Prime Minister's Mansion, Zhuge Liang's public room.
Ma Su was standing in the room and talking plausibly to Zhuge Liang, who was sitting on the main seat. There were two people sitting under Zhuge Liang, one was a thin and lanky old man, the other was a middle-aged man with a resolute face, and the three Listening to what Ma Su said, everyone could not help but nod, smile and say nothing.
"Good, what Youchang said is very much in line with what I want." When Zhuge Liang saw Ma Di finished speaking, he stretched out his hand to signal him to sit down, and nodded in praise.
He turned to the old man and asked, "What do you think, prince?"
The old man cupped his hands and replied: "What You Chang said is an old man's advice to seek the country. This time Sun Quan sent Zhang Wen to pay a return visit at the time of re-establishing the relationship with Soochow. Lian thought that the reception for Zhang Wen could be more grand. Next, The prime minister can attend more banquets to show the court's sincerity."
"Wang Changshi, isn't this too much?" The middle-aged man sitting below the old man said: "With the dignity of the prime minister, how can I accompany Zhang Wen several times? This would be detrimental to the status of the prime minister and the imperial court."
"It doesn't matter, Bo Miao. In order to revive the Han Dynasty, why should I care about my status?" Zhuge Liang said with a smile.
It turns out that this old man is Shi Wanglian, the chief of the Prime Minister's Office. As the prime minister's most important assistant, Chang Shi can be said to be the general manager of the Prime Minister's Office, and his status is only under the Prime Minister. Now, Wang Lian is not only the Prime Minister, but he has also been worshiped as the Colonel of Tunqi and the title of Pingyang Tinghou, which can be said to be a high-power position. In addition, Zhuge Liang has always respected this veteran minister because he was unswerving and dared to give direct advice.
The middle-aged man who objected was none other than Shangshu Deng Zhi who had returned from his mission to Soochow. This time, he had accomplished special feats and was highly valued by Zhuge Liang. He had become a rising star in the court. He also sent Wu to bring Zhang Wen back. With this status, he was also the main person who received Zhang Wen in turn. Today he entered the Prime Minister's Mansion to ask Zhuge Liang about the regulations for dealing with Zhang Wen.
Rebuilding the alliance with Soochow is now the top priority of the court. Although Deng Zhi has reached a preliminary agreement with Sun Quan, the biggest reason why Sun Quan sent Zhang Wen here is to test the sincerity of the Shu Han. After all, Sun Quan also knew that Soochow had betrayed its alliance quite a bit in recent years. He captured Jingzhou, captured Guan Yu, surrendered to Cao Wei, and defeated Liu Bei in Yiling. I am afraid that the Shu people are eager to fight against him. Eat your own flesh and sleep on your skin. Therefore, we cannot happily re-alliance with Shu just based on what Deng Zhi said. It is better to send someone to understand the thoughts of Zhuge Liang and the powerful people in Shu.
Therefore, even Zhuge Liang could not take it lightly when it came to receiving Zhang Wen. He invited Wang Lian, the chief historian, and Ma Di, who joined the army, to come together for negotiation.
Ma Su was indeed a great staff officer. When Zhuge Liang asked, he analyzed Sun Quan's intention of sending Zhang Wen here incisively and proposed three strategies for receiving Zhang Wen, which are called treating people with sincerity, moving people with affection, and seducing people with benefits.
As soon as these three strategies were proposed, they immediately won the praise of the three people in the room, and Deng Zhi especially expressed his deep approval. On the way back, he had established a good relationship with Zhang Wen, and had a good understanding of Zhang Wen's temperament. He had a scholarly spirit, so treating him with sincerity and friendship would definitely win him over. The closeness and goodwill in the person, coupled with the help of money and silk, can achieve twice the result with half the effort.
Deng Zhi couldn't help but thought to himself that what Ma Canjun said was the right medicine for the situation, and he was worthy of being a talent valued by the Prime Minister. I just didn't expect that in order to win Zhang Wen's heart, the Prime Minister would even condescend to him. The Prime Minister really dedicated everything to reviving the Han Dynasty. As the main person who received Zhang Wen, he must complete this task well, so as not to Disappointing the Prime Minister's expectations.
Seeing that the three of them had no objections, Zhuge Liang immediately stated that the rules for receiving Zhang Wen would be implemented in accordance with Ma Su's plan.
"Zhonglang, there is something going on at Mingyan Tower."
While Zhuge Liang was meeting with Wang Lian and the others, in a remote public room of the Prime Minister's Mansion, Wei Min, the lieutenant in charge, was also meeting with his subordinates.
Since Zhuge Liang established his government, the officials of the prime minister's office have been composed of chief historians, army officers, Sima chiefs, chief bookkeepers, Zhucao governors, record offices, and subordinate governors. Unlike the Eastern Han Dynasty, where officials were recruited by the palace lord himself, the officials of the Shu Han prime minister were appointed by the court and became de facto courtiers. It can be said that the officials of the prime minister's office are the core of today's government. If we say that the first level of Changshi is the senior level of the Prime Minister's Mansion, the Zhu Caobu is the middle level of the Prime Minister's Mansion, and those in between are those who work as Zhonglang. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, he was engaged in Zhonglang, with a rank of 600 stones, and was appointed as a counselor. During the Three Kingdoms period, his powers and responsibilities gradually evolved into being in charge of officials, being in charge of various Cao Cao, being in charge of secrets, or being a staff advisor. In short, the responsibilities of Zhonglang today are set according to the situation and are not custom-made.
Since the chaos in the world at the end of the Han Dynasty, wars have been frequent. In order to take the initiative, the princes from all walks of life have attached great importance to secret reporting, and have sent personnel to conduct reconnaissance, spy on news, and instigate rebellion, such as the school officials of Cao Wei and Soochow, while the Shu Han side will The intelligence agency within the Prime Minister's Palace is called Youwei. Wei Min, a lieutenant in charge of the affairs of the Prime Minister's Office, was directly responsible for the affairs of the Youwei. The person he met this time was his direct subordinate, the Lieutenant Colonel of the Youwei, Lieutenant Colonel Han Chong.
There will be one Zhonglang general in Youwei, who will be in charge of all health matters and will be directly responsible to Wei Min, the Zhonglang in charge. Currently, Wei Min himself is serving as the Zhonglang general in Youwei. The Zhonglang general will have five lieutenants in the front, right and left. The left lieutenant is responsible for spying on Cao Wei, the right lieutenant is responsible for spying on Soochow, the lieutenant colonel is responsible for domestic spy supervision, and the former lieutenant is responsible for execution. For special espionage matters, the Hou Xiaowei is responsible for monitoring the interior of Youwei. At the state level, the roving guard is in charge of a Sima; at the county level, the roving guard is in charge of a governor; at the county level, the roving guard is in charge of a Qu Wei, and his subordinate guards include Tun Wei, Bo Wei, Shi Wei.
"Oh, please tell me in detail." When he heard about the situation, Wei Min's expression only changed for a moment, and then returned to his normal appearance. He is forty-three years old this year. He is in the prime of life. He is flexible, thoughtful, not fond of forms, and has good plans. In addition, he is a native of Nanyang, Jingzhou, and an old man who followed the late emperor to Shu. Therefore, he has won the favor of Liu Bei and Liu Bei. Zhuge Liang trusted him, and when he was in Jingzhou, he was directly ordered by Zhuge Liang to do detailed work to find out the military situation. After the late emperor entered Shu, he became the head of the espionage agency, fully in charge of internal and external military information. Now he is nominally a lieutenant in charge of the Prime Minister's Office and is actually the person in charge of espionage matters. Directly responsible to Prime Minister Zhuge.
Han Chong did not hesitate and immediately said: "Late yesterday night, a man covered in black robes and a black cloth entered Mingyan Tower and met with that man."
"Do you know what they said?" Wei Min's squinted eyes suddenly opened.
"Our people didn't dare to get too close. The thing that I heard most clearly was that the visitor seemed to say that a female school official in Chengdu died. I don't know how to deal with it and asked for instructions from above. Behind it were military rations, hiding places, and Soochow. Just a few words."
"A female school official died?" Wei Minqi asked, "Did one of our people do it?"
Han Chong shook his head and said: "Chong has checked and found that our people have not killed any female school officials this month, and have not even captured a female school official. Therefore, I think the death of this female school official has nothing to do with us. .”
"It should be so." Wei Min nodded and said: "But this is strange. A school official died but it was not our fault. Could it be that they did it themselves? Or did he die of illness? Died in an accident?"
"Shiyuan, if you are like this, go and check all the women who died in the city within this month, and you must find this female school official."
"Promise. I understand," Han Chong responded.
"Shiyuan, are you here to tell me that you only found this kind of information?" Wei Min looked at Han Chong with a half-smile but said.
Han Chong smiled and said: "Nothing can be hidden from Zhong Lang. As long as there are discoveries like this, Chong Wan would not dare to disturb us." He paused, took a sip of tea and said, "We have two major discoveries this time."
Wei Min's eyes sparkled, and he smiled and said, "I knew it, why don't you tell me quickly."
"Zhonglang, just now my subordinates said that our people heard only six words: army rations, hiding place, and Soochow. In fact, there are two more words." At this point, Han Chong stopped talking, and his eyes were full of meaning. His eyes looked at Wei Min.
"What two words are they? Could it be?" Wei Min seemed to understand something in his heart. He seemed to already know Han Chong's next answer.
"Qingque."
Wei Min secretly thought, it is indeed so. Qingque is a name he is too familiar with. Qingque, the top craftsmen he most wants to capture in recent years, is definitely at the top of the list. This person has been sent by Cao Cao to lurk in Shu since the Liu Zhang era. He was extremely active when the late emperor and Cao Cao were fighting for Hanzhong. He spied on military intelligence, spread rumors, and instigated officials to rebel... He was the mastermind behind several major espionage cases. people. This man was thoughtful and resourceful. I tried to find him several times, but was eventually able to get rid of him.
In the past two years, this person has disappeared. There has been no news about this person for a long time. If he hadn't occasionally heard the code name Qingque, he would have thought that this person had been transferred back to the territory of the Puppet Wei Dynasty. I never thought that I would hear the name Qingque again today. I must follow the clues to find this person this time.
Wei Min woke up from his meditation and said: "Shiyuan, it seems that this person is not a small person. Maybe he is the school official directly under Qingque. Do you know who this person is?"
Han Chong said: "Zhonglang, this is about the second major discovery. Although this person is very, very vigilant, it seems that the Puppet Wei Dynasty has not noticed that Mingyan Tower has been discovered by us. Therefore, our people successfully tracked this person and saw him enter the Shu County Prefect’s Mansion with our own eyes.”
Wei Min touched his beard and sneered: "Huh. Sure enough, there is Cao Wei's detailed work in the Shu County Prefect's Mansion. I'm afraid this person is among the few people we have been suspecting."
Han Chong also thought of this: "I'm afraid that's the case."
"This discovery is indeed very important, and the meritorious personnel must be recorded." Wei Min said: "In addition, this is another good opportunity for us to catch Qingque. After you go back, you must continue to keep a close eye on Mingyanlou. Surveillance, the second one is to find the dead female school official, dig out the heavyweight agent hidden in the prefect's mansion from her, and then break through her body to find our old friend Qingque."
Han Chong agreed with his hands, and then asked: "Zhonglang, where is the Shu County Prefect's Mansion, what should we do? Last night our people heard that this person's voice was a bit old, and he was an elderly man."
Wei Min thought for a while and said: "Well, although the old voice helped us narrow down the scope, the people with the greatest suspicion are all elderly, so this is of little use. This person is very vigilant and moves It’s better not to be too big, just as normal as before.”
"No. I understand."
