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Chapter 279: Reunion in Changfeng Tower

The reunion with Ji Zichang that day lasted until quite late. Ji Zichang patted Li Guanyi on the shoulder and finally stopped addressing him as a friend or brother. He just said:
"The changes in the world depend on you and me. What happened in the academy is just the beginning."

"The road ahead is long, you should take care of yourself."

"The next time we meet will be a month from now, during the autumn hunt."

After Li Guanyi and Ji Zichang parted ways, he returned to the place where his troops were temporarily staying. After accepting Ji Zichang's gift, he was faced with an extremely huge problem -

How to take out this treasure worth at least 30 million taels of silver from that mausoleum and then transport it back to the distant 18th state of Jiangnan is not an ordinary task.

After thinking about this matter for a while, Li Guanyi found Wen He.

I gave a brief account of the matter.

Wen He pondered, nodded seriously, and then asked:

"Can you dig out the burial objects underneath?!"

The corner of Li Guanyi's mouth twitched. When he accepted Ji Zichang's kindness, he just felt Ji Zichang's determination and the courage he had as a descendant of the Red Emperor to do such a thing. Li Guanyi still had some obstacles in his heart to accept the sacrifices from other people's ancestors.

And now, he discovered that compared with himself and Ji Zichang, Wen He's moral bottom line was too subtle.

Wen He said, "My lord, you probably didn't tell Ling Jun about this, right?"

Li Guanyi grinned and replied, "If I tell him, he will tear my head off."

Even if he couldn't win, Wen Lingjun would get so angry that he would go berserk.

In Wen Lingjun's eyes, even if Ji Zichang took the initiative to do such a thing, as a subject and a commoner, he should firmly reject this matter, so Li Guanyi absolutely could not discuss it with him.

Wen He nodded: "My lord, you know Ling Jun very well."

Li Guanyi said: "Besides, sir, you have the leverage over me, so wouldn't you feel more at ease?"

Wen He paused, looked at Li Guanyi, and a smile appeared on his simple face.

Two people tacitly agreed.

Li Guanyi accepted Ji Zichang's kindness, but if this kind of thing were to be made public, it would ruin his reputation. If he told Wen He about it, Wen He would have something against Li Guanyi.

For him, who puts his own interests first, this is reassuring.

Wen He smiled and said, "My lord knows me very well."

"My lord has only 50,000 soldiers, but he is good at commanding generals and making counselors."

"Okay, let's see how much is in there..."

Li Guanyi took Wen He with him. After thinking for a while, Wen He replied, "It can be sold for 50 million taels."

Li Guanyi was surprised and a little puzzled, and asked: "How could it be, Brother Chang Wen was born in the royal family, so he has some judgment on the value of these things."

Wen He said, "The brother Chang Wen you are talking about should be His Majesty the Great Emperor. His Majesty the Great Emperor grew up in the royal family, and the things he used were all top-quality imperial items. He is knowledgeable and experienced, so he is great in estimating the value of these treasures."

"It's a pity that he understands gold and silver, but not the human heart."

"30 million taels of gold and silver, if you only sell it for 30 million taels, it's a loss-making business."

"Just the word 'Royal' can be exchanged for 20 million taels with a little manipulation."

"It just so happens that I need something that can pit the noble families against each other."

Wen He said: "My Lord, don't worry. If you take out so many things at once, they will become worthless. Take them one by one and slowly, only then can you get the greatest benefit."

Wen He counted the gold, silver and jade articles and said, "Not bad, not bad."

"There are more than I expected. Many of them are lost treasures. Nowadays, noble families are proud to collect royal tributes. My lord, have you ever heard of the strategy of "Two Peaches Kill Three Warriors"? "

Li Guanyi looked at Wen He who was smiling gently.

He felt a little bit of pity for the noble families in the Eighteen Prefectures of Jiangnan.

How pitiful, he actually has to deal with Mr. Wenhe.

After the inventory, they returned to their temporary residence. Wen He personally took charge of the process and spent a lot of time with Li Guanyi to bring back all the gold and silver artifacts. There were naturally some twists and turns in the process, and with frequent comings and goings, it was inevitable that they would be discovered.

Wen He devised a plan and took advantage of the time when Chen and Ying were recruiting talents.

Let Li Guanyi chat with the students in the academy on the stage, while he made a feint to the east and attacked in the west.

"Using the lord as bait, my plan will work."

"My lord, this move is for the world!"

Wen He had a sincere smile on his plain face: "You should also go and have some tea with the young ladies from the noble families. Please don't waste the face you got from your parents and the Murong family."

The corner of Li Guanyi's mouth twitched: "Hmm???"

"I don't quite understand what you are talking about, sir."

Wen He said simply, "A beauty trap."

"A beauty is not your face, lord. Although this face can indeed be used to make a living, no matter how poor the Qilin Army and Tiance Mansion are, we cannot let you exchange it for money."

"Of course, the main reason is that I don't think you can get the money for jewelry from the ladies with your mouth. You can't eat this kind of free rice."

"Um???"

"Um???!!"

Li Guanyi covered up his embarrassment and drank tea, then suddenly realized something and stared at Wen He: "Madam?!"

What have you done?!

Wen He remained calm: "A gentleman is always poor."

"A gentleman follows the Way."

"But sometimes, in order to survive, you have to do things that go against your conscience."

"It's a pity that drinking tea can be exchanged for a lot of silver, but you can't do it, my lord."

Wen He seemed to be really sorry: "Those ladies' jewelry boxes can actually be exchanged for a lot of money. If you get the jewelry of these ladies, you can actually sell it to the suitors of these ladies and ladies at a higher price."

"Not to mention ten times the price, even if it's a hundred times the price, the young masters of the aristocratic families will be happy to accept it. Besides, we can also get leverage over them, which will make it easy for us to do many things."

"Their bottom line is not that difficult to break, and they are in a high position, which is simply the most perfect..."

Wen He paused, then smiled and said, "I was just joking with you just now. It was just a joke."

"I just heard it from a friend of mine."

Li Guanyi grinned.

I decided not to delve into my past as a clerk.

Perhaps it was because of the contrast, he felt that at this moment, his moral level was so high that even he was afraid of it. Mr. Wenhe said: "So, the beauty I'm talking about is not you as an individual."

"Instead, he is the Grand Master of the Imperial Court, the Commander-in-Chief of the Qilin Army, Li Guanyi, Marquis of Qin."

"You represent the trend and possibility. To the noble families, you are a beauty. Your connection with the noble families is like a tiger moving. Ying State and Chen State will not ignore you. Only in this way can I get the silver out safely."

Wen He's strategy was very successful.

Li Guanyi easily attracted the attention of Chen and Ying.

Wen He was able to move out the large amount of gold and silver bit by bit and hid it in the place where the Qilin Army was distributing porridge. There were people coming and going there, and the Qilin Army was guarding it, so no one discovered it.

After Wen He counted the harvest, he told Yu Wen Lingjun that it was a gift from His Majesty the Great Emperor. Also, because the white jade talisman in Li Guanyi's hand was obviously a royal item, Wen Lingjun did not recognize that this item was the thing that could open the royal tombs, so he accepted it reluctantly.

The gentleman said frankly: "My lord is not Wenhe, so he will not deceive me."

Li Guanyi felt that his moral bottom line was beginning to be lowered.

Wen Lingjun's character made him trust Li Guanyi and he would not doubt it. After counting with Wen He, he reported to Li Guanyi: "There are a lot of them, many of which have the seal of the royal family."

"Among them, there are actually 10 or 20 million taels of pure gold and silver. More than 10 million taels of silver, even for Ying State, using gold, iron, grain and fodder to pay taxes, is considered one-third of the annual tax revenue."

"Using a third of the annual tax revenue of a large country with a radius of tens of thousands of miles."

"No need to support the royal family, no need to distribute to the noble families."

"Instead, all of them are invested in a place thousands of miles away. I think all the things that the lord has conceived before can be successful. However, these gold and silver cannot be transported back to Jiangnan at this moment. The situation in the world is about to change, and gold and silver are heavy and can be easily discovered."

Wen Lingjun explained the current situation to Li Guanyi. He spoke slowly and gently, his sleeves carrying a light fragrance like winter cedar. He pointed at the table and said:

"It is far from enough to have a thousand cavalry guards to collect four months' tax revenue for a country."

"That's enough gold and silver to start a small war."

"Unless... there is a big change in the world, which makes everyone's attention focus on this matter. People are in a panic and have no time to care about these things. In other words, even if they care about the gold and silver in your hands, there is no way to stop it."

"This way you will be invincible, and then your plan will work."

Wen Lingjun said: "After the autumn hunt, the opportunity for great changes in the world will surely appear."

"At that time, the people, gold and silver will all flow into Jiangnan. You will be like a dragon returning to the sea. You can achieve great success without being bound by the aristocratic families and the world..."

Wen Lingjun hesitated for a moment, then stood up, saluted, and said gently:

"However, I have a request, please consider it."

Li Guanyi said: "Changshi, please speak."

Wen Lingjun said slowly and calmly: "Now that we have this gold and silver, there will be more things we can do. Please write a letter first and send the state city to start water conservancy construction to avoid the tide."

"If the Lord allows, I will work with Qingyu to gather more people, but if so, the Eighteen States of Jiangnan will eventually become congested."

"Gather a large army at that time. If the world really changes drastically, then I dare to ask you, my lord, to mobilize the troops of the 18 states in the south of the Yangtze River and seize the surrounding 17 states from the hands of Ying and Chen."

Wen Lingjun said: "Most of these seventeen states are in the hands of the State of Chen."

"If the Emperor of Ying State holds it in his hands, it will be very disadvantageous to us. We must fight for it. We must fight for that moment of opportunity. With the help of the tide, we can rush to the Seventeen States with large ships and quickly conquer them. We will no longer cover an area of ​​a thousand miles in radius, but completely control this area."

"Your Excellency had an agreement with Emperor Ying before; therefore, only by seizing the opportunity at that moment can we make him and Chen Dingye swallow this loss."

Li Guanyi asked: "How confident are you, Chief Secretary?"

Wen Lingjun said: "Give me Yuan Zhi and Feng Xiaodiao to send them to me."

"If, at that time, your name is known far and wide, and Dai Qing's actions are thorough enough to make the people of the Seventeen States envious, then nine out of ten, nine out of ten..."

The gentle gentleman said softly:
"I am 90% sure that I can help you completely pacify the entire Jiangnan area."

"After that, it will depend on what you do in the Western Regions."

Li Guanyi said, "Okay."

He stood up, bowed deeply, and said, "Well, thank you, sir."

All the gold and silver were left behind for the time being, and Feng Xiao was taken away by Wen He and Wen Lingjun. Their strategy changed again, and Li Guanyi wrote a letter to Yan Daiqing, telling him that the money problem had been solved and that they could start preparing water conservancy measures to prevent the autumn flood. Yan Daiqing was skeptical, but the autumn flood was less than a hundred days away.

In fact, Yan Daiqing had already started taking measures to prevent autumn floods, and his disciples from the Mohist and Agricultural schools were implementing the measures very quickly. However, the daily silver consumption was enormous, to the extent that Yan Daiqing felt a stomachache after seeing it.

At the same time, changes are taking place everywhere in the world.

In the palace of Ying State.

Po Jun watched the Seventh Turkic King and the Princess of Ying State chatting. The Princess of Ying State was eleven years younger than the Seventh Turkic King. She was beautiful, eloquent, and had good martial arts and literary talent. The Seventh Turkic King, on the other hand, had a heroic bearing.

Pojun used many strategies to make the Seventh Turkic King show his martial arts and heroism. The Princess Ying, who had disliked the Seventh King at first, gradually accepted him, and their relationship gradually improved. The princess initially attacked from the side and told Jiang Wanxiang that she was willing to follow the Seventh King.

But Jiang Wanxiang was just pretending to be stupid.

Or they would pretend to cry and say that they were old and couldn't bear to leave their daughter.

Seeing this, Po Jun gnashed his teeth.

These old guys are shameless and play the emotional card.

Jiang Wanxiang's tone became relieved after the war between Ying State and Turkic Khanate more than a month ago.

The famous general of Ying State, Acala, the Great General Yuwen Tianxian, led the mechanical beasts of the Mohist school of Ying State to defeat the eleven kings of the Turks head-on at the border between Ying State and the Turks in the north, severely undermining their prestige.

On the surface, it is just a border conflict between the two countries.

In fact, it was a conflict between the grassland forces headed by the Great Khan of the Turks and the emerging seven kings who were willing to form an alliance with the Central Plains, a conflict between the conservatives and the young people. The Great Khan of the Turks was the second most famous general in the world, and he had only been defeated by the military god of the Central Plains in his life.

He has a great reputation on the grassland and is called a celestial hero. He is the only hero in the past thousand years who can be compared with the heroes in the epics passed down orally in the earliest times. He is eager to maintain the unchanged order of the grassland for thousands of years.

However, after the Seventh Prince had been to the south of the Yangtze River and the Central Plains, he became even more dissatisfied with the Khan's conservatism.

He also longed to obtain the craftsmen, technology, writing and culture of the Central Plains.

The conflict between father and son has risen to a level far greater than that of a rebellious son. After Yuwen Tianxian defeated the eleven Turkic khans and proved his ability as a commander, Jiang Wanxiang became particularly kind to the seventh king.

Before Jiang Wanxiang went to Zhongzhou, he even allowed the seven kings to participate in the family dinner.

When the Seventh Prince came back, he was overjoyed and praised the beauty and tenderness of the princess, and the affectionate and free-spirited nature of the Central Plains girls. Po Jun poured wine on the Seventh Prince's head and scolded him, "Are you intoxicated by the gentleness of life?!"

The Seven Kings felt a chill in their hearts.

Po Jun said: "Look carefully, he agreed only after General Yuwen Tianxian defeated the Turkic heavy cavalry. After you return to the grassland, you will check and balance your father. At this time, outside the border between the Turkic and Ying countries in the northern region."

"The Taiping Army and Yue's Army were cornered by the Third Divine General."

"Jiang Wanxiang is stabilizing the rear."

"This old guy has made a big deal!"

The Seventh Prince calmed down and said, "We need to go faster."

Po Jun said: "If you don't leave, the world will change. The seven Turkic Khans and some people in the Central Plains don't want you to return alive, such as the young general who grew up with the third princess, and the shrewd prime minister of Ying State."

"And your father and brothers."

The Seventh Prince planned to look for Jiang Wanxiang the next day, but Jiang Wanxiang had already gone to Zhongzhou that day, so the Seventh Prince was trapped here. He had been writing to Jiang Wanxiang for half a month, but still received no response, and the Seventh Prince became more and more worried.

Pojun actually saw what Jiang Wanxiang was planning to do.

Jiang Wanxiang needs the most stable rear.

What is the most stable rear?
It was a fight.

The blue dragon absolutely did not believe in any so-called covenant or in-laws. He had personally come from the troubled times and only believed in the desires and interests in people's hearts, and only believed in the fight of swords and fire.

This old emperor planned to send the worried seven kings back to the Turks when the world changed drastically. If Pojun's guess was correct, the person who would send the kings back would be Yuwen Tianxian.

This is just like the envoys of the ancient Red Empire, who went there to cause trouble.

There will almost certainly be a fight!
Only when the Turks start fighting among themselves will the emperor let go of the world.

"You old man, you are so cruel."

Po Jun whispered, "Are you going to use your own daughter as a sacrifice for the world?"

"...After all, it's not the child of you and that woman."

The young counselor said: "Emperor, oh emperor."

"He is truly ambitious, yet also cold-hearted. In the history of history, he is considered to be a man who values ​​friendship and loyalty, and a qualified king."

He paused, raised his chin slightly, and raised the corners of his mouth!
"But that's you. My master is not like that!"

The corners of Pojun's mouth curled up slightly, he was calm and composed, with a feeling of showing off, but because such things really could not be told to other people, he had to lower his head regretfully and judge it himself.

The regrettable thing is that you don't have such a great opportunity to listen to me tell you about my lord's thirty-seven advantages and strengths, as well as the newly written essay "On Why My Lord is the Strongest White Tiger Sect".

It’s really such a pity!

I really want to print tens of millions of copies of this book, so that everyone in the 18 states of Jiangnan can have three copies.

One is for reading, one is for giving to friends, and one is for worship.

Pojun raised his eyes slightly, feeling full of regret.

He has facilitated a marriage between the Turks and the Ying Kingdom, and initiated the fight between the second prince and the crown prince. Especially after Jiang Wanxiang left, the fight between the two gradually became more intense.

However, it was not a direct fight.

That's stupid.

Following Po Jun's advice, Jiang Yuan began to build a reputation as a man who loved his father and mother and was concerned about the world. He also made friends with celebrities, respected and was humble, stayed away from women and money, and lived a simple life. He believed that what he should fight for was never power, but reputation.

There were many open and covert struggles between Pojun and the prime minister and Shangshulang of Ying State.

But the Prime Minister only thought that such hostility was because the two of them were targeting the Seventh King.

Never thought further.

Po Jun's strategy in Ying State has basically been completed. Although he is still in danger, he looks into the distance with worry and says:

"One leaf falling tells us that autumn has come. The waves in Ying State have reached this point. My lord, my lord, are you safe there?"

"I wish I were by my lord's side right now!"

"My Lord, please help me solve my problems!"

........................

The changes in Zhongzhou students and the turmoil in Yingguo have not yet affected Zhongzhou. Jiang Wanxiang just feasts with students every day, or goes fishing and drinking. When the feast is to his heart's content, he will play the pipa and sing along.

The voice is vast and loud, with a heroic spirit.

Chen Dingye of the State of Chen was discussing academic matters with the students. In his time, he was known for his vast knowledge of literature and profound understanding, which truly impressed many students and made them respect him.

Chen Dingye privately said to the eunuch in charge of ceremonies:
"Students are naive and immature. They talk about morality and justice, but they are still no match for a lonely person like me. They only understand these things, but cannot abide by them. I am superior to them in terms of morality, but I only regard this so-called morality and justice as a weapon."

"It can be seen that Confucianism is useless if it is not used to deceive people's minds."

"The military strategists and legalists are all capable of governing the world."

Different parties have their own choices. On this day, Yaoguang and Old Man Siming went fishing together. Li Guan, as usual, visited Master Wang Tong, talked to the group of advisers, and then went to Changfeng Tower.

He had a habit of going to Changfeng Tower every month to observe the changes in various places across the world during that month. This was the case when he was in Zhenbei City, in the Eighteen Prefectures of Jiangnan, and in the Gongsun Family.

After I told Wen Lingjun and the others about this custom.

Wen Lingjun was silent for a long while, and then he carefully considered his words and said gently:

"My lord, you have great luck."

Mr. Wen He said leisurely, "My lord, this habit is completely conditioned. Intelligence transmission is difficult in the first place. There is a special chapter on [Using Spies] in the Art of War, which shows how important it is."

"You really are so spoiled that you didn't notice it, right?"

"No matter where you go, you can find Changfeng Tower. Wherever the Qilin in troubled times is, there must be a Changfeng Tower waiting. This commonplace thing is itself the most unreasonable thing!"

"This Changfeng Tower is not a weed on the roadside that can grow on its own. If you want to establish a foothold in different places, transmit intelligence, and gather personnel, it is not something that can be done by just talking."

"My Lord, you'd better consider it and thank and reward the owner of Changfeng Tower."

Li Guanyi was criticized by the advisors and had no choice but to leave.

Watching Li Guanyi leave.

Wen He shook his head and said, "She's really spoiled."

"This has subtly made the lord almost forget how difficult it is to run an intelligence system, and he has taken this matter for granted. I wonder how much effort it must have taken."

"What's even stranger is that that person doesn't want the lord to thank her for this matter."

"This is so strange, are there really people like this in the world?"

Feng Xiao said: "Maybe."

Wen He said: "I don't believe it."

So Feng Xiao could only roll his eyes.

Cursing and cursing.

Li Guanyi climbed up to the Changfeng Tower and entered the quiet room. Now the quiet room in the Changfeng Tower for transmitting information was a bit like a ghost market. There was a thick curtain in the middle covering it. Only information was transmitted but no one could see who the other party was.

It has gradually become like a regular intelligence organization.

I think I have suffered a lot in the past two years before I gradually changed.

Li Guanyi sat down and waited for the owner of Changfeng Tower.

The owner of Changfeng Tower in the Zhongzhou Imperial City was waiting to go up, but was called. She turned around in surprise and saw a familiar girl wearing a cross-collared jacket with a green cloud pattern, a horse-faced skirt with dozens of fine pleats at the waist, and a shapely figure that moved like water ripples.

The owner of Zhongzhou Changfeng Tower's expression changed, and he was about to salute, but was held back by the girl.

The girl put her finger to her lips, signaling for silence.

Then she asked the OP to step back, and she walked forward step by step.

These thirty-three steps seem so long.

Finally, she sat behind the curtain of the quiet room and looked at the figure in front of her.

Take a slight breath.

Clear voice:

"My dear guest, what information do you want?"

(End of this chapter)