Two major events happened in the court today. One was that Zhu Shengfei returned to the prime minister and became the left prime minister. Zhu Shengfei had not yet put on his hat as prime minister. Suddenly, the second news came. A cavalry of tens of thousands appeared in Huzhou. It was not the Jurchen cavalry, but
They are Chen Qing's Western Army cavalry.
This news really frightened Emperor Zhao Gou's face. He urgently ordered Liu Qi, commander of the Privy Council, and Tian Shizhong, commander of the capital, to lead 50,000 troops to station in Deqing County and Wukang County to defend Chen Qing's cavalry from continuing southward.
Zhao Gou then ordered Yang Yizhong, the deputy capital commander in front of the palace, to serve as the nine-door defense envoy and lead 30,000 troops to guard Lin'an City.
In the imperial study, Deputy Prime Minister Li Guangzhuo said: "Your Majesty, don't be nervous. Chen Qing's army must have come from Sichuan. There were no reports from the states along the way, which means it was not a rebellion, and they were humble enough to read the Huzhou report. They arrived in Huzhou the day before yesterday.
It shows that they stopped in Huzhou, Wei Chen believes that there should be no malicious intent."
Qin Hui snorted, "Leading an army to come to An'an without being ordered to do so. What's the difference between this and Dong Zhuo's entry into the capital?"
"Xianggong Qin is a bit alarmist. In fact, Chen Qing came to An'an just under the imperial edict. Didn't Your Majesty order him to come to An'an for discussion before?"
Qin Huiyin said: "What's the point of bringing an army here under the imperial edict?"
"Xianggong Qin!"
Li Guang suddenly became angry, "Now is the time to solve the problem. We will not only complain and ridicule, but will only aggravate the situation and eventually make it impossible to end."
Zhao Gou glared at Qin Hui with dissatisfaction, and Qin Hui had no choice but to remain silent.
Zhao Gou asked: "What should we do now according to Mr. Li?"
"It's very simple, get in touch, communicate, understand what the other party means, and then we can formulate countermeasures."
Privy Councilor Xu Xiantu also said: "Wei Chen also agrees with Li Xianggong's suggestion to contact him first. If Chen Qing comes to Lin'an, he will definitely not come alone. We must be mentally prepared for him to lead troops."
Xu Xiantu's last words made Zhao Gou relax a little. He nodded and said, "According to Li Aiqing's words, let Taichang Shaoqing Huang Guinian make contact first."
Chen Qing's fleet sailed out of the Yangtze River, entered the East China Sea, and headed south along the coastline. This area is also called Suzhou Ocean. There are many islands guarding the periphery, and the sea is calm and calm.
It was Chen Qing's first time to go to sea. Although the water surface was slightly undulating, it was not as scary as he thought. None of the other maids, including Zhao Yingluo, were seasick. Birds were flying on the sea, white clouds were blooming in the distance, and the sea and sky were the same color.
Everyone stood on the side of the ship and watched with great pleasure.
"I found that your husband is very interested in the sea?" Zhao Yingluo placed a cup of tea in front of Chen Qing, sat across from him and asked with a smile.
Chen Qing took a sip of tea, smiled slightly and said, "Do you see the black spots in the distance?"
Zhao Yingluo turned around and looked, and there were indeed many black spots in the distance. "What are those?" Zhao Yingluo asked in confusion.
"It's an island. It's a big island. It has fresh water and can be used to garrison troops. But there are only fishing villages on the island."
"Does your husband want to garrison troops on the island?"
Zhao Yingluo was extremely smart and immediately understood what her husband meant.
Chen Qing shook his head, "Although it's an island, it's still too small for me. What I want to go to is Penghu Island in the south, but supplies are a bit troublesome now, so I can only think about it first."
On the deck of another large ship, Chao Qingxiao asked: "Kundi, are you always this comfortable when you go to sea?"
Chao Kun rolled his eyes at him and said coldly: "This is my first time going to sea. This is not called going to sea. It's just standing on the sea and taking a look."
"What's the most serious situation?"
Chao Kun thought for a while and said: "It was noon that day. In an instant, the sky suddenly turned into night. The sea water was as black as ink. The huge waves were as high as mountains, pressing down on the ships. The ships with thousands of stones were like giant waves in front of them.
Like an ant, I watched helplessly as a large ship in front of me was swallowed up by huge waves, with hundreds of people on it! No one survived. I hugged the mast and cried and swore that if God allowed me to survive, I would never go to sea again.
"
"But you still want to go to sea. You still want to go to Japan and Korea, right?"
Chao Kun sighed, "I broke my oath. I knew that sooner or later I would die in the sea."
Zhong Huan laughed at the side and said: "It's not bad to die in the sea and become fish food!"
Chao Kun rolled his eyes at him, "It's better than being eaten by earthworms!"
"You two. Hey, stop bickering!"
Chao Qing said from the side: "This time the prince asked Sanlang to follow him eastward. I think it's a bit strange. Can Sanlang guess the reason?"
Chao Kun lowered his head and thought for a moment and said, "I guess it has something to do with Penghu."
Zhou Kuan followed Huang Guinian to Lin'an. He was making preliminary contact with the court on behalf of Chen Qinglai. Huang Guinian arranged for Zhou Kuan to stay in a VIP Inn in the suburbs, and hurried to report to the court.
Along with Zhou Kuan, there were thirty escort cavalrymen who came to An'an. They also lived in the guard courtyard of the post house.
In the afternoon, Zhou Kuan rode a carriage, escorted by more than a dozen cavalry, to the Lu Mansion to visit his old boss Lu Yihao. Back then, Lu Yihao served as the transfer envoy to Hebei. Zhou Kuan was recognized by Lu Yihao and appointed as the transfer envoy to Xiangzhou.
.
Twenty years later, Lu Yihao still remembered Zhou Kuan and was very excited. He ordered his eldest son Lu Jin to invite Zhou Kuan to the guest room.
"I didn't expect to see brother Zhou Xian again. It's great. The last time we met was when I went to Xiangzhou to collect food. I remember it was the fifth year of Xuanhe's reign!"
Zhou Kuan smiled and said: "Lv Gong has a good memory. It was indeed November of the fifth year of Xuanhe. Fifteen years ago, the harvests in all parts of Hebei were not very good that year, but the harvest in Xiangzhou was pretty good, so Lv Gong's first stop was
When he was elected to Xiangzhou, he severely criticized me, saying that our food was being put into the warehouse too slowly. I remember it clearly. It has been fifteen years in the past, and Lu Gong is in good health!"
"I'm sixty-eight, and my health is getting worse and worse, but brother Zhou, on the other hand, must be in his early fifties!"
"I am also fifty-five. I was forty years old at the time."
Lu Yihao nodded and asked: "The Jin soldiers invaded. I heard that Brother Zhou abandoned his official position and fled. I wonder what he is doing now?"
Zhou Kuan was startled. Lu Yihao didn't know that he was following Chen Qing?
He looked at Lu Jin, and Lu Jin pointed his head, which meant that his father had forgotten.
Zhou Kuan smiled and said, "I am now serving as a judge in the Sichuan-Shaanxi Xuanfu Envoy Department."
Lu Yihao patted his head and said with a smile: "Look at my memory. Jin'er told me that you are very important in Jingzhao. I wonder how my grandson-in-law can use you?"
"Before, I was mainly responsible for the finance, taxation and transportation of Sichuan and Shaanxi. Now I am responsible for the assessment and promotion of officials." Zhou Kuan spoke carefully to avoid dissatisfying the former prime minister.
"Oh! Speaking of which, you are in charge of the Civil Affairs Department, you are very powerful! I am afraid that besides Jiang Yan first, the second one is Brother Zhou."
Zhou Kuan smiled a little awkwardly, and asked curiously: "Duke Lu actually knows about the Department of Personnel Affairs?"
Lu Yihao said proudly: "My grandson is in Jingzhao. How could I not know the situation in Jingzhao? Don't think that just because I stay at home every day, I don't know anything. In fact, Lin'an knows the situation over there better than I do."
, there are really not many people.”
"Don't Mr. Lu think we are overstepping our bounds?"
Lu Yihao said lightly: "When Taizu put on the yellow robe in Chenqiao, the world still had the surname Chai. Did anyone accuse him of overstepping his bounds?"
Zhou Kuan gave a thumbs up, "Lv Gong said it thoroughly!"
Lu Yihao shook his head and said: "You don't have to pour me soul soup. These days, everything depends on strength. If you have strength, even if you are granted the title of Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the court will not be able to do anything to you. If you don't have strength, then you can only do evil under the sword."
No one will pity you."
"Thank you Mr. Lu for your teaching!"
"I'm not teaching you, I'm just telling the truth. Go ahead! If you see your county prince, ask him to come see me as soon as possible."
"I will tell you this because of my humble duty. I will not disturb Mr. Lu's rest. Please take my leave!"
Lu Yihao smiled and said: "I hope to hear the news that you have become the prime minister."
Zhou Kuan was speechless. Is this still a minister of the Song Dynasty? Lu Jin pointed at his head helplessly behind his back, meaning that his father had been a little confused recently and liked to talk nonsense.