When two people do things, it is impossible to use the same face to each other. Some people are bound to be bad-faced and some are bad-faced.
With Zhao Zhen's status, it would be okay to confront the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty once or twice, but it would not be a good thing to confront him often.
Therefore, when it comes to political issues, Kou Ji is more suitable than Zhao Zhen to play bad guy.
If Kou Ji often plays bad guy, he will definitely arouse the hostility of the civil and military officials in the court.
Zhao Zhen could not protect Kou Ji blindly. When necessary, he had to punish him a little to appease the civil and military officials of the court.
Naturally, it is impossible for Zhao Zhen to really punish Kou Ji, so he needs an excuse to avoid the serious and take the light and punish him severely.
There is no doubt that Kou Li is the most suitable person to help Kou Ji and Zhao Zhen make excuses.
Kou Ji made a decision in his heart, so he didn't think too much. He handed over his hand to Kou Zhun and said: "Grandpa is kind-hearted. Of course I can't refuse. Everything is decided by grandpa."
Kou Zhun heard Kou Ji's words and nodded with satisfaction.
Kou Ji chatted with Kou Zhun for a while and then sent Kou Zhun off.
Kou Ji returned to the bedroom by himself. After seeing his wife and children, he fell asleep.
But he didn't sleep for long before he was woken up by Kou Tianci.
Kou Tianci was crawling and rolling around on Kou Ji's bed, having so much fun that it was naturally impossible for Kou Ji to continue sleeping.
After Kou Ji woke up, he played with Kou Tianci for a while.
After washing up and eating some simple things, I went to the study to work.
The martial arts performance promoted by the imperial court this time was a martial arts performance by soldiers and horses from all over the world.
It cannot be accomplished overnight.
There are a lot of trivial matters that need to be dealt with by Kou Ji.
After the news about the martial arts performance spread.
The vigorous martial arts performance throughout the Song Dynasty officially began.
Except for Kou Ji and Zhu Neng who were stationed in the capital, the rest of the military officials who could be dispatched were dispatched.
He went to various places to supervise martial arts performances.
Kou Ji stayed in Bianjing to take charge of overall planning.
Zhu Neng was responsible for supervising the military exercises of the six armies and horses in Bianjing City.
During the martial arts exercise, the military camps outside Bianjing City were filled with the sound of soldiers and horses practicing all day long.
At the end of the martial arts performance, the six soldiers and horses of Bianjing City still practiced in front of the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty and all the people of Bianjing City.
In short, the martial arts performance in Bianjing City lasted for a month and ended at the end of November.
The officials and people in Bianjing City watched the Wudang performance lively.
But Kou Ji, Zhao Zhen, Zhu Neng and others regarded martial arts acting as a basic assessment.
After the martial arts performance in Bianjing City ended, the results of the assessment also appeared in the hands of Kou Ji, Zhao Zhen, and Zhu Neng.
The three people looked at the results of the assessment with very unnatural expressions on their faces.
Zhu Neng stared at the number of qualified people and said with a slight hesitation: "Are the standards we set too harsh?"
There are fully 100,000 people in the Dragon God Second Guard participating in the assessment.
However, there are only 40,000 people who pass the examination.
Only 40,000 people met the standards of Forbidden Army soldiers set by Kou Ji and others.
Although the officers of the Dragon God Second Guard will be abolished, after they are abolished, they will be assigned to the Pengri and Tianwu armies to make up for the vacancies after the two armies are streamlined.
Currently, there are only 40,000 people who have passed the examination for the Dragon God's Second Guards. Excluding the 10,000 reserved Dragon Guards, there are less than 30,000 people.
Thirty thousand people cannot make up for the gap between Tianwu and Pengja armies.
Because of the Tianwu and Pengri armies, after the assessment, there were only 63,000 qualified soldiers.
There is still a gap of 7,000 troops in the middle.
Kou Ji heard Zhu Neng's words and said in a deep voice: "It's not that the standards we set are too harsh, but that they have lived in Bianjing for a long time and neglected training, which led to this result."
Zhu Neng hesitated and said: "At least I took the Dragon God's two guards out to fight and sorted them out once. The Tiger Wing Army, up and down, stayed in Bianjing City for more than ten years. Except for the last time the officials went to the northwest for recruitment,
Basically untouched.
Even when I went to the northwest last time, most of the time I was responsible for guarding.
After they completed the assessment, only more than 18,000 people passed the examination.
Can they really be worthy of the reputation of the two forbidden armies of Zhendong and Zhennan?"
At present, the navy with the best military equipment and the most complete equipment in the Song Dynasty is the Tiger Wing Army.
In the military system implemented by Kou Ji, there were two naval armies, Zhendong and Zhennan.
After the Tiger Wing Army is transferred out of Bianjing City, there is no doubt that it will move into the two armies in the east and south of Zhenjing.
But judging from the current situation in the Tiger Wing Army, they have too few qualified officers. I am afraid they can only barely set up the two forbidden armies of Zhendong and Zhennan, hoping that they can really achieve Zhendong, Zhennan, and Zhendong.
It's simply impossible.
Zhao Zhen heard the conversation between Kou Ji and Zhu Neng, and his face was as dark as the bottom of a pot.
The Tiger Wing Army was nominally one of the most elite troops in the Song Dynasty.
During the Taizong and Zhenzong dynasties, they dispatched elites from various armies several times to join them.
Zhao Zhen originally thought that even if the Tiger Wing Army was corrupted, it would not be corrupted much and would only breed ten or twenty thousand moths at most.
But after doing some research, he learned that there were more than 80,000 moths in the Tiger Wing Army. How could he be in a good mood?
Under his nose, the Tiger Wing Army was corrupted to such an extent. The other armies were so superior that he didn't know how far they would be corrupted.
Zhao Zhen felt at this moment that it was a miracle that the Song Dynasty's soldiers and horses were so corrupted that they could capture Hexi, capture Xixia, and force the Liao Kingdom to submit.
"Even if I build less of an army, I will never allow this kind of worm to remain in the army!"
Zhao Zhen said slightly angrily.
Kou Ji and Zhu Neng were slightly stunned when they heard this.
Kou Ji sighed: "There is no need for the officials to be angry. At present, we only have the results of the military survey in Bianjing City, and the results of the military surveys in other places have not yet appeared. After the results of the military survey in other places are sent to Bianjing City, the officials will
It's never too late to get angry.
Maybe there are soldiers and horses among them that are worse than the Tiger Wings."
Zhao Zhen gritted his teeth and said: "If I had known that the soldiers and horses of the Song Dynasty were so corrupt, I would not let those military heroes go so easily."
Kou Ji laughed and said: "The officials have already dealt with what should be dealt with, so it is useless to talk about it now."
After a pause, Kou Ji said: "The Tiger Wing Army only has 18,000 elite soldiers, so we will use these 18,000 elite soldiers to first set up two forbidden armies in the east and south of the town.
It's winter now and the river is frozen, so there's not much we can do.
After next spring, we will find a reason to eliminate the banditry and dispatch the elite of the Tiger Wing Army to Dengzhou.
Then it was divided into two parts and occupied the East China Sea and the South China Sea.
Now we have no strong enemies in the Song Dynasty, so we don't need to replenish the strength of the two armies in time.
We can gradually fill the shortage of troops in the two armies by recruiting people who live by the sea and are familiar with water in coastal areas.
During this period, we can instruct the soldiers of Zhendong and Zhennan to familiarize themselves with the sea routes and how to fight at sea.
There are many merchant ships traveling to and from the Song Dynasty, and there are many pirates on the sea. You can practice with them.
After the two armies of Zhendong and Zhennan learn how to fight at sea, their number of troops will be almost completed.
Therefore, we have plenty of time and there is no need to rush.
When we reform the military system this time, we must make sure that we are more deficient than indiscriminate.
Just to make up for the number of troops, you can't use random weapons to fill up the number.
Others can lie to us.
But we can’t fool ourselves.”
After Kou Ji finished speaking, the look on Zhao Zhen's face looked quite good.
Don’t blame Zhao Zhen for being angry.
Any person in power will be angry if he sees that his troops have been corrupted to such an extent.
Zhao Zhen took a deep breath, calmed down, and said: "Now, it's time for us to wait for news from other places..."
Kou Ji nodded slowly.
In the days to come, Kou Ji and Zhao Zhen were waiting for news from various places.
Every once in a while, soldiers and horses are sent to Bianjing City to find out the situation.
Just as Kou Ji expected.
There is no worst, only worse.
One is worse than the other.
Because the time was short, most of the bottom-up information reported before the year concerned the troops and horses near Bianjing City.
Among the soldiers and horses near Bianjing City.
Except for Tianwu and Pengri armies.
The qualified number of soldiers and horses in other places is basically less than 40%.
What's more, it's less than 10%.
Zhao Zhen was so angry that he flew into a rage and often vented his anger on others.
No one in the palace or officials in the court dared to speak loudly during this period.
However, all this has nothing to do with Kou Ji.
Because Kou Ji had not gone to court for many days.
Because when the new year was approaching, Kou Li returned to Beijing with his warblings and swallows.
Out of etiquette.
After Kou Ji learned the specific time of Kou Li's return to Beijing, he led his people to wait at the ferry of Bianhe River early in the morning, but his face didn't look good.
The reason why he looked unhappy was not because he was sick, but because Kou Li got into trouble again.
Kou Ji felt that Kou Li, a cheap dad, was definitely a natural deceiver, the type who was self-taught.
Kou Li didn't do anything big, he just brought a lot of luggage with him when he returned to Beijing.
There is not much luggage, just over fifty large boats and over three hundred small boats.
There aren't many valuable things on board.
It is stuffed with spices, jewels, jade, sea treasures and other things.
By the way, a dismembered whale was dragged on a raft.
Due to Kou Li's status, he brought too many things, so the transfer offices in various places had to send people to escort him.
Then his team grew larger.
It's so huge that when it appears on the river, you can't even see the end of it.
After Kou Zhun learned the news, his face became dark for a day. He admitted his mistake to Kou Ji, ran to Wenchang Academy, and never came out again.
That's right, Kou Zhun admitted his mistake to Kou Ji.
For the first time in my life, I lowered my face and admitted my mistake to Kou Ji.
There is no other reason.
He originally wanted to help his grandson, but he didn't expect that he ended up cheating on him.
By the way, I also cheated myself.
Good guy, I haven't been a sage for a long time.
You will return to Beijing with a large amount of gold, silver, jewelry, and rare spices.
People in the world still don’t regard me, Kou Zhun, as that kind of two-faced person who pretends to be a sage on the surface, but secretly relies on his power to make money?
If Kou Zhun hadn't cared about Kou Ji's face, he would have carried the knife and killed Kou Li with one blow, killing his family in a righteous act.
Kou Ji and his servants stood at the ferry of Bianhe River for a short time.
A fleet of ships appeared in front of them.
Then, you can't see the end at a glance.
The huge fleet naturally attracted the attention of everyone in Bianjing City.
When the fleet approached, the people were completely shocked when they saw the spices placed in the open air on the fleet and the dismembered whale.
They spread the news quickly, and the entire Bianjing city was shocked.
Then, there were huge crowds of people on both sides of the ferry, which was even more exaggerated than when Zhao Zhen was traveling.
Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng, and Zhang Zhibai, who had just returned to Beijing, all rushed over after hearing the news.
Exaggeration?
No exaggeration at all!
The dismembered whale alone was enough to attract the attention of the three of them.
Not counting the massive wealth.
After Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng, and Zhang Zhibai arrived, they naturally gathered next to Kou Ji.
Looking at the endless fleet, Lu Yijian said with some sourness: "I have often heard that Privy Kou has a good way of amassing money, but I didn't expect that your father's means of amassing money are even better.
Your father has been in Leizhou for a few years, right?"
Don't wait for Kou Ji to speak.
Lu Yijian continued: "In just a few years, he has amassed wealth that others could not amass in several lifetimes, or even dozens of lifetimes. Your father is really amazing."
When Lu Yijian said this, he was no longer sour, and there was a hint of sarcasm in his words, as if he was waiting to see Kou Ji's joke.
When Kou Ji heard this, his face turned dark.
Wang Zeng gritted his teeth and said: "How many people's fat and money will be plundered..."
The corner of Kou Ji's mouth twitched.
Zhang Zhibai said some fair words, "You all know what is going on in Leizhou. The land is vast and sparsely populated, and the people are living miserable lives. How could there be such a huge amount of wealth for Kou Li to plunder.
Leizhou is near the sea, and if my guess is correct, most of Kou Li's money came from doing business."
Wang Zeng glanced at Zhang Zhibai and felt that Zhang Zhibai was a bit dishonest.
What a great opportunity to pounce on local tycoons, it would be a huge sin not to take advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune and add it to the national treasury.
Lu Yijian pouted at the side and said: "What kind of business is so profitable? I have collected so much money in just a few years. I will ask Kou Li for advice later. If it is really profitable, I will resign as a disciple of Tong Zhongshu.
Location, go to Leizhou to do business."
Lu Yijian said it very casually, but Wang Zeng, Zhang Zhibai and Kou Ji didn't take it seriously.
Lu Yijian just took the opportunity to ridicule Kou Ji.
If he really wanted to give up his position as a disciple of Tong Zhongshu for the sake of money, it would be unless he had a donkey on his head.
Obviously, he had not been kicked in the head by a donkey.
Seeing that no one answered his words, Lu Yijian curled his lips at Zhang Zhibai and said: "Brother Yonghui, your wish to accept Kou Tianci as a disciple may be in vain. After this incident, the whole Song Dynasty knew that the Kou Mansion was a powerful
The richest man in Song Dynasty.
You have always been poor, how can you be a husband to the son of the richest family in the Song Dynasty?"
The implication.
After today's incident is spread, the reputation of the Kou Mansion people as greedy for money and greedy for a lot of money will probably spread throughout the world.
Zhang Zhibai has always been honest.
If he were to be the husband of the eldest son and grandson of the Kou family, he would probably ruin his reputation.
Zhang Zhibai understood the meaning of Lu Yijian's words, but did not show any worry. Instead, he smiled and said: "I chose my disciples myself, so how can I go back on my words? What happens to his family has nothing to do with me. I only need to teach him knowledge."
, just teach him how to behave uprightly."
Lu Yijian looked at Zhang Zhibai slightly surprised.
However, there are few literati, especially those who are already in central positions, who do not cherish their reputation.
Even Ding Wei, a traitor like Lin Te, would occasionally cherish his feathers.
Lu Yijian was naturally surprised that Zhang Zhibai was still willing to have anything to do with the Kou government when the Kou government was about to gain notoriety.
Zhang Zhibai seemed to see what Lu Yijian was thinking, and smiled at Lu Yijian and said: "For some things, it is enough for you to have a clear conscience. You don't need to deliberately do it to others."
The implication.
I am pure and upright because I stick to my true heart, and I am not deliberately doing it for the sake of pursuing some false reputation.
Lu Yijian was slightly moved when he heard this.
While they were talking, the first big ship had arrived at the ferry.
The ship is very big, with two floors of flower buildings on it.
Standing beside the big ship, people look a little small.
So when the big ship docked, the people nearby exclaimed.
After all, the big ship is just a small dot when viewed from a distance.
As the ship approached, they could clearly see how big it was.
After the ship stopped.
Kou Li got off the boat first.
I haven’t seen you for a few years.
Kou Li looked a lot more mature and steady. He didn't get older, but he got a lot richer. His belly was bulging, and he looked like a rich man.
After Kou Li got off the boat, Kou Ji took his wife and children to greet him.
Just when Kou Ji was about to take his wife and children to pay homage.
Kou Li actually had a tendency to be the first to salute.
Kou Ji saw fear in Kou Li's expression.
Yes, fear.
"father……"
Kou Ji shouted softly, waking up Kou Li who was about to give a gift.
When Kou Li heard Kou Ji's shout, his body trembled slightly. He seemed to realize that he had lost his composure and quickly stopped his actions.
Kou Ji took his wife and children to pay tribute to Kou Li.
"The child has met his father..."
"My daughter-in-law has met her father-in-law..."
Kou Ji and Xiang Yan saluted one after another.
Kou Tianci stared at Kou Li unblinkingly.
For Kou Tianci, Kou Li is a stranger.
A very strange person.
He has not yet reached the age of understanding and cannot tell the difference between himself and this stranger.
Even if his father is paying tribute to this person.
Kou Tianci can call people, but that doesn't mean he knows what every name he calls means.
After Kou Jihe saluted Yan, Kou Li said slightly awkwardly: "Okay... okay..."
Kou Li groped around on his body in a slight panic, but didn't find anything.
He said with a slight guilt: "I came back in a hurry and didn't bring anything valuable with me. I'll wait until the things on the boat are unloaded and I'll get them for you..."
Xiang Yan didn't care about the money. She discovered from the brief contact that the relationship between Kou Ji and Kou Li's father and son was very subtle, very subtle.
Xiang Yan picked up Kou Tianci and taught Kou Tianci to call him grandfather.
Kou Tianci shouted in confusion.
Then, Kou Li, who had just claimed that he had nothing to offer, fished out an ivory sculpture from his body and gave it to Kou Tianci.
After the family of three gave gifts to Kou Li.
No more words were said.
Kou Ji also did not ask about the origin of the property on the ship.
Because someone got off the boat.
A bunch of warblers and swallows.
The leader was none other than Aunt Qiao, whom Kou Ji was most familiar with.
I haven’t seen you for a few years.
Kou Li's group of concubines has increased by several people.
Kou Ji looked at it carefully. Two of them were dressed as Japanese, and one was dressed as Korean. There were also several clothes on them. Kou Ji couldn't tell where they were from, but without exception, they were not.
Han people.
Those warblers not only got off the boat by themselves, but many of them were holding children in their hands, holding children in their arms, and some were even pregnant.
Kou Ji's mouth twitched as he looked at it, while Xiang Yan looked dumbfounded.
Everyone in Bianjing City knows that the Kou Mansion is sparsely populated.
But after seeing this scene, no one could say that the Kou Mansion was sparsely populated.
The corner of Kou Ji's mouth twitched, and he led Xiang Yan to salute those warblers and swallows.
"Kou Ji has met all the aunts..."
"My daughter-in-law has met all the aunts..."
Those Yingying Yanyan behaved very well when facing Kou Ji.
Some people still have fear in their eyes.
After Kou Ji saluted, they all returned the gift one after another.
"Da Lang is polite..."
After they returned the gift, they also asked the children who knew how to call others to salute Kou Ji.
Everyone calls Kou Ji their eldest brother.
After seeing each other.
Kou Ji said to Kou Li: "My grandfather has placed you in a big house in Bianjing City. You and your aunts can live in the big house."
Kou Li agreed without saying any more words.
The family stood on the shore and watched the boatmen unloading massive amounts of gold, silver, jewelry, spices and other items onto the boat.
When unloading the ship.
Kou Li got together with his Yingying Yanyans.
Kou Ji stood on the other side with Xiang Yan and Kou Tianci.
Kou Li and his warblers were chatting and laughing happily.
Kou Ji's family of three stood aside and looked a little lonely.
It’s been a long time.
Xiang Yan whispered to Kou Ji: "They... seem to be more like a family than us..."
Kou Ji smiled and nodded, humming slightly.
Xiang Yan suddenly felt that Kou Ji seemed to be very lonely, and there was an inexplicable sadness in her heart.
Kou Ji seemed to feel Xiang Yan's emotions. He sighed slightly in his heart but did not say anything.
Kou Ji stood on the shore and watched the boatmen unloading the boats. After watching for a while, he found Kou Li.
"Dad, can you bring me some documents?"
Kou Ji did not exchange greetings with Kou Li and went straight to the topic.
Kou Li heard Kou Ji's question and said quickly: "Yes, yes, I have a document to bring you..."
Kou Li quickly ordered his servant to get the documents.
Not long after, the servant brought a volume of documents and a private letter and handed them to Kou Ji.
Kou Ji took the private message and put it away, then took the document and walked towards Lu Yijian and the others who were standing on the shore watching.
When Lu Yijian and the others saw Kou Ji arriving, Lu Yijian said teasingly: "Why...come here to show off to me that your Kou family is rich?"
Kou Ji glanced at Lu Yijian and did not take care of him. Instead, he handed the documents to Wang Zeng and said: "The things on the ship are all tributes from the vassals of Leizhou overseas to me, the Song Dynasty.
My father was in charge of Leizhou, and he often encountered some ships from Leizhou vassals passing by.
After they learned about the prosperity of our Song Dynasty, they sent tributes and prayed for good relations with my Song Dynasty.
So my dad told me that I also went to Honglu Temple for several paperwork courses.
But none of us took it seriously.
The tributes sent by the vassals were also temporarily left in Leizhou Zhizhou Yamen.
When someone takes over as the magistrate of Leizhou, my father will escort him back to Beijing.
I thought it was just some vulgar thing, but I didn't expect that the overseas vassals were so wealthy."
"Tribute?!"
When Wang Zeng heard that all the contents of the hundreds of ships belonged to the imperial court, he became excited in an instant.
He couldn't wait to take the document in Kou Ji's hand and looked at it carefully.
After a long time, he raised his head and said with blazing eyes: "It's really a tribute..."
Kou Ji nodded slowly.
Only Kou Ji and Kou Li knew whether the things Kou Li escorted were tributes or not.
However, now it can only be given as a tribute.
While Kou Ji was paying tribute, he was also scolding his mother in his heart.
Chapter completed!