Late at night, Zhang Yuanqing was sitting on the observation deck outside the alchemy room, with a large compass star disk made of black iron and painted with silver paint on his lap.
The stars rotated and changed constantly, just like the program code of the world's operation, flashing through his mind over and over again.
Every change represents a direction for the future.
In Star Officer's perception, the past is eternal, the present is happening, and the future is full of uncertainty.
There are countless possibilities in the future. A change in details or a mistake in thinking will change the direction of the future.
Among them, traffickers and lackeys are the least valuable. The actions and decisions of ordinary people cannot affect the future trend. The thoughts and ideas of those in high positions are crucial.
Therefore, the star officer needs to use each chess piece to make the future move according to his expectations.
The core of the game between star officials is positioning.
Whoever has stronger and more pieces will be the winner.
Of course, in addition to chess pieces, the general trend is also very important. The general trend of the world is rolling forward, and star officials also need to play chess according to the direction of the general trend of the world. Stargazing is used to see the general trend of the world.
Forcibly reversing the trend, no matter how strong the star official is, his life or death will be destroyed.
The current Southern Dynasty is facing the general trend of destruction. Corrupt officials are rampant in the court, the treasury is empty, and the Northern Dynasty's army is pressing down on the country. From the general trend, Zhang Yuanqing is at a disadvantage.
Fortunately, Linxia City was not destroyed, and the Southern Dynasty still survived.
"The old thief is said to know all the secrets of heaven, and his level of stargazing should be good. I have a large compass, which is at most equal to him, but my advantage is the protection of dragon energy, which brings with it my own secrets.
"Some confidential operations cannot be done by teammates, but must be operated by the Inferi, and then there are high-ranking characters who have no deep causal relationship with the National Master, such as Gang Leader Duan."
Zhang Yuanqing was thinking in his heart while watching the stars.
At this time, a vague roar came from his ears. It was the voice of the wraith, the Inferi, and only the Night Walker God could hear it.
Zhang Yuanqing's heart trembled. The stars in front of him were shattered. He was forced to quit the stargazing state and had goosebumps all over his body.
"What is the Imperial Master practicing?" He turned his head to look at the "source of the sound" and narrowed his eyes.
Damn, this guy is really holding back his ultimate move.
Early in the morning, outside the gate of the capital city.
Refugees in tattered clothes gathered in twos and threes, hunched over and sitting on both sides of the official road, shivering in the early morning frost.
The weather is getting colder and colder. If the cold in the north is strong and overbearing, then the dampness and coldness in the south is like a knife that penetrates your bones. It can make you experience terrible pain before you die. A dull knife cuts your flesh, and your life passes by little by little until you die.
die.
There were thousands of refugees outside the city. The imperial court did not allow them to enter the city, and they did not have the money or energy to flee south. After losing their homeland, their only livelihood was the capital.
Relying on the almost crystal clear thin porridge given out by the imperial court, he could survive every day.
When the cold winter comes, among these refugees, children and the elderly will die first. The younger ones may be able to survive the cruel winter, but this does not mean that they will be saved.
After the cold winter, there are still the cavalry and swords of the Northern Dynasty Army.
Despair, numbness, and pain enveloped the refugees outside the city.
As the first ray of morning light shines into the world, the city gate slowly opens.
The refugees outside the city looked towards the city gate one after another, their dark and numb eyes lit up with the light of hope.
The court's disaster relief porridge would be delivered in the early morning. This was their only meal of the day.
After eating this meal, they will have the strength to dig roots in the forest and dig bugs in the ground.
Under the attentive eyes of pairs of people, a flatbed truck drove out of the city gate. On the truck were four large wooden barrels. White steam filled the gaps in the lids of the wooden barrels.
"Gulu."
The sound of swallowing was heard continuously, and the refugees stood up one after another. Those who were not yet awake were roughly pushed awake by their companions and family members.
These zombie-like refugees wandering in the wilderness swarmed towards the city gate.
At this time, another flatbed carriage drove out from behind the flatbed carriage, followed by the second, third, and fourth carriage, and from the rear, more than a hundred armored and armed city defense troops came out.
The refugees, like locusts, stopped one after another.
There are too many carriages, ten in total. These are not for them.
In the past, there were at most three carriages carrying crystal clear porridge, and each person could only get half a bowl. There would not be so many city defense troops to maintain order.
Watching the continuous steam coming out of the barrel, smelling the rich aroma of porridge, the sound of swallowing became louder, mixed with the crying of children, urging parents to get food.
But the disheveled father and skinny mother were afraid to step forward.
At this time, after the ten carriages left the city, they did not continue to move forward, but turned to the porridge shed under the city wall.
A general on horseback clamped his horse's belly, stepped forward, and shouted to the group of refugees:
"Your Majesty is aware of the people's sentiments, aware of your sufferings, opened warehouses for disaster relief, and formulated new laws. From now on, the porridge in the porridge factory will be so thick that the chopsticks will float and the heads will fall to the ground."
With a crash, thousands of refugees rushed towards the porridge shack.
Tianji Tower, Observation Tower.
In the east, the sun was rising slowly. Zhang Yuanqing leaned on the railing and looked into the distance. The prosperous capital was still sleeping, the outlines of the buildings were vague, and the towering city walls in the distance isolated thousands of refugees outside the city.
Separated by a wall, it is the difference between heaven and hell.
After standing there for a long time, a ray of golden light penetrated the wall and turned into a national master with immortal wind and fluttering sleeves.
"Master, the thousands of refugees outside the city are all citizens of the Southern Dynasty, and they are my subjects." Zhang Yuanqing held the railings and said with a smile: "It is my duty to save the people from fire and water."
The Imperial Master looked at the city gate with a solemn look on his face. He pinched his fingers for a few seconds and said coldly:
"Your Majesty, the king of a country, actually commits such acts as roosters and dogs."
"No." Zhang Yuanqing raised his face and said with a smile: "Is it the king's land in the whole world, and the king's ministers are on the shore of the land. Why shouldn't I take my own food to help the victims? Oh, by the way, the imperial master can also inform
Zheng Wenhan is investigating the theft of grain from rice merchants in the city, but it only takes a while to submit this document and go back and forth."
The Imperial Master did not expect this step, as Zhang Yuanqing expected, because he put the companion Lingyue into the gang warehouse last night, and then notified Sun Miaomiao to take it.
After Sun Miaomiao performed the Night Tour, she felt like she had a secret blessing.
The Imperial Master did not answer, his lips moved.
The middle-aged Taoist priest outside the alchemy room turned into starlight and disappeared.
Not long after, another group of city defense troops rushed to the city gate, drove away the refugees, and surrounded the porridge shed.
Two groups of city defense troops belonging to different military camps faced off with swords drawn.
The general of the city defense army who arrived later said loudly: "Last night, food was stolen from many rice shops in the city. The Ministry of Punishment suspects that the food from the porridge factory came from improper sources. We will take away all the porridge for investigation. If you dare to stop it, you are conspiring to commit treason."
"Fuck your mother's bullshit." The leader of the city defense army who was guarding the porridge shed cursed: "The Ministry of Punishment hasn't ordered the meal yet. The Minister of Punishment told you in a dream that the rice store has been stolen?"
Laughter broke out.
The two groups of city defense troops did not fight each other, but criticized and cursed each other. Eighteen generations of the ancestors of both sides appeared frequently, showing great affection.
The stalemate lasted for half an hour. Suddenly, a large number of refugees wearing ragged clothes poured out of the city, rubbing shoulders and mingling with the refugee group.
"Brothers, it's over, let's go back." The city defense general who came to interfere laughed loudly, took back his knife, and left with dozens of subordinates.
Outside the city, Zhang Yuanqing, who watched this scene through his spiritual servant, was shocked and immediately understood the imperial master's plan.
The obstruction by the city defense army was just to delay and deceive, and the purpose was to prepare for gathering manpower.
The Imperial Master asked his disciples to gather a group of people in the city, disguised as refugees, and disrupt the normal porridge delivery at the porridge factory.
As a result, the number of refugees who can actually get porridge has dropped sharply, and Zhang Yuanqing's plan to win people's support through "opening warehouses for disaster relief" will be greatly reduced.
Things happened in a hurry today and I was caught off guard. Maybe there will be new ways to resolve it tomorrow.
Zheng Wenhan had enough time to investigate the food theft case.
"Ginger is still spicy when old." Zhang Yuanqing clicked his tongue repeatedly.
The Imperial Master said calmly: "Your Majesty, you can continue to make decisions."
Zhang Yuanqing's face straightened and he sighed:
"Master, do you know the difference between refugees and civilians?"
The Imperial Master replied expressionlessly: "There is no difference."
"Then take a look." Zhang Yuanqing said.
Outside the city, the fourth-level spiritual servant stirred up the dark wind and crashed into the body of the city defense army general.
The general's pupils dilated for an instant, then returned to normal. He sheathed his sword, grabbed a handful of sand from the ground, threw it into the porridge, and shouted:
"Whatever you do, do it for me."
Subordinates followed suit one after another. Although they felt sorry for a good pot of porridge being wasted, they did not dare to disobey their superiors' orders.
After the porridge was mixed with sand, Zhang Yuanqing controlled the general and said loudly:
"Come here and get some fucking porridge."
The refugees rushed up with a roar, some of them stopped where they were, showing signs of confusion, and many even turned around and left.
On the observation deck, Zhang Yuanqing turned his head and looked at the Imperial Master:
"They just want to survive."
The Imperial Master remained indifferent, his body turned into a golden light, and left the alchemy room.
"This is the advantage of modern people's information reserves." Zhang Yuanqing exhaled.
Fortunately, the civilians who poured out of the city just wanted to take advantage of the free thick porridge, so they left the city under the influence of the Tianji Tower Taoist priests.
If he was bent on causing trouble and throwing away the porridge after receiving it, Zhang Yuanqing's plan would still be difficult to succeed.
Well, this will not happen. The imperial master is the great and upright Bai Yueguang in the hearts of the people. If he gives such an order to the people, it will damage his reputation and lose more than he loses! Zhang Yuanqing turned around and entered the alchemy room and started to cook tea.
He did not feel complacent because of his temporary victory. Winning the hearts and minds of the people was important, but a single donation of porridge was only one of the steps to "gain the hearts and minds of the people" and could not influence the overall situation.
What's more, no matter how much popular support you gain, if you cannot weaken the enemy, it will all be in vain.
Zhang Yuanqing's real plan boils down to just five words: capture the thief first and capture the king first.
He stabilized Zheng Wenhan just because he wanted to launch an operation to eliminate Zheng at the right time and eliminate all the core members of the Zheng family. In this way, both the Imperial City Department and the city defense army would naturally switch sides.
But to destroy the Zheng family, the current strength is not enough.
Yang Mansion.
In the queen's boudoir, the infernal corpse Zhang Yuanqing opened his eyes again and saw Guan Ya sitting at the desk in the outer room, holding a brush and writing unskilledly.
"How was the investigation of the Shenrui Army case?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.
Guan Ya put down her brush, looked over, and said:
"I'm analyzing it. Since you're here, let's discuss it together."
Zhang Yuanqing walked over as instructed and asked:
"What about the rest?"
Guan Ya said: "Going to do the task."
Yesterday, Zhang Yuanqing asked Yang Zheng to draft a notice and post it in the inner and outer cities. The content was about the canonization of Mrs. Ya, Chu Meiren and Wanmei as concubines.
Promote them to save the emperor, regardless of their own safety, loyalty and courage.
The camps of the three people changed accordingly, and a new branch line and main line mission were opened. In order to lift the seal and restore the level, they have been doing missions since yesterday.
"Where is the palace master?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.
"He ran away to Linxia." Guan Ya said:
"Fu Qingyang has received military information. The Northern Dynasty has stormed Linxia in the past two days. The defenders have suffered heavy casualties, including Fu Qingyang. The team members, including Fu Qingyang, have been seriously injured, their resources have been exhausted, and they are in urgent need of life source fluid.
"We don't have much life source liquid left. We need to deal with the danger in the capital, so we can only let the palace master pass."
Zhang Yuanqing "took a breath": "There are Lingjun and Xiahou Aotian in Linxia, but they are still short of life source liquid? The tragedy on the front line is beyond our imagination. Fu Qingyang may not be able to hold on for half a month. We have to hurry up and talk about it.