After Chen Songze heard that Marquis Jingsheng had sent his envoy Xu Huai to Xichuan City, he did not go to the post house to stay. Instead, surrounded by guards, he went straight to the residence of his sister-in-law Dong Cheng. His first thought was that Xu Huai was looking for Dong Cheng.
To settle old grudges.
He did not dare to go directly to the alley to inquire about the news. Instead, he quietly walked to the yard next door to listen to the noise. It was not until Dong Cheng followed Xu Huai and the others to the post house that he poked his head out from the courtyard wall. At this time,
Only then was he caught red-handed by the guards on duty.
When Han Gui heard that Xu Huai came here to reminisce about the past with Dong Cheng, and wanted to appoint Dong Yi, Dong Cheng's son, as an official, Chen Songze knew that the matter would not be that simple, so he raised his hand and asked:
"Dong Yi was young and bright, and studied hard, but he had no hope of a benevolent career, so he could only study in a private school. It is a pity. It is a great blessing to be recognized by you today. I don't know what your surname is? Songze.
superior."
"Han Gui, Director of the Department of History, Chief of Staff," Han Gui said, "I have made you attach great importance to Mr. Dong's noble conduct. However, Mr. Dong lives in a back alley, surrounded by a mixed bag of good and bad people. It is difficult to protect himself from the enemy's prying eyes. Especially for me and Lieutenant Liu Xian.
Send people to guard the left and right with their hands to ensure that no one can disturb Mr. Dong’s peace."
Since the founding of the Dai Viet dynasty, in order to decentralize and limit the power of civil and military officers as much as possible, the official system has separated official titles and positions, and established a set of ranks.
complex system.
Xu Huai established the Appeasement Department in Beijing and Xiangxiang and tried his best to unify official duties with actual duties.
For example, Han Gui's appointment as chief secretary of the history department is actually in charge of legal documents, participating in government affairs and other matters. In addition to his official position as chief secretary, he will not have other errands such as dealing with official documents.
Of course, even if Chen Songze did not know the new regulations of the Zhisi Department, he still knew that the chief secretary of the Zhisi Department was one of the main officials of the Zhisi Department and a powerful figure; it was also widely rumored among the people that Han Gui was the main planner under Xu Huai, the Zhizhi Envoy.
.
Han Gui, as the chief secretary of the Chief Secretary, asked Liu Wugong to stay and arrange the safety of the guards near Dong's house. Chen Songze still knew what this meant. It would never be as simple as passing by Xichuan and inviting old friends to have a meal.
, at the moment, he just bowed to Han Gui and thanked him: "Thank you, Lord Han, I'll take it..."
"Just tell me everything. There's nothing to worry about. We still have to rush to the banquet." Han Gui said with a smile.
"I have heard that the ambassador is a true hero of Vietnam. It is a great honor for Songze to see him today." Chen Songze said cheerfully, cupping his hands in the direction of the post house.
In Liu Wugong's view, Han Gui was worried about the safety of Dong Cheng and his family, so it was most appropriate for him to arrange some manpower for the production department and the county captain, and then let Dong Cheng's wife's brother, Chen Songze, who was well-connected in Xichuan County, keep an eye on him. However,
There is no need to drag Chen Songze to the banquet.
Although some elders and representatives of the gentry will be specially invited to participate in today's banquet to show that Xu Huai is aware of public opinion, except for these special cases, not just anyone is qualified to drink wine and eat meat in front of Xu Huai.
Liu Wugong thought that Han Gui was being polite, but Chen Songze didn't refuse at all, which made him feel strange. He thought that he, Chen Songze, had been working in the county government for so many years, and he didn't have any discernment. He had to join in every occasion?
Of course, Chen Songze didn't know how to refuse, and Liu Wugong wouldn't say anything to his face.
Chen Songze was dragged into the courtyard by the guards before, and there was no abnormality. However, in Hangui, Liu Wugong took care of many things, and they walked to the post house where Xu Huai was staying. They saw that Chen Songze was walking with a slight limp.
Han Gui asked curiously: "Didn't Mr. Dong say that Chen Langjun had a leg disease just now?"
No one said a few words when they walked into the courtyard. Dong Cheng naturally couldn't talk about his wife's brother Chen Songze. Han Gui had read Chen Songze's file, but there was no record of his leg disease.
"I suffered some hardships in prison three years ago, but now there is no inconvenience and it is not a big deal." Chen Songze said nonchalantly.
Han Gui remembered that the file stated that Chen Songze was interrogated three years ago for being involved in an old salt smuggling case. After that, he was only expelled from the county government, but there was no mention of his punishment. Instead, he had a lawsuit the year before last and Chen Songze was imprisoned in the county jail.
It took half a year to escape.
Han Gui signaled the guards behind him to bring the horse over and let Chen Songze ride on the horse.
"That's disrespectful." Chen Songze said, and he got on the horse in an easy manner.
Xu Huai asked the generals not to be on official duties and not to ride horses as much as possible in the city, and it was strictly forbidden to gallop to avoid disturbing the people.
Therefore, Liu Wu and Gongdu accompanied Han Gui on foot. Anyway, it was only a few steps away from the post house. At this time, he saw Chen Songze getting on the horse and becoming him and him.
Han Gui helped Chen Songze lead the horse and couldn't help but glare at him; but Han Tu didn't care.
The three of them quickly rushed to the post house where Xu Huai stayed.
The banquet was still being prepared, and people were sent to invite the elders, representatives of the gentry, county magistrate Yu Lian, county magistrate Zhou Li and other officials. They were accompanying Xu Huai, Shi Zhen, Xu Wu Qi, Dong Cheng and others to drink tea here. They saw Chen Songze
Following Han Gui and Liu Wugong, Yu Lian, Zhou Li and other Xichuan County officials changed their expressions slightly.
Xu Huai and Shi Zhen usually have to deal with too many matters, so it is impossible to cover everything, and they do not know the details of Chen Songze.
At this time, he saw Han Gui bringing Chen Songze, Dong Cheng's brother-in-law, to the banquet. When he sat down, Shi Zhen asked quietly: "Why did you bring him here too?"
"..." Han Gui told Shi Zhen the files he had read and said quietly, "I invited him over for a banquet. Although there was no ostentation or showoff in his words, he did not disobey or refuse. He could not be said to be a person;
Judging from the reactions of Yu Zhi County, Zhou County Cheng and others, it is obvious that they are old acquaintances with Chen Songze..."
Shi Zhen smiled slightly.
Xu Huai definitely wanted to use Dong Cheng, and not just for ordinary people. Chen Songze wanted to find an official position. Logically speaking, it would be enough to have Dong Cheng to support him in the future, but even if he couldn't wait to get ahead, he should first work with Han Gui
There is a revelation in front of you.
However, Chen Songze was neither of those things, yet he entered the room neither humble nor arrogant, sat down at the banquet and drank tea with ease, and combined with everything recorded in the file, even Shi Zhen couldn't help but look up at him.
After a while, an official came in and reported:
"The banquet has been prepared, and in honor of the emperor's order, eight senior citizens and gentry are specially invited to come so that the emperor can understand the public opinion..."
"Let's all go to the banquet hall to have a drink!" Xu Huai said as he stood up and walked to the banquet hall to meet with the invited elders and gentry representatives.
Xichuan is located among the lofty mountains at the southern foot of Funiu Mountain in the eastern Qinling Mountains. The Danjiang River, Xishui River and Qi River pass through it, carrying sediment from the upper reaches and depositing it in the valleys, hills and gorges of the depressed terrain, forming a large plain.
The main source of cultivated land in Xichuan County.
The rural gentry of Xichuan occupied a large number of hidden fertile fields, mostly located in the sedimentary valleys of Danjiang, Xishui, and Qihe rivers, which were also the focus of this land survey.
The elders and representatives of the gentry invited to the banquet were basically big landowners in Xichuan. They did not dare to disobey Marquis Jingsheng and tried to pacify the power of Xu Huai, but they all sat at the banquet with a sullen face, and no one was willing to bend their will.
flatter.
Inviting the elders and representatives of the gentry to a banquet was originally just a gesture. Seeing their expressions, Xu Huai felt a little unhappy, thinking that his mother would never ask these turtle grandsons to do such superficial things again.
Yu Lian and others could see that Xu Huai was unhappy, so they deliberately ignored the presence of these senior citizens and gentry, and found other topics to toast Xu Huai and others.
Many people toasted in turn, and when it was Chen Songze's turn, he limped into the hall, raised his glass and glanced at the elders sitting beside him, the representative of the gentry, and said loudly to Xu Huai:
"These bastards don't know that a catastrophe is coming. They don't know that they are thinking of protecting their families, but they secretly harbor a grudge against you for invading the land of injustice. It's really hateful. Please respect these ignorant people."
The bastards were kicked out of the banquet hall, so as not to ruin the envoy’s enjoyment of the wine!”
Although the elders and gentry did not dare to disobey Xu Huai and sat silently drinking, when they heard Chen Songze scolding them and wanted to drive them out, they naturally looked at Chen Songze angrily.
Yu Lian, Zhou Li and others just wanted to deal with the errands carefully and wait until Xu Huai left Xichuan County tomorrow. At this time, when they saw Chen Songze standing up to stir up trouble and expel the elders and gentry from the banquet hall, they felt their scalp numb and felt great.
Headache.
Seeing Xu Huai frowning slightly, Yu Lian quickly stood up and smoothed things over: "Mr. Chen and others are feeling unwell. Please allow them to step aside and rest first..."
Xu Huai smiled slightly, waved his hand for Yu Lian to sit down, looked at Chen Songze with interest, and said with a smile:
"The ancients said: If you punish without teaching, the punishment will be complicated and the evil will prevail. If you teach without punishing, the traitors will not be punished. If you say that everyone here does not know that a disaster is coming, then you should talk to them carefully.
You can't just expel them without saying anything - in that case, outsiders will think that I am harsh on the people..."
"After the grassroots were expelled from the county government, they had no way to find a job. They reluctantly sold some mountain products to make a living. However, they also had some contact with traveling merchants and Orion medicine farmers in the mountains. When they learned that the Japanese soldiers were recruiting troops north of Lantian, they all said that the Japanese soldiers were going to come next.
We’re going to hit Lantian,”
Chen Songze said,
"If the common people think about it carefully, Gu sent the elite troops of the Juntong to guard Lantian, which was like a thorn in the back to the enemies in Sichuan and Shaanxi. Now that the new Khan has ascended the throne, if they want to further plot to cross the rivers and mountains, they have to order their own troops first.
Only when the situation becomes comfortable, the soldiers must capture Lantian, otherwise they will not be comfortable if they occupy the entire Shaanxi Road. The common people are thinking that once Lantian is lost, the connection between Shangzhou and Dongchuan Road will be separated by high mountains.
Come on, Gu Shijun will probably not go all out to defend Shangzhou. In this case, won't the captive soldiers attack Xichuan directly? Shijun spared no effort to rush to the high mountains and ridges of Xichuan to deploy defense. In addition, he just
They thought of taking out the unjust fields that each family had privately occupied to replenish military resources and stabilize the morale of the military. In the final analysis, it was to protect these bastards and their families from being trampled by the captive soldiers, but they were still full of resentment.
