Xu Fengnian stopped for a while at Qingliang Mountain, and then led Fengziying Qingqi to the new city that broke ground earlier this year without stopping. Those who accompanied him included Xu Beizhi, who had just stepped down as governor of Lingzhou, and Chen Xiliang, who had always been in the same official position in Liuzhou.
The woman who went to Liang with him, the King of Beiliang, her aunt Zhao Yutai was by Xu Weixiong's side, and Chen Yu and the little girl in green robe were very close, and they also stayed in Qingliang Mountain. The copper coins for wishing were thrown on the wishing lotus in the lake. Jia Jiajia and Xu Ying, who became playmates in Tai'an City, also began to "split their ways" when they arrived at Beiliang Palace. Hehe, the girl likes to run from the mountain to the foot of the mountain with two tigers, and then from the Running from the front of the mountain to the back of the mountain, she would stop and laugh a few times when she occasionally saw the woman named Lu Chengyan, but Xu Ying fell in love with listening to Wang Chudong, a master in Liyang's literary world, tell stories. The mountain seemed to be lively all of a sudden. Especially Chen Yu, who competed with a certain Nangong for the top spot on the Rouge Review, her arrival was just a few glimpses, and she was astonished. Every time she appeared at Tingchao Lake for a walk and stopped, Song Dongming and those Beiliang Junyan under Bai Yu's subordinates, if anyone with sharp eyes finds out, they will spread the word quickly. No matter how busy the affairs at hand are, they can find some lame excuses with the cheek to swarm Running to the railing of the small square outside the yamen's house to "enjoy the scenery", Song Deputy Jinglue turned a blind eye to this, and never made things difficult or hindered these simple-minded young scholars.
Although the northern mang invasion was successfully defeated, the construction of the unprecedented new city did not stop, and it could even be called day and night. The construction of the outer main city wall almost rose from the ground at an astonishing speed that could be seen by the naked eye. It will take Beiliang's exhaustion of countless financial and material resources as a huge price. Therefore, many scholars who went to Liang quoted the scriptures, and used the three large-scale conscripts in the capital of the Great Chu in the previous dynasty as an example. This move is fishing in a dry lake. The young and strong civil servants in Qingliangshan, led by Song Dongming, the deputy governor of Beiliang Road, sneered at this, which triggered a controversy that quickly spread to the entire Beiliang Shilin. During the pen battle, the Xincheng city site was always in full swing. In addition to Xu Fengnian who is only a general in name, up to the two governors of the new city, Li Gongde and the Mohist giant, to the six deputy supervisors including Liangzhou governor Wang Peifang, and to the nearly six in Beiliangguan. Tens of thousands of local garrisons and tens of thousands of military servicemen from the three states, all of them turned a deaf ear to the internal affairs, and ignored the debate on whether the construction of the new city was a waste of money and people.
Xu Fengnian and Xu Beizhi and Chen Xiliang drove side by side, and behind them were Xu Yanbing and Yu Bridegroom who had a good conversation.
Compared with when Chen Xiliang first entered the cold, he is a white-faced and handsome scholar from the south of the Yangtze River. His hands holding the reins are covered with calluses, and he has become a thin villager like black charcoal. His eyes are shining, calm and resolute. At this time, he said to Xu Fengnian : "As long as Qingliang Mountain can get the money, Liuzhou can immediately transfer about 40,000 young and strong people to the new city. But the lower officials hope that in addition to not defaulting on their wages, the prince can also recognize their registries. We Liuzhou people, really too bitter!"
Xu Fengnian was a little embarrassed, "Since..."
Xu Beizhi rolled his eyes at the winking Xu Beizhi, and now he has officially served as the transfer envoy set up by Beiliang Dao without authorization, and said slowly: "Winning the barbarians of Beimang, excluding the two items of military pay and pensions, the military merits that will be handed over directly The silver reward is nearly 900,000 taels. This is because Yan Wenluan Yuluan Dao and other border military generals took the lead in asking for no rewards. In the end, Qingliangshan converted silk and cultural objects into silver and sent them out. It has bottomed out. Lingzhou can still squeeze out millions of extra real money, but the purchase of grain and grass must be the first priority. After all, the imperial court has not yet implemented the ban on water transport, so we can't hold out too much hope. , taking advantage of Lianghuai Road and Jing'an Road to see the wind, finally let go. As long as Lingzhou officials have connections, they are buying grain with public money as a 'private'. Unless it is a last resort, Lingzhou's money will Can't move."
Chen Xiliang neither became angry nor gave up. He asked: "If wages are not required, is it feasible for the people of Liuzhou to exchange a year of hard labor in exchange for the officially recognized Liangzhou household registration in Beiliang?"
Xu Beizhi thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Naturally, it is feasible in normal times, but now that the war has just ended, the first group of Liuzhou youths to enter the Liangyou border is only the 20,000 refugees who participated in the defense of Xiaguang City and the fight at Hulukou Even those refugees outside the Liangzhou Pass who did not enter the battlefield have not received this treatment. If they can become Liangzhou citizens just by participating in the construction of the city, some people will be dissatisfied. Suffering is uneven, it has always been like this.”
Chen Xiliang suddenly felt angry, but it wasn't aimed at Xu Beizhi and Xu Fengnian. Looking at the yellow sand in the desert, his lips were tightly pursed.
He remembered the deadly battle in Qingcang City. At the last moment, how many young men from Liuzhou rushed over one after another, broke into the battlefield by themselves, randomly picked up the weapons of Beiliang iron cavalry or Beimang barbarians, and fought like that died? !
Xu Feng asked in a young voice: "Chen Xiliang, have you ever thought that one day in Liuzhou, where there are less than 300,000 people, everyone is a citizen of Beiliang Road Liuzhou household registration, and there is no need to fight for a Registered in another state?"
Chen Xiliang took a deep breath, kept silent, his eyes were in a trance, as if he was looking forward to the arrival of that day.
Many times even Yang Guangdou, the governor of Liuzhou, joked that in the whole Liuzhou, only Chen Xiliang, an immigrant who had lived in Liuzhou for only a few years, regarded himself as a Liuzhou native more than a Liuzhou native.
Xu Beizhi suddenly smiled and dismantled the stage: "My lord, you don't need to spend a penny to paint this big cake. Compared with the lavishness in the past, you will be more in charge now."
Xu Fengnian laughed heartily, with his hands folded around his chest and not holding the rein, his body rose and fell with the horse's back, with a rather contented expression.
Chen Xiliang also agreed with a smile: "It's a bit of a diligent and thrifty family."
After Xu Fengnian laughed, he turned his head and joked: "Xi Liang, I know you don't care about high officials and small ones, but this time you guard Qingcang and Liuzhou, not to mention your great contribution, the worst thing is that you can't escape Yes, if you insist on not being promoted, how will you make your colleagues who should be happy to be promoted feel comfortable? You are at ease, but they will feel uncomfortable."
Chen Xiliang shook his head and said: "From the governor's mansion and the Dragon Elephant Army to the soldiers of the three towns, the prince can reward military merits as he pleases, don't worry about me, the officialdom in Liuzhou is not like Liangzhou Lingzhou, there are not as many twists and turns as the prince imagined. "
Xu Fengnian seemed to say casually: "The governor, Yang Guangdou, knows very well that he won't stay in Liuzhou for too long, and I don't have the heart to let this old man stay outside the Great Wall with you young officials who are in their prime. At that time, if the war in Liangmang is over and the border is settled, Liuzhou is destined to "change the dynasty". The necessary place for business channels in the Western Regions is also an important place for transit. The officials in Liuzhou are worthless now, but they may be richer than Lingzhou in the south of the Great Wall in the future. Governor Yang patted his ass and walked back to Liangzhou If you are a deputy manager or something, and you are retired, then you, the 'old people' in Liuzhou official circles, and those 200,000 or 300,000 refugees, without a leader, are you not worried?"
Chen Xiliang fell silent.
Xu Beizhi changed the subject and gloated: "Our God of Wealth in Beiliang claims to have visited every inch of land in Liangliu and Liangliu prefectures in just two years, and he is also the deputy supervisor of Xincheng. You are recuperating at home, and you didn't go to condolences, my lord?"
Xu Fengnian felt dizzy for a while.
Xu Beizhi said casually: "Okay, okay, the saying that the person who needs to tie the bell to untie the bell doesn't make sense in housework, so I decided to go to the palace on my own... the palace of your future father-in-law, Wang Linquan. After a good drink, there must be grievances. The Wang family entered the cold earlier than the Lu family. They spent the first half of their lives as pawns for the general, and accumulated such a large family fortune in Qingzhou in the second half of their lives. As soon as the family beckoned, the entire Wang family entered Beiliang with boxes and carts of gold and silver. Moreover, the Wang family did not ask Qingliangshan for official hats, and secondly, they did not ask Qingliangshan to open the back door. They did the hardest business. What's the picture, isn't he thinking about his daughter, who can get a straight character instead of a side?"
Xu Fengnian sighed softly, it should be like this both emotionally and rationally.
Xu Beizhi continued to laugh and said: "After Wang Linquan drank too much, he also said that he slipped his tongue. Even if Chudong's daughter is not the life of the main princess, as long as the woman surnamed Lu is also the side princess, both of them are side princesses without distinction. It's also not a wronged early winter. What's going on now? Wang Linquan's implication is that the gang of the Lu family are not talented, from Lu Dongjiang who is proud of his talents to the children of the Lu family who are proud of their favors, how many of them are there? Is it a good thing that sincerely considers the situation of the Xu family? Isn’t it just that after reading more books, one by one turned their tails up to the sky, wishing that they all occupied the important positions in Beiliang’s officialdom before giving up, so as to be worthy of their noble status. Help the ignorant bastard!"
Seeing Xu Fengnian turned his head to look over, Xu Beizhi grinned and said, "Of course I said the last few words. Even if Wang Linquan drank hundreds of catties of green ant wine, he would definitely not dare to reveal his heart like this."
Xu Fengnian said helplessly: "I know that you have resentment towards me because of the water transportation, but it's almost enough. If I'm a Bodhisattva made of mud, I won't be angry?"
Xu Beizhi snorted coldly and said, "I'm going to talk about the ugliness first. Qi Yanglong is Qi Yanglong, and the court is the court. Ever since Zhang Julu's death, there has been an irreparable crack in the temple. No more. The emperor of the Zhao family put Wen Taiyi and Ma Zhongxian, one civil and one military, on Jing'an Road in the hinterland of the Central Plains, plus Zhao Xun who was sitting in Xiangfan, Qingzhou. What good intentions could these three people get together? I didn't know that the Xiaochaohui in the capital was at that time What kind of atmosphere is it like? I don’t know whether Qi Yanglong, the chief assistant of the dynasty, and Huan Wen, the second assistant, raised any objections at that time, but since Wen and Ma have already left Beijing to take up their posts, the water transportation will be bumpy, and the sky will be high and the emperor will be far away. How difficult is it to find an excuse to deal with the household department of the imperial court? Qi Yanglong is the order of the Zhongshu, not the minister of the household department! Huan Wen is a minister under the door, and he is not the minister of the official department!"
Xu Fengnian clutched his heart, pretending to be in pain, "Oh, in Tai'an City, after successive battles, I suffered serious internal injuries, my heart hurts, my head hurts too, no, I have to go back to the carriage and lie down."
The dignified prince of the Northwest feudal clan and the great master of martial arts, slipped away.
Chen Xiliang's mouth was full of smiles.
Xu Beizhi turned his head and sneered loudly: "If you have the ability, lie all the way to the new city outside the pass!"
After Xu Fengnian ran away, he was speechless for a while. Xu Beizhi glanced at Chen Xiliang who was riding a horse like walking, and laughed at himself: "I am not as good as you in riding a horse. Right now, the inner thighs are on fire."
Chen Xiliang said with a smile: "Liuzhou has a vast land and few people. The two post roads from Liangzhou Liangzhou to Qingcang City have just started, so you have to ride a fast horse for everything, and you are not used to it at first. In addition to back pain, lying on the bed and finally falling asleep, it is almost like a drunk person spinning around. It is very painful to lie up and down like a horse. But it is different now, even if the city There is nothing wrong outside, but if you don’t ride a horse and run dozens of miles a day, you will feel something is wrong.”
Xu Beizhi's expression was indifferent, and he said softly: "I went to the capital, that guy seems to have untied a lot of knots in his heart, he would never draw cakes for others before, and he probably has some confidence in the next battle of recklessness, since that's the case, Let's also think about things in a better direction. For example, Liuzhou where you are located is the fourth state that has been included in the territory of Beiliang Dao. The better the world is, the higher the status of Liuzhou in Beiliang is bound to be. The fifth and sixth prefectures have been opened up in the vast Western Regions. As a bridge connecting Beiliang and Liyang to the Western Regions, Liuzhou is a sure thing. In terms of army, there is Xu Longxiang's Dragon Elephant Army, which is probably considered an old Liangzhou The frontier army is not too embarrassed to go to grab the territory, but the seats in Liuzhou Governor's Mansion are hard to say. Leaving aside, let's talk about Lingzhou, which I just left, regardless of prestige or credit, it is reasonable to say Huang Yanhuang, who stepped up to a higher level, didn't he become the new governor of Lingzhou? From now on, especially when the war is not so tense in the future, that guy will only have more things to worry about, not more. No. Chen Xiliang, you managed to open up the situation in Liuzhou. No matter whether you are doing it for your own future or for the situation in Liuzhou, you should move your seat forward now. The county magistrate is better off now, let you be the deputy economic envoy , It is also more effective than a governor who can't be a half-rank in Liuzhou."
Probably influenced by Xu Beizhi's openness and sincerity, Chen Xiliang also said bluntly: "I understand the truth. In fact, I have thought a lot on the way to Qingliang Mountain this time. As long as the war ends, Liuzhou will not only be able to compete with the other three in Beiliang Road. State equality may even be the top priority in the Liyang court's mind."
Xu Beizhi nodded and said in a deep voice: "Yes! That's exactly the reason. Once Beimang backs down and dares not raise troops on the northwest border, then the imperial court may send a civil servant to Liuzhou to help Liyang sit on the border. It’s not that Yang Shenxing is so quiet as the deputy envoy of Jiedu. This move seems absurd, but there are precedents and traces to follow. Go out, which one is a fuel-efficient lamp? Wang Xionggui, Lu Baijie, Yuan Guo, Han Lin, Wen Taiyi, Ma Zhongxian, if you don't care about the enemy's position, they are actually not mediocre."
Chen Xiliang frowned and said: "I'm afraid that the imperial court will let Guozijian Zuo Jijiu Yao Baifeng go to Liuzhou. Yao Jijiu is originally from Beiliang. Even in the temple, he has always been close to Beiliang. This master of Neo Confucianism has entered the mainstream Zhou, whether it is the palace or the officialdom, everyone is happy to see it come to fruition."
Xu Beizhi quickly answered, "Yeah, like Zhang Julu in Liyang, he may not be willing to consider everything for the Zhao family and his family. Yao and Biyan'er have similar temperaments. When they return to Beiliang, it is inevitable that most of them will have to worry about it." The court has thought about it."
Chen Xiliang smiled wryly and said: "It seems that I should fight for the position of Liuzhou Biejia."
Xu Beizhi squinted his eyes and said: "Prepare for the rainy day, I think it's best to include the governor as well, presumably the imperial court doesn't have the nerve to ask Yao Baifeng to return to Beiliang as a prefecture?"
Chen Xiliang smiled, "It's justifiable to be an envoy."
Xu Beizhi pursed his lips and said, "Being an envoy on Qingliang Mountain? Haven't you been eaten by Song Dongming and the others? What's more, if you don't go to Liuzhou, how many Liyang officials dare to follow Yao Baifeng to Beiliang Prince's Mansion to become an official?" Isn't that why you have to touch your neck every morning when you get up early, and feel lucky that your head is still on your shoulders?"
Chen Xiliang held back his laughter, nodded and said, "That's true."
Someone behind them suddenly shouted: "Juzi, Xiliang, I suddenly feel better. Why don't you take the car and I'll be a groom for you two?"
Baima Yicong smiled heartily near the carriage.
Xu Beizhi turned to look at the peers around her, and asked, "How do you say it?"
Chen Xiliang said solemnly: "Yes."
The two riders turned the horse's head at the same time.
Beiliang King Xu Fengnian, who was sitting on the coachman's seat, watched the two Beiliang advisors slowly approaching.
He suddenly looked up.
There was a withered scribe in Tingchao Pavilion, who had no grave after his death, and the ashes of that altar were scattered outside Beiliang Pass.
Da Jiangnan, Da Jiangbei.
Nanshan South, North Liangbei.
There is Jiangnan in the south, three thousand miles away.
There are tombstones in Beiliang, 300,000.