Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 264 Restaurant Dialogue
Wuzhong, Chu Palace.

Bi Shu had already left, Xiang Zhuang turned around and clapped his hands lightly, and an ebony dead man in black with a black scarf came out from the shadows in the corner of the study quietly.

Xiang Zhuang handed Bi Shu's handwritten letter to the Wumu dead man, and said in a low voice: "Quick horse to Dingtao overnight, hand over this letter to Qu Bucai, and then pass it on to Qu Bucai. At all costs and by any means, be sure to get rid of the person mentioned in the letter! Definitely!"

"Here!" The ebony dead man responded loudly, took the letter from Xiang Zhuang and hid in the darkness again.

Watching the figure of the ebony dead soldier disappear into the darkness, an inexplicable stern light suddenly flashed across Xiang Zhuang's eyes, and he whispered to himself: "Bai Mo? Bai Mo! I hope there is still time..."

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Xianyang, the Prime Minister's Mansion.

The gentleman in white gave a deep bow to Xiao He, and said, "Thank you, old man, for your generous help. This junior is very grateful."

"Old man?" Xiao He was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then burst out laughing, but the servant next to him was furious, and immediately reprimanded the gentleman in white, "The boy is so rude, what old man, this is Xiao Guoxiang!"

The scholar in white was stunned when he heard the words, and then he cupped his hands and bowed again, saying: "It turns out that it is Xiao Guoxiang, the younger generation is rude."

Xiao He waved his hand, and said: "Brother, you don't have to be polite, it's just a little effort, it's nothing to worry about." After a pause, Xiao He said again, "Your brother's accent, it shouldn't be from Guanzhong, right?"

The scholar in white hurriedly said: "I'm sorry to ask you, Xiaoguo, I'm the white ink, I'm a scholar traveling in the Guandong."

"Oh, it turned out to be a scholar who is traveling." Xiao He nodded happily, "I have always liked to make friends with scholars from all over the world. If Brother Bai doesn't dislike it, you might as well stay in the humble house for a while, how about it?"

Xiao He, as the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty, besides handling government affairs, is also responsible for scouting out talents for the Han Dynasty. Right now, there are eight hundred scholars residing in the Prime Minister's Mansion, but when he sees other scholars, Xiao He will still instinctively How can we know that there won't be another Zhang Liang, or another Han Xin among these scholars?
The white-clothed scholar shook his head, and politely refused: "Thank you for the kindness of Mr. Xiao Guo, but the younger generation still wants to go around Guanzhong to gain knowledge and experience. Therefore, we can only bear the kindness of Mr. Xiao Guo."

The little official under the door was furious when he heard the words, but when he was about to explode, Xiao He stopped him with a wink.

Xiao He smiled slightly, and said: "Since that's the case, I won't keep my brother anymore."

"Farewell, junior." The gentleman in white clasped his hands to Xiao He, then turned around and drifted away.

Watching the white-clothed scholar's back gradually go away, the clerk under the door still remained angry and said: "This kid is so ignorant of flattery, the Prime Minister of the country is so kind to keep him, and he dares to refuse, it is simply unreasonable!"

But Xiao He waved his hand and ordered: "Well, you send someone to follow this person, and see which post he settles in, and meet him again this afternoon."

"Ah?" The little official under the door was astonished when he heard this.

Xiao He didn't explain much, and immediately turned around and got into the carriage.

Xiao He is Xiao He, and his ability to know people is unparalleled in this world. Although it was only a one-time relationship, and only a few words of conversation, Xiao He can basically conclude that this Bai Mo is definitely a teacher from a famous family. As for whether he is really talented or not, Whether it is worth recruiting still needs further contact.

But now, Xiao He has to rush to the East Palace to teach the prince.

Thinking of the crown prince Liu Ying, Xiao He couldn't help shaking his head and sighing. Although the crown prince Liu Ying is the son of the King of Han, his temperament is indeed a bit weak. If all the heroes are wiped out and the Han Dynasty is unified, Liu Ying is still a conservative king. But the current world is still a situation where all the heroes stand side by side and the nations compete for the hegemony. If the Han Dynasty does not have a hero, the future is indeed worrying.

No wonder the king mentioned several times that he wanted to depose Liu Ying and replace Mrs. Qi's son Liu Ruyi as the crown prince.

Compared with the crown prince Liu Ying, Liu Ruyi is indeed much smarter, but Xiao He does not think that Liu Ruyi has the appearance of a hero. If he really wants to talk about the appearance of a hero, no matter whether it is Liu Ying, Liu Ruyi, or Liu Fei. It is far inferior to the king's nephew Liu Bi, Liu Bi is heroic, brave, Guo Yi, Ying Shi Lang Gu, but he is not the king's son.

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Besides, Bai Mo, a gentleman in white clothes, spent half a day idling in Xianyang City, and only approached a wine shop near noon. A middle-aged lady who still had a charming charm came out with her fat buttocks twisted, and said with a charming smile: "Young master, what's inside?" please."

Bai Mo smiled slightly, entered the restaurant under the guidance of the wine lady, and sat in front of the wine table by the window.

Just as Bai Mo sat down, another person came suddenly outside the restaurant. Bai Mo raised his head when he heard the sound, but it was Xiao Guoxiang who helped him out of the siege in the morning. He immediately got up to greet him, cupped his hands and said, "This junior has seen Xiao Guoxiang."

"Brother Bai, you don't have to be polite." Xiao He waved his hand and said with a smile, "I was just about to send someone to find Brother Bai, but I didn't expect to meet here by chance. The ancients were sincere and did not deceive me."

Seeing that the two knew each other, the wine lady led Xiao He to the wine table facing Bai Mo, and the two sat down opposite each other.

After a while, the wine lady brought over two large jars of water and wine and several plates of cooked meat and vegetables. Bai Mo filled the wine glass with water and wine. He respected Xiao He first, then covered his sleeves and drank it all in one gulp. After drinking the wine, Bai Mo put down the wine glass again and sighed: "The water wine in Guanzhong is much weaker than Chudi shochu."

The old lady next to her pursed her lips when she heard this.

Xiao He was also a little surprised when he heard this, and said: "Brother Bai, Liniang's wine is the best wine in Guanzhong. Even my king is full of praise, but it can't compare to Chudi rice wine?"

Bai Mo said: "Could it be that the Prime Minister doesn't know that two strange objects have appeared in Jiangdong recently?"

"Two strange things?" Xiao He really didn't know, so he asked immediately, "What?"

Bai Mo said: "One is called Gongshu paper, and the other is shochu. These two things are rare treasures in the world. When I was traveling in Liang State, I was fortunate enough to witness Gongshu paper and taste shochu. Jiangdong's shochu is indeed well-deserved. It is full-bodied, but the strength is so strong that ordinary drinkers are already drunk after only half a glass."

"Gong loses paper, shochu?!" Xiao He was shocked when he heard this.

Since the Han army returned to Guanzhong, the king has been training cavalry hard in Longxi. Several generals such as Zhou Bo and Li Shang have also trained hard in various counties. Xiao He is even more dedicated and busy with complicated government affairs every day. Some negligence, especially the Chu country, because the mountains are high and the water is far away, the news is completely blocked. It seems that it is necessary to establish a spy team to go deep into the Kanto countries, especially the Chu country to spy on the news.

Xiao He didn't know that Xiang Zhuang had already set up an espionage organization one step ahead.

Bai Mo took out another volume of "Wei Liao Zi" from his sleeve and handed it to Xiao He, saying: "Please look at it, Minister of State, this volume of Wei Liao Zi was printed and bound on official transport paper. I don’t know how many times lighter it is, and at the same time, the price is far cheaper than silk, so it is truly a gift to the scholars of my generation.”

After taking the book from Bai Mo, Xiao He's mood became more and more heavy.

However, Bai Mo raised his glass of wine again, respected Xiao He from a distance and said, "Master Xiao Guo, please."

However, Xiao He seemed to have never heard of it, and said intentionally or unintentionally: "The strange people and strange things in Chu land are emerging one after another, and there is a trend of wind and water. My king also needs to work hard, work hard..."

Bai Mo said: "Xiao Guoxiang has worried too much. Although Gongshu paper and shochu are rare treasures in the world, their influence on the general situation of the world is really limited. However, the national examination recently implemented by King Chu is actually the first time since Panhuang opened the sky. Its attraction to the world's scholars is not insignificant, if the king of Han takes it lightly, he fears that all the talents in the world will belong to the king of Chu."

"National exam?" Xiao He heard the words awe-inspiringly, but he knew this.

Lu Ze, governor of Sanchuan County, would send an official document to Xianyang every ten days, briefly introducing the movements of the countries in the Kanto region. However, Lu Ze's sources of information were also extremely limited, so he didn't know that there had been such strange things as public transport paper and shochu in Chu. However, Chu State is taking the national entrance examination, but Lu Ze mentioned this matter.

At that moment Xiao He said again: "Brother Bai thinks my king should follow the example of King Chu and carry out the national examination?"

"If you can gather all the talents from all over the world, why should the king of Han be ashamed to follow the example of the king of Chu?" Bai Mo paused, and then said, "However, from the point of view of the younger generation, whether it is Chu or Han, the most urgent task is not to implement the national examination, to attract Gather the world's talents, but implement reforms, accumulate financial resources, material resources, and national strength to prepare for war."

Xiao He was secretly delighted. Today he came here specially to Liniang's Restaurant, the purpose is to find out the details of this Bai Mo, to see if he has real talents and knowledge, and whether he is worthy of being recruited by the king. Now that he has opened up the chatterbox, that would be great However, at the moment, he said with a solemn hand: "I would like to hear a good opinion."

Bai Mo said again: "Fang today, although the King of Han is highly respected and oppresses the princes from all walks of life, but because the Chu State has not yet been destroyed, and it has become a stalemate, it is already a foregone conclusion to return to the era of 'numerous heroes coexist, and nations contend for hegemony'. Such a pattern should not last for too long, the shortest is 20 years, the longest is 50 years, and the world will still be unified!"

Xiao He nodded lightly, Bai Mo's opinion coincided with his.

After a pause, Bai Mo said again: "The younger generation traveled all the way from Kanto, and found that Zhao, Qi, Liang, and Chu are all determined to change and become stronger, and even Yan in the northern border is also implementing reforms. His ambition is not small, if the King of Han stands still, he will be like a boat sailing against the current, instead of advancing, he will retreat, and sooner or later he will be destroyed by the Kanto countries."

Bai Mo's words were extremely impolite. If generals like Zhou Bo and Li Shang were present, he might draw his sword on the spot, but Xiao He was secretly heartbroken when he heard this. This Bai Mo was not only courageous, but also His insights are even more unique. In terms of courage and insights alone, this person can be called a talent.

Moreover, this Bai Mo's knowledge should be far more than that. Since he dared to say that the Han Dynasty also needs reform, it means that he should have a complete reform plan in his heart, but he doesn't know what kind of reform method it is?Is it simply imitating Qin Fa, or does it have other ideas?

(End of this chapter)