Hearing this voice, Bei Gongyan's face turned even redder. Her hand was being pressed hard by Ke Muji. She had touched it before, and she knew what to do next without Ke Muji saying anything. .
Suddenly, Bei Gongyan withdrew her hand with force. In the past, as long as her hand was grabbed by Ke Muji, she would not be able to break free. But in this competition tonight, all the strength of Ke Muji seemed to be exhausted. Let her break free easily.
Facing Ke Muji's surprised gaze, Bei Gongyan shook her head resolutely.
Kemuji was greatly disappointed and asked unwillingly: "Why?"
Bei Gongyan sighed: "It happened so suddenly today, and my father doesn't know how to explain it. If he knew that we had done that thing now, I'm afraid he would never recognize me as this person again." A daughter."[
Seeing the sadness on Ke Muji's face, Bei Gongyan comforted her softly: "Anyway, she will be yours sooner or later, so why bother with it. Besides, yesterday I wanted to say thank you to Madam in person. What should I say today? Don’t go to bed too late either.”
A strange look flashed in Kemuji's eyes, and he suddenly said: "It's time to thank that lady. How about I go with you tomorrow?"
The noise all night finally dissipated, leaving only a mess. When the first ray of sunshine in the morning rose again, the prefect's mansion became lively again, and the leaders of all the Qiang tribes got up early. Last night Liu Xin said It is very clear that today is the day to talk about business. This is a major event that determines the fate of hundreds of thousands of people in the entire Qiang ethnic group. No one dares to neglect it.
As the leaders of the two most powerful tribes of the Qiang people, Beigong Boyu and Ke Muzhi sat opposite each other with extremely strange expressions on their faces. The two of them had been fighting openly and secretly for so many years, but no one thought that one day, their children would actually They came together. Last night, after Ke Muji and Bei Gongyan broke up, they both received a lot of scolding from their respective fathers, but this marriage was decided by Liu Xin, and no one dared to dwell too much on it. There was no other way but to accept the fait accompli. However, the two men were still at odds over who was the common leader of the various Qiang tribes, and neither one was willing to give in.
Liu Xin slowly walked out from behind the screen, refreshed and firm in his steps. No one could tell that he had gone through an all-out competition last night, as if he had endless strength. All the leaders present were Secretly shocked, Liu Xin sat down, raised her hand, and said: "Thank you for giving Liu many gifts yesterday, and Liu is very grateful. We Han people have a saying, it is disrespectful to come and not to go back. Liu Xin also said I want to give you some small gifts in return, and I hope you won’t say goodbye.”
Except for Beigong Boyu and Ke Muzhi, the other leaders didn't care whether the Qiang tribes were scattered or monolithic. When they heard that Liu Xin had gifts to give to him, they all beamed with joy and stretched their necks, wanting to see what they were. nice one.
Those who came in carrying gifts were all burly bodyguards, each holding three things in their hands, a powerful sword, a piece of silk, and a set of white porcelain wine sets.
The Ba Dao is the standard sword of the Han army. Its sharpness is even worse than the sword Bei Gong Boyu wears. Silk as smooth as baby skin was originally the favorite of the Qiang chieftains. And the most let-down What opened the eyes of these leaders was the set of white porcelain wine sets contained in exquisite wooden boxes.
Even in a prosperous area like Jingzhou, white porcelain ware is a priceless treasure. In Liangzhou, except for Jia Xu, Huang Zhong and others who carry one or two pieces with them, they are rarely seen on the market and cannot be bought even if they have money. As soon as they got this set of white porcelain wine sets, the tribal leaders were amazed and expressed their loyalty to Liu Xin. Only Beigong Boyu and Ke Muzhi looked a little ugly.
Liu Xin saw all the expressions of these leaders and already understood that among these people, except Beigong Boyu and Ke Muzhi, the others were not very interested in knitting the entire Qiang people together.
In this case, things will be much easier to handle.
Liu Xin raised her hand again, signaling for everyone to quiet down, and then said: "Everyone, Liu has been implementing the policy of equal treatment between the Han and Qiang people for nearly a year. As far as Liu knows, the relationship between the Qiang tribes and the Han people is now The relationship between the two countries is relatively harmonious, and there are many intermarriages among the Han and Qiang people. Liu is very pleased about this. I don’t know what other thoughts you have about Liu’s policy. You may wish to speak freely."
Everyone still didn’t understand the meaning of Liu Xin’s words, and no one dared to speak in a hurry. However, Ba Zhu, the leader of the Lejie tribe, said carelessly: “The common people think it’s very good, but with your decree, those officials don’t dare to They have bullied us Qiang people, and the lives of the Qiang people are much better than before."
With Ba Zhi taking the lead, the others also echoed.
Liu Xin laughed and said: "Since everyone thinks it's good, then Liu will continue this policy and won't make any changes?"
In Liu Xin's view, there is not much difference in appearance between the Han people, the Barbarians, the Qiang people, or the Shanyue people in the south of the Yangtze River. They should all have the same ancestry and the same origin, and belong to the same people of China. Liu Xin hopes that through including intermarriage, mixed living Various means were used to integrate these ethnic groups with each other to ensure the internal stability of the Han Dynasty without hoping for the emergence of ethnic conflicts.
In the past, the reason why Beigong Boyu and Ke Muzhi were able to integrate all the Qiang tribes into one was because the Han people, especially those Han officials and gentry powerful men, oppressed and exploited the Qiang people, giving opportunities to the ambitious Qiang leaders. Now that Liu Xin’s policy has come out, the lives of the Qiang people are getting better and better day by day. Who is still willing to rise up in rebellion?
Hearing that Liu Xin didn't mention a word about the promise she made to herself that day, Beigong Boyu became anxious first and quickly stood up and said, "Master Qi, the common people have something to say."
Although only one of the two women he gave to Liu Xin came back, Bei Gong Boyu did not have high expectations for Bei Gong Yan. After Bei Gong Yan came back, she did not tell Bei Gong Boyu that she was with Liu Xin What happened in the past few days? Beigong Boyu was angry about Ke Muji, so he didn't ask. Of course, in Beigong Boyu's view, how could a high-ranking Han official like Liu Xin care about a woman? , maybe he was tired of playing with Bei Gongyan and acted like this in order to win over Ke Muji. His only hope now is to seize Liu Xin's promise that day.[
Liu Xin said "Oh" and said, "Chief Beigong, please tell me something."
Beigong Boyu cupped his hands and said: "The grassroots people think that after all, the Han and Qiang people are different, and the tribes are independent, it is difficult to implement the Lord's decree to the end. Therefore, the grassroots people suggest that one person should be appointed to take charge of the affairs of each Qiang tribe for better execution. Various laws promulgated by your lordship."
As soon as these words came out, except for Ke Muzhi, all the other leaders changed their expressions. They were now dealing directly with the county and county officials, and they did not want to have another layer of control. Jia Xu, who was sitting next to Liu Xin, had already darkened his face, and continued to dry cough.
Liu Xin nodded and said, "Chief Beigong's idea is not bad, but I don't know who can take on this important task in your opinion?"
Beigong Boyu opened his mouth and almost made a mistake, but suddenly he saw the sneer hanging on the corner of Ke Muzhi's mouth, and quickly changed his words: "Such a big matter, of course, I will leave it to your lord's decision."
Jia Xu snorted coldly, cupped his hands and said, "What the Beigong clan leader said makes sense. Since it is based on my lord's decision, in Jia's humble opinion, my lord should select talented people from among the officials of various counties and counties to take on this important task."
After hearing this, the other leaders had no reaction at all. However, Bei Gong Boyu and Ke Muzhi couldn't sit still and stood up together, but they never refuted.
Liu Xin waved her hand and laughed and said: "Wen He's words are wrong. This is an internal matter of the Qiang people. Of course it must be decided by the Qiang people themselves. How can Liu override others? I think it is better for the leaders here to decide whether they want it or not. Choosing a co-leader and who will be chosen as the co-leader are all decided by everyone here, and Liu absolutely respects everyone's opinions."
The leaders looked at each other. The guards had already brought in a thick stack of paper, and each person was given one. There were only a few lines of words on the paper. The leaders only had to choose yes or no, and the person who chose yes would write himself at the end. Just name the candidate in your mind. Only then did Beigong Boyu and Ke Muzhi know that Liu Xin came prepared today.
The result was no doubt that only four people chose yes, and the other twenty-odd pieces of paper all chose no. It doesn't matter who these four people chose.
Liu Xin had already expected this result, but pretended to be helpless and said to Beigong Boyu: "Chief Beigong, you once served as the co-leader of the Qiang people and were highly respected. Liu thought you would definitely win, but what could he do? It’s hard to go against the will of the people. However, don’t worry, if anyone dares to deliberately embarrass the Qiang people in the future, Liu will be the first to let him go!"
Beigong Boyu opened his mouth, but he could only eat Coptis chinensis because he was mute and could not tell the story of his sufferings. Liu Xin had promised to help him that day, but Liu Xin's words had already blocked his mouth. You see, I I thought that since you are the co-leader of the Qiang people, everyone will definitely choose you, but you see, the hearts of all the Qiang tribes are not aligned at all, and no one wants this co-leader, so what can I, Liu Xin, do?
If the Qiang tribes formed an alliance, it would obviously be detrimental to the stability of the rule of the entire Han Dynasty. Jia Xu had been worried that Liu Xin had not seen this clearly, but unexpectedly, Liu Xin had already plotted Beigong Boyu in it, and he couldn't help but feel sorry for him Liu Xin was even more impressed.
Ke Muzhi secretly scolded Beigong Boyu as "idiot", but still couldn't help but stood up and said, "Master Liu's move is unfair."
Liu Xin frowned, murderous intent looming in his eyes, and said in a deep voice: "What does Patriarch Ke mean by this?"
Ke Muzhi did not expect that Liu Xin's face would change at any time, but he had already stood up and did not try to shrink the turtle anymore. He had to bite the bullet and said: "Master Liu has agreed with Brother Beigong about appointing one person to take charge of Qiang affairs. Suggestion, why do you have to ask everyone to choose yes or no? If you do this, it is obviously..."
Before he finished speaking, a personal guard broke in from outside the door and said loudly: "My Lord, something bad has happened! Kemuji has kidnapped the Seventh Lady!"