The fox minister in the late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 184
Taiyuan is located in the middle of Hedong, with the stretching and overlapping Taihang Mountains in the east, the middle of the river in the south, and the Fen River as a canal in the interior. It can be called a trade center from south to north.

However, after the war, the towering city walls are mottled with old traces, under the lead blue rain, the tall and low buildings, pedestrians covering their heads and rushing across the long street.

As Li Keyong, who had just been crowned King of Jin for one year, he was sitting behind the long table, cutting off a large piece of roast mutton with a knife and stuffing it into his mouth, paired with warm wine and fish soup.

Even Shatuo aristocrats don't pay too much attention to food. In the eyes of those who like him, this is bold and straightforward. In the eyes of those who don't like him, they despise him as barbaric, vulgar, and disobedient.

For this kind of thing, Li Keyong never cared about it. He became the king of Jin, and he didn't mean to correct his temper. He always felt that he was like a man.

Occasionally in a bad mood, I overheard such a discussion from the servants, and usually I just pulled it out and killed it, without knocking and correcting it, just waiting to see if anyone else said the same thing.

However, right now, he restrained himself a little.

He swallowed the mutton he was chewing in his mouth, picked up the wine bag, rinsed the residue in the mouth, swallowed it directly, took the handkerchief to wipe his fingers, and asked the servants to remove the tableware in front of him.

He got up and took the first seat, went to the side seat, and there was an old man over there looking through the paperwork. On it were the notes Li Keyong made in the posthouse before he came back. The handwriting was neat and neat. Compared with Geng Qing, it was considered beautiful.

"Mr. Guy, what do you think?"

"It can solve the urgent need." Gai Yu rubbed his dizzy eyes and sighed. These contents are really eye-catching, especially when the common people concentrate on cultivating good fields, and the extra land vacated can be used to plant other drought-resistant The farmer couldn't help but took a sip from his wine glass, "Wonderful, but it will take a year at the earliest to see the results of Qianding's farming. Fortunately, the yellow thieves were hunting everywhere, and some aristocratic families in Taiyuan were somewhat terrified. If the migrant population concentrates on farming, the resistance should be less.”

"Dare to stop, I will learn from that yellow thief alone, and destroy their entire clan!"

Li Ke showed a serious expression with a rare expression. Unlike the past killings and plundering, this time it seemed to be cleared with a purpose. This year he had a son named Li Cunxu. He was chubby and had two small eyes that sparkled , is very cute, no matter what, it will pave the way for him.

Lao Tzu ruled the world, and the son ruled the world. It was a matter of course.

All the towns in the world are not peaceful, and the court is also in chaos. At this time, it is the best time. Last year, he sent his brother Li Kexiu to snatch Luzhou from Meng Fangli, the military governor of Zhaoyi Army, and opened a road leading directly to Heyang. The route of Luoyang and Bianzhou is to tell Zhu Wen his attitude.

In troubled times, he should be like him, like a tiger, not to be underestimated.

"The person who really should be killed should be killed." Gai Yu patted the paper and said something with a smile. The old man then pointed to another note, "Your Highness should talk to the old minister about how to take Youzhou. You must be famous when you are a teacher. Now that you are famous, you have to consider how to drive Li Kuangwei away from Youzhou and take over the whole territory."

Fighting is not about blocking the road and robbers. It is enough to kill people. All kinds of cumbersome things that will be faced later can make people's heads big, such as reassuring the people, surrendering troops, and soldiers and horses left behind in the city. , will weaken its own strength and so on.

Li Keyong is from Shatuo, and he is the king of Jin. However, when he started his family, he killed many innocent people, so his reputation is not good. Few of these virtuous and talented people can be under his command. Now, only those who can be of great use. There is the old man in front of him who has lived with him for a long time, and the rest are all warriors on the battlefield.

Thinking about it, he withdrew his thoughts and discussed with Gai Yu how to send troops and establish a name. At the door, a small official from the mansion came to the door from outside.

Called softly: "Report to the King of Jin, the clerk at the post station sent someone to report quickly, saying that a man named Mr. Fox handed over a name card, and it is less than five miles away from Taiyuan. It is estimated that he has already arrived outside the city at this moment."

Haha, Gu Zheng is worried that there are no talented people, and Mr. Fox is here.

Calculate the time, it is exactly half a month!
Li Keyong slapped his thigh violently, pulled up the old man who was still reading the paperwork, and walked out. His words were full of excitement: "Immediately prepare the car and horse, order five hundred sergeants, and follow me out of the city to meet you."

While walking, he issued orders one after another, and even the kitchen had to move. The dancer summoned others to go to the court together. After waiting outside the mansion, he sent Gai Yu to the carriage, turned over and rode on his horse, whipped his whip, and led Leading soldiers and horses to the complicated streets, all the way to the north gate.

Out of the city gate, Li Ke rode his horse ahead and was looking into the distance when the carriage behind him suddenly crackled, followed by a 'boom'. Seeing that the axle below was broken, the horses pulling the cart were frightened and kicked their hooves restlessly in place.

The rushing soldiers controlled the horses and took off the reins. At the same time, some soldiers pushed open the crooked carriage and helped the frightened Gai Yu out.

Anger suddenly appeared on Li Keyong's face, and he stepped on his stirrups and turned over. The soldier driving the cart was so frightened that he fell limp and knelt on the ground with a plop.

"It's fine to pick a carriage that's useless. I don't blame you. But you are lazy and slack on weekdays. This is your dereliction of duty. Today, I still have to treat distinguished guests and make embarrassing things for Gu. What can I say if I kill you?"

'Clang! '

Pulling out the saber from his waist, Li Ke raised the tip of the saber and put it on the soldier's shoulder. The dazed old man over there came back to his senses and was about to dissuade him when the sound of chariots and horses approaching suddenly sounded in the distance.

sigh -

A big green horse ran ahead, and the figure above galloped over. The guards of King Jin drew their swords, stopped the horse, and raised their hands.

"Jiuyu, on behalf of my family, pays respects to His Royal Highness King Jin."

Over there, Li Ke lowered his blade, and the anger that was still on his face dissipated in an instant. He threw the saber to the guard at the side, and raised his hand to return the salute, but his eyes passed over the man who dismounted, and cast his eyes on the slowly approaching carriage. .

He ordered in a low voice.

"Drag this short-sighted person down, and cut it off after returning to the palace."

Guards came up from both sides, pressed the soldier's shoulders and dragged him up. The soldier struggled and begged for mercy. The slow-moving carriage gradually stopped. Geng Qing lifted the curtain and came down, smiling and arching his hands to salute.

"Qing, pay homage to King Jin."

"Your Highness, please forgive me." "Please forgive me!"

The struggling man shouted while dragging, which made Li Keyong frown, but kept a smile on his face, and bowed his hands to return the salute, "Geng Shangshu is really trustworthy, I have been looking forward to it for a long time, let's go, enter the mansion first, I have prepared a banquet for Mr. Take the wind."

"Your Highness, take it easy, what's the matter with that man?"

When he first arrived in Taiyuan, he saw this scene before his feet were warm. Geng Qing didn't ask clearly, thinking that he was going to be punished.

"Sir, don't worry too much. That person committed something just now." Originally, Li Keyong didn't need to explain, lest Geng Qing should think too much, but he said what was going to happen. The latter nodded and waved The guard brought the soldier who was driving the cart over.

"This gentleman."

The soldier opened his mouth gratefully, but as soon as the words reached his lips, he was interrupted by Geng Qing. With a serious face, he opened his mouth in front of all the soldiers around him, and scolded the soldier abruptly. Everyone was stunned.

"You bastard, you are so lazy and slack on weekdays that you embarrass King Jin. If you make such a mistake during the war, you will not be wronged to kill your whole family."

"The king of Jin fought in all directions, looking down on everything, how could he have a subordinate like you?"

"You are working in the Prince Jin's mansion. The King Jin is so heroic that he didn't learn anything. If you learn everything you can't do, you deserve to be killed. It would be cheap for you to replace your wife, daughter, and old mother as slaves."

The scolding was extremely unpleasant, and even Li Keyong was terrified when he heard it, but Geng Qing followed his temper and scolded the soldier, and the fall made him feel that the previous anger had subsided a lot, and waved at the two guards who were escorting the soldier. Waving, "Let him go, hurry up, don't let Mr. waste his tongue."

Then, he invited Geng Qing to enter the city. Because the carriage broke the axle when he came, the old man Gai Yu could only take one with him. Li Ke rode a horse and led the soldiers in front. In the rickety carriage, Gai Yu was just behind him, and suddenly raised his hand to bow to Geng Qing.

"Thank you Geng Shangshu for saving that soldier just now."

"You don't have to be like this, old man. Everyone makes small mistakes. How can you be killed for a small mistake? These days." Geng Qing bowed his hands back, sighed, touched the old man with water, ". There are too many people here, so saving one is considered a merit.”

"well."

The old man liked the young man more and more. Looking at the dark but energetic face, he couldn't help sighing: "You are so young."

The banquet in the palace was a little more luxurious than the usual banquet, but there was nothing special about it. After the banquet, Li Keyong was a little drunk, and took Geng Qing, who was also a little drunk, for a walk in the mansion. After that, he went to the street outside, pointing Passing pedestrians, noisy streets.

"Please see, sir, this is the foundation for living alone."

Looking at the bustling surroundings, Geng Qing saw that it was much worse than Chang'an, but compared with the deserted land along the way, this place really has a bit of peace and prosperity.

It can be seen that the King of Jin still has the heart to rule the people, but the matter about Li Ke's military looting in the past still lingers in his mind.

Probably with the mentality of trying, just like Xun Yu voted for Yuan Shao at the end of Han Dynasty, let's see for now.

After staying in Taiyuan for more than a month, Li Keyong, as Feihu County said, worshiped Geng Qing as the envoy of the middle gate, inspected the right servant and shot, and could intervene in the military and government.

Regarding the relocation of people, Geng Qing tried his best to ensure the safety of the people on the way and to fill their stomachs. Under the city's financial difficulties, he used the same method of later generations to lobby some big households in Hedong to 'force' them to squeeze out some food, but these were all marked IOUs are counted on Li Ke's account.

As for taking Youzhou, Geng Qing used Li Keyong and Gai Yu's previous ideas to give a strategy to encircle Wei and save Zhao.

"Let Li Cunxiao attack Yunzhou, He Lianduo can only ask Li Kuangwei of Youzhou for help. Once the soldiers and horses of Youzhou leave the boundary, the King of Jin will bypass the opponent, go straight to Youyan, copy his hometown, and then attack Cunxiao head to tail."

Geng Qing was not very good at military strategies, and he was just interested in trying. He didn't think about it, and was really adopted by Li Keyong. He recalled Li Cunxiao from Luzhou and prepared to attack Yunzhou in the autumn.

This continued for two months.

Geng Qing was busy enriching himself. The whole Jin army was not optimistic about this dark-faced young man at first, but when he started to do things in real terms, especially the relocation, he gradually became respectful unconsciously.

In June, before autumn, a sudden change on the fifteenth day disrupted Geng Qing's plan.

Someone rushed from Feihu County, Weizhou. At first, he thought it was a family letter from his mother or Qiaoniang. After opening it, his expression changed back and forth under Jiuyu's sight.

The eunuch looked at the other party with cold eyes, and the man said quickly.

"Little one, I came from Chang'an. I went to Feihu County first, and then I found out that my husband is not there. I found out clearly, and hurried to Taiyuan."

"What's written on it?" Jiuyu turned his face back, and the letter was handed to him. Geng Qing, who was sitting behind the desk, opened and closed his mouth slightly, before recovering from the contents of the letter, He just leaned against the back of the chair for a long while before rubbing his face vigorously.

Taking a breath, trying to make himself look more energetic, he squeezed out a smile.

"Mother, I actually have a three-year-old son."

Jiuyu hadn't finished reading yet. Hearing this sentence, he suppressed a smile, raised his hand and arched: "Then congratulations, congratulations."

"That's right. I'm in trouble."

Geng Qing added what was left behind, making the eunuch's smile froze.

　For the time being, the two updates are considered to advance the plot. There is something to do tomorrow, and the explosive update will be released on the 24th of the day after tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)