Gentlemen, listen to the sword chant

Chapter 42

Zhongzhou, capital city.

Gongsun Lan, as the Minister of the Household Department of the Great Liang Empire, has a high position and authority, has been an official for decades, and works hard.As the helm of the imperial family's economy, he is the most loyal dog kept by the old emperor. Now that the old emperor is critically ill, Gongsun Lan has survived hard work, and has transformed himself into one of the few people who can call the wind and rain in the court. One of them, at the same time, he is also a corrupt official and dirty official who are hated by the people of Jianghu. Looking around the [-] states, I don't know how many people poke his back, wanting to pull his skin and cramps, wishing to eat his flesh and drink his blood.But these Gongsun Lan didn't care, leaving a bad name for thousands of years and immortality, that's a name left in history, a person lives for a lifetime, and after death is only a handful of loess, what is the need for a false name after death?
Gongsun Lan lay comfortably on the noble and luxurious pear wood rocking chair. There were several thinly dressed maidservants in the room. Behind him, two women with naked breasts and almost no clothes respectfully held melons, fruits and grapes. The maid half-knelt in front of him, feeding him strawberries and lychees that were not in season.This is not too extravagant. In the hall, there are four or five women from outside the Western Regions dancing, dazzled. This kind of graceful dance, even if it is a hero who is free and easy in the world, his legs will become weak. This is simply Heaven, really enjoy it.

Gongsun Lan casually admired Yanwu, with the corners of his mouth raised, and said disdainfully: "Your Majesty is pitiful, what can he enjoy? He manages all kinds of opportunities every day, but in the end, he doesn't collapse. Alas, a little bit of power is enough. Why do you need so much?" Could it be that those untouchables at the bottom will think of his old man?"

Standing behind him, there is a sassy woman, veiled, well-trained, with sharp long knives pinned to the left and right sides of her waist, looking at her style, she is not from the Great Liang style, but from Japan... Indeed, this woman is a Meiko Honma, a samurai of Dongying Honshu Military Mansion.

Meizi kept silent, but she was full of contempt in her heart. She was a woman, and she was also a woman. In her eyes, the girl dancing on the dance floor at this moment was just a toy at the mercy of others, a white bone covered with rouge.

"It's good to have money, oh, it's good to have power. You Dongying people want land, and I want money. Do you know how to choose?" Gongsun Lan squinted at Meiko Honma behind him, and licked it unabashedly. lip.

Benjian suppressed his nausea, and said flatly: "What does Lord Shangshu mean?"

Gongsun Lan dismissed the dancing girl with a wave of his hand, and let the maidservants behind him leave. After the hall was empty, he yawned and narrowed his eyes: "I'm superficial, and I haven't tasted anything new in my life. Enough, what about women, I have been playing with my old arms and legs for decades, what kind of rouge vulgar fans have never played? So don’t come to that kind of thing, I want money, a lot of money.”

People, the more things they have, the more they care about something, the more they lack something, the more reluctant they are.

Gongsun Lan has been dealing with money all his life, and it is because of money that he was able to enjoy such extravagance and extravagance for decades.

Honma smiled like a flower: "That's natural. If Master Shangshu can think of a way to make Wuyue and Yue Prefectures the actual control area of ​​Dongying, how much money you want, then you can have as much money."

"Difficult, difficult, difficult." Gongsun Lan looked distressed.

"At present, His Majesty the Emperor is sick in bed, what about the matter in the court is not a word from you, Lord Shangshu?" Honma said with a smile.

"I'm not that influential yet." Gongsun Lan sneered, waved his cuffs, and took the hot tea on the table to his lips to taste.The winter in the north is cold, and the capital has long been covered in silver, but the Household Minister's Mansion is as warm as early spring. He moistened his throat and said, "Hmph, there are too many influential people in the imperial court. Not on the number, but well, this matter is also simple."

"Oh?"

Gongsun Lan calmly said with a slight smile: "His Majesty the Emperor can't do it now, his sons have coveted the throne for too long, I believe that when the time comes, there will be another bloodbath in the capital, I have to be careful, or I will stand wrong If you join the team, maybe you will get in, and I also need the strength of you Dongying people."

Meiko Honma kept silent. She didn't understand politics, but she also knew the complex political camps and ideologies hidden in the capital.

"Many of the rebels from the Lianchi Uprising retreated to the south of the Yangtze River to live in seclusion. They hated you Dongying people to the core. Make good use of it. The more chaotic the situation in Wuyue, the better. The more muddy the water, the better. The court is happy to watch the excitement, when the time comes, your chance will come."

Meiko Honma's eyes lit up, she took a deep breath, and bowed slightly: "Then I will take my leave."

"Oh, next time you come, bring a few Japanese women. I've lived half my life, old man, and I haven't tasted it yet."

Honma didn't say anything, it was a tacit consent, although he was disdainful, but it was hard to say anything at this juncture.

After the people left, Gongsun Lan narrowed his eyes, and a handsome young man walked out from the curtain. He bowed slightly and called "Father".

Gongsun Lan fell into deep thought.

It is no secret that the Dongying people want Wuyue and Yuezhou.

After all, the Dongying Islands are located in the wild, surrounded by sea areas, the land is barren, and the products are not rich. They have been staring at Wuyue and Yue for many years.People are selfish, let alone these courtiers in the court?The two states of Wuyue and Yue are nothing, if they are given to the Dongying people, they will be given it.The great coolness is exhausted, and even these giant crocodiles in the court have to admit that no one knows how long the empire building can last, maybe ten years, maybe a hundred years, but it doesn't matter. The royal family should be worried. Those of them who are courtiers can just muddle along. During their reign, they can make a fortune.

Ever since the Peach Blossom Rebellion, the dignitaries in the capital knew one thing well, that is, the empire's rule over the fourteen states existed in name only, and the local princes listened to the instructions but did not listen to the announcement, and they had already broken away from the shackles of imperial power.

That being the case, why not cede Wuyue to Dongying people?
Instead of keeping the princes of Wuyue and Yue staring at him like a white-eyed wolf who might bite back at any time, why not raise another obedient dog and take the opportunity to make money?
Of course, Gongsun Lan, as one of the representatives of the hawk faction in the court, would also call the Dongying people "Japanese slaves" in a contemptuous tone in private. He, like most hawk faction ministers, despises this nation.

With his support, it is already a great gift for a small country that is only a small country to obtain Wuyue and Yuezhou. Could it be possible that they still want to covet the Dragon Veins of Great Liang?
But after all, he was ceding the country and land that his ancestors brought down, and Gongsun Lan was still under a lot of pressure. Thinking of this, he smiled wryly, "I don't know how the historians of later generations will evaluate me in Qing History?"

(End of this chapter)