"In addition, I want to report to the Queen Mother that the eight states in northern Jingzhou have been recaptured by us, and it will be just around the corner for us to recapture all of Jingzhou."
The Queen Mother nodded, "This is a good thing, congratulations to Your Highness!"
There was a trace of exhaustion in the Queen Mother's tone, and it was obvious that she had no interest in retaking Jingbei. Guo Song stood up and said, "I'm sorry to disturb the Queen Mother's rest. I'll leave!"
"Thank you, Your Highness, for coming to visit the Ai family today. Please rest assured, Your Highness, the Ai family is living well and peacefully!"
"Then Wei Chen is relieved!"
Guo Song bowed and retreated slowly. He didn't even visit Ying Caihe and left in a hurry.
........
Returning to the official room of the Daming Palace, Guo Song just sat down and a clerk reported at the door, "Your Highness, Pan Xiangguo wants to see you!"
"Invite him in!"
Not long after, Pan Liao hurriedly walked in, bowed and said: "See you, Your Highness!"
"Sit down and talk!"
Pan Liao sat down next to him, and the tea boy served him tea. This detail suddenly reminded Guo Song, as if he had just gone to see the Queen Mother, but the Queen Mother didn't serve him tea. How much did he hope that he would finish talking and leave as soon as possible?
"Your Highness, I have just received news from the Hangzhou government that King Zhao fell ill on the way to Chang'an."
This news stunned Guo Song and quickly asked: "What exactly is going on?"
"It seems that King Zhao took a sea-going ship from Guangzhou to the north. He fell ill when he arrived in Mingzhou. He rested for two days and then continued his journey north. Finally, he landed in Hangzhou and is now ill in Yuhang County."
Guo Song paced slowly in the room with his hands behind his hands. Among the four people summoned to Beijing, only Han Huang made it clear that he wanted to go to Beijing. He was expected to go north to Xiangyang. It was a fact that Liu Qia was ill, and the military and political power had been controlled by his son Liu Shining.
, Ma Sui had no news, neither said he would come nor said he would not come, as if he had not received the call.
Zhao Wang Li Si made it clear that he wanted to come, but he fell ill in Hangzhou. Was this a 'falling ill' in his plan? Or was he really ill and didn't want to come?
Thinking of this, Guo Song immediately walked to the door and ordered: "Go to the Jinwei Mansion and ask Commander Song to see me immediately!"
A guard ran away in a hurry, and Pan Liao hesitated and asked: "Your Highness, do you suspect that he is feigning illness?"
Guo Song shook his head and said: "Actually, it doesn't matter whether Li Si comes, but his condition will affect the situation in Lingnan, so I have to confirm whether he is really ill. If he is just feigning illness, I can let him go back to recuperate.
, if he is really seriously ill, we must find a way to avoid war in Lingnan."
"Your Highness, King Zhao has a son." Pan Liao reminded.
Guo Song sneered, "The four sons of King Zhao are all adopted sons, and they are all good at music, chess, calligraphy and painting, but none of them can lead troops in war. I am afraid that they will not be able to control the situation and some ambitious generals will take the opportunity to launch a mutiny.
"
"But there is nothing we can do about it. Lingnan is too far away and we cannot control it. Your Highness, this is reality."
Guo Song knew that Pan Liao was right, and he was very angry. He knocked on the table with his fist and said, "Now I know how important the shipbuilding industry is, especially large ships that can go to sea."
At this time, Song Tian hurried over and said outside the door: "Your Highness, are you looking for a humble position?"
"Commander Song, come in quickly!" Guo Song waved to him, and Song Tian walked in quickly. He bowed to Guo Song and Pan Liao each.
Guo Song asked: "Where is our nearest intelligence point to Hangzhou?"
"Your Majesty, I am in Kuaiji County, Yuezhou."
Guo Song then said: "Inform your subordinates in Kuaiji County immediately and ask them to rush to Yuhang County, Hangzhou to find..."
Guo Song turned around and looked at Pan Liao, who said: "Go to the Hangzhou Prefectural Government Office. They know where King Zhao is recuperating."
Guo Song continued: "King Zhao fell ill in Hangzhou, but I want to know his true condition. You arranged for your men in Kuaiji County to inquire about this matter."
"I understand, Your Highness, I have no other instructions. I will go and send the letter right now!"
"Go for it!"
Song Tian bowed and hurried away.
Guo Song asked Pan Liao again: "How well do you know Liu Shining, Liu Qia's son?"
"Your Highness, I know nothing about this person, but I know that Prime Minister Dugu knows this person very well."
Guo Song also happened to want to ask Dugu Qiu about shipbuilding, so he said to the guard: "Go and invite Prime Minister Dugu here!"
The straight line distance between Du Qiuqiu's official house and Guo Song's official house was less than fifty steps. Soon, Du Duqiu was brought into Guo Song's official house by joining the army.
Du Guqiu was the last confirmed prime minister. He was appointed Minister of the Ministry of Industry. The reason why Guo Song appointed him as prime minister was mainly based on two considerations.
One is that among his seven prime ministers, four are from Hexi, Pan Liao, Zhang Qianyi, Cao Wannian and Zhang Qiu'an. Cui Yuanfeng has been a local official for a long time and lacks court experience and connections. Only Du You is left in the court.
Although he was a veteran minister, he was a bit independent and found it difficult to support himself, so Guo Song took a fancy to Du Lingqiu, who had a wide network of connections and seniority in the court.
Of course, Du Lingqiu himself is in good health and is capable of doing the work of Prime Minister.
The second aspect is that Guo Song wanted to find a prime minister in charge of manufacturing. In terms of experience and practice in this area, no one can compare with Du Guqiu.
It was these two reasons that made Du Guqiu realize his dream of becoming the Prime Minister in his sixtieth year. Although he briefly served as the Prime Minister in the Southern Tang Dynasty, he believed that the Southern Tang Dynasty was incomplete and partial. It only had the name of a Prime Minister but no Prime Minister.
The reality.
"Hey! Lao Pan is here too."
Du Lingqiu walked in, bowed slightly, and said with a smile: "I guess His Highness is looking for me about shipbuilding?"
"How does Prime Minister Dugu know?" Guo Song asked in confusion.
"Spring will soon bloom, and it's time to sail again."
Guo Song smiled: "It can only be said to be a coincidence! Please sit down, Prime Minister."
Du Guqiu sat down, and Guo Song asked him: "Actually, I have two things to ask Xiangguo. The first is that I want to know, what is Liu Shining like? Xiangguo Dugu should know him very well!"
"Liu Shining, son of Liu Xuanzuo?"
"It's him!"
Du Guqiu smiled and said: "Your Highness really asked the right person. When Emperor Zong was in power, I took over as General Qianniuwei, and this Liu Shining was one of my brigade commanders."
"Wait a minute?"
Guo Song interrupted Du Lingqiu and asked: "How old is this Liu Shining?"
"Almost the same as His Highness."
Guo Song gestured for him to continue talking, and Du Lingqiu continued: "This Liu Shining is very treacherous. A case of raping a civilian girl occurred at that time. Liu Shining was one of the suspects, but he had no evidence of alibi because the night of the crime happened
He was on duty, but the other two became scapegoats, beaten with a hundred sticks, dismissed from their posts and driven out of the military camp.
Two months later, Liu Shining once drunk and revealed the truth. He was responsible for that case. He used his duty as a cover to sneak into private houses and commit crimes, and then came back without a trace and continued to patrol on duty, so everyone could
It was proved that he was not present, the matter was over, the victim's family had moved away, the case was over, and I could only dismiss him."
"What happened next?" Guo Song asked again.
"Later, he followed his father in the southern and northern wars, and made many achievements, but many people said that he was ambitious. When his father was the governor of Song Bian, he persuaded his father more than once to support his own troops, and Liu Qia's army and
A great battle between Li Xilie's army was also caused by Liu Shining. Liu Qia wanted to go to Huainan and go to Yangzhou, but Liu Shining wanted to destroy Li Xilie and seize his foundation. In the end, both sides suffered losses."
"But I heard that he later went to Chengdu?" Pan Liao asked next to him.
"It is true that he went to Chengdu on his own initiative. He was willing to be a hostage in Chengdu so that Liu Qian could be named the governor of Jiangnan East Road by the late emperor. When his father established a firm foothold in Jiangnan East Road, he bribed Song Chaofeng heavily.
, and then asked for leave to go home to attend the funeral on the grounds that his mother had died. Song Chaofeng interceded on his behalf, and the late emperor granted him a one-year leave. After that, he never returned to Chengdu."
Guo Song nodded, "This shows that this person is very smart and good at seizing opportunities. He is a powerful character."
Du Lingqiu smiled and shook his head, "His biggest weakness is that he is too ambitious. He once wrote a letter to the late emperor, saying that he wanted to be the governor of Suzhou. The late emperor came to me to discuss it, but a palace coup broke out before there was any result."
"Then what did the late emperor think of Liu Shining?" Guo Song asked again.
"The late emperor judged him as a traitor and it was best to imprison him in the capital and never let him out of the capital."
Guo Song took a few steps with his hands behind his back, and suddenly said to the two of them: "Could it be that Han Huang's willingness to come to the capital to report on his work has something to do with this Liu Shining?"