Picked up a copy of Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 686 Free Labor
As soon as Liu Xi walked to the entrance of the Hall of Mercy, he heard laughter coming from inside. Liu Xi looked at Qi Yue who was a little surprised, and Qi Yue quickly said: "The country, Princess Raoyang came here just now. The country does not allow others to bother you." Liu Xi nodded and said nothing more. He walked into the Hall of Mercy and was greeted by the court ladies, and the laughter in the hall stopped. Princess Raoyang turned her head.

"Meet Auntie!"

Liu Xi hurriedly paid homage to see her, but Princess Raoyang said displeasedly: "How can there be someone like you? The queen is giving birth, and you are still busy with your own affairs, so you don't come to visit one or two, and your daughter, don't you Ignore her because of her daughter?" Facing this powerful aunt, even Liu Xi was still a little flustered, he smiled and was speechless, but fortunately there were no outsiders around, and he couldn't see the appearance of the emperor.

Lu Ji hurriedly said: "Don't talk about it, aunt. Your Majesty loves Xin'er very much. He came to visit me several times before. I told him not to let him come." She lowered her head, Princess Raoyang Feeling helpless, Liu Xi walked over with a smile, took his daughter, and sat aside. Princess Raoyang asked, "Have you ever thought about the fiefdom?" Undecided."

"Make it as soon as possible"

"understood."

Liu Xi teased the child, and asked with some doubts: "Where is Zhan'er? Why didn't you bring him?" Princess Raoyang shook her head and said, "He has already entered school, alas." Liu Xi smiled Smiled, and asked again: "I don't know who to ask for a teacher?" Princess Raoyang said in a bit of a dilemma: "It's just that in the official school, I originally wanted to find him a great Confucian, but this guy is useless. He is very lazy. Four or five great Confucian scholars are gone, so they can only be sent to official schools."

"Hahaha, there is no problem with the official school. The sacrificial wine in the official school is also some outstanding scholars from the imperial school. Auntie, don't worry."

Rao Yang nodded.

They exchanged pleasantries for a while before Princess Raoyang decided to leave. Liu Xi saw that she had something to say to him, so he used the excuse of saying goodbye to walk out of the hall with her. Just after walking out of the hall, Raoyang The princess hurriedly asked: "I heard that you sent Xiu Yi to investigate your uncle?" Liu Xi was taken aback, squinted his eyes, and said with a smile: "Auntie, I sent someone to investigate the situation. It doesn't matter much."

"En." Princess Raoyang didn't ask any more questions.

Liu Xi continued to walk and chat with her, when suddenly, Liu Xi asked, "Who told aunt about this?"

"My uncle." Princess Raoyang whispered, and Liu Xi nodded.

At the same time, Yuan Shang and Xun Yu had already left Luoyang and headed for Jingzhou. Along the way, neither of them spoke much. What happened to Yuan Shao dealt a huge blow to Yuan Shang. Xun Yu originally intended to talk to Yuan Shang, but Yuan Shang did not accept his kindness, instead he was a little indifferent. Xun Yu also understood in his heart that it was indeed not a good thing for the two to get too close, so he gave up.

The third year of Yankang, June

Yuan Shang and Xun Yu rushed to Jingzhou. They walked very slowly along the way. Almost every day, Xun Yu could see carrier pigeons flying in the sky, and Yuan Shang dealt with these carrier pigeons every day. However, important news from various places still has to be passed on to him. Occasionally, there will be pedestrians who will cover their faces and block them in front of everyone.

No matter where you go, it seems that there will be spies to report.

This made Xun Yu a little startled, this was also the first time he experienced the power of the Embroidered Clothes Messenger, and when he was about to arrive in Jingzhou, there were fewer flocks of pigeons and secret agents coming and going, and Yuan Shang was no longer so busy , Looking at Yuan Shang who was taking a pen to record the surroundings, Xun Yu was really curious, walked to Yuan Shang's side, cleared his throat, and then asked: "Xianfu? In my house, there are also Such a spy??"

Hearing his question, Yuan Shang raised his head and looked at him indifferently, but he didn't reply, he just picked up a pen and wrote a few words on the paper, motioning for Xun Yu to look.

Xun Yu poked his head out and looked at what Yuan Shang just wrote, but he couldn't laugh or cry.

"In the third year of Yankang, on the thirteenth day of the sixth month, when passing through Xinye, the servant ordered Xun Yu to ask: Is there any spies in my house? Maybe there are some unruly intentions, so we should take precautions."

The group finally arrived in Xiangyang. Before entering the city, they saw a group of people waiting. Yuan Shang said nothing, but Xun Yu frowned. At such a busy time, if Sima Yi came to greet him personally, then Xun Yu Yu was about to think about whether he should play the Son of Heaven, and a different person came here, thinking about it, waiting for the crowd from a distance to see this group of people, and hurried over.

Xun Yu frowned, but Yuan Shang just glanced at him and said, "Later, you follow Sima Lang back to Xiangyang. I have other important matters, so I won't go with you."

"Huh?? Sima Lang??" Xun Yu's eyes widened, and he looked forward seriously. The group of people approached slowly, and they could see their faces clearly. , nor is it an official of Jingzhou.

It was Sima Lang who came, and he led a group of servants to greet him. When he saw Yuan Shang and Xun Yu, he hurriedly bowed to them and said with a smile: "Sima Lang, a grassroots man, because of my younger brother's I asked you to come here to meet the two Jingzhou officials who are busy with the canal. The officials can't get away, and the governor and Situ Gong are also the same. Therefore, I will take the two of you to rest in Xiangyang for a day and go to see Situ Gong tomorrow. I don't know how?"

Yuan Shang didn't reply, turned his head, looked around, Xun Yu resisted the shock in his heart, and quickly said: "Thank you!" Sima Lang even said he didn't dare, and looked at Yuan Shang again, Yuan Shang squinted his eyes and said: "I'm sorry!" And there are important matters, so I won't go back with you." Sima Lang said in surprise, "Several places in Jingzhou are digging canals at the same time. If there is no one to lead the way, I'm afraid."

Xun Yu smiled and said, "You don't need to pay attention to these things, just take me back to Xiangyang."

Sima Lang nodded helplessly, bowed to Yuan Shang, and then left with Xun Yu. Seeing the group of people disappearing before his eyes, Yuan Shang looked at both sides of the avenue, which was a piece of cultivated land , the arable land is full of hard-working old farmers, and there are wives on the side, helping to harvest. Yuan Shang looked at them, and the old farmers who were plowing picked up their farm tools and walked in front of Yuan Shang.

"Goodbye Zhizhi!"

Yuan Shang nodded and waved his hands, and the group of farmers, led by these farmers, returned to the cultivated land and sat on a field ridge. Yuan Shang drank the water they brought and asked in a low voice: "Did Sima Yi intervene?" Army?"

"Never."

"Where's Cao Cao?"

"Never."

Xun Yu followed Sima Lang back to Xiangyang, went directly to Sima Lang's private residence, and did not go to the Governor's Mansion. Sima Lang greeted him in his private capacity, not as an official, so Xun Yu did not show anything in front of him. Putting on airs and putting on a Confucian robe, the two began to chat about Confucian classics. Xun Yu didn't pay much attention to this man at first, but when talking about Confucian classics, Xun Yu was surprised to find that this man had a good scholarship. Even in Taixue, he can be regarded as that kind of leader.

After talking about it, Xun Yu just learned that this person has won the crown of Confucian classics, no wonder.

The two talked very happily, and Xun Yu asked with some doubts: "I heard that you have a younger brother, but I don't know where it is?"

Sima Lang paused for a moment, and said awkwardly: "He is in Jingnan, and he is a county magistrate."

"Jingnan?? But that's not it. Cough cough, I thought Zhong Da and Kong Ming didn't get along very well."

"Xun Gong, this... After all, we are officials in the same dynasty, so we naturally have friendship."

The two chatted late into the night, if it wasn't for worrying about delaying tomorrow's business, I'm afraid they would have to talk at night by candlelight. As for the next day, Xun Yu changed into an official uniform, and when facing Sima Lang, he would no longer be so close. Sima Lang knew in his heart that Xun Yu came here this time to inspect the place for the emperor, so naturally he couldn't be too close to him. Changing into an official uniform meant that he was now an envoy of the emperor, and he had to be considerate in everything he did. .

After getting into the carriage, under Sima Lang's guidance, Xun Yu rushed to meet Situ Gong. The carriage drove for nearly half a day before they arrived. Xun Yu got out of the carriage, listening to the noise in his ears, and the officials were walking around him , but no one stopped to pay their respects. In the distance, countless peasants were waving iron hoes in their hands. Among these people, he also saw some disheveled slaves and prisoners who were tortured.

Sima Lang led him to a shabby hut, pointed to the hut, and then stopped. He couldn't follow Xun Yu in. Xun Yu nodded at him and walked directly into the hut, the hut There is not even a door, leaving a blank space, and inside the room, there is no decoration, only a wooden table, and three people kneeling around the table, Xun Yu walked in, and the three people walked slowly. stand up.

Cao Cao came over with a smile, took Xun Yu's hand directly, and led him to the desk. Xun Yu didn't even have time to pay respects, so he sat down and Cao Cao also sat down. Sima Yi said: "Greetings, Duke Xun!" Yuan Shang on the other side also bowed lightly to Xun Yu. Xun Yu arched his hands and was about to return the salute when Cao Cao grabbed his hand roughly.

"Wen Ruo, take a look." Cao Cao pointed to the map on the case.

"Luoyang is next to the big river, and the big river leads all the way to Qingxu, so there is no need to spend energy thinking about how to connect Luoyang with the surroundings. The main thing is how to connect the river with the big river. Look, if we dig from Jiangxia to Yuzhou, then Is it more convenient to go to Xuzhou? Or go directly to Baima through Yuzhou, so that Luoyang will be closer to the south, but the amount of work is probably huge!"

Xun Yu looked at the map in a daze, thought for a long time, and then said: "Situ Gong, I think it is better to go from Yuzhou to Qingxu and reach Luoyang through the big river, which saves effort. There is no need to dig a canal because the roads are connected. Well, Mr. Situ, I would like to ask, what does this line on the map mean?? You still want to dig a canal to Yizhou??"

"As expected of Wen Ruo!! Great talent! Great talent!! So what is Wen Ruo thinking in his heart??"

"Mr. Situ...I came here to inspect the local canal. I don't know."

"I understand. Don't worry, I will definitely cooperate with you. No matter what you want to investigate, I will let them cooperate with you. By the way, do you think this Yizhou Canal is feasible?"

"If there are sufficient water sources and can be connected, the south will be one, and the north-south canal will make the north and the south one. This is naturally a good thing... But, Mr. Cao, there are many mountains and rivers in Yizhou... It is impossible to dig a canal. It’s not easy, if Master Situ wants to, he can go from Jingnan to the southern part of Yizhou. That’s fine!”

Cao Cao squinted his eyes, listening to Xun Yu's suggestion, his face was full of smiles.

"But, Mr. Situ, I'm really not here to help you dig the canal, I'm here"

"I know, I know, you will go to inspect later, Wen Ruo. What do you think, borrow some money from the local aristocratic family to use it for the excavation, and after the canal is completed, they will be exempted from the ship tax for one year, and then the original will be returned. Jin, how is this method?"

"Good strategy! Mr. Cao can even hand over the excavation of a section of the canal to these people, and let them contribute their own money and effort. However, it must be done well. Punishment, if they do well, they will be rewarded. In addition, after the completion of the canal, certain benefits can also be given, such as exemption from taxes and allowing overseas trade."

Cao Cao's eyes shot out a fiery light, Xun Yu was talking, and was thinking about how to get the big clan to agree, at this moment, he suddenly realized, no, didn't I come to inspect? ?Why do you want to think about this? ?
Sima Yi on the side looked at Cao Cao quietly, he finally understood why Cao Cao was so happy and excited when he heard that Xun Yu would come.

It turned out that he took the envoy of the Son of Heaven as a cough cough.

(End of this chapter)