Ye Wanying was too smart. She continued to speculate boldly: "I just guessed that if the prince was not dead, he would definitely return to Youzhou to visit everyone in the house, and the only person he could contact must be Mang Zhong. Now everyone knows the prince
deceased, so
Even if the prince is not dead at this time, he has to accept the fact that he is dead. Otherwise, how can he explain it to the people of the world?" She smiled faintly, "Prime Minister Gu's move forced the prince to live incognito in the world even if he was alive.
Not to mention brilliant."
Shi Zhongqiu said: "Uncle is not like that... Alas, the prince must have died in a shipwreck. As for him being alive is just your guess. Sister, I know you have him in your heart and hope he can live, but he is just gone.
.”
Ye Wanying narrowed her eyes, smiled and said: "Whether Mang Zhong is hiding a secret, we will find out once we try." She did what she said, sent someone to call Mang Zhong, and then dismissed others, and then said mysteriously:
"Mang Zhong, we'll be leaving in a few days."
Mang Zhong said: "Where are you going, sister? Why don't you stay in Youzhou for a few more days?"
Ye Wanying whispered: "You can't talk about this to Mrs. Ruoxi, or anyone else, so I can tell you."
"OK."
"Let's meet up with Brother Zhang." Ye Wanying said, "Do you have anything to say to him?"
Mangzhong was so shocked that he stared at Ye Wanying with his eyes wide open, speechless for a while. Ye Wanying saw that although she was surprised but not ecstatic, she immediately understood, and although she had thousands of feelings, she was suppressed in her heart.
After a long time, Mangzhong said: "Why... why are you talking nonsense? My master has been killed a long time ago."
Ye Wanying shook her head and said: "Since you have nothing to say that you need me to pass on, then go back and remember not to mention this matter to outsiders, otherwise Brother Zhang will be killed."
Mang Zhong nodded first, then shook his head and said, "It's okay. Did my sister miss her too much and have hallucinations?"
Ye Wanying just smiled and said nothing, opened the door and sent Mang Zhong back. Mang Zhong seemed to have something to say when he saw this, but he held it back in the end. When Mang Zhong left, Ye Wanying finally slumped on the ground and burst into tears. Shi Zhongqiu saw this and was busy
Asked what happened, Ye Wanying choked and said: "He must still be alive, still alive."
A few days later, Ye Wanying and Shi Zhongqiu said goodbye to the third lady. Although Gu Ruoxi tried to persuade her to stay several times, they were determined to leave, so they had to bid farewell to her in tears. Before leaving, Mang Zhong secretly stuffed a letter into Ye Wanying's clothes.
In his sleeves, after the two got on the carriage, he quickly opened the letter. The letter read: "Everything is fine at home, but I don't want to stay, and I also want to return to Mucheng Mansion. Can you?"
Ye Wanying and Shi Zhongqiu opened their eyes wide at the same time, looked at each other, and after a while they said: "Mucheng?!"
From Youzhou to Lianglangguan, you need to pass through Daizhou. The current Daizhou pastor is the smiling tiger Ouyang Hong, one of the eighteen tigers under Ye Xiangdong, the former Duke of Dushan. The commander of the wolf guards of Lianglangguan is Lu You, the Jinmaohu.
In order to fight against Zhang Xiaowu's Youzhou faction, Gu Yong vigorously recruited the seven surviving members of the Eighteen Tigers, known as the Seven Tiger Generals, and entrusted them with important tasks. Originally, Gu Yong wanted to let Ouyang Hong enter the court, but was rejected by Li Cunyi. The world
The military marshal Li Cunyi did not like the smiling tiger Ouyang Hong. Instead, he admired Zhang Xiaowu's generals, especially the iron-faced general Xia Ming who was reluctant to accept the canonization.
Although Qihu General had conflicts with Li Cunyi, he was also honest. He stationed troops in poor places in the northwest such as Huizhou, Daizhou, Bingzhou, Lianglangguan and Yumenguan. He would not enter the capital unless ordered to do so. He dedicated himself to guarding the country's northwest border, and was favored by Gu Yong.
.
Gu Yong followed Ouyang Hong's suggestion and handed over the Two Wolf Pass to Lu You, the least capable of the Seven Tigers. He explained that the reason was that the Central Plains had experienced civil war and barbarians moving south, and needed more than twenty years to recuperate, and Lu You was not good at fighting.
He didn't dare to cause trouble and would only train troops behind closed doors. With Lu You guarding the Lianglang Pass, he would never take the initiative to provoke the barbarians in the Tarta Grasslands, which was actually a good thing for the Central Plains.
Today, Lianglang Pass is still open to the north and has regained its vitality and vitality. Lu You, a general who trained troops, actually turned into a ball and was known as Fatty Lu.
After Zhang Xiaowu entered Daizhou, he found that Daizhou suddenly became different from Youzhou. Daizhou was originally the sphere of influence of Zhang Xiaowu's Northern Army. Later, due to Zhang Xiaowu's "shipwreck", the Northern Army surrendered to the imperial court, and Daizhou returned to the imperial court.
It is under control. Today, Youzhou is still implementing the new policies implemented by Zhang Xiaowu seven years ago, vigorously supporting people to farm and promoting dry farming.
Even with drought-resistant crops such as corn, there are still many open fields where no one is sowing them. This shows that population growth cannot be solved overnight. The population of Daizhou is even sparser than that of Youzhou, and the land is far more barren and barren than that of Youzhou, but
However, there was a beacon pavilion every ten miles. When the common people saw strangers or officials, they immediately lowered their heads and did not dare to look.
Zhang Xiaowu asked a common man why he was so afraid of strangers, and it took the old farmer a long time to dare to speak: "Earlier, some common people fled to Youzhou, and the state pastor naturally refused to allow it. Later, it developed to the point where one person escaped and the whole village was killed, so that everyone could supervise each other and not dare to leave.
Later, Master Zhou Mu also sent people to secretly check whether anyone spread the word of fleeing to Youzhou, and killed anyone who heard it. So everyone did not dare to talk to outsiders, let alone look at the officials."
"Which state pastor gave the order?" Zhang Xiaowu said with anger in his heart.
The old man said: "It's Ben, the former state shepherd king."
"Isn't the current state pastor Ouyang Hong? If he becomes a state pastor, he will definitely not be so harsh."
"Well, although it's not as strict as before, people are still afraid of it."
Zhang Xiaowu had no choice but to sigh. The position of the government in the hearts of the people did not develop in a day. It is difficult to do good things to gain a good reputation, and it is too easy to do bad things to gain a bad reputation. Qianzhou Muwang Ben’s evil deeds made the people fear the government. Wang
run fast
After serving as Daizhou Mu for one year, the people in Daizhou were filled with resentment. Gu Yong hurriedly dismissed Wang Ben from his post and appointed Ouyang Hong as Daizhou Mu to quell the people's complaints. Although Ouyang Hong abolished many policies left by Wang Ben, the people
But they don’t trust the government.
Zhang Xiaowu did not know Wang Ben. After arriving in Jinyang City, he asked the waiter at the inn and learned that Wang Ben was none other than the grandson of the former right prime minister Wang Cheng.
After Wang Cheng died of illness, and three years after his descendants kept filial piety, Wang Ben entered the court and took refuge with Gu Yong. In order to get the support of Wang Cheng's old subordinates, Gu Yong strongly supported Wang Ben, but Wang Ben was a scholar and talkative, so he was favored.
, so he acted more and more unscrupulously, eventually causing public resentment in Daizhou.
"Where is Wang Ben now? Does the store owner know?" Zhang Xiaowu asked.
The waiter in the shop was also bold and said: "You have been promoted. He is now the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. It is ridiculous. He managed Daizhou to the point of rebellion, but he has been promoted."
Zhang Xiaowu smiled bitterly and heard Gu Qingxi coughing again, and quickly asked her if she needed medical treatment. Gu Qingxi said that she was not used to the dry climate in the north, and she would be fine when she gradually adapted to it. Since she left Qingjiang Mansion, she has
She often coughed a few times, but now in the dry Daizhou, she coughed more often. Zhang Xiaowu persuaded her to go back, but Gu Qingxi shook her head and said firmly: "I said that I would go to Saibei with you, and I died in Saibei."
I won’t go back either.”
"What a stubborn woman." Zhang Xiaowu smiled bitterly.
The waiter in the shop said garrulously: "Having such a lady, you, sir, are blessed with cultivation. How many women are willing to accompany men to endure hardships?" After saying this, he looked into the distance, with sadness and stories on his face, as if to say:
"Ask me, ask me, ask my story."
Zhang Xiaowu ignored him and helped Gu Qingxi back to the room.
Waiter: "..." The atmosphere has been heightened to this point, and you actually ran away...