The houses are like forests, with overlapping eaves and corners. At night, the lights in the city houses gather into a stream of fire. In this late summer and early autumn night, the scene of Bianjing City is outlined in a crisscross pattern.
The time to eat has long since passed. Even though the night was deep, the hustle and bustle in Bianjing showed no signs of abating. After nearly two hundred years of inheritance, Bianjing was the heart of Wu Dynasty, bringing together the world. Merchants, reach all directions in the universe. There are countless travelers and merchants who pass through here every day to reach the north and the south. Every year or a few years, the imperial examination brings together the world's talented and outstanding talents. Here, a group of officials with the most power in the whole world gathers around the emperor's throne. Down, dominates the operation of the world.
Since the Sui and Tang dynasties, business has gradually developed, and the curfew has been lifted. The city is basically closed. Even in the quietest time of the morning, a large number of lights are lit in the center. People in the city don't go to bed early. On the side of the road, in a small courtyard, among the brothels, and among the tea houses, people are either peaceful or noisy, and in the heat, it is also a bustling but peaceful scene.
The war in the north did not affect the pace of the city, and the actions of the court more or less did not cause too much turbulence in the city. The mobilization of the army, the transfer of materials, everything is going on quietly under a huge momentum, as if everyone can feel the action, but not many people can really understand the inside story clearly. At most, it is only in the mouths of some insiders that there is a lot of talk that seems to be seen in person, or the merchants who gather in Bianjing occasionally discuss the prospect of business in the north, but there is not much tension or anxiety. The prostitutes, taverns and tea shops are as lively as ever, and the poems in the gatherings of literati are also very peaceful. The sunshine and self-confidence proves this to some extent.
At a point in the center of the city, on the side of the imperial city, the plaque of the Right Prime Minister's House has just been hung up. This is a large mansion that has been around for some years. It does not appear to be unassuming, but it has a solemn layout and a deep inner meaning. This is the property of the Qin family. Eight years ago, when Qin Siyuan left office, the house was sold.
In the past eight years, it has changed hands twice. Both were in the hands of people who had some connections with Qin Siyuan. This time Qin Siyuan revived, was promoted to the right minister, and when he returned to Beijing, he bought it back. In fact, the layout of this mansion , did not change at all.
The Qin family had been an official in the capital before, and had been in business for two generations. Eight years ago, Qin Siyuan left, and most of the servants from the dismissed government returned home this time, and most of the servants were recalled, which proved the fact that Qin Siyuan had gone with him and the tea was not cold. Back then, the various collections of scrolls in the mansion moved a bit more this time, but Qin Siyuan wasn't someone who cared about these things. Compared to the Qin Mansion back then, it seemed empty after all, such as some relatives who lived here,
After all, the family still couldn't come over to live in the big mansion at this time, and it was only Qin Siyuan and his wife and concubine.
These days, Qin Siyuan was busy with official business, and he rarely had time to spare. At this time, the two highest-ranking people in the court, Li Gang, the left prime minister, led the overall situation, while Qin Siyuan's right prime minister was more inclined to some pragmatic things.
Speaking of which, he has not entered Bianjing for eight years. Even though there are still many disciples who have passed away, his influence and control here have been greatly reduced. Especially in all kinds of pragmatic matters, I'm afraid I can't take over all of a sudden. Li Gang knew him well, and although he strongly supported him in becoming the prime minister, he also said at the beginning that he would share most of the things for him. However, Qin Siyuan did not hand over too many things to the other party, but at the beginning of taking over, he As soon as I undertake it, within a few days, I will have a clear plan for all kinds of things that need to be dealt with.
Li Gangxing is generous, his temper is relatively upright and hot, and he has a dignified air. He has been the biggest promoter of the battle in the past few years, but relatively speaking, this person is more strictly abide by the Confucian way, even if his words are harsh, he does things well. Rather modest. Of course, this does not mean that he is an old and rotten scholar, but that his beliefs are more upright. If it is not at this time that an extremely firm person is needed to lead the war, he may not be able to be the left minister.
Qin Siyuan is also a contemporary great scholar. His articles are well done, but his external style is more dignified and refined, and he never talks about death. Sometimes when arguing with people, Tangtang is generous and loud, but he does not appear to be as angry as Li Gang's beard and hair. When doing things, the means are often correct and gentle.
But in terms of results, it is always more effective, pressing people with a general trend, such as boiling a frog in warm water. When others find out the murderous intention, the situation is often settled and there is nowhere to go.
During the time he went to Beijing, he took over various government affairs. The most important thing was to reconcile the military supplies first. With superb skills, the mobilization and gathering of various military supplies during the preparation for the war became more harmonious and silent, so that at this time the capital of the capital was large. Most people didn't even feel the chilling air in front of them. In less than two months since he was in Beijing, he has already demonstrated his formidable courage and means, so that no one can underestimate the aura he has suppressed during his eight years of seclusion.
Of course, all this is based on high-intensity work. Even if he can do this, he has already tried his best. I came out of the imperial city very late today, and I just had two bites of rice when I got home. Three former students came to visit, and he received them while eating.
At this time, among the three, the youngest was thirty-eight years old, named Chen Kai, courtesy name Yan. . At this time, he was serving in the Ministry of Industry and concurrently serving as the adjudicator of the Wensi Academy. The second oldest is forty-two years old,
The surname is Zhao, the name is Dingchen, and the word is Chengzhi. At this time, he is the Shao Yin of the Kaifeng government, and his power is quite large. The third person, who is 48 years old this year, is named Feng Yuan. He is self-righteous and works at the Censor Terrace. He is a disciple of Qin Siyuan. Now Qin Hui, the chief of the Censor, has inherited Qin Siyuan's family, so he is also in the Censor Terrace. Water is very important.
Although it was the prime minister's residence, Qin Siyuan only ate a simple bowl of fish and vegetables at this time. Instead, he ordered the servants to serve three bowls of iced mung bean soup, and each handed out a fan. Talking casually in the hall. Since it is a teacher-student relationship, and the three of them knew Qin Siyuan's relationship before, at this time, they seem to be casual even if they don't need to be submissive.
Eight years have passed, but to be able to come back at this time, in the eyes of others, is a great blessing to Qin Siyuan. However, after eight years of absence, many things have developed, which he regrets and cannot grasp.
At the time of the Black Water Alliance, Jinghan Emperor Zhou Hao had just succeeded to the throne, Qin Siyuan was considered to be half an emperor at that time. Although he was an emperor in many things, he could only be said to be a minister of the humerus, and there was no emperor. The name. Although Emperor Jinghan was indecisive at that time, he also had a bit of a pioneering spirit. When the Liao army called, he was ready to ask for peace. After that, he felt humiliated. Qin Siyuan was disheartened at the time, but he couldn't help but do the craziest thing, inciting As Emperor Jinghan secretly prepared to provoke and support all the anti-Liao forces, and comforted Zhou Pin at this time, as long as he prepared for a few years, there would be a chance for a turnaround. Although he had arranged a large number of events and plans at that time. , but there is no self-confidence, who knows that it has become a reality at this time.
However, it was also this incident that caused the court to spend a lot of money when Emperor Jinghan succeeded to the throne, he originally listened to everyone's opinions. was rebuilt.
"I'm afraid that Taiwei Gao Qiu's gang will interfere a lot in these matters, right?"
"Reporting to the teacher, this matter involves a lot of people. At first, it was just that His Majesty said that he was poor, and some people chose to do what they liked and came up with various solutions. Taiwei Gao is one of them, and Tang Shilang and others also supported it at the beginning. The students had argued at the time that the huā Shi Gang could not be reopened, but now that I think about it, the imperial court was short of money, and His Majesty wanted to find some subsidies. At first, it was only a small area, but after everyone tasted the sweetness, they let go of the situation. At the end of the fourth year, Jinghan built gardens, repaired palaces, and even a series of money that came from this..." Feng Yuan replied with a frown, the Tang Shilang he was talking about was the original household boss Tang Ke Tang Qinsou, but at this time it was already He was promoted to the Minister of the Ministry. During this period, Tang Ke was the leader of the peace faction. Feng Yuan and others naturally followed the teacher to lead the battle. At this time, Qin Hui was also the lead battle faction, so it was not pleasing to the eyes of Tang Ke.
Qin Siyuan just ate the fish: "You are in Bianjing, I am in Jiangning, they are both rich places, I just heard about it, but I haven't seen it myself. Tang Qinsou, who is under Qiu, is not someone who is greedy for money. He just has a lot of mouths behind him. It is Li Bangyan and Wu Min. They have a big family and are officials. When I stop, I can't stop... But what are those Taoists? Your Majesty, in the past six or seven years, no one has dared to fold and perform? Except for one Tang Kejian." Jinghan Emperor Zhou Gu has believed in Taoism for many years. At that time, the Taoist priests were very favored, and they were already involved in political affairs. In the past few years, no one dared to speak. Except for Tang Kejian in Qin Siyuan's mouth, even Qin Hui, the imperial censor, did not dare to speak about this matter. Tang Kejian was in two years. He was exiled and died on the road. Qin Siyuan sighed when he thought about it, but after a while, he shook his chopsticks.
"Forget it, let's not talk about it today. Have the rations from Zhenzhou arrived?" "Although the students didn't participate, I heard that they arrived in the afternoon." "That's good..."
At this time, I simply talked about some trivial political affairs. After a while, I thought of a question and asked it at random: "The day before yesterday, the Sitian Supervisor sent a message that there was an earthquake in the southeast. There is no definite news about this, do you know?" People have heard a little about it, but Chen Yantang, who is now in the Ministry of Industry, said: "At this time, there will be no exact news. The seismometer can at most determine the location of the earthquake, but it cannot measure the distance or how severe the earthquake is. After all, The seismograph won't go, and if it's too far away, it's a big earthquake, and it's less measured here. However, the previous Si Tianjian, Yu Qi'an, had an idea, and he discussed with the Ministry of Industry and said that they should make three identical The seismographs are placed in three places separated by a hundred miles or more. Once an earthquake occurs, its azimuth, distance, and intensity can be calculated earlier. But seismographs are fine things. At that time, Master Yu also said that it is okay to set three different values, as long as you make one value, and then collect the earthquake values for several years or more than ten years for comparison. Later, it was not completed. After all, the seismograph will be worn out after being placed for many years..." At this time, Chen Yantang took the seismograph as an interesting thing, but then seeing Qin Siyuan's dignified expression, he said, "At this time, teacher, don't worry too much, disciple. I once went to ask, the southeast front line, there is no major earthquake on weekdays, it must not be too serious. The most important thing for the teacher at this time is to prepare for the major event, don't worry too much about this. "
Qin Siyuan nodded: "I have already asked. It's just that the earthquake happened, and many people in the court were afraid that it would be a golden opportunity to take the opportunity to make a fuss, but these people only knew the interests of the family, so they should ask Fang La first and ask first. Wang Qing, let's discuss Tian Hu and Song Jiang first. I just thought that when Jin and Liao started a war, we can solve internal problems first, and wait for external problems to lose both sides, and then reap the benefits. Alas, the court has used more power and strategy, and in state affairs , In war, it's just a matter of scheming..."
When he came to Bianjing, the most troublesome thing Qin Siyuan encountered was these things. Most people do not disapprove of war. Of course, there are some pure pacifists who believe that a war will make people miserable, but they are still a minority. Most people support the war, but question the timing of it.
At the time of peace, these people, for the various interests of the family, could restart the huā stone gang, gather a large number of interests, and also make all the interests involved huge.
At this time, people in many places were struggling to survive, and there were uprisings in various places. They first asked the imperial court to use their accumulated strength to quell the civil strife. After all, civil strife is the reality. It seems to people... Now that the Jin and Liao are in a group, of course these things can be done at any time, so that they both lose, and they use people from both sides here... These people are superb at the court, even in the national war. , I just think that having power is enough, but I don't know, if you can't show your strength, no matter how much Yin tries to play, it's just annoying.
But at the moment, he can only follow them all the way, hold on until he sends troops and can defeat, then Qin Siyuan can breathe a sigh of relief and deal with the people he wants to deal with. Thinking of this, I remembered some of the conversations I had with Ning Yi when I left Jiangning.
At that time, Ning Yi gave him a messy booklet, and there were some things on it that he didn't understand very well. A few of them are like this. It is probably based on the state's regulation of various commerce, so that most commerce and agriculture are linked to the war industry, and the focus of various interests is directed to war. At that time, those who have various family interests , they will give up their original position, and wailing for the country to fight, because when the country fights, they will be able to sell food and military supplies.
But at that time, Ning Yi was just following
"It will take a year or two to do these things, and if you want to balance the business chain intentionally, the operation is very complicated. It will be fought this year, and it is estimated that it will not be used."
He said it in a joking way at the time, that young man always has many ideas that are inspiring, but as he said, this method at this time is no longer useful. But there are still a few small tricks in the booklet, which he used in the mobilization of various military supplies, and produced results.
Thinking of Ning Yi, the old man was talking while comparing the young man with the students in front of him. The conclusion was naturally not good for a while. While chatting, the concierge outside came in and reported what happened to Li Xiangye. Qin Siyuan hadn't answered yet, but Li Gang and Li Wenji entered the front yard without passing the information. It seemed that he was even tidying up his clothes.
At this time, the left minister, Li Gang, was in his 70s. His face was thin, his beard and hair were all white, but his spirit was sharp and his health was good. His eyes were serious, and he pursed his fists tightly. As he walked, he was already holding hands: "I came in without notice, Siyuan forgive me, it is really urgent, and I have read this official document..." He took it out from his sleeve. An official document came, "I have to enter the palace immediately."
Several disciples got up to greet Li Gang, Li Gang just waved his hand, Qin Siyuan finally glanced at the official document, and his face changed: "Why is this so... How many people have seen this official document?"
"I'm afraid I can't hold it anymore. The knight who delivered the letter stumbled and was injured. I'm afraid many people know about this 800-mile rush. At this time, maybe someone has brought Sitian Supervisor Cao Lingrou and the others into the palace." Today's Si Tian The chief supervisor, Cao Lingrou, was Wu Min's student, and one of the less determined anti-inner factions.
"Take my coat and hat." Qin Siyuan said to the side of the roof, and then he walked out the door, "Let's go."
In the evening of the beginning of autumn, the ground in Suzhou and Hangzhou was split, and the houses were destroyed. As the carriage drove to the palace, Qin Siyuan thought about this, and then he thought of something,
murmured: "Hangzhou, Hangzhou..."
The statement said that it was mainly about Suzhou, and Hangzhou must have been bogged down, but the situation is still unclear.
Li Gang frowned and asked, "How about Hangzhou?"
Qin Siyuan sighed: "Oh, I just remembered a little friend, he happened to be there, if..." He thought of Ning Yi's disaster relief booklet, if Ning Yi could take charge of the general manager in Jiangnan at this time. Responsibility, maybe it can reduce the impact of the matter. Of course, this idea just flashed in my mind. Ning Yi has no fame or background, and it is impossible to intervene in it after all. Moreover, the booklet had already been issued, and the officials of Suzhou and Hangzhou were not all incompetent scumbags. At this time, they could only count on them, and on their own side, they had to withstand the heavy pressure on the court.
The imperial city was imminent, he put some hypothetical thoughts behind him, and began to focus his brainpower on all the practical problems that he would face next...
…, …, …, …,
Uh, I don't think it's a break! .