"An elephant has teeth to burn its body, which is bribery." [Zuo Zhuan: The 24th Year of Duke Xiang]
Liu Miao glanced at Liu Xi pretending to be unintentional, and saw him sitting on the side with his hands clasped in his belly, too timid to speak. He felt helpless for no reason. If it weren't for him and King Langxieshun,
The love between brothers is deep, and I don't want to see my brother's orphans suffer in this world, so why would I take the initiative to cause unnecessary trouble?
After sighing secretly, Liu Miaofu looked at Zang Ba again. Although time will prove all this, the other party has not seen the strength of the imperial court with his own eyes. His own words alone are not enough to make him awe of the imperial court. Therefore
After coercion, there must be inducement. This was Liu Miao's common method when he was the governor of Taiyuan when dealing with local powerful people who had surrendered to the Huns: "Xiapi, Guangling and other counties were in chaos, and the supply of food and grass was difficult. Presumably these
The general already knows it."
Zang Ba nodded, vaguely guessing the meaning of the other party's words.
Liu Miao continued: "The general has done a great job in suppressing Langxie and ensuring the safety of the whole place. At this time, the military resources are not available, but the Langxie national treasury is still full, so naturally he has to share the burden for the general."
"What do you mean by Mr. Fu?" Zang Ba raised his eyebrows.
Liu Miao quickly responded: "Your Highness has just discussed with me and is willing to allocate eight million yuan of food from tens of millions of dollars to meet the needs of the general."
Eight million is not a small number. Zang Ba knew that when he and others captured Kaiyang, even though there was a military order not to infringe on the remains of the previous king, Chang Xi still led his men to loot the palace and treasury. At this time, the new king had not long since succeeded to the throne.
, money is urgently needed everywhere, and it is not easy to spend eight million for him.
I thought that I would encounter a lot of trouble if I took the initiative to ask for money from the new king, but I didn't expect that the other party would be so understanding. Not only did he generously and proactively give the money, but he also showed his power overtly and covertly. Zang Ba understood that the imperial power was still there at this time, and he could not
He was too treasonous, but being able to get in touch with Liu Miao through the relationship between the new king and Liu Miao would be an additional way to be a good person in the future.
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness." Although he knew at a glance that this was what Liu Miao meant, Zang Ba still had the sense to thank the apparent 'rightful owner'.
"Ah." Liu Xi didn't expect that the other party would suddenly speak to him. He didn't react, so he raised his hand and said, "Thank you, General."
Zang Ba smiled indifferently and turned his attention to Liu Miao again.
Liu Miao coughed lightly and said, "Speaking of this, the general will encounter a good thing recently."
"A good thing?" Zang Ba asked.
"The imperial court saw that Langxie was approaching Mount Tai and the bandits in Qingzhou were worried about domestic unrest. It also knew that the general was very brave and strategist, so he ordered the general to be appointed as the Huaiyi Colonel to suppress Langxie." Liu Miao stroked his beard and said with a smile:
"This was supposed to be announced by Duke Dahonglu in two days, but today is the right time, so I informed you in advance. General, please don't blame me for being abrupt."
The title of Captain Huaiyi conferred by the imperial court was much higher than that of the Captain of Cavalry promoted by Xuzhou Mu, not to mention that it also recognized the fact that he was stationed in Langye. Zang Ba didn't know what he meant at first, but he soon understood.
, the imperial court may have discovered his value in some aspects, so it wanted to win over him and use him as a pawn between Qing and Xu. Otherwise, the mere reason of protecting the Langxie royal family would not be enough for the imperial court to take him seriously.
He is a powerful person from a wild background.
Liu Miao saw that Zang Ba was thoughtful, and he obviously knew what the other party had discovered. He did not expect that Zang Ba, a man with a rough appearance, would have such a delicate mind. It seemed that the emperor chose him for no reason.
"Now the Yuan family, Tian Kai, and Lu Bu are competing for Qingzhou. Among them, the Yuan family has the upper hand. Lu Bu occupies Beihai, Donglai, Qi and other places. Tian Kai is sandwiched between the east and the west. If Gongsun Zan doesn't lend a hand to help, he will be at any time
It may be destroyed." After Zang Ba left, Liu Xi asked hesitantly. Langxie is adjacent to Qingzhou, and the war situation in Qingzhou will more or less affect the situation in Langxie. Now he sees that Liu Miao is sparing no effort to win over Zang Ba, a powerful local faction.
, there seemed to be some thoughts in his mind: "Is the imperial court intending to let Zang Ba get involved in Qingzhou's affairs?"
Liu Miao glanced at Liu Xi cautiously, and saw Liu Xi showing an inquiring look, with a faint light shining in the depths of his eyes. When Liu Miao spoke, he said ambiguously: "This is a matter of state."
After hitting a soft nail, Liu Xi was not in a hurry. He still asked in the confused tone: "I have something unclear. Since the imperial court has ordered Zang Ba to be the Huaiyi captain and station troops in Langxie, what else can he do?"
Naturally, military supplies and food should be supplied by the state. No matter whether Uncle Wang allocated money to him or not, they all got the money. Isn't this a single move?"
Liu Miao withdrew his eyes from looking at Liu Xi. He had seen this nephew since he was a child. He knew his nature very well. He had always been gentle and docile. The sharpness he saw just now might just be an illusion. At this time,
Hearing Liu Xi's question, Liu Miao felt even more relieved, but he sighed: "The country is a country, and the king is a king."
"Oh." Liu Xi suddenly realized that the illegal money given to the royal family by the imperial court belonged to the private property of the Langye royal family, which was equivalent to 'forbidden money' and 'water balance money'. Prime Minister Yinde had no power to control it. Liu Xi took his own private money.
To subsidize Zang Ba was a separate gesture of goodwill on his part; while the money allocated by Prime Minister Yin De was originally part of Zang Ba's garrison at Langye, and the two were different concepts.
"It's just that as a king, I openly bribed a lieutenant general. Wouldn't that arouse suspicion?" Liu Xi thought about the whole story and immediately looked a little scared.
Liu Miao shook his head and said: "Tens of millions of illicit money is not only useless, but it is not beautiful if it is remembered by others. Besides, Your Highness cannot keep this money, so it is better to take it out and sell it to Zang Ba."
Favor.”
"It seems that I am stingy." Liu Xi smiled coquettishly, showing a hint of embarrassment. Then, he said to Liu Miao intimately: "Thanks to Uncle Wang for taking care of me today, otherwise I really don't know what to do.
That's good. But this matter of mobilizing the army is a bit taboo. Uncle Wang is now a minister of the imperial court. After returning to Chang'an, he hopes to speak more for his nephew in front of the country to avoid causing trouble."
Liu Miao said 'hmm' without thinking about it, and said to himself: "This is just a temporary expediency..." He wanted to say that at this time, the court would be very happy to see Zang Ba deepen the relationship with the court through Liu Miao.
The relationship between them will naturally not be suspected by others. But just as he was about to say the words, he paused for a moment and said vaguely: "After I return to Chang'an, I will report this matter to the country."
Speaking of this, a man next to Liu Miao suddenly walked to the door and stood sideways, as if he had something to say but didn't dare to come in and disturb him.
Just as Liu Miao was about to pull away, he looked up at the door and asked, "What's the matter?"
"It's an old friend Fu Jun met in Yangdu. I want to meet Fu Jun." Cang Tou said truthfully.
"Oh, it's him." Liu Miao agreed, "Just let him stay for a while, and I'll come right away."