of him, and led a group of eunuchs and attendants to block in front of him.

This is the emperor's personal guard, and they can walk in the inner courtyard where there are groups of concubines, all of whom are from eunuch backgrounds.

"Bold Yunbi, at this time, the emperor's dragon body is not safe, but you are blocking the inside and outside, and you want to rebel."

The bejeweled Empress Jiang's eyes widened angrily at this time, and she loudly reprimanded the commander of the inner palace guards who was blocking the way in front of her, and directly buckled a big hat on Yun Bi's head.

When Yun Bi, the commander of the guards, heard this, his face changed, but his body was still lying between Empress Jiang and the palace without saying a word, and the situation on the scene instantly became tense and ignited at the touch of a button.

The two sides full of gunpowder are in a stalemate, and no one dares to act rashly.

At this time, an old eunuch with a whisk in his hand ran from the depths of the palace, and before he could get closer, a sharp and hoarse strange accent came out.

"The emperor has an order, Queen Xuanjiang will meet you."

Hearing the order behind him, Na Yunbi only hugged his fist at Queen Jiang in front of him, and then let go out, and Queen Jiang also snorted coldly, and then walked to the depths of the palace with a group of palace maids.

Walking to the depths of the palace, the door of the main hall opened, and only two eunuchs stood on either side.

Empress Jiang strode into the house, and the middle-aged emperor was lying on the luxurious dragon bed at this time, his face was bloodless, showing a sickness that did not match his age.

And next to the dragon collapse, a young man in his early twenties shrank in the corner, his eyes slightly flustered and uneasy.

Empress Jiang just glanced at it coldly, then ran quickly to the emperor's side, grabbed the emperor's cold palm, and tears instantly gushed out.

"The emperor, Yun Bi blocked it before, and the concubine couldn't see the emperor, and she was wronged."

Listening to the crying voice beside him, the emperor slowly opened his closed eyes, had no strength to sit up, just looked sideways at Empress Jiang in front of him without saying a word.

About half an hour had passed, and the emperor on the bed had only spoken a few words to Empress Jiang, and the young prince who had been standing in the corner was always in that state of shrinking.

After a while, a little eunuch hurriedly ran in from outside the door, breaking the delicate atmosphere here, saying that the ministers of the court had arrived outside the palace, and the emperor only waved his hand and announced them in.

With the continuous influx of ministers outside the palace, the room of Nuoda instantly became crowded, and these ministers who rushed in were all solemn at this time, waiting for the emperor's voice.

Seeing that everyone was almost here, the emperor supported his tired body and asked Empress Jiang to help him sit up, and began to say his last words.

The position of the crown prince has already been established, and the emperor only made some personnel transfer arrangements at this time, so that Empress Jiang listened to the government after the crown prince ascended the throne, and appointed some of the elders present as ministers to jointly assist the prince in handling state affairs.

The emperor reigned for many years, and he was very clear about the struggle between the various factions, and this arrangement was intended to allow the forces of the Empress Dowager Jiang's relatives to check and balance each other with the civilian clique in the court, so as to prevent the situation of one family from becoming the dominant one.

In addition, there is another consideration, that is, now that the border nobles and princes have heavy troops, if they collude with the ministers of the court, their royal bloodline will be at risk of extinction.

Therefore, this time Tuogu also used a large number of officials from the Neizhou faction, among which Li Li, who returned to his hometown, was among them.

In addition to these, the emperor also personally named the elder brother of the Empress Dowager Jiang as the Marquis of Zhenwu, and the military affairs of Qingzhou, Jizhou, and Yuzhou, east of Kyoto, can also be seen from these arrangements.

After all these ministers of the court and the central government retreated, the terminally ill emperor withdrew from the left and right palace people, and asked the crown prince and Empress Jiang to do some other things.