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After Zhang Hongfan asked, his seventh uncle replied readily: "The trade route was closed for a year. It was difficult to find a few pieces of tapestry to give to Princess Wang and Sun. Your aunt was very anxious. No, some time ago It was Erlang who found a way and shipped another batch of southern goods from Bozhou."
"Bozhou? Second brother has this ability?"
"What's so difficult? It would be nice to have good dealings with Ali Hague."
Zhang Hongfan smiled and said: "Seventh uncle still knows about Ali Hague?"
"Hahaha, occasionally I care about some major world affairs."
Zhang Hongfan drank the tea that was worth gold and asked in a casual conversation: "Second brother is finally willing to come down from Lotus Mountain?"
"Didn't His Majesty give your father another official position? He has to go to Yanjing to build the city again, and Liu Lang is not here either."
When the seventh uncle Zhang said this, he leaned over, lowered his voice, and said: "Jiulang, I heard that the military and civilians in various places in the country are now in charge. But our Zhang family is different. Since Your Majesty can allow you to manage the army, why not let him Erlang is in charge of the people, so he can still accept it with so much reluctance... Doesn't His Majesty trust you?"
Zhang Hongfan nodded and said: "Seventh uncle, don't worry, I have a sense of proportion."
When Zhang Rou became an official last year, she originally asked Zhang Honglue to succeed him as the military and civilian director of Shuntian Road. Kublai Khan promoted Zhang Honglue to an official position and handed over the post of military and civilian director of Shuntian Road to Zhang Hongfan.
At this point, the military power of the Zhang family was nominally in Zhang Hongfan's hands.
After Kublai Khan mobilized Zhang Hongfan to attack Guanzhong, the civil affairs of Shuntian Road were still managed by Zhang Rou. There was a trend of gradually separating the military and civilian powers.
This time Zhang Rou was brought back to Yanjing, and another person would be in charge of the civil affairs of Shuntian Road. This person must be a descendant of the Zhang family.
After sitting in this manor outside the city for a while, when Zhang Hongfan was about to leave, he heard a message saying that Zhang Erlang was here.
…
The two brothers were walking by the Yimuquan River. Zhang Hongfan turned around and saw Zhang Hongji's face was pale, his body was thin, his back was a little bent, and he looked very tired.
Now he is much taller than Zhang Hongji.
"I haven't seen my second brother for many years. I wonder if my second brother's illness is getting better?"
"I can't get better from this disease. I just need to take care of myself slowly. I can live one day longer." Zhang Hongji said, waving his hand to signal that he should not talk more about this topic, and asked in turn: "Why don't you go to the city first when you come back? Instead, you ran to your seventh uncle?"
"Try the Longtuan tea that Uncle Seven bought from the south... By the way, I heard that this tea was smuggled by my second brother from the south?"
Zhang Hongji slowly sat down on the stone by the river and said: "I won't hide it from you. If you want to investigate, you will find it sooner or later. This time we are not smuggling from Lianghuai, but from Shaanxi."
"Why?"
“Good price.”
"ha?"
"Smuggled with Shaanxi, their prices are really good. A piece of Songjiang Kesi can be nearly half cheaper than one from Lianghuai."
As Zhang Hongji spoke, he casually talked about some irrelevant things.
"The tapestry was the best made in Dingzhou, Hebei Province more than a hundred years ago. It is said that 'there is Dingzhou in the north and Songjiang in the south.' However, in the hundred years after the Song and Jin Dynasties, people were in dire straits, so there was no such good craftsmanship. Today We can only rely on smuggling from Songjiang."... Zhang Hongfan said: "Conquer the Song Dynasty and unify the rivers and mountains, so there is no need for smuggling."
"yes."
"Since the second brother is trading with Shaanxi, I'm afraid the gift is not just gold and silver, right?"
"Well, there are also horses, cattle and sheep, coal, leather, medicinal materials..."
"This is a serious crime against the enemy."
"But the price they paid was high."
Zhang Hongfan seemed angry and amused, and said: "Second brother, are you joking with me? So do you also want to fall in love with Li Xia?"
"I understand that we are in the hinterland of the Central Plains. You must be resolutely loyal to the Great Khan in order for the Zhang family to survive."
Zhang Hongfan didn't expect Zhang Erlang to say such a sentence, and couldn't help but be stunned.
"Second brother actually knows this truth?"
Zhang Hongji sighed: "I understand, you have no choice at all. Your Majesty will not tolerate the duplicity of the prince forever. He really angered him, and now he sent troops to destroy the Zhang family. We are not like Li Fen. He is at least bordering the Song Dynasty. Now
Li Xia is also unable to send troops to support. It has been you who has been stabilizing the Zhang family."
After hearing this, Zhang Hongfan was silent for a moment, moved a stone, sat down next to Zhang Hongji, and said: "In the whole family, only the second brother understands."
"Yes, I do understand your position."
"Then why are you still contacting Li Xia?"
"I told you, the price is right."
Zhang Hongfan pursed his lips and looked at Zhang Hongji with burning eyes.
"Okay." Zhang Hongji took out a few letters from his arms and handed them over, saying, "Read it yourself."
"Secretary Cong?"
When Zhang Hongfan saw that the letter was actually written by Liu Bingzhong, he suddenly realized.
Zhang Hongji said: "Every time Li Xia sends spies to enter the country, Secretary Cong wants to persuade His Majesty to set up spies to deal with it. Regarding this move, what my father cares most about is that it will improve the status of the Han people, so he is determined to fully support it..."
Zhang Hongfan had already read the first letter from Liu Bingzhong inviting Zhang Rou to go north, and quickly opened the second letter.
The second letter was a draft, a reply written by Zhang Hongji on behalf of Zhang Rou. As expected, every word was concerned about the status of the Han people in the Yuan Dynasty.
After that, there was a plan to sneak a spy into Guanzhong.
This was somewhat beyond Zhang Hongfan's expectation.
"Is it actually to spy on Guanzhong?"
"Do not believe?"
"It's not disbelief, it's a surprise." Zhang Hongfan asked: "Second brother has never been fond of worldly things and has been recuperating in Lianhua Mountain all year round. But this time he came down the mountain to arrange a detailed work?"
"When father is away, someone should be watching over the house." Zhang Hongji sighed, "Because the eldest sister eloped with Li Xia, Your Majesty has always suspected father. As sons of men, we can only do our best to help father clear his doubts."
"Send someone to sneak into Chang'an to assassinate Li Xia. What if the eldest sister is hurt?"
"Otherwise, what if? Just because the eldest sister married Li Xia, our whole family cannot surrender? In this world, do people still care about some kinship? It's just to preserve the family."
"Second brother is not like this kind of person."
"Of course not, there's nothing we can do about it."
The two brothers were silent for a while, and Zhang Hongfan asked again as if unintentionally: "By the way, I heard that the second brother asked to marry the second sister of the Yuan family back then?"
"Um."
Zhang Hongji responded in a muffled voice.
"But you still think about her?"
"Just because I once admired her and she is in Chang'an, do I decide to secretly seek refuge with Li Xia?"... "I made a mistake. I shouldn't underestimate my second brother so much."
Zhang Hongji said: "In order to preserve the family, you can die, I can die, and I don't think much about the rest."
"That's a serious statement." Zhang Hongfan asked, "But if we send someone there this time, will we be able to gain Li Xia's trust?"
"We just sent the detailed work to Guanzhong, don't worry, we'll see if they can get any important information."
Zhang Hongji said, slowly stood up, and said: "Let's go, I came out of the city today to tell you that there is no need to search outside the city, just ask me directly. There are still people in the family who understand you and support you."
"Thank you, second brother."
"I know you may still not believe me. It doesn't matter if you don't believe me, but you should believe Secretary Cong."
~~
Yanjing.
Everything inside and outside the city is busy.
Inside the city, preparations are being made for the imperial meeting to change the country's name, and outside the city, the survey and planning of the new city are still going on.
Zhang Rou, who was working as a minister, was already on the way, but several letters from the Zhang family were delivered not to Zhang Rou's house, but to Liu Bingzhong.
"As expected, Zhang Erlang has now developed a batch of detailed skills and sent them to Guanzhong."
"Did he hide it from Li Xia?"
"Li Xia may doubt whether he sincerely surrenders." Liu Bingzhong pondered: "But in the end, he will still choose to believe Zhang Erlang."
"How to be sure?" Shi Tianze asked.
"Zhang Erlang seems to be passionate and affectionate, and he is good at gaining the trust of others, but he is very opinionated." Liu Bingzhong handed over a piece of information and said: "This is the first piece of information he has found out. Shi Gong
Let's see."
"Secretary Cong is still planning the strategy." Shi Tianze sighed, took the information, looked at it, and frowned: "Someone in Junzhou is secretly smuggling iron? How long have I been away from Henan? They are a bunch of bastards!"
"Looking at the bright side, it can be seen that Zhang Erlang has gained their trust."
"That's fine." Shi Tianze thought for a moment and said, "It's time not to rush to deal with it now. Instead of alerting the enemy, it's better to arrange for them to enter Tongguan every time they smuggle..."
This was a trick, and for a while Shi Tianze had already thought of several ways to use smuggling to capture Tongguan.
"If this is the case, it will be much smoother to tackle the key problem when His Majesty frees his hands." Liu Bingzhong said: "Zhang Erlang's actions may make His Majesty understand the benefits of setting up a spy yamen."
"Can this be done?"
"It is about to be completed, and the results were achieved immediately as soon as it was established...".
Weird cousin reminds you: Remember to collect after reading this