Hearing the disdain for this kind of behavior in Gu Xun's words, Zhang Liang asked with a smile.
"I didn't intend to intervene in that assassination at first." Gu Xun supported his chin with his hand and said in a complicated tone, "In the end, Jing Ke was really going to succeed."
"Moon God, Wei Liao, and even Gai Nie couldn't stop him."
"This was beyond Ying Zheng's expectation, and it was beyond my expectation. If I hadn't taken an extra step and ran to the palace to find Fusu, things would have changed."
Although Gu Xun didn't understand, didn't support this kind of behavior, and even looked down upon it, he had to admit that he was the one who almost overturned the situation back then.
Zhang Liang was not as emotional about this as Gu Xun.
Ying Zheng is indeed an extraordinary figure, and the Qin State is indeed powerful, but this does not mean that Ying Zheng can do everything he wants and is omnipotent.
When people are killed, they will die, and Ying Zheng is no exception. It is not an incomprehensible situation that Jing Ke almost succeeded.
"So Brother Gu wants to take action personally?" Zhang Liang asked again calmly.
Gu Xun looked at him and did not answer the question clearly, "I will find a way to deal with this matter."
Zhang Liang lowered his eyes slightly when he heard this. He didn't know what he was thinking in his heart. After a moment, he chuckled and replied, "That Liang... I won't ask any more questions."
The two of them made a tacit agreement not to discuss this topic again.
Gu Xun would never allow the assassination of Ying Zheng to succeed.
But for Zhang Liang, if the Mohists could successfully assassinate Ying Zheng, it would not be a bad thing.
Zhang Liang came over today. Although he told Gu Xun about the Qinglong Project, he only talked about the general goals of the plan. He didn't mention any more details. Instead, he kept asking Gu Xun about his plans.
Zhang Liang's attitude is self-evident.
Gu Xun noticed Zhang Liang's subtle attitude towards the Qinglong Project, and had no intention of persuading anyone. Everyone was just doing their own thing, so he only responded vaguely to Zhang Liang.
………………
A few days passed, and news of the great victory in the Northland began to spread, and for a while there was a lot of confusion.
Some people are happy about this and some are worried about it.
What worries me are those anti-Qin forces that are ready to move.
The various declines of the empire in recent days gave them hope of overthrowing the imperial court. As a result, within a few days of happiness, they ushered in a great victory in the North.
The decadence of the empire for many days was suddenly wiped away, and their fear of the empire reappeared in their hearts.
The ones who were happy were mainly the imperial officials who supported Fusu.
I won’t go into details about the reasons, they have been mentioned before.
Of course, there are more ordinary people who don't care about such things.
Just as Gu Xun expected, there was a great victory in Beidi, Meng Tian made great contributions, and Prince Fusu, as the supervisor of the army, could at least be ranked among the top three in the merit book.
This made many officials who had not given up on recommending Fusu as the crown prince immediately became excited. They were still running in all directions, planning to jointly submit a letter, requesting the emperor to allow Fusu to acquit his merits and to be more liberal.
As Teacher Fusu and the person with the highest status in the eldest son's faction, Gu Xun has the ability to prevent this situation from happening, at least for a period of time.
But he did nothing.
First, because it's useless. He can suppress him for a while, but it's impossible to suppress him for a lifetime. There are many powerful people with two thousand dan in this group of people.
Moreover, there are some people who deliberately provoke and confuse.
The human heart is like water, it cannot be stopped if it is blocked.
The second is because he doesn't care.
The worst-case scenario would be that Fusu would be further reprimanded and even punished by the emperor, and the worst-case scenario would be that he would be completely denied the title of crown prince.
What does it matter?
Gu Xun originally did not expect that the position of crown prince would fall to Fusu.
To this day, Ying Zheng still does not make Fusu the crown prince, nor does he make any other prince the crown prince, which has clearly shown his own thoughts.
No matter how many considerations he put into it, at least one thing was certain - Ying Zheng would not give up.
Establishing a reserve means that he has completely given up on immortality and accepted the reality of his own mortality.
He is unwilling to accept this reality and feels that he still has a chance to break this reality.
Gu Xun... is too lazy to comment on this. Anyway, everyone is doing their own thing.
We will know what the result will be when the time comes.
As for whether those officials would anger Ying Zheng because of this, whether they would lose their jobs or even go to jail... that was not something Gu Xun should worry about.
Although the number of scholars in Pre-Qin was indeed relatively scarce, the number of officials was also quite limited.
In general, there is still more food than enough food, and the supply exceeds the demand.
Once this batch is gone, there will always be another batch. Fusu does not need to worry about having no one available in the future.
………………
In Songhai City, the General's Mansion.
Zhang Han hurriedly walked into the courtyard where Gu Xun was staying. As soon as he entered, he saw him leisurely enjoying tea in a small pavilion in the courtyard.
"Sir." Zhang Han stepped forward to say hello.
Sitting in the pavilion, playing with the tea bowl, with his eyes half-closed, as if he was asleep, Gu Xun heard the voice, responded softly, and then asked directly without blinking, "Is something wrong?"
He has been living a very leisurely life recently, the most relaxing and comfortable life he has had in recent times.
Because he put down all the things that were on his mind - things about Liusha, things about Beidi, things within the imperial court, things about various schools of thought, and even things about Concubine Yan. He put them all behind him for the time being and didn't go to anything.
Think about it and just focus on your current leisurely life.
In this way, you will naturally feel relaxed and at ease.
As for how to solve the problems that had been put aside... he had already made a decision in his mind.
Breaking the situation with force is what he is best at. No matter how these things develop and change, he does not believe that they can develop to the point where he is completely separated from himself.
When the time comes, the worst that can happen is to repeat what happened in Loulan and forcefully overcome all problems with brute force.
Zhang Han didn't know what Gu Xun was thinking, but he just reported the matter in a formal manner:
"Something seems to be happening on the mirage."
Gu Xun opened his half-closed eyes and looked sideways at Zhang Han, "What's going on?"
Zhang Han hurriedly explained, "When I was on duty before, I felt there was abnormal movement on the ship, and there was also a vague strange light in the Toad Palace."
"What's more important is that the Yin-Yang family's right guardian Moon God and left guardian Star Soul suddenly disappeared."
"The general asked someone to conduct a brief search and found no trace of the two of them. They seemed to have hidden themselves deliberately."
"Well..." Gu Xun lowered his eyes and pondered for a while before replying, "Since it was the Yin Yang family that made the noise, then don't worry about it."
"They can do whatever they like, just be careful not to get plotted by them."
"General, I understand." Zhang Han nodded and responded.
Although he is somewhat curious about the secrets in the mirage, as the leader of an intelligence organization, what he is best at is controlling his curiosity.
Since Gu Xun didn't let him explore more, he should just do his job honestly.
Then, Zhang Han hesitated to speak, looking hesitant.
Gu Xun glanced at him and said softly, "Just tell me if you have anything to do."
Zhang Han first bowed his hands in a salute, and then said, "Sir, there is news from Guanzhong that the new Heaven and Man Sword Competition is about to be held, and some sects have received inquiries about whether to attend the ceremony."
Gu Xun glanced at him sideways again and asked with a smile, "The sword competition between heaven and man seems to have nothing to do with you, the commander of the Shadow Secret Guard, right?"
The Shadow Secret Guard actually monitors the movements of various forces in the world, but they basically don't care about purely internal Taoist matters such as the sword debate between heaven and man, and it is not worthy of him, the leader of the Shadow Secret Guard, to go out of his way to talk to Gu Xun.
Zhang Han gave a wry smile and replied, "General, I just want to ask, Sir, if you want to go to the ceremony?"
Gu Xun raised his eyebrows and smiled, then asked, "Do you want to go?"
"My lord is joking, but I won't be able to get away from it."
"Then I'll smoke it?" Gu Xun asked again.
Zhang Han just smiled bitterly and lowered his head when he heard this, without responding.
If he were asked to answer, he would say of course.
Gu Xun did nothing every day. Apart from eating, drinking and sleeping, he just walked around the streets. No matter how he looked, he didn't look like he couldn't get out of bed.
It's a pity that he didn't dare to speak so clearly.
Gu Xun didn't care when he didn't get a response, and continued calmly:
"What's the point of me going?"
"The discussion of swords between heaven and man is a 'household matter' between the two sects of Taoism. She can only face it by herself. I can't help that child beat up Xiaoyaozi, can I?"
"Why go all the way to Taiyi Mountain just to wait for the result?"
"Uh..." Zhang Han hesitated for a moment and then cautiously replied, "But... Xiaomeng may hope that you can go and watch the ceremony in person."
Gu Xun's expression froze when he heard this, then he smiled bitterly, shook his head, and said with emotion:
"I used to think that she was too stubborn and not cute at all when she was a child, but now I realize that when she grows up, she is not as good as when she was a child."
"Speaking of which, Ayan is no longer as cute as when he was a child. Even Qiantaki is..."
The further he talked, the more helpless Gu Xun's tone became.
Zhang Han didn't dare to say anything about this, he just waited quietly for Gu Xun to vent his emotions.
After a moment of silence, Gu Xuncai said to Zhang Han, "I will take care of these matters myself. You just need to watch the mirage."
"Also, don't lose control of Sanghai and abroad. The Mo family will take action."
"You will finally understand." Zhang Han bowed his hands and bowed, then left.
In fact, he also received a piece of news - about the turmoil in the DPRK and China.
However, Gu Xun had expressed his position on this point before, so he simply didn't ask again. It couldn't be stopped anyway.
All he can do is pay close attention and make a report if the situation deteriorates too much.
………………
Dongjun, Dazeshan, Nongjia Shennongtang.
After a few days, the Zhu family has received the content about the Qinglong Project sent to him by Liu Ji.
As expected by Liu Ji, the Zhu family did not consider Shennong Tang to complete this cooperation at all.
The Mohist family's appetite was too great. Tens of thousands of people was the size of an army. The Zhu family would only be able to supply their needs as a whole unless they were crazy.
This is not only because Shennongtang itself is short of manpower, but also because the Zhu family cannot afford the risk.
If the Mo family's plan fails, even if only three to two thousand people are brought in, the Zhu family will be a little unbearable.
Since it is a cooperation between farmers and Moxi, the risks must be borne jointly by the six halls and cannot be left to Shennong Hall.
However, he couldn't directly clarify this matter in the Six Halls. He had to discuss it privately with Tian Yan, who was the leader of the knights.
Tian Yan explained this matter to him from the beginning. It could not be stated openly. It could only be regarded as a private act of Shennongtang to avoid risks - of course, in fact, it was to have an excuse on the other side of the net.
.
This is equivalent to transferring most of the risks to Shennongtang.
Considering the Mo family's previous assistance and their own curiosity about the Qinglong Project, the Zhu family agreed to Tian Yan's request and accepted this cooperation.
The Zhu family actually has their own selfish motives.
Although Tian Yan did not explicitly say that the peasant family had taken refuge in the empire, or that they had taken refuge in Luo Sheng, she also did not hide the fact that she was involved with Luo Sheng.
Although the Zhu family is not as incompatible with the trap as Chen Sheng, he does not support the farmers and the empire to get too close.
He agreed to cooperate with the Mo family to implement the Qinglong Plan, and also held the idea of completely alienating the empire from hostile peasant families.
After all, Shennongtang is one of the six farm halls, so the so-called private behavior is not private anyway.
After receiving Liu Ji's secret letter, the Zhu family immediately informed Tian Yan, who also replied, saying that they would come over to discuss the matter as soon as possible.
The Zhu family is now waiting for Tian Yan, and for this reason they have specifically rejected all Shennong Hall disciples - this matter must be kept secret.
Tian Yan didn't keep him waiting any longer, and soon he came to Shennong Hall alone in his casual clothes, covering his body and avoiding all eyes and ears.
Looking at Xia Kui, who was dressed very differently from usual, the Zhu family had a strange feeling.
I always feel...Xia Kui's recent state is very strange, as if he is not the same person.
Although they sensed something was wrong, the Zhu family failed to think about the facts. They just suppressed the strange feeling in their hearts that the reality was somewhat unreasonable.
"Excuse me, Xiakui, I'll go make a trip in person." With a bright red face, the Zhu family clasped their fists and smiled and exchanged greetings.
'Tian Yan' took off the silk scarf that covered his face and replied, "Hall Master Zhu is too polite. This is my duty."
Then she went straight to the point and asked, "Did you encounter any difficulties regarding the Qinglong Project?"
The Zhu family only told her that they needed to meet as soon as possible to discuss the matter, but did not explain what the situation was.
The Zhu family didn't answer, but just stepped forward and handed over Liu Ji's secret letter, which was several pages long.
‘Tian Yan’ took it and lowered his head to browse. After a while, he almost finished reading it.
After returning the letter, 'Tian Yan' said, "I didn't expect that the Qinglong Plan is still aimed at Ying Zheng... and it may require the use of so many people!"
Even she couldn't help but be a little stunned by the Mo family's manpower needs.
For Jianghu sects, three to five thousand people is considered a huge number, and tens of thousands is even more of a dream.
Zhu Jia twirled the beard of his mask and said with a smile, "I was also very frightened by this, so I hurriedly informed you, Xiakui."
"According to Xiakui, based on the current situation, will our farm family continue to participate in the Qinglong Project?"
'Tian Yan' did not hesitate and immediately replied, "Everything should have a beginning and an end. Now that we know the content, it is not appropriate to withdraw from it."
Seeing that 'Tian Yan' was not going to give up, the Zhu family secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He did not want 'Tian Yan' to withdraw from the Qinglong Project.
Otherwise, his plan would have failed, which also shows that the connection between 'Tian Yan' and the empire is likely to be closer than he imagined.
"What about the manpower issue?" The relieved Zhu family came up with the most critical issue.
Tian Yan raised his hand and replied, "Hall Master Zhu doesn't need to worry about this matter. I will allocate manpower from other halls and won't let Shennong Hall bear the whole responsibility."
