Volume 5 Chapter 22: Heartfelt
There is no war issue.
The previous rumors and the issue of establishing a crown prince were a bit too sensitive. The political community at the Imperial Academy, which was mainly composed of students and elders from Tokyo, still attached great importance to feudal moral traditions. They would inevitably be concerned about the dignity of the officials, and thus appear to be restrained in such occasions.
Therefore, as the last major event in the seventh year of Jianyan, the Imperial Academy's political affairs itself went on uneventfully... The only ups and downs occurred during the lunch break, when several common people from other places came to the outside of the Imperial Academy and knelt down to file a complaint with the emperor. Choosing this time to file a complaint seemed to be a long-planned move, but the court also had a very complete system for such matters, and there were people to take over and deal with them.
However, just because other people don't cause trouble for the emperor and the important officials at the central government doesn't mean that the emperor and the important officials at the central government won't cause trouble for other people.
That afternoon, as the fourth session of the Imperial Academy's Political Consultative Conference was about to come to a successful conclusion, Lu Haowen, Prime Minister Lu, slowly stood up, walked to the center of the venue, and with just two sentences, announced the secret system of establishing a succession on behalf of Emperor Zhao.
The so-called "after discussion between the emperor and the important ministers of the central government, the crown prince was appointed without making it public; two files of the imperial edict were made, one of which the emperor carried with him, and the other was tied under the beam of the Wende Hall. If anything unexpected happened, the important ministers of the court would open them together to support the establishment of the new emperor"... That was all.
After saying this, Emperor Zhao and his followers all dispersed, leaving behind countless middle and low-ranking officials, students from the Imperial College, and famous scholars from Tokyo all in a mess.
Many people didn't even hear clearly what was going on!
However, the emperor had already left the Imperial College and dispersed in front of the gate with his important ministers. Then they went back to their homes and looked after their wives.
So far, everything is really fine in the seventh year of Jianyan. Even if there is something, we have to wait until the eighth year of Jianyan.
Turning back to the present, after leaving the Imperial College, Emperor Zhao's procession was seen off. Not to mention others, only the seven or eight senior cavalry generals behind Qu Duan, the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Cavalry, gathered together on the overly wide Imperial Street, looking a little dazed for a moment... Like everyone else, they were also a little confused by this secret system of appointing a crown prince.
But fortunately, as an officer, he naturally had to avoid such matters, and was too lazy to rush to the residences of superiors or important officials, or gather together for heated discussions like other officials.
"Why are you still following me?"
After looking north with his hands behind his back for a while, Qu Da suddenly turned around, frowned and spoke to his subordinates.
You didn't say break up?
Everyone was speechless, but brothers like Zhang Zhongfu and Zhang Zhongyan had followed him for many years. Even Liu Qi and Li Shifu were now accustomed to his mouth, and no one spoke out to refute him.
"I was just about to ask the governor. It's already the New Year holiday. In the next few days, even soldiers whose families live near Tokyo will have to go home to celebrate the New Year... Since you have nothing to do, do you want to go out and have some fun together?" After all, Liu Qi was born into a military family, so he would be the most appropriate person.
"Where are we going to have fun?" Qu Duan's mind was moved, but he saw another group of military officers coming out from the corner of his eyes, so he immediately changed his tone and stood on the Imperial Street in front of the Imperial College. "Even if we are going to have fun, why do so many people have to gather together? It's the New Year. Those who know us know that we are colleagues, but those who don't know me will think that I am narrow-minded and want you to serve me during the holiday, otherwise I will feel uncomfortable. What's worse, there will inevitably be civil officials who see us from afar and write a letter to report us, saying that I am forming a gang and trying to get you to participate in party struggles! Don't you know that the Song Dynasty was torn apart by party struggles? Without the struggle between the new and old parties, how could there be the Jingkang Incident?!"
After saying this, Qu Dazi walked away with a righteous look on his face.
However, Liu Qi, Li Shifu, the Zhang brothers and several other cavalry commanders just looked at each other and didn't bother to pay attention to their immediate superiors whom they had long been accustomed to. They gathered together and went to the Ma Xing Street area.
Since Qu Duan left alone, Wang Yan, another of the Tenth Jiedushi in Beijing who had just graduated from the Imperial College, could only stand at the door with a group of embarrassed senior military officers from the Eight Character Army, their faces turning pale with anger... It took him half a day to recover, but he simply waved his sleeves and went home alone.
Even many civil officials, after being awakened by Qu Da's shout, gave up the idea of gathering together for fun and feasting and dispersed on the spot.
However, Qu Da held his head high and rode his Iron Elephant with great vigor all the way. When he reached Donghua Gate, he continued northward until he reached between the Genyue Ruins and the Yeonbokgung Palace. He was about to reach Jingyuan's house, but when he saw that there were fewer and fewer people around him, he felt a little bored... It was a rare holiday and it was still early. Why should he go home pretending to be dead if he didn't go to Maxing Street to find people to drink and eat fish soup?
But now that we have come this far, is there any point in turning back?
Just as he was thinking, Qu Da suddenly looked up and saw a man riding a mule in front of him. He was dressed in ordinary and simple clothes. He first came towards him, and then actually left the main road and went into the ruins of Genyue. Naturally, he was furious:
"Xia Hou! Where are you going dressed like this?"
It turned out that the one who wanted to avoid Qu Da was none other than Xiahou Yuan, a trusted officer of Qu Duan who came out in casual clothes.
I would like to add one more thing here. In those days, it was impossible for the imperial court to completely clean up the feudal elements in the army. Especially at the stage from generals to commanders, after Emperor Zhao focused his attention on the grassroots level of the army, this was almost the layer with the most obvious feudal elements in the army.
The commanders of various places commanded an army and held military power as generals, sharing financial and personnel power with the court. Both sides tried to keep it a secret and not cause trouble for the court. The commanders were second only to the commanders and the court, and they still had a great deal of say.
Even in the special case of Li Yanxian, who had not been inspected for many years, the court only provided him with military equipment, food and other military supplies according to the regulations of 20,000 imperial army and 30,000 imperial army.
The specific division and distribution are left to Li Yanxian to decide.
In fact, everyone knows that Li Yanxian's army is divided into three parts. He has 7,000 to 8,000 core troops under the Imperial Camp, stationed on both sides of the Yellow River in Shanzhou, and they are given priority in supply. The remaining money, food and military supplies are divided into two parts, half for the Zhai family from Luoyang, and the other half for the righteous army in Zhongtiao Mountain, Taihang Mountain, or even further north... Li Yanxian himself probably doesn't know the exact number, but it must be much more than 20,000 or 30,000.
Even when Dong Xian, who was in the Zhai system, won the battle, he took advantage of the opportunity of the army fighting on all fronts to demand to be promoted to the commander-in-chief. It was not that simple. It itself meant taking advantage of the situation to break away from the Zhai system and become a regular army.
Only Emperor Zhao and the imperial court were so foolish that they were happy to see it happen and just went with the flow.
Now, speaking of trusted officers, this is naturally an excellent feudal tradition since ancient times. Emperor Zhao had trusted commanding officers before him, and the generals who were full of feudal remnants also had trusted officers before them. Most of these people were the generals' fellow townsmen, their own soldiers, their descendants, or all three.
Han Shizhong had Jie Yuan from the beginning, and after Jie Yuan became Jie Yuan, he had Cheng Min; Yue Fei also had Wang Gui, Tang Huai, and Zhang Xian at the beginning, and after they became powerful he also had a trusted officer like Bi Jin who was in charge of miscellaneous matters in front of him and led his personal soldiers; even Wang Yan, who was just ridiculed by Qu Duan, whose Eight Character Army started out differently from his own, had a general named Xiao Fan who played a similar role by his side, and now he has also become a commander, but he has become separated from Wang Yan because of this.
As for Qu Duan himself, he was different from the others... He rose to power in the chaos, and within two years of his rise, he was brought back by Hu Yin and Wanqi Xie, sent by Emperor Zhao. He was in a situation where he could be killed or not, but fortunately he was whipped in public in front of the Wende Hall, and then he was idle for another year before he finally led the army again. Then after he re-established the Imperial Camp Cavalry and became the commander-in-chief, he never had enough discipline. It was only after he pacified the Western Xia that he gradually became more confident.
As the saying goes, when one prospers, all prosper; when one suffers, all suffer. Such ups and downs have made his trusted lieutenant Xiahou Yuan still a trusted lieutenant for many years.
Thinking back then, when Wu Jie captured Qu Duan, Xiahou Yuan was the one who followed to the end. Although he has survived now, he still needs a big battle to gain military merit before he can leave Qu Duan and go out to work as an official.
"Why did the Jiedu come back so early?"
Xiahou Yuan had no choice but to turn back after Qu Duan called out his name, but he pretended nothing had happened, got off the mule calmly, stood beside the iron elephant, crossed his hands and asked, looking honest. "Is everything ready at the Imperial College?"
When Qu Duan saw this man's appearance, his original intention to mock him disappeared immediately... It's not that he didn't want to mock him, but he knew that no matter what he said, the other party would play dumb, and no one could do anything to the other. What's more, he was the most trusted person among his friends, and it was not easy to hit or scold him... So he simply frowned at Tie Xiang and said, "It's already been done at the Imperial College. Let me ask you, before I left this morning, I asked you to go to Yuetai to check the duty list, and then privately investigate the annual festival rewards. Did you do it seriously?"
"I tried hard, but I didn't succeed." Xiahou Yuan was serious when he saw his governor asking about serious matters. "People from the Imperial City Department, the Military Control Department, and the Official Affairs Department all went there today... I didn't dare to say anything. I accompanied them for half a day and just came back."
"Oh." Qu Da understood, but continued to face him seriously. "Did you find out anything?"
"There is no trouble with Deputy Commander-in-Chief Li's (Li Shifu) lightly-armed foreign troops. They are just grateful for the emperor's kindness. The situation with Zhang Da and Zhang Er (Zhang Zhongfu and Zhang Zhongyan) has always been looked after by the governor himself, so there is nothing wrong with them. On the contrary, in the two armored cavalry teams led by Deputy Commander-in-Chief Liu (Liu Qi), there seem to be some accounts and personnel discussions, which were found out by the Military Control Commission." Xiahou Yuan said what he meant.
Qu Duan frowned again: "Those newly recruited foreign cavalry are all country bumpkins. It's their first year in Tokyo, so of course they think everything is good. Liu Qi is from a military family, and his subordinates are all such dirty things. He knows it in his heart but has no power to change it. It's like a dog can't change its eating habits... It's all expected."
Xiahou Yuan just lowered his head in front of the mule and pretended not to hear.
"Whatever!"
Qu Duan thought about it again and shook his head. "The government wants to take advantage of the New Year holiday to catch us off guard. It means they don't want us to get involved. We can just pretend we don't know... We will have our say after the New Year."
"The governor is right. I think so too." Xiahou Yuan responded immediately.
Qu Duan nodded immediately, but soon raised his eyebrows again: "So you are going to have fun by yourself? Are you going to Ma Xing Street to have a drink?"
Xiahou Yuan had no choice but to answer honestly: "I have already arranged to meet with a few colleagues in the camp... Besides, it is already evening, and there is no Cuju match in the north of the city. I can only watch the exhibition match tomorrow afternoon."
Qu Duan remained cold and silent throughout.
Xiahou Yuan knew what the other party meant, but he would rather die than mention it... If he really asked for Qu Duan to go, would they, a group of officers, be able to have fun or suffer? Would he, Xiahou Yuan, still be able to stay in the army... So after fooling the other party with a few words, he could only pretend to be stupid and stand there without saying a word.
The two of them were in a stalemate for a while. Qu Duan was rarely so angry with others that his stomach ached, but he was helpless. He could only shake his sleeves, urge the Iron Elephant under his crotch, and go home.
However, just as Xiahou Yuan climbed onto the mule with a sense of relief, he heard someone scolding him from behind: "You can only listen to a song when you call a prostitute! Otherwise, if the emperor finds out from the Imperial City Department, you may never be able to become a commander in your lifetime!"
Xiahou Yuan nodded randomly and left in a hurry.
And without mentioning how Xiahou Yuan went to Ma Xing Street for revenge consumption, let's just say that on the other side, Qu Duan returned home to Jing Yuan, where his old wife, young son, and maids came to greet him with joy.
But after experiencing the previous two incidents, Qu Da himself just felt that his home was a little lonely.
He looked around the door for a long time, and his wife was completely confused. Then he realized that the house awarded by the government in Jingyuan was exceptionally large, and his family had few people... There was nothing he could do about it, just like Yue Fei beheaded his uncle for the sake of military discipline, and Qu Da also beheaded his uncle for the sake of military discipline... Therefore, unlike other important officials who have countless sons, nephews and relatives, his family is inevitably short of people, and most of them are old soldiers.
As for these old soldiers, those who had families were taking care of their own families at this time, while those who did not have families had already taken advantage of the excitement to have fun, so why would they hang around in the mansion?
Of course it seems deserted.
Just like that, Qu Da felt more and more unhappy. He just changed his clothes in a hurry and went to the study to summarize the main points of today's political affairs... Unexpectedly, when he came to the study, he suddenly saw an invitation. Then, as if possessed by ghosts, he spoke directly to his family and walked out.
After going out of the door, Qu Duan just walked around Jingyuan for a while, and then came to a house with the same layout as his own, and then walked into the house with pride.
This was actually the home of Grand Chancellor Zhao Shiqi ... It turned out that just a few days ago, Zhao Shiqi's eldest son Zhao Bufan was suddenly transferred to the imperial camp, and joined the cavalry, becoming Qu Da's direct subordinate, which led to this ceremonial invitation.
In fact, the day when the invitation was sent was based on the possibility that there would be a large-scale gathering after the Imperial Academy's political study session, and it was a day that Qu Duan would most likely not see the invitation.
However, the Zhao family themselves did not expect that their careful planning would coincide with Qu Da's over-the-top behavior. He was one of the ten military governors and the commander-in-chief of the imperial camp, but on the first night of the New Year holiday, he didn't even have a place to party and drink, and in the end he actually made trouble in their home.
There’s nothing we can do even if they come. Can we still fight them out?
Can’t beat him?
Therefore, Da Zong Zheng, who had just returned, hurriedly prepared a banquet and asked someone to invite his father-in-law Wang Shuzhan and his son Wang Ruohai to come together. He was planning to rely on this father and son and use the face of his son's brother-in-law Hu Hongxiu and Hu Jinglie to act as a go-between to wipe the slate clean.
"how?"
After three rounds of drinking, they had some snacks and drank two sips of hot mutton soup. It was time to talk, and Qu Da really spoke first. "Zhao Bufan, now you know what it means to have a change of fortune, right?"
Zhao Bufan looked up blankly, but just looked at his father-in-law and biological father, not knowing how to respond.
"Don't think too much. I'm not talking about our little drunken feud, but the inner story of your family..." Qu Duan raised his hand and pointed at the people present. "Before, among your family's in-laws, the most prominent one was your father, the great clan leader, and the Wang family relied on their in-laws to rely on your Zhao family, and then Hu Hongxiu and Hu Jinglie relied on their in-laws to rely on the Wang family. What was the result? As a result, once a great man was born, he was easily defeated. Now Hu Jinglie is known as one of the three Hus of the dynasty. He is young and has become a governor. His future is limitless. Instead, your two families have to rely on your in-laws to rely on him!"
Not to mention Zhao Bufan, even Zhao Shiqi, Wang Shuzhan, Wang Ruohai, and Zhao Bufan's younger brothers who were sitting at a separate table in the outer hall were all stunned.
In the end, it was still Zhao Shi who managed to control the situation. He twirled his beard slightly and then sighed, "This is how my life will be. It is really a blessing for my son to have such a relative."
Qu Duan put down the wine glass he had been drinking from, shook his head and sneered: "Grand Zongzheng, please stop making trouble here. You can rest assured. Although I, Qu Da, sometimes act and speak in a rude manner and have done wrong things, I am not arrogant to my superiors and I am not bullying my subordinates... I don't know who stuffed your son into my cavalry, but since he was stuffed in, it turned out to be a mistake. You expected me to do something for the sake of Hu Jinglie, but it turned out to be the opposite !"
Everyone at the table was in high spirits, and Uncle Wang even winked at his eldest son-in-law. The latter understood and immediately stood up, respectfully offering wine to his immediate superior, Qu Jiedu.
Qu Duan also accepted the other party's glass of wine openly, pointed at the other party and laughed again: "Since I accepted your wine, I am no longer an outsider. Tell me the truth, were you a little uneasy at first because you joined the cavalry, but when you thought of your brother-in-law's achievements, you felt like you couldn't let go? That's why you are so embarrassed?"
Zhao Bufan was slightly embarrassed, but still nodded slightly: "I have this intention... The governor doesn't know that the future of the royal family is embarrassing, and not everyone can study and enter the school like the number one scholar. If I have this opportunity, I will not let it go no matter what... What's more, as the governor said, my brother-in-law's achievements are right in front of me, and I have also been a pioneer since I was young, how can I not be envious?"
"In fact, the government is not that harsh on you royal family members." Qu Duan added casually. "Whether you go to school or join the army, the government is happy to see it happen. It's just that they don't want you to occupy the fame and official titles without serving the country..."
"Who wouldn't want to serve the country?" Upon hearing this, Wang Shuzhan, the former Minister of State Affairs who had never held an official position, finally broke down. He put down his wine glass and lamented. "Jiedu, we are full of passion to serve the country, but we have no way to do so!"
"You call that serving the country?" Qu Duan sipped two mouthfuls of mutton soup and sneered even more. "The government likes the original school, why? Isn't it because they value the terms of seeking truth from facts and utilitarianism? But you are so good, you create an alchemist, this thing is utilitarian, but can it be regarded as seeking truth from facts? You deserve it!"
Uncle Wang’s face turned pale… It turned out that as early as the second half of this year, the government had published a short article in Lu Benzhong’s tabloid. It used the alchemy as an example to describe the principle of melting gold with mercury and then precipitating it. Then it proposed the conjecture that the solid, liquid and gaseous states of matter change with temperature, and the solubility or insolubility of various substances. Finally, it encouraged everyone to summarize the experimental information in this regard in the tabloid… After reading the tabloid, Uncle Wang conducted an experiment himself. Seeing that the gold was really dissolved in the liquid mercury, he was depressed as if struck by a thunderbolt in a clear sky.
Until now, whenever Wang Shuzhan thought about how Emperor Zhao had already seen through the alchemist's scam but still forced himself not to expose it, he couldn't help but want to slap himself twice... Everyone knew that because of this shit, he would never be able to turn things around in his life.
"That incident was also because Zhidao (Uncle Wang's pen name Zhan) was careless for a moment and fell into the trap of a swindler." Seeing that his relative's scar was exposed, Da Zongzheng Yu obviously couldn't bear it, so he simply spoke out to interfere.
"If you say you don't notice, what does it mean that the Grand Master repeatedly advised the emperor to worship the Eight Tombs?" Qu Duanfu turned back to look at the Grand Master, but still sneered. "The emperor hated the two emperors so much because of the Jingkang Incident. All he wanted in his life was to succeed in the Northern Expedition and unify the nine provinces so that he could make a clear distinction with the former Song Dynasty. When did the Grand Master realize this?"
“No matter when I realized it, I had gone against the emperor’s wishes. I had a clear conscience at that time, and I feel free to do so today. Why should I bring up the past again?” Zhao Shiyi replied calmly, twirling his beard.
Qu Da took a look at the Grand Master and was somewhat convinced. He walked around him and reminded Zhao Bufan again: "If you can learn a little from your father's temperament, it will be useful when you join the army... And just as your father said, the past is over, your family's situation is still very good, and no matter what happened in the past, the first major plan in the future is the Northern Expedition. With your background, no one will dare to mess with your achievements. As long as you work hard, how can you not fight for a future?"
"What the governor said is very true." Zhao Bufan quickly stood up and prepared to pour the wine again.
"It doesn't matter if you die." Qu Duan took the wine, glanced at the scene in the outer hall, and laughed even more. "Anyway, your father has a lot of sons, and he wants to use you as a demonstration of his repentance..."
Zhao Bufan, who had just drunk a glass of wine, immediately blushed, and even the Grand Chancellor Zhao Shilu was embarrassed for a moment.
Qu Duan drank the wine by himself, but then looked at Wang Shuzhan and his son Wang Ruohai opposite him again, and then he seemed to be thinking about something for a moment.
Wang Shuzhan was startled for a moment, and his heart was slightly moved, but he actually stood up on his own initiative, and then, regardless of his status, he personally walked around to the other side to pour wine for the other party, and then said, "Does Qu Jiedu have anything to teach me?"
"I remembered something."
Qu Duan calmly took the wine from the other party and drank it all in one gulp. At this time, he was obviously drunk. Then he raised his eyebrows slightly, but directly grabbed the other party's sleeve and asked jokingly, "Does Wang Taichang still want to enter the Secret Pavilion in this life? Or can your son enter the Secret Pavilion in this life?"
Wang Shuzhan was very excited and immediately replied earnestly: "If you can do this, I will never let down Qu Jiedu's kindness in this life."
Hearing this, his son Wang Ruohai also came over and listened attentively.
"Don't remember me, this is a win-win for both sides." Qu Duan shook his head and smiled, while the father and son of the Zhao family beside him hurried to pick up the dishes, pretending not to see it. "The overall situation now is the Northern Expedition, and the credit for the Northern Expedition will either be sought through military strategy like you two sons-in-law, or through financial means. This is something that everyone knows... In fact, Wanqi Jinglüe had suggested it that day, but the emperor took the initiative and missed it. Now there is still a chance, don't you father and son have any intention?"
"If there is an opportunity, we are willing to do our best." Uncle Wang was puzzled. "But the court has already used every possible means to increase revenue, so how can we still have room to serve?"
"It's not about asking you to serve, nor is it about means, but about people's hearts." Qu Duan smiled. "Mr. Wang, think about it... Your two sons-in-law and several sons are all talented, and it's hard to tell who is better than the other. Why was it that Hu Jinglie was able to achieve great success first?"
Just as Wang Shuzhan was about to speak, Qu Duan had already answered himself, "He had joined the army during the Jingkang period, fought against the Jin people with weapons, and saw life and death on the front line of the city. He knew that this was a chaotic world, so he plunged into military affairs... and although he stumbled and was too honest, he was one of the first scholars in the world who knew about military affairs. This is what is called acting in time. Then, last year, the things he had accumulated in his heart for seven or eight years, and the temperament he had tempered, finally paid off... This is called acting in time with the great fortune, and accumulating a lot, so this was bound to happen sooner or later."
Uncle Wang and Zhan nodded sincerely, which was rare. Even the father and son of Da Zongzheng, who were pretending to eat, felt a little emotional.
"Besides, don't underestimate the difference between one day earlier and one day later, one year earlier and one year later. One day earlier can make a world of difference, and one year earlier can make a difference between life and death." Qu Duan was obviously drunk. "Han Shizhong was one year earlier than me, and he was the best in the world. Yue Pengju joined the army when the Jurchens first moved south. Even if he was just a death-defying soldier under Liu Ziyu's father, he had experienced the entire Song-Jin War. Without this qualification, how could he become the second in the world? Even if I, Qu Da, hadn't made a mistake and wasted a year in between, I wouldn't dare to say that I would not let these two people climb over me, but how could I let Li Yanxian be ahead of me?"
This is the absolute truth!
But Zhao Bufan and his son looked at each other but said nothing.
On the other hand, although Uncle Wang and his son Zhan were a little anxious, they could only nod their heads repeatedly: "Just as the governor said, the governor should also have a four-character banner!"
Hearing this, Qu Duan simply threw away the other person's sleeve and stomped his feet... Although he usually didn't bother to pretend, this drunken loss of composure was really rare:
"A true man is born into this world, and he lives for generations, not just this one lifetime! After the turmoil in the world, I was determined to do great things and become famous for generations, but I had a high opinion of myself, and I felt that everything should be done by me. I only saw others as obstacles, and I didn't even take the government and the court seriously... Outsiders said that I was domineering, I admit it, and they said that I had a rebellious heart, I dare not deny it either."
"It's all in the past." Even the Grand Master came to persuade him.
Qu Duan ignored him completely. At this point, he just picked up the Lanqiao Fengyue wine pot beside him, tilted his head back and gulped down a few mouthfuls, then threw it on the ground, and continued to sigh with a mouth full of alcohol:
"But who would have thought that someone as arrogant as me would actually meet this emperor? The strength of an emperor does not lie in his talent or virtue, but in his ability to always be tolerant of others and use the heroes of the world... I have never been convinced that this emperor could use Han Shizhong, Yue Fei, or even Li Yanxian. Everyone knows that such people are heroes of the world... But I never thought that the emperor could use Zhang Jun, an old man obsessed with money, a bandit like Zhang Rong, a crude warrior like Wang De, and could tolerate useless trash like you without finding fault with you and chopping you down or confiscating your property. In the end, he could even let bygones be bygones and use a domineering person like me! Then I can only admit it!"
The two pairs of father and son nearby wanted to curse at the useless waste, but when they heard the last sentence of the other party, they didn't know what to say.
"Mr. Wang." Qu Duan finished speaking in one breath, feeling much more relaxed, and he grabbed Wang Shuzhan's sleeve again and said, "Just now I mentioned that, you know, experience or not, there is a world of difference... Have you ever thought that if Empress Dowager Yuanyou is coming, those people in Yangzhou will most likely be unable to sit still there... These people have been hiding behind for many years and enjoying wealth and luxury, and have never seen any war or danger. Aren't they a group of fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered? It's not like Tokyo, where even an honest person like the Grand Master has been so experienced that the government can't catch him even if they want to?"
"Qu Jiedu means..."
"What I mean is... the emperor has never let anyone down. As long as you don't involve the queen mother, no matter how you arrange it, as long as you give the emperor the handle of that group of people, so that the emperor can make a fortune, do you still worry that you and your son have no future? Even if the emperor still remembers the alchemist's mess, he will take revenge on your son! He will never sell you out!" At this point, Qu Duan couldn't help but flicked the other's waist, which was already bloated. "If you can make money , it is equivalent to bringing in a real alchemist... Is what happened that day still a big deal?"
Wang Shuzhan and his son Wang Ruohai were both thoughtful.
Zhao Shiqi and his son next to them wanted to speak, but in the end they remained silent.
After getting drunk, everyone went home.
A few days later, the New Year arrived and the eighth year of Jianyan arrived as scheduled. Before the Lantern Festival, Empress Dowager Yuanyou, who had made great contributions to the enthronement of Emperor Zhao, finally arrived in Tokyo. Accompanying her were countless powerful and wealthy people who had fled to Yangzhou during the Jingkang Incident.
The last group of people from the prosperous era of the past, who were also the most conservative and cowardly group, finally returned to the prosperous Tokyo after seven or eight years.
You know what, maybe it’s because it’s filled with feudalism and monarchy... The air in Tokyo seems so sweet and fresh.
