"Master Zhao!"
Liu Ji trotted up and followed him. He came close to him, with a fake smile on his face. He bowed his hands and said, "Young Master Zhao and I hit it off. I want to get acquainted with him. I wonder if I can talk to him."
"oh?!"
Ying Ziye looked at Liu Ji with interest.
I saw that although Liu Ji was tall and tall, his cloth robes were dirty and stained with oil, making him look sloppy.
His behavior and facial expressions were all flattering.
"What do you have to discuss with me?"
Ying Ziye asked with a smile.
When Liu Ji saw him asking, he looked around cautiously, glanced at Hou Qing and others, and hesitated to speak: "They..."
"No problem!"
Ying Ziye looked solemn and said, "They are all my close confidants and they won't say much."
"That's good, that's good!"
Liu Ji nodded upon seeing this, followed his footsteps, his face became serious, and he said mysteriously: "Does Mr. Zhao know that His Royal Highness the Eighth Young Master of the Empire will pass through Peixian County?"
"I know about this."
Ying Ziye nodded slightly, a smile appearing on the corner of his mouth.
Hou Qing and others on the side were holding back their laughter.
"I am Liu Ji, the chief of the Sishui Pavilion in Pei County. Although he is not big, he is also an official!"
Liu Ji pretended to say: "Taking this opportunity, I am ready to cling to the Eighth Young Master, create opportunities, and then win the Eighth Young Master's favor, and get an official title and reward."
"Pfft!"
Ying Gou couldn't help but laugh.
Liu Ji glanced at this and continued: "Master Zhao, would you like to come with me."
"The former prime minister of the empire, Lu Buwei, once did something to make a living with strange things, and it is not impossible for us to do the same."
"By then His Highness the Eighth Young Master will be happy, and Young Master Zhao will also receive great benefits!"
In Liu Ji's eyes, Ying Ziye is a rich man. With his financial and material support, it will definitely be easier for him to win the favor of the Eighth Young Master.
As for the future benefits, Liu Ji would not give Ying Ziye a penny at all, nor would he mention him in front of the Eighth Young Master.
Ying Ziye was just taken advantage of by him.
"You want to curry favor with me?!"
When Ying Ziye heard Liu Ji's thoughts, he couldn't help laughing. He smiled slightly, followed Liu Ji's words, and said calmly: "It's not impossible. If you can get the appreciation of the Eighth Young Master, a mere amount of money is nothing more than an external possession."
"Young Master Zhao has such insight, it's really great!"
Liu Ji lamented: "Money is nothing, only power is the first. As long as you have power, no matter how much money you have, you can take it from others."
"Ah!"
Ying Ziye smiled softly and said, "That's true."
"hey-hey!"
Liu Ji was recognized, smiled happily, and said: "Master Zhao and I are very close to each other. If you and I don't want to have a drink together, I'll treat you to a drink, brother."
Ying Ziye nodded slightly, looked at Hou Qing and others, and ordered: "Jian Jiu and Hou Qing follow me, and everyone else should go down."
"Here!"
Yuan Tiangang and others responded with their hands raised and left immediately.
Ying Ziye followed Liu Ji all the way through several streets and alleys.
"Brother Fan Kuai!"
Liu Ji knocked on the door of a house on the street.
boom!
There was a muffled sound.
A big man with a dark face, a curly beard and a beard. He was a tall man, nine feet tall and looked to be at least three to four hundred pounds!
He is heavier than the fat man in the farm field, but with such a huge weight, he is not fat, but strong.
"Brother!"
Fan Kuai looked puzzled and asked: "It's so late, what can I do?"
"Brother, who are these people around you?"
"Ha ha!"
Liu Jichang laughed and said with a smile: "This person is extraordinary in appearance. He is Zhao Gongzi Zhao Ye. He is a brother I met today and I am very close to him."
"The two of us hit it off immediately. We plan to get drunk with Mr. Zhao and then call the brothers to look for me at Sister Yue Lian's place."
"The two next to him are his close followers. The white-haired young master is named Hou Qing, and the old man is named Jian Jiu."
Then he extended his hand to introduce Fan Kuai and said, "This is my brother Fan Kuai."
"good!"
Fan Kuai nodded when he heard this, looked at Ying Ziye and others and said hello.
"I've met Mr. Zhao, Mr. Hou, and Mr. Jian!"
"Brother Fan Kuai is so polite!"
Ying Ziye and Hou Qing smiled.
It's just that Jian Jiu's eyes narrowed slightly, feeling that Fan Kuai was scolding him.
After bidding farewell to Fan Kuai, Ying Ziye followed Liu Ji for a while and arrived at an alley.
Liu Ji came to the entrance of a small courtyard surrounded by bamboo fences. There were several houses in the courtyard where vegetables and fruit trees were planted, and chickens and ducks were raised.
Here, however, was Du Yuelian, Widow Du's house, where he often came.
"Sister Yue Lian, I'm here to find you."
Liu Ji directly opened the small door and led everyone into the courtyard.
After a while, a twenty-seven or eight-year-old woman wearing coarse cloth came out. She was a mature woman, but her charm was still there.
"Brother Liu!"
Du Yuelian smiled sweetly and said, "Why are there so many people here today, and I don't even know them?"
"These are all friends I just met today."
Liu Ji smiled and said: "Go and serve the wine, cook some side dishes, and I will have a long talk with Mr. Zhao all night long. Fan Kuai and the others will also come over soon."
"Hehe, here we come to eat and drink again!"
Du Yuelian snorted dissatisfiedly, but still went to prepare.
And Ying Ziye followed Liu Jize to the room and sat down.
After a while, Fan Kuai came over with a group of people, including Xiao He whom he had seen during the day.
"Brother Xiao!"
Ying Ziye cupped his hands.
"I've met Mr. Zhao!"
Xiao He said with a respectful smile.
Originally, he didn't plan to come. Although he had a good relationship with Liu Ji, he didn't have much interest in drinking and chatting.
However, when he heard Fan Kuai say that there was another young master named Zhao Ye, he decided to follow him. He could sense that he was extraordinary.
Imperial poetry!
Not everyone can write that.
The candlelight flickered, and Liu Ji brought a jar of wine.
Du Yuelian also sent a few bowls, chopsticks, and plates of side dishes.
Liu Ji poured a few glasses of wine and handed them to Ying Ziye and others, clinked the glasses and said with a smile: "Brother, come on!"
"Brother, please!"
Fan Kuai and his younger brothers respected him.
"please!"
Ying Ziye smiled calmly.
At the banquet.
Liu Ji drank several glasses of wine, plus what he had eaten and drank at Lu Gong's house during the day.
By the end of the day, the drinking was non-stop.
But he was a little drunk. He couldn't control his temper and began to speak freely.
"Mr. Zhao, let me tell you!"
Liu Ji stuck out his tongue and laughed loudly: "Although I, Liu Ji, come from a commoner family and have been farming for generations, I still have great ambitions and am not content with farming."
"As a younger brother, I admire Wei Gongzi Xinling Jun Wuji's character, and wanted to join Xinling Jun's family, so he traveled west to Daliang."
"The Lord Xinling is dead, and Zhang Er, the former disciple of Lord Xinling, also invited him to be a disciple, so he went to Waihuang and joined Zhang Er's family and became close friends with him."
"When the Wei Kingdom fell and Zhang Er became a wanted criminal in the empire, all his followers dispersed, and I returned to my hometown of Pei County."
"belch!"
Liu Ji let out a wine burp as he spoke and said with a smile: "It can be said that it has been a rough road."
"However, I have gained a lot of experience and met many famous people. Moreover, I relied on my own ability to become the chief of the Surabaya Pavilion. Although I am only an official, I can also be called a member of the government."
"This man from Surabaya Pavilion must be respectful when he sees me. If you need help from now on, brother, you can ask me for help!"
Liu Ji boasted about his ambition, ability and connections.
Fan Kuai and several younger brothers felt a little embarrassed, but it was difficult to point out.
It's okay for a pavilion chief to brag in front of them.
But Mr. Zhao is dressed in silk and satin, and even his two followers, the yellow-toothed Master Jian Jiujian, are all dressed in luxurious clothes and have an extremely extraordinary background!
Bragging in front of such people seems a bit showy.
Ying Ziye couldn't help but sneer at him. He was greedy for money and lustful, flattering and clinging to the powerful, bragging after drinking. He was such a scoundrel and possessed all five evils.
"well……"
Xiao He looked unhappy and sighed repeatedly.
"Brother Xiao, why are you sighing?"
Ying Ziye asked after seeing this.
"nothing."
Xiao He waved his hand, showed a helpless smile, and then asked curiously: "I wonder what Mr. Zhao thinks of today's world?"
Through the song "Heaven, Earth, Sun and Moon", he could get a glimpse of Ying Ziye's vast mind that encompasses the world.
But specifically, Xiao He still wanted to know his views on the world so that he could make a careful judgment.
"Today's world..."
When Ying Ziye heard this, his expression became solemn, but he understood that Xiao He wanted to understand himself, and he muttered slightly: "The Great Qin Empire destroyed the six countries and unified the world."
"As far north as Yanshan, build the Great Wall as an offensive base, and defeat Beidi to the point where they dare not go south to bend their bows and herd their horses!"
"As far as Lingnan Baiyue in the south, we will expand our territory and establish three counties: Nanhai, Guilin, and Xiangjun!"
"It can be said that he has made great achievements in battle and expanded his territory."
Xiao He listened with a solemn expression and nodded slightly to express his approval.
However, Ying Ziye changed his tone again and sighed.
"But now that the country is exhausted, and years of war have led to a sharp decline in population, it is impossible to maintain effective occupation of those places through population, so barbarians of all races will go south to fight the autumn wind."
"And now that the Six Kingdoms have been destroyed, the northern grasslands cannot be cultivated, and it is impossible to cultivate them if they are conquered. There are too many mountains in the Baiyue Mountains in the south, which is not conducive to the movement of the army. It is also suffocated by poisonous insects. Soldiers who are not acclimatized to the soil and acclimatization are very easy to die here, and it is extremely difficult to attack and occupy it. .”
"In addition, most of the land in the country already has owners, and there is not enough land to attract people. The military merit system established by Lord Shang is no longer of much use."
"And the empire also needs to recuperate and regenerate enough people to fill the emptiness in the country, and better maintain a certain number of people in each piece of land, so that the conquered territories can be permanently occupied."
"Otherwise, the population is sparse and once a foreign enemy invades, there is no way to resist. How can we maintain long-term peace and stability?"
Ying Ziye seemed to be asking Xiao He again, and he was also asking himself. He asked and answered: "Therefore, recuperation is essential, but it is definitely not a soldier who is evil or a saint who has no choice but to do it."
"Although the country is big, if it loves war, it will perish; although the world is safe, if it forgets to fight, it will be in danger!"
After saying these words, Xiao He was amazed.
I also have more doubts about Ying Ziye’s true identity!
