After the two met, only three days later, Zhou Jun received the news that he was allowed to visit Wang Zhongsi.
On the day of the prison visit, Dali Temple made an exception and allowed Zhou Jun to bring wine and food before entering the prison again.
Following the jailer, Zhou Jun walked forward along the long and dark prison corridor.
The musty smell and rotten stench wafting in the air made Zhou Jun feel a little dazed.
Hexi, Longyou, Hedong, Shuofang, with the seals of generals from all directions on his body. No matter what tribe the barbarian is, as long as he hears that name, he will be in panic all day long. The God of War of the Tang Dynasty is now imprisoned in such a small and dirty prison.
middle.
When they came to the innermost cell, Si Cheng, the judge, and civil servants were waiting beside him early. Seeing Zhou Jun appear, Si Cheng nodded and asked the jailer to open the cell door.
Listening to the creaking sound of the prison door turning, Zhou Jun saw an old man wearing prison clothes and shackled feet, with his back to the cell door and his head looking up at the high iron window.
Si Cheng said to Zhou Jun: "Don't make a mistake."
Zhou Jun understood the meaning behind this warning and nodded lightly.
Wang Zhongsi in prison turned around, looked at Zhou Jun, and smiled slightly: "I guessed that Zhou Jun would come."
Zhou Jun spread the wine and food he brought on the ground and said to Wang Zhongsi: "Captain, please use it."
Wang Zhongsi was sitting on the ground, drinking wine from a large bowl and eating meat.
Only at this time did Zhou Jun have the opportunity to take a good look at the other party.
Zhou Jun remembered that the last time he met Wang Zhongsi was in the official mansion of Wuwei County.
At that time, Wang Zhongsi was majestic and majestic, like a towering mountain, crossing the mountains and rivers of the Tang Dynasty, blocking all the covetous people.
But now, his hair was disheveled and his silver hair was mottled. His prison clothes were covered with dried blood and mud. Even his originally straight back was bent a lot.
Zhou Jun poured himself a glass of wine and paid tribute to Wang Zhongsi. Although he was silent, it was worth a thousand words.
Wang Zhongsi looked at Zhou Jun, let out a long sigh, and said sadly: "Zhongsi is stupid and stupid. In the past, he acted just to have a clear conscience, but he only forgot that the emperor's ministers are not hidden, and simplicity is in the emperor's heart."
There was a bit of bitterness in Zhou Jun's mouth. Wang Zhongsi could say this, but he was more sad than his heart was dead.
Wang Zhongsi: "When I was in Longyou, Li Guangbi once told me that attacking Shibao City was the intention of the imperial court. If the military plane was delayed, Zhongsi would be blamed. Zhongsi returned at that time and fought for Shibao City with the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers.
The fort is not enough to defeat the enemy, and it will not harm the country, so I am not willing to exchange the officers and soldiers under my command for an official position."
Zhou Jun sighed upon hearing this.
Wang Zhongsi took a sip of wine, looked at the sky outside the iron window, and said slowly: "During the days when he was taken to Chang'an and in prison, Zhongsi slowly wanted to understand one thing. At the beginning, both X and Li Guangbi were wrong.
"
Zhou Jun was stunned.
Wang Zhongsi: "Shibao City is easy to defend but difficult to attack. If we attack it by force, there will be countless casualties. Someone in the court ordered Zhongsi to lead troops to attack the city. The real plan is not the city of Shibao City, but the lives of those tens of thousands of soldiers!"
Hearing this, the Prime Minister of Dali Temple on the side coughed lightly and then said: "Be careful what you say!"
Wang Zhongsi smiled mockingly and said to Zhou Jun: "Zhongsi has two good generals under his command, Ge Shuhan and Li Guangbi. Ge Shuhan is brave and good at fighting, and he is also loyal and upright, but it is easy to believe what others say; although Li Guangbi is a Khitan
, but he understands the overall situation and has a plan, and knows how to act expediently."
As soon as he finished speaking, the Prime Minister of Dali Temple said to Zhou Jun: "The time has come, please come out."
Zhou Jun stepped out of the cell door with one foot, looked back at Wang Zhongsi, and said, "Before leaving, Jun has a remaining palace and gave it to the Protector."
Wang Zhongsi raised his head and looked at Zhou Jun.
The latter chanted in a low voice: "There is a lonely pine tree thousands of feet off the cliff, and the crown is hanging high on the pine tree. I have been doing nothing all my life, so I should stop. I have a good reputation. I smiled and pointed at Cao Cao, but I just thought it was a drunken dream in the world..."
Wang Zhongsi put down the wine glass in his hand and said softly: "A drunken dream in the world..."
Zhou Jun followed the corridor and left the prison.
After leaving Dali Temple, Zhou Jun saw a carriage parked on the roadside.
A servant stepped out of the car and said to Zhou Jun: "The right minister has invited you."
Zhou Jun took a deep breath and got on Li Mansion's carriage. The carriage drove all the way, entered the South Street of Pingkangfang, and stopped at the back door of Li Mansion.
Li Linfu was sitting in the Yanyue Hall. When he saw Zhou Jun entering the hall, he asked with a smile: "Zhou Jun just met Wang Zhongsi. Did you see any clues?"
Zhou Jun sang a song to Li Linfu and said: "Wang Zhongsi disobeyed the saint and was deprived of his military power. He will never be able to make waves again. Why should the right prime minister care about a down-and-out man?"
Li Linfu shook his head and smiled: "Don't play tricks with me. Do you want to persuade me to let Wang Zhongsi go and stop making things difficult for him?"
Zhou Jun was a little surprised. Li Linfu's words were so straightforward.
Li Linfu: "After all, Wang Zhongsi is a pretender to a saint, and he is quite prestigious in the army. As long as he stops acting randomly, I will naturally ignore him."
Zhou Jun bowed to Li Linfu and saluted, but he was not sure whether the latter's words were true or false.
Li Linfu stood up from the futon, walked to Zhou Jun, patted the latter's arm, and motioned for him to follow him.
Seeing Li Linfu's friendly attitude, Zhou Jun felt a little uneasy, so he cheered up and paid careful attention to his words and deeds.
Li Linfu walked to the courtyard of Li Mansion and saw the winter plum blossoms blooming in the snow, which looked particularly beautiful.
Looking at the plum blossoms on the branches, Li Linfu said to Zhou Jun: "Other people think that Lin Fu is a traitor, but they don't know that even in this position, he can't help himself."
Zhou Jun speculated in his mind what Li Linfu meant when he said these words to him today.
Li Linfu walked forward and said: "Although I am inferior to one person and superior to ten thousand people, my actions and words must follow the trend. In the final analysis, as a minister, the first thing is to share the worries of the saint.
"
The two entered the study, and Li Linfu found a chessboard with nearly a hundred black and white figures on it, but it was the end game.
I saw that on the chessboard, black stones were heavily surrounded by white stones, and there was no life left.
Li Linfu motioned Zhou Jun to sit down and asked: "If you hold the black piece, what should you do next?"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Zhou Jun was originally weak in the game of Go. Faced with this near-death endgame, he thought about it for a long time and could not solve it.
Li Linfu said from the side: "Do you still remember, Mr. Zhou, that I once mentioned the taxes of the Tang Dynasty to you?"
Zhou Jun didn't know why and nodded slightly.
Li Linfu: "Concealing household registration, annexing land, and not paying back slaves. All kinds of shortcomings have made the taxation of the Tang Dynasty in jeopardy. However, the expenses in the palace, the salaries of hundreds of officials, rewards and titles, and the rations and salaries of the border troops are increasing every year. At present, the
The situation, just like this chess game, is almost a dead end."
Seeing that Zhou Jun was thoughtful, Li Linfu continued: "I just said that ministers should regard saints as the most important thing. No matter what the saint says, we must follow it. Even if there are many difficulties, we can only find ways to overcome them. Therefore, the Tang Dynasty is currently short of tax revenue.
, in the final analysis, the solution is just four words - increase revenue and reduce expenditure."...
"The so-called open source means seeking new ways to increase revenue on the basis of the original taxes and income. For example, Zhou Erlang paid taxes in Liangzhou this year, which solved the urgent need for expenses in the palace. This is why I value you.
."
Zhou Jun couldn't help but asked Li Linfu: "How to explain the reduction in expenditure?"
Li Linfu motioned Zhou Jun to look at the chessboard and said: "The way to reduce expenditure is on the right side of Longyou."
Zhou Jun: "Longyou?"
Li Linfu: "Yes, to be precise, the Shibao City in Longyou."
After saying that, Li Linfu picked up a black stone and placed it on the chessboard.
Zhou Jun looked carefully and saw that the sunspot blocked his own gas hole, but it caused a large number of sunspots to seek their own death. Although they suffered heavy self-inflicted injuries, they also left room for the subsequent game.
Li Linfu: "Kill yourself first, and then make a living."
Hearing Li Linfu's words and recalling the battle at Longyou Shibao City, Zhou Jun opened his eyes wide and shuddered deep in his bones.
He finally understood the metaphor of the chess game.
In order to make up for the tax deficit of the Tang Dynasty and meet Li Longji's financial needs, Li Linfu planned to deliberately drag tens of thousands of Tang soldiers to Shibao City to die.
As Wang Zhongsi said in prison, the court did not care about the city of Shibao City at all. What they cared about was the tens of thousands of soldiers of the Northern Fan.
Forcing these tens of thousands of Northern Fan soldiers to attack Shibao City, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack, can firstly consume the Northern Fan's military strength and balance the power between the Tang Dynasty vassal towns; secondly, it can reduce the number of Datang border troops.
Reduce the military pay allocated and use it to supplement the emperor's expenses and rewards.
Everything is like the black piece in this game of chess, kill yourself first, and then make a living.