Chapter 1208 Flower Atmosphere (Part 1)
February 16th, Wei Sheng, Qing Palace.
Every day’s official duties pile up.
The weather was still cold, but the peach blossoms covered with snow were blooming in the yard. Lou Shuwan took the time to correct the mountains of papers on the table, only occasionally raising her head to relax her mind briefly. The blooming peach blossoms will remind her of Jiangnan, which has become a bit blurry, and of the irresponsible life back then. That was so happy.
At some point in the middle, the maid Xiaoqiu was asked to close the window. Muttered something: "It's getting colder and colder."
He rubbed his hands and continued to bury his head in the document.
A woman’s body is always particularly afraid of cold. Although in recent years, under the guidance of masters such as Shi Jin and Wang Juyun, she has also tried to practice some Qigong for physical fitness, but her mind was too Being active is trivial, and it is not easy to fall into silence. Although her body is better than that of ordinary women after practicing, she still feels that the progress is too slow.
Is the gap between people so big? What is that bastard Ning from the Southwest? How did he train?
Although Shi Jin, Wang Juyun and others have carefully said that the martial arts skills of the southwest one may not be as high as the rumors, but Lou Shuwan thinks that the other party still has at least first-class skills in the arena. , Otherwise, how would he dare to yell at Lin Zongwu like that in Luliang Mountain? I have an active mind, but he is too...why!
The world treats people unfairly.
Occasionally cursing the thief God, scolding the dog bastard Ning in the southwest, is one of the ways to entertain herself, and it can also be regarded as the source of coordinates for her work over the years. Although I am confused about the progress of martial arts, one day I will be able to figure it out:
Ning He, the bastard, has probably been working day and night like me for so many years, reviewing and reading. information, Meetings and games one after another, moving forward cautiously, thinking about who is lying to me every moment, and whether there are some clues hidden in some messages that I have missed...
No. There are other ways.
Compared with the gloomy and breathless situation and pressure of the past few years, the discouraging things and the seemingly endless bad news, at least many things are now temporarily Things are going smoothly, and the gratifying development of Jindi is flowing in front of our eyes every day like a rushing river, as the information recorded in each booklet. There are still many problems, but the knots one by one are gradually unraveling.
The level of boredom is always less than in previous years.
The time that can be allocated to review these notes is not long every day. In other times, there are still meetings and meetings to be held. For many representatives of powerful clans or forces, she needed to meet in person to win over and make a decision on the general direction. For many specific matters, she had to meet with several ministers of the Shanxi cabinet to discuss progress and arrange the next step. policies, sometimes they have to be coaxed or suppressed respectively.
Although the current power basically belongs to her, in fact, her personal friendship with many civil servants in the court is not very deep. She maintains a distant and business-like attitude with many people, and even towards those around her She has a staff team, and her management is still based on the balance of power rather than personal friendship.
Women in power now have a natural disadvantage in terms of status. If you are too close to others, it is easy for the other party to deceive and manipulate you. This is a painful lesson accumulated from the Tian Hu era.
For this reason, in addition to having a relatively cordial trust in some figures such as Yu Lin and Shi Jin, Lou Shuwan has always shown publicity rather than personal friendship when facing most officials, which ensures that Jin Although the earth's governance is clean and insightful in some aspects, the female prime minister's governance foundation has always been on thin ice in other aspects.
According to the biting sarcasm that the dog bastard Ning He said to her in the letter, this can only be regarded as a kind of "feudal incorruptibility". It is like walking a tightrope. Although it can be maintained for a short time, it may not last long.
If she can establish a more available disciple and staff team like Southwest, her path should be more stable. But there is no way. She is not very good at educating her disciples, and it is difficult for her to form Ning Yi's "monarch"-like authority over the people below her. Most of the time, people who know the situation in Jin will be suspicious of her "public spirit" and "Selfless" expresses respect, but such respect can easily fall apart in the face of clearer rights.
It is too rare for knights like Shi Jin to have their own unwavering "Tao", and even if Shi Jin's loyalty is worthy of her unconditional trust, she rarely allows Shi Jin to serve as a close relative. For other tasks besides being a guard, such as the collection of intelligence, for example, his views on certain things, even if he occasionally asks, the knight's perspective will be biased. Lou Shuwan cherishes it very much and does not want him to be contaminated with more vulgarities. service.
In dramas, it is always felt that the reason why a certain lord is stupid is that he cannot appoint talents and utilize their talents, but in fact, the most painful thing for people at the core of power is that they do not know what information is true and what information It's fake. Most of the time, the balance of power is also hoped that three or more people can express their opinions from several different angles, in order to find the truth from the collision of opinions. Once the lower-level people form an alliance, no matter how wise the monarch is, the truth will be found. It can only be pitch black.
Correct information is the basis of everything.
It was already noon after reviewing the excerpts, so I invited several cabinet ministers to have lunch and discussed the progress of various affairs with them.
Cooperation negotiations with Zou Xu have been one of the highlights in recent times. For the outside world, the news that the Jin region is going to develop Taiyuan, and that Bianliang Zou and Dai Shili immediately supported it and prepared to participate has caused a lot of waves and positive interests, but in the specific direction of negotiations , the sawing continues.
“... Zou Xu proposed several transaction methods today... As before, most of them are of course what we want to sell, but there are always a few that we cannot accept... In the meantime, regarding firearms, I discussed it with Mr. Yu and found that there were six to seven Xiang, in the northwest, Xiaocang River is also one of them... And for several items related to firearms, Zou Xu has hinted that if we can secretly take them out, the price they can give is very high..."
“...Master Yu and I have discussed this matter. To be honest, the prices he gave are really tempting. Several of this year's plans are bottomless... Moreover, Zou Xu said that they were just starting out and were dealing with all parties. Reputation was the most important, so they traded secretly. , not to take advantage of us, but of course, we refused at that time, It’s just these prices above, I think Mr. Lou should take a look..."
The officials negotiating with Zou Xu’s team now belong to the Ministry of Household Affairs of Shanxi Province, which is the department directly under the jurisdiction of Lou Shuwan. What the other party said It was also a bit more relaxed. After explaining the process, he handed the notebook to Lou Shuwan. Lou Shuwan glanced at him while waving his hand to ask him to sit down and eat, and he almost dropped his chopsticks.
“Oh, there are so many people with the surname Zou...”
"We made a rough estimate and found out that after acquiring the properties of Liu Guangshi, Yin Zong, and Chen Shiquan, it is not surprising that we can come up with these. After all, many of them are for delivery of goods, and we... do lack these."
"Sell me..."
< br>"Mr. Lou was joking."
"I'm not joking. My nephew is really rich, and his price is generous. This is how young people have more money. It depends on his character." She held the chopsticks in one hand. , holding the book with one hand, stared at it and smiled, then covered it up, and instantly stopped smiling. Shaking his head, "In the afternoon, please Mr. Cen, please throw these prices in the faces of the people opposite."
"...the matter of firearms and the ownership of Xiaocanghe are the bottom line of the southwest man , There is no need to talk about it, and we can’t talk about it. The reason for Jin’s relief today is to go to the southwest to ask for help. Grandpa and grandma came back from kneeling. Now their wings are not hard yet, leading us to bully our teachers and destroy our ancestors, and slap people in the face. Ask them, what on earth does Zou Xu want to do? Does he really not understand this principle? The nagging mother-in-law and mother-in-law keep following us in circles all day long.”
"Yes." The official surnamed Cen nodded, and then, "...Did you really throw it away?"
"...Ah?"
Lou Shuwan raised her head, as if a little Looking at him in confusion.
The other party also smiled after a moment.
"...I understand, the humble post will take care of it. But according to Mr. Yu and I, the firearms and the Xiaocang River are probably Zou Xu's sky-high asking prices. If you really have to pay back the money, Guanzhong The interests of Tongguan and Tongguan seem to be their focus..."
"...It is also the proper meaning." Lou Shuwan said while eating, "The northwest is not only the barrier of Jin, but also connects the entire Central Plains. As long as he and Dai Mengwei are not blind, they will regard Guanzhong as their most important enemy. Now Tongguan, Even Chang'an belongs to me In their hands, he and Lao Dai just killed Liu Guangshi not long ago, and they are still clearing old accounts. The foundation is not yet stable, so they can only negotiate with us. He also mentioned this matter last time... Actually, I haven't thought about it completely yet. ”
There was a slight silence for a moment.
"...In any case, according to what Lao Ning said in his letter last month, Zou Xu is very capable of stalemate. When negotiating with him, you must be prepared to go around in circles. Thoughts on the direction of Chang'an and Tongguan , stay until they take the initiative to see how much they want... In addition, if you really feel that something is wrong, you can use this book, A stool is fine, just throw it in their face, just say I'm angry, and ask Zou Xu to come and apologize to me in person, otherwise don't talk about it anymore, it's not them who have to do it in Jin Dynasty."
Listen to her talking like this. "Old Ning," the person below looked slightly solemn and breathed a sigh of relief. Lou Shuwan glanced at him and changed the topic to other places.
The negotiation between Jindi and Zou Xu is now an important matter, but at least the publicity impact on Jindi's development of Taiyuan has begun to be discounted. Nowadays, various gentry and big merchants are gathering cooperation intentions. A large amount of supplies are being mobilized for Taiyuan and Northwest China, and the cooperation with the rebel divisions is being communicated and coordinated every day. These are all urgent matters, and every day's report will have an overview.
These messages came in turn, and after the conversation was over, almost an hour had passed. Lou Shuwan hurriedly finished a few mouthfuls of food that had gone cold, and then talked about two important things in the afternoon.
"... Lu Cheng has made preparations for the negotiation with the Jurchens, and will set off north tomorrow. Regardless of whether it has any effect or not, you will vigorously publicize it. In addition, the Chinese army will start from Liangshan The messenger who came, We will arrive in Weisheng in the afternoon. There are not many people coming, but the gongs, drums and firecrackers are ready at the east gate. The Chinese Army fully supports our reconstruction of Taiyuan. Please let us know when you have time. "
Everyone stood up and agreed.
Shortly after the meal, Lu Cheng, the envoy who was going to the Kingdom of Jin, led several deputies to meet Lou Shuwan. This is a middle-aged official from Jin who has excellent eloquence and strong adaptability. The news that he is going to be sent as an envoy to the Kingdom of Jin has been circulating around Wei Sheng for several days.
Going north to develop Taiyuan is a very enterprising and risky undertaking. Under normal circumstances, only the most radical speculators will choose to participate. In this context, Zou Xu’s proactive show of goodwill It gave Jin some publicity convenience. At the same time, the female prime minister suddenly made the decision to negotiate with the Kingdom of Jin, which gave everyone a more solid reassurance.
This is extremely mature political skill.
In the past, the Kingdom of Jin and the land of Jin had a deep hatred. The female prime minister also showed an extremely radical attitude in the process of resisting the Jin Dynasty. After she burned her power to the ground, many people had many ideas of appeasement. I didn’t dare to say it first, but after Under the current situation, considering the rumors about the new Jurchen monarch's ascendancy, power struggle, and Xifu's loss of power that have been circulating in the past month, many people believe that it is very possible for Jin to express peace intentions to the new Jurchen monarch Wanyan Dan at this time. A positive outcome is possible.
Even if a war is inevitable in a few years, at least the buffer period for the development of Taiyuan can be extended as long as possible.
Especially after the female prime minister showed such a broad mind and such natural planning skills, many people in Jin region even raised their awareness of her to a higher level. Within a few days after the news was released, several gentry and representatives of wealthy families in Washeng City who were still hesitating successively expressed their preliminary intention to cooperate with the development of Taiyuan to Lou Shuwan.
“...When you go to the Kingdom of Jin, your attitude is neither humble nor arrogant. Our Jin Dynasty today has demonstrated its strength in past wars, and is not the Wu Dynasty where they take whatever they want, so there is no need to grovel or lower your attitude. . The new king Wanyan Dan has not long been in power. If he wants to touch powerful officials like Zong Han, as long as they are not pigs, they will be willing to raise their hands to Jin..."
"...But there are also many barbarians in the Kingdom of Jin. When a wild beast sees a person, they will show their teeth and claws. As long as you take a step back, he will see your guilty conscience. At that time, you will only be manipulated by them and take whatever you want. So Mr. Lu, The result of the negotiation should be as successful and good as possible, but the most important thing is that those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes. You have to try your best to show that we in Jin are barefoot and they wear shoes. How long can Jin be able to breathe again? Thanks to your trip north this time, on behalf of the people of Jin, I would like to ask Mr. Lu and all of you "
She solemnly confessed to Lu Cheng and others, and the other party also stood up and solemnly handed over their hands.
“When we go to the Northland, we will try our best to visit all the Jin Kingdom officials to facilitate this matter. Even if it fails, I also discussed with Brother Feng and Brother Su yesterday that we can Dying there will never make them feel that the Jin people are timid."
"Don't die there."
Lou Shuwan shook his head.
The meeting with Lu Cheng and others lasted for a while, and was followed by the arrival of several well-known gentry and merchants in Jin. Lou Shuwan took turns talking to them one by one for a while, and then led everyone to Wei Sheng. The east gate welcomes the Chinese military envoys from Liangshan.
In addition to Zou Xu’s statement and Lu Cheng’s mission, Yu Weisheng’s east gate welcomed the Chinese military envoy with great fanfare, which also confirmed the Chinese military’s support for the plan of developing Taiyuan in Shanxi. .
The only drawback is that when the delegation arrived, Lou Shuwan discovered that the envoy from Liangshan named Fang Chengye had a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks. He looked like a gangster. The only good thing about him was that his eyes were relatively calm. .
According to the information previously reported, Fang Chengye is also a disciple of Ning Yi. His hometown is in Zezhou. He went to Xiaocanghe to learn something from Ning Yi for some reason, and later returned to Zezhou. , who had been a partner with Zhan Wu for a while, and was involved in Tian Hu's incident. I just don’t know why, but after Tian Hu’s death, he left Jindi and handed over all the work to Zhan Wu. This was why Lou Shuwan met him for the first time.
Lou Shuwan always remains curious about Ning Yi's disciples. Now this person is a different type of person than Zou Xu. Although his appearance looks worse, and I don’t know if it is due to Liangshan’s consistent lack of supplies, he is thin, but at least his eyes are stable and deep, and there seems to be a trace of bitterness.
——Most people who have seen troubled times have this look on their faces, but most capable people like Zou Xu can use the world as a chess piece to scold Fang Qiu. His depression is more like the trauma of being powerless in the world. It is somewhat similar to Zhan Wu, and they have indeed worked together.
The entrance on the first day was just a propaganda. On the surface, the Huaxia Army first supported the construction of Taiyuan by Jin, but in fact, Lou Shuwan proposed to the Huaxia Army that they send troops to attack the northwest. The envoy sent by the other party was only a few dozen people, and they said they would take on some lobbying tasks, which made Lou Shuwan quite unhappy - or even though he expected from the beginning that the Chinese army would not really send troops to invade such a useless place like the northwest, Her apparent displeasure was necessary.
After the lively greeting, everyone returned to the Qing Palace. Lou Shuwan waved back and scolded Fang Chengye and Zhan Wu who had participated in the show. It was different from Xue Guangcheng’s hard top and Zhan Wu in the past. Fang Chengye apologized profusely and expressed his disapproval of everything. He was extremely humble now, but then he also rationally stated the various considerations why the Chinese army could not come over. He said that with the strength of the Chinese army in Liangshan, it might be able to respond to Taiyuan in the future, but it would naturally not be able to control the northwest and control that area. If the female prime minister wants a place, she can just play with it.
This man has no energy, and the confrontation is meaningless. Lou Shuwan scolded Ning Yi a few times and waved the two of them away.
After that, there was still some time to correct the excerpts again; I stayed in the Qing Palace in the evening and still had interviews with some officials and gentry.
On an ordinary day, she tried to keep her thoughts as clear as possible until the interview came to an end. She lay on her desk and rested for a while. When she woke up, the starry night outside was vast, the garden was peaceful, and Yuan Xiaoqiu put a blanket on her shoulders. A cloak, no one knows what time of night it is.
It was a late night that often happened. She stretched herself in the cold breath to wake herself up and returned to the desk in the study.
There are also some discounts. After approving them, you can go home and rest.
An ordinary, relatively relaxing day...
Soon, Shi Jin came in and told her an interesting news.
...
The night vision passed through the courtyard and palace walls of the Qing Palace, and after a relatively dark road, it lit up again.
Beside a teahouse in the bustling night market, Zou Xu and Fang Chengye met on the road. This time, there was no stalemate like the assassination of Xue Guangcheng. The senior brothers who had known each other for a long time seemed to have fought calmly. After saying hello, he went up to the teahouse, sat down in front of the window seat, and cooked a pot of new tea.
Many eyes were watching this scene in the dark, trying to distinguish some exchanged messages, but due to the noise of the night market and the occupation of the surroundings by the entourages of both parties, no third person could hear it Those conversations.
……
"...You are the one who didn't think about it."
"...In troubled times, we see each other less often. How is senior brother doing lately?"
"...You know everything you do, Killed Liu Guangshi and teamed up with Dai Mengwei..."
"...It's not easy, senior brother...I'm asking about the journey of my heart."
"...I'm happy here, but I don't miss Shu. .”
"...Zibi Adou will not end well."
"...I just think it's appropriate to put it here...Please give me tea."
"...Please."< br>
......
"...In the end, we have to help the female prime minister win the northwest."
"...brother, why are you here?"
"...I want to chat with the female Prime Minister about Guanzhong, and see if I can buy some guns."
"... Liu Guangshi’s guns are enough for you. Why should you lie to me if you want to buy them?”
“…The first and second generations are useless.”
"...I can't possibly sell it to you later. It's not like I don't understand."
"...I also know how craftsmanship develops. I just don't have time. Monkey, please help me."
"...Is Fang Chengye such a person?"
"...What What kind of person? "
"...a person who betrays his comrades."
"...So that's what you think."
"...otherwise, what do you think? I was the one to investigate what you did."
"...Then you should know my difficulties, they made the first move."
"...Can't you explain it? Or you don't want to explain it."
"...The world is vast Ah, monkey, why can't you and I be the protagonists... And didn't I tell you, it was you who came last time, so I let you live."
"...It doesn't matter if you kill me. I’m not the only one in the Huaxia Army. If you make the same mistake again and again, the teacher will clean you up in advance.”
"... Who is coming? Who... Forget it, if you don't say this, it will hurt your feelings, so be it, Monkey, just say this, if one day something goes wrong in the Southwest, if there is anything you want, remember to have me, okay No?"
"...Senior Brother...I'll give you some advice."
"...You tell me, I'll listen."
"... There is an obvious thing. Brother, you may I haven’t thought about it too much... Back then I went to investigate and persuaded you to go back, but you didn’t want to because you were afraid of being punished and not having a good ending. But things are different now. What you may see is that you are at the top of your game and still walking on thin ice. One side, but in my opinion... you want to go back to avoid the teacher coming out later and the rocket falling on your head. Today is also your best chance..."
"..."
"...Look, you captured Bianliang, killed Liu Guangshi, and tricked Dai Mengwei into joining the gang. Your men controlled half of the Central Plains, and also controlled the so-called saint of today. You killed him, or captured him. Him, expose him, return to China Army...the teacher will not punish you. Even if it is just based on your merits and abilities today, everything you have now, including your women, can be preserved. No one can punish you. No matter how strict the discipline is, it will Open your network One side..."
"..."
"...Brother, you have had enough fun, come back..."
February 16th, a still cold spring night , the night sky of Shanxi Province was full of moonlight and bright stars. While Lou Shuwan was still writing at his desk in the palace, in the noisy night market street, a pair of brothers briefly exchanged words, and the words were like a storm. It almost brought turmoil to the entire world.
It’s like hearing the devil’s whisper, or seeing the strategist’s wanton moves...
Zou Xulu was stunned.
And Fang Chengye looked at him.
"...This is the best way..."
The plot of these two chapters is very critical. I hesitated for a long time and overturned several versions of the manuscript. It was painful...
(End of this chapter)