Zhui Xu

February 16th, Weisheng, Qinggong.

Every day's official business is piled up like a mountain.

The weather was still gloomy and cold, but snow-covered peach blossoms were blooming in the courtyard. Lou Shuwan seized the time to correct the mountains of notebooks on the desk, and only occasionally raised her head to relax her mind for a while. The peach blossoms in full bloom will remind her of Jiangnan, which is already a bit of a lake, and the irresponsible life back then. That was such a joy.

At a certain moment in the middle, the maid Xiaoqiu was still asked to close the window. Muttered a few words: "The weather is getting colder and colder."

Rubbing his hands together, he continued to bury his head in the notebook.

A woman's body is always a bit chilly. Although she has tried to practice some Qigong for physical fitness under the guidance of Shi Jin, Wang Juyun and other experts in the past few years, her mind is too active and trivial, and it is not easy to enter tranquility. , although the body is better than that of ordinary women, but in her opinion, the progress is still too slow.

Is there such a big gap between people? What the **** is that dog in Southwest Ning, how did he practice?

Although Shi Jin, Wang Juyun, and others have all said carefully that the martial arts of the southwest man may not be as high as the rumors, but in Lou Shuwan's mind, the other party at least has first-class martial arts in the Jianghu, otherwise he would have been in Luliang Mountain back then. , How dare he yell at Lin Zongwu like that. He is active in his own mind, isn't he also...why!

The world treats people unfairly.

Occasionally cursing the **** of thieves, scolding the dog in the southwest, Ning, is also one of the ways of inner entertainment, and it can also be regarded as the source of coordinates for her work for so many years. Although I don't understand the progress of martial arts, but one day I can figure it out:

Dog **** Ning, for so many years, most of the time, he has been working day and night like himself, critiquing papers, reading news, meeting and playing games, walking forward with trepidation, thinking about who I was lying to myself, did some messages hide some clues that I missed...

There is no other way.

And compared to the gloomy and breathless situation and pressure in the past few years, one piece of discouraging things and seemingly endless bad news, now at least many things are going smoothly for the time being, and Jin is gratifying With the information recorded in the booklets, it flows in front of my eyes every day like a big river. There are still many problems, but the knots are gradually unraveling.

The degree of boredom has always eased compared to previous years.

The time allocated to review these papers is not long every day. In the rest of the time, there are meetings and meetings to be held. For representatives of many big families or forces, she needs to meet in person to win over and make a decision on the general direction. For many specific matters, she has to hold meetings with several ministers of the Jindi cabinet to discuss progress and arrange the next step. policy, and sometimes have to be wooed or suppressed separately.

Although the current power basically belongs to her, in fact, her personal friendship with many civil servants in the court is not strong, and she maintains a estranged and business-like attitude with many people, and even for the staff team around her, her Management is still based on the balance of power and tactics, rather than personal wooing.

Women are in power, and at the moment there is a natural weakness in status, too close to others, and it is easy to deceive and manipulate your mind about convenience. This is a painful lesson accumulated since Tian Hu's time.

It is also because of this that, apart from having a relatively cordial trust in Yulin, Shi Jin and other characters, Lou Shuwan has always shown publicity rather than personal friendship when facing most officials, which guarantees Jin's governance in a certain way. Integrity and insight have also made the governing foundation of the female prime minister, in other respects, always a little bit on thin ice.

According to the biting sarcasm that the dog **** Ning He wrote to her in the letter, this can only be regarded as a kind of "feudal incorruptibility", like walking a tightrope, although it can be maintained for a short time, it may not last long.

If she can establish a more usable disciple and staff team like Southwest, her path should be more stable. But there is no way, she is not very good at educating her disciples, and it is difficult to form Ning Yi's "monarchy" authority over the people below. "Selflessness" pays homage, but such homage can easily fall apart in the face of clearer rights.

Knights like Shi Jin who have their own unwavering "Tao" are too rare, and even if Shi Jin's loyalty is worthy of her unconditional trust, she rarely asks Shi Jin to take on other jobs besides personal guards , such as the collection of information, such as his views on certain things, even if he occasionally asks, the knight's perspective will be biased, and Lou Shuwan cherishes it very much and does not want him to be contaminated with more mundane affairs.

In the drama, it is always felt that the reason why a certain lord is so stupid is that he can't use his talents to use his abilities, but in fact, the most painful thing for people at the core of power is that they don't know what information is true and what information is false. Most of the time, the balance of power and tactics is to hope that three or more people can express several views from different angles, hoping to find the truth from the collision of views, and once the lower-level personnel form an alliance, no matter how wise the monarch is Only pitch black.

The right message is the foundation of everything.

It was already noon after reviewing the papers, so I called several cabinet ministers to have lunch together, and at the same time discussed the progress of various affairs with them.

The cooperation negotiation with Zou Xu is one of the key points in the recent period. For the outside world, the news that Jindi wanted to develop Taiyuan, Bianliang Zou and Dai forces immediately supported and prepared to participate has caused a lot of waves and brought positive benefits, but in terms of the specific direction of negotiations On, the see-saw is still going on.

"... Zou Xu's side proposed a few more trading methods today... Same as before, most of them are of course what we want to sell, but there are always a few that we can't accept... Among them, it's about firearms. Discussed with Mr. Yu, there are six to seven items, the Xiaocang River in the northwest is also one of them... and there are several items related to firearms, Zou Xu has hinted that if we can take them out secretly, The price they can give is high…”

"...I have discussed this matter with Mr. Yu. To be honest, the prices he gave are really tempting. Several plans for this year are bottomless pits... and Zou Xu said that they are at the beginning of their creation. When dealing with all parties, reputation is the most important thing, so secretly trading, so as not to take advantage of us, but of course, we refused at that time, but these offers above, I think the real estate minister should take a look..."

The officials negotiating with Zou Xu's team now belong to the Jindi Household Department, which is directly under the jurisdiction of Lou Shuwan, and the other party's words are relatively relaxed. After talking about the process, they handed the notebook to Lou Shuwan. Lou Shuwan glanced at the movement of waving her hand to make the other party sit down to eat, and she almost fell off.

"Oh, there are so many people with the surname Zou..."

"We made a rough estimate. It's not surprising that we can take out the belongings of people like Liu Guangshi, Yin Zong, and Chen Shiquan. After all, many of them are for delivery, and our side...does lack these."

"Sell me..."

"The Lou Xiang was joking."

"I'm not joking. My nephew is really rich, and the asking price is generous. This is young and rich, and his character is fine." She held the book with one hand and the book with the other, stared at it and smiled, and then closed the door He stood up, smiled and shook his head in an instant, "In the afternoon, Mr. Cen, please throw these offers on the faces of the people on the opposite side."

"...The issue of firearms, the ownership of Xiaocanghe, is the bottom line of the Southwest person. There is nothing to talk about, and you can't talk about it. The relief of Jindi today is to go to the Southwest to beg grandpa to tell grandma to kneel back. Now the wings It's not hard yet, leading us to bully teachers and destroy ancestors, slap people in the face, you ask them, what exactly Zou Xu wants to do! He really doesn't understand this truth, or he is still talking about mother-in-law and mother-in-law, all day long Come around in circles with us."

"Yes." The official surnamed Cen nodded, and then, "...is it really thrown?"

"…ah?"

Lou Shuwan raised her head, looking at him with some confusion.

The other party also smiled after a while.

"...Understood, the humble job will figure it out. But according to my opinion and Lord Yu's, I am afraid that the firearms and the Xiaocang River are all Zou Xu's exorbitant asking prices. If you really pay back the money, the interests of Guanzhong and Tongguan seem to be the same. That's what they care about..."

"... is also what it should be." Lou Shuwan said while eating, "Northwest is not only the barrier of Jin, but also connects the entire Central Plains. As long as he and Dai Mengwei are not blind, they will regard Guanzhong as the key point. Now Tongguan, Chang'an It's all in our hands. He and Lao Dai killed Liu Guangshi not long ago, and they are still cleaning up old accounts. The foundation is not stable, so they can only negotiate with us. He mentioned this matter last time... Actually, I haven't fully thought about it yet. good."

There was a slight silence for a moment.

"...In any case, according to Lao Ning's letter last month, Zou Xu is very capable of stalemate. When negotiating with him, you must be prepared to go around a lot. The thoughts in the direction of Chang'an and Tongguan, stay until they take the initiative Yes, let's see how much they think... Also, if you really feel that something is wrong, you can throw it in their faces, say that I am angry, and ask Zou Xu to apologize to me in person, otherwise don't Let’s talk about it, Jin Land doesn’t have to be them.”

Hearing her mention "Lao Ning" like this, the people below were slightly solemn and relieved, Lou Shuwan glanced at it and changed the topic to other places.

The negotiation between Jindi and Zou Xu is now an important matter, but at least the promotional impact on Jindi's development of Taiyuan has begun to be discounted. Now various gentry and big businessmen are gathering their cooperation intentions, targeting a large number of Taiyuan and northwest The materials are being mobilized, and the cooperation with the chaos division is being communicated and coordinated every day. These are all urgent matters, and every day's report will have a general idea.

These messages came in turn, and when the chat was over, almost an hour later, Lou Shuwan hurriedly finished eating a few mouthfuls of cold food before talking about the two important things in the afternoon.

"...The negotiations with the Jurchens have been settled. Lu Cheng has already made preparations. He will set off to the north tomorrow. Regardless of whether this matter is effective or not, you should vigorously publicize it. In addition, the envoys from the Huaxia Army from Liangshan will arrive in the afternoon. Weisheng, there aren't many people here, but the drums and firecrackers are all ready at the East Gate, and the Huaxia Army fully supports our rebuilding of Taiyuan, so you should let it go if you have time."

Everyone got up and agreed.

Not long after the meal, Lu Cheng, the envoy who was about to go on an envoy to the Kingdom of Jin, came to see Lou Shuwan with several assistants. This is a middle-aged official from Jin who has good eloquence and strong adaptability. The news that he is going to be an envoy to the Kingdom of Jin has been circulating around Weisheng for a few days.

Going north to develop Taiyuan is a very aggressive and risky thing. Under normal circumstances, only the most radical speculators will choose to participate. Under such a background, Zou Xu's initiative to show his favor gave some publicity to Jindi At the same time, the female minister suddenly made a decision to negotiate with Jin Guo, which gave everyone a more reliable reassurance.

This is a very mature political skill.

In the past, the Kingdom of Jin and the land of Jin had a deep hatred, and the female minister also showed an extremely aggressive attitude in the process of fighting against the Jin. After she did something that burned Wei Sheng, most people dared not express many thoughts of appeasement first. , but under the current situation, considering the rumors of the new Jurchen king's ascension, power struggle, and loss of power in the Western Mansion that have been circulating in the past month, many people think that Jindi is sending a peace intention to the new Jurchen king Wanyanquan at this time. , with a high probability of getting a positive result.

Even if the war in a few years is inevitable, at least the buffer period for the development of Taiyuan can be extended as much as possible.

Especially after the woman showed such a broad mind and such natural planning skills, many people in Jindi even raised their understanding of her to a higher level. Within a few days after the news was released, several gentry and noble clan representatives who were still hesitating in Weisheng City successively proposed to Lou Shuwan their preliminary intention to cooperate with the development of Taiyuan.

"...When you go to the Kingdom of Jin, you just need to be neither humble nor overbearing. Our Jin land today has shown its strength in past wars. It is not the Wu Dynasty where they can get whatever they want, so there is no need to bow down and lower your posture. The new king Wanyan Quan is in power. Soon, if you want to move powerful officials like Zong Han, as long as they are not pigs, they will be willing to raise their hands to Jin..."

"...But there are also many barbarians in the Kingdom of Jin. When a wild beast sees people, they will show their teeth and claws. You only need to take a step back, and he will see that you are guilty. At that time, they can only be manipulated by them and take whatever they want. Therefore, Lord Lu, negotiate As a result, try your best to seek success and goodness, but the most important thing is that barefoot people are not afraid of wearing shoes. You should try to show that our Jindi is barefoot and they are wearing shoes, and that Jindi can breathe in the next breath How long, thanks to your trip to the north this time, I will represent the people of Jindi, please Master Lu and everyone."

She solemnly confessed to Lu Cheng and the others, and the other party also got up and bowed their hands solemnly.

"When we go to the Northland, we will try our best to visit all the officials of the Kingdom of Jin that we can to make this happen. Even if it doesn't work out, I discussed with Brother Feng and Brother Su yesterday. It won't make them feel that the Jin people are timid."

"Don't die there."

Lou Shuwan shook her head.

The meeting with Lu Cheng and others lasted for a while, followed by the arrival of several well-known gentry and merchants in Jin, Lou Shuwan took turns chatting with them for a while before leading everyone to Weisheng The east gate welcomes the envoys of the Huaxia Army from Liangshan.

In addition to Zou Xu's statement and Lu Cheng's mission, Yu Weisheng Dongmen welcomed the Huaxia Army mission with great fanfare, and at the same time confirmed the Huaxia Army's support for the plan to develop Taiyuan in Jin.

The fly in the ointment was that when the mission arrived, Lou Shuwan found out that the envoy named Fang Chengye from Liangshan had a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks, and looked like a gangster. The only good thing was that his eyes were calm.

According to the previously reported information, Fang Chengye is also a disciple of Ning Yi. His hometown is in Zezhou. I don’t know why he went to Xiaocanghe to learn something from Ning Yi. Later, he returned to Zezhou and had a relationship with Zhan Wu. His partner for a while, Tian Hu's incident involved him. I just don't know why, after Tian Hu's death, he left Jindi and handed over all the work to Zhan Wu. Because of this, it was the first time Lou Shuwan met him.

For Ning Yi's disciples, Lou Shuwan is always curious. Right now, this person is a different type of person from Zou Xu. Although his appearance looks worse, and I don't know if Liangshan's thinness is caused by the lack of supplies, at least his eyes are steady and deep, and there seems to be a hint of bitterness.

——Most people who have seen troubled times have such an expression, but most of them are capable like Zou Xu, who can use the world as a chessboard to reprimand Fang Qiu. His bitterness is more like the trauma of being powerless about the world. It's somewhat similar to Zhan Wu, and they really worked together.

The first day's entry was just a propaganda. On the surface, the Huaxia Army first supported the construction of Taiyuan in Jindi, but in fact, what Lou Shuwan proposed to the Huaxia Army was to send troops to attack the northwest. The mission sent by the other party was only dozens of people, and they expressed that they would take on some lobbying tasks, which made Lou Shuwan quite unhappy—or even though she had predicted from the beginning that the Huaxia Army would not really send troops to take over such a tasteless place in the Northwest, she Superficial displeasure is also necessary.

After a lively welcome, everyone returned to the Qing Palace. Lou Shuwan waved back and scolded Fang Chengye and Zhan Wu who participated in the show together. He apologized again and again, and was extremely humble about everything, but then he also stated the various considerations of the Huaxia Army's inability to come over with reason, saying that with the strength of the Huaxia Army in Liangshan, it may be able to respond to Taiyuan in the future, but naturally it cannot be controlled Northwest, for that piece of land, the woman wants it, just use it for fun.

This person has no spirit, and the confrontation is meaningless. Lou Shuwan scolded Ning Yi a few words, and waved them away.

After that, there was still some time to correct the papers; staying in the Qing Palace at night, there were still interviews with some officials and gentry.

On an ordinary day, she tried her best to keep her thoughts clear until the interview was over. She lay down on the desk and took a rest for a while. When she woke up, the starry night outside and Langyuan was peaceful. With a cloak, I don't know what time it is at night.

This is often late at night, she stretched out in the cold breath to wake herself up, and returned to the desk in the study.

There are still some papers, after the approval, you can go home and rest.

An ordinary, relatively easy day...

Soon, Shi Jin came in and told her an interesting news.

…

The night's vision crossed the courtyard and palace walls of the Qing Palace, and after a relatively dark road, it was bright again.

Zou Xu and Fang Chengye met on the road by a teahouse in the midst of the bustling night market. This time, there was no stalemate like Xue Guangcheng's assassination. The brothers who had known each other for a long time seemed to greet each other calmly, and then went up to the Tea house, take a seat in front of the window seat and brew a new pot of tea.

Many eyes watched this scene in the dark, trying to distinguish some communication messages, but due to the noise of the night market and the entourage of both parties occupying the surroundings, no third person could hear those conversations.

…

"...It's you who didn't think about it."

"...In the troubled times, seeing each other rarely sees each other, how is senior brother doing?"

"...You know what you did, killing Liu Guangshi, teaming up with Dai Mengwei..."

"...It's not easy, brother...I'm asking about the journey of the heart."

"...Happy here, don't miss Shu."

"...Sibi A Dou didn't end well."

"...I just think it's appropriate to put it here... Please have tea."

"…please."

…

"...In the end, I still want to help the female prime minister seize the Northwest."

"...What is the purpose of senior brother coming here?"

"...I want to chat with the girl about the affairs of Guanzhong, and see if I can buy some guns by the way."

"...Liu Guangshi's guns are enough for you. If there is anything good to buy, why do you lie to me?"

"...the first and second generations are useless."

"...It's impossible to sell it to you later, it's not like I don't understand."

"...I also know how the craft develops, but I just don't have the time, monkey, help me."

"... Is Fang Chengye such a person?"

"…what kind of person?"

"...a man who betrayed his comrades."

"...so you thought so."

"...Otherwise, what do you think, what did you do, I will investigate."

"...Then you should know my difficulties, they made the first move."

"...Can't you explain? Or you don't want to explain."

"...The world is vast, Monkey, why can't you and I be the protagonists... And didn't I tell you, it was you who came last time, so I spared your life."

"...It doesn't matter if you kill me. I'm not the only one in the Huaxia Army. If you make mistakes again and again, the teacher will clean you up in advance."

"...Who's coming? Who... Forget it, let's not talk about it, it hurts feelings, so let's do it, monkey, just say that, if one day something goes wrong in Southwest, what do you want, remember me, okay? "

"...Brother...Let me also give you a piece of advice."

"...You talk, I listen."

"...There is an obvious thing, brother, you may not have thought about it... I went to investigate and persuaded you to go back, but you didn't want to. What you were afraid of was that you would be punished if you went back, and you would end badly, but it's different now, you Maybe what you see is that you are at the top of the sky, and you are walking on thin ice, but in my opinion... you want to go back, to avoid the teacher coming out later, and the rocket falling on your head, today is also your best chance..."

"..."

"...Look, UU Reading www.uukanshu.com You took down Bianliang, killed Liu Guangshi, and tricked Dai Mengwei into joining the gang. Your subordinates controlled half of the Central Plains and the so-called sage of today. You killed Kill him, or catch him, expose him, and return to the Huaxia Army... The teacher will not punish you, even if it's just based on your achievements and abilities today, everything you have now, including your few women, can be preserved. People can punish you, no matter how strict the discipline is, they will spare you..."

"..."

"...Brother, enough fun, come back..."

On February 16th, it was still a cold spring night, the night sky in Jindi was as bright as water, and there were only a few sparks. When Lou Shuwan was still writing in the palace, a pair of brothers and sisters met briefly in the noisy night market. Words fought, and these words were like a storm, almost causing turmoil in the entire world.

It's like hearing the whispers of the devil, or seeing the willful maneuvers of the strategists...

Zou Xu froze there.

And Fang Chengye looked at him.

"...this is the best way..."