Kou Ji stepped into the main hall and saw a middle-aged man, staring at Du Yan and talking with an arrogant expression.
Du Yan saw Kou Ji, stood up, cupped his hands, and said to the middle-aged man: "The person you want to see is here."
The middle-aged man turned his head and saw Kou Ji coming in with a greeting card. He said very rudely: "Are you Kou Ji? I am..."
Kou Ji didn't look at him and said calmly: "I don't want to know who you are, you can get out."
The middle-aged man's face darkened and he shouted: "Kou Ji, I am from the Palace of the Prince of Wei."
Kou Ji threw the greeting card in his hand on the table in the main hall, bowed his hand in return to Du Yan, then turned around and stared at the middle-aged man, coldly snorted: "Prince Wei's Mansion?!"
"How can there be a King of Wei in the Song Dynasty today?"
When the middle-aged man heard this, his expression changed drastically, and he was about to yell out.
Then Kou Ji continued to snort coldly: "I thought you were ignorant and spared your life, but you actually got worse and worse. You simply don't know how to live or die. Drag me out here, dig a hole on the road in the city, and bury it in it."
Leave a head outside, and if he is still alive in ten days, let him go."
The middle-aged man's expression changed again, he stared at Kou Ji and shouted in horror: "Kou Ji, how dare you! I'm from the Wei Palace in Fangling!"
Kou Ji ignored him as if he didn't hear what he said.
The leader of the patrolling horse guards appeared in the main hall with his men, captured him on the spot, stuffed a smelly sweat towel into his mouth, and dragged him out of the main hall of the city lord's palace.
After the middle-aged man was escorted out of the main hall, Kou Ji stared at Du Yan and said with confusion: "Why are you so polite to a flea? Don't tell me that you have to look at the owner when you beat a dog?"
Who is Du Yan?
The chief officer of Yushitai.
In both the government and the public, there is no one who cannot scold him as long as he doesn't like it.
Among them was the official Zhao Zhen.
Kou Ji didn't believe that Du Yan would be afraid of a so-called servant of the Wei Palace in Fangling.
Du Yan did not answer Kou Ji's words, but stared at Kou Ji for a few times. After confirming that Kou Ji had recovered from the grief of Xiang Minzhong's death, he said: "In Hexi, I am just a staff member you paid to hire.
He is not the chief official of Yushitai, so naturally he cannot deal with people easily."
Kou Ji nodded slowly, stared at Du Yan and asked: "Didn't the lineage of the Wei Palace in the past be entrenched in the Fangling area? How did it jump out?"
Just now the middle-aged man mentioned Fangling Wei Palace.
It is the lineage of Zhao Yanmei who was demoted to Fangling by Emperor Taizong Zhao Guangyi in the past.
Although Zhao Guangyi deprived Zhao Yanmei of his title and status, he did not kill them all and sent all his people to Fangling.
After Emperor Zhenzong, Zhao Heng, ascended the throne, thinking of the old brotherhood, he recalled several useless cousins and returned to Bianjing City to serve as officials. He also allowed other cousins from Zhao Yanmei's lineage to serve as officials in the Fangling area.
Nowadays, all officials in the Fangling area are from Zhao Yanmei's lineage.
It can be said that the area around Fangling has become the private territory of Zhao Yanmei's family.
Half of the descendants of Zhao Yanmei's lineage who were recalled to Bianjing City were hacked to death by Zhenzong Emperor Zhao Heng on the Zhaixing Tower, and half of them were later disposed of. Almost all of them were hacked to death.
Logically speaking, the Zhao Yanmei lineage who stayed in Fangling should have shrunk like rabbits. Why did they jump out again?
Du Yan heard Kou Ji's question and sighed, "The Eight Kings rebelled, the King of Chu burned the palace, and the royal family in Bianjing City was almost wiped out. Now there are only a few members of the royal family left in Bianjing City.
.
Someone submitted a letter to the officials, asking them to recall members of the Wei royal family and enrich the Dingkou within the royal family in Bianjing City.
The officials are a little moved."
Hearing this, Kou Ji rolled his eyes, "Who is so stupid?"
The corner of Du Yan's mouth twitched, and his face looked a little unsightly as he said, "My subordinate officer Liu Ping."
Kou Ji stared at Du Yan in astonishment, "What is the purpose? The example of the Eight Kings and the King of Chu is enough to wake up everyone in the government and the public, and you still want to bring out a disaster?"
Liu Ping petitioned the imperial court to recall members of the Wei royal family. Du Yan must be an insider and he went too far.
As a subordinate officer under Du Yan, Liu Ping probably didn't want to hang out in the Yushitai if he did not get Du Yan's nod for such a big thing.
Du Yan let out a long sigh and said frankly: "I won't hide it from you. I tacitly agreed to Liu Ping's petition to the officials to recall the Wei Prince's lineage. The purpose is to prevent the official family from failing to succeed."
Kou Ji raised his eyebrows.
Du Yan continued: "With the example of the late emperor, we have to be on guard. The late emperor's heirs were not successful, either due to erysipelas or other reasons."
"Harem?!"
Kou Ji said in a deep voice.
Du Yan nodded and said: "The fights in my harem are far more fierce than those in previous dynasties. The reason why it has not been spread out is because successive officials, as well as us, have been working hard to whitewash the harem.
of peace.”
Kou Ji's face darkened, "So recalling the Wei Prince's family is a precaution?"
Du Yan nodded slowly.
Kou Ji snorted coldly and said: "You have also seen how domineering the people in the Wei Palace were just now. They have not yet appeared in Bianjing City, but they are so domineering. If they appear in Bianjing City, they will only become more domineering.
They are so domineering, you want to recall them?"
Du Yan hesitated for a moment and said: "I will find a way to restrain them, but it is imperative to recall them."
Kou Ji stared and gritted his teeth and said, "The Guan family is still young! He will definitely give birth to many heirs in the future."
Du Yan let out a long breath and said: "No one can say for sure about the royal family."
Kou Ji said angrily: "Do you dare to tell the truth to the officials about this matter? Do you dare to truthfully tell the officials about the truth about your recall to the Wei Prince's family? Do you believe it or not, the officials will kill you."
Du Yan said quietly: "The orderly replacement of the throne is the key to the smooth continuation of the Song Dynasty. Compared with the orderly replacement of the throne, my life, Du Yan's, is nothing."
In Du Yan's eyes, all the foundations of the Song Dynasty came from the inheritance of the imperial throne.
If there is a problem with the inheritance of the throne, everything in the Song Dynasty will go into trouble.
So he only cares about the inheritance of the throne of the Song Dynasty.
Kou Ji roared angrily: "Don't you know that I have a deep relationship with the official family?"
Du Yan said calmly: "I know..."
Kou Ji said angrily: "Then you still dare to say this in front of me."
Du Yan stared at Kou Ji seriously and said: "You are a smart man and a person who can make the Song Dynasty richer and more powerful. As long as nothing happens, you will be the leader of all officials in the Song Dynasty.
As a leader, he should naturally know the lifeblood of the Song Dynasty."
Kou Ji said loudly: "I advise you to give up this idea, give up letting the royal family of Wei enter Bianjing City, and give up the idea that the official family will not have any heirs.
I firmly believe that the official family will definitely give birth to heirs."
Du Yan stared at Kou Ji and said, "What if?"
"Nothing unexpected."
"It's hard to say what's going on in the world."
"You can leave now."
"..."
Du Yan sighed, cupped his hands, and walked out of the main hall.
After taking two steps, he heard Kou Ji's cold voice behind him.
"As a reward for helping me handle government affairs, I will send someone to deliver it to you later. You don't have to stay in Hexi anymore. Go back to Bianjing City as soon as possible."
Du Yan paused, turned around and looked at Kou Ji, saying in disbelief: "Why is Duke Yong so heartless?"
"I'm heartless?"
Kou Ji sneered: "He has no brothers, and he is not as good as a weak man. He has to watch his father pass away, his uncle take his position, his aunts kill each other, and almost all the relatives who are close to him leave him. All cruel things.
, he has already met him, and you still want to treat him like this behind his back?
Am I heartless, or are you heartless?"
Du Yan pondered for a moment and lamented: "The Tian family... is ruthless!"
Kou Ji pointed at himself and roared: "I have feelings!"
Du Yan sighed, "That's all..."
Du Yan said no more and walked out of the main hall.
After Du Yan left, Kou Ji was in a very bad mood and ordered, "Go and send a message personally, tell my guards, and ask them to chop off that bullshit servant of Prince Wei's Palace and throw his head into the wild to feed the wolves."
"Go and tell that bitch slave Chen Lin personally to stop staring at those gold and silver treasures. Tell him to get out of here quickly."
"..."
As Kou Ji's order was passed on, the man from the Wei Palace in Fangling who was dragged out by the patrolling horse guards was buried half deep and then his head was chopped off, and his blood was spread all over the ground.
It shocked all the servants of the powerful families who were stranded in Xiliang City.
They immediately stopped what they were doing in Xiliang City and ran to Zhu Neng and Li Zhaoliang's residence to place them one by one.
Chen Lin received the summons from Kou Ji, swung her fly whisk, and walked quickly into the main hall of the city lord's mansion.
As soon as he entered the main hall, he shouted: "My lord, I still have to guard the money of the imperial court. If I lose it because of your summons, how can I deal with the officials and the two inner court officials when I go back?"
Zaifu will explain."
"Shut up!"
Kou Ji gave Chen Lin a rare scolding.
Chen Lin was stunned for a moment, her face darkened, "The Duke is so majestic..."
Kou Ji wrote quickly and finished a long letter. After he finished writing, he quickly sealed it, dropped the pen, stared at Chen Lin and said: "The money is gone, we can still rob it. If the official family is so angry, you are a slave.
There is no need to live anymore.”
When Chen Lin heard this, her face changed drastically, and her eyes were cold and scary, "Someone wants to murder the official family?"
Kou Ji handed the letter in his hand to Chen Lin and ordered: "Take the letter yourself and rush back without stopping to give it to the officials."
Chen Lin took the letter and carefully put it in her arms. She stared at Kou Ji and asked in a deep voice: "Who is trying to murder the official family? We will break his neck with our own hands."
Kou Ji said with a gloomy face: "You don't need to ask more about this matter. Send the letter back to the officials as soon as possible. If the officials are willing to tell you, they will naturally tell you."
Chen Lin was stunned for a moment, touched the chest holding the letter, and muttered: "It's all in the letter?"
Kou Ji nodded.
Chen Lin didn't ask any more questions. She glanced at Kou Ji and hummed, "Since you care so much about the official family, our family won't bear any grudge against you for scolding our family."
Kou Ji said with a dark face: "Get out of here quickly..."
Chen Lin snorted at Kou Ji again, took the letter and left the city lord's mansion.
After leaving the city lord's mansion, he picked a few people to accompany him and rushed to the outside of Xiliang City on horseback.
He didn't even take a second look at the gold and silver jewelry that he had previously regarded as his heart.
In his eyes, no amount of gold, silver, or jewelry was as important as the safety of the official family.
After Chen Lin left, Kou Ji sat alone in the city lord's mansion for a whole day.
Until night falls.
He stood up slowly, looked at the waning moon floating in the sky, and said faintly: "In the history books, the official family really has no heirs to inherit the throne. Now, this is not necessarily the case. But we have to be careful.
If after becoming an official, there are still no heirs, then don’t blame me for turning the tables."
Kou Ji's figure, as well as Kou Ji's words, disappeared into the thick night. No one heard or saw him.
…
The next day.
early morning.
After Kou Ji got up, he left the city lord's palace. After taking out his own share of the seized gold, silver and jewels and the share needed to govern Hexi, he packed the rest into boxes and sealed them.
Then he handed it over to Du Yan and asked Du Yan to escort him back to the court with ten thousand soldiers.
Du Yan had a bad fight with Kou Ji in the city lord's palace yesterday, so when he saw Kou Ji today, he didn't say much to Kou Ji.
The two of them each have their own ideas and opinions about the future, and it is difficult for them to talk about it together, so it is better not to talk about it.
The ways are different and they do not seek each other.
After Du Yan counted all the gold, silver and jewelry, he led 10,000 soldiers and escorted the gold, silver and jewelry and left Xiliang City.
After Du Yan left.
Kou Ji returned to the city lord's palace and summoned all the disciples and children of the powerful families who came to Hexi to share their interests.
Who can share the benefits of Hexi and who cannot.
Kou Ji doesn't need to identify them one by one.
Those who were willing to help Hexi and gave private gifts to Zhu Neng, Li Zhaoliang and Kou Ji, Kou Ji would share part of their interests.
Nothing.
Kou Ji didn't pay attention at all.
The distribution of benefits throughout Hexi lasted for more than half a month.
More than half a month later.
The distribution of Hexi's interests has been completed.
The disciples and children of the powerful families who were entrenched in Xiliang City left Xiliang City one after another.
Some people will go to Bianjing to complain.
There are also those who go to Shazhou, Guazhou, Ganzhou and other places to manage their allocated profits.
When Kou Ji distributed the benefits, he made it very clear to all of them.
All the dignitaries assigned to the interests of Hexi must help the people who are currently reclaiming fertile land, planting land, and planting trees.
After the grain was harvested in the first year and the people took away the grain, the fields they were allocated truly belonged to them.
Disciples and children of powerful families were not dissatisfied with this.
The disciples of Prince Wei of Fangling were all beheaded by Kou Ji. They did not think that their own heads were harder than those of the disciples of Prince Wei of Fangling.
They comforted themselves that they had obtained a large amount of fertile land in Hexi at a very small price, and they had already taken advantage. How could they dare to go further and ask for anything else?