Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 743 Don't Take It Lightly

Liu Shuai's good news pushed the entire birthday celebration to a climax. The Taihe Palace, which had been sluggish because of the etiquette officials, immediately regained its vitality.

Because of the leadership of Shen Haolin and Shen Cha, the royal family and nobles also congratulated Song Jue and the empress dowager one after another. Basket after basket of good words was thrown out, even Wu Qingruo, who is usually very taciturn, said a few more words .

Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites never expected that the step-by-step celebration would be interrupted by such an accident.But this accident is great news for the whole Great Xia, and he is also very happy. If he can completely eradicate the disaster in the southern border, it will be a matter of great merit.Therefore, he didn't know whether he should cry or laugh at this moment and here.

The birthday banquet really began after the congratulations from all the officials were over.

For this birthday banquet, Song Jue personally begged Jin Miaomiao, hoping that she would be in charge of some of the dishes, mainly dishes for himself, the empress dowager, the royal relatives, and nobles. Other royal chefs could be responsible for the dishes for the officials .

Jin Miaomiao felt that he had to guide Song Jinyu to make that birthday dish anyway, so he agreed to Song Jue's request.

After Shen Haolin heard about this, he taunted Song Jue once in front of him, saying that when the birthday banquet started, all the officials would realize that they were being treated differently when they saw that their dishes were different from those of the royal family and nobles. Time to see what reason he can convince them.

As a result, because of Liu Shuai's battle report, when the birthday banquet really started, everyone's excitement hadn't really passed away, and they didn't realize that the dishes in front of them were different from other people's. Their attention was still discussing the results of the battle above.

"Shuai Liu saved Song Jue's life." Shen Cha covered her mouth and snickered, and whispered to Shen Haolin, "Sister Jinyu is here."

When Song Jinyu walked in with the big birthday dish she made by herself, she attracted the attention of all the officials a little bit. She put the roast meat she made respectfully in front of the empress dowager, and watched the empress dowager eat it. He took a sip and narrowed his eyes happily.

“The taste is very good!”

Hearing the empress dowager's praise, Song Jinyu heaved a sigh of relief, and his heart was finally relieved.

All the officials stood up again, once again congratulated the Empress Dowager, and praised the eldest princess's good craftsmanship and filial piety to the Empress Dowager.

When the Eldest Princess left the Taihe Palace, the topic of discussion among the officials turned back to the battle report. Even those who usually disliked each other frequently toasted to celebrate this victory.

"The news from Liu Shuai came very timely!" Song Yaojia stretched out her thumb and whispered to Shen Haolin and Shen Cha, "Look at Master Shao's face, it turned green just now, and now it's slowing down Come here. He told us very seriously yesterday that we must remember not to make any mistakes. As a result, people are not as good as God. This battle report from Liu Shuai ruined all his arrangements, and he still dare not say anything You said, did Liu Shuai count the time to send it here?"

"It's not impossible." Bai Meng, who had been standing beside Song Jue, came over with the battle report and handed it to Shen Haolin, "Looking at the date of signing, Liu Shuai sent it here urgently."

Shen Haolin lowered his head to read the content of the battle report. Liu Shuai wrote it in great detail. In the last month, there have been more than [-] confrontations with pirates and water thieves. There are even more people, because there are more than a hundred people who were shot down in the sea by the navy of Daxia, but their whereabouts are unknown. No one was alive or dead.

"This kind of large-scale invasion is not common in previous years." Song Yaojia looked at Shen Haolin and then at Shen Cha, "According to the experience of previous years, the Japanese pirates will not harass frequently until at least two months later, why are they doing so today? Early? Come so aggressively? The total number of Japanese pirates and water thieves killed every year is not as many as this time."

"Probably because when Liu Shuai first arrived in the south, he fought with them and drove the Japanese pirates back to their lair. The Japanese pirates were unwilling, and after a short rest, they made a comeback again."

"Last time they didn't collude with the water thieves. This time they knew they couldn't beat Liu Shuai, so they asked the water thieves to help. But the water thieves knew that Liu Shuai was powerful, and even if they helped, they didn't come out in full force. The old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled are just holding back." Bai Meng sneered, "This time, the pirates lifted a rock and shot themselves in the foot."

"Water thief..." Song Yaojia rubbed his chin and looked at Bai Meng who was sitting next to him, "It stands to reason that life in the south is rich and much better than life in the north. How can there be water thieves?"

"His Royal Highness, do you think they are real water thieves?" Bai Meng put a chopstick of steamed fish into his mouth, "Behind the so-called water thieves are all local gentry, big and small."

"The gentry in the southern border all have their own guardians and thugs. Although the government has express requirements, each family's guardians or thugs should be limited to 30 to [-] people, and should not exceed this range. But there are There are also countermeasures for this statement below. Let your guards or thugs pretend to be servants or servants, as long as they don't say it themselves, it's better to hide it, and no one will know." Shen Cha picked up the soup bowl, After taking a sip, her eyes lit up instantly, and she patted Shen Haolin's arm, "This soup is so delicious!"

Song Yaojia heard Shen Cha's words, took a sip from the soup bowl first, and signaled Shen Cha to continue.

"What did you say?" Shen Cha took another bite of the roast pork cooked by Song Jinyu himself that the Empress Dowager asked the servant to bring over, "The water thieves are actually not water thieves, but guards or thugs raised by these rich gentry?"

"Even those of you in the north know about it, and the local government doesn't have no idea. They let it go?"

"Your Highness, the collusion between the government and the businessman is not just talking about it. The gold and silver received by some big men in the southern border is not a star and a half. It's just that this time they kicked the iron plate. Liu Shuai will not eat theirs. set."

"It's not about throwing cold water on him. After winning this battle, we can't take it lightly. There will be a lot of things to clean up in the future. The lack of cooperation of local officials and the overt and secret troubles of the gentry will all cause Liu Shuai a certain burden. Although the battle is over, But the burden on Liu Shuai's shoulders will become heavier and heavier."

"Grandpa Guo is right. Liu Shuai had already expected this before he left Beijing, and he has made complete preparations. We don't have to worry. He has good help by his side. If he encounters any difficult problems that he is not good at , and the old Huage father and son are here, the elder Ge has gone through three dynasties, and he has seen all kinds of turbulent waves, those people can't fool him." After Bai Meng finished speaking, he glanced at Shen Cha nervously, waiting for her After finishing the roast meat, he raised his eyebrows at her and asked, "This...how does it taste?"

"Hmm..." Shen Cha pondered for a while, then bared her teeth at Bai Meng, "Not bad, much better than what she did before."

(End of this chapter)