The gods began by supporting Guo Jing to become emperor

Chapter 191 Guanzhong is stable, Guo Jing meets Mu Huali

"Shaobing, freshly baked shaobing!"

At the roadside stall, the vendor was flipping the sesame cakes skillfully, and the smell of burnt cakes filled the air. A middle-aged man who looked like a scholar passed by, took out money and bought two sesame cakes. After buying them, a trace of pain appeared on his face because they were too expensive.

One coin costs five cents. This coin refers to the copper coins issued indiscriminately by the Jin Dynasty. The copper content is extremely low and the texture is extremely brittle. In today's world, the older the money, the more valuable it is. For example, the Kaiyuan Tong Bao coins of the previous dynasty can be bought for two for one cent.

The middle-aged man slowly finished eating the sesame cake, then took firm steps towards the distant city with his luggage on his back.

Looking down from a high altitude, you can see a scene like this: people from all directions are gathering towards Chang'an. Most of them are scholars who are here to take the official examinations, and they all come from all over the north.

Where there are people, there are business opportunities. As the population continued to pour into Chang'an, this ancient city seemed to have regained its vitality. In addition, the shogunate continued to implement work-for-relief measures, and the economy was also revitalized. The essence of Guanzhong is all on the Wei River Plain, and Chang'an is the largest city on this plain.

The official selection examination was modeled after the imperial examination and was divided into three sessions: one in the lower prefectures and counties, one in Chang'an, and one in the shogunate. The final rankings were determined and the shogunate would grant official positions.

In this way, the overall ruling structure was revitalized. Running water does not rot, and door hinges do not rot. Only mobile classes can maintain vitality. Today, the Three Jins and the newly acquired Guanzhong are still filled with a large number of former officials from the Jin Dynasty.

These officials can be used for a while, but not for long. Many important positions are also occupied by the children of powerful families, which is not conducive to the stability of the shogunate's rule. What Guo Jing lacks now is not soldiers or money and food, but talents who can govern the local area and restore people's livelihood.

Only by establishing an official ruling system can the two places be brought under rule. Otherwise, it would be futile even if more places could not be digested. Guo Jing is not Mu Huali. Implementing a tax-farming system in the local areas and leaving them to the powerful families to govern would save trouble for Mongolia, but for him, it would be an absolute cancer.

In the mansion, Hua Zheng sat beside Guo Jing and made tea for him. She glanced at the letter and said, "Guo Jing, Uncle Mu Huali invited you to Daming Mansion. Does he want to cooperate with us?"

"Oh? Why do you say that?" The tone was flat, unhurried, but there was a heavy feeling.

The water on the small copper stove in front of her was already boiling. Hua Zheng picked up some tea leaves with her bare hands and poured in boiling water to rinse them. She rinsed them once before adding more boiling water. After a while, a faint tea fragrance filled the room, and a cup of emerald green tea floated in the plain white porcelain cup. "Uncle Mu Huali attacked the Jin Kingdom not long ago, but he suffered a great loss."

"Father Khan decided the direction of attack for us. Now that Uncle Mu Huali can't do it, he naturally asks us for help." After saying that, she tilted her head, looking full of confidence.

Guo Jing showed an affirmative smile on his face, "You can actually guess his thoughts, Hua Zheng, you have improved a lot."

Hua Zheng looked a little proud. "We conquered Guanzhong, and Uncle Mu Huali took over a lot of territory in the north, but he was only consolidating his victory. How can he compare to you? He has always been the most capable person under my father Khan, and he is also the king. Now he can't compare to you, the marquis, so of course he is anxious."

"You are partly right, but not completely." Guo Jing took out the last secret letter on the table and handed it to her. "You will understand after you read it."

After reading it, Hua Zheng looked worried, and suddenly realized, "The Kingdom of Jin actually defeated the Kingdom of Song and crossed the Yangtze River. No wonder Uncle Mu Huali was so anxious."

The Jin Kingdom's attack to the south was a desperate move. Fighting on two fronts was a taboo in military strategy. However, Wanyan Honglie was a shrewd, capable, brave and decisive man. He pushed the war forward despite the pressure from the court, almost gambling on the future of the Jin Kingdom.

It is conceivable that if the Jin Dynasty lost the war with the Song Dynasty, the north would lose the barrier of Guanzhong, and Mu Huali would also wipe out the remaining old troops in Hebei. This would mean that Henan, where the Jin Dynasty was located, would be surrounded by three sides and could only wait for death.

However, Wanyan Honglie was not the Jin Xuanzong in The Legend of the Condor Heroes, who led the army in person and turned the game around. The Jin Kingdom lost Guanzhong and its barrier, but they also conquered Jiangnan and gained the natural barrier of the Yangtze River. It is hard to say whether this exchange was worth it.

Guo Jing nodded slightly, a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes, "Wanyan Honglie is indeed not an ordinary opponent. This was a shocking gamble, but he won. It seems that my day of revenge is still to come."

Seeing that her husband was in a bad mood, Hua Zheng immediately held his hand and said, "Don't worry, Guo Jing, I will help you. Uncle Mu Huali will also help you. As long as the two of you work together, the Jin Kingdom will be destroyed by us sooner or later."

Guo Jing held her hand in his backhand, feeling the warmth from her soft palm. The haze in his heart dissipated a lot. "How is Rong'er? I saw that she was vomiting a lot recently."

"I've found a doctor and prescribed medicine for her. Fortunately, she helped me over the past two months. The officials in Taiyuan were really bad and made mistakes over and over again. If it weren't for her, there would be more trouble."

Guo Jing touched her head and smiled, "Don't worry, the situation will be much better after this selection. We will replace all those unqualified officials, and you won't have to work so hard in the future."

Some things were unavoidable. In the interest group he belonged to, no one could replace his position, resulting in the concentration of power in him alone. Even though he established the shogunate, they could only share part of the government affairs.

This resulted in many things having to wait for his decision, and ultimately he had to delegate some of the power to Hua Zheng. The makeshift team of the shogunate was only able to maintain operations roughly and was unable to make any decisions, not to mention that most of them were children of powerful people.

It can only be said that monopolizing power is also a kind of trouble. Most of his confidants are warriors, and there is a lack of internal affairs talents who can stand on their own. It must be said that with the collapse of the aristocratic families and the invasion of foreign races, top talents are rare.

Occasionally, there were some outstanding ones who joined Genghis Khan's camp, such as Guo Baoyu, Yelu Chucai, etc. However, he was just a general at that time and was not qualified to recruit them.

The couple was affectionate for a while, Hua Zheng broke away from his arms, looked at him with a smile, "Okay, go see Sister Rong'er, I'll help you watch here, and call you if there's anything."

Guo Jing didn't hesitate and turned around and went back to the backyard.

As soon as I entered the door, a gentle voice came from the yard, "No, let's read it again, from the beginning."

"Isn't it a pleasure to learn and practice it from time to time..."

In the yard, two little children were holding books and reciting with their heads shaking. A graceful young woman was walking back and forth with her belly bulging, and her brows were filled with a strong maternal glow.

As if she had sensed someone, Huang Rong turned around and saw Guo Jing. Her beautiful face immediately blossomed, "Husband."

"Daddy."

The two little ones turned around in a hurry when they heard the voice. Just as they were about to stand up, they heard Huang Rong's serious voice, "Sit down and continue reading!"

The brothers Guo Chengping and Guo Chengan looked at each other and had to sit down and continue reading.

When Huang Rong came to the corridor, Guo Jing immediately stepped forward to support her, with a rare gentle look on his face, "Rong'er, thank you for your hard work." Leaning in Guo Jing's arms, Huang Rong only felt a wave of fatigue in her heart, "Husband, it's okay, Chengping and the others are smart children, it won't be difficult for me to teach them."

He stretched out his hand and placed it on her round belly, feeling the rhythm of life beating in her belly, "Don't forget that you are pregnant. Although we martial artists have good bodies, we can't be careless."

Then, Huang Rong seemed to have thought of something, and took out two pieces of paper from her sleeve and handed them to Guo Jing, "Oh, my husband, this is what Sister Hua Zheng gave me. She said it was a secret manual left by the teacher, and it can be used for children to practice. I think there is no problem."

Given by the teacher?

Guo Jing's mind moved, and he took the paper. "This is a superior method of Yi Jin Xi Sui, which is most suitable for building a solid foundation. I don't know where the teacher found it. Chengping and the others are not young anymore, and it's time for them to practice martial arts. Let them practice this method first, and I will teach them other martial arts when I come back from Daming Mansion."

"Okay, it's all up to you."

As he spoke, he looked at Huang Rong's belly and smiled again, "When I come back from Daming Prefecture, the little one will be born."

Huang Rong also smiled, her expression became softer under the sunlight, like a saintly mother, "I don't know if I can give them a brother or sister."

……

A few days later, Guo Jing left Chang'an City with two thousand cavalrymen and headed for Daming Prefecture in Hebei to keep the appointment.

At this time, the battlefield in the south was in chaos.

Jiangning City was captured by the Jin Kingdom, and Lin'an was in danger. Even the pro-war faction had to agree to move the capital. The news spread like wildfire and soon spread throughout the city. In just a few days, the prosperous Lin'an became deserted. Every day from morning to night, countless wealthy merchants fled the city with their families.

For this purpose, the government opened a special gate and collected a hefty exit fee.

However, the brothels, bars and restaurants in Lin'an City were crowded with people.

Countless people come here to get drunk every day. They are all officials and scholars who are disappointed with the court. They retreated when Yue Fei led the Northern Expedition, and they retreated again when Kaixi led the Northern Expedition. Now that the Jin people have crossed the river, they retreat again.

The mountains and rivers were in ruins, the land of China was wailing, but the imperial court kept retreating, not wanting to drive away the enemy but only thinking about moving the capital and living in peace in a corner.

In the thousands of years of Han history, even the most cowardly Eastern Jin Dynasty during the Five Barbarians Invasion period was not defeated by foreigners and reached Jiankang, but the Song Dynasty did it, which is quite explosive in the entire history.

Such a court is so disappointing!

In the tavern, tables of drinkers were chatting animatedly, their conversations filled with dissatisfaction with the court and concerns about the war on the front lines.

At the wine table in the corner, the thin Han Baoju was puzzled, "Brother, how could this happen? Jing'er has already conquered Chang'an, why hasn't the Jin Kingdom withdrawn its troops?"

Zhu Cong's eyes revealed a trace of bitterness, "Alas, we were all wrong, Jing'er was also wrong. It was right to besiege Wei to save Zhao, but we are losing quickly. The Jin people have captured Jiangning, and Jiangnan is right in front of us. How can they bear to retreat?"

"Besides, Jing'er won too quickly. Even if the Jin army withdraws its troops to support him now, it is not certain that they can take back Guanzhong from him. Therefore, the Jin army is unwilling to go back."

The flesh on Ke Zhenwu's sallow face trembled, and he was so angry that he asked, "Is it wrong for Jing'er to hit too fast?"

At this time, Nan Xiren, who was always taciturn, sighed and said, "It's not that he was wrong, but we thought too simply. The situation on the battlefield is not as simple as we first thought. If our Song Dynasty blocks the Jin people on the north bank of the river and Jing'er attacks Guanzhong, the Jin people will not be able to gain an advantage from us, and he will definitely withdraw his troops."

"However, the Song Dynasty has suffered defeat after defeat, and the important city of Jiangning was captured. The Jin army failed in the north, and now that they have opened a gap in the Song Dynasty, they will definitely look for compensation in the south. Even if Jing'er takes down all of Guanzhong, they will not withdraw their troops. In the final analysis, the Song Dynasty is still too weak." His words were full of regret.

At this point, Quan Jinfa also lamented deeply, "Alas, it's a pity for the brothers of the Beggars' Sect. They risked their lives to get the news, and finally delivered it to the government. In the end, not only did they not believe it, they almost arrested them as spies."

"Look at all the people on this street. How many of you believe that the Song Dynasty can win? We retreated to Lin'an and never fought back. Now we are heading to Nanchang Prefecture. I don't know if we can return to Lin'an in our lifetime."

Zhu Cong also had a worried look on his face. "Heaven moves forward, and a gentleman should constantly strive for self-improvement. Brother, if the Song Dynasty cannot win, it will be useless even if we risk our lives. Jing'er also has his own difficulties. Water from afar cannot quench a nearby fire. We cannot force it."

At this moment, the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan were like eggplants hit by frost. They couldn't understand why the Song Dynasty kept losing.
……

Hebei, Daming Prefecture.

Daming Prefecture is one of the largest cities in Hebei Province. It was once prosperous under the rule of the Song Dynasty. But now that it has fallen from the Jin Dynasty to the Mongols, people’s livelihood is in decline.

Guo Jing set out from Chang'an, passed through the Three Jins which he ruled, and came to Hebei. It was a place of visible chaos, with the remnants of the Jin Dynasty and local rebellions and separatism, it was like a tangled mess.

However, overall, Mu Huali was still able to stabilize the situation, and a few rebellions could not shake the general trend.

After arriving here and handing over the written letter, he and his two thousand cavalrymen entered the city. The soldiers were taken to the barracks and stationed on the spot, while he was taken to Mu Huali's mansion.

As soon as he entered the door, his eyes were dazzled. This house was more luxurious than the mansion he had in Chang'an. There were countless royal items. Even though he had seen many luxurious things, he was still slightly surprised.

Then, a sturdy figure came towards them, "Guo Jing, you are finally here." The voice was rough and generous.

Seeing the person coming, Guo Jing also smiled, "Uncle Mu Huali."

Mu Huali held his shoulders affectionately and walked towards the mansion, praising him generously, "You fought well. I was surprised every time I heard news about you in the past few years. Every time I saw you, I felt that I had grown old."

(End of this chapter)