The fox minister in the late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 144 The same routine throughout the ages

chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp ~~
The bird flapped its gray wings and landed on the branches at the corner of the eaves, combing its feathers, and then when the "meowing" cat came, it flew to the sky, and the shadow of the bird crossed the street below.

It's lively and noisy.

On the street, steam rises from the steamer, and peddlers carrying loads walk through the streets; old men with bare arms push their wheelbarrows creaking through the crowd.

Occasionally, people in twos and threes huddled along the street to talk, pointing to a certain direction in the city from time to time, just sighing.

The news of the changing of the court and the killing of Cui Jiao was the most lively talk in Chang'an City these days, faintly overshadowing the Fengxiang Army in the west and the Shatuo people in the north.

High and low houses, teahouses with banners and banners, noisy people in restaurants, knights of the rivers and lakes holding swords and knives and holding bowls to drink, and there are also literati and elegant guests talking loudly on the third floor. When they see a friend passing by, they greet him. The friends at the same table continued to talk about their own opinions.

"Cui Jiao is a person who relies on the shadow of the door. I said this person before. How is it now? A thief is just a soft bone. He usually bullies a good family, but his bones are ruthless. This is all right. He deserves to be killed. Seriously. In vain for a scholar."

"Is the assassin caught or not?"

"I heard that he hasn't been caught yet, but he walked through the market with his head in his hands, showing great chivalry in ancient times, and killing harm for the people!"

"Haha, for this assassin, drink a cup!"

The cups collided, and the two toasted and drank the wine gracefully, poured each other's wine, and continued talking in a voice that only the two of them could hear.

"After Cui Jiao dies, who will replace him?"

"I heard that the name is Geng Qing, and Geng Jichang is a student of Yu Cong's son-in-law. To be able to catch the eyes of the old man, he must have extraordinary talents and virtues."

On the opposite side, the younger Yake put down the jug, looked outside, and snorted coldly.

"Yu Ma, I always respect him, but this Geng Qingheng is nothing more than a thief. If I inherited it from my son-in-law, I can respect and praise it a few words, but if I follow a thief, I will really dishonor my son-in-law's reputation. It's a pity! It's a pity! "

While speaking, on the other side of the guardrail facing the street, a carriage slowly passed by on the long street, and the driver waved his whip and shouted to remind the passing pedestrians to pay attention.

In the slightly swaying carriage, words from the noisy street outside were coming in. Geng Qing was sitting on a short bench, writing gradually neat handwriting. Opposite him, leaning against the curtain of the carriage, was a burly scholar holding a long sword. Sit with your legs bent.

He looked at the young man who was buried in his head, "If you ruin the court, don't you regret the position of prime minister?"

"The Prime Minister. In fact, no one will believe me when I say it. What's the point?" Geng Qing wrote, lifted it, twisted his sore neck and smiled: "A court that rebels, even if it is crowned king, It doesn't make much sense, can I still leave Chang'an and go to the feudal land to have a good time?"

Qin Huaimian followed suit with a smile and didn't speak. After a while, he opened his mouth.

"What should we do next? It is impossible for us to detain Huang Chao forever. Over time, we will definitely be discovered."

"Hurry up, aren't you doing it now?"

In the past two days, Geng Qing was a little annoyed by his urging. After all, being a prime minister, even the prime minister of the anti-thief court, still has a lot of troublesome things to deal with. The people who come to visit every day almost trample the threshold of his dilapidated courtyard. , but also running around between the generals of the rebel army and a group of surrenders.

Now that I have time to spare, I just want to go outside the city to see the so-called Huangchao's hundreds of thousands of troops.Of course, he knew that it was not hundreds of thousands of troops, but the people they carried.

"There is no limit to rewards and punishments. It's just a pretext. It's impossible for such a trivial matter to overthrow the yellow thief." Geng Qing held the brush and looked at the scholar, then continued to bury his head and write on the paper.

While writing, he said: "To bury the cause of the disaster, first let the monarch and ministers distance themselves, and then the next step is to deal with the heavy hand. Huang Chao can rule the world like this. The hundreds of thousands of 'soldiers' in his hands are the key. As long as To cut off is to cut off his arm."

"It's not easy."

Qin Huaimian closed his eyes, seemed to follow the direction of Geng Qing's thinking, shook his head and vetoed, "The old generals of Huang Chao will never agree."

"That's why we have to divide a group." Geng Qing stopped writing, picked up the content on the paper and blew, "If we win another group, even if someone objects, there will be someone who will stand on our side and sing against the other party. The conflict is so intense Within a controllable range, many things are easy to implement. Letting more than half of these hundreds of thousands of "soldiers and horses" return to the fields to work in agriculture will not only provide food and fodder, reduce the burden on Chang'an, but also reduce the troubles of the court and generals at all levels. Once this kind of thing spreads out, everyone can still see it.”

Geng Qing took a breath, leaned against the back wall, and looked at the street scene outside the corner of the curtain.

"The rest is to gather military power."

What he implemented was all in the name of the yellow nest, or in the name of the imperial court. No matter which direction it was, it was a plan for the future of Daqi-turning soldiers into farmers to increase national power; gathering military power for the sake of the emperor. Make it easier for the court to dispatch troops.

In the eyes of outsiders, it is difficult to find out the real intention behind Geng Qing. This was also discussed in secret with Pi Rixiu. The old man added some details and will help to confuse a group of people towards Geng Qing.

"Once these things are done, it will not take a few years to achieve results."

Geng Qing thought for a moment, then smiled to himself.

"But outsiders can't refute my step-by-step plans."

"There are so many eyes." The scholar over there opened his eyes and murmured, and he asked Da Chun, who was driving outside, to stop in front, "I won't go out of the city with you."

Geng Qing sent it to the outside of the chariot, folded the paper full of content and handed it to him, then watched the crowd of scholars walking away and gave instructions.

"Jiuyu is good at martial arts, but his body is not made of iron. Take time to change with him."

Among the crowds passing by on the street, Qin Huaimian held his sword and raised his hand, waved his back to the young man standing on the chariot, walked into this bustling area, and gradually went away.

"We're out of town."

Geng Qing whispered to Dachun, opened the curtain and returned to the car, the horses pulled the frame and drove forward again, passed through several neighborhoods, exited Anhua Gate, and headed towards the Nanying camp outside Chang'an City.

He 'followed' the imperial decree to inspect the Qi army camp.

Meng Juehai, Gai Hong, Ge Congzhou and others went out of the camp ten miles away to greet each other, and invited the newly promoted prime minister into the barracks to review the troops. The tents lined up were tattered, and ragged figures abounded everywhere. The skinny woman, with a dark and numb face, looked dazed when she saw a group of soldiers coming in. She was driven by the soldiers and moved her buttocks into the tent.

There was an unpleasant smell of blood, feces and urine in the air all around, making Geng Qing endure the discomfort and follow the generals to finish the several miles long camp.

"Are these people also soldiers?"

"When I was waiting for the uprising, I used it as a soldier, and sometimes as food." Gai Hong said later, but Meng Juehai quietly elbowed him, and then stopped his words.

Even if he didn't finish speaking, Geng Qing could naturally think of the meaning behind it. He silently looked at the mess around him, and the difference between the camp full of soldiers on the other side compared to the sky and the earth.

With a heavy face, he nodded.

"At the time of the rebel army, there was no family property, I can understand, but now His Majesty has ascended the throne in Chang'an, this is our foundation, how can we use these so-called 'soldiers and horses' to conquer the world, wouldn't it make the enemy laugh?!"

"Geng Xiang, what do you mean?"

Geng Qing looked at Meng Juehai, and was silent for a moment, "Place these 'soldiers' in Chang'an, reclaim farmland, increase national strength, and be self-sufficient, so that the court can reduce a little pressure. Generals, what do you think?"

All around, tall figures fell into silence, looking at each other, and no one spoke first.

　There's really only one update tonight.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)