Time passed by bit by bit, and little Guo Yao in Prince Yan's Mansion also grew up day by day.
Just like Guo Mo said, this kid really gets better and better as he grows older, especially his big eyes. He actually has a pair of smiling eyes.
Seeing everyone smiling made little Guo Xiang wish she could stay by her side every day, sometimes even kissing the fourth child of the Guo family awake from his sleep.
There is peace in Prince Yan's Mansion, but outside Prince Yan's Mansion, the entire Luoyang City, and the entire Henan Mansion are facing the threat of drought.
Du Gao, the prefect of Henan Prefecture, immediately conducted a thorough investigation into two grain stores that were trying to drive up the price of rice, and found that they not only marked up the price by one-third, but also sold rice mixed with sand.
He strictly followed the law and confiscated tens of thousands of stones of grain in the granary, and made his abominable behavior public to the world.
At the same time, the people of Henan were summoned to clean up the tens of thousands of stones of rice mixed with sand and put it on the market at the original market price.
Worried about the reoccurrence of hoarding, Du Gao strictly limited the amount of food available. Each person could only buy seven days' worth of food at a time, and promised in the name of the government that rice prices would remain at the current level during the drought.
Ruzhou, Dengzhou and Tangzhou, following the footsteps of Henan Prefecture, played a game of chess in four places and dealt with the initial impact of the drought in an orderly manner.
"Your Highness, there is an envoy from Bianliang who wants to see you personally. What do you think?——"
In "Hongyu Pavilion", Guo Mozheng transformed into a storyteller and told everyone about "The Romance of the Gods".
It was also Guo Mo's own fault, because when the fourth child of their family was born, there happened to be lightning and thunder, and then there was heavy rain.
Such a scene inexplicably reminded Guo Mo of the scene in "The Romance of the Gods" where Lei Zhenzi was born, so he jokingly called Guo Yao "Lei Zhenzi".
But little Guo Xiang heard it and forced his father to explain why he gave his younger brother such a strange name.
Guo Mo couldn't resist her, so he vividly told the little girl a story about "Ji Boyan collected the thunder and earthquake".
This is really amazing. Not only the five-year-old Guo Xiang, but also Huang Rong, Li Mochou, Xiao Longnu, Tingxiang, Wenfu and others. Everyone who heard the story in the room counted them one by one.
Everyone was attracted by Guo Mo's magical story.
"Dad, why is Xibohou going to Chaoge? Will there be anything interesting to do after he goes? When will Lei Zhenzi meet his father again?..."
Well, little Guo Xiang immediately transformed into a hundred thousand whys.
"Brother Mo, there should be a lot more to this story, right? Can you start from the beginning? Anyway, I'm here in confinement and can't get out for a month. It's quite boring."
Looking at everyone's expectant eyes, Guo Mo was also a little embarrassed.
He was very familiar with the story of Fengshenyanyi. In this world, it would take hundreds of years for it to be born. Is it really appropriate to plagiarize it yourself?
Besides, this Fengshen Romance is a chapter-style book with one hundred chapters in total. Even if I teach it three times a day, I will have to teach it continuously for a month.
"Dad, if you can tell Xiang'er everything, Xiang'er will listen to you in everything from now on. Eat well, sleep well, and practice catching sparrows with Sister Long..."
Seemingly seeing that her father was hesitant to refuse, little Guo Xiang immediately took out her trump card, sat in Guo Mo's arms, and started swinging.
When other people in the room saw this, no one came up or spoke out to dissuade him.
Guo Mo, the majestic King of Yan, was completely isolated by his family?
In the end, the power of the masses is great, not to mention how could Guo Mo, a slave girl, really want to reject his own daughter?
"Okay Xiang'er, don't tire yourself out. Let's make an agreement first. Starting from tomorrow, daddy will tell you about 'The Romance of the Gods' for two hours every afternoon."
"At other times, you must not miss any of the things you should learn, otherwise Daddy will not obey you..."
"Okay - you've listened to 'The Romance of the Gods', haha, this stinky brother is still useful. He can elicit a nice story from dad, Lei Zhenzi? I will call you 'Lei Zhenzi' from now on."
Guo Mo was still well prepared in the study at night.
After all, so many years have passed, and now if I really want to talk about it in a systematic way, I must at least outline it first and prepare the notes for tomorrow's speech.
Chapter 1: Worshiping incense in the palace of Nuwa, King Zhou
Chapter 2: Jizhou Hou Suhu rebelled against merchants
Chapter 3: Ji Chang breaks out of the siege and enters Daji
Fortunately, in his previous life, Guo Mo studied in the Chinese Department for four years at university. When he took the postgraduate entrance examination in his senior year, he applied for the ancient Chinese literature, Ming and Qing novels.
He didn't study much else. He read the more than ten famous novels several times, especially the "Feng Shen Yan Yi".
Three times a day, it can be thoroughly explained in more than a month, which can be regarded as adding a rare spice to the cultural life that is lacking in people in this era.
Although he was determined to be a copywriter, Guo Mo, who has always been "principled", still wrote the three characters "Xu Zhonglin" next to the four characters "Feng Shen Yan Yi" at the beginning.
Zhongshan Yisou, I'm sorry.
In fact, this "Feng Shen Yan Yi" cannot be regarded as purely original. There are many stories that have been circulated among the people, but there is no established system.
Knowing that His Highness King Yan wanted to write a book, Jin Yufeng led people to clean up the hall of "Hongyu Pavilion" early the next morning and placed a table in the middle according to Guo Mo's request.
There are teapots, teacups, gavels, folding fans and other items on top. Since you want to read, you need to make it look presentable.
Near the inner wall, a soft table was placed for Huang Rong. In the space between the podium and the soft table, there were also about twenty individual tables, which could accommodate up to thirty people.
At first glance, it really looks like that.
The news about King Yan's storytelling spread like wildfire, and even Zhao Rushu and old Cheng Jui knew about it. The two people finished handling the business of the day early and even came over for lunch.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Pa—"
"Chaos first divided into Pangu,
Tai Chi's two instruments and four images hang,
Zi Tian Chou and earth people Yin came out,
Avoid animal diseases.
...
The world is desolate and the people are complaining,
Ziya was born among the immortals in the world,
The master who spends all day fishing,
The flying bear enters the dream and hunts Qitian.
...
The virtuous man of Tianting is called Shangfu,
There are floral notes on the altar of the God of Conferment,
The rank of the great and small heroic spirits,
The Romance of Shang and Zhou Dynasties, Ancient and Modern Biography."
As soon as the opening poem came out, it won a lot of praise.
Others don’t understand, so why don’t Zhao Rushu and Lao Chengju understand?
At first they thought that His Highness Prince Yan was just doting on little Guo Xiang in a playful way, so they followed him to have a look, thinking that if His Highness did something too "excessive", they would give him a direct rebuke.
The future of the Song Dynasty is very bright now, but they don't want to see His Highness King Yan indulge in Wenwen Township. Remember that Wenwen Township is the Tomb of Heroes.
Even last month, when Guo Mo asked the winery to make a wine called "Beauty Tears", the two elders were quite critical of it, even though it was indeed delicious.
Now, Guo Mo's closing poem directly eliminated all the words of advice prepared by these two people.
In fact, the two of them acted cautiously, fearing that their inappropriate words would make His Highness the King of Yan unhappy. If he was unwilling to continue writing the story, wouldn't the world have missed a masterpiece?
With?
It took Guo Mo more than an hour to finish the first three chapters, and the entire "Hongyu Pavilion" was silent.
"good--"
It was old Cheng Ju who was the first to "wake up" and cheered loudly.
"Haha, dear readers, if you think the book written by Xiaosheng is passable, shouldn't you give me a reward of two or two? I can't work for a long time in vain-"
"Hahaha--"
Everyone laughed again.
After this incident, everyone looked at His Highness the King of Yan with admiration.
"Lao Cheng, who do you think His Highness is?"
After leaving the back house, Zhao Rushu and old Cheng Ju came to the small flower hall in the front yard. An hour had passed, and the two of them were still recalling what King Yan had just said about "The Romance of the Gods."
It's a pity that I couldn't grab His Highness's manuscript. It seems that when I go to listen to the book tomorrow, I might as well bring pen and paper with me.
"Who is he? That is His Royal Highness King Yan, the biological son of the official family. Old Zhao, aren't you confused? Do you even need to ask this again?"
After drinking a full cup of tea, the weather in July was really hot, and even he who was listening to the book was very thirsty.
"I'm asking, is His Highness Prince Yan a human being?"
Zhao Rushu felt that there was something wrong with what he just asked, so he thought about it and changed his approach.
"Old Zhao, what do you mean? You are cursing His Highness behind your back and you are not a human being? I think you are really hot and confused. Hurry up and drink a cup of herbal tea."
Old Cheng Jue couldn't understand it even more.
This Zhao Rushu, who is usually such a shrewd person, why did he become dumbfounded after hearing His Highness speak for a while?
After a while, I asked His Highness who he was?
After a while, I asked His Highness if he was a human being.
Is this still human language?
Zhao Rushu seemed to be smacking his lips, and there was something wrong with his words. He actually picked up the tea cup on the table and took a sip.
"Hey, Lao Zhao, that's my cup——"
"Old Cheng, what I mean is, if His Highness is just a mortal, how can he know the things about the gods in such detail?"
"You and I are both people who read. The history of the Shang and Zhou dynasties is also recorded in the historical records of Tai Shigong, and the people have also heard some stories about gods and ghosts."
"With your and my abilities, or even if we gather all the literati of the Song Dynasty together, can we write such a story?"
Others heard the excitement, but Zhao Rushu thought more deeply, but these questions confused old Cheng Jue.
From then on, the two of them tried their best to finish their official work in the morning, or work overtime in the evening, and they definitely set aside two hours in the afternoon to listen to Guo Mo's story.
They all were like this, and those who practiced Kung Fu in Prince Yan's Mansion, such as Feng Ge, Ye Qu, Li Zhichang, Cui Zhifang, Wu Nantian, etc., came over right after lunch.
Even Xiao Longnu, who had always been indifferent, came over without hesitation. After Feng Heng found out, he also officially announced that he would have lunch in Huang Rong's room.
In the entire Yan Palace, the only one who doesn't buy into Guo Mo's "The Romance of the Gods" is probably our fourth son, "Lei Zhenzi".
Today, it was rare that neither Zhao Rushu nor Lao Cheng Ju came to eat, which meant that the reading had already started and there were still two empty seats in the front row.
Are these two elders actually going to be absent?
Today is already the twelfth day that Guo Mo has started writing, and he is talking about "Chapter 34: The Flying Tiger Returns to Zhou to Meet Ziya."
Halfway through the story, Zhao Rushu and Lao Cheng Ju arrived at the "Hongyu Pavilion", but only Zhao Rushu walked in, while old Cheng Ju was still at the gate of the courtyard, accompanying a guest from afar.
"Your Highness, there is an envoy from Bianliang who wants to see you personally. What do you think?——"
Zhao Rushu kicked in and out of the door, holding a greeting card in his hand, hesitating whether to hand it to Guo Mo at this time.
The envoy from Bianliang was of course from the Kingdom of Jin.
In fact, their envoy arrived in Lin'an first and spent more than ten days with the people of the Ministry of Rites before being told that all diplomatic relations had to go to the Ministry of Rites in Luoyang to find Cheng Jue, the Minister of Rites.
The people in the mission did not dare to believe it, nor did they dare not to believe it, but most of them stayed in Lin'an to continue looking for opportunities, and sent people back to Bianliang to report the news.
The Great Jin Kingdom is currently ruled by Wanyan Shouxu, who is known as the "Jin Aizong" in later generations. He has only been in power for three years.
He was able to secure his position as emperor of the Jin Kingdom under such a bad situation, thanks to two important officials in the court, one civil and one military.
The military commander is naturally Wanyan Heda, who is known as Jin Mo Neng and Monk Wanyan Chen. He is also the commander-in-chief of the Bianliang City Guards, with a total of 80,000 soldiers and horses under his command that can be directly mobilized.
The civil servant is the person who is about to be sent to Luoyang. He is just thirty-six years old and is an upright man.
He was said to be a civil servant, but he was not a sour scholar. He was a Sinicized Khitan, and he was considered a rare hard-working person in the Jin Dynasty.
Because of his lack of qualifications, many government orders would be ostracized by those who implemented them even if they were supported by Wanyan Shouxu.
On the surface, this man looks like Wanyan Shouxu's favorite, but deep down in his heart, he also feels that his talents are not being appreciated, especially in the current difficult situation of Daikin.
The reply letter from the mission sent to Lin'an caused another pointless dispute between the Jin Dynasty and the Central Committee.
Luoyang, or His Highness King Yan of the Song Dynasty, is a big taboo in today's Bianliang court, and everyone avoids it intentionally or unintentionally.
It was a place of indescribable pain and overwhelming pain.
"Your Majesty, we must seek help from the Song Dynasty no matter what. Otherwise, in another month, our Kingdom of Jin will either be starved to death or there will be a large number of refugees."
"What's more serious is that we don't have much military rations. The old minister...the old minister suggests laying off part of the army."
A man with white hair and beard went out to report in the court hall.
"Uncle Old Emperor, we only have 110,000 troops left. How many more troops will we have to cut? If we cut those people, we will lose food and drink."
"I can see that the King of Yan in Luoyang City is a lord who eats people without spitting out their bones. Even the Xixia people and Mongols are no match for him. Two-thirds of our Dajin territory is occupied by
He usurped it——"
Wanyan Shouxu was a little helpless. He was considered a man with great ambitions. He was twenty-eight years old this year, only two years older than Guo Mo. He was the age to work hard.
As soon as he came to power, the Jin Kingdom lost half of its kingdom, and now it is still living in Bianliang City.
The Jin Kingdom was so powerful back then, and Bianliang City was their biggest show off. It was the capital of the former Song Dynasty, but the Song Dynasty was destroyed by them and had to settle in a corner of the south of the Yangtze River.
But now, Bianliang City has become their last fig leaf.
"Your Majesty, I know that you have ambitions to reach the sky. However, this is the same as the other. I think back when King Gou Jian of Yue was defeated and captured, losing his land and subjugating the country. He still suffered from hardships and finally regained his country."
"The biggest difficulty right now is the drought. Many lands in the Jin Kingdom have poor harvests or even no harvests. Many people's seeds and grains for next year have been eaten."
"Either borrow or buy grain from the Song Dynasty, or at least send out 800,000 hungry people, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous."
No one in the civil or military circles of the court would refute what the old uncle said. This is an indisputable fact before us.
"Well, King Yan of the Song Dynasty is an extremely difficult person. He has never made a loss-making transaction internally or externally. The trip to Luoyang will not be that easy."
Wanyan Shouxu might have been persuaded by the old uncle, or he might have had to bow to reality and looked around at the civil and military officials of the court.
"Qing Jin, I, Dajin, are in a critical moment. This trip to Luoyang is best for you to go in person -"
Wanyan Shouxu's eyes finally fell on a civil servant in front of him, who was the person he relied on the most, and he was the assistant minister Wai Lang at that time.
"Wei Chen takes orders——"
The civil servant did not refuse. Even when the old uncle mentioned the King of Yan in Luoyang just now, he had the urge to take the initiative to invite him.
Full of strategies, he wanted to see with his own eyes who the most popular person in the world in recent years was His Highness, Prince Yan.
...
"Someone from Bianliang? Bring it to me."
Guo Mo stopped storytelling and waved to Zhao Rushu.
Zhao Rushu just walked into the hall and cast an apologetic look at everyone who was listening to the book.
He also listened to "The Romance of the Gods" for eleven consecutive days, and of course he knew how uncomfortable it would be to be interrupted midway.
Guo Mo received the greeting card from the envoy of the Kingdom of Jin from Zhao Rushu. It was all expected, and there was nothing in it that aroused Guo Mo's interest. However, the name signed at the end made Guo Mo's eyes light up.
It's actually him? How could I forget this person?
"Zhao Changshi, where is this person now?"
Guo Mo closed the greeting card and asked.
"Your Highness, this person is outside the 'Hongyu Pavilion', accompanied by Cheng Shangshu, waiting for His Highness's summons."
Guo Mo thought for a while, then looked at the reluctant eyes of everyone in the room, and felt funny in his heart.
"Let's do this. Make room in the middle. You and Lao Cheng will accompany this envoy from the Kingdom of Jin. Let me finish today's book first. It just so happens that this chapter is in line with today's atmosphere."
Today’s chapter?
The flying tiger returns to Zhou to see Ziya?
Since Guo Mo gave the order, Zhao Rushu didn't say anything more and turned around and went out.
"How's it going? Has His Highness Prince Yan promised to meet me next time?"
Seeing Zhao Rushu come out, people from the Jin Kingdom hurriedly came forward, bowed their hands and asked.
Zhao Rushu seemed to have just seen this person and looked him up and down.
He clearly remembered that His Highness agreed to see this person just now after seeing his name.
But, is there anything special about this name?
Not the royal family of the Jin Kingdom?
Is there anything special about this tall, bearded man?
Zhao Rushu couldn't understand, but just now he clearly saw a light flashing in Guo Mo's eyes.
"The envoy has been waiting for a long time. My Highness is about to start his daily story telling. What does His Highness want the envoy to come in too and finish listening to today's book first?"
"As for your mission, we should choose a place to discuss it in detail after listening to the book."
"Haha, that's good. Lao Cheng is afraid of delaying today's listening session."
The envoy from the Kingdom of Jin had not yet answered, but the old Cheng Jue on the side took the lead.
The performance of these two people made Jin Guolai a little puzzled.
Before coming to Luoyang, he also made detailed desk preparations in advance. Who were the important ministers under King Yan in Luoyang City, and what was King Yan's temperament like?
He had already made up his mind that the two people in front of him were definitely the most important people in Luoyang City.
These two people, together with Xue Ji and Wei Jing from Prince Yan's Mansion in Lin'an, were jokingly called the "Four Meritorious Elders" under Prince Yan. Even if each of them was taken out alone, they would stamp their feet in the entire Song Dynasty Hall.
A trembling figure.
How could such a person "tolerate" His Royal Highness, King Yan, and treat the diplomatic relations between the two countries with such a childish attitude?
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Is it because the rumors are wrong, or does the other party simply not pay attention to our country, the Kingdom of Jin?
Moreover, it seems that these two important ministers of the Yan Palace are still happy with their highness's behavior?
Jin Guolai was thinking this in his heart, but he didn't show it at all on the surface.
"In this case, I would like to ask Zhao Changshi to introduce me to you——"
Zhao Rushu was in the front, the envoy from the Kingdom of Jin was in the middle, and old Cheng Ju was at the end. The three of them filed in and entered the "Red Rain Pavilion".
Although "Hongyu Pavilion" is an inner house, because it is large enough, Guo Mo also stays here most of the time. The whole courtyard on the first floor is built as a place for public use.
Otherwise, it would be unreasonable to receive an envoy from a country and bring him directly to the inner chamber.
The three of them entered the hall one after another, where everyone was waiting.
Guo Mo did not leave his seat, but cupped his hands towards the three people who came in, and motioned for them to take their seats first.
The envoy from the Kingdom of Jin still wanted to go directly to see Guo Mo, but he hesitated when he saw the other party's actions.
Old Cheng Jue next to him pulled his sleeves, and the three of them sat in the front row of the audience.
On the table, there is freshly brewed tea, a plate of dried fruits, a plate of seasonal fruits, a plate of palace pastries, and a pot of "Beauty's Tears"?
Seeing them sitting down, Guo Mo was shocked and started his story telling again.
An hour and a half later, there was thunderous applause in the hall again.
Although everyone sat there for an hour and a half, no one felt bored. They all felt that time passed so fast.
Isn’t this Zhang Guifang too awesome?
What should Jiang Ziya and Xiqi's army do next?
Amid everyone's reluctance, Guo Mo had already stood up, signaled to the three people sitting in the front row, and stepped out of the hall and walked to the front yard.
Prince Yan's Mansion, Jixian Hall.
Guo Mo didn't use this palace many times. More often, he liked to stay in the Hall of Heroes.
"Haha, because I promised my little girl at home that I would tell her stories for two hours every day, I just neglected the messenger a little bit. This is Guo Mo's crime."
Without waiting for the Jin people to greet him first, or for Zhao Rushu or Lao Cheng Jue to introduce him to Guo Mo, Guo Mo himself came to the Jin envoy, bowed, and apologized to the Jin envoy.
"This... how can this be done? How can your highness, with his body of thousands of gold, give me such a great gift?"
The envoy from the Kingdom of Jin hurriedly stepped aside, not daring to accept Guo Mo's gift. Instead, he bowed down respectfully beside Guo Mo.
"Haha, we don't have to be so polite. Is Nan Tian outside? Go and notify the small kitchen to quickly make a few special dishes and send them over -"
"I wonder if the envoy might be drinking?" Guo Mo turned around and asked.
"Ah, I'm okay with you--"
"Haha, okay, Nantian will ask someone to bring a jar of 'Hero Drunk' and a jar of 'Beauty Tears' -"
Guo Mo changed his previous attitude of rejecting people thousands of miles away. Now he does not seem to be receiving an envoy from a country, but like he is receiving an old friend he has not seen for many years?
"Your Highness... Why do you treat me so well?"
Guo Mo personally pulled the sleeves of the envoy from the Kingdom of Jin and used his own sleeves to dust off the non-existent dust on his chair.
"Haha, 'Although Chu has talent, Jin can use it'. Although you and I have met for the first time, Guo Mo has admired the name of Brother Jin Qing for a long time. Today, I am honored to meet him. I am lucky for the rest of my life -"
"Ah, His Highness Prince Yan actually knows my name?"
Hearing what Guo Mo said, Jin Guolai knew that the other party was not just being polite, but really understood him.
However, even if you completely understand yourself, you shouldn't have such a big reaction, right?
Rather than receiving an envoy, this is the time when the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was visiting talented people.
What he didn't know was that Guo Mo knew not only his past of more than thirty years, but also his political achievements in the "next" decades.
The envoy from the Kingdom of Jin suddenly felt an unprecedented emotion in his heart, and he wished he could immediately come forward and prostrate himself. From then on, he would lead his horse and kick the pedal, bow to this man till his death.
"Haha, I have known Jin Qing's name for a long time. I also know what Jin Qing is here for. Please listen to me."
"If you want the Song Dynasty or this king to help the Jin Kingdom, it is not impossible, but there are two conditions."
"First, allocate Xuzhou to the Song Dynasty. All the hungry people of the Jin Kingdom can move to Xuzhou, and we, the Song Dynasty, will solve their food and clothing problems."
"Second, the Song Dynasty was responsible for the military defense of Xuzhou, but the magistrate of Xuzhou needed someone from the Jin Kingdom to be the governor."
"What?--"
"Your Highness, this..."
Guo Mo's words also shocked the other three people in the room, wondering what kind of medicine he was selling in the gourd.
"Why, do you think my king's conditions are too harsh? Then I can be more sincere and give the Jin Kingdom 300,000 shi of food for free."
"ah--"
"this--"
The three of them were even more shocked.
"Your Highness King Yan, what exactly do you mean?"
The envoy from the Kingdom of Jin was completely confused by Guo Mo's words. All the words he had prepared in advance could not be used, so he could only ask straight to the point.
"Haha, what do you mean? My king's meaning is very obvious. I will use 300,000 shi of grain to exchange for your Yelu Chucai and become my governor of Xuzhou——"