In the evening in Luoan, accompanied by lightning and thunder, a heavy rain was pouring down in the sky...
At this time, in the study of Murong's mansion, Murong Lun, the official minister of the Great Zhou Dynasty, was looking at the heavy rain outside the window without saying a word.
Murong Lun's current mood is as bad as the current weather. At the court meeting just now, Zheng Rong, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, publicly proposed the idea that external force is needed to defeat the Fengwu Army!
Different from the last time he only dared to raise the idea in private on a small scale that external force was needed to defeat the Fengwu Army, this time Zheng Rong openly raised this idea in the court, which was undoubtedly bolder and more explicit!
Although Zheng Rong's idea was opposed by a group of ministers who understood his subtext, Murong Lun was surprised that a considerable number of people in the court remained silent and did not express their opinions, and among them was Luo An The current actual controller of the imperial court is Shangguan Changgong!
For Shangguan Changgong, remaining silent on this issue without explicitly expressing opposition can already be regarded as having an ambiguous attitude!
The reason why Shangguan Changgong, who more than a month ago was willing to unequivocally reject external intervention, is now so ambiguous about external intervention is that.
In the past period of time, although the Fengwu Army has not yet captured Pingyang, they have been advancing forward. Several strategic locations outside Pingyang have been captured. The Forbidden Army has suffered tens of thousands more casualties. Some dignitaries from Luo'an have already He began to prepare for a rainy day and quietly transferred his family's money to Sichuan and Sichuan, which cast a dark cloud over the prospects of the entire Luo'an court... ·····夤
To be honest, given the current situation, although Murong Lun could understand the pressure that Shangguan Changgong was facing now, he still couldn't help but feel sad from the bottom of his heart. In his opinion, the use of external forces might be able to temporarily defeat the Fengwu Army and let the Luoan court Being able to take a breather for a while.
But in the long run, this is tantamount to drinking poison to quench thirst and destroying yourself!
At the military level, although the Forbidden Army has always wanted to learn from the Fengwu Army to use more firearms, it lags far behind the Fengwu Army in terms of production capacity and technology. This also makes it difficult for the Forbidden Army to win when suppressed by the Fengwu Army's firepower.
Although from the current military point of view, the Luo'an court is the weak side and is suppressed by the Fengwu army, in Murong Lun's eyes, as long as the court can be united, the Fengwu army is not invincible, and the imperial army has a chance to defeat Fengwu army. Military force!
However, if external forces are used, it will inevitably lead to the collapse of the banner of orthodoxy and righteousness held high by the Luo'an court in terms of political public opinion, and the loss of the status of righteousness and orthodoxy will inevitably intensify the division within the Luo'an court.
If the Luo'an court, which is already at a military disadvantage, becomes more divided internally, even if it can temporarily resist the Fengwu Army, it will only linger on and will be wiped out by the Fengwu Army in a short time!
Thinking of this, Murong Lun couldn't help but sigh. Although he was very resistant to Zheng Rong's idea of involving outside forces, as a civil servant, he had no good solution to the current situation in the court... ·················徤
The Imperial Army's memorials asking for food, pay, and ammunition in Pingyang have been piled up on the desk of the cabinet. Although they, the cabinet ministers, are desperately trying to tear down the east wall and mend the west wall in order to find food. Money is used to find what the front line needs, but unfortunately it still cannot meet the needs of the front line, and the gap between demand and supply is even getting bigger and bigger.
At the same time, Sichuan and Shu, which had been squeezed by the Luo'an court, were almost reaching their limit. Some peasant uprisings had already occurred in Sichuan and Shu. Although they were quickly annihilated by local officers and soldiers, Murong Lun knew that as long as he continued to maintain control, Under the suppression of Sichuan and Shu, peasant uprisings will become more and more frequent and become more and more troublesome until they are completely unable to suppress them!
Today's Luo'an court has fallen into an endless cycle. If, for the sake of the current war, the Kipchaks are introduced as an outside force to continue squeezing the resources of Sichuan and Shu, it will be a slow suicide. But if they do not continue to support the war, then it will be a slow suicide. This is tantamount to giving up treatment, Wei Guan cannot stop the Fengwu Army, and the only thing waiting for the court is destruction.
Every time he thought of this, Murong Lun couldn't help but lament in his heart, this
Is the Luoan court really about to end?
Is this great Zhou Dynasty really going to be dominated by Ye Mingsheng?
Just when Murong Lun's mood became increasingly heavy, there was a knock on the door of the study...
"Who?" Murong Lun asked impatiently:
Facing Murong Lun's inquiry, a respectful voice sounded outside the door.
"This is me, Ah Fu. A descendant of my fifth uncle's family has just sent a letter. Do you want to take a look at it?"
Listening to the words of housekeeper Murong Fu, Murong Lun's eyes flashed with light, and then he commanded in a deep voice:
"Bring the letter in!"
After Murong Lun finished speaking, the butler Murong Fu pushed open the door, handed a letter to Murong Lun, and then exited the study, leaving Murong Lun a quiet and private environment to read the letter.
After receiving the letter, Murong Lun did not open it immediately, but carefully examined the letter.
Under the pressure of Shangguan Hongyuan, Murong Lun expelled the family of his second brother Murong Yuliang, who had defected to the Fengwu Army, as well as his son Murong Hui and others. From then on, the family severed all ties and became inseparable. Contact again!夤
And this is just superficial. The two brothers Murong Lun and Murong Yuliang have been in secret contact. Recently, because the Supervision Department's investigations have become more and more strict, Murong's mansion has also been placed with agents of the Supervision Department, so Murong Lun in order to He contacted his second brother Murong Yuliang more secretly, so he called the letter from his second brother Murong Yuliang a letter from a descendant of the fifth uncle's family... ··········
After checking some marks on the envelope and confirming that the letter was really sent by his second brother Murong Yuliang and that it had not been opened, Murong Lun opened the envelope with satisfaction and took out the letter paper inside to read.
After a cup of tea, Murong Lun put the letter on the desk and looked at the heavy rain outside the window again, thinking secretly in his heart.
In the first part of the letter, Murong Yuliang introduced him to some family members, saying that their family and Murong Hui were all very good, and that they were very important in the Fengwu Army. He asked his eldest brother Murong Lun not to do too much. Think about them and take good care of your body.
In the second part of the letter, Murong Yuliang also told Murong Lun that the internal situation of Fengwu Army was also very difficult. Dadongsheng Company already owed a total of four million taels of silver, but Ye Mingsheng was determined to fight this battle. , the huge war machine of the Fengwu Army was already operating at full capacity under Ye Mingsheng's will.
In addition, Murong Yuliang also revealed a piece of news that concerned Murong Lun. One hundred and thirty-seven prisoners including Gu Zhongshi and Gu Shouting of the Gu family have been convicted by Ye Mingsheng and will be executed on April 15. The Gu family The rest of the tribe will be sent to Liaoyang.
At the end of the letter, Murong Yuliang believed that the Great Zhou Dynasty was destined to perish, and Ye Mingsheng would be the new master of the country, so he advised his eldest brother not to actively resist in the Luo'an court, so as not to provoke Ye Mingsheng's misfortune after the war. If he doesn't do what he is doing in Hebei and Henan now, he might not have a chance to succeed Cui Shao in the future and become the central envoy of the Fengwu Army... ··夤
Murong Lun was deeply moved by this letter from his second brother. Although he disliked Ye Mingsheng very much, he had to admit that Ye Mingsheng was a tyrant and had great control over the Fengwu Army. Some of them Things that took a long time to argue about were just a matter of one sentence for Ye Mingsheng.
And the most commendable thing is that despite having the advantage on the battlefield at this time, Ye Mingsheng was not blinded by victory and still maintained his sanity.
Things about the Gu family have long been spread to Luo'an. Because everyone belongs to aristocratic families, many people in Luo'an are paying attention to how Ye Mingsheng will deal with the Gu family.
In their opinion, the Gu family's affairs were neither big nor small. In the big picture, the Gu family took advantage of Ye Mingsheng's policies.
While sacrificing the interests of the common people, while trying to gain economic benefits and positive capital for oneself, trying to form gangs and win over party members in the officialdom, it can be classified as forming a party for personal gain. According to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, a person of the Yi tribe will be severely punished.
Too much.
However, if you look at it from a minor perspective, the Gu family's matter was just a matter of embezzlement of some money, and the demotion of Gu Zhongshi, the head of the Gu family, was reduced to a big deal and a trivial matter.
There is a very optimistic voice among the aristocratic families. They believe that the Fengwu army is fighting fiercely with the Luo'an court, so they dare not offend the aristocratic families like them, so they will not dare to do anything to the Gu family. In all likelihood, they will punish the Gu family with small punishments and large punishments. , will let things go...
Regarding this kind of voice, Murong Lun felt that the other party had overestimated his own energy and underestimated Ye Mingsheng's determination!
From what Ye Mingsheng did, Murong Lun felt that Ye Mingsheng was determined to restore order in the world, so Ye Mingsheng needed to use the Gu family to sacrifice the flag and declare his ambition and will to the hundreds of millions of people in the world!
As for the reason why Ye Mingsheng didn't issue the order, Murong Lun thought that he was waiting for news about Yunbin's battlefield. Now that the Fengwu Army had captured Jinyang and had complete control of the battlefield, Ye Mingsheng was really about to announce his plans. The Gu family’s solution!
Although it was not surprising that Ye Mingsheng announced his treatment of the Gu family at this time, Murong Lun was still a little surprised that Ye Mingsheng only killed 137 Gu family criminals and spared most of the Gu family members.
He felt that this might have something to do with the situation within the Fengwu Army, but it showed that Ye Mingsheng was not so arrogant that he was completely opposed to all the aristocratic families.
Thinking of this, Murong Lun couldn't help but fell into deep thought. He had been a minister of Zhou for most of his life. It was said that he still had great affection and sense of belonging to the Zhou Dynasty.
If possible, he still wants to do his best to keep the ship Dazhou sailing, but unfortunately, given the current situation, he may have to seriously consider his second brother's suggestion... ···················徤
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Kipchak Khanate, return to Hecheng
As the most important trading port between the Great Zhou Dynasty and the Kipchak Khanate, countless merchants from both countries were discussing business in Huihe City, and the atmosphere was very lively.
Kipchak merchants sell sheepskins, carpets, blankets, and some Kipchak-style gold and silver utensils, horses
Dazhou merchants, on the other hand, sold tea, cloth, silk, ceramics, and some daily groceries.
In the Alpi Store to the west of Huihe City, a somewhat frail Dazhou businessman walked in. Seeing this, the Kipchak boy immediately greeted him and asked in Dazhou dialect that was not very fluent: Wei
"Sir, what do you want to buy? Our Alpi Store has the best leathers, carpets, and blankets in Huihe City!"
Dazhou merchant Liu Wenzhe looked around at the samples displayed in the shop, nodded slightly and said:
"Your leathers are good, but unfortunately they are all sheepskin!"
After speaking, Liu Wenzhe showed a look of regret. After hearing Liu Wenzhe's words, the young Kipcha boy couldn't help but secretly take a look at Liu Wenzhe's dress.
Seeing that Liu Wenzhe was well-dressed and looked like a wealthy customer, the boy couldn't help but ask:
"I wonder what leather you want to buy, sir?"
Liu Wenzhe said without thinking: Oh
"Fox and mink, I want the best ones!"
After receiving this answer, the young man couldn't help but feel excited and continued:
"Sir, the price of this good fox and mink fur is not cheap..."
Liu Wenzhe laughed when he heard this, took out three gold bars from his arms, placed them on the table, and said boldly and confidently:
"We have plenty of silver and gold bars. Give me your best leather!"
Looking at the gold bars on the case, the boy immediately understood that a big customer was here today, and the smile on his face became even more attentive, and he quickly greeted
:
"Sir, please wait a moment while I go to fetch our shopkeeper!"
Hearing that the young man was about to invite the shopkeeper out, Liu Wenzhe's eyes flashed with a strange color, but he still nodded with a smile.
After a while, a middle-aged Kipchak man in luxurious clothes and a big beard came out. He was originally smiling, but when he saw Liu Wenzhe's face, the smile on his face instantly froze. , and at this time Liu Wenzhe said with a smile:
"You are the Alpi shopkeeper, right? I have a big business that I want to discuss with you. Let's go inside and have a discussion... ·······》
(I have almost laid the groundwork in these chapters. I will speed up the progress next. What do you think?)
