As soon as Liu Xi walked to the door of Cihe Hall, he heard laughter coming from inside. Liu Xi looked at Qi Yue beside him with some surprise. Qi Yue quickly said: "Country, Princess Raoyang has just come.
, The country does not allow others to disturb..." Liu Xi nodded and walked into the Cihe Hall without saying anything more. The palace maid hurriedly paid her respects. The laughter in the hall also stopped, and Princess Raoyang turned her head.
"Meet aunt!"
Liu Xi hurriedly bowed to see her, but Princess Raoyang said displeasedly: "How can there be someone like you? The Queen is giving birth, and you are still busy with your own affairs and don't come to visit her. There is also your daughter. Could it be that you
Because my daughter ignores her?" Facing this powerful aunt, even Liu Xi felt a little panicked. He smiled sarcastically and was speechless. Fortunately, there were no outsiders around, so he couldn't see the emperor like this.
Lu Ji quickly said: "Auntie, don't say anything else. Your Majesty also loves Xin'er very much. He has come to visit me several times before. I told him not to let him come over..." She lowered her head,
Princess Raoyang was also a little helpless, so Liu Xi came over with a smile, took her daughter, and sat aside. Princess Raoyang asked: "Have you thought about the fiefdom?" Liu Xi shook his head and said
: "It hasn't been decided yet."
"Let's make a decision as soon as possible..."
"knew."
Liu Xi teased the child and asked with some confusion: "Where is Zhan'er? Why didn't you bring him?" Princess Raoyang shook her head and said: "He has already entered school, alas..." Liu Xi
Xi smiled and asked: "Who is my disciple?" Princess Raoyang said in a dilemma: "It's just that in the official school, I originally wanted to find a great scholar for him, but this guy was useless, he was extremely lazy and buried his head.
So he went to bed and got angry and drove away four or five great scholars, so he had no choice but to be sent to an official school."
"Hahaha, it doesn't matter if you go to the official school. The wine sacrificers in the official school are all outstanding scholars from Imperial College. Auntie, don't worry..."
Rao Yang nodded.
They chatted for a while, and then Princess Raoyang decided to leave. Liu Xi saw that she had something to say to him, so he used the excuse of saying goodbye to walk out of the hall with her. As soon as they walked out of the hall, Rao Yang
The princess hurriedly asked: "I heard that you sent Xiu Yi to investigate your uncle??" Liu Xi was stunned, squinted his eyes, and said with a smile: "Aunt, I sent someone to investigate the situation.
It doesn’t matter much..."
"Well..." Princess Raoyang didn't ask any more questions.
Liu Xi continued to walk and chat with her. Suddenly, Liu Xi asked: "Who told my aunt about this?"
"My uncle..." Princess Raoyang whispered, and Liu Xi nodded.
At the same time, Yuan Shang and Xun Yu had also left Luoyang and headed for Jingzhou. Neither of them spoke much along the way. Yuan Shao's incident had a huge impact on Yuan Shang, and he gradually became less talkative.
Xun Yu originally wanted to talk to Yuan Shang, but Yuan Shang did not accept his kindness, but was a little cold. Xun Yu also understood in his heart that it was not a good thing for the two of them to get too close, so he gave up.
The third year of Yankang, June
Yuan Shang and Xun Yu rushed to Jingzhou. Along the way, they walked very slowly. Almost every day, Xun Yu could see carrier pigeons flying in the sky, and Yuan Shang was dealing with these carrier pigeons every day.
, Important news from various places still had to be conveyed to him. Occasionally, there would be passers-by who would cover their faces in front of everyone. These were all agents who came to Yuan Shang and were affiliated with Xiu Yi.
No matter where you go, there seems to be spies coming to report.
This made Xun Yu a little frightened. This was also the first time he had experienced the power of the embroidered messenger. When he was about to arrive in Jingzhou, there were fewer groups of carrier pigeons and spies coming and going, and Yuan Shang was no longer so busy.
, looking at Yuan Shang who was taking notes and looking around, Xun Yu was really curious. He walked to Yuan Shang's side and cleared his throat. Xun Yu then asked: "Xianfu? Is there anyone in my house?"
Such a secret agent??”
Hearing his question, Yuan Shang raised his head and looked at him indifferently, but did not reply. He just picked up the pen and wrote a few sentences on the paper, indicating to Xun Yu to take a look.
Xun Yu stuck his head out and looked at what Yuan Shang had just written, but he couldn't laugh or cry.
"On the 13th day of the sixth lunar month in the third year of Yankang, when I was passing through Xinye, my sergeant ordered Xun Yu to ask: Is there any spy in my house? Maybe he has evil intentions, so we should take precautions."
The group of people finally arrived in Xiangyang. Before entering the city, they saw a group of people waiting. Yuan Shang was speechless, but Xun Yu frowned. At such a busy time, if Sima Yi came to greet him in person, then Xun Yu would
Yu was about to think about whether he should report to the emperor and bring someone else here. While he was thinking about it, people waiting in the distance saw this group of people and came quickly.
Xun Yu frowned, but Yuan Shang on the side just glanced at him and said: "Later, you follow Sima Lang back to Xiangyang. I have other important matters, so I won't go with you..."
"Hmm?? Sima Lang?"
, and he is not an official in Jingzhou.
The person who came was Sima Lang. He led a group of servants to greet them. When he saw Yuan Shang and Xun Yu, he quickly bowed to them and then said with a smile: "Sima Lang, a common man, because of his brother's
I have asked you to come here specially to welcome you two... Jingzhou is busy with the canal affairs, and the officials can't get away. The same goes for the governor and Situ Gong. Therefore, I will take you two to rest in Xiangyang for a day and see you tomorrow.
Mr. Situ...I don’t know what to do?”
Yuan Shang didn't reply. He turned around and looked around. Xun Yu suppressed the shock in his heart and said quickly: "Thank you!" Sima Lang said he didn't dare and looked at Yuan Shang. Yuan Shang narrowed his eyes and said: "I
And I have important matters, so I won’t go back with you..." Sima Lang said with some surprise: "Several places in Jingzhou are constructing canals at the same time. If no one leads the way, I'm afraid..."
Xun Yu smiled and said: "You don't need to pay attention to this, just take me back to Xiangyang."
Sima Lang nodded helplessly, bowed to Yuan Shang, and then left with Xun Yu. Watching the group of people gradually disappear in front of his eyes, Yuan Shang looked at both sides of the avenue. On both sides of the avenue was a piece of cultivated land.
, there are some hard-working old farmers on the cultivated land, and there are wives beside them, helping to harvest. Yuan Shang looked at them. The old farmers who were cultivating picked up their farm tools and walked to Yuan Shang.
"Meet Zhizhi!"
Yuan Shang nodded and waved his hand. Under the leadership of these farmers, the group returned to the farmland and sat on a field ridge. Yuan Shang drank the water they brought and asked in a low voice: "Did Sima Yi intervene?
Military?"
"Never."
"Where's Cao Cao?"
"Never."
Xun Yu followed Sima Lang back to Xiangyang, and went directly to Sima Lang's private residence, and did not go to the governor's house. Sima Lang came to greet him as a private person, not as an official, so Xun Yu did not show anything in front of him.
He put on a Confucian robe, and the two began to talk about Confucian classics. Xun Yu didn't pay much attention to this person at first, but when they talked about Confucian classics, Xun Yu was surprised to find that this man was good at studying.
Even in Taixue, he can be considered a leader.
After further discussion, Xun Yu learned that this man had actually won the top prize in Confucian classics. No wonder it was so.
The two talked happily, and Xun Yu asked with some confusion: "I heard that you have a younger brother, but I don't know where he is?"
Sima Lang paused for a moment and said with some embarrassment: "He became a county magistrate in Jingnan."
"Jingnan?? But that's not... Ahem, I thought Zhongda and Kong Ming didn't get along very well..."
“Mr.
The two chatted until late at night. If they weren't worried about delaying tomorrow's business, they would have talked at night. As for the next day, Xun Yu put on his official uniform and faced Sima Lang, and he was no longer so close.
Sima Lang knew in his heart that Xun Yu came here to inspect the place for the emperor, so naturally he couldn't show too close to him. He changed into official uniform, which meant that he was now the emperor's envoy and had to be thorough in everything he did.
.
After getting on the carriage, Xun Yu rushed to meet Situ Gong under the guidance of Sima Lang. The carriage drove for nearly half a day before arriving. Xun Yu got off the carriage and listened to the noise in his ears. The officials were walking around him.
, but no one stopped to pay respects. In the distance, countless peasants were waving iron hoes in their hands. Among these people, he also saw some half-clothed slaves and prisoners who had been tortured.
Sima Lang led him to a simple hut, pointed at the house, and stopped. He could not follow Xun Yu inside. Xun Yu nodded towards him and walked directly into the shabby house and that hut.
There was not even a door, leaving a vacancy, and there was no decoration inside the house. There was only a wooden case, and three people kneeling around the case. Xun Yu walked in, and the three people slowly
Stand up.
Cao Cao walked over with a smile, held Xun Yu's hand directly, and pulled him to the front of the case.
Sima Yi said: "Greetings to Mr. Xun!" On the other side was Yuan Shang, who also bowed gently to Xun Yu. Xun Yu raised his hand and was about to return the greeting when Cao Cao roughly grabbed his hand.
"Wen Ruo, look at..." Cao Cao pointed to the map on the case.
"Luoyang is close to a big river, and the river leads all the way to Qingxu, so there is no need to spend energy thinking about how to connect Luoyang to the surrounding areas. The main thing is how to connect the river water to the big river. Look, if we dig from Jiangxia to Yuzhou,
Going to Xuzhou... is it more convenient? Or go directly to Yanzhou via Yuzhou, or directly to Baima. In this way, Luoyang will be closer to the south, but the amount of this project is probably huge!"
Xun Yu looked at the map with some confusion and thought seriously for a long time before he said: "Situ Gong, I think it is better to go from Yuzhou to Qingxu and reach Luoyang through the river. This will save more effort, while in the Central Plains, there are
The roads are connected, so there is no need to dig a canal... Hmm... Mr. Situ, I would like to ask, what does this line on the map mean?? You want to dig a canal to Yizhou??"
"As expected of Wen Ruo!! Great talent! Great talent!! So what is Wen Ruo thinking??"
"Mr. Situ...I came here to inspect the place...I don't know anything about the canal."
"I understand, don't worry, I will definitely cooperate with you. No matter what you want to investigate, I will ask them to cooperate with you. By the way, do you think this Yizhou Canal is feasible?"
"If there is sufficient water source and can be connected, the south will be one, and the north-south canal will make the north and south one. This is naturally a good thing... But, Mr. Cao, there are many mountains and rivers in Yizhou... It is impossible to dig a canal. It’s not an easy task... If Situ Gong is willing, we can go from Jingnan to the south of Yizhou... That’s okay!”
Cao Cao squinted his eyes and listened to Xun Yu's suggestion, with a smile on his face.
"But Mr. Situ, I'm really not here to help you dig the canal. I'm here..."
"I know, I know, you will go on inspection later, Wen Ruo... Do you think you can borrow some money from the local aristocratic families to use it for digging, and after the canal is completed, they can be exempted from shipping tax for one year, and then How about returning the principal?"
"What a good idea! Mr. Cao can even hand over the excavation of a section of the canal to these people and let them contribute their own money and efforts. However, it must be done well enough. If time is delayed or something goes wrong, just carry out the work. Punishment, if they do well, they will be given rewards. In addition, after the canal is completed, certain benefits can also be given, such as exemption from taxes and allowing overseas trade..."
Cao Cao's eyes shone with blazing light. As Xun Yu was talking, he was thinking about how to get the rich people to agree. At this moment, he suddenly realized, "No, I'm not here to inspect?" Why do I have to think about this? ?
Sima Yi on the side looked at Cao Cao quietly. He finally understood why Cao Cao was so happy and excited when he heard that Xun Yu would come.
It turns out that he mistook the emperor's envoy as...ahem.