Chapter 436: Darkness
Meng Gong hesitated for a moment and said: In fact, he and Yu Jie wanted to go to Chengdu to work, and another reason was Lin'an Prefecture. Old Meng stepped on his feet and pointed to Jiangnan.
He said that someone from Mr. Shi had contacted him, and he was still dreaming of separatist rule in Liangzhe.
And all the officials here were appointed by the housekeeper, and he and Yu Jie relied on emotional connections to get things done. Now that the court has changed dynasties, it is obviously not conducive for the New Song court to continue to stay here.
Zhao Yulin understood what he meant. This was because they felt that it was difficult for them to step forward to deal with the situation, or that they were unable to maneuver or reconcile the situation, so they simply decided to retreat.
He smiled and said it was okay, so Lord Meng went to Chengdu with peace of mind. The New Song Dynasty would definitely show the utmost sincerity in dealing with the affairs of Liangzhe.
The next day, Meng Gong convened a government meeting to discuss matters. After entrusting Jiankang Prefecture to Zhao Yulin, he and Cao Youwan immediately rushed to Pizhou to meet Yu Jie.
Zhao Yulin was not in a hurry to do anything after taking over Jiankang Prefecture. He simply told everyone to do what they needed to do and then dispersed, each to go about their own business.
At night, Chu Yuxuan from the Shunfeng Action Camp came over secretly.
Chu Yuxuan used to be the captain of Zhao Yulin’s guard. This man was meticulous, so Zhao Yulin released him to be the chief of the Jiankang Shunfeng operations camp.
Chu Yuxuan secretly came to Zhao Yulin's residence and reported a shocking secret. The chief steward of Shunfeng Office of Jiankang Prefecture was suspected to have an affair with Lin'an Prefecture in Jiangnan.
He said that the chief steward was called Xie Wuhui, and the name sounded like he was a special agent. This person was from the Imperial City, and Chu Yuxuan discovered that he had contact with the envoy during the time when Yang Daquan from Jiangnan arrived.
Zhao Yulin was also touched when he heard this. He came to Jiankang in the dark and knew nothing. Shunfeng was an important agency that gathered information from the court and secretly monitored the movements of officials. He couldn't let it fool him.
However, stability is paramount at the moment and must be handled with caution.
He told Yuxuan: Jiankang was recovered through peaceful unification, and these officials were all meritorious officials. Without solid evidence, no one should be moved.
Chu Yuxuan started to mutter, thinking that they couldn't do this or that when they came to Jiankang Prefecture. They saw a huge amount of money being lost from the court, officials doing nothing but corruption, thugs running rampant on the streets. The brothers' eyes were bleeding, and they were all full of anger. They felt that they couldn't live as happily as they did with the young master.
Zhao Yulin couldn't help laughing and asked him if he felt aggrieved. When he was his bodyguard, did he think that he was too demanding and too strict?
The young man smiled honestly and said no, no.
He said that this is society, this is the world, we have to deal with all kinds of environments, and how can it be smooth sailing to do something well?
He told Xiao Chu not to think too much and to focus on patrol and garrison, which were the key points. He planned to transfer all the garrisons to the border and ask the Guangdong and Guangxi troops brought by Cao Youwan to garrison Jiankang Prefecture. He could relax when the two armies changed their defenses.
Chu Yuxuan suddenly came to his senses, said goodbye happily and left.
When Zhao Yulin returned to the room, Hu Lan had already fallen asleep.
Since this woman and he became estranged in Kaifeng, the two of them have distanced themselves from each other, and suddenly they have been downgraded from passionate lovers to acquaintances. If it weren't for the status of husband and wife , I'm afraid they would have to sleep in separate rooms.
He fumbled to take off his clothes and got into bed, but the little woman took the initiative to talk to him.
Hulan told him that she was going to study in Chengdu, and General Meng's wife was also going to study in the academy in Chengdu, so she wanted to go back to the Caotang Academy in Chengdu to study. The Ministry of Personnel of the New Song Dynasty had a rule that only graduates from the academy could become scholars, and those who did not graduate could only be staff officers.
This was Hulan's way of scolding him, expressing her dissatisfaction with Zhao Yulin's arrangement. When she was in office in Kaifeng, Zhao Yulin asked her to be Chen Chen's advisor.
At that time, he took into consideration that Hu Lan had just started working in government affairs and needed to familiarize herself with the situation first, so he made Hu Lan Chen Chen's assistant in charge of finance. Unexpectedly, the little woman still made a note of him.
Zhao Yulin reached out to embrace Hu Lan, but she refused and pushed him away, telling them to lie down and talk.
He said: That's right, the New Song Dynasty has a rule that one must graduate from university to become a scholar. Go back and continue your studies. You have already been in school for a year, so you will complete your studies soon.
Hu Lan told him that Madam Meng also wanted to go to school, and General Meng hoped that Madam Meng would go out to work like them, saying that the rules of the New Song Dynasty should not be broken.
Zhao Yulin said "hmm" and said that to be a good supervisor of a place: to make a decision, one must first go down and inspect clearly, think carefully, and act decisively. Her grandfather .
In the future, when promoting officials of the New Song Dynasty, he would add a requirement that all candidates, regardless of gender, must have served in the army for at least two years, and those who had participated in actual combat would be given priority. He wanted officials to pass on the excellent military discipline of the Shenwei Army as a rule of conduct for officials.
In the past, the Song Dynasty court placed too much emphasis on civil servants governing the country, which led to a court full of endless quarrels that harmed the country and the people. He had to slowly change this.
Hu Lan twisted his body, said "hmm", and continued to listen to him.
Zhao Yulin hesitated for a moment and said: Her brother has returned to the royal court to fight for the Khanship, and it is estimated that there will be no results. Guiyou's mother has been running around in the royal court to win over Guiyou, hoping to help him take the throne. In this fight for the Khanship, either Guiyou will take the throne or his mother, Laimazhen, will rule the country from behind the scenes.
Hu Lan was startled when he heard this, and then he lay down and calmed down immediately.
Zhao Yulin then uttered the word "but" and made a big turn. He said: However, the strength of their family should be further enhanced in this change of Khanship. However, the Mongolian Empire will turn to decline, and the grassland will return to our New Song Dynasty sooner or later.
Study hard and wait to become the king of the desert.
Hu Lan remained calm and did not respond.
At Cuiping Mountain in Yibin, Ma Linger asked for leave from Lord Cao before the New Year and came back early to celebrate the New Year with the elderly and children. Now that the Lantern Festival is approaching, she has to go back to work.
This woman devoted herself to Zhao Yulin and worked hard for state affairs. She managed the finances of the New Song Dynasty in an orderly manner. Taxes increased year by year, and the country's financial revenue has reached nearly 300 million.
After returning to Cuiping Mountain, Ma Ling'er became the kind mistress again, leading a large group of children to laugh and play. The neighbors all praised Ma Ling'er for her virtuousness. As the Minister of Transport of the New Song Dynasty, she was not at all arrogant. She chatted happily with the grandpas, grandmas, uncles and aunts on Laozhai Street. When Zhao Yulin's mother found out, she was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling, and praised her virtuous daughter-in-law to everyone she met.
On Cuiping Mountain, Ma Linger took care of everything personally, and Wu Jing and Chen Liu helped with painting and tiling. They renovated the mansion and made perfect arrangements for the children's lives.
When they were having dinner together in the evening, she saw a table full of babies and shed tears of joy.
Wu Jing thought Ma Ling was missing her elder brother Ma Yuan, so she immediately came over and said: Auntie, our elder brother is doing well. He lives in Jiankang Prefecture, not far from our father. They must be able to see each other often, so our elder brother is at ease.
Ma Linger smiled, touched Wu Jing's hair and said, "The little girl is really sensible. Her elder brother has written to her and he misses his younger brothers and sisters."
Then call us to eat, your father will supervise you.
On New Year's Eve, Ma Ling'er and Uncle Lu discussed and arranged a banquet with a thousand tables on Cuiping Mountain. Fireworks were set off on both sides of the river to welcome the New Year, and elders and relatives gathered at the docks on both sides to drink wine, tea and watch the fireworks.
Lu Youpeng was very happy and told Chen Xian that he hadn't had this kind of time for several years. It would be more lively only when Mrs. Ma Ling came back.
Chen Zhongshun was so drunk that he said, "This year we have a good harvest, and next year we will have his Gujing Yuye at the banquet for a thousand tables, because the sauce-flavored liquor is so delicious."
The older generations all laughed heartily.
After the New Year, Yibin received the "Chengdu Weekly". When it saw that Zhao Feiyan had become the king, the city immediately became lively and the whole city was setting off firecrackers to celebrate.
Zhao Yulin's father, the old scholar, was walking in the yard again, teaching his wife and children a lesson. The family gathered in the living room. The old scholar covered his mouth and coughed twice, then warned in a deep voice: Our ancestors have accumulated virtues, and our third daughter-in-law has become the ruler of the country, which has brought great honor to our family. Our family must abide by the rules of the court, and must not act rashly and violate the rules. Remember, if anyone breaks the law, I will never go to the court to ask for mercy and forgiveness.
Haha, the news that Zhao Feiyan became the king quickly spread to every corner of Yibin City. Zhao Yulin's mother and the Zhao family were so happy that his father even gathered the clansmen to open the ancestral hall, burned incense to worship the ancestors, and then invited the clansmen to the firewood chicken at the dock to gather together and have a great time.
The Lantern Festival was approaching, and Ma Linger packed her bags and took her children with her on a journey west to Chengdu. His mother was reluctant to let her daughter-in-law leave, so she stood at the dock, looking at the direction of the official ship going upstream.
The old scholar said that there was no sign of the boat, so we should go back, the river water is so cold...
In Jiankang Prefecture in Jiangdong, Zhao Yulin was also at the dock to welcome Meng Gong and Yu Jie back. As soon as the group entered the government office and sat down, Yu Jie told him: He had made up his mind, and they would go back to Chengdu first to take a look.
Zhao Yulin smiled and nodded and said yes. He had reported all matters to the Central Court in Chengdu and believed that the court would make proper arrangements.
Yu Jie made a sincere self-reflection. He said: You don't know until you compare. The comparison makes you shocked. His subordinates saw that the East Group had achieved brilliant results but the casualties were far lower than those of the Jiangnan Group he led. They all knew that they should learn well. Several young subordinates even went to Shangshu Miao to go to the military camp in Cuiping Mountain for training.
Zhao Yulin said that water has no constant state, soldiers have no constant state, and heroes cannot be judged by one battle. In war, there will definitely be sacrifices, and Yu Gong is not worried.
Yu Jie shook his head vigorously, muttering that they were all living beings, how could he remain indifferent? His fighting method was far behind.
Meng Gong also said that now it is no longer a matter of a few fierce generals leading the charge with swords, spears, sticks and clubs to decide the outcome. Not only is the Shenwei Army changing, but even the Mongolian Army is also responding to the changes . The Northern Barbarians have also manufactured a large number of new firearms, and that huge Kongming lantern is not ordinary. We should indeed adjust our fighting style.
Zhao Yulin was very pleased. These were all veterans who had fought in many battles. Their ideological transformation was very important. His efforts were worth it to receive such an evaluation of the new army from them.
