Under the candlelight, Du Yan leaned closer, looked carefully at Xue Bai's notes, and suddenly said with some pride: "Hey, I can actually understand." ”

Her clothes were smoked with Su Hexiang, and her hair was washed with hibiscus leaves and honey locusts, and when she got closer, Xue Bai smelled a faint fragrance.

He leaned back a little and said, "It's not hard to understand." Wu Kangcheng's night patrol route was fixed, passing through two squares and 28 households, of which only 10 households were able to harbor the dead in the East Palace that I could not search carefully and had the ability to harbor. ”

Du Cheng saw the small movements of the two, stepped forward and lit a candlestick, and the light was brighter, so that Du Yan didn't have to get so close.

Du Yan was dedicated to discussing with Xue Bai, and didn't care about these small details, and muttered: "You just knocked on the door last night, and today the East Palace arranged your life experience for you, so it must be within these ten households?" ”

"What do you know about these dead men?"

"I've never seen these dead soldiers, but Li Heng is by no means as poor as he seems on the surface, and he can often find a way for his people."

Xue Bai groaned and asked, "Where did the money come from?" In the northwest tuntian? ”

"I don't know." Du Yan looked at Xue Bai's map while answering, and suddenly said: "These names are the officials who set up separate houses in Daozheng and Changle?" ”

"Hmm."

"Yang Shenjin, Wang Weld, Xian Yuben, Lu Xuan...... They are all Li Linfu's people. ”

"I was just going to ask you, which of these people is most likely to be used by the East Palace?"

Du Yan didn't answer immediately, but smiled slightly, and asked rhetorically, "Do you know why the saint relies on Li Linfu?" ”

Xue Bai shook his head.

When he first arrived in this era, there were still too many things that he needed her help to dissect.

Du Yan said: "Chang'an has a large population, coupled with the natural danger of Sanmenxia, it is difficult to transport grain, so since Gaozong, the imperial court has often gone to Luoyang to eat. ”

Xue Bai knew a little about this, Gaozong and Wu Zetian gave people the feeling that they liked to run Luoyang, Gaozong changed Luoyang to the eastern capital and the two capitals, and Wu Zetian changed the eastern capital to the divine capital and moved the capital to Luoyang.

There are many reasons for this, one of which is that Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty dug the Grand Canal, so that the grain from the south of the Yangtze River could be transported to Luoyang.

In comparison, Li Longji doesn't seem to like Luoyang so much.

In this regard, Du Yan used one word - fear.

"The sage is fortunate to be in the eastern capital, and Li Linfu knows the intentions, and gives Su to help Cao, and the law, so that Guanzhong has enough money and food, since the twenty-fourth year of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, the sage has never been to the eastern capital, and the imperial saying 'I can't go out of Chang'an and ten years, there is nothing to do in the sea', and I am proud of it."

Xue Bai was keenly aware that there was a lot of work here, and there was not much time tonight, so he could only ask: "What is the Fu Su Zhu Cao and the Harmony Method?" ”

"The so-called 'endowment of millet and help Cao' means collecting more land from the people to make up for the emptiness of the treasury caused by the lack of transportation."

"Just overtaxing?"

"Being able to receive taxes is also Li Linfu's ability."

Now that Du Yan's identity has changed, her evaluation of Suo Dou is slightly different.

Xue Bai nodded, knowing that the matter of collecting taxes was simple, but it was extremely difficult to do it well.

"The so-called 'harmony method', that is, in a good year, the imperial court buys grain storage at a low price to prepare for a famine year." Du Yan said: "Li Linfu has been very effective in the past few years with these two methods, so he has been relied on by the saints. ”

Xue Bai frowned, realizing that these two methods seemed to make the treasury abundant, but in the long run, the entire country and the people would become more and more impoverished.

To put it bluntly, it's nothing more than a change of law to help the emperor make money.

After explaining this background, Du Yan unhurriedly brought the topic back.

Although Li Linfu wants to abolish the crown prince, the officials on both sides are not clearly distinguished. For example, Wei Jian, he originally had a very close relationship with Li Linfu, and he presided over the construction of the Cao Canal, so that the ships from the west of Tongguan could only sail directly to Chang'an, and the annual transportation increased by 2 million stones, which won the favor of the saints, and had the possibility of replacing Li Linfu. ”

"That is to say, Wei Jian can also make money for the saint, and if it is beneficial to Li Linfu, it will be combined, and if it is not profitable, it will be divided."

"Speaking of the Northwest Frontier Army, although the two Jiedu envoys are a series of the East Palace, Li Linfu has also led the envoys of Hexi and Longyou Jiedu, and since the imperial court recruited troops, countless military expenditures have been raised by him every year. Therefore, there were also many generals in the Longyou Army who were close to Li Linfu. ”

As she spoke, Du Yan pointed to Wang Zhu's other mansion drawn on Xue Bai's map.

"I just said the peace law, Wang Weld's brother Wang Jie, is the envoy of this and the city, to assist Li Linfu in presiding over the peace affair, this person has a deep relationship with the border army generals."

"Because of the military pay?"

"Nope." Du Yan said: "According to the customs in the army, the soldiers on the border are replaced every six years, and the rent can be exempted when the border is stationed. In order to collect money for the saints, Wang Ji abolished the custom of exempting rent. However, in order to cover up the defeat, some border generals often did not register the death of their soldiers, so although these soldiers died, they were not disregistered. Wang regarded these soldiers who died in battle as evading taxes, and collected rent and taxes according to their nationality, and many military households were levied rent taxes for 30 years at a time, resulting in ruined families. Because of this, he looted a huge amount of property into the inner treasury every year, won the trust of the saints, rose to the top, and became Li Linfu's most effective cadre. ”

Du Cheng frowned and said, "In this way, he should have a very poor relationship with the border army, right?" ”

"The families of the soldiers who died in the war may hate him to the core, but there are many people among the border generals who have interests with him. At the beginning of the year, Huangfu Weiming entered Beijing, although he knew that Li Linfu was powerful, he was still determined to get rid of Li Linfu, because he found out about this matter. Du Yan said: "I heard him plead with the prince." ”

Xue Bai understood what Du Yan meant.

Today's situation is not clear-cut, you are one faction, I am one faction, and there is no difference between them.

A saint not only wants to squander and enjoy, but also wants to be a wise man for the ages, so someone needs to collect wealth and someone to make meritorious contributions.

Therefore, whether it is Li Linfu or Donggong, in addition to the struggle, what is more important is to collect wealth and make meritorious contributions to the saint together, and the relationship between them is actually intricate.

It's all about the benefits.

Xue Bai picked up the pen and marked Wang Zhu's other house on the map.

Du Yan leaned over his head and looked at it, and stretched out her hand to point to Yang Shenjin's other house.

"In the imperial history, Yang Shenjin, he was born in Hongnong Yang, is the great-great-grandson of Emperor Yang of Sui, with a prominent family background, and is well-known for his style and talent. is the type of person that Li Linfu has always hated the most. ”

Du Cheng recalled the scene when she saw Yang Shenjin in Dali Temple that day, frowning slightly, feeling a little uncomfortable.

Xue Bai asked, "Why are you jealous?" ”

"Let me give you another example, the saint once hung the curtain in the Qinzheng Building to watch the music and dance, and Lu Xuan, the squire of the military department, did not know that the royal car was there, and he hung the whip and pressed the bridle, too downstairs, and his demeanor was graceful, and he was praised by the saint. This matter was learned by Li Linfu, who was worried that Lu Xuan would be reused by the sage, so he framed him and demoted him from Chang'an. ”

"Why?"

"That's the kind of guy that's what Fight is."

Xue Bai was speechless for a while.

Du Yan continued: "Yang Shenjin is not Li Linfu's person, but Li Linfu wants to control the Yushitai and has suppressed him, so Yang Shenjin is subservient to Li Linfu, but they should be wary of each other. ”

Xue Bai nodded, and also made a mark on the map of Yang Shenjin's other residence.

Du Cheng reminded: "You have to be careful in the future." ”

"Ahem."

Qu Shui coughed twice outside.

~~

The Kyauknu shuffled back to the chamber with some weakness and heard the conversation inside.

"Princess Yuzhen is the champion of King Maha?" Du Yan said: "I'm afraid that Yang Zhao is spreading rumors about this matter, so he said that Zhang Jiugao, this person is the younger brother of Prime Minister Zhang Jiuling, who raised the Ming Sutra and the first in the third year of Zhongzong Jinglong, how could he take the exam with Wang Maha in the ninth year of Kaiyuan?" ”

"All kinds of emotions are true and false, how can outsiders know." Du Cheng said: "But if Xue Bai wants to be the first, he really has to be recommended by a powerful person......

The Kyaukni entered the house and sat down, listening to them still talking to Xue Bai about the imperial examination.

After only sitting for a moment, her face changed again, she glanced at Xue Bai fiercely, and walked out again.

When the Kyauknu walked away, inside the house, Du Cheng hesitated a little and said: "I'm not a lobbyist for the Jingzhao Du clan, but after thinking about it, the right prime minister's mansion may not be relied on for a long time." Sooner or later, you need to have an identity to settle down, although Xue Ling has no official status, but I don't know how it is compared to your original background? ”

Xue Bai said: "If you really want to speculate, the possibility that I was originally an official slave is not low. ”

"What I'm more worried about is that your temperament is not like that of ordinary people, and you can become an official slave, I'm afraid that after committing an official, six or seven out of ten will have a grudge against the Right Prime Minister's Mansion." Du Cheng said: "After all, the surname is still Xue, if you are not obsessed with finding your parents and family immediately, I think it is better to accept this identity for the time being and seek a future for yourself." Otherwise, even if you help the Right Prime Minister's Mansion find the prince's dead man, Li Linfu will not seal your official position, and I am afraid that you will be blamed for the crime in the future. ”

"The eldest sister is from the bottom of my heart, I know." Xue Bai said: "Everything we do is just asking for the four words 'settle down', and the conditions given by the East Palace today are indeed not bad." The difficulty lies in the fact that Li Linfu is afraid that he will not let us go easily. ”

Du Yan thought deeply and said: "Yes, the most important thing at the moment is how to deal with Li Linfu." ”

“……”

When the Kyauknu returned, the two sisters of the Du family were finally willing to get up and leave.

With a sound of "dang", Kyauknu took out a dagger, stuck it on the table in front of Xue Bai, and scolded: "You dare to harm me!" ”

"Presumably the flower cake is broken." Xue Bai asked rhetorically, "But who forced you to eat?" ”

"Hugh thinks I don't know what you have in mind, and you dare to drug me in order to break me away."

"You can guess whatever you want, but you need evidence to blame others. Otherwise, in front of the right minister, are you also saying the same? ”

"Huh. I see how you explain to the right. ”

~~

Early the next morning, Ji Wen arrived at the right minister's house in Pingkangfang.

He bowed down and stood still in the hall, and behind the screen, Li Linfu asked, "Have you found out Xue Bai's background?" ”

"Back to the right phase, I already have some eyebrows." Ji Wen responded: "I asked people to access the files of the official slave trade and the disappearance of the beautiful boy in the past six months, and I have clues, and I am still ordering people to check them one by one." ”

"This is Xue Bai's method of investigating and handling cases with files, you can learn it quickly."

"How can it be his way? It's an ancient way. Ji Wen smiled and said: "Investigating this matter, there is another gain." ”

"Say."

Ji Wen said: "The disappearance of the beautiful boy in Chang'an City does not seem to be the fault of Mrs. Qiuguo, according to a young man, it may be a noblewoman named Da Xi Yingying who blames Mrs. Qiuguo." ”

"Who?"

"I don't know whose wife and concubine it is."

Li Linfu originally planned to scold Ji Wen, but he didn't expect to hear such a strange story, coughed twice, and then said in a deep voice: "Stupid, you are busy with some inconsequential things, and the East Palace has found out Xue Bai's life experience." ”

"This?" Gwenn was amazed and said, "Is it possible?" ”

The beautiful maid had already stepped out of the screen and threw a piece of news in front of Geven.

After Ji Wen read it, he thought for a while and said: "It can be seen that Xue Bai and Du Youlin must have betrayed the right minister and switched to the East Palace, when they are taught a lesson, Ji Wen is willing to investigate Liu Tao's case again." ”

Li Linfu did not speak.

"Right Phase." Ji Wen said again: "Donggong is so wooing Xue Bai, how can he still do things for the right minister?" ”

At this time, the steward Cangbi arrived outside the hall door and said, "Ah Lang, Xue Bai has arrived." ”

Ji Wen turned his head to look and saw Xue Bai enter the hall, he couldn't help sneering, and couldn't wait to say, "I heard that you have found your family background, congratulations." ”

"Right Phase."

Xue Bai ignored it, saluted Li Linfu, and said, "I just want to report this matter to the right minister today, it can be seen that I am already very close to those dead soldiers in the East Palace, and Li Heng will jump over the wall in a hurry and pull me in a hurry." ”

Gwen's mouth opened, wanting to speak, but he froze.

He realized that accepting the conditions of the East Palace was the most beneficial to Xue Bai, but he didn't expect Xue Bai to sell the East Palace again in a blink of an eye.

Behind the screen, Li Linfu's tone didn't seem to be as cold as Fang Cai, and he asked, "In this way, you are not the son of Xue Ling?" ”

"I don't believe in such a coincidence." Xue Baiying said: "I think that the dead in the East Palace are hidden in the two squares of Daozheng and Changle, and there are a few other houses that I have no right to search, please send troops to search for them." ”

Perhaps this answer greatly surprised Li Linfu, and there was no movement for a long time behind the screen.

Xue Bai then added: "The dead soldiers raised by the East Palace are all fierce soldiers, and there are probably dozens of people, so I am afraid that the elite of the sixteen guards will have to be mobilized." ”

Li Linfu instructed people: "Bring Guo Qianli." ”

"Whoa."

"Xue Bai, answer honestly, after the Xue clan in Hedong and the prince of Pingyang County, you can be tempted by such a life experience?"

"This must be a plan for Li Heng to provoke me and the right minister." Xue Bai responded: "Although I have amnesia, even if I am from a humble background, I only want to find my biological parents, instead of climbing to the high gate and recognizing others as my father." ”

"Okay, ambitious."

When Li Linfu heard this, he slapped his palms three times slowly.

After that, he said something that surprised both Xue Bai and Ji Wen.

"You, after all, you have to have an identity, find your family as soon as possible, and let your father bring the dowry to the Prime Minister's Mansion at that time."

Xue Bai was stunned for a moment, and finally turned his head to look at the small window on the side wall.

Faintly, he could hear some rustling sounds, and there seemed to be soft footsteps, and someone had run away.

After a short period of stunnedness, he reacted quickly and said in a loud voice: "Thank you for your grace!" ”

Gwenn froze.

Only then did he understand that the East Palace's attraction of Xue Bai had also become a test for Xue Bai on the right, and Xue Bai withstood it and got such a big reward.