Outside the main hall, Hou was standing outside the door carrying a rainstorm gun and a sword on his waist, standing straight at his post.
Jin Lei, who was nine feet tall, came over with a gun after having lunch. He stood in front of the main hall, with his back to the main hall door, and stood in the middle of the walk.
The general who was on duty personally selected by Xiao Shizhu stood motionless in the middle of the walkway that was covered with flower patterns.
However, Kong Wu's powerful Jin Lei has a majestic and serious appearance, and the cold light of the Jin Ge in his hand makes those who want to have evil intentions towards Xiao Shizhu and the ghost mother dare not approach the palace when they see him here.
main hall.
Even the few one-horned deer that were kept in this palace garden and were covered in blue and black were able to avoid the golden thunder and wander away from the palace gate.
The light of the overcast sun slanted in and found the huge transparent jade hanging above the door of the main hall.
The long teeth and sharp claws carved on the jade biscuit, and the three-dragon pattern in which the dragon tail transformed into wings, glowed with a bright and dazzling golden light under the light of the cloudy sun, condensed and formed in front of the jade biscuit, and turned into a foot long
The golden dragon dances on the clouds, spinning tirelessly up and down around the stacked brackets outside the palace gate.
The lifelike water ripples and cloud patterns on the jade wall also appear to be slowly flowing and fluttering under the light of the overcast sun. It is so strange that it seems as if the clouds and mist are pouring out of the jade wall in the next second, and the water waves will tilt down instantly.
In the main hall, incense burners placed at each of the four corners lit up the Chengyue Incense, which must be made on the half of July.
Along with the curls of green smoke, the fragrance slowly rises from the four spirit statues on all sides of the incense burner and overflows in all directions.
When it overflowed the main hall, the cool and gloomy air inside the hall became abundant.
The ghosts in the temple felt refreshed.
Everyone present was smart, and they could all see that Xiao Shizhu was making some excuses. He was obviously praising Qin Qiming, but in fact he was using Qin Qiming as an example to inadvertently hit Lu Wu.
Even Qin Qiming himself knew it.
After all, he is the Human Soul Ghost Officer who once politely rejected Lu Wu.
That was only half a year ago.
Over the past year, it has become more and more obvious that Lu Wu and Chang Qin are divided into two factions and fighting. Both sides secretly and unscrupulously recruit ghost officials from various ministries and departments in Jiuyou Kingdom.
Although they will cooperate with each other to achieve twice the result with half the effort in state affairs, both sides are also cultivating their own strength and will compete with each other in order to gain absolute say in the court.
Especially when Xiao Shizhu met a ghost from Taishan Prefecture in the Yuque Hunting Ground, he suddenly fell into a coma. Then, after Xiao Shizhu went to Huangquan again, the secret fighting between the two factions decreased and the overt fighting increased a lot.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see at a glance that the two factions are rapidly expanding their respective powers.
It was only after Xiao Shizhu returned from Huangquan that the two factions converged a little.
However, Xiao Shizhu happens to be very good at this kind of power game. On the surface, he pretends not to notice, but secretly he completely controls the two factions very well, and will not let them trade off too much.
And although the two factions on both sides can check and balance each other, there are still many neutral factions in the DPRK and China.
For example, Wu Xiaohui Yingzhao, King Yama who went on an expedition, and Qin Qiming, who is now sitting in the main hall in a formal manner, are all neutrals. They are only loyal to the court, the ghost people, and Xiao Shizhu
.
Moreover, most of these neutral factions hold military power, or govern important counties, or border areas of Jiuyou Kingdom. This makes the Lu Wu and Changqin factions unable to overturn the situation even if they fight fiercely.
Secretly, Xiao Shizhu also quietly discussed the matter with the ghost mother alone. He said that the triangle is the strongest, so since Lu Wu and the others want to fight, there can't be only two factions, it can't be black or white, it can't be either Lu (Lu Wu's faction)
) is Chang (Changqin School).
Therefore, Xiao Shizhu secretly supported the neutral faction.
Only the Ghost Mother knows all this.
What Xiao Shizhu said today was to warn Lu Wu not to go too far in forming cliques.
Of course, among the ghosts present, only the ghost mother and Xiao Shizhu knew that the reason why Qin Qiming was called here to praise him was to prevent Lu Wu and the ghost officials from his faction from trying to win over Qin Qiming.
action.
Xiao Shizhu secretly warned Lu Wu that this was a personnel transfer arranged by him. Don't think that Qin Qiming could act arbitrarily because he was recommended by Lu Wu.
In this way, the neutral faction secretly supported by Xiao Shizhu gained strength and acted as a check and balance against Chang Qin and Lu Wu.
As expected, Xiao Shizhu then said to Qin Qiming: "I hope that after you take office in Tiantong City, you will continue to work hard. While managing Tiantong City well, you will also maintain a consistent style of honesty and integrity, and do not form cliques for personal gain."
"Promise." Qin Qiming stood up quickly, faced Xiao Shizhu and the ghost mother, and replied slightly, "I will bear in mind your lord's instructions and will definitely continue to work hard."
Xiao Shizhu, who had nodded slightly, then said: "Tongcheng is currently short of a city god that day. You should go and take up the post immediately. Your seals and documents have also been cured."
As soon as Xiao Shizhu finished speaking, Qinglan took the seal and ultimatum of the Tiantong City God and gave them to Qin Qiming.
"Qing Lan, send him to Tiangong to complete all the procedures, and then send someone to escort him to Tiantong City." Xiao Shizhu said to Qing Lan again.
Qing Lan nodded in agreement, Qin Qiming also stood up and saluted, and followed Qing Lan out of the hall.
Qin Qiming had just left, and Lu Wu became a little restless. He moved his buttocks and adjusted his sitting position. He looked at Xiao Shizhu, who was drinking tea leisurely again, and then asked cautiously: "My lord, the city will be closed that day."
Has the trial of former Chenghuang Li Tianyun concluded?"
Lu Wu was still more concerned about this matter; even though he knew that Li Tianyun's assassination was a fact, he could not escape death, and his body might even be hung on the wall of Yuque City for public display.
But what Lu Wu cares about is not Li Tianyun's life or death, but whether his faction will be implicated.
Li Tianyun also gave him some bribes, but the amount was not large. Most of them were secretly handed over to Xiao Shizhu and collected into the national treasury. However, some of them were put into his own pocket by Lu Wu without authorization.
Jiuyou Country is very strict in dealing with corruption. This is one of the things that worries Lu Wu. He is afraid that if Li Tianyun is tried too many times, this matter will be exposed.
"The Queen of Qiu asked about Zhan." Xiao Shizhu pretended to turn a blind eye to the worry hidden in Lu Wu's eyes. After taking a sip of tea, he said unhurriedly: "Considering that he had done a good job in defending the land, he will not hang his body for public display."
.
"By the way, did Zhuanxu recently bring the good medicine grown in Fenglin Island in exchange for iron sand?" After a pause, Xiao Shizhu changed the subject, looked at Chunhan, and asked: "
What about the battle situation in Fenglinzhou?".
After saying that, Xiao Shizhu turned to look at Lu Wu: "I haven't played chess for a long time, let's have a game."
Chen Ruo immediately headed towards the greenhouse on the right side of the main hall and took out the chessboard after a while.
Xunxiang had already brought the tables and chairs and placed them in the middle of the hall for Xiao Shizhu to play chess.
Recently, Xunxiang has learned what to do when following Xiao Shizhu. She is becoming more and more proficient in doing things.
Xiao Shizhu sat down at the table with his hand pot, and Xunxiang helped Chen Ruo put the chessboard on the table for him.
Lu Wu didn't shirk and walked over with his own tea cup.
Being able to play against Xiao Shizhu on the chessboard, who can compete with Emperor Fengdu and the Northern Yin Dynasty, no matter whether he wins or loses, it is an honor, and Lu Wu can only dream of it.
There are 361 intersecting points on the chessboard with vertical and horizontal straight lines. The black and white chess pieces, which represent Yin and Yang, lie quietly in the chess box, waiting for players to use them to fight back and forth across the square inch of the chessboard.
"Reply to my lord." Just when Xiao Shizhu, who was holding the black stone, landed the first stone on the chessboard star position, Chun Han behind him answered: "The good medicine and elixir they seized this year have been sent to Fenglinzhou.
The battle situation is still at a stalemate between the two sides."
At this time, the ghost mother also stood up, walked slowly to her husband Xiao Shizhu and stood there, observing the chessboard without saying a word. After the game started, there were only scattered black and white chess pieces on the chessboard, and she gradually became absorbed in it.
stand up.
"Zhuan Xu and Ying Long don't have the capital to fight a big war, but they can still fight guerrillas." Chun Han paused for a moment, then picked up his tea cup, scraping the tea powder in the cup with the cup lid, and said leisurely:
"With our firearms, they can rob more of the elixirs planted by the Northern Yin Dynasty in Fenglin Island. I am considering whether to support them with a few artillery pieces."
This was Xiao Shizhu's long-decided decision; Feng Linzhou's secret assistance allowed Zhuan Xu and Ying Long to disrupt the situation there first and gain a place for him.
When he frees up his hands to attack Fenglinzhou, he won't have to improvise to capture every foothold.
But his assistance is not free. Zhuanxu and Yinglong need to secretly sell the elixirs they snatched from Fenglinzhou to the trading point established by Asan in Fenglinzhou.
These medicines were cultivated by Beiyin Ming General Gan Liu and were originally intended to supply the elixirs used by the Fengdu Army and the Emperor Xuan Army. The efficacy of the medicines was naturally better than ordinary ghost medicines.
There are even elixirs that can grow muscles and bones; this is a life-saving straw for wounded soldiers on the battlefield as long as they still have breath.
Xiao Shizhu didn't want to give such good medicinal materials to his rival Bei Yin Chao for himself.
He just tried his best to seize some of these medicinal materials, even if it was through deception, overt and covert robbery.
Of course, Jiuyou Kingdom will not take action on its own.
Just as Emperor Fengdu secretly encouraged the Qingqiu Fox Kingdom, Xiao Shizhu could also secretly encourage Zhuanxu and Yinglong.
However, Chun Yun's talk about supporting several artillery pieces made Xiao Shizhu hesitate for a while.
After pondering for a long time, he neither agreed nor objected, but first asked Chunhan: "What artillery pieces do you plan to support them with?".
The firearms and artillery of Jiuyou Kingdom have developed to this day, and there are many types. Many of the artillery have high rates of fire, range and power. Xiao Shizhu is obviously not willing to support Zhuan Xu's powerful artillery.
"There are still some old-fashioned squatting tiger cannons that are idle. Why don't we support Zhuan Xu and the others." Chunhan answered without thinking.
Naturally, she would not use Jiuyou Kingdom's latest artillery to support Zhuan Xu.
What's more, those new artillery are not as simple as loading and firing. The artillery of Jiuyou Kingdom cannot be trained systematically.
In order to assist other ghost officers with these artillery, they had to be equipped with trainers, otherwise Zhuan Xu and the others would not be able to learn to use them.
This made Chunhan feel that the cost was too high and unnecessary.
"That's okay." Then, Xiao Shizhu, who thought about it for a moment, nodded and said while playing chess with Lu Wu: "Anyway, leaving those tiger squatting cannons idle is not a solution. If you reheat them, you will only get bronze, but
Can support Zhuanxu."
With Xiao Shizhu's approval, Chun Han could take out the idle Tiger Crouching Cannon from the arsenal and secretly support Zhuan Xu.
"However." Immediately afterwards, Xiao Shizhu warned: "Every artillery must be registered and must not be lost among the people of our country. In addition, do not use it all at once for support."
Of these two warnings, there is no need to say much about the former. Artillery is military material, and leaking it to civilians will only give evil spirits the capital to stand on their own.
It is also a potentially dangerous substance that endangers civilian stability.
As for the latter, of course we cannot provide all assistance at once.
The reason why Xiao Shizhu wanted to keep more artillery reserves and give them to Zhuan Xu in batches, Chun Han thought about it a little, and he could understand some of the mystery.
The only reason is that Zhuan Xu and others cannot be allowed to have too much power in Fenglin Continent. Now that they have become the overlord of Fenglin Continent, they are no longer dependent on Jiuyou Kingdom and no longer obey Xiao Shizhu's command.
However, Chunhan could only think of this, and he accepted it happily and nodded in response to Xiao Shizhu without hesitation.
How could she have imagined that this was Xiao Shizhu's decision after careful consideration. It was simply because he was afraid that supporting too many artillery pieces at once would greatly increase Zhuan Xu's strength.
Once this happens, the old saying goes: "People are afraid of being famous, but pigs are afraid of being strong."
When the time comes, it would be strange for Emperor Fengdu not to shoot the first bird with a gun.
Now Zhuanxu is engaged in guerrilla warfare in the mountains to plunder the medicine fields and medicine warehouses guarded by the Fengdu Army in Fenglin Continent, and then occasionally makes ambushes to deal with the small groups of Fengdu Army that are stranded. The threat is not great, and neither will the Fengdu Emperor.
Pay special attention to it.
As long as the situation in Fenglin Continent is relatively stable, Emperor Fengdu will rest and recuperate and will not launch a large-scale attack on Fenglin Continent to encircle and suppress the ghost army led by Zhuanxu and Yinglong.
At that time, due to the peace treaty, Jiuyou Kingdom could not send troops to support Zhuanxu. Zhuanxu was also weak and faced the overwhelming Fengdu Army and Xuandi Army alone in Fenglinzhou, and he could only be destroyed.
Xiao Shizhu did not want this nail inserted into Fenglinzhou to die.
He needed this power to hold back part of the Fengdu army in Fenglinzhou, so he made this decision.
As long as the power of Zhuanxu and Yinglong does not die, although Emperor Fengdu will not pay attention to Zhuanxu and Yinglong, he will not dare to easily mobilize troops from Fenglinzhou and reduce the garrison there to support others.
battlefield.
Not only that, even Emperor Fengdu would maintain the number of troops stationed in Fenglinzhou.
After the local garrison was slowly depleted and damaged, a steady stream of troops were sent to Fenglinzhou.
Then the military expenditures that the Northern Yin Dynasty spent on Fenglinzhou every year were not a small amount.
Economically, it can also achieve the goal of preventing the Northern Yin Dynasty's treasury from being filled all of a sudden.
These were all the foresight and foresight behind Xiao Shizhu's decision, but they were something Chunhan couldn't even think of in a short while.
It may take a long time before Chunhan can think about such a far-reaching issue behind this.
But since Xiao Shizhu has made such a decision, there is nothing wrong with it. Chun Han will naturally just follow the order.
Just after Chunhancai took the order, Xiao Shizhu made another decision, and then said: "We still have some five-eyed blunderbuss, right? We can take out these stocks and give them to Zhuanxu as a buy-one-get-one-free gift. But.
, the five-eyed gun requires iron sand, lead bullets and other items. Although it can be doubled, Zhuanxu still has to exchange for the elixir."
In the blink of an eye, Xiao Shizhu took advantage of this decision and proposed a trade project.