Fenghou

Twenty years have passed in a flash. Lu Yihao still remembered Zhou Kuan and was very excited. He ordered his eldest son Lu Jin to invite Zhou Kuan to the guest hall.

"I didn't expect to see Brother Zhou Xian again. It's great. The last time we met was when I went to Xiangzhou to collect food. I remember it was the fifth year of Xuanhe!"

Zhou Kuan smiled and said: "Mr. Lu has a very good memory. It was indeed November of the fifth year of Xuanhe. Fifteen years ago, the harvests in Hebei were not very good that year, but the harvest in Xiangzhou was not bad, so the first stop of Mr. Lu was to choose When I arrived in Xiangzhou, I was severely criticized, saying that our food storage was too slow, I remember it clearly, 15 years have passed in a flash, and Mr. Lu is in good health!"

"I'm 68, and my health is getting worse and worse, but Brother Zhou, he should be in his early fifties!"

"I am also 55, and I happened to be 40 years old at the time."

Lu Yihao nodded and asked again: "Golden soldiers invaded, I heard that Brother Zhou abandoned his official position and fled, what are you doing now?"

Zhou Kuan was taken aback, Lu Yihao didn't know that he was following Chen Qing?

He looked at Lu Jin, and Lu Jin pointed his head, which meant that his father had forgotten.

Zhou Kuan said with a smile, "I am now serving as a judge in the Sichuan-Shaanxi Xuanfu Envoy."

Lu Yihao patted his head and smiled: "Look at my memory, Jin'er told me that you are highly valued in Jingzhao, I don't know how my grandson-in-law uses you?"

"Before, I was mainly responsible for the taxation and transportation of Sichuan and Shaanxi, but now I am responsible for the evaluation and promotion of officials." Zhou Kuan spoke carefully so as not to dissatisfy the former prime minister.

"Oh! Speaking of which, you are in charge of the Ministry of Officials, you are very powerful! I am afraid that apart from Jiang Yanxian, the second brother is Zhou."

Zhou Kuan smiled a little awkwardly, and asked curiously, "Mr. Lu actually knows about the Ministry of Officials?"

Lu Yihao said triumphantly: "My grandson is in Jingzhao, how could I not know about Jingzhao's situation? Don't think that I don't know anything because I stay at home every day. In fact, Lin'an knows more about your situation than I do. , there are really not many people."

"Don't Mr. Lu feel that we are overstepping?"

Lu Yihao said indifferently: "When Taizu put on the yellow robe in Chenqiao, the family name was still Chai. Did anyone accuse him of overstepping?"

Zhou Kuan gave a thumbs up, "Mr. Lu made it clear!"

Lu Yihao shook his head and said: "Don't pour me the ecstasy soup. These days, everything depends on strength. If you have strength, even if you are named Minister of the Ministry of Officials, the court will have nothing to do with you. If you don't have strength, you can only be a ghost under the sword. No one will pity you."

"Thank you, Mr. Lu, for your teaching!"

"I'm not teaching you, I'm just telling the truth, go! See your county king, let him come to see me sooner."

"Humble job must tell you, don't disturb Mr. Lu's rest, leave!"

Lu Yihao smiled and said: "I hope to hear the news that you have become the prime minister."

Zhou Kuan was really speechless, is this still a courtier of Song Dynasty?Lu Jin pointed helplessly at his head behind his back, meaning that his father had become a little delirious recently and liked to talk nonsense.

8 Chapter Fifty Contact

The VIP Inn where Zhou Kuan lived was located on the north shore of the West Lake, and the location was relatively remote. The reason why Huang Guinian didn't arrange Zhou Kuan in a noble hotel in the city was mainly because Zhou Kuan had [-] cavalrymen. They can be temporarily arranged in a noble hotel outside the city, and they will move into the city after reporting to the emperor for approval.

But Zhou Kuan didn't care too much. He didn't come to investigate the sufferings of the people in Lin'an. He just communicated with the imperial court on behalf of Chen Qinglai.

Just when Zhou Kuan returned to the expensive hotel, one of his men came to report, "Xiangguo Li Guang has been waiting for a long time."

Zhou Kuan walked into the yard quickly, and said apologetically, "I went out to visit my boss, and I kept Li Xianggong waiting for a long time."

Li Guang came to contact Zhou Kuan under the order of the Son of Heaven. He waited for nearly a quarter of an hour, feeling a little uncomfortable, but it was not about getting angry now, and he held back his slight dissatisfaction.

"Who is Duke Zhou's old boss?"

"Hehe! My old boss is Lu Xianggong, and I just went to visit him."

"Oh? How could Mr. Lu be Mr. Zhou's old boss?"

It seems that the imperial court did not have his own resume. Zhou Kuan invited Li Guangjin to sit down in the lobby and ordered his subordinates to serve tea. Then he said to Li Guang: "During the Xuanhe period, I served as the Hebei Transshipment Envoy Xiangzhou Branch, and Lu Xianggong was the Hebei Transshipment Envoy at that time. He naturally It's my old boss."

"It turned out that Duke Zhou was also an old minister of Xuanhe, how did he go to Sichuan and Shaanxi?"

Zhou Kuan smiled and said: "The Jin soldiers entered Xiangzhou, I abandoned my official position and fled to Taihang Mountain, and followed Wang Yan all the time. Later, Wang Yan left the Western Army and entrusted me to General Chen. I have been General Chen's staff all the time. Now Served as the judge of the Xuanfu envoy of Sichuan and Shanxi."

"So it's not easy for Duke Zhou!"

Li Guang politely said something that was not nutritious. He suddenly discovered that the court knew nothing about the situation in Sichuan and Shaanxi. Zhou Kuan was definitely wrong when he said that he was the magistrate of Xuanfu envoy of Sichuan and Shaanxi. There are two sets of official positions, and they don't even know Zhou Kuan's real position.

But now is not the time to ask about this matter, Li Guang asked again: "Why are tens of thousands of cavalry from Sichuan and Shaanxi appearing in Huzhou? Can Duke Zhou explain?"

Zhou Kuan smiled slightly and said, "Accurately speaking, there are [-] cavalry soldiers. We are just one of the late emperor's guards to protect the late emperor's coming."

Li Guang was about to swear, it was Chen Qing's army, but he actually found an excuse to say that he was the late emperor's guard, it was extremely shameless, no!Li Guang suddenly realized, "What did Duke Zhou say just now, one of the guards, how many troops have come?"

"A total of [-] troops, [-] cavalry are only part of it."

"what!"

Li Guangteng stood up abruptly, his face changed drastically, "One hundred thousand troops! You...what are you trying to do?"

"Li Xianggong doesn't need to be nervous. I have made it very clear just now that we are just the late emperor's guards. Our only mission is to ensure the safety of the late emperor, and we have no other intentions."

'Hold it!Hold back!do not worry. '

Li Guang forced himself to calm down, then he sat down slowly, took a deep breath and said, "I don't know your real position, so what should I call you?"

"I am indeed the magistrate of the Sichuan-Shanxi Xuanfu Envoy. It is no problem for Li Xianggong to call me Magistrate Zhou."

"Okay! If there is any negligence, please forgive me. I heard from Huang Shaoqing that Judge Zhou communicated with us in advance on behalf of Chen Junwang, so we simply treat each other honestly. Tell me the truth, Chen Junwang rate [-] What is the intention of the army coming to An'an?"

Zhou Kuan shook his head and said with a smile: "Mr. Li, don't think too much, what I just said is the truth, to protect the safety of the first emperor."

"What about King Chen? Don't you want his safety?" Li Guang couldn't bear it anymore.

"Our county king came to An'an this time. His main duty is to command this army. He is not here to report his duties to the court, nor is he here to meet the emperor. This army is not to protect him. Of course, if someone wants to harm him, the army will also By the way, keep him safe."

Li Guang finally understood that the other party would never admit that the [-] troops were brought by Chen Qing to threaten the court, but insisted that they were here to protect the emperor. In this way, they could stand both morally and legally.

"I understand, then I want to tell you that the [-] troops are absolutely not allowed to enter Lin'an Mansion..."

Zhou Kuan shook his head, "It's useless for Li Xianggong to tell me. I can only guarantee that the [-] cavalry will stop in Huzhou and will not take a step forward before the late emperor has no new order."

"Then where is Chen Qing and the other [-] troops now? Alright! Tell me, where are the late Emperor and his [-] guards now?"

"I don't know where the emperor and the other [-] guards are now? I think they will arrive soon."

……

"boom!"

A teacup was smashed against the wall and shattered. The emperor Zhao Gou roared like thunder: "He just wanted to rebel and seize my land, and he led an army of [-] to An'an. He didn't need to bother. Cut off his head and send it to him."

Zhao Gou roared like thunder, and there was silence inside and outside the imperial study room, everyone bowed their heads silently.

Li Guang knew that at this time he could only speak by himself.

"Your Majesty appeases his anger and gives Chen Qing ten courage. I'm afraid he would not dare to rebel. If there is no excuse to protect the late emperor, I believe that he would never dare to lead an army of [-] to come here."

"The first emperor?"

Zhao Gou was trembling with anger, staring at Li Guang viciously, "You tell me first, if he is the first emperor, then what is he? Are there two emperors in the Great Song Dynasty?"

Li Guang bit the bullet and said: "Your Majesty! If the first emperor refuses to issue an edict to abdicate, he is indeed the Emperor of the Song Dynasty in legal terms. Chen Qing has grasped this point, so the situation has become dangerous now. Your Majesty must calm down. Deal with dire situations."

Zhao Gou narrowed his eyes, "I understand, Chen Qing pushed him out to compete with me for the country, and I abdicated. He is Chen Qing's puppet emperor, right?"

At this time, Qin Hui said: "Your Majesty, the affairs of the world are not what Chen Qing wants. His Majesty has been on the throne for more than ten years. The people of the Song Dynasty and the people inside and outside the court have long recognized that His Majesty is the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, and he is not a captive. The one who went, he lost his country after only one year of being the emperor, he is not worthy to be the emperor, no one will recognize him.

What's more, Chen Qing's practice of coercing the emperor to order the princes is Sima Zhao's heart. Everyone knows that it is not because he has a [-] army that he can forcibly seize His Majesty's country. No one will support him. "

Xu Xiantu also said: "If Your Majesty calms down, I would like to say a few words."

After all, Zhao Gou is the Son of Heaven, and he has the endurance that ordinary people do not possess. He has quickly calmed down from the anger just now. He glanced at the eunuch at the door, and the eunuch immediately stepped forward to clean up the ceramic fragments.

"I lost my composure just now, tell me now!"

Xu Xiantu said slowly: "Your Majesty, I pay attention to the details. Their [-] cavalry must have come from Wuhu County. They can't stop when they enter Lishui Road. They can only stabilize when they go to Huzhou. They stopped in Huzhou, two miles away from Lin'an. Baili, this in itself is not offensive. From this point, it can be seen that Chen Qing's coming to An is not offensive.

Secondly, he said that they were there to guard Brother Jian Guo. This is actually not wrong. It is better not to send 3000 guards. Sending 1 guards is still very risky. Sending 5 guards is safe. Guaranteed, but since we can send 5 people, why not send 10 people, not only to ensure safety, but also to deter us, and we are not allowed to compete with him for Sichuan. "

"So security plus deterrence is Chen Qing's goal. The ultimate goal is to prevent us from competing with him for Sichuan?"

"Yes! Wei Chen thinks so."

Zhao Gou nodded, "Okay! Let me be more pragmatic. He really wants to send an army of [-] to deter me, but I have no choice but to know where his [-] army is now?"

Li Guang sighed and said: "Your Majesty, I thought about it all the way, and I suspect that they are at sea now, and they came by sea."

"Sea route?"

Zhao Gou suddenly turned his head and stared at the map of Hangzhou Bay on the wall. He escaped from here to the sea twice, and he was really familiar with this sea area.

Chapter 851 Night Thorn

Wei Tong finished reading the seized printing utensils and printed items in the county government with a dark face, his face was gloomy like water, it is your business that you, Wang Bo, want to fool the above, but you also fooled me Wei Tong, do you think I am an idiot?Pay someone to play with you?

The more Wei Tong thought about it, the angrier he became, and he kicked it away, "Wow! ’ A printing press fell, shattering four or five pieces of the city.

"Where's Wang Zhi County?" Wei Tong turned around and asked viciously.

Staff member Jia Yingfang stepped forward and said tremblingly: "The county lord has just been summoned by Qin Xiangguo."

One sentence reminded Wei Tong that Wang Bo was Qin Hui's nephew, maybe it was Qin Hui's idea to fool the emperor.

At this moment, he wondered if he could catch Qin Hui?

He looked at Jia Yingfang and immediately had an idea in his mind. He smiled and asked, "Are you Mr. Jia?"

Jia Yingfang was startled, and quickly bowed and said: "The villain dare not, the villain is Jia Yingfang."

Wei Tong stepped forward and whispered: "The new tea in the Liuweiju teahouse near you is good. Let's taste it together. I'll go first and wait for Mr. Jia in the teahouse."

Wei Tong chuckled, and led the people away, Jia Yingfang blushed, as if she had heard the most provocative love words.

He walked around and saw that no one was paying attention to him, so he ran towards the teahouse...

After a few glasses of wine, Jia Yingfang gained a little courage, smiled and waved her hands and said, "Uncle Guo thinks too highly of this dude magistrate, so he didn't even know that he was fooled. He moved back happily yesterday, and even ran to take Qin Xianggong away." Please come and have a look, and was scolded by Mr. Qin on the spot."

"and then?"

"Then Mr. Qin asked him to change to two printing machines that could be used, and he wrote his report to read it, and asked him to pass it to Lin'an Mansion."

"What do you mean?" Wei Tong asked quickly.

"Uncle Wei Guo doesn't understand? Qin Xianggong approved the words on the report. How dare the Lin'an Prefecture not approve it? In this way, the Lin'an Prefecture Yin was also brought in, and then the Lin'an Prefecture Yin reported to the emperor that the "Beijing News" had been destroyed. Lin'an's lair, this matter is over."

"But what if the "Beijing News" appears on the streets of Lin'an again?"

Jia Yingfang laughed, "If the "Beijing News" appears again, does Uncle Guo think that the emperor will know about it? Even if he knows, can it be explained that the "Beijing News" has made a comeback?"

"well said!"

Wei Tong was very appreciative, poured him a glass of wine himself, and asked, "What have you been up to lately?"

"Our county lord has received a new task assigned by Mr. Qin, and has recently been monitoring Chen Qing and his men."

Wei Tong was immediately interested, "Is there any gain?"

"Yesterday, he told me that the man Chen Qing sent with the surname Zhou lived in a VIP post outside the city, and his guards were all cavalry. It would be a breeze to assassinate him."

Wei Tong's heart moved, and a vicious thought jumped into his heart.

He took out 20 taels of gold, put it on the table and pushed it to Jia Yingfang, "Report to me in the future, and I will guarantee that you will become the head of a county within three years."

……

Zhou Kuan had nothing to do today. He spent a day learning about the construction of the city wall in Lin'an. In fact, this information had already been obtained through the intelligence point stationed in Lin'an. Zhou Kuan just wanted to verify it himself.

There used to be a city wall between Lin'an City and West Lake, but the city wall was demolished to build official residences, leaving only a few city gates.

The original plan of the Lin'an government was to demolish the old city wall and build a circle around the West Lake, turning the West Lake into a lake within the city. However, the old city wall was demolished for eight years, and the new city wall was still on the blueprint. The annual military expenditure weighed heavily on the court. Unfortunately, there is simply no financial resources to build a new city wall.

The original plan was to expand Lin'an City to the Qiantang River, but there is still no movement.

After strolling around, Zhou Kuan knew in his mind that Lin'an was on the side of the West Lake, and it was completely undefended. It would be a breeze for the army to invade Lin'an City.

At night, Zhou Kuan sits under the lamp and writes hard. He has a lot of thoughts along the way, and he has no time to write them down until now. Jingnan South Road is intertwined with water and networks, and the fertile fields are thousands of miles away. It is a rich land of fish and rice. However, the imperial court did not pay much attention to it. The Western Army must take this rich land and manage it well, and there will be unexpected surprises.

Just then, an arrow 'whoosh! 'The ground shot through the window, passed over his head, and nailed it to the wall. Zhou Kuan's face turned pale with fright, and he squatted under the table, reaching out and grabbing the sword next to him.

Immediately afterwards, there was the sound of fierce fighting in the yard, and there was a scream from time to time.

"Bang!" The door was knocked open, and a man in blue warrior uniform rolled in, holding a crossbow arrow in his hand, blocking Zhou Kuan with his back, raising the crossbow and shooting out the door, a man in black couldn't dodge in time. An arrow hit his chest, and he fell out screaming.

Zhou Kuan wanted to stab the blue-clothed warrior's back fiercely with his sword, but suddenly realized something was wrong, so he stopped his sword and asked, "Who are you?"

"Counselor Zhou, don't stand up!"

The warrior in blue kicked the chair, and the chair hit a man in black. The warrior in blue seized this momentary opportunity and jumped up. The sharp long sword pierced the chair, and the tip of the sword pierced through the chair. The chest of the man in black behind.