lady, please calm down

February 27th, Jinghu Lake, Yuezhou, Zhejiang East Road, Zhou State.

The spring rain was heavy, and the vast lake was covered with a vast curtain of water. No water birds or fishermen were seen, but there was a lonely black-sailed boat parked in the depths of the lake.

".The northern bandits are eyeing the sacred artifacts and coveting the south of the Yangtze River. They are as cunning as Sima Zhao. How can an egg remain intact when the nest is destroyed? In this turbulent time, I hope you will put national affairs first and unite sincerely, so that we can have a chance of survival. If you can get the help of all the wise men and kill the northern bandits, I will rule the world with you!"

Qin Huizhi, the prime minister of Zhou State, read out the emperor's order in a low voice, and then handed the handwritten imperial edict to several people on the boat.

In addition to him, there were three other people on the boat, all of them had kind faces and looked like the kind old men in ordinary families who were playing with their grandchildren.

In fact, these people were the largest landlords in Jinghu Road, Jiangnan Road and Liangzhe Road respectively. Thousands of acres of fertile land were not enough to describe the wealth of each family.

Even Zheng Yi of Huaibei, who owned half of the county's land, was nothing compared to them.

After a few breaths of silence in the black-sailed boat, the head of the Qian clan, the top clan in Liangzhe Road, Qian Luzhi, said calmly: "Since the country moved south, we have contributed money and land to serve the king without hesitation. However, this matter of supporting the country should be the job of Prime Minister Qin and the adults. Qian is just a commoner, and I am afraid I am powerless."

Although the other two did not speak, they all had expressions that showed they agreed deeply.

Sure enough, the promise of "sharing the world with the public" could not easily impress these old foxes.

Moreover, Qian Lu's words were ambiguous, and he took the opportunity to criticize the Zhou court. When Chai Chong moved south, a large number of panicked officials and generals almost lost all their life savings in the Central Plains.

After settling down near Lin'an, you must buy good farmland and houses, right?

This naturally led to a conflict with the largest local landlord, the Qian family. After a struggle, the two sides ended with the Qian family selling more than a hundred shops and thousands of hectares of fertile land in Lin'an at a low price.

This loss was just a small one for the Qian family, which had been operating in the Liangzhe Road for hundreds of years.

The fact that they dared to fight openly and secretly with the imperial court without causing any serious damage shows how powerful the Qian family is. Even the imperial court did not dare to kill them.

Qin Huizhi had expected Qian Luzhi's statement, but he heard him say: "Mr. Qian, the court was wrong about what happened in the past. But Mr. Qian, you must know that the court will always be sympathetic to the gentry and do things in moderation. But if the King of Chu takes over Jiangnan, you may not even be able to become a rich man."

These words really touched the hearts of several people.
In recent years, it is not difficult to find out what Chen Chu has done. In his early years, he robbed Zheng Yi's family fortune. In the eyes of the southern big families, it was just a fight between military leaders. But after Chen Chu entered Tokyo, he massacred the gentry and distributed the fertile land he obtained to the farmers, which naturally aroused their disgust and disgust.

However, even if they didn't like Chen Chu, they didn't show it. Zhang Jun from Jiangnan West Road said calmly: "It's just using profit to win fame and land to win the hearts of the people. Throughout history, which tyrant hasn't done such a thing? When he comes to power in the future, he will restore the order that has existed for thousands of years."

The State of Zhou had been suppressed by the State of Qi in the past two years, and the majesty of the imperial court had been greatly reduced. Only then did Zhang Jun dare to say vaguely that even if Chen Chu replaced the Great Zhou in the future, it would still rely on them to manage the local area as in previous dynasties.

Qin Huizhi smiled indifferently when he heard this, and then said, "If he only wanted fame, why did he promote land reform in Liaodong and Northwest China? Lord Zhang, you know that since the ninth year of Qili Fuchang, if the younger generation of Huaibei wants to enter the government, they must start with the post of village chief. Now, there are nearly a thousand village chiefs in the six prefectures of Huaibei who directly obey the government. When that time comes, how will you deal with it?"

This is the point that really touches the foundation of the gentry. The saying that imperial power does not extend to the countryside not only means that the gentry have the final say on taxation and the rule of law at the grassroots level, but also that the gentry have the right to interpret national policies.

For example, the government requires local governments to build canals this winter, but the gentry have the final say on how many people are needed to perform the labor, how long they will serve, and where the canals will be built.

At that time, using these free laborers to help open up wasteland and build canals will be the default unspoken rule.

The gentry could direct the people's resentment caused by heavy labor towards the court.

Such things existed not only at the level of corvée labor, but there were also many examples of privately increasing taxes and concealing the court's exemptions during years of disaster and famine.

Huaibei's approach is not only to snatch away from them the power of grassroots governance, but also the more important "right to interpret the scriptures."

Qian Luzhi, Zhang Jun and others had naturally heard about these things before, but when they heard Qin Huizhi talk about them in person, they finally fell silent.

Qin Huizhi struck while the iron was hot and sighed, "I am hated by Huaibei. If I can't do anything in the future, I will die. But what about you? Will you follow the example of the gentry in Hebei and give away your family property accumulated over hundreds of years in exchange for a plaque of "Good Family"? Or will you follow the example of the many gentry in Xiangfu County, Kaifeng Prefecture, who sat in protest outside Xuande Gate to resist the tyranny of the northern bandits, and ended up with their property seized and their bodies and heads separated?"

The spring rain outside the boat is like smoke and fog, hazy and far-reaching.

After a long silence, Cui Yuwen, a wealthy man from Jinghu Road, looked at the rain and said slowly, "But now the King of Chu has become powerful, and it's too late to do anything."

Anyway, the conversation was over. Qian Luzhi looked at Zhang Jun and Cui Yuwen respectively, and then said, "To be honest with Prime Minister Qin, we have made efforts since Huaibei started to gain power. Long before he was crowned king, several of our families tried to send beautiful women to his mansion. But his backyard was managed by the Zhao and Cai families like an iron bucket. The people sent there were either sent back by the Zhao family or drowned in the wild for unknown reasons."

When Cui Yuwen saw that Qian Luzhi had told Qin Huizhi all these things, he also spoke frankly, "He built that school in the west of Lin'an, and several of our families secretly sent people in, but now, distant water cannot quench immediate thirst."

Sending women and students is all to pave the way for the future.

They did not expect it to work immediately. If they sent a woman in, it would take many years just for her to get close to the King of Chu, seduce him, and then influence his decision, even if everything went smoothly.

The purpose of sending students was naturally to train bureaucrats loyal to them in the new dynasty in the future, and this process was even longer.

For hundreds of years, these powerful local families have relied on this seemingly simple method to exert influence on the imperial court.

But as Cui Yuwen said, it is too late for slow infiltration.

The crux of all this was that the Huaibei clique rose too quickly. By the time they realized that the King of Chu was most likely facing south and back to the north, the other party already had its own complete official system.

The four of them had been talking frankly by this point. Qin Huizhi said at the right time: "In Huaibei, the Yingchuan Chen family has two brothers who are important officials and a woman who is a concubine. Has Lord Qian tried to contact his family? After all, they are both big families. I guess his family doesn't agree with some of the policies of the King of Chu, right?"

"I did visit Mr. Chen Bokang, but he didn't say much."

"Alas, they are all well-read scholars, yet they are willing to serve as lackeys of powerful officials who are born as petty officials."

Qin Huizhi sighed sadly, and Qian Luzhi couldn't help but glance at him sideways and said, "Prime Minister Qin, just say whatever you want to say."

"Ok."

Qin Huizhi carefully put away the imperial letter written by the Zhou Emperor in front of them, and then scanned them with his slightly cloudy eagle eyes, and said, "For now, the only way is to obey the imperial order and kill the northern bandits, so as to protect our country and the ancestral heritage of you gentlemen!"

"Hahaha, what a joke! The King of Chu has hundreds of thousands of strong troops. May I ask how the Prime Minister of Qin can kill him?"

The imperial court was in decline, and even the prime minister had lost his authority. Cui Yuwen made no secret of his sarcasm.

But Qin Huizhi was not annoyed at all, and just said calmly: "In the military formation, he can't be killed. But in order to win the hearts of the people and appease the old ministers, this boy has been parading around the city with the Princess of Qi. Since he confined himself to a dangerous place, it's not the fault of others!"

"assassinate!?"

As soon as Qin Huizhi finished speaking, Zhang Jun let out a low cry.

But after he finished speaking, he immediately shook his head, "Let's not talk about the risks of this matter. Just the fact that he will definitely need good guards by his side when he goes out, this will be difficult to accomplish!"

But Qin Huizhi immediately said: "Haha, what if there is an insider in the palace?"

Cui Yuwen had just said that the palace was run by Zhao and Cai like an iron barrel, and Qin Huizhi broke the news. Cui Yuwen couldn't help but ask: "Who? Who can be the insider?"

Qin Huizhi smiled mysteriously, "It's the Princess of Qi who is about to be deprived of her ancestral property!"

"!!!"

The three of them were all shocked, but after thinking about it carefully, they felt that it was logical that the Princess of Qi and the King of Chu were estranged from each other.

But they were all experienced old foxes, and Qian Luzhi immediately found the flaw, "The Princess of Qi is the King of Chu's bedmate. If she wants to kill him, she has plenty of opportunities. Why does Prime Minister Qin have to look for us?"

"What I said was not that the Princess of Qi wanted to harm the fake king, but that she could create an opportunity for us to assassinate him."

"how do I say this?"

Qian Luzhi asked, but Qin Huizhi suddenly asked a question that was completely off topic, "Gentlemen, do you still remember Xu Derang, the Minister of Rites of Qi?"

Qian Luzhi only felt that the name sounded familiar. While he was still thinking about it, the younger Zhang Jun said, "Xu Derang? Didn't he die by crashing into a pillar of the Daqing Palace in Qi State many years ago?"

After hearing this, Qian Luzhicai recalled that in the eleventh year of Fuchang in the Qi Dynasty, the King of Chu led his army to quell the rebellion between the two kings fighting for the throne. Xu Derang cursed the King of Chu for treason and then hit his head and died in the hall.

Qian Luzhi didn't know why Qin Huizhi mentioned this person for no reason, but the latter said: "After Xu Derang died, his widow and children carried the coffin back to his hometown. In the 14th year of Shaoxing, I sent people to secretly take them to the south of Lin'an City for resettlement. It was just a casual move at the beginning, but now it will finally come in handy."

Qian Luzhi and the other two were stunned, but they immediately understood Qin Huizhi's logic. In his early years, when Liu Yu was the prefect of Jinan, Xu Derang was his aide. Later, when Liu Yu became emperor, Xu Derang was promoted all the way to a Shangshu.

As the only important official who died for the emperor, the Princess of Qi must have had some special feelings for his family.

If he could get close to Chen Chu through the eldest princess, there would indeed be a possibility of success.

Moreover, as long as the plan is well-planned, the matter will look like a drama in which the descendants of the Xu family are avenging their father, without suspecting others.

Now that Liaodong has surrendered and the Emperor Anfeng has abdicated, anyone with a discerning eye can see that when Chen Chu ascends the throne, the next target will be the Zhou Kingdom. Not only Emperor Zhou and Qin Huizhi were panicking at this time, but Cui Yuwen and others were also anxious. After all, no one wanted to be beaten up and have their land divided.

They originally thought that Chen Chu was too powerful to be defeated, but after listening to Qin Huizhi's plan, they realized that the probability of success was not small, and they couldn't help but be tempted.

Here, Qin Huizhi, who had been quietly observing the expressions of the others, struck while the iron was hot, "Huaibei is thriving. All civil and military affairs and the coordination of interests all depend on the fake king! If he dies, Qi will surely be in chaos. At that time, our dynasty only needs to stir up trouble and support Chen's son as the new king. Gentlemen, think about it, what kind of scene will that be?"

Indeed, Chen Chu was young and at the peak of his career, and there was no one under him whose prestige was close to his and who could take on the responsibility of commanding the overall situation when necessary.

Yang Zhen, the man Chen Chu trusted the most and who had the most seniority, was far away in Liaodong, but the princess's cousin Qin Shengwu happened to return to Beijing to attend his brother-in-law's coronation ceremony.

If someone called for Chen's son to be the new king at this time, Qin Shengwu might do something out of anxiety.

The Chen family is no pushover, so it's not surprising that they would strike first to protect themselves.

It has to be said that Qin Huizhi's assassination strategy of making a small investment for a big gain took advantage of the right time, place and people.

Use the Xu family as the guide, Jiarou as the bridge, and Qin Shengwu as the sword.

If the plan succeeds, the return will be so great that a huge profit will not be enough to describe it.

Qin Huizhi continued, "After all, Chen of Yingchuan is a family of scholars. They have virtue and hope but no soldiers. They may actively seek our support for the civil strife in Qi. We can just sit back and watch until both sides are defeated. By then, won't the rich Huaibei and half of the country be at our disposal? Before leaving, the emperor gave an oral order that if you can help the country, Henan Road, Shandong Road, and Hebei Road can be your private property!"

"!!!"

Taking all the land along the way as private property, this is a big pie in the sky!
But they were not young people who would get carried away easily. After they looked at each other silently, Qian Luzhi said, "Prime Minister Qin has such a brilliant plan, why didn't he just send someone to execute it, but dragged us into it?"

Qin Huizhi could not help but sigh and said sincerely: "Now the country is in turmoil, the ministers are confused, and there are countless people who secretly surrender to the false king. How dare we discuss such an important matter with those insects! And you gentlemen..."

At this point, Qin Huizhi smiled apologetically and said directly: "You gentlemen, like your majesty and me, have no way out. When that fake king seizes Jiangnan, he will not tolerate you!"

Qian Luzhi nodded in agreement, but continued, "What does Prime Minister Qin want us to do?"

"The civil and military officials in the court are no longer useful! Please arrange for thirty death warriors to follow Xu Derang's family to Tokyo in three days."

In mid-March, Tokyo city reaches the most beautiful season of the year.

Recently, Zhou Liang, Wu Kui and others, together with their brothers, have replanted a batch of fruit trees on the Imperial Street, painted the palaces a new coat of paint, and even tidied up the sewage waterways.

The huge city of Tokyo feels quite brand new.

The residents of the city knew that this was preparation for the King of Chu to ascend the throne next month.

Bianliang was the capital of seven dynasties. The people there prided themselves on being knowledgeable and experienced, but they had never heard of such a peaceful change of dynasties.

There was no enemy at the gates, no tension, but rather a relaxed atmosphere like welcoming a festival.
March 17th, morning noon.

A carriage stopped on Zaoyuan Street next to Xinmen Wazi.

"Ayu, we're here."

Hearing the familiar voice outside the carriage, Ayu lifted the curtain, took the hand extended by Chen Chu, and jumped lightly out of the carriage.

But Chen Chu did not take her into the alley. Instead, he stood at the entrance of the alley and looked up at the three words "Nongyu Lane" on the wall and laughed.

Thinking of the nickname her uncle had given her in private, Ayu couldn't help but blush slightly and said angrily: "I thought the prince was going to take me to a good place, but it turned out that he was just trying to make fun of Ayu! Ayu went back home."

After saying that, he pretended to get back on the car, but was gently pulled back by Chen Chu, who only said, "We are revisiting the place where we fell in love. When did I make fun of you?"

The word "falling in love" made the shy Ayu even more embarrassed, and she quickly turned around to look. Dabaojian and the eldest son were following her like shadows, just five or six steps behind her.

Chen Chu laughed, "Why are you embarrassed? They don't understand."

"Who said I don't understand? Lao He, you also know what love is, right?"

The eldest son replied at an inappropriate time.

Da Baojian had a cold face as usual and did not respond to his eldest son's words.

"Okay, okay, Brother Dong, you two are both Brother Dong, right?"

Chen Chu replied with a smile and pulled Ayu into the alley.

Revisiting the old place, I was indeed filled with emotion. Even though my son is now four or five years old, when Ayu walked to the embroidery building where she once lived for a short time, she still couldn't help but feel nervous.

It was as if he was still having a secret meeting with Chen Chu behind his mother's back.

Chen Chu put one hand on his waist and pointed at the window on the second floor and said, "Remember, I climbed up the rope from here, and I was almost blocked in the house by my mother-in-law!"

Wow, you are so capable!
The eldest son was still in the courtyard, so Ayu naturally did not praise Chen Chu for his agility. She just looked up at the window and smiled, "I don't know where you got such courage back then."

"Let's go up and have a look."

Chen Chu took Ayu upstairs without saying anything.

The furnishings on the second floor remained the same, but the bed curtains and bedding were new. In the vase on the desk by the window was a bunch of peach blossoms, with their pink and white petals looking gorgeous.

Ayu walked forward, opened the window and looked out. She saw houses of different heights in the distance and near, and the cries of vendors in the new Washizi were faintly audible.

"I used to hate noise and liked to stay quietly in my room." Ayu looked at the bustling world not far away and said quietly, "But now I don't know why, I am a little afraid of too quiet places. Prince, when we move to the palace, will we be further away from this bustling world?"

Actually, what I’m afraid of is not the silence, but the loneliness of being separated from each other for most of the year.

Chen Chu did not answer, but hugged Ayu from behind and whispered in her ear: "We will not go back to the mansion tonight."

Ah Yu was enjoying a rare moment of being alone with her, but after hearing what Chen Chu said, she immediately turned around and said, "How can that be possible? Nian'er is still at home."

"With Grandma Zhang and Zhuan Yun here, what is there to be afraid of?" As Chen Chu spoke, he took out a bunch of copper keys from his waist and put them in front of Ayu.

A Yu looked carefully and found that it was not the key to the mansion. She couldn't help but wonder, "Whose key is this?"

“Of course it’s here.”

"here?"

This house was originally rented by the Tokyo office of Sihai Trading Company, and the property rights were not owned by the company. Therefore, Ayu was a little surprised that Chen Chu took the key.

"Well, I paid for it earlier."

"Ah? Why did the prince buy a house for no reason? The palace is already big enough. Besides, aren't we going to move to the palace next month?"

"It is precisely because I am planning to move to the palace that I bought another house, so that the little goldfish won't complain about being too far away from the prosperous world again."

As he spoke, Chen Chu opened Ayu's hand, put the key in Ayu's palm, and whispered in her ear: "There is only one set of keys. If one day I don't want to be a prince and want to be Chu Ge'er again, and you don't want to be the well-educated daughter of the Chen family and want to be a little goldfish again, we can sneak away here and be lazy for a day or two, okay?"

Wow, this place is going to be turned into a secret nest for the two of us.

Nasty!

But the artistic young woman just fell for it. Her words made Ayu's eyes well up with tears, but she said, "The prince is suddenly like this, is it because Ayu didn't get the position of imperial concubine, so he is trying to coax Ayu?"

It seemed like she was asking a question, but Ayu didn't even wait for Chen Chu to answer, and she just kept talking to herself: "No matter how Daddy and Uncle Cai fight, Ayu really doesn't care about it. Even Daddy doesn't know what I want."

"What does Yu want?"

After Chen Chu asked, Ayu was silent for a few breaths, but suddenly turned around in Chen Chu's arms, from facing away to facing each other, and took the initiative to wrap her arms around Chen Chu's waist. Ayu lay on Chen Chu's chest and murmured, "Uncle, sister will be the queen and sister Cai will be the imperial concubine. Ayu is not jealous at all, but Ayu is jealous of uncle's love for sister and sister Cai. Uncle's heart is occupied by sister and sister Cai, and the rest will be shared with others."

Tears finally flowed out, and Ayu wiped the tears on her face on Chen Chu's chest and continued: "What Ayu wants is for uncle to give Ayu more of his heart." (End of this chapter)