I'm playing tricks in Daqin

All kinds of services are available, Mr. Bao is satisfied, but the price is the same, and it is at least twice as expensive as the market.

A few hundred taels of silver is just a trivial matter for the rich. This group of noble families who have become captives are not like captives at all, but like tourists. The only difference is that they can only wander around in designated places.

The ransoms for these captives add up to about two hundred thousand taels of silver, which is not much at all, but the imperial treasury is empty, and Li Wei has lost money. Earning a copper coin is counted as one, and the principle of getting more and more is good. After getting the ransom of all the captives, they set off to return to the capital Chang'an.

All the empires are resting and recuperating, and the mainland has returned to peace once again, but no one knows how long this peace can last.

The busiest thing in the Qin Empire right now is the people's livelihood, which is the business of civil servants. Although Li Wei has become a shopkeeper, he is also very busy sometimes, busy playing mahjong with his wives and concubines, and busy doing nonsense. .

In July, Li Wendong recovered from his injuries and was appointed as the governor of Shuiyunguan by Prime Minister Li Gang. Zhou Bo was still in charge of the Hongfeng Navy, and all government affairs were left to Li Wendong.

Zhou Bo was a general of the navy, and he was good at water warfare, but it was difficult to manage local government affairs. Li Wendong's arrival was like letting him off his shoulders.

However, Li Wendong's job as the sheriff made many people daydream.

Sheriff is a newly added official name, and her rank is slightly lower than the prefect of a county, but that's what it is, it depends on how you understand it.

Shuiyunguan is a newly built Shuiguan city defense. It is more than enough for a city, but not enough to become a county. Li Wendong was appointed as the governor of Shuiyunguan. That is a rhythm that needs to be reused.

In August, Lin Ruoying was taken into Li's house as the young lady of the Hongfeng Hao family, which was considered a meritorious deed.

In fact, Su Yuejiao didn't know her real identity, but she just couldn't bear to beat the mandarin ducks, not to mention that she had changed her life experience, so she pretended to be deaf and dumb to fulfill their good deeds.

On the contrary, the marriage between the Qin and Tang empires failed to be negotiated. First, the conditions of the gears, the two sides failed to meet. This is one of the powerful weapons of the Qin Empire, and it must not be rumored. The second is the status of the Ninth Princess Tang Feier. Tang Wang Jili refused to let his beloved daughter become a concubine, and Li Wei was determined not to abolish Kong Rong. Both parties failed to negotiate, and the matter was left alone.

During the honeymoon, Li Wei didn't spend much time with Mei Jiao Niang, and spent most of his time in the study discussing matters with Wu You.

The battle with the navy of the Wei Empire gave both of them new ideas, and they began to reconsider their previous strategic plan of destroying the Tang Empire with a long distance and close attack.

The diplomatic strategy of long-distance and close-attack is correct, there is no doubt about it, but whether to destroy Tang first or Wei first, this question really needs to be reconsidered.

Although the Tang Empire was seriously injured by successive wars, civil strife and currency wars, and its national power was greatly reduced, after all, a lean camel is bigger than a horse. If the whole country is really called for, it will still be a headache. If the war cannot be ended quickly, Once the war is delayed, it will inevitably change.

The Tang Empire was close to the Zhou and Jin empires, and the Jin Empire was recognized as the most powerful country in the mainland. As long as they sent troops, they would definitely mess up good things.

If the Wei Empire is attacked, these problems will not arise. The land only needs to defend the two cities of Pingtang Baimo and Zhuang County to block the attack of the Tang army.

The navy controlled the river and ensured that the navy of the Jin Empire was suppressed and their warships were not allowed to transport the infantry ashore to solve the problem.

According to the analysis of the intelligence obtained by the spies lurking in Xijing, the capital of the Jin emperor, although Jin Wang Huazhao allocated special funds for shipbuilding, it was only to supplement the warships damaged in previous battles. No wait, the Jin army's navy is still the same size as before, but in fact its combat power has dropped. Furthermore, the Jin Empire's navy is inherently weak. For so many years, it has lost all battles with the Wei Empire's navy. More wins and less, the combat power can be imagined.

The Wei Empire has not been affected by the flames of war for many years. The country is rich, the people have ample food and clothing, live and work in peace and contentment, and have a lot of reserves. If there is a war, it must be resolved quickly.

Wealth of the people makes the country strong. This is not true at all, but there is another saying that the country will perish if people live in peace and forget the danger. Once people live a comfortable and good life for a long time, their armaments are lax, and soldiers are afraid of war and tired of war. The combat power is bound to be low, which is also the main reason why Li Wei and Wu You are tempted.

The combat power of the Wei Empire Navy is indeed not to be underestimated, but it has been disabled, and it is not an exaggeration to describe it as annihilated. It will take at least two to three years to restore the huge fleet size before. It takes two years to build warships, and the soldiers are all newly recruited. It will take longer to form combat effectiveness, and they have to go through actual combat tempering.

The combat power of the infantry is obviously much weaker than that of the navy. This is not surprising. The land of the Wei Empire has not been invaded by foreign enemies for ten years. No matter how well the soldiers are trained, they have not withstood the test of blood and fire. Duo is just a little bit better than the new recruit Danzi who just joined the army.

In contrast, the Wei Empire is much easier to fight than the Tang Empire. Moreover, the Wei Empire has fertile land and rich resources. After the capture, it can become the empire's rear area and continuously supply the needed strategic materials. Who wouldn't be tempted?

After negotiating with Wu You, Li Wei discussed with his father again, and then brought it to the court for discussion. During this period, Wu You was ordered to start a currency war against the Wei Empire, and a large amount of bad money flowed into the Wei Empire through the merchants who went back and forth. In exchange for a large amount of food and other materials, even contraband such as iron ore can be obtained.

Now is a time of peace, and the price of food has plummeted. Those merchants who entered the Wei Empire have secret orders to charge as much as they can. We are not short of money, but I am afraid that you will not have food.

As for those contraband, to put it bluntly, no one would have trouble with money. An official can't support a family with just that little salary. How can he be worthy of this job without some extra money?

As long as you can afford the price, I dare to sell it to you.

The readjustment of the strategy had already been decided in the prime minister's mansion, and it was only a procedure to bring it to the court for a court discussion.

Originally, for such an important matter, the fewer people who know about it, the better. Li Gang didn't want to go through this procedure. However, he found that the royalists had only been honest for a while, and now they started to move again.

Chapter 365 The Grace of Enlightenment

After the original Shangshu right servant shot Zheng Jing and was taken to prison, Li Gang did not try or kill him, so he was locked up like this, and good wine and food were provided every day, but the jailer was not allowed to talk to him, even scolding. Pens, inks, papers and inkstones are also not allowed, so you will be locked up like this, and you will be suffocated to death.

The entire Chang'an Zheng family, except for Zheng Zhong, were all dispatched to the Red Maple Province to mine. If the grass is not rooted out, it will grow again when the spring breeze blows.

Although Zheng Jing's wife and children are far away in Hongfeng Province, the children of Zheng Jing's branch still go to visit every month, send some clothes, and tell the family something.

However, none of them dared to disobey Li Gang's order, and they didn't dare to bring in books or anything.

For these children of the clan, Zheng Jing didn't get angry and yell at them, but told them to behave well, and sometimes even tested their articles.

People from the royalist party cannot enter the prison of the Ministry of Justice, and can only learn about Zheng Jing's situation through the favored chief servant Yun Eunuch who is next to the Empress Dowager Wu Huifei. For this reason, the fake father-in-law Yun'er has earned a lot of gold and silver Jewelry and favors are naturally included in the Royalist faction.

They are all supporting the king's faction, and the Queen Mother's people are naturally their own people.

After the incident last time, the royalist party was seriously injured, and they had no leader. They were honest for a while, but they were unwilling to be lonely. They gathered together every now and then, scolding Li Gang's treacherous ministers, and discussing how to restore the kingship, and recommended a new one. The big brother who takes the lead is the top priority.

The Minister of Rites, Shen Shangde, is highly respected and has the qualifications to be the leader, but he politely declined, I am getting old, let me give you the opportunity, the old man will just fill in the gaps for you, come on, work hard, old man Optimistic about you.

This guy recently married a young and beautiful daughter-in-law, who is several decades younger. Of course, all the original servants in the mansion were dismissed and replaced with new ones, so as not to recognize the new wife .

This trick was taught by Wu You, and now his long-cherished wish has been fulfilled, this guy is now desperately working for Li Wei.

After a series of selections, Ou Cheng, the highly respected servant of the household department, was finally elected as the leading elder brother, and a dozen veteran ministers including Shen Shangde were assisted. They are still the core of the royalist party.

Ou Chengcheng's house is very deep, he acts insidiously, sometimes he is a little aggressive, and his tone is very tight. Shen Shangde has tried every means to trick him several times, but he still can't get any useful information. Party" doubts.

According to the information sent back by Shen Shangde and the comprehensive analysis of the information held by the black guard, it is very likely that Ou Cheng has contacted the Xuansuju assassin lurking in Chang'an City, and may plan a big operation in the near future, because he is worried that he will scare the snake away. , Li Wei could only order to secretly strengthen the guard and wait passively.

Those Xuansuju killers lurking in Chang'an City seemed to have evaporated from the world after Tang Su'e left, and Zheng Jing was arrested and imprisoned.

According to intelligence analysis, Tang Su'e is still recuperating in Yicheng, the capital of the Tang Empire. She often goes in and out of the palace, and has taken the Ninth Princess Tang Fei'er as her apprentice. Suju sent another expert to preside over the assassination operation in Chang'an, but they hid it too deeply and it was difficult to find it for a while.

If they want to catch them all, they have to wait patiently for the further actions of Ou Cheng and others, and passively wait for them to reveal their weaknesses before they can make targeted arrangements according to the situation, carry out a fatal blow, and prevent future troubles forever.

The matter of surveillance and follow-up naturally fell on the body of the black-clothed guards. Ding Xi, the leader of the black-clothed guards, knew that the matter was important, so he didn't dare to be careless, so he sent everyone around him out. Spies, if you catch them casually, there are probably two or three out of ten people who are secret spies of the black guards.

Also because of this matter, Li Gang did not finally put forward the proposal to change the strategic direction in the court. The less people who know about this kind of thing, the better. Anyway, he is the prime minister and monopolizes the court power. Those old fellows of the Royal Party didn't show any sympathy and called him a treacherous minister, so there was no need to take their face into consideration, and just act arbitrarily and issue various secret orders from the Prime Minister's Mansion.

Fortunately, it is currently in the recuperation period, and some actions against the Wei Empire are going on quietly, without much movement, and the gang of royalists are not aware of it.

The currency war that Wu You was in charge of was already going on quietly. A large amount of bad money flowed into the Wei Empire through merchants going back and forth, and a large amount of food, cloth and other materials were brought back to the country.

After the war ended, the prices of food and other materials gradually fell. The people of the Wei Empire were rich and rarely affected by the flames of war. The price of food fell the fastest and the price was the cheapest. Merchants from various merchant countries flocked to buy food and shipped it back to China at a high price. Therefore, it is normal for the merchants of the Qin Empire to buy food in large quantities, and no one would doubt it, and it made them a lot of copper coins.

The people of the Wei Empire are rich, even if a currency war is launched, it will be difficult to affect the market price within two or three years. This, Li Wei and Wu You are very clear in their hearts, the currency war launched is nothing more than a small amount of copper coins in exchange for a large amount of food Waiting for special funds is nothing more than accumulating energy for war. In short, earn as much as you can, and make a fortune in silence.

In the Red Maple Boat Workshop, the skilled craftsmen are very busy. Their treatment and status have been greatly improved. Not only are they in a good mood, but they also work very hard. One after another large warships and building ships Completed, launched into the water for sea trials, and then delivered to the navy.

Because of strategic adjustments, military expenditures are also tilted towards the navy. Now, Jiayue Hongfeng's two major navy commanders, Ding Tai and Zhou Bo, are in a tight spot. The two major navy have added a lot of warships, of which Jiayue Navy has It has ten large ships, three hundred large, medium and small warships, and twenty thousand sailors.

The Hongfeng navy has 12 large ships, more than 450 large, medium and small warships, and the number of sailors has increased to [-], which makes the commanders and generals of the major armies jealous.

Among the military, only the commander of the legion is qualified to know the strategic adjustment plan. They all know that Zhou Bo's Red Maple Navy is the main force to attack the Wei Empire, and their strength will expand so quickly.

Naturally, infantry and cavalry are indispensable for land warfare, and He Jin's Red Maple Legion has also received a lot of funding. The current standing army is kept at 20, and once the battle starts, it can increase to [-].

The most enviable thing is Li Wendong, the new prefect of Shuiyunguan. He was ordered to recruit a new army of 4 people in the name of strengthening defense, and practice day and night. Given the size of the military training, there is a hidden rhythm of forming the Fifth Army, so the commander is naturally none other than him.

Looking at this posture, there is also a part of the new army in the attack on the Wei Empire. Soldiers only make meritorious service in battle, and can be rewarded with military merit. Li Wendong, a surrendered general, is not only so important, but will soon be meritorious. Who is not jealous?

Li Wendong also participated in the highest-level strategic adjustment meeting of the empire. He knew his mission in his heart. Thanks to the young master's kindness, he could only swear to his death and practice the newly formed [-] new army desperately. A new army forms combat effectiveness.

While recuperating in Chang'an, he followed Li Wei to inspect the Central Army Corps, and after taking office, he visited He Jin's Red Maple Army Corps, and finally understood why the Tang Empire was defeated by the Qin Empire in recent wars.

After Li's father and son came to power, all kinds of new policies vigorously implemented were beneficial to the country and the people.

In particular, the development of weapons and equipment, and even important labor tools such as plows and hoes for the common people are far ahead of the empires, and the treatment of soldiers is even better. He is proud of being a soldier and his morale is high. How can an ordinary army be able to resist such a lion?

He couldn't help but be thankful for his good luck and his choice. Here, he has a real stage to prove his talents.

The woman is the face of the one who is happy, and the scholar is the death of the one who knows him. He can only repay the young master's kindness with loyalty and military exploits.

Li Wendong's unconventional reuse naturally aroused dissatisfaction from all parties. The big men in the army made all kinds of complaints, and the letters of war were sent to the prime minister's mansion and the Hussar general's mansion like a snowflake, and they were all reprimanded by Li Gang and Li Wei. One pass, let me practice all my legions, there are many battles, I'm afraid you will get bored and don't want to fight.

To launch a war against the Wei Empire, Shuiyunguan will become an important base for frontier and logistics operations. Therefore, a large military camp and fortress were built at the foot of the Qiyun Mountains. Li Wendong's [-] new troops were stationed in the military camp and fortress.

A large amount of food, grass, weapons and equipment and other military supplies have been accumulated in the fortress. There are as many as [-] thunderbolt chariots, [-] thunderbolt chariots, and ladder siege vehicles, etc., which have been polished with water wheels. The stone bombs were also transported little by little to stock up.

Originally, the flow of the Nujiang River was so fast that a large number of stone bullets could be polished by just building a waterwheel by the river, but in this way, it was inevitable that the secret spies hidden in various empires would find out. In order to keep this secret as much as possible, Li Wei would rather spend money and money.

Because the commerce and trade between the two countries have returned to normal, there are a large number of merchant ships docking to and from the port every day to load and unload various goods. A large number of caravans travel to and from the official road of Shuiyunguan. The spy found out.

The empire needs to recuperate and accumulate energy for war. It is impossible for the empire to launch a war against the Wei empire within a year or two. All kinds of military supplies are slowly transported over and accumulated, and then wait for the opportunity.

During this period, Li Gang successively sent missions to various empires, implementing the strategy of long-distance diplomatic relations and short-term attacks. The missions sent to the Wei Empire twice in succession, talked about the friendship between the two countries, and signed a friendly agreement of mutual non-aggression.

This is the case between countries, everyone fools each other, you didn't discuss it, the agreement was originally used

Chapter 366 It's a big deal

The sky was still gray and did not light up. Li Wei sat up from the couch habitually. Sneaking into the harem to soothe the lonely heart of the queen mother was a bit exciting, but the trouble was that he had to sneak away before dawn. Make him feel a little uncomfortable.

However, this time he felt a little surprised, because two white and smooth arms were wrapped around his neck, a little tight, as if to hold him back.

"I'm not feeling well, so I'll take a rest for a while."

Concubine Wu Hui's soft voice sounded.

Li Wei was stunned, although Concubine Wu Hui's voice was soft and charming, but there was a bit of resentment hidden in it.

His heart moved, thinking of what Wu You said a few days ago, the prime minister didn't want to wait anymore.

He didn't care about it at the time, but now that he thinks about it, he finally understands that the old man lost his patience and planned to close the net. No wonder officials at all levels have frequently entered and left the prime minister's mansion these days, and the prime minister's mansion and his hussar general's mansion are quietly There are hundreds more elite guards.

Wu Huiniang said that the sick leave was the meaning of her father, and that in the future, various orders will be issued in the name of the prime minister, and the Qin Dynasty will gradually fade out of people's sight and become a thing of the past.

From now on, people will only know the prime minister, but not the Qin Dynasty. Dad is preparing for the future. No wonder Wu Huiniang's voice is a little more helpless and lost.

Li Wei could only let out a helpless low sigh, it was inevitable, otherwise he would have arranged it like this, but he had wronged Wu Huiniang and her son, but luckily he had already figured out how to make it up.

The old man's arrangement is not only to eliminate the influence and traces of the Qin Dynasty, but also to force those royalist party to mess up and have to act in advance, so as to catch them all and eliminate the last hidden danger.

It's not a good feeling to guard against thieves for a thousand days. The hero always adheres to the principle of once and for all, and the principle of never causing future troubles. This seems to be the style of Dad's behavior.

As soon as Li Wei entered the house, he was called into the study by his father, and the father and son muttered for a long time.

Li Gang really didn't have the patience to wait any longer. He had already decided to close the net. This move would cause chaos for the royalist party, and it would also force them to fight over the wall and do unpredictable things. Therefore, he I told my son not to wander around if he has nothing to do in the near future. Even if he has to go out, it is best to bring enough guards, safety first.

Although Li Wei does not think he is a gentleman, he believes in some maxims of a gentleman, such as: A gentleman does not build a dangerous wall.

He stayed in the mansion very honestly, playing mahjong and playing games with his wives and concubines, and he was happy and happy.

Ruoda's Prime Minister's Mansion and Hussar General's Mansion are as peaceful as before, but if someone is familiar with the two mansions, if they are more careful, they can still see some differences.

His wife, Su Yuejiao, is a master of martial arts. Although she has no apprentices, there are some young maids in the mansion who have to be taught by her. They also practice boxing and kicking in their leisure time. Two or three ordinary big men are not their opponents.

Recently, Su Yuejiao has suddenly strengthened the teaching and training of these maids. It is said that the madam is bored and wants to train a women's army.

Qing'er and Xiao Xiaoxiao also kept their weapons close to each other recently, and the two mansions have recently added more than a dozen extremely strong servants. The general masters of the rivers and lakes are nothing to worry about.

Chang'an is as usual, bustling and peaceful, but secretly, a storm is brewing.

Autumn is the harvest season. The weather in the Qin Empire is good this year. Most areas have a good harvest. There are also floods and droughts in a few places. However, the government rescued the disaster in time and the losses were small. The harvest is still good. The people are smiling. Even better than last year, this is the result of the Prime Minister's vigorous implementation of the New Deal and strict supervision.

Under the guidance of people with good intentions, coupled with the "Daqin Times" publicizing and advocating, the people's praise for Prime Minister Li Gang was heard endlessly, and they almost shouted "Long live the Prime Minister"

The slogan came.

Department of household servants in the central district government office, hall.

"If this continues, people will only know the prime minister, not the king."

Minister of Rituals, Shen Shangde, took the "Daqin Times" in his hand and put it on the square table in front of Ou Cheng, with a heartbroken look, wishing to fight the treacherous minister Li Gang for his righteousness.

His words were approved by all the people in the hall. The queen mother said that she must be forced by the treacherous minister Li Gang to leave the court due to illness.

It is obvious that all government orders are issued in the name of the prime minister. The surname Li has torn off his disguise, exposed his fangs, and started to do it. Eliminating the influence and traces of the Qin royal family is only the first step. The party has made a move, and if it doesn't fight back, I'm afraid there will be no chance.

"Just rest assured, gentlemen, and wait patiently for a while."

No matter how tight-lipped Ou Cheng was, when faced with the accountability of the elders, he had no choice but to reveal a little bit, so as to calm their uneasiness.

The Ou family is a century-old family in Chang'an. Ou Cheng is the patriarch of this generation and a member of the Royalist Party. He can even be regarded as one of the core figures of the Royalist Party. However, he usually keeps a low profile and is ignored by almost everyone. Ou Cheng didn't come into people's sight until Zheng Jing was thrown into prison due to an accident, and the royalist party had no leader, and a new leader was re-elected.

When Zheng Jing was the leading brother, Ou Cheng was quite dissatisfied with some of his actions, thinking that he was a bit conservative, and that to deal with Li Gang, literati methods would not work at all, one had to control the military power.

Therefore, he has been using his family's strong financial resources to quietly buy some officers, put his people in the army, and wait for the opportunity.

Ou Chengcheng's government is very deep and his tone is tight. Even if he knew that Xuan Suju had a relationship with Zheng Jing and planned the assassination, he just kept silent and did not give any substantive support and help.

One is that he thinks that no matter how powerful Xuan Suju's assassin is, it is impossible for him to succeed.

The second is for personal ambition. As long as Zheng Jing is in power, even if he succeeds in killing Li Shi and restoring the royal power, he will not be able to surpass Zheng Jing, so he continues to lie down.

Not long after Zheng Jing's accident, people from Xuansuju approached Ou Cheng, and the two hit it off immediately. The leaderless Royalist Party re-elected a new leader. Ou Cheng believed that the time had come, so he stood on the stage.

Ou Cheng must stand up and grab the position of the leading brother. First, it is driven by ambition. Second, there are still some powerful families in the royalist party. With their support, the chance of success is even greater. .

Of course, to be the leader is to stand on the stage all at once, and to attract attention to every move. Fortunately, he has made various arrangements in advance, and what is missing is only a good opportunity. He is not worried about the spy in black. His close surveillance.