Playing intrigue is worse than engaging in infrastructure

The development of Mobei will inevitably arouse the fear of others, which Song Qingyuan had expected long ago.

But this is inevitable, all he can do is to make Mobei continue to develop and become stronger.

After returning to Huijing, the aristocratic gentlemen of the caravan described in detail what they had seen and heard in Mobei and their elders.

Many members of the Rao Shi family have been immersed in the officialdom for decades, and have seen countless storms and waves. After listening to their narration, they were all so surprised that they could not speak for a long time.

They have never heard of dams, concrete walls, or curved plows.

Thinking of the many products that have become very popular in the Southern Zhou Dynasty recently, everyone couldn't help feeling a little worried for a while.

According to this speed of development, Mobei may soon be prosperous enough to compete with the Southern Zhou Dynasty.

"We can't let Mobei develop like this." Zhao Zheng, the patriarch of the Zhao family, sat on a mahogany-backed chair and stroked his beard worriedly.

After a long time, Zhao Zheng stood up and told the servant next to him: "Changing clothes for me, I want to go to the palace to meet His Majesty."

Naturally, not only the Zhao family is concerned about the situation in Mobei.

There were many people in the caravan who were sent by major families to inquire about the news, and the Wang family in Huijing was one of them.

Although the Wang family has been operating in Huijing for a long time, and there are many sons of the Wang family who are officials in the court, their main sphere of influence is still in the south, and the Wang family even took over most of the cloth business in the Southern Zhou Dynasty.

Therefore, last year wool cloth was born out of nowhere, and the Wang family was the most affected.

Not only are the piles of cloth piled up in the warehouse that are unsalable, but even the cloth that has been sold with great difficulty is all sold at a reduced price.

Fortunately, their royal family has a profound background, and the mere winter cloth business did not have much impact on them, but Liangzi Wang's family has formed a knot with Song Qingyuan.

In addition, the current Patriarch of the Wang family is not very generous.In the past few days, he stayed at home behind closed doors, thinking of ways to deal with Song Qingyuan.

After thinking about it, he still felt that it would be most appropriate to start with the mutual market with Mobei this year.

Zhao Zheng, who was summoned by Emperor Hongde, was still a little hesitant when he entered the Xuande Hall.After all, Emperor Hongde has become more and more obsessed with cultivating Taoism in recent days, even the daily morning time has been changed to Jianri, and it is impossible to see him on the day of offering sacrifices.

As soon as Zhao Zheng entered the door, he saw a familiar figure. It was Wang Hui, the Patriarch of the Wang Family, who had been crippled by woolen cloth some time ago.

After Zhao Zheng saluted respectfully, he said to Wang Hui, "Unexpectedly, Mr. Wang is here."

Before Wang Hui could speak, Emperor Hongde, who was sitting on it, said: "Before, my Southern Zhou caravan went to Mobei to sell goods, and I saw many novel scenes, saying that Mobei is very different from before, I don't know Has Zhao Aiqing heard about this?"

Zhao Zheng said in his heart, let alone me, this matter is no secret in the entire city of Huijing.

But he couldn't figure out what Emperor Hongde was thinking for a while, so he replied cautiously, "I have heard it a little bit."

"How could you have heard about it, Mr. Zhao? I heard that there are many sons of the Zhao family in that team of vendors." Wang Hui's somewhat harsh voice sounded from the hall.

Seeing that he couldn't handle it, Zhao Zheng had no choice but to tell the truth: "In order to let the juniors in the family go out to experience more, I did send them to Mobei with the caravan."

Emperor Hongde responded indifferently, without any expression on his face.

Zhao Zheng didn't know what Wang Hui said to His Majesty before he came, so he had to bite the bullet and continue: "In Yichen's opinion, Mobei seems to have changed a lot. I heard from the juniors at home that Mobei people seem to be still A material called "cement" was invented, and the local people used it to mix sand to build the city wall, which is said to be very strong, even water and fire. "

Because of the rumors about Song Qingyuan that had spread in Huijing some time ago, the entire imperial court now keeps the name Song Qingyuan secret.

Zhao Zheng was even more afraid of mentioning that Song Qingyuan had offended Emperor Hongde, so he tactfully used "they" instead.

"Anything else?"

Seeing Emperor Hongde's unsuspecting face, Zhao Zheng replied very understandingly: "Return to Your Majesty, the redundant ministers don't know about it either."

"Just now, Wang Aiqing told me that Mobei has become a serious threat to my confidant in Southern Zhou, so I have to be on guard." Emperor Hongde said.

Zhao Zheng secretly looked at Wang Hui with some surprise.He entered the court together with Wang Hui as an official, worked together for many years, and knew the nature of this man well.

Unexpectedly, one day he would also care about things other than their Wang family.Zhao Hui thought.

But the surprise was the surprise, he still had to answer the emperor's question.Zhao Zheng thought for a while and replied: "Master Wang's words are very true, and the old minister also thinks that we can't let Mobei develop like this."

"Then according to Aiqing's opinion, what should be done?" Emperor Hongde asked again.

Zhao Zheng didn't show it on the surface, but he was already banging on the wall in his heart.He thought to himself: If I have any good ideas, I already said them when I entered the temple, so why wait until now?

But Mr. Zhao is worthy of being an official for many years, and he immediately threw this hot potato back into the hands of his colleagues in a flash of inspiration.

"Forgive me for being stupid, and I can't think of any good methods at the moment. But Mr. Wang often has contacts with merchants from Mobei, so he may have some good ideas."

Seeing that His Majesty turned his gaze to himself, Wang Hui glanced at Zhao Zheng, stood up and replied: "I have a vast land and abundant resources in the Southern Zhou Dynasty, and the things produced by the barbarian tribes in the area are nothing more than a novelty for the common people, and they are not indispensable. But Mobei cannot do without the grain, tea and salt of the Southern Zhou Dynasty. In my opinion, it is better to prohibit the people from selling these things to Mobei when they are trading with Mobei. If there is no food, I will not believe them won't give in."

Wang Hui's voice was like a poisonous snake spitting out a letter, as if soaked in venom, it was vicious and mean.Even Zhao Zheng couldn't help shrinking back.

He knew in his heart that Wang Hui's remarks were definitely not on a whim, and should have been carefully thought out before he came.

And his proposal was not for Nan Zhou's sake at all.Zhao Zheng guessed that it was just because last winter, the wool fabric produced by Mobei affected Wang Hui's business, and he was taking revenge.

Zhao Zheng frowned and retorted: "If there is no food for the winter, wouldn't Mobei have to go east to plunder again?"

His words were euphemistic, but what he thought in his heart was: In this way, would King Mobei give up?They probably forgot that the year before last, when he won three cities in a row, no one in the entire Southern Zhou Dynasty dared to challenge him.

The relationship between the two countries is that the east wind prevails over the west wind. If this method was strong in the Southern Zhou Dynasty, it might still threaten Mobei.But now that the Southern Zhou Dynasty is in decline, how is this different from going to war with Mobei directly?

"Master Wang means, are we going to let him grow?" Wang Hui looked at Zhao Zheng.

Just as Zhao Zheng opened his mouth to retort, he heard Emperor Hongde say: "This matter has a lot to do with it, so let's discuss it another day."

Today, Emperor Hongde summoned the two of them. Apart from discussing the matter of Mobei, more importantly, an urgent document was sent from Lingnan, saying that there was a rebellion by local refugees, and he asked the emperor to send troops to quell the rebellion.

When he left Xuande Hall, Zhao Zheng was still uneasy. Although Emperor Hongde did not agree with Wang Hui's proposal, he really understood Wang Hui's character of vengeance.

He would never give up on the matter of Mobei, but unfortunately, His Majesty even sent Wang Luan, who is also from the Wang family, to be in charge of the mutual market with Mobei.

Song Qingyuan, who is far away in Mobei, is not ignorant of all that happened in Huijing.

Not long after Emperor Hongde summoned Zhao and Wang, he received a letter from Eunuch Gao, the personal servant of Emperor Hongde.

Eunuch Gao did not mention too much about Emperor Hongde's attitude towards Mobei in the letter, but focused on Wang Hui's hostility towards Song Qingyuan.

In his opinion, the struggles between those countries are not something a small person like him can get involved in, but he heard clearly what Wang Hui said to his colleagues when he was in the next court, "Song Qing must make life difficult".

The fact that this letter can be spread to Mobei so easily shows how chaotic the Southern Zhou Dynasty has become.

Song Qingyuan opened Eunuch Gao's letter while thinking.

But after reading the first page, he stopped.

Eunuch Gao may not be aware of the involvement, but Song Qingyuan does.

The most likely way for Wang Hui to avenge his cloth business last winter was to tamper with the mutual market.And the next official in charge of the mutual market is the Wang family, which further proves the authenticity of this matter.

Song Qingyuan frowned, and immediately got up and went to Liandi Palace.

As soon as he saw Lian Ti, Song Qingyuan passed the letter in his hand without saying a word.

After reading it at a glance, he frowned and said, "Where does your Highness think Nan Zhou will start?"

"Tea." Song Qingyuan said without thinking.

Food is too important, Emperor Hongde may not have the courage to directly attack food, but tea is different.

For one thing, it is not as important as food, but it is also an indispensable necessity in Mobei.

The second reason is that there are many things that can be manipulated in the tea. For example, it is not difficult to replace the tea that was originally traded with Mobei with old tea or low-quality tea.

Seeing that Lian Ti was silent, Song Qingyuan said slowly: "If it is really discovered that they have tampered with the tea, we will have to go to war with Nan Zhou."

Lian Ti looked at Song Qingyuan and nodded.

For a moment, both of them felt a little heavy.

If it was not a last resort, Song Qingyuan would be the one who least wanted to fight.

Not only because he received a modern education and grew up in a peaceful environment.More importantly, as early as in Yanyun, he had seen the cruelty of war and the harm to the people.

Song Qingyuan was still thinking about the day's affairs until he fell asleep at night.

The Wang family should take office after this summer. That is to say, if Emperor Hongde really wants to attack the mutual market, the peace between Mobei and Southern Zhou can only be maintained until this summer at most.

Song Qingyuan tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep, so he simply put on his clothes and left the bedroom.

There is a Zhanxing Pavilion in the palace. According to Lian Ti, you can have a panoramic view of the entire palace from there.

Song Qingyuan suddenly remembered what Lian Ti had said, and headed towards Zhan Xing Pavilion.

When he boarded the Zhanxing Pavilion, he realized that there was already a person on the viewing platform.

The person lying on his side leaning on the stone pillar turned his head, smiled, and said in a low voice, "Is Your Highness coming to see the scenery?"

Song Qingyuan didn't expect to meet Lian Ti here, so he sat down next to him after a moment of stunned, nodded and said, "It's hard to fall asleep thinking about something, so I came here."

Lian Ti tacitly didn't ask any more questions, and turned his head to look into the distance.

After a long time, in the silence of the night, I remembered Lian Ti's hoarse voice again.

"Today, when His Highness mentioned the war with Nan Zhou, I suddenly realized that there had been no war in Mobei for so long."

He lowered his head and chuckled, "When I think about leading troops to fight, I feel a little uncomfortable."

Song Qingyuan looked at the other party silently. He knew that what Lian Ti didn't adapt to was not the marching and fighting, but the sudden interruption of the life that had obviously calmed down.

No one wants to fight, but the reality is always extremely cruel.

Song Qingyuan looked up into the distance, pointed to the hazy mountain and asked, "Where is that mountain in the distance?"

Lian Ti looked in the direction of Song Qingyuan's finger, "It's the Wolf God Snow Mountain. Your Highness visited it last winter."

Song Qingyuan said "Oh".

He remembered that Queen Suozhu was buried there, and they also passed by the hometown of Lianti's sea dongqing. Even in winter, there are green branches and green leaves, and the four seasons are like spring...

Wait, the seasons are like spring?

Song Qingyuan flashed countless thoughts in an instant, he turned his head to look at Lian Ti, his voice was full of excitement that could not be concealed.

"That valley!"

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