Lonely non-good minister

Song Chun couldn't help but nod: "What you said makes sense, but if you want to suppress the huge in-law roots of the Duke's mansion, you have to be evenly matched with him."

"Evenly matched people don't necessarily have to be from civil servant families." Song Ce thought thoughtfully.

Seeing the serious thinking on his face, Song Chun couldn't help laughing. He picked up the tea cup and took a sip when an idea flashed in his mind.

Yes, if you want to check and balance Mu Guogong's government, you don't need a family of civil servants. Isn't Song Yuan, who is popular among local officials and has outstanding political achievements, the best candidate?Local county magistrate is a tiring and thankless position, and it is difficult to fake political achievements. They are mostly disliked by children from civil servant families. Because of this, few people in these positions come from wealthy families.

Song Yuan has visited various places, and his understanding of these officials is much more detailed than that of the Sikong Mansion. The selection of officials by the Sikong Mansion this time is based on the merits he submitted. In other words, if these people can get If it is reused, its interests will be linked to Song Yuan.

With a way to deal with it, Song Chun was not too excited. Song Yuan is still young now. Although his political achievements are outstanding, they are not significant enough and his identity is not enough. He has to wait patiently until he really does something gratifying in the northwest. After achieving great results and being awarded a title based on his political achievements, he would be able to compete with the Duke's government at that time.

"Cer, are you willing to follow your uncle's path?"

Song Ce was happy, but he quickly calmed down: "Uncle Jiu is devoted to the people, and I am willing to be like him, but if I take this path, I will definitely need someone to guide me. Although Uncle Jiu has many political achievements, He is close to me, but he is still young. If I trouble him at this time, I am afraid it will cause trouble."

"Of course not now. You are still young. It doesn't matter if you wait for another two years." Song Chun became more and more fond of this eldest nephew: "Well, after chatting with you, I feel relieved. Let's go to bed early. "

He stood up and left, and Song Ce hurriedly sent him to the door.

The next day, Song Chun approved the list submitted by Sikong Mansion.

After a month of heavy snow, the connection between the northwest and Jingzhao was also reduced a lot. The thick snow hindered the transmission of official documents and letters, and also blocked the Huns' troops from outside the pass.

In the governor's house of Zhangye County, Song Yuan wore very thick clothes. He sat cross-legged by the charcoal basin and read a book. He also covered his legs with a blanket to keep warm. The teapot "Gulu Gulu" on the charcoal basin was steaming, and the sweet potatoes beside him were also steaming. Almost done.

"The tea sent by Miss Mu is really good. Your Highness has not tasted such good tea for a long time since he came here." Wei Yan was making tea aside and was full of praises as he smelled the aroma of the tea.

Song Yuan turned over a page of the book and stretched out his hands to warm himself casually by the fire: "It's been a while since they set off, right?"

"It's been almost half a month. No matter how slow the journey is, it's time to leave the northwest. Don't worry, Your Highness, there will be no accidents with so many people accompanying the car to protect you." Wei Yan put the tea cup in her hand: "Your Highness, do you miss Mu?" A girl?"

Song Yuan shook his head: "No, I'm just worried that mother and daughter will be bullied after they go to Jingzhao."

"Don't worry, Your Highness, the nun who came with me made it very clear. The Crown Prince has chosen a separate house to house Miss Mu and her daughter. They will not be allowed to mix with the Mu family, and there is no need to teach palace etiquette." The Duke's Office is in charge, and Miss Mu's father has been posthumously granted the title of Marquis of Pingxiang. Now he is also a person of status. With the Crown Prince and Concubine Shen taking care of them, who dares to bully them?" The arrangement was extremely well done, and indeed no one was there. Dare to bully, but the attitude of guarding against Mu's family is too obvious.

Song Yuan nodded noncommittally and asked, "Have you not handed over the Xiongnu you captured alive?"

"We are still negotiating. I heard that he is the grandson of the Xiongnu Chanyu. He has always looked down on the Wei Dynasty. He followed his parents to visit relatives before arriving at the border of the Wei Dynasty. He was eager to make a contribution and set his sights on Mr. Huo. Then he entangled his troops to take action and bribed him. The little official next to Mr. Huo was originally unwilling to reveal his identity, but the people in the army who dealt with the details were very clever and found out his identity in just a few seconds. It has been two or three months now. , he is still yelling and cursing that he will make us die miserably when he gets back." Wei Yan's tone was full of contempt. They had seen too many arrogant and stupid aristocratic children, and they knew very well that such people have no value.

If it was really valuable, how could the Huns delay saving him for so long?

Song Yuan changed his position and continued reading: "The Huns must have hoped that Wei would kill him."

"Of course, if you kill him, you can attack Da Wei." Wei Yan poked the sweet potato to make sure it was ripe, and quickly pulled it out and put it aside: "This is also difficult to handle, this man is disgusting. , I feel uncomfortable if I just let it go, and if I don’t let it go, it will be troublesome if I die one day.”

Song Yuan twitched the corner of his mouth, put down the book and rubbed his eyebrows, and yawned a little tiredly: "It's New Year's Day again soon. When the weather gets cold, I feel very sleepy."

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Cheng Hui coming in despite the heavy snow, and Wei Yan quickly stood up to greet him.

Cheng Hui brushed off the fallen snow on his body and sat down after seeing the ceremony: "The first batch of firearms is about to be completed and delivered, and a sum of money is still needed. The quartermaster said that the military pay has not yet been received, and the Yamen needs to make up the money first. Please take a look. .”

"You want money again? I'm almost dying of poverty. I borrowed all the taxes I earned from growing cotton for a year, and I still owe money for water conservancy projects." Song Yuan couldn't help complaining, but he still took the official document and read it carefully: "Last month, didn't the military say that money would be replenished into the warehouse as soon as possible? Has it been replenished?"

Cheng Hui nodded: "18 taels of silver were put into the treasury the day before yesterday."

Song Yuan looked at him and frowned, pointing to the official document with a look of disbelief: "I paid back 18 taels of silver the day before yesterday, and asked me to approve 20 taels of silver to go out today. I will also pay out 2 taels for each incoming and outgoing payment. You Do you think it’s reasonable?”

Cheng Hui said nothing. The place where firearms were made was set in Zhangye. This thing gave many craftsmen and migrant workers an extra job to make a living. As a local official, he was very happy at first. After all, these are all ready-made taxes. , but who knew that Song Fu regarded them as golden toads. After personally testing the power of the firearms, he asked for an increase in quantity.

The quantity cannot be increased by just talking. Money is needed for materials and manpower. The army cannot turn over this money. If the court does not give it in time, the local finance will have to pay for it. They are not willing to pay more at first. Yes, Song Fu went directly to the court to approve a note, asking the Northwest Finance Department to prioritize the manufacture of firearms.

With the approval of the imperial court, Song Fu became more and more bold in asking for money. Even the money that Song Yuan specially reserved to continue building water conservancy projects was spent. If it weren't for the large cotton harvest this year, the food crisis would be less severe than last year. I have a lot of food on hand to feed the migrant workers, and there is really no chance of building water conservancy projects. But even so, various county governments also owe a lot of debt, and they are waiting for the military to repay the money.