After hearing this, Luo Guanlin was silent for a moment, then said: "Even if you want to be greedy, I'm afraid you can't be greedy now. When you take over the finances of the states, I'm afraid they will give you a big 'surprise'."
Needless to say, most of the profits will be losses, and even if there are a few profits, those people may not report them honestly.
Chang Suining was optimistic: "Don't worry, sir. We have territory, weapons, and people. Why should we be afraid of continuing to be poor?"
Looking at the person in front of him, Luo Guanlin suddenly realized that no matter what she faced, she never seemed to be negative.
On the contrary, everything she did was something that others would shy away from. She could always find a way out of things that others dared not face, and she became more and more stable as she went along.
Luo Guanlin has also met some people who are naturally insensitive. When faced with setbacks and hardships, these people will show optimism and courage that ordinary people do not possess because of their insensitivity.
But the person in front of him was obviously not "dull" at all.
Luo Guanlin suddenly couldn't help asking, "When facing a difficult road ahead, do you never feel negative or afraid?"
"If you run into me, it should be the difficulties and the road ahead that you should feel negative and fearful about." Chang Suining joked, and then said, "I am not afraid because I believe that everything is up to me."
Luo Guanlin looked at her: "What if it's impossible?"
Chang Suining: "Then I'll force it."
"What if I force it and it doesn't work?"
Chang Suining said nonchalantly, "That's because I don't have enough skills, but I have no regrets."
Looking at the fearless and free-spirited person in front of him, Luo Guanlin suddenly realized that for someone like her, there was no way back on the path she wanted to take.
After a moment, he said, "When people do things, they may fail because of cowardice or blindness. Only by overcoming these two can we achieve success."
Chang Suining asked with a smile: "Sir, do you think I have the potential to succeed now?"
There was still a tone of immodestness, but it was difficult for Luo Guanlin to deny it.
The position of Jiedushi is a position that others would need ten years, dozens of years, or even a lifetime to reach, but she did it in such a short time.
Precisely because it happened so quickly, it further proves her extraordinary abilities, and it also makes people more shocked and dare not underestimate her.
Now everyone knows Chang Suining, and she has already occupied a place among various forces.
Luo Guanlin held the wine cup on the table and asked Chang Suining, "Sir, do you still remember what you said on the Jiangdu city tower last year?"
She said that if there was a wise leader, she would follow him. If there was no wise leader, she would be the wise leader.
From the beginning, she confessed to him her ambitions that should have been hidden without any concealment. She said to him at that time: "If even I myself think that women's ambitions are not worth showing off, and I dare not openly identify myself, then how can I expect my husband and others to identify with me in the future?"
Thinking back to the girl's powerful words on the city wall that night, Luo Guanlin felt complicated.
He also had to admit that after a year, when he faced the person again, his mood had indeed changed a lot.
Seeing Chang Suining nod, he continued to ask, "What do you think of Prince Rong Li Yin?"
Chang Suining raised his eyes and asked, "Sir, do you think Prince Rong is a wise choice for a leader?"
Seeing her calm expression, Luo Guanlin remained silent: "I don't know him well enough to make a choice."
"But Mr. Ke still took him into consideration." Chang Suining was not shy and said casually, "It's just because he is famous now, he is a man, and his last name is Li?"
Luo Guanlin did not deny it, and said: "Your Excellency cannot deny that the success of the Li family's children is the safest for the people of the world."
Talking to the current lord about other candidates for the lord, even with the three-year agreement, is somewhat presumptuous and reckless.
But since Luo Guanlin talked to him sincerely, in another sense, it was also a kind of "heart-to-heart talk".
He could also see that Chang Suining was not emotional at this moment. Such tolerance was rare and admirable, so his tone was unusually calm: "And as far as I know, Prince Rong had a close relationship with the late Crown Prince, and he was also trusted by the late Crown Prince in the past."
Such open royal affairs were not secrets in the first place. In addition, several years after the death of the late Crown Prince, Prince Rong had written many mourning articles during the Jingling Mausoleum sacrifices. Several of these articles were widely circulated. The words in the memorials to his nephew were full of deep sorrow, and the affection between the uncle and nephew could also be seen from the past events mentioned in the articles.
"Having been trusted by the late crown prince doesn't seem to mean anything." Chang Suining said, "What if the late crown prince made a mistake?"
Chang Suining didn't want to let his past shortsightedness cause others to make wrong judgments, but he made Luo Guanlin frown: "Your Excellency, even if you say that people's hearts are fickle, it would be more pleasing to the ear than criticizing the eyes of the late Crown Prince."
Chang Suining could tell that although Luo Guanlin was dissatisfied with her "disrespectful words", he did not get angry, which showed that he was quite tolerant of her now.
This is a very good sign.
Chang Suining was in a good mood, so he became curious: "Sir, since you respect the late Crown Prince so much, can I ask you a question?"
"If you ask, come."
"If the former Crown Prince was a woman, would you still do this, sir?"
"..." Luo Guanlin's eyes twitched twice: "Why do you make such a ridiculous assumption?"
Chang Suining raised his eyebrows: "Sir, there are many absurd things in this world."
Luo Guanlin glanced at the tea bowl in front of her: "Although you haven't drunk any wine, you are quite drunk."
He admired and regretted the late Crown Prince Li Xiao very much. He was very considerate of Chang Suining by not scolding her for her "nonsense".
Chang Suining realized that he had stepped on the edge of Luo Guanlin's bottom line, so he stopped talking nonsense and turned the topic back to Prince Rong, asking bluntly: "Sir, are you trying to convince me to support Prince Rong?"
If he just wanted to vote himself, there would be no need to bring this matter up in front of her.
Luo Guanlin shook his head slightly: "It's too early to talk about this now, I just mentioned it casually."
In addition, he wanted to use this opportunity to test Chang Suining's attitude towards supporting the Li family.
"I also think it's too early to say that." Chang Suining smiled slightly and said, "Perhaps in the near future, a more promising member of the Li family will appear."
Seeing her expression, Luo Guanlin couldn't help but ask, "If a worthy person appears, are you really willing to support Li?"
"Of course." Chang Suining said without hesitation: "As you just said, it is the safest choice for the Li family to take charge of the situation. It is beneficial to the people, so why wouldn't I want to do that?"
Perhaps it was because these eyes were too sincere, or perhaps he truly saw her compassion for the people, Luo Guanlin felt suddenly touched at this moment.
"If what you said is true, and if you really want to care for the people of the world--" Luo Guanlin held up the wine cup: "Then Luo, for the sake of the people of the world, will also toast to you, sir."
This glass of wine contains a lot.
Chang Suining picked up the tea bowl and said, "I will not disappoint you, sir."
Perhaps because of Chang Suining's statement, Luo Guanlin felt more at ease, and the subsequent conversation became more harmonious.
But Luo Guanlin mentioned a piece of bad news. He had previously introduced three people to Chang Suining. In addition to Wang Yue and Tang Xing, there was another person who had not yet arrived. After inquiring for a while, Luo Guanlin learned not long ago that his old friend had passed away last summer.
"They were attacked by a group of soldiers and bandits who broke into the houses, burned, killed and looted..." Luo Guanlin mentioned this, with sadness and anger in his eyes: "There is no law and order there anymore. Those people threatened to follow Bian Chunliang's example and kill all the unjust nobles and officials."
But his good friend was not from a scholarly family at all. He was slaughtered wantonly because his family had a collection of books, one of his sons had served in officialdom, and he was quite famous in the local area.
What’s even more hateful is that this has become the norm in many places.
Bian Chunliang's actions were like a fire that, when blown by a strong wind, scattered sparks and gave rise to greed and evil thoughts in the hearts of many people. Under the cover of the so-called slogan of "rising for the people", they took up knives and committed all kinds of evil deeds.
Chang Suining could only comfort Luo Guanlin with a few words, and then thought about the battle situation in Jingzhou. Xiao Min was also in Jingzhou now. He only hoped that there would be news of victory soon so that the arrogance of Bian Chunliang's army could be curbed as soon as possible.
"By the way..." When talking about his good friend, Luo Guanlin couldn't help but ask, "Why didn't I see Xiu Kun returning to Jiangdu with me this time?"
This was the first time that Chang Suining had time to sit down and talk with him alone after returning to Jiangdu, so he had the opportunity to ask a question.
"I failed to bring him back." Chang Suining said, "This is my incompetence."
Luo Guanlin was silent for a moment, and finally sighed: "This is not your fault... On the battlefield, swords have no eyes, and everyone's life is at stake."
"......?" Chang Suining explained: "He just returned to Mount Wutai."
Luo Guanlin was stunned for a moment, then nodded in realization and said, "...After so many years, he still can't calm down. This is his nature, and it can't be called incompetence."
Chang Suining smiled in surprise and said, "If I remember correctly, this is the first time that the master has comforted me."
This bad-tempered gentleman now treats her very differently from before.
Luo Guanlin acted as if he didn't want to pay attention, but he was thinking in his mind.
Even after Chang Suining left, Luo Guanlin still stood quietly in the courtyard under the moon. After thinking for a long time, there was a trace of confusion in his eyes that he had never had before.
After standing still for a while, Luo Guanlin picked up the box on the stone table, handed it to Luo Ze, and told him to send it to the charity hall in the city tomorrow and donate all the money.
Those who came to Jiangdu included not only scholars, craftsmen, and refugees who could farm, but also many children who had lost their families. In contrast, these weak children seemed "useless", but Jiangdu did not reject them.
So many charity houses were set up in the city to house those children.
After Chang Suining returned to his residence, he took a bath and read a secret letter.
To her surprise, the person who wrote the letter was Changsun Ji who was far away in Qianzhou.
It is worth pondering that Changsun Ji also implicitly mentioned in the letter asking her for her opinion on Prince Rong.
Today alone, she heard the name of Li Yin from Zheng Chao, Luo Guanlin, and Changsun Jixin.
In such a situation, a person's name being mentioned frequently in many places often represents a signal.
Thinking of the remaining strength of the Changsun family and the girl who never had the chance to become her friend, Chang Suining pondered for a moment and picked up her pen to write a reply to Changsun Ji.
Compared with Changsun Ji's cautious probing, her reply was very straightforward and bold. She said that she had a better candidate for Li, but this matter was of great importance, so she invited Changsun Ji to come to Jiangdu for a face-to-face discussion.
Well... let's lure the person here first.
After putting down the pen, Chang Suining got on the couch.
As usual, she lay there in meditation for a moment, sorting out everything that happened every day in her mind, and then closed her eyes.
But when she was combing her hair today, she deliberately skipped the scene in the pavilion in the back garden.
Yu Zeng, who had not slept all night, began to prepare to return to Beijing the next morning with a group of imperial envoys and eunuchs.
When bidding farewell to Chang Kuo, Yu Zeng subconsciously asked, "Where is the envoy?"
"As soon as the sun rose, we set off to the army to prepare for the celebration." Chang Kuo said, "I didn't know that you gentlemen were leaving today. Please don't blame me if I treated you badly."
Eunuch Pan hurriedly smiled and said, "How dare I... It's because we didn't inform you in advance yesterday."
He originally thought he would have to wait three to five days, but Yu Changshi suddenly decided to leave today yesterday.
Ten days later, the 30,000 troops that the court had previously sent to reinforce Jiangdu will also return to the capital. Those 30,000 soldiers were originally sent by the court to defend against Dong Luo, and they were not put to any use. But if they were to ask for them back, they would also worry that Envoy Chang would have a "misunderstanding", so when they mentioned this matter yesterday, they also stated that the 30,000 naval forces trained by Envoy Chang would stay in Jiangdu to garrison the sea in the future to deter the sea area.
The remaining 40,000-plus soldiers used to fight against the Japanese pirates can also be reorganized into the military defense of Huainan Road.
Previously, the Huainan Road, whose military defense was not strong, was destroyed by Xu Zhengye. The soldiers under the former Jiedushi either suffered casualties, fled, or surrendered to the enemy, and needed to be reorganized and replenished. The Jiedushi of each road had a certain number of troops under his command. The more than 40,000 soldiers were within a reasonable range.
But what Chang Suining actually holds in his hands now is not only the 30,000 naval forces and more than 40,000 troops, but also those prisoners who have not yet been officially incorporated into the Jiangdu army.
There are more than 40,000 people in this group. Under the training of Fang Chao and others in recent days, they have completely adapted to and integrated into the Jiangdu army.
After handing over the remaining affairs, Yu Zeng and his party left Jiangdu City before noon.
After leaving the city, the carriage sped up. Yu Zeng sat upright in the carriage, closing his eyes and hiding all thoughts.
In the afternoon of the same day, Meng Lie handed over the matters at hand to A Che and a trusted accountant whom he secretly transferred from Jiangdu, and explained that he would be away for a while.
As it was getting dark, Chang Suining arrived at the army with a thousand generals.
There was a patrol booth every five miles outside the military camp. The army had already known in advance that the commander-in-chief would return to the camp tonight, and many generals were waiting at the camp gate.
"The coach is here!"
Hearing the sound of horse hooves, everyone rushed forward to meet them.
A girl wearing a black cloak soon appeared on horseback, and everyone saluted.
Chang Suining jumped off his horse and looked at the people coming towards him. When his eyes fell on one of them, he was caught off guard and was stunned.
The tall figure knelt down on one knee, raised his hand to Chang Suining, and smiled to apologize: "I am late, please punish me, sir."
January of 24 has ended. I am very grateful for your support. Good night everyone!
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