Chapter 9 Undercurrent (I)

The city of Bianjing shrouded in the night is silent.

People who have been busy all day go to bed early to rest. They like to go out to sleep with the princes and grandsons at night, but they rarely wander on the streets because the weather is getting colder. Occasionally, low footsteps sound from the streets, but they are from the servers responsible for night patrols. They are the only ones who are not qualified to pick the quality of the weather. They have to walk through several fixed streets on time every night, and transmit the monotonous sound of clappers to their ears that are already asleep or are still awake.

For the people of Bianliang City, although the sound of this bangzi is monotonous, it means peace in the world. There is no war on the border, and there is no turmoil within the court. The former is still good, after all, it is far from Bianliang, which at most it will increase the tax on them a little. The latter means that disasters come from the sky.

A few years ago, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, Liu Chengyou, sent people to kill Shi Hongzhao and killed all the neighbors around Shi Hongzhao's mansion. Although the country name has been changed to the Great Zhou in recent years, the emperor is considered a wise emperor, but the prince has been wandering all year round, and the emperor's nephew married the imperial guards and the general's pearl in his hand, which makes people feel uncomfortable.

"When the Boji Canal is officially opened next month, it's time to let Jungui come back!" The Great Zhou Palace immediately, Emperor Guo Wei raised his head from the pile of memorials like a hill, stretching his waist while muttering to himself.

The memorials have been screened by the Secretariat and the Privy Council and approved by the Privy Council. Most of them are only required to take a look, make a sign of agreement or veto on it, and then take it down and use it. But even so, he still exhausted every day, and even the effort of fist and footwork that has lasted for most of his life has been completely abandoned.

"Your Majesty, let's take a break early! There will be a routine ritual tomorrow!" Eunuch Li Fu walked forward with his waist bent and reminded carefully.

"No hurry, no hurry, it's only two days!" Although Guo Wei's face was tired, he was very energetic today. A face that had been frigid for a long time also had a proud smile, "Da Chao is just a formality. I just need to listen with my ears, and I don't have to make a decision on the spot. But these things on hand, especially the Bojiqu is about to open the gate and divide the water..."

Halfway through his words, he suddenly realized that discussing government affairs with eunuchs was a taboo in governing the country. He quickly swallowed the second half of the words back into his stomach, then pointed to the bronze candlestick on the walls and pillars, and added with a smile: "Forget it, I won't tell you this. Otherwise, if Wang Shumi and others find out in a few days, they should have been nagging me. Li Fu, you ordered someone to light a few more candles and notify Zhiyu's kitchen to prepare a midnight snack for me. The prince gave me such a face. I, the emperor, must deal with the beginning and end for him, so as to avoid being laughed at by him!"

"Yes, I obey the order!" The old eunuch Li Fu bowed gratitude and quickly arranged someone to perform the task.

After Guo Wei ascended the throne, he was frugal. Therefore, most rooms in the entire palace would not light candles at night. In addition to the lanterns in the hands of the guards, they were still lit late at night. Only the bedroom and Guo Wei often deal with government affairs Chengde and Hanliang Halls. Even these two lit palaces usually would not light all the candles on all the candlesticks. They would only concentrate slightly when they were close to the imperial case, so as not to stay up late to review the memorials and look at them.

If you are close to the door, you will only click one or two points, so that the people entering and leaving can see clearly and not fall down.

Today, Guo Wei was obviously in a very happy mood, so he wanted to live a little extravagant. Not only did he direct the eunuchs from all over the Chengde Hall to fill all the candlesticks in the Chengde Hall with expensive Cangzhou fragrant wax, and in addition to the midnight snack, he temporarily added a pot of Cangzhou souvenir, intending to drink a few sips to relieve his fatigue.

The three-year river management project is about to end. In addition to initially paying some disaster relief supplies, the project did not increase the treasury expenses from the whole to the end. The two large lakes that once existed in history, Onozawa and Douziwa were also re-excavated and became two major reservoirs, one south and one north, adjusting the water volume of the Yellow River and providing sufficient irrigation water for the surrounding farmland; all river embankments in the middle and lower reaches have been re-reinforced, and there will be no dangers again. Several places with the most severe sedimentation of silt have been unblocked. From then on, the 10,000-stone giant boats can carry goods from the Binzhou entrance to the sea, and go straight to Bianliang!

Since the fall of the Li Tang Dynasty, which emperor could have made the Yellow River so tame? Which imperial court could rejuvenate the two sides of the strait within three years after the Yellow River broke? If these were not enough to make the Great Zhou qualified for the world, then add the Boji Canal! The division of Huang into Ji, Huang into Ji, three sluice gates, and a canal less than fifty miles long brought about the worry of no floods in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River for at least 50 years. In addition to the Great Zhou, from the establishment of the Great Han Dynasty to the Later Han Dynasty of Liu Bang to Liu Zhiyuan, which dynasty could outline such a magical stroke and put this wonderful idea into implementation?

The more I thought about it, the more proud Guo Wei felt. At the letter of praise from Gao Xingzhou and Fu Yanqing to Chai Rong and his sworn brothers Zheng Ziming and others, I couldn't help laughing: "Haha, haha, I believed that you would not let me down. However, you not only did not let me down, but also gave me so many surprises. No, tomorrow's dynasty, I have to report this matter to the world, and it cannot be treated as a daily government affairs in the local area. Hiss, Wang Xiufeng is deliberately misleading me!"

When the last sentence was said, his laughter stopped abruptly.

The main river channel of the Yellow River is about to end, and the Boji Canal will be officially divided. There are also memorials from Fu Yanqing and Gao Huaide who jointly asked for merit for the people in charge of the river management. They actually harvested Caizhou, five-colored phoenixes appeared in Shanzhou at night, and other auspicious incidents fabricated by officials from all over the country to show their merits. They have been put into a lot of comments! If he was not the emperor who was happy tonight, he would probably have to be classified as a category that does not need to be dealt with, and they all fell into the sea! Wang Xiufeng is too much. I have told him many times. The memorials about the river management are not allowed to be disposed of at will, and they are not allowed to be deliberately targeted at the prince. Why doesn't he listen?!

Thinking of some chaos in the court over the past two years and the actions of the old brothers, Guo Wei's originally happy mood immediately came over a cloud. As the saying goes, wealth and people's hearts are incredible, this is actually true. When everyone was fighting with the enemy with a knife, they didn't have so many twists and turns in their stomachs. They were not so passionate about power, wealth, and beauty. Now, officials are getting bigger and bigger, and more beauties are marrying more and more. The salary, jobs, and other messy investments are enough for the whole family to eat for several lifetimes, but they are all becoming increasingly unsatisfied.

As a former commander-in-chief, Guo Wei believes that he is broad enough. In the past few years as an emperor, he has been tolerant of his old brothers. However, the increasingly arrogant behavior of several old brothers has repeatedly bumped into his tolerance bottom line.

In the past three years, he has not wanted to punish the old brothers, so that their behavior will be restrained. But one is worried that he has overreacted and has left the reputation of having all the birds hidden. Secondly, he wants to concentrate most of his energy on the river management project and provide the prince with various necessary guarantees besides money and food. Fortunately, the river management project is about to end successfully. The prince will return to Bianliang with his direct team from the East Palace!

‘If the prince comes back, the father and son can plan carefully and slowly complete the integration and handover of power. Anyway, I have been withstood for three years, and it is no longer a month or two!’ I thought that after Chai Rong returned to Bianliang, the father and son could join forces again. A mysterious momentum suddenly surged out from Guo Wei’s tired body.

Back then, he was in charge of military power, food, supplies, and talents. It was his adopted son Chai Rong who was less than a young man and led the caravan around the world, bringing him rich bonuses, so that he no longer had the worries of "waiting for rice to be put into the pot". Now, it is time for him to provide enough support to his adopted son Chai Rong. As long as the father and son join forces again, they don't believe it, who dares to stir up trouble again!

"Li Fu, bring me some more wine, I want to have a good time today." He picked up the pen and wrote a line of words on the joint letter of Fu Laolang and Gao Xingzhou. Guo Wei put the memorial in the basket that needed the most urgent implementation, and then gave his instructions with great enthusiasm.

"Yes!" The eunuch Li Fu had never spoken much, and replied softly, jogging to arrange for someone to pick up the wine.

Looking at the man's gray hair and his no longer flexible legs, and then looking at his solid breasts and pure black short beards, Guo Wei couldn't help but smile proudly again.

He is not old yet, and he still has enough energy to support his adopted son to the position of governor and to remove some thorns for his adopted son. Of course, if he can not bleed during this process, it is best not to bleed.

Although the old brothers acted a little more perversely, they were mainly because they had never had such great power before. As long as they joined forces and cut off the ambitions they had just grown out of their stomachs without any trace, there was no need to make them bloody, just like the little emperor Liu Chengyou.

Before the chef of the imperial kitchen had suppressed the fire. Seeing that the eunuchs came to pick up the wine again, they quickly cooked a few dishes that Guo Wei liked the most and invited someone to deliver them to Chengde Hall. Guo Wei was also happy, so he ate more sour wine. Then he glanced at the guard who had already started dozing off at the door and ordered very considerately: "It's very late now, so you'll go down to rest. Don't worry about me, there's nothing wrong with the palace. After I finish eating, I won't go to the bedroom anymore. I'll deal with it all night."

"Affect the order!" The guards were used to Guo Wei spending the night alone in Chengde Hall, bowing and saluting together, and then slowly retreating into the surrounding night.

"You go down and sleep for a while, I don't need to serve you now!" Seeing that the old eunuch Li Fu was still holding the wine pot next to the desk, Guo Wei raised his foot and kicked him gently, adding gently: "When I need it, I will order someone to call you up."

"Thank you, the emperor! I am not sleepy. I am willing to stay up late with the emperor. There is a familiar person waiting by my side, which is convenient for your Majesty to use." Li Fu straightened his waist very consciously and responded in a low voice.

"Okay, I'm not going to make it difficult for you." Guo Wei thought for a while and nodded slightly. The other party made sense. If acquaintances were not around, he would be awkward.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Li Fu bowed and saluted Guo Wei, and then carefully filled the wine cup.

He served two emperors of the previous dynasty, and later was chosen to serve Guo Wei. He knew how to cherish his current blessings. Compared to Liu Zhiyuan's meanness and suspicion and Liu Chengyou's willful and trolling, the Emperor of Great Zhou in front of him was simply a reincarnation of a saint. He would not take his anger on others at any time, nor would he like to lose his temper, nor would he like to shout and kill. He rarely spoke harshly to the eunuchs and palace maids in the palace. The only thing that makes people feel uncomfortable is that he is too "solent and cold". It may be a bit too much to describe it as "don't eat more than meat, and clothes less vegetarian". However, Li Fu has never heard of the second emperor who stayed up late to review memorials and couldn't bear to light all the candles!

Because of the sincere awe in his heart, Li Fu inevitably poured wine for Guo Wei a little harder. Guo Wei was in a good mood tonight, almost one sip at a time, and soon, he drank the second pot of old wine. So he ordered people to get the third pot, the fourth pot, and the fifth pot. When the eunuchs finally braved to invite Yang Guifei to take action and advised him not to drink again, the sixth pot of wine had already fallen into his stomach.

Fortunately, he followed the advice and did not need Yang Guifei to persuade her. So he smiled and put down the wine cup, and with the support of the eunuch and palace maid, he swayed back to the bedroom.

The Yellow River was tamed!

Hundreds of thousands of hectares of fertile land were newly opened on both sides of the Yellow River.

From then on, the Great Zhou Dynasty had no worries about food shortage, and its internal affairs could be gradually sorted out.

When internal affairs are straightened out and food is accumulated enough, the prince can be appointed as the prince, and then he will personally lead the army to regain the sixteen states of Yanyun!

That was lost by his generation, so he naturally had to take it back by his generation. He could not leave the troubles to his children. The civil strife in the Khitan was an opportunity given to the Great Zhou by God. The Great Zhou must not be ignored.

When the brothers' chests are filled with ambitions and join hands with each other again, they will naturally have no energy to fight each other, and there will naturally be a beginning and an end between the king and the minister.

Thinking about the plan for the next ten years, Guo Wei fell asleep in a daze. In his sleep, he saw his wife Chai Gui's gentle smile. He pulled the two children, Brother Qing and Brother Yi stood at the gate together, sending him on the battle, wishing him a horse to step on Yanshan as soon as possible...

"Brother Qing, Brother Yi..." The two children were not killed by the two, but fled to the people like Shi Yanbao back then, and were found by his wife! In an instant, Guo Wei jumped down from the horse's back and ran towards his wife and children with open arms.

However, his arms and legs suddenly froze in the air and could not move at all.

"No--" The old wife and two sons in front of him slowly disappeared, and Guo Wei opened his mouth and shouted. He suddenly opened his eyes, but only saw the bright and gorgeous tent.

The old wife is gone long ago!

Brother Yi and Brother Qing were killed!

I am now the Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty and a real lonely man!

The warm dreams disappear, but the cold reality becomes clearer and clearer.
Chapter completed!