With the wheat futures contract in hand, Qian Chen happily returned and turned down the Wei family's good intention to stay as a guest.
5,000 shi of wheat was enough, and the total price was 6,000 guan (a hundred). Even if he wanted to buy more, he couldn't afford the deposit, and the Jinzhou government couldn't come up with that much money.
This trip went too smoothly, beyond Qian Chen's expectations. His worst-case scenario was that he would not be able to buy grain in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and would eventually have to go to the Taihu Lake area to buy it.
Taihu Lake is far away and transportation costs are too high.
Wei Qun was sitting in the study, looking at the contract he had just signed, his expression as ugly as possible.
"You traitor, are you slandering your father?" Wei Tai stood behind the window with a cane and watched his grandson leave with his guests.
Wei Qun said angrily: "I don't dare."
Wei Tai seemed to be recalling the past and said quietly: "In the third year of Yuanfu, a new king succeeded to the throne. Zhang Zihou (Zhang Dun) once recommended me to become an official in the court. Do you know why I refused to conquer?"
Wei Qun replied: "My father is indifferent to fame and fortune."
"Fart," Wei Tai said, "Your father and I both dream of becoming an official."
Wei Qun added: "Because Zhang Zihou opposes the new emperor's father because he is afraid of being implicated?"
Wei Tai gave his son a roll of his eyes: "How could I be implicated by Zhang Zihou when my uncle is in court?"
"What worries does father have?" Wei Qun asked curiously.
Wei Tai said: "I'm afraid of being implicated by your uncle."
Wei Qun: "..."
Wei Tai explained: "Your uncle's straightforward temperament is exactly the same as mine. It can even be said that he has the same bad temper. I have already seen him when he was the king of Duan. He seemed to be elegant, but in fact he was petty. Your uncle's temper will make him prime minister sooner or later.
There is a quarrel with the officials. When King Shu was around, it was difficult to implement new laws, so how could your uncle push it?"
Zeng Bu was included in the history books and was included in "The Biography of Traitors".
But is Zeng Bu really a traitor?
Wang Anshi once said: "When discussing new laws, the one who always said it was feasible was Zeng Bu; the one who said it was not feasible was Sima Guang. The rest were attached to it and rebelled, either leaving or entering."
Wang Anshi was extremely accurate in judging people, and Zeng Bu spent his whole life upholding the new law.
But his way of defending made Wang Anshi so angry that he even impeached Lu Jiawen for using market changes to exploit the people.
This gives the old party an excuse. The backbones of your new party are criticizing the new law, which means there must be something wrong with the new law!
Zeng Bu's move was regarded as betrayal by Wang Anshi, who demoted him from the court.
But when the new party gained power, Zeng Bu was so full that he wanted to betray him? He really believed that there was a big mistake in the implementation of the market transaction law.
Later, the old party gained power and recalled Zeng Bu to the court. However, Zeng Bu always upheld the new law and was ostracized by the old party again.
It can be seen that he has never changed, and his persistence in the new law is more pure than anyone else.
Zeng Bu's real problem was that he was too straight-tempered and a bit domineering. In order to drive away Cai Jing, he even threatened the powerful Empress Dowager Xiang in person.
But Cai Jing didn't say anything and forcibly demolished the house of the Empress Dowager's brother. When things got serious, Cai Jing went to settle the matter. If the Xiang children were in trouble, it was Cai Jing who came to help. Of course, Empress Dowager Xiang had to protect Cai Jing to the death.
Empress Dowager Xiang stepped down, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty came to power, and Cai Jing was demoted to Hangzhou.
Zeng Bu, who was too strong, had a head-on conflict with Song Huizong. Cai Jing bribed Tong Guan wildly, and contacted Zeng Bu's enemy Lu Jiawen, and easily brought Zeng Bu down.
Wei Tai said: "Your uncle's biggest mistake was to support the current official. I tried to persuade him but he refused to listen."
"Who could have expected that the official family would be so stupid? The official family at that time was just an idle clan," Wei Qun said.
Wei Tai shook his head: "Your uncle and the official family had already been flirting with each other before the late emperor died. There was also a prince-in-law, Wang Shen. The three of them were contacted secretly by Gao Qiu. Otherwise, there would be so many princes and ministers.
Why can Gao Qiu become a Taiwei? Do you really think Gao Qiu can only write and play football?"
Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty once compared Gao Qiu to Song Chang.
Who is Song Chang?
The Lu family was executed, and the acting king Liu Heng was shocked and doubtful. His subordinates all advised him to continue to wait and see. Only Song Chang suggested that Liu Heng go to Chang'an immediately, and Liu Heng went to Beijing and became Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty.
So, let's think about it carefully, what role will Gao Qiu play in Song Huizong's succession?
The situation at that time was that Song Huizong began to make friends with Wang Shen, Zhao Lingrang and other relatives of the clan several years in advance. Through the relatives of the clan, he repeatedly brainwashed Empress Dowager Xiang and made her have a good impression of King Duan.
Su Shi recommended Gao Qiu, a minor official in the government, to Zeng Bu as a minor official.
Zeng Bu also said that his subordinates were enough, so he threw them to Wang Shen. Wang Shen sent Gao Qiu to deliver a grate knife to King Duan, probably taking the opportunity to send information. Wang Shen had a criminal record and was reprimanded by Song Shenzong
"Leaking banned Chinese language".
That is to say, Zeng Bu was in charge of the outer dynasty, Wang Shen was in charge of the inner court, and Gao Qiu was stationed in Prince Duan's Mansion to be responsible for liaison. The three of them worked together to help Song Huizong!
"It's useless to talk about your uncle's affairs," Wei Tai said. "I'm afraid Cai Jing won't be so unbridled for a few years."
Wei Qun said: "Cai Jing is old and his days are indeed numbered."
Wei Tai said: "The officials are very jealous. How can Cai Jing not be jealous of the emperor because he is arrogant and domineering? When Zheng Juzhong, Wang Fu and others are fully fledged, it is time for Cai Jing to retire and return to his hometown. Your second brother is also an official.
If you can't cling to traitors, this Zhu Chenggong is very good. He is already a court official at a young age, and he has the legacy of King Shu. Maybe he can start another reform in charge of the court."
"How many years will we have to wait?" Wei Qun felt unreliable.
Wei Tai said: "If it doesn't take ten years, it will take twenty years. King Shu and I have been friends for many years, and your uncle has always wanted to reform and strengthen the country. Today, many officials dare to scold Cai Jing, but not many can do anything after scolding Cai Jing."
Zhu Chenggong is just the right age. He has only been in office in Jinzhou for a month or two, and he can overwhelm Tongpan without any resistance. I am ashamed of myself for this method, which is very similar to your uncle when he was young."
Wei Qun didn't answer the call again.
Wei Tai continued: "After this autumn's state examination, if Yingwu and Yingshi fail, they will be asked to go to Jinzhou to become Zhu Chenggong's apprentice. The fifteen hundred guan lost from selling grain will be regarded as their apprenticeship ceremony.
."
Wei Yingwu, Wei Yingshi, was the son and nephew of Wei Qun.
Wei Qun was finally convinced: "Father can still understand."
Wei Tai started to pretend again: "Do you really think that your father is a completely confused old man? Back then, King Shu had a high position, but he and I fell in love at first sight. We are willing to talk about our friendship. King Shu would make friends with a fool.
?Mi Yuanzhang (Mi Fu) is such an arrogant man. He came to Dengcheng to find me, but he rushed all the way to Tokyo. When he got to Tokyo, he learned that I had returned to his hometown, and he rushed all the way back to Dengcheng just to be with me.
Talk about poetry and Taoism."
Wei Qun had already heard these words, and immediately echoed them without interrupting his father's bragging.
…
Tokyo, Duke's Mansion of the State of Lu.
Cai You took the letter and went to his father's study. When he saw his younger brother Cai Tiao was there, he was instantly unhappy.
Cai Jing, Cai You and his son turned against each other, and the key figure was Cai Tiao.
In recent days, Cai Jing's eyesight has become worse and worse, and many official tasks are handled by Cai Tiao. After two or three years, Cai Jing will be completely unable to see, so he will entrust everything to Cai Tiao, and Cai Tiao becomes
The "Xiao Ge Lao" of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Cai Tiao was also the grandson-in-law of Han Qi. He quoted a lot of disciples and former officials of the Han family, and for a time he had power over the government and the public.
Instead, Cai You became a marginalized figure. He was so angry that he went to Song Huizong to complain and asked the emperor to kill his younger brother.
At this moment, Cai Jing read and Cai Tiao wrote, the father is kind and the son is filial, creating a harmonious scene.
Cai You stood nearby and was full of jealousy. After his younger brother became an official, he became more and more favored by his father and gained the favor of the officials. The emperor affectionately called him "Cai Shisan" and "Thirteenth Son".
What happened to our brothers? They were not born to the same mother.
After Cai Tiao helped write the secret memorial, Cai Jing said, "What's the matter with Liu Lang?"
Cai You replied: "That guy Zhu Ming was transferred to Jinzhou. He behaved wildly and prohibited the people from gold mining, which caused great harm to the people's livelihood. It is difficult for Li Daochong, the general judge, to deal with it. How about transferring him away again? Transferring him back and forth will make him unable to live in peace!"
Cai Jing said angrily: "Do you really think this court belongs to the Cai family? It's natural to transfer them back and forth if you know the state. Then the Zhu family and his son are protected by officials, how can they be transferred whenever they want?"
Cai You said: "You can ask the officials to mobilize them personally."
"Where to be transferred?" Cai Jing asked, "To Hangzhou or Luoyang? When he reaches the prosperous state capital, he will be more harmful. It is better to pin him to Jinzhou and let him make trouble in the poor place. Zhu Guoxiang has returned to his hometown to visit relatives. Zhu Ming
And they are far away in Jinzhou. It is best for them never to return to Tokyo and not even mention it in front of the officials. The longer these two people stay away from Tokyo, the weaker the holy family will be. Maybe the officials will forget them one day."
"What my father said is absolutely true." Cai You felt that this was the truth.
Cai Jing warned: "Remember, if you can intercept the news about the Zhu family and his son, stop it all. Don't let the officials hear their names again. Try to stop the father and son's secret messages... too!"
Cai You said: "I'm afraid the secret memorial cannot be stopped. Xue Daoguang has a close relationship with the father and son. He can personally hand over the secret memorial to the officials when he enters the palace."
"If you can stop it, forget it if you can't," Cai Jing said: "Don't just focus on the Zhu family and his son, Zheng Juzhong and Wang Fu are the real troubles. When you are playing with the officials, you must lead them to hate Wang Fu."
Cai You complained bitterly: "Wang Fu doesn't want to be shy. He always pretends to be a woman and a clown to please the officials. He and Li Bangyan sing and harmonize, but they are ostracizing the children."
Cai Jing, wearing reading glasses, came close to check what he had just written. Without raising his head, he said: "Then read more of the Hua Shi Gang, the more exotic the better. Officials like novelty things. There is a severe drought this spring. Pay attention to the grain supply and don't let it go.
Tokyo is short of food.”
"Yes!" Cai You agreed.
"Go." Cai Jing said.
Cai You bowed and exited the study. When he saw his younger brother leaning his head and whispering something beside his father, his mood suddenly became even more unpleasant.
He vented all his anger on Li Daochong, wrote a letter and cursed him, complaining that Li Daochong was useless. He also ordered Li Daochong to live in peace and stay in Jinzhou, and not to conflict with Ju Ming again.
As Cai Jing said, it would be better if Ju Ming was pinned to Jinzhou. It would be better if he could roam around in remote areas and not move for a few years.
