March 21st, Yujing, an important town in the middle of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
At three quarters of noon, as the sun set, a group of more than ten envoys walked into the city gate under the protection of hundreds of Henan troops...
Pointing to the prosperous scenes on both sides of the road, General Zhang Huan of the Henan Army was very proud and asked a middle-aged scribe next to him:
"Mr. Huang, how do you think my Yujing compares to your Youyan's Yijing?"
Looking at the scene of people coming and going, Huang Wenze nodded slightly and said:
"Yu Jing is the ancient capital of several dynasties. Looking at the prosperity of our Great Zhou Dynasty, only Luo'an can compare with it, and our Yijing in You Yan is certainly not as good!"
Listening to Huang Wenze's words, Zhang Huan, who was already very proud, was so proud that he almost knocked his tail into the sky. However, at this moment, Huang Wenze changed his voice and continued:
"Although the flowers in Yujing are amazing, they are like beautiful gems that make people's hearts flutter, and they can't help but be greedy and want to take it for themselves... "
As soon as these words came out, Zhang Huan's expression immediately changed, and he said coldly to Huang Wenze:
"Who took advantage of the bear's heart and came to provoke our Henan army? If anyone's heart is moved, I will dig out his heart!"
Listening to Zhang Huan's harsh words, Huang Wenze just smiled meaningfully and did not answer any more questions.
After walking in Yujing for a while, Huang Wenze and a group of Youyan envoys were arranged in the inn and were not allowed to move around at will in Yujing.
Since Zhao Fuqu listened to Huang Wenze's suggestion seven days ago and gave up his plan to counterattack Yi Jing and retreated to the southern area of Youyan, Zhao Fuqu began to prepare to ask Cao Changping and Gao Zongchang for help according to the plan, because there were no suitable candidates around him, and Highlighting the importance he attached to this matter, Zhao Fuqu could only appoint Huang Wenze, whom he trusted most, to handle this matter.
It was already dark at 11:00 a.m., and Huang Wenze, who should have been lying on the bed to sleep, was sitting on a chair with his eyes closed, as if waiting for something. After waiting for about a stick of incense, there was an unusual sound in the yard. .
Hearing the strange noise, Huang Wenze immediately opened his eyes and quietly opened the door. A few seconds later, a young woman wearing night clothes quietly slipped into the door and walked toward Huang Wenze. He bowed and said:
"Prajna met you sir!"
Upon hearing this, Huang Wenze looked up and down at this woman with a graceful figure and a delicate face, and then asked in a low voice;
"Why is it later than the agreed time?"
Faced with Huang Wenze's inquiry, the woman named Prajna said calmly:
"Gao Dingshan drank too much and insisted on me accompanying him. I finally managed to serve him well, and then I was able to escape and come to meet the Lord... ···”
Listening to Prajna's explanation, Huang Wenze looked at her deeply, and then asked without dwelling on the topic:
"What's going on with Yu Jing now?"
"After the news of Youyan came, some people led by Gao Dingshan were deeply afraid of the Fengwu Army and felt that they should strengthen their military strength to deal with the Fengwu Army's continued march south. However, a group headed by Yang Yuanze believed that the Fengwu Army could not leave. There is nothing to be afraid of. As for Gao Zongchang’s personal attitude, it is still unclear!” Prajna said without thinking:
Huang Wenze frowned slightly when he said this, and thought quickly in his heart. Unlike the fierce fighting within Youyan over the issue of successors, Gao Zongchang, as the commander of Yujingdu, had dozens of children, but he died early. The heir was determined to his eldest son Gao Dingshan.
And the beautiful young woman Prajna in front of her with a graceful figure was a chess piece arranged by Youyan in Yujing. Youyan used her family as an excuse to force her to surrender, and then used some connections to enable her to approach Gaoding Mountain and climb up. Gao Dingshan's bed became the outer room where Gao Dingshan stayed, in order to collect information about Yu Jing's inner circle.
The Yang Yuanze mentioned by Prajna is the deputy chief envoy of Hebei and Henan. The reason why he is only the deputy envoy is because Gao Zongchang, the emperor of Hebei and Henan, is only a third-grade Jade Commander in Kyoto in name and is not the governor of Hebei and Henan. Therefore, Gao Zongchang's power is guaranteed. , so the position of Chief Envoy of Hebei and Yu is vacant.
In addition, Gao Zongchang was older and most of the time he only cared about pleasure, while Gao Dingshan only cared about military affairs. Therefore, Yang Yuanze, the deputy chief minister, was actually the person in charge of the Hebei and Henan government, responsible for the stability and continuous operation of the Hebei and Henan government. ·················
After thinking for a while, Huang Wenze asked Prajna:
"I remember there seems to be no conflict between Gao Dingshan and Yang Yuanze? Why did Yang Yuanze block Gao Dingshan's suggestion?"
Regarding Huang Wenze's confusion, Prajna explained:
"There is indeed no conflict between Gao Dingshan and Yang Yuanze, and they even have a harmonious relationship with each other. The reason why Yang Yuanze rejected Gao Dingshan's proposal was that Hebei's grain production decreased by 20 to 30% due to drought last year, and the landlords wanted more rent. There has been no decrease at all, so since the autumn harvest last year, there have been many peasant uprisings in various parts of Hebei and Henan, and farmers have fled to the mountains and become bandits!"
"Just over half a month ago, the bandits who were entrenched in the Tumenlong area mobilized tens of thousands of soldiers to surround Fengqiu. They surrounded Fengqiu for five days. If the Henan Army hadn't arrived in time to help, The bandits rushed into Fengqiu and looted everything!"
"So Yang Yuanze's idea is that the current situation in Hebei and Henan is not stable. The unrest in various places depends on the strong suppression of the Henan army. If Gao Dingshan strengthens his military strength at this time and prepares for war, it will definitely make Hebei and Henan already nervous. Finances have become even more unsustainable."
"The current financial situation is already very dire. If we are demolishing the east wall to pay for the west wall, if we are reorganizing the army to prepare for war, the government led by Yang Yuanze has no good solution to face the extra financial pressure. It can only transfer these pressures to Landlord and squire!”
"The landlords and gentry have just transferred the pressure to the poor underground tenant farmers. When this level of pressure continues, it will inevitably lead to refugees everywhere and bandits running rampant. If this happens, before Ye Mingsheng comes to fight, a large-scale riot will break out in Henan sooner or later. Peasant uprising·················"
Huang Wenze frowned as he listened to Prajna's explanation. It seemed that Jiyu's situation was not as good as he thought!
Seeing Huang Wenze frowning, Prajna hesitated for a moment and then said:
"Gaodingshan has admired your name for a long time, sir. He was very excited when he heard that you came to Yujing. I think he will meet you soon!"
"But now, although Gao Zongchang is not in charge of much, and military matters are handed over to Gao Dingshan, and government affairs are handed over to Yang Yuanze, in the end, Gao Zongchang still needs to make his own decision on major matters, whether it is Gao Dingshan, Yang Yuanze, Or maybe everyone else only has suggestions but no final decision.”
Huang Wenze nodded and said:
"I know everything you said! You did a good job in Yujing!"
After saying this, Huang Wenze picked up a letter from the desk and handed it to Prajna and said:
"This is a letter written to you by your parents and your brother. Your brother is currently working as a servant in Zhuoxian County and has just married a new wife. The whole family is living very well in Zhuoxian County. You don't need to miss him too much..." ············”
Listening to Huang Wenze's words, Prajna's eyes suddenly showed a hint of surprise. He quickly took the letter and then bowed deeply to Huang Wenze and said:
"Thank you Mr. Huang and the Marshal for taking care of me. The little girl will swear to serve the Marshal to the death!"
Huang Wenze nodded with satisfaction and then ordered:
"You won't be out for a long time. Go back quickly. Gaodingshan in the province is suspicious. If you have any news, please contact me as soon as possible!"
"yes!"
After receiving the order, Prajna immediately bowed and retreated.
Watching Prajna gradually disappear into the dark night outside, Huang Wenze's expression gradually became serious again. This time he went to Yujing as an envoy. He originally thought that cooperating with those behind him to get support from Jiyu was a sure thing. Then, when he was on a mission to Licheng, he roped in Qilu's Cao Changping and formed an "anti-Feng alliance to deal with Ye Mingsheng!"
But now it seems that the situation in Jiyu is not very good. The contradiction between the landlords, gentry and the poor people is very big, and this huge contradiction is like a huge powder keg. If you are not careful, it will sweep across the Central Plains. This also restricted most of the energy and resources of Gao Zongchang's regime.
Considering the current situation of Gao Zongchang's regime in Hebei Province, I may have lowered my expectations when I visited Yujing to meet Gao Zongchang...
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When Zhao Fuqu and the others started to proceed step by step according to their plan, Ye Mingsheng, who had already learned that Zhao Fuqu had led the remnant army to withdraw to the south of Youyan, felt regretful and started to deal with his own affairs. In order to appease people, he gathered Yi Jing Under the watchful eyes of hundreds of thousands of people, Ye Mingsheng made a public speech and made a three-part agreement with the people: those who kill will be punished with their lives, and those who injure others will be jailed for theft.
He also announced the abolition of some extremely cruel tortures during Zhao Fuqu's tenure, the execution of some unscrupulous traders who drove up prices, and the preferential policy of halving taxes under the Fengwu Army. Ye Mingsheng's set of policy combinations immediately made people The hundreds of thousands of people present burst into applause and cheered loudly, winning their trust and making them look forward to a new life under the rule of Fengwu Army.
After completing his public speech, Ye Mingsheng went on to meet Gu Zhongshi and his party in person, accepted the Gu family's surrender, and said on the spot that Yuyang's personnel remained unchanged, and that he would ask the emperor for orders to ask Gu Zhongshi to take up the post. The deputy chief envoy of the chief secretary of Youyan, because the emperor was far away in Sichuan and Shu, he left first and took office immediately!
Gu Zhongshi, who received Ye Mingsheng's promise and felt Ye Mingsheng's sincerity, reciprocated the favor and said on the spot that the Yuyang Gu family would donate 200,000 taels of silver, 300,000 shi of grain, and 50,000 pieces of cloth to the Fengwu Army. In addition, they will also mobilize their family connections that have been passed down from generation to generation to actively lobby for the Fengwu Army in Youyan...
After handling the affairs of the Gu family, Ye Mingsheng originally thought that he could set off and rush back to Dongning, but at this time Guo Zhiping captured Shanggu and captured Cai Cheng, the general soldier of Shanggu, so Ye Mingsheng had to work overtime. At first he thought of executing Cai Cheng as a warning to others.
But later, because Cai Cheng had a very good attitude in admitting his mistakes, and he had been the commander-in-chief of Shanggu for many years, he was always on the front line against the Luobi people, and he was quite famous in the valley and other northern parts of Youyan. When he heard that Cai Cheng was captured by the Fengwu Army, Many people spontaneously came to plead for Cai Cheng, so Ye Mingsheng temporarily spared his life because of his contribution to fighting against the aliens to defend the land and the people.
However, although the death penalty can be avoided, the living crime cannot be escaped. After Ye Mingsheng confiscated a large sum of property from him, he released him and grounded him at home to reflect.
After doing all this, Ye Mingsheng temporarily handed over the military power of Youyan's front line to Yuan Song, allowing him to lead his troops to gradually encroach on some places in the middle of Youyan, control these territories so that they can provide resources for the Fengwu Army, and use them to oppress The strategic depth of Zhao Fuqu's remaining troops.
In terms of government affairs, Ye Mingsheng handed it over to Gu Sansi. On the one hand, he asked him to temporarily replace him in receiving envoys from all parties. On the other hand, he also asked him to integrate the Youyan government, eliminate the moths in Zhao Fuqu's regime, and find out their The crime should be made public to make the people aware of the corruption of Zhao Fuqu's regime, and let the people's hearts and minds come to the side of the Fengwu Army...
Because Gu Sansi's task was very heavy and the workload was very heavy, Ye Mingsheng specially left his attendant Qi Dechao to Gu Sansi and asked him to assist Gu Sansi's work and help Gu Sansi. This aspect was to relieve the pressure on Gu Sansi. The work pressure of his talented subordinate also allowed Qi Dechao, who was preparing to become a civil servant, to adapt to the civil service work in advance by Gu Sansi's side. This could be regarded as killing two birds with one stone.
After everything was settled, Ye Mingsheng quietly led more than a thousand guardsmen and left Yi Jing quietly on a dark and windy night. Although careful arrangements had been made, In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, only the core executives of Fengwu Army could leave Ye Mingsheng, and no one else would know that Ye Mingsheng quietly left Yi Jing.
Dongning, Governor's Mansion.
Pei Zhixiu is staying in her yard, taking care of the flowers and plants she has raised. Because she likes peace and quiet, unlike other ladies in the house who want more servants and maids to serve, she only stays in the yard. A little maid, Xiao Huan, who is quite pleasing to the eye, is responsible for cooking for her on weekdays and taking care of the flowers and herbs in the yard when she goes to the hospital for consultation.
Because he knows that Pei Zhixiu does not like luxury goods such as jewelry, silk and satin like other women, but likes precious medicinal materials and research on their pharmacological properties, Ye Mingsheng is also very supportive of her hobby and urges her to pay attention to safety. While testing the medicine on his own, he also gave orders to the people below to find some rare medicinal materials as gifts for Pei Zhixiu to study, and some of the seeds of these medicinal materials were planted by Pei Zhixiu in his small yard... ···············
