Chapter 127

When Feng Shuo heard about this, he only curled his lips imperceptibly.

Xing Yao was increasingly unable to figure out his master's thoughts, so he clasped his fists and said, "Master, the tattoo master is here."

Feng Shuo's eyes fell on the official document in his hand, without looking up, "Place it in the mansion first. Has Chi Qing sent back any news?" Chi Qing could

be regarded as Feng Shuo's confidant. The treasure map was a big deal, so it was secretly handed over to Chi Qing before the New Year. Because Chi Qing had not returned, when Xie Chuji asked to see Chi Qing, the people under him could only arrange a place for her to stay.

"She is on her way back. Military Advisor Chi disguised himself as a merchant and bypassed the official road, taking the green forest of western Sichuan." Xing Yao said.

Now the world is in chaos, and various lords have raised their flags, and merchants dare not take the official road.

If you encounter bandits in the mountains, you may be able to save your life if you hire enough escorts. If you encounter the army, you have to see Prince Yan.

Many princes do not have enough soldiers, and the military rations and military pay are robbed from the people. Once their reputation is tarnished, they think of a more vicious way, and let their soldiers disguise themselves as bandits and then burn, kill and rob.

If you encounter the army on the official road, the caravan is a fat sheep to be slaughtered. The army will kill everyone in the caravan, take away all the caravan's supplies, and then frame it by saying that it was the mountain bandits who did it.

The people have long been complaining. Except for the elderly who can't walk and stay in their hometowns, the young people who can walk have fled to other places.

Feng Shuo, a bandit from the Western Sichuan Green Forest, also heard about it. He frowned and ordered, "Send someone to support them."

It is said that the bandits from the Western Sichuan Green Forest do not rob poor people, but only rob wealthy businessmen, and even assassinate several corrupt officials who take human lives lightly. When the local army encircles and suppresses the bandits, the people who have received favors will take the initiative to inform the bandits, so that now the power of the bandits in the Western Sichuan Green Forest area is getting stronger and stronger.

Chi Qing and his group are carrying the treasures transported from the imperial mausoleum, pretending to be merchants and rushing on the road day and night, so they will definitely be targeted by the bandits

. Xing Yao clasped his fists in agreement.

Before he could leave, the housekeeper Fuxi hurried into the room with a letter with three secret seals: "Prince, an urgent report from the capital."

With three secret seals, this news must have taken a lot of effort to get from the capital to Xizhou.

Feng Shuo took it and opened the wax seal, read it quickly, and his face suddenly became serious. "Tell Han Tuo, An Yongyuan, Chu Changping, and Song Bozhou to see me immediately." After a pause

, he said, "Call Duke Chen as well."

Xing Yao guessed that something big had happened in the capital, and he didn't dare to delay, so he sent people to spread the news everywhere.

Jiang Yanyi went to Ruyi Tower after breakfast. He had made an appointment with the people from the Chamber of Commerce to continue discussing the matter of joining Ruyi Tower and opening a branch today.

He came back around noon, with a hint of fatigue between his brows.

Aunt Guo now stayed at home more often to take care of affairs. When she saw Jiang Yanyi enter the house, she went to greet him and asked, "Boss, you are back. Did the business go well today?"

Jiang Yanyi took off the brocade cape that was stained with rain and snow and handed it to Qiu Kui to dry. "Manager Xu has connections in Sishui City. He wants to invest in Sishui City and open a restaurant to sell hot pot. He is a money-grubber. There are no people in Sishui City. I am worried..."

Since the donation of military funds, Manager Xu is still the head of the Chamber of Commerce on the surface, but behind the scenes, the entire Chamber of Commerce has been following Jiang Yanyi's lead.

Shopkeeper Xu bowed and nodded in front of Jiang Yanyi, but with the previous experience, Jiang Yanyi did not dare to trust him completely, and kept a careful eye on everything.

She noticed a box of snacks on the table, which seemed to be a gift from someone, so she asked, "Is there a guest at the mansion?"

Aunt Guo said, "It's Miss Xie from next door who came to visit."

Xie Chuji would occasionally come to the mansion to play chess with Duke Chen. Jiang Yanyi had seen her several times, but they had never talked much. In his impression, she was a beauty who seemed gentle but was actually cold in her bones.

Jiang Yanyi said, "Take the snacks to the yard and give them to Master Chen Ziya."

Duke Chen did not like others to call him by his official title, and preferred to be as free and easy as an old man in the mountains. Jiang Yanyi and others usually called him that.

Aunt Guo said, "Mr. Chen is not at home. Miss Xie said she wants to discuss something with you."

Jiang Yanyi's eyes showed some doubts: "Looking for me?"

Aunt Guo nodded.

Jiang Yanyi then walked to the backyard and asked, "Where did Mr. Chen go?"

"Not long after you left, someone from the palace came. After a few words, Mr. Chen left."

Jiang Yanyi said nothing, thinking that someone suddenly came from the palace. Maybe something big happened.

Before Jiang Yanyi opened Ruyi Tower, he cleaned up a room in the backyard as a flower hall for receiving female guests. Now the furnishings in that room have not been moved. Aunt Guo arranged Xie Chuji to wait for Jiang Yanyi here.

"I'm sorry for waiting for you at Ruyi Building." Jiang Yanyi said after entering the house.

She had been dealing with merchants in the Chamber of Commerce for a long time, and now even if she was smiling, her eyes slowly became unclear.

Because of the insufficient budget, this house was equipped with low stools and futons. Xie Chuji was wearing a pear blossom white dress with embroidered flowers, kneeling on the futon, her back straight, the teacup in front of her was still steaming, but her face was like a frosty lake in late autumn, which made people feel cold and dare not approach.

"Miss Chu is busy with business, I am the one who disturbed Miss Chu." She nodded slightly, her thin shoulders made her figure look even thinner.

In terms of looks alone, Jiang Yanyi is three times better, but Xie Chuji's temperament, which comes from a scholarly family, is really outstanding.

After meeting so many people, Jiang Yanyi naturally knows what it means to judge people by their appearance.

This girl from the Xie family is a scholar with a proud character. I guess she is not the kind of person who likes to be falsely entrusted with things. So she didn't beat around the bush and asked directly, "Why did Miss Xie come here today?"

Xie Chuji said, "Miss Chu is frank. If I really want to talk about this, I am ashamed to say it."

Jiang Yanyi heard that she seemed to have something to hide, so she said, "Miss Xie, please feel free to tell me."

Xie Chuji raised her head and said, "I have seen that there are few schools in Xizhou City. I want to open a private school to teach the children here. The children need to learn to read and write, but they don’t know how to pay for the construction of the school and the purchase of books. I heard that Miss Chu is from the Chamber of Commerce and raised military supplies a few days ago. Today, I came to ask if the Chamber of Commerce can provide funds to build a school. "

Jiang Yanyi didn't expect that Xie Chuji would come to his house to open a school, so he immediately said, "Miss Xie is so kind. I will do my best to help you. Tomorrow I will discuss this matter with other people from the Chamber of Commerce and give you a reply then."

The matter of opening a private school is not a big deal, but it is not a small one either.

There are thousands

of children in Xizhou City who are poor and have never been to school. Even though Xie Chuji has good intentions to teach them for free, she cannot teach them all by herself. She has to recruit teachers and deans to manage them in a standardized manner. If children from poor families had money to go to school, they would not wait until today. It is impossible to make a living by collecting students and paying tuition to teachers. At that time, whether it is building a private school, buying books, or paying the teachers a monthly living allowance, it will have to be paid by the Chamber of Commerce.

The people in the Chamber of Commerce had just spent a lot of money to raise military supplies, and it would be difficult to take money out of their pockets now.

After hearing what Jiang Yanyi said, Xie Chuji thanked him sincerely and left. Jiang Yanyi wanted to keep her for dinner, but she refused.

When Auntie Guo went into the house to add more hot tea, she saw Jiang Yanyi rubbing his brows tiredly and advised:

"Boss, don't take everything on yourself. Miss Xie's idea is good, but she grew up in a wealthy family and has never suffered much. Naturally, she doesn't know the difficulties of doing business. Opening a private school is not something you can do with money. There are many troubles. The world is in chaos now. In the past, people studied for the purpose of taking the imperial examinations. Now, why do children from poor families study? They can't afford to eat. "I can't even eat enough. I'm afraid that even if I don't charge for the school, few people will come to listen to the lectures."

Aunt Guo has watched Jiang Yanyi get to where she is today step by step. She knows how hard it is for her. Now she has more people to use, so she doesn't have to do everything herself. Before she opened Ruyilou, she was in charge of a small shop, and she was busy making soup and frying ingredients late at night.

Outsiders saw that her business was booming and she opened a restaurant in just a few months, but didn't she earn all this by herself with all her strength?

She has achieved today's situation step by step in a business that even men can't do. It's not that her business path is much smoother than others, but that she has put in twelve times more effort than others.

It was hard to save some money, if it was all spent, it would be fine if the school was useful, but if it was useless, Aunt Guo would feel bad for Jiang Yanyi.

Jiang Yanyi came from the future, so he naturally knew the importance of education, and said: "The school must be opened, so that the children in Xizhou can learn more words and understand more principles. Maybe the future path of these children in Xizhou will be different from that of their fathers."

Aunt Guo sighed, knowing that Jiang Yanyi was soft-hearted on these matters, and said nothing more.

Jiang Yanyi thought that opening a school would benefit the people, and if the government took the lead, she would go to the Chamber of Commerce to promote it, and maybe the effect would be better.

But for the whole day, the servants in Feng's house said that Feng Shuo had never left the study. Jiang Yanyi saw the officials from Xizhou rushing to Feng's house in waves and leaving in waves. Duke Chen still hadn't returned. She was more and more certain that something must have happened in the court.

Feng's study.

It was the end of winter, and the weather was still very dry and cold. The leaves of the asparagus fern outside the window, which had been pressed by the snow for a severe winter, had turned yellow.

The door was closed tightly, and there were heavy armored soldiers guarding outside the study, which was very solemn.

Daylight poured in through the half-closed window and shone obliquely on Feng Shuo. Half of his face was submerged in shadow. His slender eyes were half-drooped and his slender fingers tapped on the desk in front of him. He asked everyone in the hall:

"The entire Liao family was beheaded, and the entire Gao family was imprisoned except for the pregnant Empress Gao. The new emperor is trying to save his own life by cutting off the tail and abandoning the Gao family to vindicate Marquis Mu Wu and calm the people's anger. What do you think we should do now?"

The staff frowned and said nothing. They thought that by finding the fault of the Gao family, they had the new emperor's handle. However, they did not expect the new emperor to be so ruthless that he did not care about the empress dowager or the pregnant Empress Gao, and directly raided the Gao family.

After the scandal of the Gao family was exposed, the princes of the country raised their flags one after another, but now they were labeled as rebels.

Han Tuo was in the army and connected with the front line. He knew the situation on the front line very well. He said: "After the Qingping Marquis rebelled, Xinzhou was captured by the heavy armored cavalry of the court in less than half a day. Below Xinzhou is Yuzhou. Although Yuzhou has a canal to block the iron cavalry, it will be difficult to defend as long as the court troops cross the river."

The heavy armored cavalry of the court is always a threat.

An aide immediately advised: "Your Highness, our power is now spread out in the south and the north. Even if the imperial court wants to attack, it must first deal with the rebel kings in the Central Plains. We might as well rest and recuperate first, and when Military Advisor Chi returns with the treasures from the imperial mausoleum, we will form a heavy armored cavalry. When we are equal in power to the imperial court, we can start a direct battle."

"Do you mean to abandon Yuzhou? How is this different from that treacherous villain? Who will be willing to form an alliance with us in the future?" A military officer shouted angrily.

Even if Xing'an Hou had ulterior motives after the alliance with Feng Shuo, he had now handed over the military power of the entire Yuzhou to him. If Feng Shuo did not care about Yuzhou, he would surely be criticized by the world.

The scolded staff bowed deeply to Feng Shuo: "I am just considering the overall situation."

Feng Shuo asked An Yongyuan: "How is the training of the 5,000 heavy armored cavalry going?"

This cavalry was formed with the money Jiang Yanyi raised in the Chamber of Commerce.

An Yongyuan stepped out. He was always a man of few words. When he spoke, his voice was as low as thunder: "I request to lead these 5,000 heavy cavalry to Yuzhou."

The words of requesting to fight naturally meant that this army was ready to go to the battlefield.

Feng Shuo said: "The 5,000 heavy cavalry will be taken over by Lu Bo."

He looked at Han Tuo, "In addition, take another 30,000 troops to Yuzhou for defense." The

5,000 heavy cavalry has been led by An Yongyuan since its establishment. Suddenly, the power of the army changed, and the expressions of everyone in the room were a little subtle.

But An Yongyuan didn't show any anger on his face, he just clasped his fists and said, "I will obey your orders."

Han Tuo followed suit and clasped his fists and said, "I will obey your orders."

They would not object to any decision made by Feng Shuo in front of others.

After discussing for a whole day, it was already dusk outside. Feng Shuo left An Yongyuan alone, and the others left the study one after another.

After there was no one else in the room, An Yongyuan clasped his fists and asked, "I wonder what instructions you have for me

, Your Highness?" The lights on the high chairs were on. Under the orange light, Feng Shuo's face showed no warmth at all, and his eyes were deep and unfathomable: "My king asked you to hand over the heavy cavalry to Han Tuo. Do you disobey?"

An Yongyuan said, "I dare not. Your Highness has made the decision. You have your own considerations. I will obey your orders."

Feng Shuo annotated a few words on the document in his hand. , he closed the document and looked at the people standing below and said: "When Chi Qing returns, we will need to buy tens of thousands of good horses from outside the Great Wall. Since you can train a 5,000-weight cavalry, you can also train these tens of thousands of weight cavalry."

An Yongyuan was stunned for a moment. He was a man who never smiled, but a bit of ecstasy appeared on his rock-like silent face: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Feng Shuo then said: "Go down."

An Yongyuan's voice became a little more sonorous: "I will take my leave."

Feng Shuo asked him to stay in Xizhou in order to continue training a heavy cavalry that could compete head-on with the imperial army.

An Yongyuan was famous for his ruthlessness and stability in using troops. Even in a battle that seemed to be a sure win, he would be extremely careful and trap the enemies one by one.

On the contrary, Han Tuo used troops by surprise and won many times with fewer troops. The heavy cavalry in his hands could not go head-on with the imperial court, so it was most appropriate for Han Tuo to lead them. Moreover

, if he had to go south to fight in person in the future, he must leave someone in the north who could suppress the Turks.

Han Tuo was young and promising, but his seniority in the army was still too young, and he was not as prestigious as An Yongyuan. Xizhou

was as solid as a rock, so he could go south without any worries.