Qingzhou trip

Halfway through Zhao Yifang's discussion with others, she was suddenly alarmed by loud shouts, and sent someone to ask about it, only to learn that the academy was flooded.After asking the guards about the arrangements, she went to the front hall and continued to wait for news.

She felt a little more at ease after learning that Yun Bailu rode his horse and issued orders not to fight the fire one by one.

"This fire is weird." Zhao Yifang asked her after hearing Li Mei's words, "Where is the weirdness?" She was playing with the sapphire peacock carving on her waist, and Anzu sat in the hall with a calm expression.

"The academy opens at Sishi and closes at Youshi. It is only opened during the day to prevent fires and candles. Fires will start from inside. Since the eve of the eve, officials and people in the city have been busy celebrating the Rewarding God Festival. Not to mention getting drunk, most of them borrowed It's hard to wake up while snoring with drunkenness. I'm afraid it's just because the city can't react." Li Mo sighed softly, "Fortunately, the magistrate Xie came back a while ago, and he is organizing patrols in the city right now. Fight the fire with the people from the county government.”

"If someone can set fire, it's for this king." Zhao Yifang frowned immediately, "Master Xie came back a while ago? Then she's not too drunk, and she's not so drunk." King Jin smiled suddenly, "Wen Pot of tea, wait for Master Xie to report in person."

Fortunately, Xie Penglai has always been strict in governing the city, and even ordered patrols in person on festivals, and even made a point of keeping a few clerks in the county government to stay behind.The fire in Shahai Academy only burned half of the house, half of Jingshi Ziji Department was destroyed, and the other half was soaked in smoke and water.

She walked among the charred ruins, her robe and shoes were already dirty and black, and even her usually fair face was stained with black charcoal.Not caring about changing clothes, she asked the patrol and others to ask carefully before arranging to clean up the scene.At Maoshi, Yun Bailu was with her to put out the fire, seeing her thinking silently, "Someone must have let it go, it couldn't be cats and dogs kicking over the lights."

When Xie Penglai felt sorry for the volumes of books, he was also worried about this layer. "The sky is clear, I'm going to see King Jin." Martial law in the city is imperative, but it has to be ordered by the appeasement envoy of the three states.

After arriving at King Jin's mansion, Li Mo brought over a bowl of lotus seed soup. Xie Penglai was taken aback when he saw it, and then he drank it in a hurry after thanking him. He then picked up his robe and wiped his face while following her to find King Jin.

"Your Highness said that County Magistrate Xie must have had no rest last night. He was tired and didn't eat for a long time. Let's make a cushion first, and I'll treat you to dinner later." Li Mo said while watching Xie Penglai's eyes, and she was startled, " King Jin is so considerate of his subordinates..."

"It's better for you to save this and tell His Highness face to face." Li Mo smiled and pushed her into the door of the front hall.King Jin was dozing off with his head propped up, and when he heard the sound, he opened his eyes, saw Xie Penglai's messed up black and white face, and smiled, and signaled Li Mei to ask someone to bring a basin of water for her to wash.

Xie Penglai wiped his face and talked about the fire at night, and asked King Jin to issue a curfew and a city closure order, and did not hide the Northern Xia song "Xiliang Opera" that came out of the flower alley at night, "Xiaguan rule the city If you don't work hard, if people from the Northern Xia really infiltrated the city, I am willing to subdue the law."

She only focused on wiping her face, and there were still a few bruises on her neck, King Jin stepped forward to take the handkerchief and wiped it for her.Xie Penglai's whole body was tense and he didn't dare to breathe, "Your official... just do it yourself."

"Don't move." King Jin grabbed her arm to prevent her from being shy, and finally wiped it clean and threw the handkerchief into the basin, "What crime are you punishing? Is it normal for people from Beixia to sneak in? Zhanyun Pavilion and Duting in Beijing There are envoys from Beixia in Xiyi, and merchants from Beixia are often seen in Maxing Street. Can you catch them all?

"Northern Xia people really want to sneak into the city. They can dress up like me and don't speak. What's more, in these years, the Han people in many villages on the northwest border have surrendered to the north? That's why this king thinks, 'Let the captives have no gaps to see. , fear without fighting' are nonsense. Where is there an airtight wall?" Zhao Yifang touched the carving on her waist again, "Flower Lane and Wine Lane are the easiest place for summer guests in the north of Tibet. Last night when I heard that there was a fire , I will send people to surround these two alleys, and all the people inside will be locked up in the post house, waiting for Xie Shi to go and interrogate."

Xie Penglai was finally able to let out a sigh of relief, "Your Highness is decisive, but why do you suspect that this leak has something to do with the Beixia people?"

"The war between our dynasty and Beixia lasted for nearly a hundred years. What kind of virtues do they have? The literati who have read bad books don't understand, and I don't know yet? After the sneak attack on Manguan, Beixia got angry. , was rejected by the king with several papers, and the court temporarily put this matter on hold. The Shahai Academy was the first thing the king did after he came to the Northwest. It is most appropriate to set fire to the academy. This is for this King's Eye Salve."

After saying that, Zhao Yifang took Xie Penglai's hand, "Come on, change your clothes, let's go out of the city and have a look."

The four cavalry teams left the city from the four gates. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell at a glance that the patrol and military defense were worried about their surroundings, so they rushed to investigate everywhere early in the morning.

Wearing military uniforms and riding horses, Zhao Yifang and Xie Penglai followed the north gate patrol team. Less than five miles out of the city, Zhao Yifang suddenly gave Xie Penglai a look, and the two turned to another path together.

"Your Highness, I still think it's too dangerous." Xie Penglai disagreed when he heard that he was leaving the city today, but Jin Wang didn't care, "You put on a martial law posture, even if there are people with ulterior motives outside, who would think of Sanzhou's appeasement envoy and Sha The County Magistrate of Hai dares to come out and have a look in person?"

Five miles to the north is the material transfer site of the Shahai Quju Bureau and the Northwest Town Rongjun. Sometimes, for the convenience of transactions, they also do business with the Beixia people here.Although the ban in the city is strict, the transfer center has already begun to be busy.There is an endless stream of caravans of grain, herbs, and green and white salt coming in and out.The two of them were on the sidelines immediately, and Xie Penglai suddenly understood the purpose of King Jin's request for her to come here: if there is a huge momentum, when the appeasement envoys of the three states come to inspect this place, it may be another depressed scene.

"I just find it strange that the Beixia people still don't know how to restrain themselves because Shahai and other places have stopped trading. It turns out that there is an extra route to the transfer field." Zhao Yifang looked at the front coldly, "Thank you, the besieged The land is still short of a sand sea dispute, this king does not want to startle the snake, so let's let that go for now."

Xie Penglai bowed his head, "Xie has been taught."

"Thank you, five out of six of the court's wealth is used to raise soldiers, and one sixth is used to raise officials. We also need to squeeze out silver taels to give to Xiliao and Beixia when they are year-old, and spend money to buy Gou'an, and they even want to take advantage of it." , 'Given'." King Jin smiled helplessly, "Northwest calls every year that the war is critical, and the food and grass are not running smoothly. So they built a city and field on the Liangdao Fortress. The well-established military fortress has become a place where various places privately negotiate and sell transactions to make money." She visited various places a few days ago, and what she heard and saw was shocking.

"Military and government financial resources rely on each other and operate independently, so that the Qing Dynasty can run smoothly. If they are mutually connected, then... it will be difficult to shake them, and the disaster of the feudal town is not far away." Xie Penglai said in a low voice.

"My elder brother was raised in the deep palace when he was four years old. How could he know this? There are eunuchs and cunning literati around him. If you want money, the emperor will give it. If you want things, you will allocate them. It's fine if you don't fight If I have been safe for a hundred years, I can go on for another hundred years." King Jin grasped his whip tightly, "They were afraid that I would steal the limelight from my brother, so they kicked me to Jibei as a child. When I was older, I called back to the capital and said yes. Getting married or getting married, there must be the same thing."

Xie Penglai drove the horse closer, and found that Zhao Yifang's eyes were shining with vicissitudes that did not match his age, "If you marry, you can find a clan to adopt the title of the country. If you get married, the next generation will be deprived of the title. This dynasty is only the king of Shang And the two female princes of His Highness, I am afraid that this is the end."

Zhao Yifang turned to look at her curiously, "Master Xie understands this very well." Xie Penglai smiled embarrassedly.

The northwest wind was blowing hard, Zhao Yifang tightened her cloak, "Teacher Xie guess again, the northwest is so chaotic, why did you send me here?"

Rubbing his hands stiff with cold, "If there is chaos, His Highness is the only one who will ask questions. If the chaos is ruled, His Highness will be the rooster in the morning, and his ambitions will be manifested. If the chaos is calmed down, he will be able to make peace with each other, and in Yanzhi, another clan official will be sent to collect the fisherman's fish." Li. Let me take a guess, but is it the suggestion of the political advisor Lu Jie?" Xie Penglai saw King Jin's eyes glowing again after hearing her words.

"Exactly." King Jin smiled, "But they miscalculated the way." But without saying anything, King Jin pulled Xie Penglai's hand to warm his own, "Thank you, but a thousand cups won't pour?"

Xie Penglai's fingertips trembled, and for a moment he couldn't bear to part with the warmth of that palm, so he could only sigh in regret, "Your Highness...I don't know how to deal with it...Your Highness, I'm a seventh-rank senior official, born in common clothes, how dare you be so rude?"

"So you pretended to be asleep?" King Jin scoffed at her, and held Xie Penglai's hand even tighter, "But...but this king," Zhao Yifang was upset, "I just like being with you."