warring states careerist

Chapter 727
The caravan slept in the wild overnight, and arrived in Linwu City at noon the next day.

From a distance, Linwu City is still a square city. The old rammed earth walls are difficult to resist the attacks of gunpowder artillery and tunnel siege methods, but Linwu City was originally built to resist those rebels. The local barbarians didn't think so much.

When approaching the city gate, the young staff officers calmly recorded the thickness of the city wall and the width of the city gate, and did not deliberately measure it. There will be plenty of time afterwards.

Now that Prince Liangfu is in Linwu, the interrogation is a little stricter.

After entering the city, the caravan went directly to the inn here. Because of the special location of Linwu City, it was a transit place for businessmen traveling from south to north, and the scale of the inn was relatively large.

The person who opened the inn was also from Sishang. At the beginning, the caravans of the Mo family often came and went, so I discussed with Lord Linwu to open an inn here, and paid taxes normally every year. Jun didn't object, but was happy.

After settling down, the leader of the caravan took his people and drove three carriages loaded with matchlock guns to the place where Lord Linwu worked in the city.

The people who received them were the private family members of Lord Linwu, not the retainers without formal official positions, but serious little treasurers with official positions.

After several years of inspection, the grade was completed, and a part of the gold was taken, and the rest was to be paid in copper and buckskin, which was agreed before.

Deerskin can be used to make leather armor, and copper can be used to cast cannons. These are military supplies, so they cannot be traded on the surface, because this is illegal. The King of Chu’s decree forbids Fengjun to use leather and copper with Momo without permission. trade, but it cannot be banned at all.

Not long after, another visitor came, and after greeting the caravan, he said, "Prince Liangfu is patrolling the border on behalf of the king, and Lord Linwu is accompanying him to shoot and hunt, so he can't come in person. I have something to convey on my behalf."

"Everyone in the world knows that Sishang has been replaced with flint guns. Can the price of these matchlock guns be lowered?"

"In addition, Linwu is located in the old land of Cangwu, and many barbarians rebel, and it is difficult for Linwu Lord to defend the city, so I hope to buy some more copper cannons and flint guns. The price is negotiable, whether it is copper or gold , or buckskin or saltpeter will do.”

"When the lord comes back, please come again, you can discuss it yourself."

The leader of the caravan hurriedly said: "I can't make the decision on this matter. Whether to sell it or not needs to be discussed by the shareholders, and in order to prevent harm to the world and the world, the Ministry of Trade still has the final veto power. I can only convey it on my behalf."

"In addition, I also have something to convey on my behalf. The next batch of muskets, the chamber of commerce hopes that in addition to part of the gold, it is best to use rice to pay. Once the Lechang Gorge is completed, this batch of rice can be shipped to Yangyu. Last year The wind is strong and the disaster is not small, so a large amount of rice is needed."

The caravan leader knew that the chamber of commerce generally would not trade rice, because the profit was too low, and even though there was a strong wind last year, the damage was actually not that great.

The diners on the opposite side were very happy to hear that, although the Linwu area is mountainous and there are a few small gold mines, Lord Linwu has benefited from mining them, but gold is precious after all.

In addition to gold, there is nothing left to exchange for deerskins, herbs, etc. to pay for trade needs.

There is a lot of rice, but the Nanhai Chamber of Commerce does not want it, because it is difficult to operate and does not make much profit. It is far less valuable than buckskin and gold, which are lighter and more valuable.

If it can be traded with rice, it is naturally good and good news.

The two sides talked for a few more words, and did not deliver anything in writing. This kind of trade is considered shameful. Even if the King of Chu knew it, he would turn a blind eye to it, and it would not be easy to show it in the open.

It was agreed to wait until tomorrow, and after the people from the caravan came to have an interview with Lord Linwu, they left behind their guns, took away the gold, and left.

…………

On the mountain outside the city, Lord Linwu was hunting with Prince Liangfu.

Next to Wang Ziliangfu was a handsome young man, who was Wang Ziliangfu's attendant, he said something that made Xiong Liangfu laugh out loud, and he couldn't help reaching out and touching the young man's hand while speaking.

Lord Linwu watched this scene from behind, secretly happy in his heart.

He specially bought the young boys who participated in the ride, and trained them for several years, because the whole Chu Kingdom knew about Wang Ziliang's hobbies.

Originally in history, Xiong Liangfu became King of Chu after his elder brother died, and made his male favorite Lord Anling. No one in Chu State objected, and everyone thought this was normal.

When the aristocrats were strong, many monarchs needed their male favorites as a force to check and balance the aristocrats. At this time, although the eunuchs had them, they did not have the power to contend with the aristocrats.

Duke Jian of Yan once hoped to seize power by relying on his male favorites and childhood friends of the same sex to abolish the doctor Shangqing and centralize power, but the nobles immediately raised troops to expel him.

As for whether the king really likes male favorites, or wants to borrow the power of male favorites, it is hard to say.

However, Lord Linwu is convinced that at least Prince Liangfu really likes the same sex. In addition, Prince Zang’s status is stable. The King of Chu opened up Dongting Cangwu, regained Chen Cai, and counterattacked Wei State. The royal power is gradually concentrating. It seems that there is no other idea.

Although there are rumors that Prince Zang has a hidden disease and cannot bear children, no one can say for sure. Maybe the King of Chu will learn from the lessons of brotherhood and possible political chaos, or maybe the King of Chu thinks that Prince Zang is inheriting his will to continue. The best candidate to centralize and strengthen the Chu State is not yet determined.

Lord Linwu trained a male pet to get close to Prince Liangfu, and he had his own plan. Seeing the effect was good, he could see that Prince Liangfu was more interested in the boys around him than hunting, so Lord Linwu drove close to him and asked Prince Liangfu to rest.

His own entourage brought water to wash his hands, and served many snacks, as well as a very expensive bottle of wine that Solucan brought back from the Far West a few years ago.Although he also brought back grape seeds, they hadn't been planted on a large scale yet.

A delicate 璆Lin cup was placed aside, shining brightly, and several attendants were using saltpeter to make ice to cool off the heat for Prince Liangfu.

Looking at the shiny and expensive Qilin cup, Xiong Liangfu suddenly said with emotion: "I once heard that Zhou was the elephant chopsticks and the Jizi was afraid. He thought that if the elephant chopsticks were not used to hold soup in the earthen gui, they must be made of rhinoceros jade cups, jade cups, etc. Elephant chopsticks must not be full of husks, and the elephant leopard fetus must be worn. The elephant leopard fetus must not be dressed in short brown, and under the Shemauts, it must be clothed with nine layers of brocade clothes. It is said that if you want this, the world will not be enough. The sage sees the small to know the bud, and sees the end to know the end, so when he sees the elephant chopsticks, he is afraid, and he knows that there is no shortage."

Lord Linwu's heart skipped a beat. This is the story of Jizi meeting King Zhou. It has been rumored for a long time, and now it fits the scene.

It is impossible to hold sour wine in the Qilin cup used, and this is indeed a little knowledge.

Lord Linwu didn't know how to answer, the next moment Xiong Liangfu smiled and said: "But when I watched Linwu today, the people are not hungry, they have food and clothing, it's not a shortage, this is the reason for your administration."

Lord Linwu also laughed and said, "What Jizi said is too frightening. There are also some people in Chu who think that princes and people should farm and eat together, but they don't know that those who work hard to rule people."

"When the people are rich, they complain more; when the people are poor, they are good at fighting. There is a difference between respect and inferiority, and that is the right way."

"This Qilin cup was produced in Sishang, but Mohists are so frugal. They are only willing to be frugal? It's nothing more than the fact that Mo Di's short brown clogs were doing righteousness in the world. As Mohist, he had to follow. The so-called practice of saints The feet are like Zizhang's lowly Confucianism."

Xiong Liangfu also laughed and said, "Sishang Mohists are mostly hypocrites. They say we are moths, but they don't hinder their trade with us. If he doesn't produce such Qilin cups, how can we use the so-called 'get something for nothing'?" 'The capital to buy?"

During the conversation, the boy who participated in the ride just now had already poured out the brightly colored wine and offered it with his hand. Xiong Liangfu said with a smile: "Fruit wine cannot be tasted without ice. I like ice wine the most. Do you want to try it to see if it is ice enough?"

This is an extremely intimate act, and it is also a kind of seduction. Knowing that Lord Linwu is following his favor, I also need to express that I like the favor that Lord Linwu has voted for.

After the boy tasted it, Xiong Liangfu took a sip, was quite satisfied and praised a few words.

Seeing that Xiong Liangfu was happy, Lord Linwu changed the topic to the shooting and hunting just now. After a few more words, he finally got to the point.

"Speaking of shooting and hunting, I remembered one thing. I fed a few hounds before, but the servants who fed them always stole the food from those hounds, so that the hounds couldn't get enough to eat. Every time I hunted, these hounds They always kill their prey and then eat themselves."

"I thought these hounds were unfaithful, but I didn't know that it was not because the hounds were unfaithful, but because these hounds were not full. Fortunately, they can still eat some while hunting. When you go to lead them, I'm afraid they will bite me again."

There is something in these words, but they are not too direct. It depends on how Xiong Liangfu responds.

If you laugh it off, it's a joke.

However, Xiong Liangfu did not laugh it off. After hearing the story, he sighed: "If the dog is like this, it is just stealing the prey or biting the person."

"If the minister of the monarch is like this, I'm afraid it will bring turmoil to the community."

"In the past, Shen Gong and Wu Chen's affairs, because they didn't get what they wanted, so they defected to the state of Jin, and taught Wu people how to use chariots, so that the Chu border was in chaos every day?"

"In ordinary things, there are always some truths hidden. I'm afraid that these truths will not be noticed by others, so that they will suffer disaster."

Lord Linwu was secretly happy, since Wang Ziliang gave the example of Shen Gong and Wu Chen, it was the same as the news that someone came to summon him before.

Lord Linwu was talking about a hunting dog, but he was actually talking about Fengjun. If Xiong Liangfu answered the words, then he was talking about Fengjun, and if he didn't answer, he was talking about the hunting dog.

Xiong Liangfu may or may not answer these words, but he not only accepted, but also took the initiative to lead the topic to Shen Gong Wuchen's defection.

It was many years ago that Duke Shen and Wu Chen defected.

But now, there are still incidents of defection in Chu State. To talk about defection at this juncture, it is inevitable to talk about Qu Yijiu who defected because of the reform.

(End of this chapter)