Jinyang Princess Mansion, near noon, the New Year in the south is much warmer than in the north, and the temperature has also risen a lot.

Along with the sound of light footsteps and the fragrant fragrance, Yuanchun and other maids carried various dishes and entered the hall of the back house, with faces full of joy.

Jia Heng took a sip of tea, looked at Yuan Chun curiously, and asked with a smile: "Sister, what did you cook?"

Yuanchun's plump and beautiful face showed a calm smile, and he said softly: "Brother Heng, I will cook you some local dishes."

Yuanchun is not only good at female beauty, but also good at cooking. She was originally trained according to the standards of a palace concubine. These are all necessary skills.

Jia Heng said: "Big sister."

At this time, Yuanchun saw Princess Jinyang on the side and said softly: "Your Highness, it's time for lunch."

When everyone sat down to eat, the eldest princess of Jinyang said softly: "Ziyu will go back in the third year of junior high school. There is going to be a war in the north."

Yuanchun looked at the young man with concern and said, "Brother Heng, is there going to be a war in the north?"

Jia Heng said: "That's not the case, I just need to go back earlier to take precautions. Okay, let's not talk about this anymore and let's celebrate my eldest sister's birthday first."

Yuanchun said "hmm" and then sat down.

The eldest princess of Jinyang also handed over the secret letter and said, "Do you want to go to Chahar Mongolia in person?"

Jia Heng said: "Ezhe probably can't trust other Han court officials, so I might as well go there."

"It's too risky. Just send a special envoy. No one knows what Chahar Mongolia is thinking." Princess Jinyang reminded.

Jia Heng said: "I will definitely bring some retinue with me then. We will check the situation first before deciding where to go. We may not go to Mongolia in person."

In fact, he still wanted to solve the problems in Taiyuan and Datong military towns first.

Seeing this, the eldest princess of Jinyang stopped mentioning the matter.

"Sister, it's been a year, but I'm still one year older." Jia Heng took Yuan Chun's hand and said with a smile in his eyes.

The eldest princess of Jinyang smiled and said: "I said yesterday that you are not young anymore. If you have a child earlier and raise it under your knees, you will not be lonely."

Yuanchun: "???"

Jia Heng nodded and said softly: "It's time for my eldest sister."

In fact, he and Yuanchun didn't avoid each other very much during this period, and Yuanchun was expected to have a child in the next month or two.

I think of the judgment about Yuan Chun in the original work, "Twenty years have passed to distinguish right from wrong, durian flowers have bloomed to illuminate the palace, three springs have competed for the scene of early spring, and tigers and birds have met and come back with great dreams." This life should not be like this.

Yuanchun's plump jade cheeks with a little baby fat flushed slightly, and he said softly: "Brother Heng, what are you talking about?"

Princess Jinyang smiled and said: "Then Zhen Qing and Zhen Xue, who were close friends with you at the beginning, already have one, so you should have one too."

Jia Heng: "..."

Yuanchun: "???"

Glancing at the young man in python suit next to her, she felt something strange in her heart. Is there something going on between Hengdi and His Highness that she didn't know about?

After Jia Heng had lunch with Yuanchun and the eldest princess of Jinyang, in the afternoon, a female official came from outside and reported: "Master Marquis, Li Shushuo, the chief envoy of Jiangzuo, went to Ningguo Mansion to look for him.

Lord Marquis talks."

Jia Heng nodded, waved his hand and said, "Just say I'm too busy, so I can't see you."

Xu Shikui wanted to see him because he wanted to stay in Jiangzuo. But according to his opinion, it was best for him to be transferred away from Jiangzuo. Otherwise, Li Shouzhong would be constrained in the future. He would suggest that the emperor transfer a northern official from the four provinces of Shanhe.

Serve as chief envoy.

The female officer held a letter in her hand and said, "This is the letter from Xu Shikui."

When Jia Heng heard this, his expression paused. He took the letter and read it. It contained compliments from Xu Shikui, and also recorded some dirty information about Shen Fang. Of course, it was not about corruption or bribery.

But regarding the transportation of grain, Shen Fang responded passively and paid half-heartedly to the court.

In fact, it already has the meaning of bringing a gun to shoot, but of course it is more of a test.

Jia Heng's eyes were focused for a moment, and he put away the letter, with a thoughtful look on his face.

Princess Jinyang's beautiful eyes narrowed, she looked at the young man quietly, smiled softly, and said: "If you want to see it, you can't go and see him now. I have nothing here."

Jia Heng was silent for a moment and said: "I said I would accompany you, I will come as soon as I go."

With that said, he returned to Ningguo Mansion under the escort of Jinyi Mansion guard Li Shu.

At this moment, Xu Shikui had been waiting in the hall for a long time. When he heard that Jia Heng was coming, he quickly got up, with a hint of anxiety on his fat face.

It turned out that Xu Shikui had heard some news that Jia Heng had completed the inspection of officials in Jiangnan who were suitable to be retained as officials of the Third Division and would return to the capital today.

"Master Hou." Xu Shikui walked a few steps quickly and saluted the young man in the python suit with a flattering look on his face.

Jia Heng frowned and said, "Master Xu, what are you doing?"

The letter just now mainly said that Shen Fang had paid shoddy goods to the imperial court and complained many times. In fact, there was still a lot of food in the Jiangnan granary.

Xu Shikui said: "Master Hou, I am here to abandon the dark and turn to the light."

Jia Heng looked at Xu Shikui and said, "What does the letter Mr. Xu just sent mean?"

Xu Shikui looked around and said, "Master Hou, can you take a step to speak?"

Jia Heng frowned and said, "Master Xu, let's go to the study to talk."

With that said, he led Xu Shikui to the study, this time only two people were left.

Xu Shikui gritted his teeth and said in a low voice: "Master Hou, do you know that Lord Shen has always been critical of Master Hou? He often makes trouble in some matters?"

Jia Heng's face was gloomy, he put down the teacup in his hand and said coldly: "Master Xu, I didn't listen to what you said."

If we see a feminine politician in Zhang Yongchuan, then we see a duplicitous villain in Xu Shikui, which even makes people feel uncomfortable.

"Master Shen and Gao Bin are brothers-in-law. Gao Bin embezzled money from Mohe Engineering. Although Master Shen has never been heard of sharing the stolen money, he mostly covered up his crimes and deceived the imperial court during investigations by the Ministry of Industry." Xu Shikui lowered his voice.

, said.

Jia Heng's eyes flashed and he asked softly: "Besides squandering Gao Bin's greedy money, who else got it into his hands?"

When he was punishing corruption in the Hedao Yamen, he was curious at the time. Not much money was found in Gao Bin's home, so whose pocket did the money go into?

A certain vassal king or a big shot in the court?

Jia Heng's thoughts were racing for a while. Is Han Huang really as honest as he appears?

Xu Jie also has many grain fields in Songjiang Prefecture.

Mainly, the impression Han Huang gave him was that although he was quite selfish, when it came to corruption, he didn't seem to be serious about it. He was probably the type of Secretary Yuliang.

What these politicians seek is power.

Xu Shikui shook his head and said: "I don't know about this either. This core secret may only be known to Mr. Shen."

Jia Heng was silent for a moment and said, "Since Mr. Xu is an official under Mr. Shen, why is this so?"

This Xu Shikui betrayed Shen Fang because he saw that Shen Fang could not keep the chief envoy in him and wanted to be a second-in-command.

Xu Shikui lowered his voice and said softly: "To be honest with the Marquis, Xiaguan has never been a direct descendant of the Zhejiang Party, but someone who lives under the eaves and has to bow his head. Xiaguan is an official of the imperial court, not an official under Master Shen.

.”

In addition to the two central members of the Zhejiang Party, Han and Zhao, the local feudal officials are divided into six departments: Jiangxi, Jiangnan, Zhejiang and Nanjing. Many of them are Confucian masters. In other words, they are not just for profit.

It is also mixed with some political ideals.

For example, encourage private merchants, ease the heavy taxes in the southeast, eliminate border troops, suppress northern scholars, and another is to stop the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the mining supervision bureaus, introduce private capital, and not compete with the people for profits, even including in the southeast

The land opens up the sea for trade.

When Yang Guochang was in power, he had the opposite policy. He made no bottom-line concessions to the imperial power in matters related to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, imposed heavy taxes on the southeastern coast, subsidized the north, and did nothing for the frontier army.

This is also the reason why Jia Heng’s previous proposal to open up maritime restrictions did not attract opposition from the Zhejiang Party from the imperial court.

Among the officials of the Zhejiang Party and other frontiers, such as Zhang Yongchuan, the governor of Jiangnan, Liu Zhen, the governor of Zhejiang, Chu Yun'e, the governor of Jiangxi, and Shen Fang, the governor of Liangjiang, were rising stars and had a competitive relationship with each other.

And Xu Shikui was more like a peripheral person who was recruited by Shen Fang. Although he was also a second-ranking scholar, he did not belong to the core circle and belonged to Shen Fang's faction. The Chief Secretary of Jiangzuo had always followed the lead of the Liangjiang Governor's Yamen.

Jia Heng took out the letter from his sleeve, looked indifferent and said, "My Lord Xu, this letter alone can't help much."

He had never wanted to deal with Shen Fang directly, otherwise it would easily anger Han, Zhao and others in the cabinet, which would cause discord between the generals and the generals and turmoil in the political situation.

The current situation is like this. He, Han Zhao and others are all maintaining restraint for the time being, waiting for the outcome of the first battle against the captives.

Therefore, Zhang Yongchuan made great efforts to bring down Shen Fang, and he was happy to see the internal factional disputes come to fruition.

Xu Shikui carefully observed the young Marquis Wu and said, "Master Marquis, Mr. Shen's official reputation is not bad. There is not much to criticize."

To put it bluntly, people like Shen Fang cherish their feathers very much. If you want to find evidence of corruption by these people, it is not easy to find.

Jia Heng was silent for a moment, looking at Xu Shikui aggressively, until he lowered his head slightly to show submission, and then said in a cold voice: "Mr.

The Chief Secretary shall cooperate well with the Governor and assist in the management of civil affairs."

When Xu Shikui heard this, he quickly said: "Don't worry, Lord Marquis. I will definitely cooperate with Futai. If there is a letter from Jiangnan, I will deliver the letter with Lord Hou."

Jia Heng looked sullen and noncommittal. He served tea to see the guests off and watched Xu Shikui leave.

This kind of backstabbing in official circles is actually not uncommon. These people are only responsible for the black gauze hat on their heads.

Xu Shikui must still have a way to deal with Shen Fang's anger.
To be continued...