Zheng Pu, who had been traveling back and forth to Jiangdong as an envoy for more than a month, finally returned to Chengdu, but he still had no time to spare.
After reporting his journey as an envoy and what he had gained during the court meeting, he hurried back to his small house in the west of the city, changed into his home clothes, and then headed east of the city to the banks of the Ma River again.
Emperor Liu Chan summoned him to a small gathering outside the city on the pretext of visiting his hometown.
It's not about the war horse trade.
Selling war horses to Wu State or promoting private war horse trade is a strategy previously decided by the Prime Minister to raise food for the country. If there is a person who is in charge of this matter, he does not need to worry about it.
Seven years after the army left Longyou, the main places for the Han Dynasty to breed war horses were Xiaolongshan (Guanshan) in Tianshui County and Lintao Pastoral Garden in Longxi County. The Danshan Ranch in Zhangye County that had just been recaptured was in ruins, so the imperial court now prepared its own
There are not enough war horses for the expedition, but there is no shortage of horses for sale.
Because the war horses sold to Jiangdong were all obtained by big men.
After Wei Yan reported victory and regained Jincheng County, the Prime Minister wrote a letter and returned to Chengdu, asking Jiang Wan and others to collect a large amount of Shu brocade, tea and other materials and send them to Tianshui County for hoarding in preparation for trading with those Qiang and Hu tribes after regaining the Hexi Corridor.
It not only made the tribal chiefs profit by exchanging supplies, making it easier for Fei Yi and the prefects of the counties to appease the counties, but also collected strategic materials such as horn leather for the Han Dynasty to make armors and crossbows.
Tamed war horses are also the top priority of the transaction.
Small tribes exchanged for twenty or thirty horses, and large tribes exchanged for more than a hundred horses. With the number of Qiang and Hu tribes living in Liangzhou, it was more than enough to resell them to Jiangdong.
It’s all about saving money for the country, but it’s about small capital and big profits.
Anyway, doing this is not shoddy.
A war horse with more than two thousand hu of grain and fodder was sold at such a low price. Jiangdong could not ask a big man to sell it. It was a good horse selected from thousands of people.
When I was young, I went to the Tianzi's residence.
The rice, which has been planted for more than a month, is lush and green, growing gratifyingly, and is already more than a foot tall, just like the common people's praise of the emperor's growing benevolence.
For example, there were frequent wars in Longyou, but the court did not increase taxes or collect corvees frequently.
He set an example by advocating simplicity and rejecting extravagance, so that the ministers of the imperial court and officials in counties and counties did not dare to work hard for the people.
There is still a clear law that does not condone rape and rape, so that the morals of the people above and below are solemn, thieves and bandits are extinct, and the nobles do not infringe on the weak and weak people.
In fact, these were all implemented after the Prime Minister established the government, but now the Prime Minister is far away in Longyou and has asked Jiang Wan and others to return part of the government affairs to the Emperor Liu Chan to handle it personally, so the common people in Li started to praise the Emperor's sage.
As it happens, the Prime Minister is happy to see this happen.
"Your Majesty is already waiting. Please also ask the escort to follow me."
A man from the house greeted him with a smile, said softly, and bowed respectfully, "Hua, thank you for the recommendation from the guardian army."
Yes, he is Wang Hua.
He was previously introduced by Wang You and returned to Shu with Zheng Pu.
Along the way, Zheng Puduo used his words to test the school's knowledge, but when he left, he didn't say a word.
At that time, Wang Hua thought that his talents and learning were not appreciated by Zheng Pu, so he returned home in Li County feeling depressed, so he set out again to find his father Wang Peng in Jiangzhou, Ba County, intending to ask his father to find a good teacher for him.
.
Unexpectedly, the imperial edict arrived at Wang Peng's residence at the same time as him - the emperor actually accepted him as the crown prince!
Not to mention that he was unexpected, even his father Wang Peng was surprised and inexplicable.
Although the Wang family in Li County is a well-known family in Shu, and there are many officials and virtuous people in the family, according to the court's practice, the children of officials should be admitted to the palace before they enter the palace.
How could one be easily assigned the position of prince and sacrificial minister without appearing before the emperor or the ministers?
Later, his father, Peng Xinxi, thanked him for his kindness and asked the angel privately, only to find out that it was Zheng Pu who recommended him.
"I heard that the late emperor first met the governor of Xijiang, and he sighed and said that there is no shortage of virtuous people in the world! Now I return to Chengdu and travel with Wang Boyuan of Li County. We talk with him day and night, and I feel that there is no shortage of talented people in Bashu! Confucius said, 'Do not avoid hatred when doing external affairs.
, Don't avoid your son when you are promoted from within.' My brother, my father-in-law, is from the same clan as this son. However, it is at a time when the imperial court is using up all its talents for the Northern Expedition, so I also boldly recommend him and hope that your majesty will look into it."
Zheng Pu said this to the emperor.
After hearing this, Emperor Liu Chan, who had always regarded Zheng Pu as his friend and subject, became very interested and stopped checking. He immediately went to the governor's residence of Bajun with a piece of imperial edict.
Now that I meet Zheng Pu, it is reasonable for Wang Hua to express his gratitude.
"No need to be polite."
Smiling lightly and nodding, Zheng Pu stretched out his hand to help, "Bo Yuan is appreciated by His Majesty because of his talent and learning, and has nothing to do with me. If Bo Yuan feels this, he will practice his talent and learn more, so that he can share the worries of the emperor's state affairs in the future."
After saying this, without waiting for Wang Hua to reply, he crossed over and walked towards where the emperor was.
In the willow forest by the Zouma River, there were more than ten guards in uniforms with swords surrounding them. A group of followers were roasting meat in front of the fire. The emperor, who was also dressed as a son of an aristocratic family, was squatting on a bed, leisurely.
Youzai poured himself a cup of wine before a short meal. From this point of view, he, who often pretends to be in the palace to visit the people, is already enjoying a picnic.
Zheng Pu stepped forward, bowed and saluted loudly, "My lord, Central Protector Pu, pays homage to Your Majesty."
"Haha, why bother with the ceremony?"
Hearing this, the emperor put down his wine cup, waved his sleeves, and said with a joking smile, "Come and sit down. Could it be that Zijin has been in Liangzhou for a long time and has forgotten how to call me evil outside?"
"Is An Neng rude and evil?"
Zheng Pu did not refuse, and walked quickly forward to sit on the bed opposite the emperor. He chuckled and said, "I haven't had a banquet with Liu Jun for a long time, and now I come here with nothing in my stomach. If I offend Liu Jun by being rude,
Am I not returning with an empty stomach?"
"Hahaha~~"
As soon as he said these words, the emperor couldn't help but clasp his hands and laugh.
Among all the people in the court, Zheng Pu was the only one who dared to joke with him as a friend. Every time he heard about it, he could temporarily stop being a loner.
"Zijin is not a virtuous person! Can you treat me like a stingy slave? I should be punished with a glass of wine!"
The emperor pretended to be displeased at first, but then he became happy again and took the lead in raising a cup to invite, "Zijin, let's drink together!"
"drink."
Lifting the cup with both hands, Zheng Pu nodded in greeting and drank it all in one gulp.
After putting down the wine cup, the emperor waved his hand to his servants to share the meat, and smiled at Zheng Pu and said, "Zijin is going to Jiangdong as an envoy, and the Lord of Wu will prepare a banquet for him. I wonder if Jiangdong's lamb wine is good? Or if my bad wine is good?"
?”
"What Liu Jun said is harsh on me!"
Shaking his head slightly helplessly, Zheng Pu pretended to scold him angrily, "I work for the country and travel thousands of miles without any hesitation. Mr. Liu just doesn't praise me, so you can make such heart-wrenching remarks?"
Naturally, after saying this, the two of them laughed heartily again.
But after suppressing his smile, Zheng Pu said solemnly, "I was sent as an envoy to Jiangdong. Although I came back with success, I still have something to say to Liu Jun. The Lord of Wu had the forbearance of Gou Jian, and he did not hesitate to be humble to his subordinates when he wanted to achieve success;
He is gluttonous and greedy, seeking profit instead of pursuing virtue when planning things. To me, the Han Dynasty, you can call him a viper. Now Wei Wei is strong and powerful, so he has made an alliance with me, the Han Dynasty. However, if our king's division decides to return to Guanzhong and restore the old capital, we must
It’s time for him to betray his alliance again!”
Happy New Year everyone!
May all your regrets in the last year be the foreshadowing of surprises in the present and past.
