In the middle of summer, the willows planted beside the rivers in Kaifeng Prefecture, Tokyo, the Song Dynasty had long been dark green. The sunlight began to become hot. The pleasure boats carrying wealthy families to escape the summer heat were also lined up on the Bian River and Jinshui River.

Perhaps in order to show strength to the Khitan in the north, the imperial guards in the Beijing camp, who had long forgotten how to fight, began to practice frequently these days. The polishing was shiny, but in fact, the thin armor was covered with at least half of the imperial guards who were greasy uncles. Under the sun, they were all weak and complained.

Yes, the morale of the imperial guards in the Beijing camp is very low now! In contrast to the scene when Wu Haogu left Kaifeng Prefecture a few months ago, everyone was fighting for training, and they were holding their energy to be a house slave and warrior for Zhao Ji.

The reason for this is of course because Zhao Ji issued an order to stop selecting the military soldiers of the Fangshu through imperial edicts. The imperial guards in the Jingying camp who wanted to be Fangshu but could not get the opportunity to train. Even if the Khitan army was "upside", these Jingying soldiers did not have any strength.

The soldiers and low-level military officers who are not able to become house slaves have no strength, while most of the middle- and senior military officers who come from generals who have ancestral real estate can live in peace these days have people's hearts and no intention to train soldiers. In fact, they have never had the intention to train soldiers. In the past, they were just pretending to be diligent. But now, these generals are actually artists, financiers, and writers who are almost out of their minds when practicing calligraphy and painting!

This is because after the Battle of Tongwancheng, the call for replacing recruitment with government soldiers began to sound, which almost became the hottest topic of Kaifeng Prefecture. Recruiting soldiers is expensive and cannot be fought, so why spend the people's wealth and ointment to raise this group of waste? It's better to run government soldiers, and you can save more than 10 million in a year with military pay alone!

But who has ever thought about what to do with a group of officials in the Imperial Army who were waiting to drink soldiers' blood and eat the vacant quota? If they were all changed to government soldiers, even if they could continue to be officials, they would not have any vacant quota to eat. Government soldiers would not pay any salary at all, so how could they eat? Moreover, "occupying" is not easy. It is easy for the imperial army to serve for decades, so it is easy to train craftsmen. Government soldiers can drive them to carry out handicrafts. Government soldiers have been in total for five years, and it may be one year on the way. In the remaining four years, you have to start three years of training?

This... How do you buy a house, beg for a wife, and raise a mistress in the future?

So these days, many relatives and wealthy families in Kaifeng Prefecture have made suggestions to Zhao Ji through various ways and said bad things about the military system. Oh, bad things about the military system are not easy to say. Because this matter is very agreed with the Chinese officials in the court, they do not care whether the generals have big fish or not!

Therefore, the invincible Taiwei Gao was pushed to the forefront by his former comrades and became the target of smearing and attacking. The system of the government troops could not be criticized. So the generals who control the government troops could always be used to criticize them, right?

What are the people who are self-respecting, what are the ulterior motives, and even there are auspiciousness in Gao Qiu's mansion...

In short, Taiwei Gao, who was in power and looked down on the world, probably wouldn't be too far away from the days when he was wearing a yellow robe!

...

"I heard that sweet springs emerged from the underground in Gao Qiu's new house in Kaifeng Prefecture City. Is this a matter?"

Of course, the official Zhao Ji was in the imperial garden of Qionglin Palace. At that time, he was walking on a low mountain. This mountain was about ten feet high, and there were only a few flowers, plants and trees on the mountain, which were all very ingenious. They were all Pan Xiao'an and Cai You spent a lot of effort to collect it. This mountain is called Kunyue, a Feng Shui mountain, which is said to be a blessing for the officials. In fact, Zhao Ji is not without a son. He now has four living sons, Zhao Huan, the third son Zhao Kai, the fifth son Zhao Shu, and the sixth son Zhao Qi, and two other sons died young. However, Zhao Ji still wanted more sons, so he asked Guo Jing's charlatan to tell the fortune, so Kunyue was included.

The Kunyue Project has only started, but it has already shown a trend of building large-scale projects without hesitation. For this reason, the Suzhou-Hangzhou Manufacturing Bureau was upgraded to Yingfeng Bureau, and a new Yingfeng Bureau was established in Haizhou. The rare treasures in various places were also collected like flowing water and transported to Kaifeng Prefecture to decorate Kunyue and the entire Qionglin Palace.

As for the cost of the project, it is not the turn of Zhengshitang to have a headache, but it is the matter between Wu Haogu and Pan Xiao'an.

As soon as Wu Haogu returned to Kaifeng Prefecture, he was called to Qionglin Palace by Liang Shicheng, and accompanied the official Zhao Ji to Kunyue with Guo Jing, Liu Wuji and Guo Xiaoxiao.

In the evening, the Kunyue was quiet, with only a few occasional birds singing. Because the Qionglin Palace left the downtown of Fengfu, it also blocked the sound of the market. When you are in it, you really feel like you have reached the fairyland on earth.

Guo Jing, Liu Wuji and Guo Xiaoxiao are all Taoist costumes. What is particularly eye-catching is Xiaoxiao. The former little girl has now grown into a pretty girl with tall body, beautiful facial features, and her chest is bulging and well-developed. Such a good girl did not get married, but entered Huaxian Temple and became a female Taoist priest. She is now the host of Huaxian Temple. The Taoist name is Qingyi Sanren, also known as Guo Qingyi.

Hearing Zhao Ji's question, Guo Xiaoxiao giggled: "The terrain of Taiwei Gao's mansion is very low. If a sweet spring gushed out from the ground, it would be unlucky. I have to spend a lot of effort to transport the water away, otherwise the house would be flooded."

When Zhao Ji heard the female Taoist priest's words, he laughed: "Xiaoxiao, it's a blessing for you to be a practitioner of Taoism. Why don't you know that having sweet springs at home is auspicious?"

"I know, but Brother Gao is a minister." Guo Xiaoxiao blinked his big eyes at Zhao Ji and smiled sweetly, "Official brother, what should I do if there is auspiciousness in my minister's family?"

"We should avoid suspicion," Zhao Ji smiled, "When the news reaches Tong Wan, he can resign again."

"Then who can go to Tongwancheng to replace Brother Gao?" Guo Xiaoxiao smiled, "Do you have to find someone who has no house to avoid sweet springs coming out of your home?"

"No need." Wu Haogu interrupted with a smile, "Gao Qiu is a good general that even Di Wuxiang cannot match. Will there be a second person in our dynasty?"

His face was light and light, but he really felt like he was holding it in his heart! If he hadn't cheated Gao Qiu this time, he would have been "a fountain" at home now.

Moreover, he has a worse ability to resist risks than Gao Qiu. Gao Qiu is just an unparalleled general of the Song Dynasty. At most, he can hand over the military power and live in seclusion with Zhao Ji's demeanor, so he will definitely be able to end up well.

But Wu Haogu has more braids! He is not only a military strategist, but also a great scholar and a big capitalist, but also a real control zone, the river market!

Gao Qiu only moved part of the cheese from the Kaifeng General Gate, and was smeared. Wu Haogu not only moved the cheese from the General Gate, but even the most noble civil servants and officials in the Song Dynasty would sooner or later hate Wu Haogu because of "Personal Theory" and the Jinshi on the left and right.

Therefore, if Wu Haogu loses Zhao Ji's trust, he will probably have to choose between rebellion and escape.

To temporarily preserve Zhao Ji's trust, Gao Qiu, the "big evil man" who attracts hatred, cannot fall.

Therefore, Wu Haogu still has to work hard to praise and support Taiwei Gao!

"Master Gao is afraid that the star in the sky is descending to the earth..." Guo Jing, wearing a purple Taoist robe, pretended to calculate, nodded and said, "That's right, it's the star in the sky. He came down to the earth to protect His Majesty's power. I wish you congratulates His Majesty!"

Wu Quxing is one of the seven stars of the Big Dipper, also known as Kaiyang, and is in charge of wealth and fighting in Taoist beliefs. Guo Jing can calculate that Gao Qiu is Wu Quxing descending to earth, and of course he got inspired by Wu Haogu... Inspiration worth 30,000 yuan, Guo Jing, Guo Xiaoxiao and Liu Wuji each took 10,000 yuan.

Zhao Ji looked at Liu Wuji, the second-ranked master beside him. Liu Daoren was also pretending to count his fingers, and finally nodded and said, "It's indeed Xingjun who came down to earth... But there are rumors that sweet springs are pouring in Gao Taiwei's mansion. I can't wait. I'm willing to go there and find out what's going on."

Guo Jing also said: "I am willing to go there too."

"Well," Zhao Ji nodded, "Then go and go back quickly."

Gao Qiu's mansion is in the new inner city southwest of Kaifeng Prefecture, very close to the Qionglin Palace. It doesn't take too much time for Guo Jing and Liu Wuji to go and see "Auspiciousness" after receiving the order.

Zhao Ji smiled at Wu Haogu again and said, "Dalang, you have come from afar, and today I will hold a banquet in the Qionglin Palace to welcome you." He pointed to Guo Xiaoxiao and smiled, "Tonight's banquet was cooked by Xiaoxiao himself, and they are all health-preserving dishes. Don't you think she is a woman, but she is very proficient in the art of dual cultivation of life..."

"Is that true?" Wu Haogu smiled at Guo Xiaoxiao.

The female Taoist priest also responded with a smile, and it looked a little bit like it. She smiled and bowed, "It's getting late, so I'll go and prepare for a few."

Then he floated away, and there was really a bit of fairy style.

Zhao Ji looked at Wu Haogu and smiled and said, "Dalang, does this female Taoist priest look good? If you are interested in getting close to you, I can build a bridge for you."

Wu Haogu smiled awkwardly, quickly took his eyes off Guo Xiaoxiao's back and said with a smile: "She is afraid she is Your Majesty's man? How dare I have any inappropriate thoughts?"

Zhao Ji smiled and said, "But it's just that you're always in and out of the palace gate, it's nothing big. You'll go to Jiehe Market soon, so she can avoid loneliness if you're with her."

Wu Haogu said: "Your Majesty, I actually want to bring the Eighteenth Sister with me... She hasn't given birth to a son for me yet."

Ministers of the Northern Song Dynasty usually took concubines but not wives. However, Wu Haogu is now planning to take Pan Qiaolian to Jiehe Market...

"Okay," Zhao Ji smiled, "then I have to take Xiaoxiao even more. She has some ideas about how to give birth to a son."
Chapter completed!