The conversation of Xuanfu envoy Chen Qing really caught Guan Shigu off guard. Chen Qing actually asked him to serve as Military Affairs Sima. He did not agree immediately or refuse. He needed to go back and think about it. This appointment came so suddenly that he did not have any psychology at all.
Prepare.
Guan Shigu returned to his mansion with a lot of worries. Guan Shigu's house was an official residence covering an area of about eight acres, and his three acres of private residence was passed down to his eldest son.
Guan Shigu got off the carriage and happened to meet his second son Guan Xiaowen coming out of the house. Guan Xiaowen saw his father and hurriedly came forward to greet him.
"Second brother, when did you come back?" Guan Shigu asked in surprise.
Guan Xiaowen said respectfully: "My child came back this morning. Isn't it the New Year? My child specially escorted 300,000 New Year sheep to Beijing to mark the occasion."
Guan Xiaowen was about 24 or 25 years old. He was educated in Chengdu. His education was average, but he liked breeding. He had raised a lot of chickens and ducks at home since he was a child. After coming to Jingzhao, Chen Qing asked him what he liked to do. He said he liked raising sheep.
, so Chen Qing appointed him as the herdsman of Yuanzhou Qun, that is, the sheep official. Guan Xiaowen did an errand that no one was willing to do, but he did it with gusto.
"You come to my study. My father has something to ask you."
Guan Xiaowen followed his father to the study and stood respectfully aside. Guan Shigu asked, "How did you do in Yuanzhou?"
"Reporting back to my father, my son has done a great job and feels very accomplished."
"A sense of accomplishment?"
Guan Shigu shook his head and said, "Does raising sheep give you a sense of accomplishment?"
"Haier has a sense of accomplishment. When he first took over, there were 500,000 sheep, and now it has increased to 1.3 million. Today, Boyer is sending sheep. Jiang Changshi specially met with Boyer, and said that the Xuanfu envoy will be here in the spring next year.
I’m going to Wonju to inspect the sheep ranch.”
Guan Shigu thought for a moment and asked, "Do the people of Yuanzhou still remember me?"
Guan Shigu once served as the military envoy of Qingyuan Road and stayed in Yuanzhou for five years. He had deep feelings for Yuanzhou.
Guan Xiaowen said: "They all remember my father. I often hear some elders talk about my father, saying that they are still grateful to this day for the Linpeng Guandao that my father built."
"Did you say anything about the present?"
"Yes! Everyone says that my father is on the right path, and they all look forward to seeing him again."
Guan Shigu nodded silently and fell into deep thought.
"What else does the father want to ask the child?"
Guan Shigu smiled and said, "It's nothing, you can go!"
Guan Xiaowen bowed and slowly retreated.
Guan Shigu stood in front of the window and looked out the window without saying a word for a long time. He was only over fifty years old this year and could still work for at least ten more years. It would be a lie to say that he was not eager to return to his official career. It was just that he wanted to
After returning to the court, he wrote to Han Shizhong and asked him to help test the court's intentions.
Han Shizhong wrote him a reply at the beginning of the year. The letter implicitly suggested that he stay in Sichuan and Shaanxi to avoid being impeached. He also mentioned that the officials did not pay enough attention to the generals of the Western Army. Liu Ziyu was now the governor of Quanzhou. Although the Wu brothers were high-ranking officials, they had no real power.
This is still an official who has made great achievements, and an official like him who has turned traitor is even less likely to be reused.
Moreover, Han Shizhong spoke very implicitly, but his meaning was very clear. If he went to the court, he would definitely be impeached and imprisoned. It was this letter that made Guan Shigu completely give up on returning to the court.
This time Chen Qing's northern expedition to Xixia actually destroyed Xixia, which was completely beyond Guan Shigu's expectation and shocked Guan Shigu. He had fought with Xixia for many years and knew very well the tenacity and good fighting skills of the Xixia army, especially the Hengshan Qiang soldiers.
He was very familiar with the terrain and was very good at using the terrain to fight, causing the Song army to suffer repeated defeats.
When Guan Shigu learned about the situation of the war, he realized that the Qiang people had turned against the Xixia court, and the Qiang soldiers had become allies of the Song army. When Xixia was at its weakest, they worked together to destroy Xixia.
But in any case, Chen Qing destroyed Xixia, which shocked him greatly. He began to change his mentality. He was very willing to serve Chen Qing and lay a foundation for the descendants of the Guan family.
At this time, he became excited. Chen Qing actually appointed himself as Sima of Military Affairs and entered the cabinet hall. This was actually the prime minister!
At this moment, Guan Shigu wanted to go to the Xuanfu Envoy Department immediately to accept Chen Qing's appointment.
Contrary to Guan Shigu, Lu Wei is listlessly packing his luggage in the mansion. He has been appointed as the prefect of Xiazhou and will leave with a group of officials tomorrow. He will not be able to stay in Jingzhao even during the New Year.
You must know that he is the prefect of Jingzhao, but he was actually asked to be appointed as the prefect of Xiazhou, which was just established. Next, he should be appointed as the Sichuan-Shaanxi transfer envoy, or the household deployment, the official deployment and other important orders, but he was demoted to Xiazhou. Magistrate, when he got the news, Lu Wei was almost on the verge of tears.
At this time, a maid in the yard said: "Master, there are guests visiting outside!"
"Who's visiting?"
"It's Inspector Zhang!"
"Ah! It's Zhang Miao here."
Lu Wei was startled and quickly stood up and went out to greet him.
Lu Wei and Zhang Miao had a good personal relationship. When Ganquanbao was established as a county, Zhang Miao was appointed as the county magistrate and Lu Wei was appointed as the county captain. The two often quarreled and their friendship broke out.
More importantly, Zhang Miao was a subordinate and even confidant of Lu Wei's grandfather Lu Xihao. Lu Yihao was appointed as the transfer envoy to Hebei Province and promoted the shrewd and capable Zhang Miao as the envoy to Xiangzhou. When the Jin soldiers came, Zhang Miao abandoned his official position and defected to the Eight-Character Army Wang Yan. Wang Yan When he was transferred, he and Zhou Kuan were entrusted to Chen Qing.
Therefore, although Zhang Miao kept a low profile, he was deeply trusted by Chen Qing, who put him in charge of two important agencies, the Supervision Department and the Intelligence Department.
Zhang Miao smiled at the door and said, "How about going out for a drink?"
"Let's go! Go to Ganquan Restaurant, the restaurant where I invested my money."
Ganquan Restaurant is a joint venture between Zheng Ping, Yang Yuanqing and Lu Wei. Since its opening, business has been good.
The two found a seat by the window on the second floor and ordered a bottle of wine and a few dishes. Zhang Miao filled a glass of wine for Lu Wei and said with a smile: "We are setting off tomorrow, so this glass of wine is a practice for my brother!"
Lu Wei suppressed his blush for a while and said, "Mr. Zhang, can you not go to Xiazhou?"
Zhang Miao held the wine glass and smiled slightly: "You don't want to go to the opportunity that others can't even fight for?"
Lu Wei was startled, "Why?"
Zhang Miao pointed at him, shook his head and smiled: "You have made the same mistake again. The captain of Ganquan County has lost his talent, so the prefect of Xiazhou has also lost his talent?"
Lu Wei's face turned red and he said sarcastically: "There is no one to explain to me, how can I understand?"
"You don't understand, but you can compare it! Zhang Xiao is the second-largest figure after Jiang Yanxian among the officials of the Xuanfu Envoy in Sichuan and Shaanxi Province, and a member of the Internal Affairs Hall. Zhang Xiao gave up his qualifications in the Internal Affairs Hall and gave up the important position of Military Affairs Sima. He was appointed as the magistrate of Lingzhou, do you also feel that he was demoted?"
"He is special and incomparable!"
"He is not special. What is special is the dispatch position. The prefect of Lingzhou and the prefect of Xiazhou are not ordinary state capitals. They are the prefectures that were changed after the destruction of Xixia. Your important task is to transform Xixia into the Song Dynasty. Do you understand? ! This is such a difficult thing. The Xuanfu envoy chose Zhang Xiao and you, which shows that the Xuanfu envoy affirms your ability. If Lao Zhou and I were ten years younger, I am afraid that we would be the prefect of Xiazhou."
Lu Wei sighed, "It must have been the envoy Xuanfu who asked you to comfort me!"
Zhang Miao smiled and said: "Xuanfu saw that you were in a low mood and knew that you were slow to react, so he asked me to wake you up."
Lu Wei refused to admit that he was worried. He said angrily: "I'm awake! I just don't have confidence."