Brother Song Taizu

Chapter 90
Walking through the small courtyard that was full of fallen leaves and no one had cleaned it, Zhao Guangmei carried gifts and entered Zhang Qiong's house. However, she was surprised to find that his house was extremely small, with only three or four old servants taking care of it. The living room was filled with a sense of smell. A musty smell.

Zhang Qiong was carrying a lame leg and a wound on his face. He was limping and actually made tea for Zhao Guangmei himself and said, "I hope your highness will forgive me for not being well received."

"You seem to be seriously injured?"

"It's not serious. Most of the injuries are on the face. Those grandsons did it on purpose to make His Highness laugh."

"Oh~"

Zhao Guangmei understood, and had to say that this group of people had suffered too much. After all, Zhang Qiong had always been labeled as a fierce general. When a strong general was beaten, he just hit him in the face. This was really an insult to him.

Precisely because of this, Zhang Qiong's injury itself was not serious. At this juncture of fierce public opinion, the big issue was naturally reduced to trivial matters. Zhang Qiong did not dare to make a fuss at all. The more trouble he made, the more It seemed that he was even more embarrassed.

"What's going on? Don't you know who hit me?"

"That day when I came back from the tax inspection, I was surrounded by a group of Taixue students. They accused me of abusing my power and started quarreling with me. They were all a group of students. I couldn't just take action, right? I just quarreled with them. In the middle of the quarrel, Suddenly, someone put a bag on my head, beat me with a stick, and then ran away."

He said with a wry smile: "The case is being investigated by the Kaifeng Mansion. It is said that the criminals who took action were not from the same group as those students from the Imperial Academy. After several days of investigation, no bullshit was found and no explanation was given. I am at home. Since these days of recuperation, His Highness is the first one to come to visit me."

"Haha, I thought I still couldn't get through your door this time."

Zhang Qiong's face turned red when he heard this, and he quickly explained: "After that day, I went to the Privy Council the next day and waited for you for a long time, but you didn't return to the Privy Council. I knew that His Highness was angry with me and wanted to apologize to you in person, but you didn't. I never took the chance."

After that, he knelt down with his remaining leg and gave Zhao Guangmei a big salute, and said: "Of course I know that His Highness will never be able to carry out a palace coup. To be honest, with His Highness' ability, even if you really want to do it one day, If you do something treasonous and unethical, you will never do it through me. However, Zhang refused to see His Highness that day, which was really a last resort, and I hope His Highness will forgive you."

Zhao Guangmei asked curiously: "Why do you have to do it as a last resort? Do you think that my eldest brother is a jealous and mean person?"

"The magnanimity of an official's family is like that of a river or sea. He once opened all the palace doors and opened the palace directly to the street. He said, 'My heart is so open and I have nothing to hide.' I think that all the kings in the past dynasties have nothing to do with their ambitions." Someone who can compare with it.”

Zhao Guangmei couldn't help but said: "This is strange. Since you also think that my elder brother is a mean and jealous person, why would you rather offend me than see me?"

Zhang Qiong smiled bitterly when he heard this and said: "It is important for people to know themselves. When it comes to marching and formation, although I cannot be said to be an amateur, I am really not ranked among the generals of the Forbidden Army. When it comes to bravery and strength, I am a lame. How strong can it be? As for the foundation, it has absolutely no foundation."

"Honestly, I am here today only because of luck. If I hadn't saved the official's life by chance that day, I would have been lost to everyone. But since the official allowed me to sit in such a high position, how could I stand on it? What? After thinking about it, the only word I can think of is loyalty. Although I am not good at civil and military skills, I am the most loyal to the officials among the generals of the Forbidden Army."

"Oh~"

understood.

That is to say, Zhang Qiongming knew that he was not good at what he did, so he deliberately set up the character of a lonely minister for himself, deliberately acting as a one-sided idiot who would not give face to anyone except Zhao Kuangyin, including Zhao Guangyi and What stands out about Zhao Guangmei is her loyalty.

And this path is indeed suitable for him, because he uses his lame leg to show off his unstinting energy. He is indeed not afraid of offending others. Even if Zhao Guangmei is offended by him, normally he will not take it. Didn't he make a move?

"In that case, why did you come to see me again this time?"

Zhang Qiong is also a bachelor: "Because I have already seen it, this time maybe what they want is not my face, but my life. On the surface, they are coming for me, but in fact they are coming for me." Your Highness and the trading company, the villain believes that the emergence of the trading company is a blessing to the world and all peoples. Therefore, no matter what, they cannot be allowed to ruin His Highness's plan because of the villain's incompetence. Your Highness has not come to see me today. In the past few days, I will definitely go to your Highness."

When Zhao Guangmei heard this, she was noncommittal.

"Zhang Qiong, how's your courage?"

Hearing this, Zhang Qiong said: "I have no merit, only my courage can be used."

"Then you do something for me. If the elder brother asks about it, you can just put the blame on me."

"Please give me your Majesty's orders. I will go through fire and water without hesitation."

"Haha, it's not that serious. It's just these two days. My mother and Zhao'er should be back soon."

………………

In just seven or eight days, the civil servants of the Song Dynasty began to press harder and harder, but Zhao Kuangyin chose to condone this.Not only did Zhang Qiong receive a beating without any consequences, but the rumors about him gradually became more and more frequent, and they were not just discussed among the civil officials, but also in the army, especially in front of the palace he was in charge of. Within the company, rumors about him being arrogant, domineering, and lawless were also spreading.

However, this Qiong was usually too straightforward in dealing with things. For a moment, he couldn't tell what was true and what was false.

As for the tax inspection, no one mentioned it anymore. For a while, it seemed that whoever raised the tax inspection was a lackey of the Forbidden Army and an accomplice of Li Chuyun.

In addition, the commercial bank was officially merged into the Third Division, and the Third Division directly became the Fourth Division. Zhao Kuangyin specifically decreed that the operation of the commercial bank must be established under the Fourth Division and must be controlled by the imperial court.

What is quite interesting is that Xue Juzheng, the former Third Chief of Staff, was sent out to serve as the magistrate of Xuzhou.

On the surface, this is because the Forbidden Army did too much in Hunan, and the imperial court had to send a prime minister-level person to appease the local people. At the same time, Zhao Kuangyin also issued an order that any Hunanese people who had previously rebelled and refused to allow the Forbidden Army to cross the border should be punished. The thief is not guilty, and at the same time he will be exempted from local taxes for three years in Hunan to make up for it. It seems that it is most reasonable for Xue Juzheng to go down.

After all, it would be too much to send Fan Zhi, Wang Pu and others, and they may not have real power when they get to the local level. But in Hunan, you can't send Zhao Pu or Zhao Guangyi, right?

For a time, who would replace Xue Juzheng as the third envoy became the most serious political issue in the DPRK. Although there was no clear statement yet, almost everyone in the government and the opposition believed that Zhao Guangmei, the deputy envoy, would be directly promoted to the position of deputy envoy. The envoy will definitely not do it.

Although His Highness the King of Qin is smart and capable, he does things as he pleases and does not follow the rules. He is usually very busy and does not even go to court, so how can he have the energy to take care of such complicated and messy things as the Third Division?
Zhao Guangyi believed that for this important task of the three ministers, it was better to find a traditional bureaucrat who was proficient in Confucian classics and came from the imperial examination on the right track. Therefore, he recommended a new generation of civil servants who were highly respected by officials and were knowledgeable and capable. When Lu Duoxun made the imperial edict, basically all the civil servants in the Manchu Dynasty expressed strong approval for it, and his voice was very loud.

However, Zhao Pu doesn't like Lu Duoxun, or in other words, the two people simply have a grudge. Lu Duoxun is one of the few people who dares to directly compete with Zhao Pu for power from a civil servant's standpoint. He even wrote a letter to Zhao Pu. bad words.

Therefore, Zhao Pu recommended someone who was also a staff member of Guide Mansion, Zhao Kuangyin's personal staff Shen Yilun. This person was in charge of finance when he was in Guide Mansion. He had also been working in the Ministry of Household Affairs since the founding of the Song Dynasty. He could be said to be a professional counterpart, and The relationship between him and Zhao Kuangyin is undoubtedly much closer.

Among the two people, Lu Duoxun's reputation was obviously higher. If nothing else, just the fact that he dared to confront Zhao Pu as a civil servant was enough to make his prestige in the civil service system skyrocketing.

The civil servants in the early Song Dynasty were so weak that anyone who had the courage to show up would be wildly sought after. Although Zhao Pu was a civil servant on the surface, he was not an orthodox Jinshi after all, and those civil servants were really unwilling to lead him. He plays.

To put it bluntly, although the Song Dynasty was founded less than two years ago, the contradiction between Zhao Guangyi and Zhao Pu has gradually surfaced.

In this regard, the person involved, Zhao Guangmei, was non-committal. When Zhao Kuangyin asked him for his opinion, he just smiled and said, anything is fine.

Zhao Kuangyin wants to play with balance and deliberately suppress himself. This is what he has said hello to himself in advance. How can he jump around at this time?

For a while, everyone naturally couldn't figure out what kind of medicine Zhao Guangmei was selling in his gourd. Could it be that His Highness King Qin really wanted to admit defeat this time?
Until this day, Zhao Kuangyin and the courtiers were discussing matters, and Zhao Pu and Zhao Guangyi were still arguing about the position of the third envoy. Suddenly, they heard a "bang", as if a big thunder fell in the palace, and everyone was shocked. The sudden sound startled him.

"What happened?"

"From the sound, it sounds like it's not far from the palace."

"A thunderstorm broke the roof again?"

"Where did the thunder come from on this sunny day?"

Zhao Kuangyin and the officials were all confused and quickly ordered people to investigate. After a while, Wang Jien reported: "The official is... Zhang Qiong. He said that he was ordered by His Highness King Qin to help test new weapons. "

"Zhang Qiong? And Lao San? New weapons? What new weapons? What's going on? Lao San? What the hell did you do again?!"

I saw Zhao Guangmei in the crowd smiling and saying: "Oh, I remembered, didn't I make an explosive bag? I asked Zhang Qiong to help me test the power. I didn't expect him to be so rash. Where did it explode?" Prince, where did the explosion happen? Listening to the sound, it seems that it is not far from the palace."

"It exploded...it exploded in Duke Rong's house."

"Wang Jixun?"

Zhao Kuangyin glanced at Zhao Guangmei inexplicably.

"What the hell are you doing! How did Wang Jixun offend you?"

Zhao Guangmei spread her hands after hearing this: "Brother, I didn't build anything, but judging from the sound, my new weapon must have been successful. Congratulations, brother, our Song Dynasty has another magic weapon from now on. Why don't you invite brother Would you like me to come with you and have a look?"

(End of this chapter)