Fenghou

In December, the weather in Guanzhong was freezing, and a blizzard swept across Shaanxi Road and Xihe Road from north to south, turning the whole Guanzhong into a snow-covered world.

In the yard, two servant girls are adding briquettes to the stove hole. The briquettes are burning vigorously, and above the stove hole in the room is a kang, which is also an important way for large families in the north to keep warm.

They don't put charcoal pots and stoves inside the house, which are prone to poisoning, but burn wood or coal in the stove hole outside the house, and there is also a flue to discharge the soot to the roof.

The kang is very warm and makes the room extra warm.

The heated kang is very spacious, one foot long and eight feet wide, enough for seven or eight people to sleep. The heated kang is covered with thick mattresses. In the cold winter, people stay on the heated kang.

At this time, Chen Qing's two-year-old son, Chen Ji, was lying in front of the glazed window. Through the glazed window, he looked enviously at the maidservants making snowmen in the courtyard. From the details, we can see the luxury of this royal palace. The windows are made of colored glaze.

Although Chen Ji is only two years old, he is very sensible and obedient. He understands what his mother tells him.

Lu Xiu told him that it wasn't that he was not allowed to go out to play in the snow, but that he was still young and the cold could easily invade his lungs and he would get seriously ill. Chen Ji obeyed his mother's advice obediently.

There was a small table against the wall, and Lu Xiu was holding her two-month-old daughter in her arms. The daughter was weak, so Lu Xiu and her husband decided not to hire a wet nurse until the child was half a year old, and Lu Xiu would take care of it herself.

Under the careful care of her mother, Xueer gained another four catties and reached ten catties. She is no different from a normal little lady, her face is very rosy, she cries loudly, and her little hands and feet are chubby. , in the words of Dr. Wang, they are raised very well, and as long as there are no accidents, they will grow up healthily.

While coaxing her daughter, Lu Xiu smiled and comforted her son and said, "It snows every year. When you are older, Daddy will take you to go skating!"

Chen Ji's eyes lit up, and he said expectantly, "I want to go skating with Daddy!"

"When it snows next year, Daddy can take you there."

Chen Ji looked out the window, his eyes full of anticipation for skating.

Lu Xiu shook her head, and her eyes fell on Zhao Qiaoyun next to her. Zhao Qiaoyun was engrossed in writing without raising her head.

"Qiaoyun, what are you writing? I haven't seen you stop writing?" Lu Xiu asked curiously.

Zhao Qiaoyun sat up straight, twisted her sore neck and said, "I'm writing an open letter to all the soldiers in the New Year for the officials. I want to write it with a little momentum, but I'm not satisfied after writing several letters."

Lu Xiu frowned, "Why do you have to write this kind of letter? Didn't he have a record room to join the army?"

Zhao Qiaoyun blushed pretty, and said in a low voice, "I took the initiative to bring it over. The officials are not very satisfied with the letter written by the new reporter's office to join the army."

"You! Why bother?"

Lu Xiu understood Zhao Qiaoyun's thoughts very well. She was inferior to herself in terms of status, and inferior to the sisters of the Yu family in terms of youth and beauty. She could only work hard, but she also liked her husband. Wouldn't it be good to marry a general to be his wife? ?

Lu Xiu suddenly remembered what Yang Liuer told her. There was a young general named Sun Jian who liked Zhao Qiaoyun very much. He found Zheng Ping to inquire about Zhao Qiaoyun's identity, and when he learned that Zhao Qiaoyun was the emperor's concubine, he was so scared that he ran back to Bashu overnight.

The key is Zhao Qiaoyun's identity, no matter whether she is willing or not, she is the Empress Concubine, and no one would dare to marry her as an Empress Concubine, not to mention the Empress Concubine who was rescued from the Kingdom of Jin, I am afraid that only her husband can marry her. Accept her.

While thinking wildly, the door curtain was lifted, and Yu Lian walked in quickly. She was holding a large red lacquered plate with two grapefruit-sized snowballs inside.

"Ji'er, come and play snowballs!"

Chen Ji cheered and rushed over. He suddenly hesitated and looked at his mother pitifully.

Lu Xiu secretly praised Yu Lian for being smart, so she nodded with a smile, "You can play, but don't throw it around, it's full of water, wash your hands clean later."

"Thank you, Aunt Lian!"

Chen Ji happily took the plate, sat on the table and began to build a little snowman.

……

In the welcome pavilion outside Nancheng, Chen Qing had been waiting for a long time with a group of officials, Li Hui, Huang Guinian and others. Chen Qing got the news that the prime minister, Zhang Jun, was about to arrive in Jingzhao City.

Zhang Jun's status is much higher than that of Li Hui. Zhang Jun is not only the left minister, but more importantly, he is Chen Qing's old boss and the former Sichuan-Shaanxi Propaganda Envoy. He has been of great help to Chen Qing. Privately, Chen Qing would come to meet him outside the city in person.

"I'm coming!"

A soldier pointed to the front from a high place and shouted: "It's the cavalry and the convoy."

In the distance, the yellow dust billowed, and the banners were unfurled. More than 1000 people escorted a large carriage and drove here.

Zhang Jun was indeed in the carriage. After a month of hard work, he finally arrived at Jingzhao City.

Zhang Jun briefly recovered Jingzhao City before the Battle of Fuping, lived in Jingzhao City for a few days, and had a deep impression of Jingzhao City and Guanzhong.

Along the way, Guanzhong has a much more human atmosphere than it did back then. At that time, there were deserted villages everywhere, but now, every village has smoke from cooking, which made him deeply moved.

In fact, Zhang Jun didn't know that it was not Chen Qing's credit. After the Battle of Fuping, the puppet Qi took over Guanzhong, and a large number of people migrated from northern Shaanxi to Guanzhong, which quickly restored Guanzhong's vitality.

At the beginning, Puppet Qi was good, encouraging farming and business, but within a few years, it couldn't bear the huge oppression of military expenditure, and began to cruelly squeeze the people.

At this time, a follower came galloping on horseback, and bowed to report: "I want to report to you, Mr. Xuanfu! Chen Qing, the envoy of Xuanfu, led the crowd to welcome him outside the city."

5 Chapter Ninety: Game ([-])

Chen Qing really did not expect that the emperor would send Zhang Jun to negotiate. On the one hand, he wanted to use his position as prime minister to oppress Chen Qing. On the other hand, Zhao Gou also wanted to play the favor card and use his personal friendship to gain an advantage in negotiations.

But it can only be said that Zhao Gou made a wrong calculation. Although Chen Qing can receive Zhang Jun with a low profile, it does not mean that he will give in at the negotiating table. The reason is also very simple. Chen Qing is not alone. There are also the interests of millions of people.

The carriage stopped in front of Chen Qing, and a boy helped Zhang Jun get out of the car. Zhang Jun laughed and said, "Chen Dutong, don't come here without any problems!"

Chen Qing quickly stepped forward to salute, "I didn't expect Mr. Zhang to come to Jingzhao in person. It's been a hard journey."

"I haven't been here for many years, and revisiting the old place again is a matter of peace."

Chen Qing arranged for his subordinates to come forward one by one to pay respects, and then he said with a smile: "It's cold, Mr. Zhang gets into the carriage first, and we will sit down and talk in detail."

Zhang Jun nodded and smiled at Chen Qing: "Chen Dutong, let's sit up together!"

Chen Qing chuckled, "I won't come up, I'll just ride a horse in front of the car window and follow!"

Zhang Jun knew that Chen Qing was keeping a distance from him, and it seemed that he was still very vigilant about his arrival. Zhang Jun knew it well, and this time he might not be able to suppress Chen Qing even if he bet on favors.

With a wry smile in his heart, he got into the carriage. Chen Qing got on the horse and followed the carriage.

"Chen Dutong himself should have a comparison! The current Jingzhao City is different from the Jingzhao City when you singled out Yan Loushi back then!" Zhang Jun asked with a smile.

Chen Qing nodded, "The changes are indeed great, especially in the past few months. After we have continued to donate 30 shi of grain, the hungry people in Jingzhao City have completely disappeared, and the price of grain has also dropped to [-] cents per bucket. Cloth prices and The price of salt is even lower than during the Xuanhe period.”

"How did you do it? Can you tell me about your experience?"

Chen Qing said with a smile: "In fact, everyone understands the truth, that is, a lot of investment, but what we have done better is to deliver food and materials to the real hungry people. As long as the hungry people disappear, the atmosphere of food shortage will disappear. Grain and commodity prices will naturally stabilize, simply put, it is the shortest board of a wooden barrel to be repaired first, so that the barrel can hold water, and then other defects will be slowly repaired.”

Zhang Jun praised: "Well said, make up for the shortcomings first!"

When the group came to the VIP House, Chen Qing personally arranged for Zhang Jun to live there. Zhang Jun smiled and said, "If Dutong is fine, let's chat for a while, don't worry, we won't talk about Bashu."

Chen Qing smiled and nodded, "Follow the Prime Minister's order!"

The two sat down in the lobby, and Zhang Jun asked, "How is the situation in the Kingdom of Jin? Do you all understand?"

Chen Qing pondered for a while and said: "The latest news I got is that the emperor of the Kingdom of Jin, Wanyan Sheng, passed away two months ago. The new emperor is called Wanyan Quan, who is only 16 years old. Wanyan Zonghan, Wanyan Wushu and Wanyan Chang and others are vying for the position of assistant minister, and I heard that Wan Yanchang has the upper hand and will be the prime minister, the internal power struggle of the Jin Kingdom has basically come to an end, and I am afraid that after the beginning of spring tomorrow, the Jin soldiers will go south again."

"Do you all think we can defend the Jianghuai frontline?" Zhang Jun asked worriedly.

"The Jingxiang line is guarded by Yue Fei. It should not be a big problem. The weak point lies in the east line. But I think that as long as the Song army can make good use of the Huaihe River and the opponent's cavalry advantages cannot be brought into play, there is hope for a confrontation, such as kerosene and gunpowder. Advanced weapons such as the bed crossbow, the god arm crossbow, etc. should be used in large quantities, especially the fierce fire oil burning into one piece on the river surface, which is the sharpest weapon against the golden soldiers' leather rafts."

Zhang Jun hesitated and said, "We don't lack gunpowder, bed crossbow, and god arm crossbow, but we don't have any fuel oil. Can all of them support us with some fuel oil?"

Chen Qing said with a smile: "It's not a big problem, I can support the imperial court with [-] barrels of kerosene."

"Excellent!"

Zhang Jun sighed softly, "When the oil is transported to Lin'an, who dares to say that they are all traitors?"

After a pause, Zhang Jun said again: "About the imperial court, don't you have anything to ask?"

"Of course I am more concerned about Lu Xianggong. How is his situation?"

"I visited him before I set off. Duke Lu is really not in good health. He lives in seclusion in the mansion. According to him, he hopes that his second brother Lu Qingshan will come out and provoke the leader of the Lu family."

Lu Yihao's two brothers, Chen Qing, have met each other. He doesn't like the third brother, Lu Datong, who is arrogant and mean. It is said that he strongly opposed his marriage with Lu Xiu at the beginning, and looked down on generals from the bottom of his heart. Compared with the second brother, Lu Qingshan, he is much more kind. Chen Qing has a good impression of him because he is kind but also shrewd and capable.

If Lu Yihao's health is not good, it must be Lu Qingshan who will take the lead.

"But I heard that Lu Qingshan was demoted to be a county lieutenant, isn't that too much?"

"Isn't this normal? The Lu family is closely related to your fate. If you are demoted because of you, you will also be promoted."

Chen Qing pondered for a moment and asked again: "What will happen if I marry Empress Xiande as my equal wife?"

Zhang Jun was startled, "Could it be that Empress Xiande is still with you?"

"She has always been by my side. Her mother, Qiao Cairen, was killed by Queen Mother Wei, so she is determined not to return to the palace."

Zhang Jun shook his head, "Since you asked me, I'll tell you the truth. Don't say marrying her as an ordinary wife, even if you marry her as a regular wife, it doesn't make any sense. Marrying her is better than marrying Lu Xiu."

"I mean, is it wrong to marry her as an equal wife?"

Zhang Jun still shook his head, "Jingkang was impossible before, but after Jingkang, the imperial concubine's aura has long faded. Do you still remember Zhao Hu'er, Chengde's concubine?"

Chen Qing nodded, and Di Ji, who was rescued by Zheng Ping's father Zheng Tongquan, "I know her, what happened to her?"

"She married the son of Guanglu Temple Minister Tao Hong less than a month after she came back. Last year, she was sent back to the palace by the Tao family because she was barren and no one would marry her anymore. You know what I mean Is it because they were kidnapped by the Kingdom of Jin, and the court officials only sympathized with them verbally, but in fact they all disliked them, even if they were emperor concubines, they would still be divorced by their husbands."

Chen Qing understood. No wonder some of the rescued women were concubines. The imperial court had no intention of taking them back to the palace.

It's no wonder that the imperial court has always ignored Zhao Qiaoyun for so many years. I am afraid that Zhao Gou still hopes that it is best for her to stay in the Kingdom of Jin.

Chen Qing understands, Zhao Qiaoyun doesn't want to be the Empress Dowager, she sees it better than herself!

"I see, I won't mention this matter in the future."

Zhang Jun said with a faint smile: "If you marry her as a common wife, maybe one day, the officials will look at her with admiration."

……

Chen Qing said goodbye and left. Zhang Jun paced back and forth in the lobby with his hands behind his back. He tried Chen Qing a little, and felt his concern for Da Song from the bottom of his heart. Without any conditions attached, it is nonsense to say that he is a traitor. This also gave Zhang Jun a glimmer of hope to solve the crisis in Bashu.

At this time, Li Hui and Huang Guinian walked into the lobby, bowed together and said, "See Xiangguo!"

Zhang Jun waved his hand, "Please sit down, both of you!"

Li Hui and Huang Guinian sat down, and Li Hui reported to Zhang Jun in detail how he negotiated with the other party for the first time, due to space limitations.The pigeon letter he wrote to the court was just the simplest result, and he didn't write a single word in the process.

After listening to the report, Zhang Jun pondered for a moment and asked, "Is it true what they said about five exemptions and three halfs?"

Huang Guinian said from the side: "It's completely true. I visited hundreds of ordinary households successively, and confirmed the government's promise. Xihe Road has been exempted for three years, and Shaanxi Road is also exempted from taxes this year."

"No wonder he can't support 20 troops. Taxes and taxes are all exempted. If I had known about the five-year exemption and three-year halving, I could have deduced that Chen Qing would definitely capture Bashu."

Zhang Jun sighed slightly, and asked again: "Is there a report on Huang Shaoqing's investigation?"

"Yes! I wrote it. There are more than 3 characters. I will take it back to Xiangguo."

"Is there a transcript?"

Huang Guinian hesitated and said: "Chen Xuanfu envoy also valued the investigation report of the humble officer, borrowed a few copies, and the inferior officer will go ask for a copy tomorrow."

"No problem! Just give me a copy."

Zhang Jun replied to Li again: "The negotiation can continue, but the truth is not involved. The truth is behind the scenes. Tell you how to talk?"

Chapter 591 The Game ([-])

Chen Qing returned to the Internal Affairs Hall, took a sip of hot tea, and Zhao Qiaoyun handed him the open letter, "How do officials look at this letter?"

Chen Qing read it once and praised: "Your master is a poet of the Wanyue School, I was worried that you would not be able to write it. It is very good, very powerful, and inspiring. It can be said that it is the best writing in the past few years, especially the last sentence. , 'Just ask the world, who dares to take away the edge of my sword? Who dares to stop my horse and iron hoof? Anyone who violates our military power will be punished even if it is thousands of miles away!' Quite the momentum of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty."

Zhao Qiaoyun was a little embarrassed and said: "The last sentence is indeed borrowed from the words of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, but I don't think there are many people in the army who know this sentence. As long as it can inspire the soldiers, it can be used."

"I am very satisfied with this letter. Later, I will have someone engrave it and print thousands of copies for the whole army."

Chen Qing put the letter aside, gently hugged her in his arms, and said with a smile, "Are you nervous?"

Zhao Qiaoyun's pretty face flushed, she nodded lightly and said, "I'm afraid of being seen."

It will indeed be seen, the tea boy is in the yard, Chen Qing let her go, sat her by the brazier, said with a smile: "I have thought about it, on New Year's Eve, you will offer tea to your wife, and then on the first day of the first month, come with me Sacrifice."

Zhao Qiaoyun blushed even more and nodded slightly.

"You are two years older than Xiu'er, but you still want to call her eldest sister, it's hard for you."

Zhao Qiaoyun whispered: "This is the rule, just like Jiang Changshi is 50 years old, you can see that officials in their [-]s are not the same respectful and respectful, do they call themselves humble?"

"This analogy is good. I won't marry too many women. It may be just the four of you. I don't want internal conflicts, especially things that disrespect my wife are not allowed. Even if you are an imperial concubine, you can't be wronged. thinking."

Zhao Qiaoyun bit her lip and said: "Officer, let me say it again, the imperial concubine Zhao Qiaoyun is dead, I am Zhao Qiaoyun, a civilian daughter, this imperial concubine brings me only shame and nightmare memories, and it reminds me of the girl in the palace." The woman who killed my mother, I hate the title Di Ji."

Chen Qing nodded, "It's getting late, you go back!"

"Then I'll go first!"

When Zhao Qiaoyun walked to the door, Chen Qing stopped her again, and smiled at her: "I hope you will continue to help me here after I get married."

Zhao Qiaoyun smiled sweetly, turned around and left in high spirits.