Raoan Ximen and Jiang Xi led 10,000 soldiers, 3,000 guards, and two thousand porters, carrying hundreds of trucks of food, grass and property, and were saying goodbye to the soldiers who came to see him off.

"It will take more than a month to go back to Handan. Please ask everyone for the defense of Rao An and Wucheng." Jiang Qi stood in front of the carriage and bowed to the soldiers.

"Don't worry, if you are here, you will be sure to protect Rao'an. The city of Wu is in full swing." The soldiers replied in unison: "Mr. Marquis will take care of him all the way."

"Set off!"

After saying that, Jiang Yu boarded the carriage, Wang Hu rode his horse to the front army to pass the order, and the army slowly set off.

As the New Year approaches, Jiang Yu, as the marquis of Zhao State, must report his duties in Beijing. First, report on the border defense situation; second, he must attend the grand dynasty meeting at the end of the year; third, the commercial center policy that just implemented in Rao'an also needs to be summarized.

The amount of food, grass, weapons, and military pay support for Jiang Yu's 100,000 troops will be obtained next year.

During the dynasty meeting, the powerful and powerful people from all sides of Zhao would gather in Handan. Even if the officials who came to Handan were inconvenient, they would send off their offspring or close friends.

The noble officials interacted with each other, sought connections, and even formed alliances.

During the feudal period, the relationship between ministers and royal power was essentially a hostile relationship.

Due to the status and power of the king, many things in the country are often decided by the king in one sentence, and even the appointment, beheading, and house searches of officials all depend on the monarch's mood.

In this case, as a minister, you must form an alliance in secret, protect each other, and form a confrontation with the royal power.

Since ancient times, it is not unreasonable for those who are kings to claim to be alone.

Because the whole country, whether it is children, brothers, or ministers, can be regarded as the invisible enemy of the king.

Take Jiang Yu as an example. If Li Mu had not been in the court, King Zhao could have transferred Jiang Yu from Rao An with just a word, and even directly dismissed Jiang Yu's military power.

Even if Jiang Yu didn't have any mistakes, the excitement of the light and darkness is the specialty of every king.

As for Li Mu, although Li Mu is now a general of Zhao, his power is only under the King of Zhao and the Prime Minister. If Li Mu does not have the support of a group of generals, he will only be a general in name only.

Many people believe that the essence of officials protecting each other is to harm the people.

In fact, it is not the case.

In the officialdom, if there is no invisible interest alliance, even life will be difficult to guarantee, let alone promotion and wealth.

In this era when communications were basically yelling, Jiang Yu even needed to report to King Zhao that an official from Rao An would sell the interests of Zhao and could get an edict of "beheading and decisiveness".

More often, Jiang Yu can even kill first and then report.

This is also an important reason why officials of Rao An dare not disobey Jiang Yu.

In the future, even famous generals and national heroes like Li Mu and Yue Fei will be cheated of false charges, so Jiang Yu will naturally not underestimate the role of his connections.

So we often see that whenever the emperor wants to deal with an official, a large number of officials will plead for it.

It is this kind of interest alliance that maintains the safety of every official's life.

Emperors of all dynasties deeply hated their ministers for personal gain. Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, often executed tens of thousands of people, and the blood was flowing into a river.

But if the ministers do not form cliques, how can they ensure their own safety and interests?

Not every emperor is a wise monarch of all ages and can see clearly.

When the imperial power is strong, those who are ministers should be careful. Even many deep-rooted families will not allow their tribe members to become officials during this period.

When the imperial power is weak, the ministers form gangs against the imperial power, and the aristocratic families will take office one after another, forming a huge interest alliance, making it difficult for the imperial power to leave the palace.

And the people are just victims of the battle between ministers and kings.

The current Zhao State is in a period of dark and weak royal power.

What's more, once the prince Zhao Qian ascended the throne of King Zhao, the prostitute and Zhao Qian without any relatives, each of their kingly orders is the result of a game between the ministers.

Historically, when Li Mu and Sima Shang led their soldiers to resist the Qin army, it was precisely because they had no power in the court that Guo Kai could get the edict to overthrow Li Mu so easily.

As Li Mu's disciple, Jiang Yu now has Li Mu's protection. As long as he does not commit suicide, he will be safe and sound.

But Li Mu always left Handan to lead the troops outside. At that time, Jiang Yu would have to protect Li Mu's safety in the court.

In order to ensure the smooth implementation of the dragon-slaying plan, it is inevitable that Li Mu will lose power in the end. But no matter what, Jiang Yu will also protect Li Mu's life safety.

After eight consecutive days of march, Jiang Yu finally arrived outside Handan City.

After handing over the property handed over to King Zhao, Jiang Yu arranged the place where the army was stationed and took his own property toward Handan...

"It's been ten months, and I'm finally back." After entering Handan, Jiang Yu couldn't help but sigh.

The army was stationed outside the city, and Jiang Yu only led the five hundred guards responsible for protecting him into Handan. The familiar scenery was still in front of him, which was no different from ten months ago, but Jiang Yu's mood at this time was completely different from that he was ten months ago.

Jiang Xi, who was ten months ago, was actually a general in essence. But Jiang Xi is more like a powerful minister now.

The similarity between military generals and powerful ministers is that they hold certain rights in their hands. However, military generals have the king's rights, while powerful ministers have the right of their own.

"Mr. Marquis, should we go back to the Marquis' Mansion first, or to the General's Mansion?" Wang Hu asked from the side.

"Go back to the mansion first!" Jiang Xu said, "After washing up, go to the General's Mansion to pay homage to his mentor."

"yes!"

In the past, every time Jiang Yu returned to Handan, he would go to Li Mu's mansion to meet him first and wash up at Li Mu's mansion, and Li Mu's mansion also kept Jiang Yu's room.

But as the power, connections and qualifications in hand increase, Jiang Yan can gradually become independent, and Jiang Yan will not always rely on Li Mu's protection in the future.

This is probably the case when it comes to being alone!

"Wang Hu, after you return home, you ordered someone to list the gifts on the gift list. We will visit them one by one in a few days." Jiang Xu said.

"yes!"

The gifts given to Jiang Yu by the merchants were given to the powerful people in Handan City in the name of Jiang Yu.

The circulation of money can increase national taxes, while the circulation of gifts can increase personal connections.

After ten months of separation, Jiang Yu returned to his Marquis' Mansion in Handan again. This place was no different from before. The only difference was that in just ten months, the housekeeper of the Marquis' Mansion had been changed for three times.

Jiang Xu was not in Handan, and as the steward in charge of the Hou's Mansion, he would naturally have some wrong ideas. Naturally, these could not be hidden from Jiang Xu's intelligence personnel.

Those housekeepers who had bad intentions were naturally secretly dealt with by Jiang Sheng's men.

After washing up, Jiang Yu changed into a new official uniform, and then felt something was wrong, so he changed into the regular clothes he usually wore.

"Wang Hu, bring gifts and follow me to the General's Mansion."
Chapter completed!