Fenghou

Yu Ying sat aside and said with a smile: "It's convenient to wake up twice at night, drink a big pot of herbal tea, and eat all the tea foam."

Chen Qing also laughed and said, "How does my lady know?"

"My grandfather said it, and I will remember it."

Lu Xiu took out a cloth bag and untied it. Inside was the sapphire from last night.

"What do the officials say?"

"This is... a sapphire!"

Chen Qing picked up the sapphire and squinted it for a moment, then exclaimed, "I've never seen such a high-quality sapphire. It's priceless. Where did it come from?"

"The gift given to Xue'er by the chief's eldest son, brought back by Qiao Yun."

"Sent by Cao An?"

"It's him, a young man who knows how to read and understand etiquette. He gave such a precious gem to Xue'er. Should I return a gift to his sister?"

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "This kid is not simple! He knows how to invest at such a young age, and he is very smart. If I guessed correctly, he probably hopes that I will support him to inherit his father's position in the future, so he invests in you."

"Is his position unstable?"

Chen Qing nodded, "Cao Changchun told me that the yellow-headed Uyghurs have been married to the Qiang people for generations, and his first wife is the daughter of the great chief of the Qiang people in Ganzhou. The daughter of the chief of the big tribe gave birth to two sons for him. Based on his age, the eldest son Cao An should be born to the wife of the Qiang people. Although he is the eldest son, the two brothers also have a strong background. You say his status Is it stable?"

Lu Xiu sighed: "No wonder he gave such a precious gem to Xue'er, it is probably his best thing."

Speaking of this, Lu Xiu hesitated again and said: "Husband, let's make a decision! Do I want to take this gem? Or give it back to him."

Chen Qing said with a smile: "Since he is so caring, let's accept it! There is no need to return the gift, and I guess he doesn't want other people to know about it."

"Well, I'll accept it for my little sister!"

Chen Qing lifted the quilt and got up and said, "There are still important things to do today, I have to clean up, it's over."

Seeing some long hairs on the bed, Lu Xiu glanced at Yu Ying with a half-smile, Yu Ying's pretty face turned red.

……

In the official room, Chen Qing called Jiang Yanxian and Zhang Xiao, and said to them, "Cao Changchun and I had a showdown last night. He was very worried that Xixia would attack the Hexi Corridor, but it is also possible that Xixia will attack Xihe under the pressure of the Jin Kingdom." road.

But no matter what, my next target must be Xixia, Xixia is immortal, it will definitely become a poisonous thorn in our back, it will tie down a lot of our resources, and we will not be able to get the security guarantee in the rear if we attack eastward. "

Zhang Xiao said with a smile: "If I hadn't supported attacking Xixia in the past, we were still relatively strong compared to Xixia. Our strength is far from enough, but it is different now. Our strength has gradually increased, while Xixia has weakened sharply after a tragic civil war. This is indeed an opportunity for us to destroy Xixia, if we wait for it to slowly recover, this opportunity will be missed, and we will definitely regret it."

Jiang Yanxian also agreed, "If we join forces with the Yellow-headed Uighurs, we have a [-]% chance of conquering Xixia, but the problem is that we have to negotiate with the Yellow-headed Uyghurs. ?”

Chen Qing nodded, "You are all right. In fact, this is the purpose of my inviting Cao Changchun to Jingzhao. How to cooperate with each other to attack Xixia, and then how to divide Xixia? This requires negotiation with Cao Changchun. The two sides reached a consensus. We I invite you two to come here, I just want to ask you to draw up a plan for distributing Xixia, as for how to attack Xixia, I basically already have an idea."

Zhang Xiao said again: "But I have to remind the Xuanfu envoy that the Jin Kingdom must be considered when attacking Xixia. Twenty thousand Jin soldiers stationed in Xixia may become a more difficult enemy to deal with than Xixia, especially the Xuanfu envoy must also consider The Kingdom of Jin continues to send troops to support Xixia, so how should we deal with it? It is not difficult to destroy Xixia, but the difficulty is to deal with the interference of the Kingdom of Jin."

At this time, a follower reported outside, "Report to Xuanfu envoy, Chief Cao has urgent matters to see!"

Chapter 627 The Rookie

When Cao Changchun entered the door, he said worriedly: "A major event happened at home. The 3000 defenders of Guazhou surrendered to the Xixia Army in Shazhou. Li Yanwu, the Xixia defender of Shazhou, began a large-scale counterattack. Jiuquan County was besieged. The [-] troops in the city were in danger. Once Jiuquan is lost, and the Xixia army has entered Ganzhou. My brother Cao Yuan sent someone to notify me urgently, and I have to leave today."

Chen Qing looked at the map, pointed at Dunhuang with a wooden pole, and said, "The Western Xia army is marching southward, and Dunhuang must be empty. Why didn't my brother send people to attack Dunhuang from the back of Qilian Mountain? To encircle Wei and save Zhao, the Western Xia army must withdraw."

Cao Changchun patted his forehead annoyed, "Why didn't I think of it?"

"It happened suddenly, brother is too impatient, I am a bystander!"

"Hey! Brother Xian is right, I'm confused."

After a pause, Cao Changchun said anxiously again: "But... I'm afraid it will be too late to rush back."

Next to him, Jiang Yanxian suggested: "Don't worry, the great chief. We have the Eagle Letter, which can reach the Haixi Salt Field in two days, and it is only two days away from Quxian, or our Eagle Letter can also be sent to Liangzhou, and then from Liangzhou What does the chief think about sending a letter to Ganzhou?"

Cao Changchun was overjoyed, "Then send the letter to Quxian, there are still [-] troops over there, ready to attack Shazhou."

Quxian was the old capital of the Yellow-headed Uighurs, about three hundred miles away from the new saltworks of the Western Army. There were still many nobles living there, and a large number of troops were stationed there.

Chen Qing said again: "I can send Liangzhou's [-] troops to go north to help defend Ganzhou. If the situation is not good, I can also send the Lanzhou garrison to go north to help!"

Cao Changchun was moved, and quickly cupped his fists and said, "With the words of my virtuous brother, my heart is settled. I will rush back first, and we will discuss the matter of attacking Xixia later."

Cao Changchun immediately wrote two eagle letters, which were sent to Haixi Salt Field and Liangzhou respectively, and the local garrison sent them urgently to Huangtou Uighur.

Chen Qing made another suggestion. He could send troops to escort Cao Changchun's wife and children back to Zhangye. In this way, Cao Changchun could rush back to Ganzhou with light troops. This suggestion was very reasonable and could save at least three days. Entrusting his family to Chen Qing, he personally led two thousand cavalry to march day and night, and rushed back to Ganzhou.

Chen Qing immediately ordered Liangzhou soldiers and horses to lead Zhao Lun to lead [-] troops to the north to support the Uighur army against Xixia. At the same time, he sent Liu Qiong to lead [-] tiger and cardinal cavalry to escort Cao Changchun's family back to Ganzhou. If necessary, the tiger and cardinal cavalry will also assist The Uyghur army fought against the Xixia army.

On the second day after Cao Changchun returned to the Hexi Corridor, Chen Qing received the urgent information sent back by the Xixia intelligence point using Eagle Letter, that the [-] Jurchen troops had withdrawn from Xixia to Taiyuan.

It's not surprising that the Jin Kingdom withdrew from Xixia Road. After all, Jin's defeat on Shaanxi Road will definitely affect Jin's deployment and plans. Jin is not stupid. What about another defeat?

With the current strength of the Sichuan-Shanxi Army and the weakness of Xixia, Xixia might destroy the country, so Jin Guo urgently pressed the pause button and suspended the plan to attack Xihe Road.

However, Jin Guo's refusal to attack Xihe Road for the time being does not mean that Chen Qing will not attack Xixia, but he can prepare for the battle more calmly, and Chen Qing has also received information from Taiyuan. I don't know the purpose of his visit, but Chen Qing guessed that he was most likely the special envoy who came to Jingzhao for negotiations.

Chen Qing immediately appointed Yang Yuanqing as the three-way transshipment envoy, and Zhao Xiaoyi as the deputy general manager. He began to use [-] ships and [-] camels to transport a large amount of grain and grass materials to Lanzhou.

The preparations for this war did not conscript civilians, they were all mobilized within the army, and the civilians were not affected.

At this time, the people of Jingzhaocheng paid more attention to the imperial examination. This was the first imperial examination on Shaanxi Road since Jingkang. With the attention of countless scholars, scholars have come from all directions since the beginning of the year.

In addition, the imperial court also approved the establishment of Jingzhao Taixue, and the first batch of Taixue students were selected from this imperial examination.

The [-]th day of April is the deadline for registration, and [-] scholars have already come from all over the world, and there are even many scholars from Hedong Road.

In the early morning, a clerk in the Ping An Inn in the south of Jingzhao City shouted in the corridor, "Today is the last day for registration. Scholars who have not registered must register today. If you miss it, you will lose your chance!"

In a guest room on the third floor, three young people are tidying up the quilts in a panic. Today is the deadline for registration, but none of them have registered yet.

Of course, they didn't come here just now. They couldn't find an inn when they came now, so they could only go to short-term rental houses.

They arrived at Jingzhao ten days ago, it was a little late, the inn was very nervous, they were lucky, they found a room in the Ping'an Inn, and the three of them squeezed into one room.

All three of them came from Chengdu, but they were not from Sichuan, they were all sons of northern officials. The youngest, Chao Qing, was in his early 20s. A tall young man named Zhong Huan was the grandnephew of the famous general Zhong Shidao, and the third was a few years older, named Su Ce, the grandson of the famous prime minister Su Zhe.

All three of them were schoolmates in Chengdu, and they were classmates. Since Chen Qing sent troops to occupy Bashu, the scholars in Bashu were generally dissatisfied.

However, the news that Chen Qing led an army to defeat [-] Jin soldiers in northern Shaanxi and killed [-] enemies spread to Bashu.

"Why don't men take the Wu hook and collect the fifty states of Guanshan", young scholars who are willing to devote themselves to the fight against gold and serve the country have emerged in endlessly since ancient times, especially after all three of them are officials, they are more willing to participate in the great cause of fight against gold and regain their homeland.

The three hurried out of the inn after breakfast, Chao Qing said with a smile: "Old Zhong, you are a local, you should know where to sign up!"

Zhong Huan was about 25 years old, with both civil and military skills. He could not only write with a pen, but also mount a horse and shoot. His dream was to become a Confucian general and inherit his grandfather's career.

Chong Huan chuckled, "I only lived in Jingzhao when I was a child, so I don't remember it long ago, but I know about the Longevity and Eight Immortals Palace. We will find out when we get there."

The three stopped an ox cart, got on the ox cart and headed towards the Eight Immortals Palace.

The registration point is at Jingzhao Fuxue. There is not only the prefectural school, but also the Confucian Temple and the Quanxue Department. The Quanxue Department is the official office in charge of imperial examination education in Xuanfushi's mansion, and the education in Sichuan and Shaanxi is under its jurisdiction.

According to the agreement reached by Chen Qing and the imperial court, the education and running of schools in Bashu was under the jurisdiction of Guozi Supervisor, and the Encouraging Education Department of the Xuanfu Mission Mansion was only in charge in name.

But in fact, Guozijian was unwilling to pay a penny for running schools in Bashu, and all the financial revenue was in the hands of Xuanfu Shifu, teachers' salaries, subsidies, school maintenance, etc. were all in the hands of the Persuasion Administration.

So in just two months, the schools in Bashu prefectures have recognized the reality, and began to perfunctory the Imperial College, and focused on pleasing the School Persuasion Department, and they took all the suggestions of the School Persuasion Department as their top priority.

For example, Chen Qing put forward the school’s purpose of ignoring scriptures and emphasizing poetry. This was actually the school’s purpose at the beginning of the founding of the Song Dynasty. The phenomenon of practice has been criticized by people of insight.

Chen Qing not only put forward suggestions, but also put them into practice. This time, the Jingzhao Imperial Examination abandoned scriptures and only tested poetry, fu, and countermeasures. .

"there!"

Chao Qing pointed to the distance and shouted, and saw countless scholars walking towards a gate one after another. The three hurried to the gate, on which was written three big characters in gold, 'Encouraging School'.

Registration is here, there is already a long queue at the gate, there are at least thousands of people, lined up in four lines, fortunately, registration is relatively simple and fast, and the scholars keep moving forward without stopping.

The three of them had just lined up when they heard someone bragging proudly, "Knowing the examiner is a fart! Chen Qing is still my brother-in-law! If I didn't need to go through the formalities, I would have taken the job a long time ago."

Chapter 628

The three of them looked sideways together, and saw a 25-year-old man, wearing a white silk shirt, holding a folding fan in his hand, with fair skin, a medium build, a small nose and small eyes, a very ordinary-looking man People, the kind that will disappear when thrown into the crowd, really have no characteristics.

The man's bragging made everyone around him ridicule, and the man suddenly became anxious, "I'm telling the truth! My uncle's surname is Yu, and my two cousins ​​are Chen Qing's twin concubines. They are rare couples. Could it be that he Not my brother-in-law?"

Still no one around believed him, and someone said with a strange smile: "My surname is Chen, and Chen Qing is still my cousin!"

Everyone laughed again.

"Don't make any noise!" The order-maintaining official walked over and shouted, and everyone fell silent. The man could only shut his mouth angrily, not daring to brag anymore.

Zhong Huan lowered his voice and said, "This person may be telling the truth, not bragging!"

Chao Qing and Su Ce looked at each other, and Chao Qing asked, "How does the old man know?"

"My father heard from Li Jiong, governor of Chengdu, that Fushi Chen Xuan has a pair of women by his side who will be his concubines in the future."

Chao Qing frowned, "Even if it's true, this person is too shallow! How can he publicly announce that he is the brother-in-law of the Xuanfu envoy, and call him by his first name, without the least respect, and say that the exam is Going through the motions, isn't this publicly discrediting the Xuanfu envoy?"

Su Ce sneered and said, "The forest is big, and there are all kinds of birds, it's normal!"

Not long after, they lined up at the gate. Registration is very simple. Each person fills in a registration form. Most of the registration forms are filled out. Almost every inn has a blank form, and the shopkeeper will send it to every taxi. hands.

Then draw a test coupon on the spot, with the seat number on it, and hand the test coupon to the registration examiner. The examiner will register the name and place of origin on the test coupon on the spot, and then fill in the test coupon number on the application form, and finally notify the test room time, the registration is over.

The three of them walked out of the gate and Chao Qing smiled and said, "Go and have a drink, I'll treat you!"

"What's your treat? It's your turn to pay for it!" The three talked and laughed, and walked directly to the East Street.

The bragging man just now also signed up, and suddenly someone from behind gave him a heavy slap, "Brother Lin Xian, long time no see!"

When the man turned his head, he saw a strange face behind him. He seemed to have never seen it before, but the other person knew that his surname was Lin.

"I read too much recently, and my mind is almost muddled. Your Excellency is..."

"You forgot, we were still drinking together a month ago. My surname is Li. Everyone calls me Li Toutuo. Brother Jianqing still laughed at me for practicing with my hair."

The man still has no memory at all, he probably forgot what happened a month ago!The other party actually knew that his name was Lin Jianqing, so he should have known him.

He laughed dryly, "So it's Brother Li, are you here to sign up today?"

"Yeah! Just finished the registration, long time no see, let's go have a drink, my treat!"

Hearing that the other party invited him to drink, Lin Jianqing immediately smiled, "Then I will be disrespectful!"

……

Lin Jianqing is the cousin of the Yu sisters. Although he is a scholar, he is greedy for money, lustful and drinker. He, now he has almost no friends around him.

Suddenly met someone who knew him and offered to buy him a drink. Lin Jianqing couldn't be in a bad mood. When he was in a good mood, he naturally drank a few more drinks. He said a lot of things that should be said and shouldn't be said.

"Toutuo, I'm really not bragging. My two cousins ​​are so beautiful, especially the younger cousin. She is the reincarnation of a vixen. That figure, tsk tsk! Any man would drool when he saw it."

Sitting across from him, Li Toutuo filled another glass of wine for him, and said with a smile, "Why don't you keep such a good cousin for yourself?"

"Hey! Originally, there was a woman who would be me. The two families agreed back then, but they were too famous in their hometown. In order to climb up, the county magistrate forcibly selected them as beautiful girls. Both of their parents died. There is nothing my father can do if he refuses to agree, but for some reason, it fell into Chen Qing's hands, and in the end he has nothing to do with me."

"It's not necessarily true! When the city of Bianliang was destroyed, those aristocratic women who used to be aloof did not go to Jiaofang or brothels. There are many. If Chen Qing is unlucky, his wives and concubines will definitely be sent back to their natal homes. Your chances are not good. Here we come."

Lin Jianqing's eyes lit up, Yu Ying and Yu Lian were sent back to her natal family, isn't that just going back to her own home?You have double the fortune!

"Do you think there is any way to make Chen Qing unlucky?" Lin Jianqing couldn't help but asked again.

Li Toutuo chuckled, "We're just joking around at the wine table, so we can't take it seriously. If his spies overhear it, we'll all lose our heads."

Lin Jianqing's disappointment overflowed his face, and he let out a long sigh, "You are right, he is the king of Sichuan and Shaanxi, how can his woman be missed by a small person like me?"

"My dear brother, since he is your brother-in-law, then you should use this relationship to do everything possible to climb up. As long as you have power and money in your hands, are you afraid that you won't find a good woman? Let alone, Tang Sisi, the flower leader of Baihualou, you You should have seen it! If you are the Zhizhou, taking her as a concubine is as easy as pie."

Lin Jianqing had indeed seen Tang Sisi in Baihualou. It is said that the body gold in one night would cost [-] guan, which was not something he dared to think about. types.

He still likes his cousin Yu Lian. He has visited all the brothels in Jingzhao, and he has seen countless flowers, but Yu Lian's figure really shocked him. No woman can compare with her. Yu Ying is similar. How could he It was also unexpected that the two skinny little yellow-haired girls who hadn't seen each other in just six or seven years back then turned into angels.

Regrets in his heart were regrets, but he also knew that Li Toutuo was right, he had a relationship with Chen Qing, and it would be a pity if he didn't make good use of it.

"But... what should I do?"

Li Toutuo smiled and said: "My dear brother also knows that my family is a rich man in Chengdu. They are rich but have no status. My father forced me to take the imperial examination. I know that I will definitely not pass the exam. I am 30 years old and I am not suitable for studying, but I admire Lu Buwei the most, he invested in a foreigner and became the prime minister of Qin, if I invest in a good brother, what kind of gains will I get?"

Lin Jianqing was overjoyed, someone is willing to spend money on him, it's like pie in the sky!

He quickly clasped his fists and said: "If I am prosperous, I will definitely report it carefully, and at least I will recommend my brother to be an official. I can't guarantee how big an official I will be, but the county magistrate is fine. Maybe in the future we will advance and retreat together, and we can all hold high power. "

Li Toutuo nodded, "In this case, you have to listen to my every step of the arrangement. First of all, you must have a good image, be modest and studious, self-disciplined and decent, considerate of orphans and children, and not make friends with friends. I will arrange them one by one. You just follow I will teach you how to do it, and then I will spend a lot of money to get you admitted to the imperial examination. You are handsome, talented, and Chen Qing's brother-in-law. Of course he will use you again. You listen to my arrangement. It won't take you two years. As for women, you don’t have to worry, I won’t let you become a monk, I will let you enjoy what you should enjoy.”

Lin Jianqing rubbed his hands in joy, "Then what should I do now?"

Li Toutuo said indifferently: "You go home now and change your clothes immediately. You should wear blue cloth clothes and half-worn flat scarves, and then stay at home and don't come out. If you come here at this time tomorrow, I will give you A few poems and essays, you go back and memorize them."