Ye Qing and his party entered Qiyang, the state city, under the last ray of sunset.
At this time, the streets are lit up with lanterns, shops are lined up, lanterns and floats are slowly moving on the streets, and there are all kinds of clothes in the dense flow of people, and everyone is wearing their best clothes.
Couples traveling, even old people and children, scholars accompanying each other, wandering girls weaving together, officials and their children... The roar of the crowd, the sounds of greetings and discussions, the rhythm and flavor of singing and selling goods, converged into this prosperous evening song.
Although such a grand street parade was not as crowded as the imperial capital, it could be said that the crowds were surging and overwhelming. One hundred thousand households, no matter how arrogant their noble families were, had no choice but to surrender.
"Why is it so lively?" Ye Qing got off his horse and rushed here without stopping. He was a little relieved and a little strange: "Last year I came here to take the exam and this scene only happened. Ling Ling, what day is it today?"
Zhou Ling took off her windproof mink robe and put on a fitted black skirt. She looked at the city and smiled nostalgically: "Young master, you forgot again, July 15th is the Ghost Festival."
Ye Qing suddenly realized that the Lantern Festival, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, is a more lively festival in this world than the New Year.
July 15th, commonly known as July Half, is a festival for worshiping ghosts and gods, which evolved into a grand temple fair and entertainment. October 15th, this festival is related to the commemoration of the founding of Taoism in the past. After the establishment of the Heavenly Palace and its prosperity, it was no longer necessary. It gradually became more popular in the past dynasties. Not obvious.
In this way, the horse was led slowly in the crowd, and the guards were always vigilant and protective. Zhou Ling was protected by Ye Qing, but the crowd was too big along the way. It took more than half an hour to reach the north of the city. She wiped her fragrant sweat and said: "What if just now? Thinking of this section, I decided to enter through Jinshui Gate."
"Then it might delay our entry into the city. I can't use the excuse of emergency military intelligence. It's too ostentatious... I'm here for a special event, so the lower profile the better." Ye Qing smiled and reassured, but he was telling the truth.
"Then where are we going now?"
"Go to the Liquor Industry Branch first to receive news..." Ye Qing said for a moment, then looked back and saw that this was a teahouse and wine shop area. He listened carefully and saw that the story of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms was being spread all over the street.
Zhou Ling, who was skilled in martial arts, also heard it. She loved the house and the crow, so she rejoiced: "The book written by the young master is really good, and everyone in Yingzhou likes it."
Ye Qing laughed, how big is Yingzhou?
Even if it is only a small corner of the country in the world, it is actually thousands of miles away and has a population of eight million. There are many heroes. The second place in Nancang County is a big shot. But in this place of eight million elites, it is just a celebrity. It is just the most outstanding and top-notch. For ordinary citizens, it is too far away and lacks real sense. It is far less powerful than the thirty-four liquor alliances in Nancang County. The rickshaw drivers walking in the streets are proud of the influence of "Wenquxing of our county" force.
Now it has the same attitude of "Luoyang paper is expensive" as in Nancang County. There must be greater influence involved. The governor has such influence and is too old-fashioned to read novels. The eldest princess seriously recommends it. Her influence is more in the world. , falling in Yingzhou is not much higher than Ye Bang’s second place. Judging from the relationship he is involved in, the only answer is the emperor-mostly because the emperor’s comments were publicized
Ye Qing thought about this and became even more urgent to know the answer. He turned over and mounted his horse again: "Let's go to the liquor branch in the state first. We happened to be on the way. Let's take a look at the situation."
Two quarters of an hour later, Ye Qing came out of the branch and looked up at the sky in a secluded courtyard.
The lights all over the city made the stars disappear, and the night wind blew the fallen leaves over, bringing coolness to the body. Ye Qing's expression was still a little dazed, full of the surprise of winning a big prize, and the unbelievable feeling.
"The information fed back to each county is all aimed at the emperor's praise, or it is not purely that..."
When the eldest princess published a book, the emperor praised it and spread it all over the world. She was so expensive that she was incomparable. Ye Qing promoted it by himself. Even the second-ranked prince was a foreign minister. He didn't have the princess's gold and dignity, and she didn't have the wealth she had before she became a monk.
of special value and influence.
In this way, the effect of trying to figure out the emperor's heart and flattering and publicizing the princess is on the same level as that of the world's most powerful officials.
But when placed alone in Yingzhou, Ye Qing was confident and had his own reputation and credibility, so it had a similar effect.
In addition, news came back from the imperial capital. Under the influence of the development of Gyeonggi's paper and newspaper industry, the emperor's comments came out. However, Ye Qing promoted it. There were also some teahouses in the six states in the Gyeonggi area in the west of Xixia that were spreading jokes, which was an unexpected surprise.
Ye Qing recovered a little from the surprise, and his expression was a little complicated: "I still underestimated the influence of the emperor. Under the influence of the Five Emperors for millions of years, the penetration of legitimacy among the people is really terrible. No wonder... the imperial court was in ruins at that time.
If it doesn’t fall, we must take this into consideration in the future.”
Zhou Lingzhen took the horse and looked at her young master with some doubts. She carefully considered her words: "The emperor thinks he is very powerful. The young master's words are really strange... Well, of course the young master is also very powerful."
"Little flatterer" Ye Qing rubbed her head and felt very happy - it would not have this effect when traveling to other states, but this satisfied himself. This was not some foresight, it was purely a coincidence and great luck.
Zhou Ling blushed and felt a little aggrieved, but she really thought so.
"Can it be said that after two lifetimes of hard work, I finally mastered the template of the protagonist, haha..." Ye Qing smiled and said something that no one could understand, and calmed down for a moment - The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is very popular in Yingzhou,
This is enough for your own plan
"If we meet in the future, I must thank this eldest princess... But the popularity of this book is only a basic aspect, and it is far from enough. The next step is the most critical, but it is also dangerous. I came in too hasty to avoid attracting attention during this trip.
If you have any doubts, you still have to go see the governor."
Ye Qing quickly changed his mind and fine-tuned the plan in his mind according to the situation: "As for the reason? Just use Li Shen and hand over the horses directly to the Governor's Mansion. With the Governor's political sense and methods, dare to say that this Li Shen or Governor Zhang is behind it
, there is no good fruit to eat. If Yu Fan does not do it skillfully enough, his tail will be pulled out, and his points will be deducted.
"Master, where are you going now?"
"Go to the governor immediately. No matter what, since you have come to this city, sooner or later you have to pay a visit to the governor's house."
The majestic Governor's Mansion was dark green and heavily guarded. As soon as Ye Qing passed his greetings and went in, a butler immediately came out to welcome him: "Please come in, Lord No. 2, I'm waiting for you in the study."
After passing through numerous rockeries, verandahs, and gardens, we arrived at an exquisite and bright two-story attic. Zhou Ling was left below, while Ye Qing listened intently to the upstairs, figured out the direction, and went up alone.
When I opened the door, I smelled the fragrant fragrance of tea. I met the governor, who was reading a newspaper. The title on this page was - "The Romance of the Gods and the Three Kingdoms" was praised by Tianjia, the second best work, Chapter 9.
The Governor flipped through the pages, nodded to Ye Qing, shook his head and smiled: "You are really the second best person in the rankings, and you are so dumbfounded by all these things, how can I say good things to you..."
When the governor said this, he put down the newspaper, waved his hand and said: "Originally, you led the troops, but there was no movement for a few months after you returned. Some people just gossiped, but I thought you would do something. This time, the eight bandit generals were encircled and suppressed.
The pioneer tribe on the grassland has made great achievements."
"I have also heard about other things. He has a good way of doing internal affairs and is very promising. But since you have the time to write this wild history novel, why not do more for the court?"
As soon as this "Emperor's praise" incident came out, the Governor got the news and immediately paid attention to it. He was afraid that Ye Qing would make another mistake. He had also read "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" in the past two days. As far as literature is concerned, it is at most
The scope is magnificent, the descriptions of human emotions are vivid, and the war scenes are realistic. These are not special. It is really a waste to write novels with such talent.
Seeing the governor say this, Ye Qing had a sincere and heartbroken look on his face. Knowing that the governor hated iron, he was a little moved. He took out his fan and shook it, smiling: "It's just a preference. It happened to be recommended by the eldest princess, and the emperor said
Well, how dare you bring shame to this work? I will spare no effort to promote it so as not to embarrass the princess and the emperor."
"Are you talking nonsense about the Tian family's face that you can throw away if you want?" The governor glared at Ye Qing. Seeing that he was obviously pretending to be submissive, he had to smile helplessly and asked: "You have nothing to do.
It’s okay, why don’t you go home and write a novel and come here again?”
"Ah, this is not an attack on the grassland. I have completed the initial task and asked you for a reward." At this point, Ye Qing took out a piece of paper and handed it over.
As soon as the governor took it, his expression changed slightly. He looked carefully and realized that these 1,800 horses were worth a lot of money.
Ye Qing paused and said slowly: "Actually, the total is 2,400 horses. I kept 300 and dedicated 300 to Prince Yu. The rest were given to the Governor. It would not be in vain for the Governor's cultivation."
"
After hearing this, the governor changed his attitude. He frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "This is just the right time. I will give it to you at a fair price and ask the court for credit."
The governor added: "You can discuss this matter with Governor Zhang."
Ye Qing remained silent. The governor was a little surprised, but in a blink of an eye he understood, what else could these warriors under his command do?
He darkened his face for a moment, thinking about it in his heart without showing his expression, and asked with a smile: "I heard that you also got a lot of cattle and sheep.
Ye Qing listened to his tone and leaned forward and said: "Yes, there are about three thousand cattle, but Jiangzhu County has deducted one thousand."
Then he explained the situation one by one.
The governor laughed and stood up to pour tea for Ye Qing. There were only a few people in the whole state who could pour tea with his own hands. Ye Qing was surprised and hurriedly took the tea in panic. He just listened to what he said: "This is the magistrate of Jiangzhu County.
I’m determined—there’s a need in this farming state, so I bought it at a fair price.”
"My family only needs five hundred heads, and the rest can be given to the Governor."
The governor smiled, looked solemn, stopped saying these words, and asked Ye Qing about his several battles on the grassland.
This is the right thing to do, Ye Qing answered, and Yu Fan didn't even hide anything about his military exploits.
There was nothing strange on the governor's face: "Why did I hear that he almost got into trouble with the Yu family?"
"How dare Ye Qing waste his merits for personal gain?"
"Oh, is this what you really think?"
"Of course." Ye Qing responded and bowed: "Although Yu Fan and I have some differences, this is an internal matter. Facing the enemy of the Northern Wei Dynasty, we all share the same hatred."
The governor's face straightened: "Your thoughts have the character of a minister."
"Uh..." Ye Qing smiled bitterly. Considering that the meeting was not short, he said goodbye. The governor sent him downstairs: "Your reward is on the way. Go home and get it yourself."
"How about a little more salary increase?"
"roll"
Seeing Ye Qing go away, the Governor was no longer as angry and calm as before. He pinched his eyebrows and sighed tiredly: "Everyone is worried about this. Come and find out what's going on?"
"Yes, sir, but it's getting late for the night. Why don't you go back and rest first?" the housekeeper advised from behind.
"There is also a military situation that we need to check. The war in the north is urgent and we need logistical support. In the next few days, the war may escalate, and even the state army will take over..."