"Prince accompanying you?" Ma Fang was a little surprised and confused, and asked: "What kind of position is this?" But before the leader of the night could answer, he asked again: "But as far as I know, Mr. Gao Ge My nephew Gao Pragmatic is only eight years old, how can he become an official? Even if he is a child prodigy, he should not have participated in the Qiu Wei yet, right?"
You are so polite, Gao Shendong has never even passed the county examination, let alone Qiu Wei.
The leader who did not stop that night also looked surprised and asked: "How does the commander know that Mr. Gao Ge's nephew is named Gao Pingshi, and even knows his age?"
Ma Fang waved her hand and said, "Ma Qi, come to the study with me to talk. Each of you, go to the accounting room to receive the reward of five taels of silver."
The people who stayed up all night suddenly became happy. Although Xuanfu was an important border defense town, its economic level was average. Five taels of silver was almost equivalent to their monthly salary, so it was natural to have fun.
The Ye Bu Shu leader named Ma Qi followed Ma Fang into the study.
He is a Mongolian, and of course his surname is not Ma. The "horse" is Ma Fang's horse, which shows that he is Ma Fang's adopted son. As mentioned earlier, it is very common for the commander-in-chief of Bianzhen to adopt a trusted and promising servant as his adopted son, and the same is true for Ma Fang and Ma Qi.
"Sit down and talk." Ma Fang sat down first, then asked Ma Qi to sit down, and then said: "How do I know Gao Pragmatic? Well..." He found a letter from the desk and took it He raised it in his hand and said with a strange look on his face: "Because our channel for buying horses has been controlled by him."
Ma Qi was shocked: "He has the channel to buy horses? Are the rumors in Beijing true? He lent troops to Liu Xianping to conquer Bailixia?"
Ma Fang shook his head and said: "This matter is weird. I dare not make a conclusion now. However, I sent someone to inquire about it. At that time, Liu Xian only had about twenty servants around him, and Gao Pragmatic only had about thirty armed servants on hand. , and he is not his own person, but the servant of his uncle Zhang Fengpan, the Minister of Civil Affairs."
Ma Qi was in a daze and said hesitantly: "Isn't this impossible? There are about fifty people. Even if Liu Xian and his son are as good at fighting as the rumors in Beijing say, they can't fight one against a hundred. Not all the people under their command will be able to fight." Are they so much better than the Bailixia Bandits? Commander, we also know the strength of the Bailixia Bandits. It is impossible for them to fight our Ma family army, but they can be considered a good cavalry after all. In addition, Bailixia has made so much money, how can its lair not be defended at all? There is no reason for it to be eaten by such a small number of people. "
Ma Fang said calmly: "The rumors in Beijing should also say that Gao Pragmatic gathered all the strong men from Cherry Spring Villa sent to him by his uncle and gave them to Liu Xian to suppress the bandits, right?"
"Hey, Marshal, even if this thing is true, what's the use of it?" Ma Qi curled his lips and said: "If those strong men are used to guard the Cherry Spring Villa, maybe they can rely on the high walls of the other courtyard to The courtyard is still somewhat useful. Can we let them attack a group of thieves? Anyone who has fought in a war knows that it is impossible! This is just a lie to the scholars and common people in Beijing who have never seen blood. Can we believe it? Strange!"
After hearing this, Ma Fang also smiled and nodded: "Yes, this kind of news can only confuse a layman... But do you think Liu Xian is a layman?"
Ma Qi was stunned for a moment and said hesitantly: "Then...it shouldn't count. Although we haven't met Liu Xian, after all, he is also one of the three commanders of the Southern Army who has been fighting for a long time, and he has a solid head. He has a lot of actual military exploits, and he is not an amateur at all."
"So." Ma Fang snorted and said, "Have you ever thought about why Liu Xian does not doubt this rumor?"
"What does the commander-in-chief mean?" Ma Qi was a little surprised.
"What do I mean?" Ma Fang chuckled and twirled his beard and said, "What I mean is that Liu Xian is now just like us, pointing at Gaoge Lao to eat."
Ma Qi was stunned for a moment and asked: "Did he vote for Mr. Gao Ge?" But after finishing speaking, he hesitated a little and asked: "But Mr. Gao Ge rarely intervenes in the Southern Army, and Liu Xian is a member of the Sichuan Army..."
Ma Fang laughed, shook his head and said: "You, you, you should look further ahead. Mr. Gaoge just came to power three years ago. It is already very rare to win over our Shanxi faction under his command. How can he have time to intervene in things thousands of miles away?" The Southern Army? Later, he suffered a lot due to a fight with Mr. Xu Ge and wasted more than a year... But now that he has returned to Beijing, the situation is different. Xu Huating has retired and returned to his hometown, and Li Shilu has no courage. Now, Gaoge Lao is said to be the second assistant, but in fact, how is he different from the first assistant? Now that he has started to reach out to the Southern Army, it is logical and natural. However... I originally thought that Gaoge Lao would start with Qi Yuanjing first, but I did not expect that it would be Qi Yuanjing. Liu Xian."
When he said this, he frowned slightly and said: "That's why I said there must be a reason for this. Especially when you just said that Gao Pragmatism became the prince's companion, I immediately felt that there was something wrong with it... ...It is very possible that Liu Xian may not have taken the initiative to find Gao Ge Lao to join him, but Gao Pragmatic, the little guy, took it upon himself to accept Liu Xian."
Ma Qi simply couldn't believe his ears and said with great suspicion: "Can't you? How old is this little guy? He has such courage to accept it on his own without the consent of Gaoge Lao... No, just win over Liu. Xian? If I remember correctly, Liu Xian offended Wei Guogong and was dismissed from his post pending investigation."
"Wei Guogong? Nanjing garrison minister? What a big name!" Ma Fang laughed: "What a pity, who do you think he is? He can take a mere Nanjing nobleman seriously? If it were Zhu Xizhong, Maybe Mr. Gao Ge will give him some face, but as for Xu Pengju... I think in Mr. Gao Ge's eyes, he is just a withered bone in the grave."
Ma Qi was still a little puzzled and said: "But Mr. Gao Ge knows that Wei Guogong is just a dead tiger, and that little guy Gao Jingshi also knows?"
When he asked, Ma Fang pondered for a moment, and then said: "First tell me everything you saw and heard in Beijing."
Ma Qi did not dare to neglect and quickly told Ma Fang about the situation in Jingli.
After hearing this, Ma Fang fell into deep thought. After a long while, he said: "This person is very pragmatic, but he is a little kid. I am basically sure now that those dramas of 'Young Master Gao borrows servants for his righteousness, and General Liu and his son set up a group of thieves'." It's all the fault of this little guy. As for Liu Weiming, he is not a good official, otherwise he wouldn't be like this. If he were to take the initiative to seek help from Gaoge Lao, I'm afraid even the "Grand Scholar's Office" No one can get in. Gao Pragmatic must have been the thread in this matter - didn't you just say that someone in Kedao got wind of something and Shangshu said there was something fishy about Liu Xian's dismissal and asked the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate to re-investigate? Shangshu Who is it?"
Ma Qi replied: "It's Han Ji."
"Haha, that's it." Ma Fang twirled his beard and said, "This is one of Mr. Gao Ge's close disciples. His estrangement confirms Liu Xian's surrender to Mr. Gao Ge."
Ma Qi still didn't understand something: "But wasn't what I just said about Gao Pragmatically? Did that kid take the initiative to win over Liu Xian?"
"Stupid!" Ma Fang glared at him and said: "Liu Xian, would you think of spreading those legendary stories through teahouses and restaurants to build momentum for yourself? And Mr. Gaoge, if this matter is only related to him, how can he Does his status make it necessary to create this momentum? Just ask Han Ji to come to the throne, and he will approve it from the cabinet and that will be the end of it? When did the Holy Father refute Mr. Gao Ge's proposal?"
