end song

872 Ambiguous
Although it is early in the morning, from the viewing platform, many officials can already be seen walking towards the public house.

I even saw Lu Xiufu heading towards the lobby of the palace holding a stack of official documents. Maybe it was his first appointment as the Inspector of Integrity and he found many corrupt officials.

Seeing this scene, Lin Zi hesitated for a moment and said: "Knowing people, knowing face but not knowing, Yu Dechen assassinated the king last time after all. What if he really turns his back, and then assassinate the king?"

"Then standardize the defense of Prince Qin's Mansion and Chang'an City, or check the details of what he said. Don't be sneaky. Even if you stare at him for a year and a half without finding evidence, you will not clear up your doubts, but it will easily make him feel Being suspected and making others uneasy."

Yu Dechen was so lucky to come back, it's normal for Lin Zi to have doubts, but how to control the balance between caution and suspicion?
Li Xia was thinking about how to clarify this issue with Lin Zi.

"How should I put it, this kind of thing is like chasing a girl. An unconfident man will keep asking questions and ask to confirm the relationship immediately, but a mature and confident man knows how to enjoy ambiguity."

"This……"

Lin Zi didn't understand, and thought that to pursue a woman is to let the matchmaker make sure.

Li Xia said: "It's like when Zhang Wulang just wanted to wait and see between me and Kublai Khan, but because of Kublai Khan's suspicion, he was forced to come to Hanzhong to join me. But when Zhang Wulang turned his back, Kublai Khan was very suspicious of the Zhang family. Even more suspicious, I can't wait to force them to take a stand.

It's like a rich robber standing in front of a group of women with a knife and asking them to say they like him.Among them, Zhang Hongfan took a fancy to his family wealth and was willing to marry him to get the best position.But others will only feel fear, fear, and want to escape, which is why the Zhang family has gradually been willing to contact me in recent years. "

Lin Zi understood a little, and asked, "Then we should treat Zhang Hongji like this robber's concubine? Should we appease her instead of forcing her to express her opinion?"

"Probably that's what it means. Whether it's Yu Dechen or Zhang Hongji. We don't have to always ask 'are you loyal to the King of Qin'? Loyalty is not something that comes out of asking, investigation, or monitoring. There are two kinds of loyalty, one is belief, The second is a position. Most of the loyalty in this world is a position."

"With the relationship of Princess Zhang, the Zhang family's position must be on the king's side."

"How can it be so simple?" Li Xia said: "Then if I go to Kaiping and Helin and marry the Mongolian princesses all over, wouldn't Kublai Khan and brother Alibu also have to rely on me?"

"This……"

"I'll give an example."

Speaking of this topic, Li Xia also thought of someone, saying: "For example, Zhang Hongfan, his position can only be my enemy, and he will never die."

"Why?"

"You can't just look at Zhang Jiulang's thoughts, you have to look at Kublai Khan first... Now that you are Kublai Khan, you found out that Zhang Rou's daughter married Li Xia, and Li Xia became stronger day by day, what should you do? Letter Do you not trust Zhang Rou? Do you want to deal with Zhang Rou? How to deal with it?"

"I...I don't know."

"Then next, what if the entire Zhang family tends to defect to Li Xia, and there is not even a single person loyal to you?"

Without hesitation, Lin Zi said, "Then the Zhang family must be destroyed."

"You will lose a lot, but Li Xia has nothing to lose."

"It's better than letting the Zhang family defect to Li Xia. Let Li Xia...no, it's to let the king grow stronger."

"It's okay, just treat yourself as Kublai Khan."

"Yes."

"Then if the Zhang family still has an outstanding child, he will absolutely and clearly express his loyalty to you. What will you do? Will you still destroy the Zhang family?"

Lin Zi said: "Then there's no need to kill the net. As long as he is really loyal to me, I can use him to control the Zhang family."

"Politics is the art of compromise." Li Xia said, "I can't send troops to Hebei, and the Zhang family can't occupy Hebei and Henan, so there must be someone who is clearly loyal to Kublai Khan."

Lin Zi thought for a while and asked, "If that's the case, is it possible for Zhang Hongfan to serve the King in the future?"

"No."

Without thinking about it, Li Xia immediately shook his head.

"In the beginning, it was just a choice, and then the interests will push the positions more and more against each other. Since the Zhang family's interests are divided into two ends, the Zhang family will inevitably divide. On the one hand, Li Xia, who is related to the Zhang family, is getting stronger and stronger; It is the old Mongolian Yuan forces that are still strong, and can determine the survival of the Zhang family.

The reason why Zhang Jiulang is loyal to Kublai Khan is because the post of manager of Shuntian Road will inevitably attract the most outstanding children of the Zhang family; He must not be the manager of Shuntian Road.

It is impossible for me to let the entire Zhang family take refuge in me, and Kublai Khan cannot stop someone from the Zhang family from leaning towards me.This split is doomed and no one can stop it. "

……

When he was in Hanzhong, Zhang Hongfan refused to come out to meet him, so Li Xia knew not to recruit this person again.

Before Li Xia had the strength to fight in Hebei, Zhang Hongfan had no choice at all, and there was no need to join Li Xia. Kublai Khan used him more, trusted him more, and gave him more.

And when Li Xia had the strength to defeat Kublai Khan, he was no longer needed.

Because what to do at that time should be to reduce the military power of the Zhang family.

At that time, no matter how much power the Zhang family has left, it is impossible to distribute it to Zhang Hongfan.It's like placing a bet before the opening of the bet, and there is no reason to take it all after the opening.

If Li Xia was defeated in the end, Kublai Khan would not be able to give Zhang Wulang, who was the first to defect, a chance to reform.It is even possible that Zhang Jiulang took the initiative to clean up the house.

The reverse is also true.

The person who stands up first can take the greatest benefit, but at the same time take the greatest risk.

All in all, Li Xia fully understood Zhang Hongfan's position and was ready to kill him or be killed.In troubled times, this is nothing.

"Back to Zhang Hongji. Now that Zhang Wulang and Zhang Jiulang have stood up to take risks, the rest of the Zhang family don't have to work too hard. The best attitude is to be loyal to Kublai Khan on the surface, but try not to offend me. This is the position I don't believe that Zhang Hongji will, as you said, instigate Yu Dechen to assassinate me or spy on me. This kind of reaction is too violent and not in the interests of the Zhang family..."

~~
There is a river in the west of Baozhou City named "Yimuquan River", which flows through Baozhou City from west to east.

At that time, Zhang Rou rebuilt Baozhou City and introduced an acre of spring river into the city, which not only served as a defense, but also provided a clear water source for the city.

The small river is gurgling, and many waterwheels have been built beside the river to irrigate the farmland, forming a peaceful and peaceful scene in autumn.

Zhang Hongfan rode his horse along the river. Looking at the scenery, he wanted to compose a poem, but the phrase "Little bridge and flowing water" popped up in his mind for no reason, because it inevitably reminded him of Li Xia.

He shook his head and smiled wryly, pulled the rein, and looked into the distance.

A long time ago, Zhang Wulang took his younger brothers and sisters to the neighborhood for an outing. Once he asked the elder sister what kind of husband and son-in-law she wanted to find in the future. Do things, so that father is not so tired."

How sensible at that time.

In short, every time I return to Baozhou, I will recall too many past events, big and small, and this is probably the case in my hometown...

Traveling all the way outside the city, Zhang Hongfan was not in a hurry to enter the city, but first arrived at a manor outside the city.

It was the manor of an elder of the Zhang clan, and Zhang Hongfan needed to call him "Seventh Uncle". The Seventh Uncle was very happy to see him back, and hurriedly arranged refreshments with preserved fruit.

Sitting in front of the stone table in the courtyard, watching the beautiful servant girl boil water and make tea, just after the greetings, she smelled the fragrance of tea.

"Good tea."

Zhang Hongfan sniffed the teacup, closed his eyes and savored it for a while, then asked, "This variety...Longyuan Shengxue?"

"Jiulang has a good vision. In fact, I don't know how to taste tea. It tastes the same when I pour it in. Buy some exquisite new tea to entertain guests, so that I can show my strength. Don't teach people to underestimate the Zhang family, hahahaha."

"One catty of dragon balls is worth two taels of gold, but gold is easy to get, but tea is not easy to get." Zhang Hongfan asked: "Is it from Fujian Road in Song Dynasty?"

Uncle Zhang Qi possessed both the recklessness of a Hebei farmer and the extravagance of a wealthy family. He laughed and said, "Of course, otherwise it would be impossible to grow it? You have two liang of gold but no way to buy it." Not this tea."

Zhang Hongfan also smiled, and asked again: "I don't know where the seventh uncle is from?"

"Of course it's the same as in previous years. It's either from Bozhou or Yidu. Where else can it come from?"

"Bozhou is not guarded by the Zhang family now, and Yidu Li Fen has been pacified, so the trade route has not been broken yet?"

(End of this chapter)