Fenghou

There are four books in total, two are Chao Qing, and the other two are Wei Ji. Chen Qing intends to focus on training the two of them, but first of all, it depends on whether they have potential. It does not mean that they are not capable, but whether they are suitable for this job. Position.

Zhao Qiaoyun smiled slightly and said: "I have read all four documents, and they are really good. The level of Jinshi and Die is different. Frankly speaking, they are all much better than Zhang Xuan, but they are not experienced enough. They are not familiar with some things that happened in the past. Understood, but it’s understandable."

"Be specific!"

"For example, Chao Qing didn't understand why Yanzhou wanted to cut taxes and adjust grain. His proposal proposed that Yanzhou should strive for food self-sufficiency. The same is true for Wei Ji. For example, Lintao Prefecture proposed to increase the amount of grain allocated to Dangchuan County, and he proposed He obviously didn't know that there are silver mines in Dangchuan County, and there are tens of thousands of miners, and they need to read more documents to make up for their shortcomings as soon as possible."

"anything else?"

"The other thing is that the styles of the two are different. Chao Qing's thinking is meticulous, and it can be said that every detail has been considered, but he can grasp the main points and raise questions about the details, but this is not the case. It is for officials to see, but to ask for feedback from the Secretary of Government Affairs.

Wei Ji, on the contrary, has a strong overall view and can put forward some admirable suggestions. For example, when he commented on the Tongguan report, he proposed that Shanzhou and Guozhou belonged to Shaanxi Road geographically and historically, but Now it is still controlled by the puppet Qi State, the Western Army should take it back, and push the defense line eastward to the Hangu Pass line. If these two people are combined, it is really perfect to join the army. "

Chen Qing gave a thumbs up and praised: "The lady's comment is very good, she sees it thoroughly!"

Zhao Qiaoyun was a little embarrassed, and said to Chen Qing sincerely: "I won't misjudge people. The two of them have great potential and extremely high talents. They will be prime ministers in the future. Officials need to train them well."

……

There is a two-story Huangyazi restaurant near Guirenli. It is famous for its roast chicken and duck. The wine is also good, and it is basically full of guests every day.

Since moving to Guirenli, the three of Chao Qing ate here almost every night, and stopped going to Tianranju.

"What's the matter with Xiao Su, I'm not in a good mood today?"

Chao Qing found that Su Ce had been listless, so he couldn't help asking.

Su Ce chose the Duzhi Office, and became a financial review officer as he wished, responsible for reviewing the invoices for appropriation of money and goods. Of course, he was not the only one, there were five reviewers in the Duzhi Office.

Su Ce sighed and said, "I made a big mistake today and was severely scolded by the old monkey. I feel really bad."

Old Monkey is the nickname of Zhou Kuan of Duzhi Department. He has a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks and a thin body. Since Chen Qing called him Zhou Old Monkey in public, this has officially become his nickname, and everyone calls him Old Monkey behind his back.

"Tell me, what mistake did you make?"

"Today, [-] guan was allocated to Meizhou's government affairs expenses, but the officials who made the bill wrote [-] guan, and when it was sent to me, I stamped and agreed without seeing it clearly. It was only after the bill was sent that I found out that it was sent urgently. People chased me and chased me all the way to Ziwukou before chasing the approval form back. The old monkey was so angry that he called me and the person who made the form to his official room and scolded me severely. I will send it back to the official department."

Chao Qing said with a smile: "You don't have to worry about such a small matter. Your Zhou Shuling is notoriously protective. He scolded you harshly, but he will never send you back. It's just to scare you."

"I know it's scaring me, but after only working for a few days, I've made such a big mistake, I feel bad!"

Chao Qing shook his head and said, "Actually, it's all the same. I made a mistake and I'm ashamed."

"What's wrong with you?" Zhong Huan and Su Ce asked in unison.

"I was commenting on Yanzhou's annual report, extracting the important content, finding out the deficiencies in the report, and writing suggestions. I actually thought that there was too much food allocated to Yanzhou, and asked Yanzhou to be as self-sufficient in food as possible. "

Su Ce said with a smile: "I know that Fushi in Yanzhou produces fire oil, and most of the young and strong in the county are hired to fish for oil. There are not many people farming, and there are [-] garrisons, which are the money and food for the entire northern Shaanxi. Big consumer."

"That's right, but I don't know that Yanzhou produces fire oil, and I don't know that most of the young and strong are hired by the government, so they can't farm in large quantities. Of course, there is not enough food, so we have to allocate food, so after reading Madam's comments, I'm just ashamed."

"What's Madam's comment?" Zhong Huan asked puzzled.

"It's the second wife of the Xuanfu envoy. Before we went in, she was the one who read all the documents. She was responsible for writing outlines and suggestions. She was extremely talented. Everyone admired her. I read the briefings she wrote. Gang, it is indeed very well written, thoroughly read, very incisive, and I am still far behind."

Chong Huan hesitated and said, "I heard that Xuanfu envoy has a wife who is Di Ji."

"It's her, Empress Xiande, but it's best not to talk too much about this matter, let's change the subject, old man, I heard that you have a single official room, you are enviable!"

Chong Huan said triumphantly: "There are so many places that you envy! I just got an internal reward of 50 taels of silver today, and I recorded a great merit. After studying martial arts for half a year, he will serve as a commander as a civil servant, which is unexpected!"

Chao Qing and Su Ce were dumbfounded, and Chao Qing asked anxiously, "What kind of rule is this?"

"This is a special rule of the Western Army. It's called combining civil and military officials. For example, our Xuanfu envoy, who is in charge of the capital, should be a general, but he is a civil official. , This is his official official, sent to serve as Xuanfu envoy of Sichuan and Shaanxi, and at the same time as the commander of the Western Army, this is the military general Wen Yong of the imperial court, and in the Western Army it is called Wenwu Bingguan."

"What conditions do you need?" Su Ce asked enviously.

"The conditions are rather harsh. You must have a background in imperial examinations or Taixue, and you must also know martial arts. You must pass the general examination, riding and archery, step bow, weightlifting, and weapons. In fact, you are required to have both civil and military skills. Brother, I just meet the requirements, so I will treat you tonight. !"

Chao Qing pondered for a while and asked, "What great contribution have you made that you actually rewarded 50 taels of silver?"

Chong Huan shook his head pretending to be mysterious, "This is a secret of the internal guards, please forgive me for not revealing it."

"Then what can you reveal? We can't all talk about it!"

Chong Huan smiled triumphantly, "I wrote an eighteen strategy strategy for Xixia. If the Xuanfu Envoy can adopt it, maybe I will make another contribution."

"It was written by your grandfather!" Su Ce said with a look of contempt.

"It was written by my grandfather. It is the wealth he left me. It has been inherited by me, can't it?"

6Chapter 16 Wanxi

The wharf was extremely busy. Teams of peasants used wheelbarrows to transport food and supplies from the warehouses half a mile away to the pier. There were [-] large ships moored on the pier, and the ants-like peasants carried the grain and supplies onto the large ships.

The fleet transported the grain and supplies along the Weishui River to Longxi County, and then transported them to Lanzhou by camel from Longxi County.

This is the third batch of food and supplies shipped to Lanzhou. On the pier, Chen Qing asked Zhang Xiao, "Have the siege weapons been shipped yet?"

"Reporting to the Xuanfu envoy, fifty heavy trebuchets, seven thousand-step guns, and seven hundred siege ladders are already on the way to Lanzhou. They are mainly dismantled into parts and shipped, but they are also very heavy and slow to ship. It is estimated that all of them will arrive in Lanzhou this month."

"And the battering ram!"

Chen Qing reminded again: "Most of the cities in Xixia don't have moats, which is conducive to the use of battering rams. Have you sent the dragon rams I mentioned last time?"

"The giant dragon hammer is currently still in Longxi County. According to the plan, it will arrive in Lanzhou before the end of this month. In fact, we have enough supplies and food. There are 30 shi of wheat in the Huangzhou warehouse, which can be called at any time. I feel that it is still a question of military strength. We need to solve it as soon as possible, we must prevent the Jin soldiers from besieging Wei and saving Zhao, and attack Guanzhong while we are attacking Xixia."

Next to him, Jiang Yanxian also said: "Although Xixia is the weakest now, after all, it still has a hundred years of foundation. To destroy Xixia, at least 30 troops are needed. No matter how we count, our troops are not enough. The meaning of being humble is that we not only have to ask the court for money and food , but also to borrow troops from the imperial court, if Xixia can be destroyed, it will be a great thing for the imperial court."

Chen Qing shook his head, "I have already made a statement to the imperial court, hoping to support me with half a year's money and food, I guess I will give some of it, but the army support must not be counted on, we can only rely on ourselves. Sima, there should be 10 soldiers from all the prefectures combined!"

Zhang Xiao said with a smile: "Less than 10 people, about 5000 people, there can be 5000 township soldiers in Sichuan, 5000 people in Guanzhong, and the population of Xihe Road and Northern Shaanxi is too small, so don't worry about it. With these 30 people, we have a total force of 20, leaving [-] troops to defend Sichuan and Shaanxi, and [-] troops to attack Xixia."

Chen Qing thought for a while and said, "The 20 army is a little short, but considering that there are still 30 cavalry from the Yellow-headed Uighurs, we can still win over the Qiang people in Xixia. They also hate the Xixia court deeply. They supported Xiao He before. Da, we can assign the western part of Xixia to the Qiang people, then the Qiang people will also send troops, so even if the total is less than [-], it is almost the same.”

Jiang Yanxian praised: "The Qiang people's plan is good, did the Xuan Fu envoy send someone to contact you?"

"I have already asked Xi Xia's scouts to contact, but there is no news yet."

"When does Xuan Fu envoy plan to send troops?"

"It should be early autumn. The exact time will depend on the court's attitude."

Speaking of this, Chen Qing looked at the tens of thousands of civilians on the pier with his hands behind his back, and said with a faint smile: "Do you think there are spies from the Kingdom of Jin hidden among these civilians?"

Zhang Xiao nodded, "There must be!"

"Did Sima arrange Lin Jianqing's matter?"

Zhang Xiaowei smiled and said, "I've already made arrangements. I announced the job rotation system early this morning, and it's tailor-made for him."

"But the real classified information can't let him touch it."

"Please rest assured, I will show him what should be shown to him, and he will not be able to touch a word of what should not be shown to him. Forgive him for not being able to find my palm no matter how hard he struggles."

……

A team of peasants carried a fifty-jin wooden barrel onto the boat and sent the barrel into the cabin. One of the peasants took advantage of unpreparedness and dug a bit in the crevice of the wooden barrel with sawdust, and some powder fell down. After smelling it, it was indeed kerosene.

After entering the warehouse, everyone carefully put down the wooden barrels. The civilian husband just now pretended to wipe his sweat with a towel, quickly glanced at the cabin, and counted silently in his heart.

A soldier behind shouted: "Don't be in a daze, hurry up!"

The civilian husband turned around and boarded the boat. He found an excuse and left quickly...

As Han Zhengfu, the commander of the internal guards, deduced, Wanxi Restaurant is indeed a node of Jin Bing's intelligence network, but it is not an intelligence point, but just a foothold. Except for the shopkeeper, everyone else here is normal. The country has nothing to do with it, so the inner guard can't find any suspicious clues here.

Li Toutuo is just a nickname. His real name is Li Wanxi, which is the origin of the name of Wanxi Restaurant. However, his pseudonym in Jingzhao is Jiang Xi, and sometimes he is also called Li Toutuo. His identities are the two proprietors of Wanxi Restaurant. One, although he spends most of his time at Wanxi Restaurant, there are some things he never shows up for.

All shops have a back door. After the shop is closed, the clerks and shopkeepers will leave through the back door. Wanxi Restaurant is no exception. Outside its back door is an alley, which is very long, two or three miles long. Like a huge maze, extending in all directions.

But just [-] steps away diagonally from the back door of Wanxi Restaurant, there is a private courtyard house, covering an area of ​​about one mu, with a small courtyard and two entrances. But others went through the restaurant and returned to their residence.

At this time, Li Toutuo was listening to the reports of two subordinates.

"Today, kerosene, gunpowder and food are transported on the pier. I estimated that there are at least [-] barrels of kerosene..."

Before his subordinates could finish speaking, Li Toutuo interrupted him with a wave of his hand, "It has nothing to do with us to transport the amount of supplies, grain and grass, and I don't care. I only care about Chen Qing's situation. He appeared at the pier. What do you think is the possibility of assassination?" How big is it?"

Another subordinate bowed and said, "Commander Qi, we did see Chen Qing on the pier. The guards can be said to be very tight. At least [-] cavalry formed two large circles inside and outside, holding heavy shields in their hands. No matter from which direction When shooting arrows, the arrows will be blocked by the shield, and there are hundreds of inner guards around the perimeter watching, anyone with a crossbow within three hundred steps will be spotted by the inner guards."

"What about assassinating from a height?" Li Toutuo asked again.

"Maybe from a high place, but after he left the pier, he got into the carriage. I don't know if the arrow can penetrate the carriage. His carriage looks the same as an ordinary carriage from the outside, but I guess there is something in it. They It is unlikely that such a large loophole will be exposed."

His subordinates were indeed right, so Li Toutuo turned back and asked the shopkeeper, "Yesterday you told me that Chen Qing has a substitute, is this news true or false?"

The shopkeeper hurriedly said: "The humble job just listened to the chatting of two drinkers. They said an anecdote, that Liu Yu had a double, and one of them said that, as far as he knew, Du Tong also had a double."

"Who are these two drinkers?"

"It looks like it should be a general of the Western Army. They dare not call Chen Qing by his name directly. They use Dutong instead. Since they are called Dutong, they should be soldiers."

Li Toutuo nodded, that's what happened, the generals all called Chen Qing the Dutong, and the civil officials called Chen Qing the Xuanfu envoy, everyone knew that.

He had a big head, and said slowly: "Whether Chen Qing has a substitute is of great importance, we must find out as soon as possible."

The shopkeeper hesitated and said, "Is it possible to use Lin Jianqing and ask him to inquire?"

Li Toutuo said bitterly: "That idiot can't even enter Chen Qing's mansion. I guess he covets Chen Qing's concubine too obviously, and he was seen out, so Chen Qing's wife strictly forbids him to enter the mansion. If I had known about him With a bad reputation, I wouldn't use him at all."

"Maybe his father can, let his father inquire."

Li Toutuo nodded, if he wanted to use Lin Jianqing's father, then he would have to have a showdown with Lin Jianqing.

6Chapter 17 Assassins

Although Li Toutuo decided to have a showdown with Lin Jianqing, Li Toutuo changed his mind the moment he saw Lin Jianqing. This bastard is simple-minded and unrestrained, especially after drinking, he likes to talk nonsense. If I tell him the truth, maybe Whenever he would slip up, he would betray himself.

I still have to act according to the original plan, and let him do things for me under the pretext of helping.

This time, Li Toutuo brought a subordinate who was in charge of recording, and recorded all of Lin Jianqing's confessions.

"Let's talk about it one by one. First, let's talk about the information I let you see. Have you seen it all?"

Lin Jianqing nodded, "Yesterday, we transported 20 shi of grain to Longxi County, and then shipped it to Lanzhou. At present, the grain in Lanzhou is 30 shi. I see that the plan is to store up to [-] shi."

"Is there any grain transfer to Pujin Pass?"

"The granary at Pujin Pass is full..."

"How much is it full?" Li Toutuo asked interrupting him.

"The five granaries over there can store a total of [-] shi, and in the past few days, Tongzhou has added [-] shi of grain. I checked the records. Tongzhou plus Pujin Pass, plus Tongguan's [-] shi of grain storage, the entire eastern There are [-] shi of grain stored on the frontier."

After a pause, Lin Jianqing asked, "Brother Li, is there any business opportunity here?"

Li Toutuo smiled and said: "Business opportunities must be captured. You told me a few days ago that the Western Army mobilized 5 troops to Lanzhou, and I immediately trafficked a large number of medicinal materials and timber to Lanzhou. Sure enough, the medicinal materials and timber rose sharply, and I made a fortune." If you spend [-] yuan, this is a business opportunity, as I told you before, you must learn to collect all kinds of information, and then capture opportunities to make money from it."

"Why can medicinal materials and wood make money?" Lin Jianqing asked blankly.

"Idiot, sending troops to Lanzhou is definitely about to start a war with Xixia, or if Xixia is going to invade the south, you will be injured if you start a war, and you will need a lot of medicinal materials if you are injured. You need a cart to transport materials, and you need wood to build a cart, so I want to understand the movement of the army, only the army needs a lot of supplies, and this is our chance to make a lot of money."

Lin Jianqing suddenly realized that he could earn [-] yuan in one stroke. He swallowed and said, "Brother Li, can you take me to do it together?"

Li Toutuo squinted his eyes and smiled: "It's okay to take you to do business, but doing this kind of business is risky and costly. Sometimes you even use unscrupulous means to make money. Think about it, do you dare to take risks? "

Lin Jianqing hesitated and asked, "What risk do you want to take?"

Li Toutuo pulled him to sit down, and said earnestly: "Doing business is not as simple as you think. We heard that Bashu sheepskins are expensive, so we just bought a batch of sheepskins and shipped them to Bashu? In fact, we can't make money because you are not alone." Merchants, everyone is buying sheepskins and transporting them to Bashu! When you ship them to Bashu, because there are too many sheepskins, the price will plummet, and you will lose money instead. To make money, you must have news that others do not have, or important information, such as you The information about dispatching troops and transporting food is called military intelligence for Xixia, but it is called commercial intelligence for us, do you understand what I mean?"

Lin Jianqing nodded, "Commercial intelligence and military intelligence are actually the same thing, but for different purposes."

Li Toutuo gave a thumbs up, this time he really appreciated it, a child can be taught.

"We are doing business in partnership. Your capital is to collect information. No matter what information you collect, I will judge whether they are worth making money. You will count [-]% of the net profit you will earn in the future."

Hearing that he was given [-]%, Lin Jianqing was overjoyed, and asked cautiously: "Then the previous [-]..."

"That shouldn't be counted, but I still give you the benefit of a thousand coins. From now on, I will sign another contract with you, otherwise it will be hard to say nothing."

After finishing speaking, Li Toutuo gave an order, and the subordinates next to him immediately wrote a contract, and both parties signed and pressed their fingerprints.

His subordinates took out another 200 taels of silver, put it on the table and pushed it to Lin Jianqing. Li Toutuo knew very well that Lin Jianqing was lustful, greedy, stupid, and ungrateful for profit. I'm not worried that Lin Jianqing will betray me, I'm just afraid that he will say something stupid.

Looking at the white 200 taels of silver, Lin Jianqing's eyes were straightened. He swallowed and pointed at the silver, "Is this really mine?"

Li Toutuo chuckled, "What is this small amount of money, as long as you provide valuable information, we will definitely make a lot of money."

Lin Jianqing greedily hugged Yinzi in his arms, couldn't close his mouth with a smile, and asked again: "Brother Li, can you give me a hint, which aspect of information is more profitable?"

"Let me point out a few key points for you! First, when will the Western Army go to war with Xixia; second, how many troops will the Western Army recruit and where will they be recruited from? Third, how many troops will the Western Army deploy at Pujin Pass? Fourth, does Xuanfu envoy Chen Qing have a substitute?"

……