Zu Jue sat on the bow of the boat again.

The big boat rocked slowly, and Zu Jue swayed his body along with the rocking of the boat. He took a sip of wine, shook his head, and his whole body swayed rhythmically.

The two clerks behind him were stunned.

They didn't know what Zu Jue was doing, but he seemed to be enjoying it.

These two minor officials, one surnamed Xu, were arranged by Xingtai, and the other surnamed Cheng was arranged by Liu Taozi himself.

They followed Zu Jue with a very simple purpose, which was to keep an eye on this unattractive Chang Shi to prevent him from starting to act randomly.

Xingtai's side was afraid that Zu Jue would raise prices randomly and wanted to keep an eye on the trade and other aspects he discussed along the way. After all, Xingtai would have to foot the bill in the end. Liu Taozi's side simply kept an eye on Zu Jue and tried to persuade him more.

I advise you not to let his old illness relapse.

However, since the ship left Taoqing Prefecture, they could no longer control this long history, and he was directly used by Zu Jue as his follower.

At this moment, the official Cheng who was responsible for keeping an eye on Zu Jue directly became Zu Jue's special wine pourer, and the jug in his hand was never empty.

Zu Jue raised his wine cup to the sky, not knowing who he was offering it to, and drank it all in one gulp.

“Climb high and see the huge ravine, you don’t know how many miles it is~~”

"The cloud islands are connected one after another, and the trend is endless~~"

“When I look into the distance, I suddenly see the startling gulls flying!”

"If you are about to return without any farewell, it will naturally hurt your guests~~"

Xu Li was stunned for a moment, and then asked: "Grandpa, whose poem is this?"

"be mine!"

"Can I still read other people's poems?"

"What's so difficult about poetry and poetry?"

Zu Jue's face was red from drinking and he couldn't help laughing.

Xu Li praised: "No wonder all the nobles in Xingtai admire your talent."

Zu Jue glanced at him.

"Are you from the sidelines?"

"He is from Beiheng."

"What do you do in Xingtai?"

Xu Li said seriously: "My subordinate was once Duzhi Shangshu Jinbu Cao Lingshi"

"Then who did you offend in Xingtai?"

Li Xu replied blankly: "I have never offended anyone."

"Oh, you were promoted through assessment?"

A hint of pride flashed across Li Xu's face, and he nodded, "Yes, the first batch at the beginning of the year."

Zu Jue laughed, "No wonder"

"You stupid boy, you don't even know that others are harming you, so why do you think it's a good job to go out with me? With your temper, it's not like they arranged to come in to frame me. Just wait, if not

Someone will take care of you and you will be fine when you return to the platform."

Li Xu's expression changed greatly, "Grandpa, I don't understand."

Zu Jue ignored him and looked at Cheng Li who was standing aside. He looked him up and down and said, "Young man, you are not yet twenty, are you?"

"What did you do originally?"

Cheng Li hurriedly lowered his head and said, "I used to wash horses for the general."

Zu Jue suddenly put down the wine cup in his hand and looked at him a few more times, "Blue Lion??"

"right."

"Are you from a good family background? Who is your father?"

"Grandpa, my father is Cheng Zhe, the Minister of the Fifth Army in Xingtai."

"Oh, Cheng Zhe, Cheng Zhe, I know him. When the lord was an official in Dingzhou, he was a colleague with him. Later, when the lord opened the government, he followed him."

Zu Jue took another sip of wine and said, "Boy Xu, make a good relationship with this boy Cheng. When you get back to the platform, if someone comes to punish you, ask him for help. Do you understand?"

Xu Li had no idea what mistake he had made. He was ordered to record the trade agreement, and he did not neglect it. But after all, he was facing Zu Jue, so he could only nod in agreement.

Cheng Li looked into the distance and asked, "Grandpa, do we really want to trade with those great monks?"

"Why not?"

"Others can do it, but we can't?"

"But isn't this prohibited by law? What they want to buy are military weapons, and they will always have to fight in the future."

Zu Jue shook his head, "Then you are overthinking."

"These monks definitely did not buy these war horses to give them to the government for use in war."

"They want to use it to show off and curry favor with the powerful."

Zu Jue narrowed his eyes, "Nowadays, everyone in the world values ​​Buddhism, and the southern kingdom values ​​it the most. The monks in the southern kingdom are so rich and extravagant that the northern kingdom cannot compare. When the Liang Kingdom was still there, every time the temple was short of money, its emperor

He will become a monk, ignore state affairs, and ask the ministers to raise money to give to the temple before he is willing to leave."

"ah???"

Cheng Li's eyes widened.

Official Xu shook his head, "I once heard people say this in Xingtai. They said that the Liang Kingdom perished due to Buddha."

Zu Jue glanced at him and then laughed, "Liang Ren?"

"Hahaha, do you two know Chen Baxian, the founding emperor of the Chen Kingdom?"

"Know."

"He did it too!"

Zu Jue pondered for a moment, "It must have been less than ten years, I can't remember clearly."

"Chen Baxian was able to ascend the throne only because of these great monks to rectify his name. He used the Buddha's tooth to ascend to the throne. After he succeeded to the throne, the number of temples in the southern country increased instead of decreasing."

"In short, we need food now, just for the next few years. After next year's autumn harvest, the national treasury will not be so short of food. What they want is not stallions, just give them. As for iron tools, the same principle applies. On the broken knife

They don't care if it works well or not, they only care about how it looks and want a reputation, you know?"

The two nodded slowly.

Official Xu asked: "Grandpa, since everything has been settled, why don't we go back and continue walking south?"

Zu Jue took another small bite and looked into the distance.

"I heard from the monk that in recent years, their merchant ships can no longer come in and out as freely as before. The governor of Yangzhou often sends people to intercept, block, and destroy their business. He wants us to find a way."

"So, I have to go find this Yangzhou governor and have a good talk."

"That's part of the deal."

Li Xu and Li Cheng both frowned, and Li Cheng said, "I don't think it's appropriate to harm Zhongliang in order to make a deal."

"Who said I was going to harm others?"

"I'm bringing an army, and I'm going to bring you guys to harm others?"

Li Xu asked: "What is Grandpa going to do?"

"I want to recruit this person for my lord."

Zu Jue narrowed his eyes and murmured: "General Hussar, Kaifu Yitong Sansi, Yangzhou Governor, Kuaiji County Duke Wang Lin."

The two young men looked at each other. They obviously didn't know much about this person, but they could tell from his prefix that this person was anything but ordinary.

Zu Jue was particularly excited at this moment.

This Wang Lin is no ordinary person.

He used to be a famous general in the Southern Kingdom and participated in pacifying the rebellion of the General of the Universe. Later, Chen Ba attacked him several times but failed to gain any advantage. He even captured Hou Andu and Zhou Wenyu alive at one time. Later, he was defeated by Chen Guo and fled to Da Da.

Qi, Emperor Xiaozhao was in power at that time, and Emperor Xiaozhao also valued him particularly and wanted to use him to deal with the Chen people.

This person has good moral character, is deeply supported by the military and civilians, and is highly capable in combat.

And the most important thing is that this man is proficient in water warfare. Although he was defeated miserably by Chen Guo before, in Da Qi, I am afraid there is no general who is better at water warfare than him.

There are many generals around my lord, but there are really not many generals who can fight with ships and water.

Wang Lin was ostracized by everyone in Qi State. She couldn't get along with her colleagues and everyone looked down upon him.

Isn't this a good opportunity?

Of course, Zu Jue did not head to the southern border rashly. On the boat at the moment, there was Lou Ziyan following him. Lou Rui served as the governor in the south. As his son, he protected Zu Jue to Yangzhou to meet Wang Lin, and then

It's not difficult to send it back again.

These cowards in the south knew that he had come here alone, so they probably didn't have much courage to attack him.

Zu Jue and his group headed along the coast under the leadership of Lou Ziyan.

They traveled a long, long way.

By the time they started to disembark and change cars, it was already early winter.

Fortunately, Lou Ziyan was well prepared and wore thick clothes, so he was not afraid of the cold wind. They all moved forward like this, and by the first month of the following year, they finally arrived at their destination.

Yangzhou, Shaopi.

On the clear lake, there are warships parked one after another.

As the main ship issued various orders, the warships kept going back and forth, converging, and then dispersed.

Sun Shu'ao, Prime Minister of Chu during the Spring and Autumn Period, built Shaopi to divert water to create a lake. Since then, it has played many important roles, such as irrigation, disaster relief, and training of navy troops.
To be continued...