The Chaowu Hall is the largest building in the entire palace, except for the Zhengqian Hall, which is used for court meetings.
There are terraces, open rooms, long corridors, and several palaces above the pavilions.
Cheng Qianye, the lord of the Jin Kingdom, usually reviewed memorials and summoned ministers here after holding court meetings on weekdays. They often rest here at night.
Harem, of course, this palace, which was hastily rebuilt from the former Bianzhou City Lord's Palace, does not even have a harem.
Only Qifeng Pavilion, where Queen Yao Tianxiang lives, barely looks like someone is living there.
The other palaces are not in the slightest condition.
Lu Yao, the chief steward of the internal affairs, came out of the hall in great distress.
His proposal to expand the palace was once again rejected by the lord.
The lord even asked him to cut another dollar from the already small internal affairs expenses and allocate them to Cui Youyu, the lord's new favorite.
The bewildered Sikong of Bianzhou happily accepted his lord's reduction of his expenses to build the city wall. Not even a word of refusal.
Lu Yao shook her head and walked out.
The Lord turned out to be a very particular person about life. Ever since he came to Bianzhou, he changed his gender day by day for some unknown reason.
Not only did she not care about food and daily life at all, she even basically stopped going to the harem.
Lu Yao paused.
It suddenly occurred to him that the lord not only did not go to the harem, but also unknowingly evacuated all the people accompanying him, regardless of gender.
Only the princess Tianxiang who was married back from the Wei Kingdom was still close to her.
But she never stayed in her Qifeng Pavilion, but the princess occasionally took the initiative to stay in Chaowu Hall.
As the head of internal affairs, Lu Yao had heard some rumors about Princess Tianxiang.
But perhaps out of consideration for the diplomatic relations between the two countries, the lord did not interfere with her at all and allowed her complete freedom.
So to say.
Lu Yao cast her eyes on the black figure sitting quietly outside the hall on the railing of the corridor.
This is the only person the lord truly loves.
last night.
The lord's carriage returns from the Western Mountains.
Stopped outside the palace gate, but did not enter the palace for a long time.
Others don't know the whole story, but he knows the inside story.
When he heard that his lord had returned, he hurried to the palace gate to greet him.
But he saw a whole team of cars and horses parked outside the door.
The Lord sat at the car door in the snow, thinking silently, but had no intention of getting out of the car.
The lord didn't move, and a team of guards and attendants also stood there as silently as a chilling stone.
No one tried to persuade him, no one even dared to make a sound.
Lu Yao was someone who had served Gong Ziyu closely. Seeing this scene, there was something he didn't understand.
It must be the lord who did something ridiculous along the way.
The people in the car were bullied severely.
At this moment, the man fell asleep in the car.
The Lord felt sorry for him and didn't want to disturb him. I would rather have so many people waiting outside the car for him to wake up.
This General Mo can lead troops in battle and is the Lord's favorite. His future is bound to be limitless. I still want to have a good relationship with him.
He came to Mo Qiaosheng's side, smiled, clapped his hands and saluted: "General Mo."
Mo Qiaosheng seemed to have come to his senses from a trance, and stood up for a moment before returning the greeting.
"The general has returned from a great victory, but I am busy with general affairs and have not yet congratulated the general. It is really a sin, a sin. I hope the general will not blame you."
"No, where." Mo Qiaosheng said.
Lu Yao has been responsible for managing Cheng Qianye's general affairs and has known Mo Qiaosheng since he was exchanged for Huang Pingma.
He knew that Mo Qiaosheng was very unsociable and taciturn.
So he didn't take it seriously and continued to talk to himself enthusiastically.
"Qiao Sheng, my lord is so kind to you. Before you came back, my lord ordered me to prepare a general's mansion for you. I specially selected a house with the best scenery in the west of the city for you, and personally supervised the repairs. Ichiban. It’s just that the time is too tight. There are many shortcomings. You can check if there is anything missing, just tell me.”
He patted Mo Qiaosheng's arm: "Between us two brothers, please don't want to see me outside."
"Well, thank you." Mo Qiaosheng seemed a little distracted.
Lu Yao looked at him for a moment, then leaned close to him and whispered: "My lord specially asked me to set up a private room in his bedroom just for your daily rest. If you have nothing to do for a while, you can go Take a look. If you’re missing something, just tell me.”
Mo Qiaosheng's eyes lit up and he said softly, "Yeah."
Lu Yao heard the true gratitude from this simple word "hmm", and then she left with satisfaction.
Biyun passed by the corridor holding a tea tray.
She took down a cup of tea and handed it to her sister Xiaoqiu.
"Go and bring it to General Mo."
"Huh? It's strange, why doesn't Brother Qiao Sheng go in today? Why are you sitting outside?"
"Don't say a word. Just go as soon as I tell you." Biyun told her sister, lifted up her skirt and stepped into the hall.
As the New Year approaches, every household prepares to celebrate the New Year, and the military and the court are also closed.
But the Lord is still busy here every day.
Biyun served fragrant tea to everyone in the palace one by one.
Cheng Qianye took the tea from Biyun and took a sip.
He frowned and looked at the few lines of words he listed on the desk.
She put down her tea cup and pointed at the first line: "Build city walls, recruit troops, and build canals. After all, the main problem at the moment is lack of money."
Xiao Jin said: "Lord, this year we have opened up Qixian County and reorganized Zhongmou. The number of residents in Bianzhou has increased several times. Next year, I am afraid there will be even more people who will join me in the Jin Dynasty."
"The lack of money and wages is due to the fact that the New Deal has only been implemented for the first year. My lord has exempted farmers from paying land taxes for the first year, so the national treasury seems to be so tight. In fact, my lord, you can postpone these matters for a while. It only takes one more year, and our The situation will be much better.”
Cheng Qianye shook his head: "Our Bianzhou is only seventy or eighty miles away from Zhengzhou where Weiming Mountain is located. But it is said to be the first important town in front of Quanrong. I want to wait, but I am afraid that Quanrong is not willing to wait. . Besides, Zhang Fu took extraordinary risks and created such a good opportunity. I must seize it."
She raised her head and glanced at Yu Dunsu and He Lanzhen, "After the spring, I want to send troops to capture Zhengzhou. Are you two generals willing to lead the army?"
Yu Dunsu exchanged a look with He Lanzhen.
The army of the alliance of princes was defeated in front of Weiming Mountain in Zhengzhou.
Last year, Li Wenguang, Han Quanlin, and Cheng Qianyu's three-pronged army, totaling more than 40,000 men, were attacked by the Weimingshan cavalry before they arrived in Zhengzhou. They were defeated one by one and returned defeated.
Weimingshan is a formidable opponent, and Zhengzhou is a solid fortress.
But Yu Dunsu and He Lanzhen did not have the word "cowardice" in their hearts.
When they heard that they were about to go to war, they felt their blood boil, their hearts warmed up, and their spirits were lifted. They clasped their fists and said, "I am willing to accept the order!"
Cheng Qianye said to Xiao Jin: "Xiao Sikou, I want you to return to Jiangcheng, take over Zhang Fu's position, and prepare food, grass, and money for the army's expedition."
"But..." Xiao Jin frowned and hesitated for a moment, but finally agreed, "I accept the order and will live up to the lord's trust."
Cheng Qianye sighed softly in her heart. She knew what Xiao Jin was hesitating about.
Now, after several campaigns, more and more generals have been promoted in the army.
However, there is an extreme shortage of civil servants who can be trusted to manage government affairs.
She not only asked Xiao Jin to formulate and implement various new policies and regulations, but also asked him to be responsible for preparing military supplies and logistics. It was really difficult for him.
Cheng Qianye placed his hand on the second line of words: Missing people.
After this year, I will formulate an evaluation system for officials and promote a group of people.
Well, no, that's too slow. Cheng Qianye touched his chin.
I should gather all my subordinates, line up and walk around in front of me, and pick out the ones with beautiful colors first.
Mo Qiaosheng sat on the railing. The tea in his hand had long since gone cold, but he still did not enter the main hall.
He simply didn't dare to think about what happened last night.
Suddenly a person sat down next to him.
Mo Qiaosheng was startled: "Master, Master."
"Why have you been sitting outside alone for so long?" Cheng Qianye sat next to him on the railing.
The terrain here is very high and you can overlook the whole of Bianzhou.
"Is it cold?" Cheng Qianye grabbed his hand, rubbed it, and put it into his plush sleeves together with his own.
"No, well, it's a little cold."
Cheng Qianyehan held Mo Qiaosheng's cold hands and looked at the towering city wall in the distance.
"I want to attack Zhengzhou. Do you want to go with General Yu and General Helan, or do you want to stay with me?"
Mo Qiaosheng said nothing.
I want to go. As long as you want Zhengzhou, I want to go.
He didn't need to say it out loud, the lord always knew what he was thinking.
"As long as you want to go, I'll let you go."
Mo Qiaosheng's hand was hidden in a warm sleeve, and the warmth spread from the palm of his hand to the bottom of his heart, warming his whole body.
He grabbed the soft hand hard.
"Lord, I..."
"Well, you what?"
I also want to stay by your side and see you every moment. But I really yearn to fight in all directions and become someone who can truly match you. Mo Qiaosheng thought in his heart.
"It's okay, there are still a few months. If you want, we can be the same as before." Cheng Qianye smiled, and she said quietly, "I have left a room for you in the partition of my dormitory. You can do it every day You can come here, okay?”
Mo Qiaosheng said nothing. After a moment, he finally nodded slightly.
…
Cheng Qianye's carriage was walking on the snow-covered streets.
This winter is extremely cold.
But the situation on the streets is much better than last year, when Cheng Qianye first arrived in Bianzhou.
At least, there are no more corpses freezing to death against the wall everywhere.
Although the civilians walking on the road were still wearing shabby clothes, most of them were wearing cotton clothes that were barely able to withstand the cold. There is more or less a hint of New Year's celebration on his face.
We drove to the west of the city, where there was a centralized slave market.
It was here that Cheng Qianye bought the two sisters Biyun and Xiaoqiu.
Compared with last year, this place has become the largest slave trading market in Bianzhou, and shacks have even been built.
On the messy pillars in front of the market, slaves ready to be traded were tied.
On a simple high platform, there were even people leading slaves onto the stage, shouting and selling.
Cheng Qianye frowned.
"A large number of our civilians in Bianzhou have obtained land, and many soldiers who have received titles have even obtained land that has not been fully cultivated. These lands lack the manpower to cultivate them." Cheng Feng followed Cheng Qianye's gaze and spoke. explain.
"So the slave trade has become more and more popular recently. Many slave traders purchased large quantities of slaves from other war-torn countries and transported them to Bianzhou for sale."
In the slave market, slaves in ragged clothes were scolded, whipped, pushed and hawked by their masters in the cold winter months.
She was tied up and trembling like an animal and allowed to be picked by anyone.
Cheng Qianye got off the carriage and watched everything silently.