Yuan Zai left in a hurry, and Guo Song stood on the bow of the boat and stared at the Furong Garden in the distance. At this time, Aunt Gongsun slowly walked to Guo Song, sighed softly and said: "There is a turbulent undercurrent behind us, but on the surface the saint is still there."
You must support Yu Chaoen, the power of the eunuch is so great that it is embarrassing!"
Guo Song said calmly: "I can understand the emperor's compromise and forbearance, but I don't think it is wise to support one group of eunuchs to deal with another group. Sooner or later, another Yu Chaoen will be cultivated."
"We don't talk about this issue."
Aunt Gongsun knew that he was referring to Cheng Yuanzhen, so she changed the topic and asked with a smile: "Do you feel a lot of pressure when you go to Jianghuai this time?"
"A little bit!"
Guo Song smiled helplessly and said: "It's not as satisfying as killing Li Fuguo with one arrow. This time it requires a battle of wits and courage. It feels more than twice as difficult."
Aunt Gongsun nodded: "This is also a test and exercise for you. There is a principle you must remember. Court officials must not use assassination methods. You can frame him or slander him. These methods can be used.
Only assassination cannot be used.
The reason is very simple. If you kill Huangfu Wen, they will also assassinate Liu Yan, so everyone has this tacit understanding. On the contrary, it doesn't matter if top people like Li Fuguo and Yu Chaoen are killed."
Guo Song was somewhat dissatisfied. If the court officials could not assassinate, then how did those people in history who died suddenly on the road or died of illness die?
It was one thing to disapprove in his heart, but Guo Song accepted it humbly.
"I remember!"
"What else do you want?" Aunt Gongsun asked again.
"The resources available at hand are still too few!" Guo Song thought for a while.
Aunt Gongsun glanced at him, then looked at the lake and said calmly: "You are destined to be lonely. The reason why Liu Yan knows your identity is because the Holy One has great trust in him. Your resource is that gold medal. At the critical moment, you
You can use it to mobilize a thousand troops, but Liu Yan has resources, and there will be ten warriors following him in the Hidden Sword Pavilion. If you need it, you can make a request to Liu Yan."
At this time, a clear cry came from the sky, and a goshawk appeared above Guo Song. Guo Song whistled, and the fierce bird folded its wings and fell down. It stood firmly on Guo Song's shoulder and pecked his head twice.
.
Guo Song nodded and said: "Nothing else, when should I set off?"
.........
Guo Song and Liu Yan left Chang'an by boat that afternoon and headed to Jianghuai Yangzhou.
Chang'an City was in chaos at this time. Thousands of reward notices were plastered all over the streets and alleys of Chang'an City. A high price of 30,000 taels of silver was offered to arrest a man who was between 6 feet 1 and 6 feet 3 tall and was carrying a bow and arrow.
The young man is not a native of Chang'an and has just arrived in Chang'an. Anyone who provides clues that meet the requirements will be rewarded ten thousand dollars.
The whole city of Chang'an was in a state of panic due to this reward. Tens of thousands of beggars, gangsters and idlers took action one after another, going from house to house to inquire about qualified people. Yu Chaoen's men were all dispatched, and thousands of people were found in one time.
At the Meishou Wine Shop in Xishi City, Zhang Lei came back in a hurry with a solemn expression. There was still a long queue in front of the shop, almost all of them came to buy small bottles of authentic Meishou wine. They were entertaining guests at home, and there was a bottle of Meishou on the table.
Wine is also very respectable. This is the wine that the emperor and the powerful drink, but ordinary people can also drink it.
There are also many outsiders who come to Chang'an for business and will make a special trip to buy a bottle or two to take home as gifts.
Strict purchase restrictions are still implemented for Meishou wine. Large bottles of Meishou wine are not available at all. The dignitaries and palaces in Chang'an have already booked them. Everyone can only sell one or two half-packed small bottles of Meishou wine. Each person is limited to two bottles.
, one clerk collects the money, and the other is responsible for delivering the goods, so he is very busy.
Li Wenyu was patrolling nearby. The wine shop now has eight clerks, and the couple is a little more relaxed. Zhang Lei has time to have a cup of tea during the day, and Li Wenyu doesn't have to count the money and deliver the goods in person. She will only come forward when something happens.
deal with.
She is also in charge of Meishou Chun Wine, but there are dedicated clerks responsible for shipping and purchasing. She is only responsible for handling some emergencies, but the reconciliation and accounting every night are her business. She is completely like a boss lady.
, In fact, after Guo Song became the hands-off shopkeeper, Li Wenyu basically had the final say at Meishou Wine Shop.
At this time, a waiter stepped forward and whispered to Li Wenyu: "That proprietor Wang is here again!"
Li Wenyu frowned, walked to the door and said to a short, fat middle-aged man: "Proprietor Wang, what do you want me to say about you? This is the fourth time you have queued up today!"
The middle-aged man clasped his hands and begged: "Dr. Li, I'm from Luoyang. Many relatives and friends in Luoyang have asked me to buy a bottle of Meishou wine. I can't do anything about it, so just be arrogant and sell it to me again."
"Then we agreed, this is the last time, I will sell you no less than ten bottles."
"Okay! Okay! I promise this will be the last time."
At this time, Li Wenyu saw Zhang Lei approaching in a hurry, with a worried look on his face, and said to the clerk: "Sell it to him, this is the last time."
Zhang Lei walked into the wine shop and winked at Li Wenyu. Li Wenyu understood and followed Zhang Lei to the backyard and asked, "What happened?"
"Look at this!"
Zhang Lei handed a notice offering a reward to his wife. Li Wenyu was surprised after reading it, "Isn't this an arrest notice for your junior brother?"
"I asked why Lao Wu disappeared after writing a note. It turned out that Yu Chaoen was arresting him. What big thing did he do? He actually wanted 30,000 taels of silver to arrest him!"
Li Wenyu said anxiously: "Don't worry about what big things he has done. I guess someone will report him. You should go to Qingxu Temple to say hello to the senior brother and tell his disciples to keep their mouths shut."
Zhang Lei nodded, "I'll go right away, but we have to discuss it first. How will we respond if someone comes to investigate?"
Li Wenyu thought for a while and said: "Let's just say it's the former leader Jiang Feng. He is very tall. Anyway, my junior brother never brings a bow and arrow here, so he shouldn't take it too seriously."
Zhang Lei slapped his thigh. Not to mention, Jiang Feng was as tall as his junior brother, so he could just push him on his head. His wife reacted quickly.
"I understand, let's go to Qingxu Temple now."
Zhang Lei called a bullock cart and left in a hurry.
Li Wenyu was really worried in her heart. She had vaguely guessed that the assassination of Li Fuguo that everyone said was probably caused by her junior brother.
At this time, seven or eight warriors came from a distance. In front of them was a ruffian who led them. A group of warriors walked to the door of the wine shop and asked, "Is this the shop?"
The ruffian leading the way nodded repeatedly, "This is the store. I saw with my own eyes that there was a very tall young man in this store."
Several samurai walked into the store carelessly and shouted: "Find a very tall person, probably over six feet one inch, and tell me there is such a person in your store."
Li Wenyu's eyebrows suddenly stood up, pointing to the long queue, "The wine shop has thousands of customers every day, who do you want me to remember?"
Several warriors looked back at the ruffian. The ruffian leading the way shook his head and said, "It's not the customers buying wine, it's the people in their shop."
Li Wenyu walked to the stairs and shouted: "Everyone, get down here!"
The four guys who were resting on the second floor walked down lazily. Li Wenyu said: "Look! All eight guys are here. My husband is a fat man. He went out. How about you wait for him to come back."
There were two tall men among the guys, both over 1.8 meters tall. The warriors stepped forward to take a look at them, and they didn't feel like they were martial arts practitioners.
"Have there been any very tall people before?"
Li Wenyu thought for a while and said: "One of the first batch of waiters was very tall, almost six feet three, but he was fired by me a long time ago. He works as a waiter at Wang Si Restaurant opposite the gate. His name is Jiang Feng. You can do it yourself.
Go find him."
"Really?" the leading warrior turned around and asked.
The ruffian who led the way didn't know very well. He just saw Guo Song coming out of the store. He scratched his head and said, "Maybe!"
Several other warriors also felt that the person they wanted to arrest was unlikely to be hiding in the wine shop, so they whispered a few words. The leading warrior nodded and shouted, "Go to Wangsi Restaurant and ask!"
A warrior wanted to reach out and take away a bottle of wine. Li Wenyu folded his hands in front of his chest and said coldly: "If you dare to take the wine, I will ask Mr. Yu for money. Do you believe it?"
The warrior was so frightened that he shrank his hands, glared at Li Wenyu fiercely, turned around and walked away.
A group of warriors left, and a waiter stepped forward and whispered: "Could that ruffian be talking about Mr. Guo?"
Li Wenyu immediately glared at him and said fiercely: "Don't talk nonsense. Mr. Guo left Chang'an half a month ago. If you dare to cause trouble, I will fire you first."
The waiter was so frightened that he stuck out his tongue and did not dare to say a word.
.........
The three-thousand-stone passenger ship sailed eastward along the Cao Canal Road of the Tang Dynasty. Ten days later, the ship entered the Huaihe River.
Along the way east, Guo Song became acquainted with Liu Yan. He found that Liu Yan was not silent, and was still very humorous and chatting and laughing all the way.
That afternoon, the boat sailed slowly on the Huaihe River. The boat entered the Huaihe River from Si River, and Huaiyin County was on the other side. Then it walked eighty miles east, then entered Caohe River from Shanyang County, and continued southward for three days.
Arrive in Yangzhou.
"This is Mr. Guo's first time coming to Jianghuai!"
In the cabin lobby on the first floor, Guo Song and Liu Yan sat opposite each other, drinking tea and chatting.
Guo Song nodded and said with a smile: "I grew up in Longyou. Not to mention Jianghuai, this is my first time coming to the east of Guanzhong. However, I often listen to some old people talking about world affairs, so even though I have never been here, I know a lot about it."
Liu Yan picked up the tea cup and smiled slightly, "No wonder my brother praised the young master to the sky, saying that the young master is both civilized and military, and he is a pearl buried by the wind and sand."
Guo Song was startled, "Do Liu Shijun's brothers know me?"
Liu Yan took out a mounted scroll from the bookcase next to him and slowly unfolded it. A majestic calligraphy appeared in front of Guo Song's eyes, 'Talented people have emerged from generation to generation, and each has led the way for hundreds of years.'
"Is this written by Mr. Guo?"
Guo Song suddenly realized, "It turns out that Liu Ji from Lingzhou is your brother!"
Liu Yan nodded, "He is my fourth brother. After he returned to the capital, he recommended you to me and said it was a pity that you were buried in Lingzhou. I told him that the pearl will definitely shine. Now it seems that I say
That’s exactly right.”
Guo Song secretly thought that this Liu Yan could keep his composure and stayed on the boat together for ten days, and only now did he tell him about Liu Ji.
"Where will your brother be employed now?"
"He is in Chuzhou and serves as the governor of Chu. It is next to Yangzhou. Maybe we will have a chance to see him."
Guo Song pondered for a moment and asked: "When does Liu Shijun think the imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty will be resumed?"
Liu Yan sighed and said: "We have been discussing this issue. Many ministers believe that the wars are not going away now. When the Tang Dynasty is completely settled, the imperial examination will naturally resume. In fact, the so-called wars are just excuses, and many power groups are doing everything possible to obstruct them.
Imperial examinations, such as those of major aristocratic families in the world and the Guanlong Group, their children do not need to participate in the imperial examinations to be in high positions. Of course, they strongly oppose the imperial examinations.
The emperor's throne was unstable and he needed their support, so he had to compromise in the end, and the imperial examination was temporarily shelved. On the contrary, the military examination was strongly promoted by the Guanlong Group and various vassal towns, and it was very active every year. This year's
The martial arts competition was held two months ago, but it's a pity that you came late."
Guo Song shook his head, "I'm not interested in martial arts."
"Indeed, there is no need for you to participate in martial arts now. The Emperor values you very much. As long as you can give full play to your talents, your future is limitless."
Guo Song didn't want to talk more about this matter, so he changed the topic and asked with a smile: "Liu Shijun, please tell me about the current situation in Yangzhou!"
====
[The Salt and Iron Supervisor of the Tang Dynasty was in Yangzhou. He was in charge of the salt and iron monopoly and was one of the important financial resources of the Tang Dynasty. Liu Yan was actually the Salt and Iron Supervisor before Wu Qi. It was changed here. With Liu Yan’s qualifications, he went to Yangzhou
The governor and the Jianghuai transfer envoy are a bit inferior to their talents]