During the period of King Yan's absence, the conflict between the new nobles in the dynasty and the power of the aristocratic family became more acute. On the one hand, the two factions maintained their own dignity, on the other hand, they were in the limelight, and they did not deal with each other from the root. The gap between them is no smaller than the gap between the barbarians of the Eighteen Tribes and the Liang people.
The aristocratic family has been passed down from generation to generation, and the family background is very solid. Almost every surname has a large area of zhuangzi and land. Since the grain prices continued to fall during the Yuanhe period, in order to make money from exchanges, major families secretly engaged in business. It's become the norm today. On the one hand, the merchants who lived at the bottom of the house have begun to enter the house, and on the other hand, they are also constantly hurting private merchants.
Since the beginning of Emperor Taizu, Daliang has decreed that the body of fame, princes and nobles must not compete with the people for profit, because once the word "official" is smeared in the business, it is not a pure business, even if it is not actively deceiving others, it must be There are villains.
The enmity between the old family and the new nobles has been around for a long time, not a matter of one generation.
At this time, when the newcomer comes to power, it is tantamount to turning over a salted fish. Either the east wind will prevail over the west wind, or the west wind will prevail over the east wind. Of course, the old family must spare no effort to suppress it. When the barbarians bowed their heads, Jiangnan could free up his hands again, and the battle situation seemed less urgent, and immediately broke out like labor pains.
After King Yan returned to the court, he didn't even have a buffer. What awaited him was a smoky quarrel at the great court meeting.
From the big trouble of abolishing the beacon ticket, arguing about the shortcomings of the new officials, and finally criticizing the canal office. Then, from the royal power to the civil rights, from the civil and commercial order to the ancestral family law, and finally the war somehow led to the army, starting from the current cost of garrisoning in the four borders, all the way to the south of the Yangtze River like a wild horse. The question of whether it should continue to fight - Fang Qin's party has seized the root of King Yan. If it weren't for the huge cost of war in the past few years, the treasury was screaming for poverty every day, and King Yan would not have seized the opportunity to focus on it. Money, make the court so smoky.
There are people from aristocratic families who came out to challenge things: "Your Majesty, the Eighteen Tribes have surrendered. We will have a large number of abundant Ziliujin in the future. The vitality in the territory has been slowly recovering, and it is really not appropriate to start another war within three or five years. I think Westerners have recently The peace talks presented are very sincere. They withdrew from the Yangtze River, ceded the occupied land, only opened up western ports on the coast of the East China Sea, and dispersed the garrison to several ports specially opened along the coast. It can be used as a transit place for our maritime trade, so why not? Gu Shuai indiscriminately picks on the thorns, and it is too impersonal to keep adding conditions."
Naturally, the Yanwang Party took over: "Why should I give up the fertile soil along the East China Sea to a bunch of Western monkeys? Can't we open a port ourselves? Don't we have a merchant ship caravan? The place passed down by our ancestors, you give it a word. As a Westerner, there is no one who is more generous than you!"
Fang Qin went into battle himself, put aside the sharp words of "treason and collaborating with the enemy", and said calmly: "Westerners come from far away from the ocean, and most of the military supplies they use need to be supplied from thousands of miles away, and the soldiers they bring are also The exhausted teachers who have left their hometowns, according to the views of the ministers, really don’t have to be too close to the enemy. What can they do if they pretend to negotiate first, they will not be able to sustain themselves in ten or eight years. The year is also the handover of injuries and illnesses. I have never had a few days of comfort and peace of mind. Even if I feel sorry for my 100,000 blood-drenched soldiers on the front line, it is time for a truce to rest. This matter can be discussed later. What's the charter?"
Hearing that King Yan was dragged out by him, he looked up at Fang Qin and said, "I don't need to discuss it after I see it, right? The beacon ticket is named after 'Fenghuo', which is closely related to the war in the final analysis. You adults want to cut the land and feed the tigers and wolves, there is really no reason for the third batch of beacon fire tickets, the court guarantees the tax for the next five years, and can always raise three more melons and dates, enough to repay the bill."
Fang Qin shook his head and smiled and said, "King Yan is pranking, is the truce ceding territory and feeding tigers and wolves? The Westerners are already retreating, this is a disguised request to surrender. When they reach the sea, they are just a bunch of rootless weeds. Not a big worry.”
Chang Geng also laughed, and said mildly: "Master Fang knows the world's affairs without leaving home, it's really admirable, you know that Westerners are already rootless from thousands of miles away, such a high-level vision, my generation It’s hard to beat.”
Seeing that the two of them used each other's New Year's tone to be bitter and mean, Li Feng had to come forward and say: "The military has the final say, I have called you here to discuss the top priority of the beacon ticket, what are you arguing about? The Battle of Liangjiang? I can't figure it out after so long, and I worry too much—Amin, don't say a few words."
The Minister of the Household timely followed the voice of the emperor and said: "His Royal Highness Yan Wang has just returned from Jiangbei, I am afraid I have not figured out why the third batch of beacon tickets was blocked. The dynasty is already rich, but after all, there are also a family of young and old, relying on this salary to maintain a little face, how dare to be rich and noble when this country is in trouble, it is really helpless, since the subscription of the beacon ticket has been included in the official governance inspection, how many people have gone bankrupt? Even if it is a penny, I can’t get it. Wangye Su Ri has a close personal relationship with Du Wanquan, the giant of the Chamber of Commerce, and you can ask them to come forward again?”
Chang Geng didn't want to fall into this deep-seated trap, and said without changing his face, "I have already visited Du Gong and others on the way back to Beijing. Now that factories are just being built in various places, as a volunteer businessman, sometimes I have to take care of refugees and expenses. It's very big, and now most of the net worth is in the Canal Office. Even if you want to destroy your family and save the trouble, is it possible that you will also give up the many refugees who have finally settled down? I really can’t get a penny out.”
Fang Qin refused to let him go: "Could it be that when His Highness pushed the beacon ticket with all his strength, he never thought of leaving a way out?"
Chang Geng gave him a cool look: "Master Fang, I made it very clear at the beginning that the money will be borrowed first, and when the two years expire, the treasury will take a breath, and it will naturally be replaced, but I really can't make it for a while. , you can try the third batch of beacon fire tickets to solve the urgent need. At that time, when the money from the treasury was counted, Mr. Fang had already taken over the head of the Ministry of Household, and he did not raise any objection. Now you come to ask me, but Wang still wants to ask the adults. Where is the money going in and out of the household, why is there so much difference?"
Fang Qin finally couldn't help but said angrily: "The account books are all there. If King Yan has doubts about the lower officials, he can go and check!"
Chang Geng didn't smile and said, "That's right, the lords of the Ministry of Household will never even make a mess of the account books, so it must be that Mr. Fang was obsessed with his mind back then, did he make a mistake?"
Li Feng: "Enough!"
Fang Qin hurriedly pleaded guilty, Chang Geng bowed slightly, leaning aside, most of the time he was very silent at the court meeting, and most of the words were said by the people below, rarely confronting people like this, Fang Qin endured I couldn't stop looking at him, always feeling that something was wrong.
King Yan must have been prepared for the embarrassing situation of the beacon ticket, why would he rather quarrel in front of the emperor than say it smoothly? What is he paving
The great court broke up unhappily, King Yan was left behind, and he walked with Li Feng in silence. Although Li Feng's broken leg recovered, the root of the disease remained.
"Accompany me to the garden for a walk." Li Feng said.
It just so happened that the prince had just finished school that day, and was playing in the garden with the third prince. He met his father and uncle, and rushed to greet him. The first year of the crown prince is one year, and now he has the appearance of a little boy. The third prince is only five years old, he is changing his teeth, and his speech is a little leaky.
When Li Feng met the prince, of course, he wanted to show off his prestige as a father. First, he found fault out of nothing and reprimanded the prince, and then interrogated his studies with a stern face.
The prince answered well first, but at the end he glanced at his younger brother, and Li Feng followed his gaze, and he was suddenly amused.
s =
The toothless third prince was not yet old enough to be questioned by his father, so he stayed silently by the side. Later, he was beckoned and called away by King Yan. King Yan led him to sit on the ground very casually, grabbed a few grass stalks and edited them. A grasshopper. Have the children in the palace ever seen such a rural area? The third prince's eyes were straight, and he looked at it stupidly. After a while, the little thing was holding a grasshopper in his left hand and a grasshopper in his right hand. He was so happy that he didn't even bother to cover up his missing front teeth.
Li Feng: "Playing with things and losing one's mind is like something."
He glared at Chang Geng with a stern face, and sent the two reluctant children away. Li Feng saw from a distance that the third prince was tiptoeing a grasshopper into the prince's hand, and the prince took the one he had freed up. Hands, the older child leads the younger child, looking like a pair of little brothers from an ordinary family.
The prince has a docile temperament, like his grandfather.
Li Feng was a little moved, and when he turned to Chang Geng, his expression softened a lot, and asked, "It's been so long, do you still want to get married?"
Chang Geng's smile just now faded away.
Li Feng saw that he didn't like to mention this, so he sighed and said, "Either the elder brother is in charge, and I will adopt a child from the clan for you. When you get older in the future, there will always be a filial piety to take care of."
Chang Geng paused and twisted his hands. There seemed to be grass juice left on his fingers. He glanced at the direction the third prince was leaving, and he seemed to be moving, but after a while, he still didn't nod his head.
Chang Geng: "Thank you, Brother Huang, you don't have to."
"The child will follow you and inherit the throne in the future. You don't have to have an inch of merit to be at least a prince. You have a bright future, and some people are willing to send it." Li Feng said, "You don't have to worry about taking someone's children and harming your morality."
Chang Geng suddenly bowed to the tunnel and said, "Your Majesty, this minister is willing to follow the example of Lord Shang, and has no intention of dragging down the children and grandchildren."
The corners of Li Feng's eyes twitched slightly, and he turned to look at him silently.
Chang Geng bent down and refused to get up. He looked young and strong, but he was lonely and bleak.
I am willing to follow the example of Shang Jun-to reform the law by any means, and be hated and despised by the world.
On that day, all the servants were kept far away, and no one knew what the Li brothers said in the garden. From noon until it was dark, King Yan left the palace on his own.
Only the few grasses that were pulled down and woven with weeds and bugs were left, and they were bald by themselves.
The next day, Jiang Chong received an instruction from King Yan—not to let the Marquis of Anding return to Beijing, the battle may not be fought, but he must stay in Liangjiang.
The heavy rain in the south of the Yangtze River was a bit cruel. A few days ago, it was so hot that people couldn't sleep. Suddenly, a strong wind and rain changed the sky, and the moisture could get into people's bones.
Mr. Ya wiped the water vapor from his face, walked up the stairs quickly, and climbed to the top along the iron steps sticking out from the hideous hideous shell of the sea monster. The old man with dazzling white hair turned his back to him and was lying On something, the cat's waist is like a bent bamboo strip.
Mr. Ya coughed lightly: "Your Majesty, why don't you rest so late?"
"When you get older, you are abandoned by sleep," the Pope said, waving his hand. "Come here and look at this."
There is a "clairvoyant" on the top of the sea monster. It is not the kind of gadget that can be clipped on the bridge of the nose. It is more than three feet long, made of copper, and there are circles of traces like bamboo knots on the outside. Fixed on the ground, the long copper cylinder has a circle of complex scales, all of which are Western characters.
This is the real "clairvoyance", able to see a thousand miles.
Through this long tube, they could see the Daliang territory on the other side from among the sea monsters floating in the East China Sea.
In just a few short years, the quiet fertile soil on the opposite side began to glow with an inextinguishable light in the night—the brightest and most concentrated is the watchtower of the garrison, and the latter is much softer, where many new factories work at night, keep watch. The light is not very hot, but it is distributed everywhere, like a handful of fine stars.
Mr. Ya asked strangely: "What is your majesty looking at? Is there any change in the enemy army?"
"The enemy army has been changing," the Pope said in a low voice, "the people in the Holy Land first surrendered to their greed, and then placed unrealistic expectations on the peace talks. They lost the opportunity and had to retreat again and again. Now the command ship is retreating. At sea, after a while, the people of Daliang are likely to send troops to destroy our supply line with the country, and we still don’t know how to end it.”
Mr. Ya: "Isn't there a reason why we retreated to the coast? At that time, the Eastern Ying Islands can be used as a dedicated supply channel and we can go from the open sea. Although the Liang people have imitated our fast-moving tiger sharks, the overall fleet design is not the same. Can't adapt to open sea operations."
"The Eastern Ying people are like a pack of wild dogs. When you have the upper hand, they will not hesitate to post it for carrion. Once you lose the power, don't expect to get their loyalty." The Pope sighed lowly, "Besides that. Is the conclusion that the Daliang navy cannot adapt to the open sea? A few years ago they didn't even have a decent navy - how can they base their chances of victory on the assumption that the enemy is weak?"
Mr. Ya was silent for a moment: "But Your Majesty, Holy Messenger"
"I came to you for this matter," the Pope took out a letter from his bosom, his hands trembled like autumn leaves, but the color was extremely cold and hard, and he didn't show his usual gentleness and kindness at all. Come, have a look."
Mr. Ya took it quickly, and then his face changed: "Is this true?"
The Pope lowered his voice and said, "The Holy Land has changed."
Conservatives sat on the bench of the Liberal Party, paralyzed the seesaw, and seconded tens of thousands of people from several affiliated countries to approach the Holy Land in the name of protest, creating riots, deposing the king, and executing old people, including the first in line. There were more than 30 nobles, and they supported a poor little king who was three thousand miles away.
A few days later, the late royalists fought back, and the new king was forced to step down after only wearing the crown for seven days.
Now the political arena in the Holy Land is extremely uncertain, anything can happen, the holy envoy who is loyal to the old king has naturally lost his authority, and the royalists are desperately showing goodwill to the Holy See, who has been neglected by the old king for half his life, and will not come to give him any time soon. They block.
Mr. Ya's thinking is very sharp, and he figured out the joints in an instant.
The Pope turned around abruptly, staring at him with falcon-like eyes: "This is an opportunity, do you understand?"
Mr. Ya lowered his voice excitedly: "That holy messenger"
The Pope nodded slightly, and said humbly and coldly: "He is no longer an envoy."
Mr. Ya took a deep breath, and clenched his fists under his complicated cuffs: "I'll prepare now."
"Jacques," the Pope folded his old hands into his sleeves, standing against the night wind, "if we lose this opportunity, it may be difficult to set foot on this land in the future. It has already woken up."
Mr. Ya glanced back at the distant shore, recalled the lights he had just seen, and stunned, he left in a hurry.
When the Liang people were ignorant, a violent "rebellion" occurred within the Western Army.
From the time the envoy received the news from the Holy Land to the momentary escape, there was only less than a stick of incense. From the time he led the remnants to escape to the secret arrest of the Pope's guards who were standing still, there was still less than a stick of incense.
The holy envoy and the others were killed by Mr. Ya on the spot, and then a sailing ship was arranged to make a successful retreat, keeping the news of the civil strife in the Holy Land tightly hidden. In the calm Western military port, ordinary soldiers still During their routine inspections, they only knew that the holy messenger had been summoned back to the Holy Land, and there would be only one boss in the future.
The Pope did not change his weak attitude towards peace talks with the Daliang people, and on the surface he still retreated little by little until the autumn equinox of the ninth year of Long'an—
A batch of western cargo supplies arrived at the western military port from foreign shipping. A large number of military supplies and Zi Liujin were like a group of black ghosts, unknowingly pressing on the scorched southern bank of the Yangtze River.
Support: Please share it with your friends!