Pingcheng.
The General's Mansion.
The carriage came at full speed and quickly stopped at the door. Zu Jue jumped out of the carriage like a bird and strode towards the house.
The soldiers at the door were stunned. Before they could stop him, they saw Zu Jue flying past them with a whoosh.
This didn't look like an old man at all, and several soldiers looked at each other.
"Building owner? Do you want to pursue him?"
Shi Wansui looked at Zu Jue flying in, was silent for a moment, and then said to several soldiers: "It seems that Grandpa has something important to report and record."
Shi Wansui continued to guard the door of the General's Mansion, feeling amazed in his heart.
There are really many talents under this general, and there are really all kinds of birds.
Zu Jue opened her legs at this moment, ran all the way, and finally rushed to the door of the inner room.
He shouted loudly: "Lord!! I have something important to report!!"
The room suddenly became silent.
The next moment, Mrs. Liu Zhang opened the door gently. Zu Jue was stunned and hurriedly bowed to see the old mistress.
Mrs. Liu Zhang said with a smile: "Since there is something important, I won't disturb you."
She led a maid and turned around to leave.
Zu Jue quickly walked into the house, and Liu Taozi was sitting beside him with half-eaten food in front of him.
Zu Jue couldn't care about this, he said hurriedly: "Lord! Something big happened in Puppet Zhou!!"
"That Yu Wenyong attacked and killed Yu Wenhu in the palace, then summoned his confidants to the palace, and in the name of Yu Wenhu, summoned his heirs and confidants to the palace and killed them all."
"The governors, governors, and generals from all over the country wrote letters to apologize!"
"We underestimated the traitor Yu Wenyong. We didn't expect that this guy was so decisive, ruthless, and extremely capable in governing. After he killed Yu Wenhu, he quickly divided the ministers whom Yu Wenhu relied on.
They were rewarded and promoted, and those who could not be won over were killed or dismissed, and they easily took back the government! They are really strong enemies! Strong enemies!"
Zu Jue was obviously panicked.
In the past, they looked down upon the Pseudo-Chou, all because the Pseudo-Chou had a very good ruler.
Yu Wenhu was an expert in civil war and an outsider in external warfare. He was an invincible fighter in both the government and the public. Once he left the country, he would be beaten everywhere.
In these years, Yu Wenyong behaved extremely mediocrely. He hardly interacted with anyone, did not study, nor did he do anything to consolidate his prestige or create obstacles for Yu Wenhu.
Many people, including Zu Jue and other advisers, believe that the future of the Puppet Zhou Dynasty is bleak. Yu Wenhu is not very good, and his sons are "dragons and phoenixes among men". Yuwen Yong is mediocre and incompetent, and he is unable to seize power.
If Yu Wenyong didn't sing, it would be a blockbuster.
The seemingly mediocre, kindest and most incompetent man suddenly rose up and killed the powerful Yu Wenhu. This was not the most powerful thing. The most powerful thing was that he could actually take back the power.
There was no civil unrest.
What kind of foolish emperor is this? This is the strongest emperor of the damn Yuwen family!
Zu Jue's face was particularly cold, "Lord, we can't let this guy take power so smoothly, we have to find a way."
Liu Taozi remained calm, even after hearing the news, he was not much surprised.
"It's quite early for him to take action."
"ah?"
"Grandpa, didn't you say that as long as we can do our own things well and are strong, we don't have to worry about external enemies?"
Zu Jue scratched his head, feeling upset.
At this moment, he could think of how proud Cui Jishu's old face was. If Cui Jishu's decision-making had been used to continuously create pressure on the border of the Puppet Zhou Dynasty, Yuwenhu might have been able to control the government for a few more years. After all, there were foreign enemies.
Under pressure, as long as you don't go crazy, you won't rush to take action against powerful officials. No one knows what impact this will have on the frontline troops.
"My Lord, I"
"I'm not asking for guilt."
Liu Taozi picked up the dish in front of her and looked at Zu Jue, "Grandpa, do you want some?"
Zu Jue nodded, and Liu Taozi ordered two more bowls and chopsticks. Zu Jue came closer and started eating together.
For some reason, as he followed Liu Taozi to eat, Zu Jue's mood gradually began to calm down, and he lost the impatience he had just now.
Liu Taozi ate very quickly, eating in big mouthfuls, and neither of them said a word.
Soon, the food was eaten clean by the two of them.
Zu Jue was a little confused. He had obviously eaten before coming here, so why did he eat again? Still eat so much?
Liu Taozi wiped her mouth and stared at Zu Jue in front of her.
"Grandpa, is Cui Jishu so scary?"
"Um?"
"I remember that my grandfather was extremely calm and could think of a way to deal with anything he encountered in the past. Since there were different voices in the court, my grandfather became more and more impatient."
"If you are so impatient, you will not be able to do things as well as before."
"Did my grandfather do what happened to Gao Yuanhai?"
"If my grandfather wanted to kill him, why didn't he write a letter to him, but he had to use this method to do it?"
"And Wei Shou, he came to me and told me something."
"Grandpa, if you threaten and extort your colleagues and make them do things for you, can you govern the world?"
Zu Jue fell silent.
Zu Jue looked at Liu Taozi, "My lord, do you think it was me who set fire to the cell?"
"I don't know, that's why I'm asking you."
"Lord, I want to kill Gao Yuanhai and the others, but if I do it, I won't be burned to death. I won't use such crude methods to kill people. I can completely let them die without a trace."
"My lord told me before that I should abide by the law and not do anything prohibited by the law."
"Since then, I have never done anything that violates the law. Arson and murder are a serious crime. How could I do it?"
"As for the extortion you mentioned, the law stipulates that extorting money from others is a crime, and using sharp weapons to intimidate others into doing things is a crime. I did not ask for any money, nor did I use any weapons. I just showed Wei Shou and others a few pictures.
It's just a document, and according to Daqi law, I'm not guilty."
Liu Taozi nodded, "It seems that Qi Lu still needs to add more orders."
Zu Jue couldn't help but laugh, "Is this what my lord thought of first?"
"Um."
"Who committed the Gao Yuanhai case?"
"I don't know, but this villain's rough tactics are obviously Yecheng's old plan."
Zu Jue said disdainfully: "My lord, the people from Yecheng just came here. They were guests and we were the hosts."
"They all bowed their heads like raccoon slaves and did not dare to do evil."
"Now that the Xingtai has been built and many ministers have gathered, they want to go back to that time in Yecheng."
"Why do they oppose my execution of Gao Yuanhai and others?"
"They don't want to set this precedent. In the past, Yecheng only had ministers who died because they offended the emperor, and there were no ministers who died for other crimes."
"This is the tradition of our dynasty. From the past to the present, does my lord know that there is a minister who was executed for corruption? Do you know that there is a minister who was executed for seizing women, land, and preying on the people?"
Zu Jue shook his head, "No."
"Those who are executed are those who have offended the emperor, those who have offended powerful ministers, and those who have offended nobles."
"I want to kill them to set a precedent for the world. Under the new king, even if officials have not offended the emperor, they must be executed if they make mistakes!"
"But they were unwilling, so they tried every means to harm me. Among the masters here, I am the strongest, and the others are too young to pose any threat to them."
"In order to pull me down, they even resorted to framing me."
"Cui Jishu has never come here in the past. This is the so-called wealthy family style. When one person is with the Lord, there must be someone opposite."
"Why did he come here suddenly? Or was it when we just acquired the Northland?"
"He was temporarily invited here by the people in the court, and the purpose was to challenge the minister."
"My lord, I beat Wei Shou and others in order to continue to maintain the status of master and guest. I don't want Pingcheng to become the second Yecheng."
Zu Jue said it very sincerely.
But I can only believe 70% to 80% of what this person says, not everything.
Liu Taozi nodded, not knowing how much he believed it.
He opened his mouth and said, "This is the first time I have heard of my grandfather's talk about the host and his guests."
"Since Grandpa has said it all, there is nothing to be impatient about. Now let's talk about the pseudo-Zhou thing."
Zu Jue's face became calm at this moment. He thought about Yu Wenyong's incident again. After putting aside Cui Jishu's trivial domestic matters, his thoughts became clear again.
"My lord, Yuwen Yong is a formidable enemy."
"However, Yu Wenhu's previous defeat cannot be erased by changing the king."
"No matter how talented Yu Wenyong is in military strategy, it is not easy to calm down the domestic affairs, not to mention that Yu Wenhu died in his hands. Many people in various places in the Puppet Zhou Dynasty were promoted by Yu Wenhu. I think
To completely eliminate these influences, restore national strength, and come to attack, it will take five or six years at the earliest."
"These five or six years are enough for us to take over the land in the south and complete the integration."
"When the time comes, considering the national strength of both parties, Yuwen Yong may not be able to cause any trouble."
Liu Taozi nodded, "I think your idea is much better than the one just now, to recruit Yuwenhu's subordinates? You have never seen what kind of people are under Yuwenhu's subordinates, but I have seen a lot of them."
"I decided to listen to you at the beginning, not because Wei Shou and others followed suit."
"It's just that I feel that to defeat the enemy, you still need to be strong enough."
"Qidi is already the richest and most fertile area in the world. It is just a land in Hebei. If you manage it carefully, you can be the first in the world. Why should you be afraid of it?"
Zu Jue lowered his head and said, "I will teach you."
Liu Taozi stood up slowly and led Zu Jue to the wall.
On the wall, there is a huge map hanging.
What is shown on the map is Liu Taozi's current sphere of influence.
"The ten governors I appointed are quite outstanding and have lived up to my expectations."
"Although the spring planting has been delayed a lot, a lot has been achieved in various places. Next year, there will definitely be great changes."
"I don't have to worry about local things anymore. There are three things I should do most now."
"Zhongzheng assessment, military government, and those merchants in the south."
"I'm going to leave the assessment to Qu Bing."
Zu Jue laughed, "My lord is wise!!!"
The reason why Zu Jue was so happy was that when Beidi was preparing to implement the imperial examination system, many people expressed their special concern for this matter, and these concerned people were naturally the guests Zu Jue mentioned.
These ‘guests’ had long controlled the official promotion system during Daqi.
The Zhongzheng in various places are basically from wealthy families, and the scholars who participate in the assessment must also be named by the Zhongzheng before they can participate.
After the Nine-Rank Zhongzheng System proved how bad this system of selecting officials was, insightful people reformed it and felt that the assessment should be added and the content of the assessment should be strengthened. Recommendations for officials should not be based solely on family origin.
As a result, this Zhongzheng system, disguised as an imperial examination, appeared in the north.
You say he is a Zhongzheng, he has an exam, you say he is an imperial examination, he needs someone to recommend him.
If scholars from common people want to participate in the assessment, it is just a whim. The number of recommendation places is limited, and the number of exam places is limited. In short, screw you.
In this regard, the solutions in the south are much more advanced. During the Liang Dynasty, this bad habit of requiring recommendation to take the exam was officially broken. There was no restriction on identity. As long as they were not sinners, everyone could participate and select talents.
Few people know that the imperial examination system of the Sui Dynasty was still the same as that of the Northern Qi Dynasty. Scholars who participated in the imperial examination still needed to be recommended by someone.
From the promotion of filial piety and integrity to Zhongzheng, and then to the early imperial examination system, the selection of officials was still firmly in the hands of these wealthy families. Regarding this, one only needs to open the history books and see the series of Cui, Lu, Yang, Zheng,
Ministers with surnames such as Zhang and Wang will know this.
After learning that Zu Jue was planning to break the family background restriction, these guests all enthusiastically expressed their willingness to take charge of this matter.
Zu Jue absolutely does not believe them. They want to take charge of this matter, but they are afraid that it will eventually turn into a gathering of children from wealthy families regardless of their origins!
At this moment, when he heard Liu Taozi say that he was ready to make way for Qubing to take over, Zu Jue immediately knew that he was safe!!
Liu Taozi looked at him and saw the joy in his eyes.
"You think that's right too?"
"Yes! That's so right!"
Zu Jue said: "Although Lu Qubing is from a wealthy family, his clan is not large, and he himself does not have the usual style of those wealthy families. It is the safest thing for him to handle this matter. However, many people in the court
, they may all report it, hoping to help him do this, but my lord must never believe their lies! Lu Qubing is very young and is no match for these old men."
"These old men have countless ways to destroy our New Deal. The best way is to keep them out of it!"
Liu Taozi nodded slightly.
"This second thing, the military government is prepared to do it myself."
The smile on Zu Jue's face suddenly disappeared, and he hurriedly said: "My lord, this matter is true."
"No need to say more."
"The affairs of the military government are quite complex. They involve offices and localities, states and military governments, governors and generals, provisions, ordnance, and officers. It is better for me to do it myself."
Zu Jue hurriedly saluted and said: "My lord is wise! I am willing to assist my lord!"
"No, this last thing has to be done by you."
Zu Jue frowned, "Trade?"
Liu Taozi's forces have been living in poverty for a long time, lack of food, lack of food, lack of food.
The frontier fortress is barren, and even though the climate has warmed and grain production has increased in recent years, it is still unable to feed such a large population.
As for the newly acquired land, which had just been destroyed, it would not be able to support the temple in a short period of time.
All places need to invest, and a lot of things were obtained by confiscating homes and genocide, but these things were only enough to invest in the local area. Xingtai did not let them transport food, so the food reserves of the temple were still not up to standard.
In the past, Liu Taozi took the initiative to contact Lou Rui and others to buy grain from the south of the river, and even had indirect trade relations with the Chen people.
Liu Taozi said: "Since we obtained the complete northern land, there have been fewer and fewer convoys and fleets coming to transport grain from the south."
"And when there are so many things to do on the stage, if you don't have food in your hands, you can't do anything."
Zu Jue pondered for a moment, "What do you mean, lord?"
"Trade is equally important. I hope you can restart the past trade, so that both the north and the south can get what they need, and private trade cannot be interrupted."
"Many people have advised me, saying that you should not be responsible for this kind of thing, saying that once you take over, there will definitely be problems."
Liu Taozi slowly looked at Zu Jue.
"Grandpa, is it what they said?"
Zu Jue's face gradually became solemn and his eyes were cold, "Absolutely not."
"Then I will leave this matter to you. You can make up your own mind on everything. If you want help, you can go to Xingtai, and I will let Xingtai fully assist you."
"only!!"
Zu Jue made a grand ceremony.
When Zu Jue walked out of the General's Mansion, his heart felt inexplicably heavy. This heaviness was different from the heaviness he felt after hearing about the incident in the Puppet Zhou Dynasty.
As soon as he walked out of the General's Mansion, Zu Jue almost bumped into the person in front of him.
The person who appeared in front of him was Cui Jishu.
Sure enough, when Cui Jishu saw him, he immediately showed the proud smile that Zu Jue had imagined.
"Master Zu, I haven't seen you for a long time. Are you okay?"
Zu Jue looked at him calmly: "I heard that when he was serving as governor in the south, he often did business with southerners."
"I wonder if you know any big businessmen from the south?"
Cui Jishu frowned, "I don't know what Grandpa is talking about."
"Forget it if you don't have it."
Zu Jue said something and quickly disappeared into the distance.
Cui Jishu frowned.
Why does this guy look different?
Chapter completed!