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Text Chapter 12 (16) The Fourth "Cao Dian" Meeting (Part 2)

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    On the day of the meeting, shortly after midnight, Shang Cheng came to the Yamen of the Ministry of War.

    He just walked into the Yamen, and someone immediately told him that Tang Xing, the left prime minister who had not shown up for a long time, suddenly came to the Yamen today. Zeng Ao, Minister of the Ministry of War, had just rushed to the prime minister's house and might not come back soon; so today  The meeting will probably start later.

    Tang Lao Xiangguo went to the country?

    Shang Cheng was stunned for a moment before he understood what happened.  Old Xiangguo is back at work, which is a good thing!  At present, the public opposition to the suppression of land annexation in the court is getting louder and louder. Local governments are also quite resistant to the court's measures to investigate hidden households in Guitian. The matter can hardly proceed. Along with this, the ability and prestige of Right Prime Minister Zhang Pu have also been affected.  A lot of doubts and blows.  At this time, it is indeed necessary for the old prime minister to step forward and preside over the affairs of the court!  Moreover, Lao Xiangguo is impartial on the issue of "going south" or "going north", which is undoubtedly more acceptable than Zhang Pu, the leader of the southern movement!

    He was thinking as he walked into the large courtyard where the main hall of the Ministry of War was located.

    There were a dozen or so people in the yard.  These people are here to attend today's meeting.  Because the meeting had to be postponed, everyone was unwilling to sit in the main hall and stare at each other, so they simply went to the courtyard to chat together in twos and threes.  However, the number of people today is obviously much smaller than the last "enlarged meeting". Apart from the three Shangzhu Kingdoms Yang Du, Yan Gu and Gu Shi, the only ones left are Shangguan Rui and several senior officials from the Liyuan Forbidden Army.  general.

    Gu Shi was talking to people about how to grow peonies by the small flower garden in front of the steps.  He saw Shang Cheng at a glance and said hello: "Zida, I came just in time. I have something to ask you for advice. The day before yesterday, I received a letter from Yan Jiu, which mentioned that you told him last time  Is it a soft sail or a hard sail"

    The man who was talking to Gu Shi smiled and nodded to Shang Cheng, accused Gu Shi again, and walked away.

    "You said that hard sails are only suitable for small and medium-sized ships with less than three thousand stones, and are only suitable for sailing in coastal waters. If you want to use large ships for ocean voyages, you still need to develop soft sails. But you only drew a few sketches for him, Lai  The master craftsmen who boarded the two shipyards didn't know how to start, and they didn't even know if the mast could be made. They all said that the sails of ships have always been hard sails, and they had never heard of soft sails. They also questioned Yan Jiu  , if the mast is erected more than ten feet high, then the ship will not capsize?" Although the man had already left, Gu Shi still finished what he said, which seemed like an excuse.  "He sent a letter and asked me to help him ask you for advice on what to do with this soft sailing ship."

    Shang Cheng opened his mouth and couldn't say a word.  Have you ever told Yan Jiu about Ruanfan?  How come he has no impression at all; he even made a sketch of a sailboat?  I can't even remember this anymore.  He only remembered a few words with Yan Jiu about what tactics and strategies should be adopted in Dongbo, but that was not his original intention, but Yan Jiu and the others insisted that he say a few words of wisdom He said  He closed his mouth and said helplessly: "I don't know how to build a sailboat." However, the fact that he didn't know how to build a sailboat was not the key to the problem.  Although no one knows how to build a soft sailing boat, aren't there still investors like the first three people?  "You wouldn't write to him and tell him that if you don't know how to build a sail warship, just throw money at it to figure it out until we can build it ourselves! It's not spending our own money anyway!"

    Gu Shi smiled and said: "I guess you don't know how to build this soft sailing boat, so I didn't ask you and just told him so in the letter. Anyway, it was the money of the great monk Qian Sankou."  , why should we save for him?"

    Shang Cheng laughed.  He asked Gu Shi in a low voice: "Have you heard?"

    "You already knew this?" Gu Shi glanced at him in surprise, and then said, "I only heard about it the day before yesterday."

    Shang Cheng didn¡¯t say anything, acquiescing to Gu Shi¡¯s guess.

    "When did you know about it?"

    "Half a month ago. It was the time of the last code meeting."

    "Did Chang Xiu tell you?"

    "no¡­¡­"

    "Li Dingyi? Or is she that girl from the Tian family?"

    "None of them." Shang Cheng said, "Don't guess. These people's mouths have been sewn shut, and no one has tipped me off yet. It was Lao Jiang who told me. One by one, it's Jiang Tuan! You  You know, he works in the yamen of the Ministry of Industry and heard a few words, and also heard that Zhen Huaichun went to Zhengzhou on business for no apparent reason. As soon as the two parties contacted him, he guessed about it."

    Gu Shi didn¡¯t connect Zhenxiang¡¯s trip to Zhengzhou with the glass incident. As soon as Businessman reminded him, he immediately understood.  Now that the glass has been fired, those who wrote the memorial to impeach the Ministry of Works are the unlucky ones, but the most embarrassing ones are the Ministry of War.  Everyone knows that the glass fell into the hands of the Ministry of Industry after the Ministry of War was unwilling to waste money, and it made a "smart" decision for the Ministry of War.??This is Zhenxiang, the left minister of the Ministry of War!  When the Ministry of Engineering kept throwing money into the dark hole of the furnace, and when Chang Xiu was worried and angry about the glass, everyone secretly praised Zhenxiang's foresight and sagacity, and at the same time admired his selflessness.  The person he rejected was not an ordinary person, but his good friend Shang Cheng.  But now?  The glass was fired successfully, so what kind of attitude should he have towards his colleagues and friends?  Zhenxiang really couldn't think of any way, so in the end she could only hide her face and run away, going to Zhengzhou under the guise of business to avoid the limelight.

    Gu Shi shook his head, sighed softly and said, "It seems that Zhang Pu is about to take action."

    Shang Cheng was speechless.  He and Gu Shi have the same view, Zhang Pu's counterattack is right in front of him!  In the past few days, there have been more and more impeachment memorials against the Ministry of Industry and Chang Xiu, and the rhetoric in the memorials has become more and more intense. If left unchecked, the situation may become difficult to deal with.  Yesterday, some people even expanded the scope of impeachment to include the military, saying, "The person who is provocative is former Yanshan Admiral Shangcheng. He was originally a street scoundrel who lost his land in the border areas. He has no talents, but is good at empty words and exaggerating achievements."  , falsely claimed credit, and then stole honors and ranks." It was also mentioned that "the Shang family in Chayi County was originally a subordinate of Xia County, with only half an acre of land and no grain. However, it took less than four years from the day Shang succeeded in stealing the merits.  His family's wealth exceeds tens of thousands. When the Shang family moved to Shangjing the day before yesterday, their family's wealth alone included hundreds of cars. How did the Shang family get their wealth?" This is really too much!  Shang Cheng estimated that since the current situation has a tendency to develop in an uncontrollable direction, Zhang Pu's counterattack should be launched soon, and this counterattack must be very fierce!  No, the glass news that was tightly blocked by Zhang Pu reached Gu Shi's ears. Obviously, this was Zhang Pu consciously spreading the news to the outside world in order to prevent some unexpected changes before and after the counterattack.

    Shang Cheng didn¡¯t want to talk more about the glass, so he brought up another topic: ¡°I just heard that Mr. Tang, Prime Minister, is back.¡±

    "I'm back." Gu Shi said simply.  Then he let out a long sigh and said in a faint voice, "When the New Year is over, the old Prime Minister will resign and return to his hometown."

    This news shocked Shang Cheng.  He never expected that the old prime minister would resign as soon as he spoke!  But when he thought about it carefully, he didn't feel that surprised.  Among the complicated state affairs was the fight between the King of Jinan and the King of Chengdu for the crown prince position in Ganquan Palace, and the old prime minister's body really couldn't bear the pain.

    He was silent for a while and then asked: "Who will be the left prime minister next?"

    "Zhang Pu." Gu Shi said, "Old Prime Minister Tang has recommended him to the emperor to take over as left prime minister. He has been recommended one by one."

    Shang Cheng said nothing more.  Although he and Zhang Pu had conflicts of one kind or another, they were all official differences, and he had no other opinions about Zhang Pu.  In any case, the most suitable person to be left prime minister right now is Zhang Pu. Apart from him, there is no one else

    At this time, Shangguan Rui came over.

    As soon as he arrived, Shang Cheng and Gu Shi couldn't say anything more important. The three of them stood by the flower garden and chatted about random things. Gu Shi was dragged to the side by a commander of Pingyuan General Yamen to talk.  .

    Looking at the anxious expression on the commander's face and the anxious look on his face, Shangguan Rui said with a smile: "What a thief! Old Bao is in trouble this time."

    Shang Cheng also knew the commander named Bao, but he was not very familiar with it, so he asked, "How did you know he was in trouble?"

    "His daughter is Princess Ding." Shangguan Rui said.

    Only then did Shang Cheng realize that this old Bao was actually the father-in-law of Chen Can, the king of Dingzhou.  However, Chen Can was so honest that he couldn't even speak clearly, and Old Bao, who had a loyal face, didn't look like a troublemaker. One of them was a prince, and the other was a powerful general with nine-city troops. They were both of high status and very high status.  Out of the ordinary, who dared to cause trouble for them after eating the bear's heart and the leopard?

    Shangguan Rui does know some details.  Speaking of which, Shang Cheng is inseparable from this matter - it was all caused by the "Eastern Japanese Loan".  It turned out that Lao Bao's daughter was very shrewd and knew how to run a household, so although Chen Can was not favored by Emperor Dongyuan, the grandeur of Prince Ding's palace was not much worse than that of other princes' palaces.  But the bad thing is that Lao Bao's daughter is too shrewd.  When she found out about the Eastern Japanese loan that Old Prince Qinghe and the others had made, and when others were hesitant to believe it, she felt that it was a sure profit, so she took the lead in accepting 80,000 yuan, and later took out another 20,000 yuan one after another.  Min made up a round number, and finally dragged in everything her father, Lao Bao, uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters at home could bring, and paid 250,000 Min in the name of King Chen Can.  This two hundred and fifty thousand yuan is not a small amount. It is impossible for the old Bao family and Prince Ding's house to come up with such a large amount of cash. Her original plan was to let everyone sell the land and exchange it for copper coins. After all, the revenue from the landThe interest rates on loans between Cheng and Dongwa are as high as the earth and in the sky, and it is impossible to compare them.  To be honest, her plan was pretty good, but things didn't turn out the way she imagined.  Since she could see that the interest on the Dongwa loan was huge, and others were no more stupid than her, she was far from the only one who planned to sell the land for cash and then lend money to the Dongwa country.  As a result, you sold the land and I sold the land in the same way. The clans involved in the Dongwa loan and their relatives all sold the land at the same time. The government did not issue a notice to calm the people, so ordinary people did not know what happened and were even shocked.  Even those who are frightened are rushing to sell land. The result is that the price of land around Shangjing has dropped again and again. In the past, you could not buy an acre of land for a hundred and ten cents. Now, there are people who are willing to sell it for only sixty cents, some of which are a little far away from the capital.  In remote places where roads are not smooth, the land is even as low as thirty or forty dollars per acre.  Now Jiangnan, Jiangbei, Jingxiang, Chengdu, Chang'an news has been received from all directions. People everywhere are bringing truckloads of copper coins to Beijing, all thinking of picking up bargains here.

    The more Shang Cheng listened, the less he understood.  Since someone comes to buy land with money, there is no problem in selling the land at a lower price. After selling the land, it will naturally be exchanged for copper coins. Why does Lao Bao still talk to Gu Shi with a sad face?

    Shangguan Rui said with a wry smile: "These people are here to buy land, that's true. But these rich locals are smarter than Lao Bao's daughter! The money raised by each family from selling land now is the second largest amount of the Dongwa loan."  The pen was only 1.2 million yuan, but the third one at the end of the year was 2.4 million yuan. At that time, the land price was so cheap?" He glanced sideways at Lao Bao and said in a low voice,  "I estimate that Lao Bao wanted to borrow money from Gu Shi to survive the famine. They have known each other for a long time. Lao Bao's daughter married Prince Ding, and it was Gu Shi who acted as a matchmaker. Although it was the intention of the emperor, he still acted as an adult.  Love is not"

    Shang Cheng nodded.  This is indeed a favor; it is both Gu Shi's favor and Lao Bao's favor. After all, Ding Wang Chen Canhow to put it, in short, is a bit too honest.  However, he didn't think that Lao Bao's search for Gu Shi would be of any use.  If the land and real estate were not included, Gu Poyang would be almost a pauper now.  At least he heard from Yue'er and Erya that Gu Xiaochan once asked them if they were willing to buy a few acres of land from the Gu family. It was definitely high-quality and ripe land, and the price must be extremely fair.  .

    He suddenly felt that Shangguan Rui came over inexplicably, said so many things to him, and exposed Lao Bao's secrets. Could it be that he had something to say to him?

    He asked Shangguan Rui: "I said, you won't be involved in it, right? Are you planning to borrow money from me?"

    Shangguan Rui laughed and said: "If I really want to borrow money, I will definitely come to you. Don't look at the people in this courtyard who are either Shangzhu or Zhuguo, either a duke or a prince, but I dare say that there are not many people there.  He can be richer than you. You Yanshan Guards destroyed Heishui City! That is a place that the Tujiec people have been running for two hundred years. How can you still be so rich that your farts are leaking? But look at what Sun Zhongshan reported back.  What was written in the battle report? Either tents or carpets, cattle, sheep and horses, or weapons and pig iron. But what about the gold, silver and other goods that the Tujiec people plundered? I read over and over several pages of the battle report.  , I just didn¡¯t see it.¡±

    ¡°It must be written on it, I remember seeing it in the battle report!¡± Shang Cheng said seriously with a straight face.

    "Yes, it is indeed written! But there are more than a thousand kilograms of silver ingots, two hundred kilograms of gold ingots, and more than eight thousand kilograms of coins. Is this called extremely rich?" Shangguan Rui said disdainfully, "I have seen those  The captured copper coins were all Kaiyuan Tongbao from the late Tang Dynasty. The flesh was all black. I don¡¯t know how much lead was poured into the coins when they were cast. It would be good if three of them could hold up to one Dongyuan Tongbao. Such a huge Blackwater City,  It¡¯s just this little thing, who would believe it?¡±

    Shang Cheng smiled and said nothing, let alone defend.  Because what Shangguan Rui said was the truth.  Yes, Shangguan Rui was right. Sun Zhongshan captured Heishui City, and everyone in the Yanshan Guard, from generals to soldiers, and even some civil servants, indeed made a small fortune.  He believed that the imperial court must know this.  But so what?  They deserve it!  What's the purpose of being a soldier and eating food? Isn't it just to get promoted and make a fortune?  Everyone ate black flour cakes that were harder than rocks, drank well water that had the lingering smell of mutton and horse urine, slept in cold tents, and fought hard with the Tujiec people with their heads in their belts.  They just won some trophies, so who can blame them?

    Shangguan Rui suddenly fell silent as he spoke, not knowing what he was thinking.  After a while, he smacked his lips and said with envy: "I regret it! I was originally taught to go to Yanshan to be a great Sima, but IHai, I should have kicked Guo Biao aside and gone to Yanshan.  He was this great Sima! If it had happened in the past, he would be a famous general in the world now!"

    Shang Cheng made a fierce expression on his face, looked around fiercely, and whispered: "Who dares to say that you are not a famous general? Tell me your name.??I, I'll go over and chop him up for you!  One by one, even if you are finally willing to send that pile of stones to my house, Xie Yi!  "

    Shangguan Rui chuckled and said in the same low voice: "It's just a pile of broken rocks. How can I express my gratitude? If you are willing, just do me a small favor."

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