Late spring and early summer are Xue Shao's favorite seasons. At this time, the clothes are lukewarm, the sun is sunny, the river water is clear, and the fish in the water are even more gluttonous. If you go on a horseback ride in the countryside, you can see the most beautiful and gentle scenery of the year.

As Wu Zetian said, Princess Taiping's physical fitness is really good. She recovered quickly after giving birth, and Xue Shao took her out of Chang'an City as she wished, and rode a horse to the foot of Zhongnan Mountain to play. Only Wu Ming, a moon slave, a few eunuchs, cooks, and ten Ban Jian people accompanied him, and the others stayed in the Taiping Princess Mansion in Chang'an City to take care of the family.

This kind of wild tour is not only about the mountains and scenery, but also about hunting. Hunting here is a bit risky, but it's not as easy and easy as hunting in the Royal Garden. In contrast, the Huanglin hunt is like a child's house. Xue Shaofu has been idle for many days, especially after leaving the army for a long time, and he doesn't feel a little itchy. Today's trip to hunt is just a good time to move your muscles.

When they arrived at the foot of the mountain and set up camp, Princess Taiping, who had been at home for too long, was more excited than anyone else, and was eager to get on the horse and go hunting. Xue Shao laughed at her, what if she ran out and ran into a money leopard?

Princess Taiping was stunned on the spot, there is still such a thing here?

Xue Shao said that there are no surprises in the Qinling Mountains, and you may even encounter tigers and man-eating black bears coming down the mountain. In the middle of the night, a giant python of several lengths may crawl into your tent.

Princess Taiping's face turned white with fright, "You bad guy!" ”

Xue Shaohaha laughed, this feels actually quite good, like returning to the scene at the beginning of the love between the two.

What do you say, the old sea is dry and rotten, and after many years of marriage, you can still see each other as if you first met, which is the best state of marriage.

After being frightened, Princess Taiping obediently rode with Xue Shao, and under the left and right guards of Yue Nu and Wu Ming, they started a simple but exciting hunting.

Because there is Princess Taiping Xue Shao behind him, it is inconvenient to ride a horse or shoot a bow and arrows, so most of the time he walks slowly and slowly, directing hunting like a commander. The group did not go deep into the mountain, and after hunting a few hares, pheasants and small roe deer, they returned.

When I returned to the camp, there were a few more people. A few powerful men. At first, everyone thought that some lawless people had come to harass them, but after seeing the people who came, Xue Shao was very surprised, it was actually Wang Xiaojie and Ashina Zhongjie!

"Interesting." Princess Taiping said, "After you resigned, he was the only one who came to visit you. ”

Xue Shao smiled and didn't say much, and helped Princess Taiping get off the horse. Wang Xiaojie and others came forward to pay homage to Princess Taiping, and the number of courtesies was also thoughtful. Princess Taiping dealt with it verbally, then reasoned that she was tired and went to the tent to rest, and took away the other idle people.

Xue Shao took Wang Xiaojie and Ashina Zhongjie to sit by the campfire and invited them to drink the Taiping wine that had been chilled.

Wang Xiaojie never had any expression or words, and only after drinking two bowls of Taiping wine did he say: "The imperial court transferred me back to Beijing and let me take up the post of Xia Guanshangshu." ”

Replace me?

Xue Shao smiled faintly, "The position of Xia Guanshangshu has been vacant for a long time, and someone should take over." ”

Wang Xiaojie said calmly, "It is said that Lou Shide and I may enter the cabinet at the same time. The Left Guard will be under the command of Chungjie. ”

Ashina Zhongjie on the side hurriedly bowed to Xue Shao.

"Good thing." Xue Shao glanced at Ashina Zhongjie and said lightly, "In the political affairs hall, there should be the voice of the army. ”

"Then why didn't you pay homage to the prime minister earlier?" Wang Xiaojie asked.

"That's my business." Xue Shao paused and said, "I have a special identity and am a relative. ”

"When are you going to return to the court?" Wang Xiaojie asked, "I can't do Xia Guanshangshu." ”

Xue Shao smiled, Wang Xiaojie has an advantage that I admire, not pretentious, not beating around the bush.

"What are you laughing at? I mean it. Wang Xiaojie was still expressionless, and said like a dead man, "I can only fight, and I will neither be a man nor an official." ”

Xue Shao was silent for a moment and said, "As a scholar, you can take care of your two lieutenants." They can be both officials and people. ”

"Su Wei and Xiao Zhizhong are both your people, and Wei Yuanzhong, who is in charge of Shangwutai, is also your person." "None of them will be willing to ignore me." ”

Xue Shao smiled, "They will ignore Xia Guanshangshu, that's enough." ”

Wang Xiaojie was silent for a while, as if he couldn't figure it out for a while. Ashina Zhongjie whispered on the side: "What Xue Gong means is that Su Wei, Xiao Zhizhong and others have always been sincere and fair-minded, and they are not right about things. ”

Wang Xiaojie nodded and said, "I don't mind going back to the dynasty to be an empty shell scholar or a mud wood prime minister." But I want to remind you that if we robbed the four towns of Anxi and killed the brother of Garqinling, Tubo will definitely want revenge. ”

Xue Shao said: "You are Xia Guanshangshu, you can go and talk to the empress about these words." ”

Wang Xiaojie said: "For many years, our dynasty has been entangled with the Turks, and now the Turks are not as harmful as before, and it is time to pay attention to Tibet. Don't forget, once the Turks were only a vassal of our dynasty, and the Tibetans became a country with strong soldiers, and it was our real enemy. After recovering the Western Regions and rebuilding the four towns, our dynasty and Tubo will officially start a war. Wang can be competent in any battle, but I can't control such a militaristic event as a full-scale war with Tibet. ”

Xue Shao was very relieved, although Wang Xiaojie had a bad temper, he was not arrogant and self-aware in front of his major events, which was very commendable. The meaning of his words is also obvious, he hopes that he can go back to preside over the military affairs of the confrontation with Tibet.

"I'll think about it. When the time comes, I will go and meet the Empress. Xue Shao replied.

Wang Xiaojie and Ashina Zhongjie glanced at each other, and their eyes showed relief and relief. Then the two of them stood up at the same time and bowed with their fists, "I'll take my leave." ”

"It's getting dark, and it's hard to walk at night." Xue Shao said, "It's better to accompany me here to barbecue and drink wine and talk about military affairs." ”

"Thank you Xue Gong for your kindness." Ashina Zhongjie said, "But the day after tomorrow, Your Majesty will hold a banquet in the palace to celebrate the achievements of the soldiers of the Western Expeditionary Army." If we don't hurry, I'm afraid it will be too late. ”

Xue Shao didn't force him to stay and let them go.

At this time, Princess Taiping came over and said, "The two of them are here to invite you to come back?" ”

Xue Shao smiled, "Sort of!" ”

"I can't imagine it." Princess Taiping said with a smile, "It is neither Yao Yuanchong, Wei Yuanzhong, nor Guo Dafeng, who is here to ask you to come back, but Wang Xiaojie." Have you ever walked away with the feeling of tea cooling? ”

"It's not surprising." Xue Shao said, "There is an empress in the court, even if there is no me, Xue Shao can still operate as usual." Yao Yuanchong and the others have already achieved their own climate, and there is no need to hide under my wings to survive. They didn't come to contact me just to avoid suspicion, which is good for me and good for them, and it's a sensible move. So instead of people going away, it proves that I have never gone far in their hearts. On the contrary, Wang Xiaojie may face a big event that he cannot settle, and he can only come to me for help. ”

"Are you going to make a comeback?"

"It depends!" Xue Shao said, "What do I think and what Wang Xiaojie thinks, after all, it's all our wishful thinking." If I take the initiative to ask for a comeback because I am about to start a war with Tibet, it will inevitably seem that I think of myself too highly, arrogantly, and do not take the Manchu Dynasty civil and military in my eyes. Today, unlike in the past, Cen Changqian, Yao Yuanchong, Lou Shide, and Wang Xiaojie are all good at military affairs. There are many talents in the court, and no one is irreplaceable. I'm not the only one who can take on this role. ”

Princess Taiping pondered for a moment and said: "Wang Xiaojie returned to the dynasty to take up the vacancy of Xia Guanshangshu on top of you, why do I think that someone wants to block the passage for you to return to the dynasty and come back?" ”

"Wasn't that expected?" Xue Shao smiled: "Which of your good cousins would want me to go back?" They didn't take the opportunity to kill me, even if they were honest! ”

"That's right." Princess Taiping's face sank slightly, and she nodded, "If it weren't for Wu Yizong's experience, I'm afraid they would have done it a long time ago." ”

Xue Shao smiled: "This is also their usual style. ”

"You're right. The more I pondered it, the more I felt that this was indeed a means of Wu Chengsi and others. Obviously it is to promote heroes, but secretly it is calculating you. Princess Taiping frowned slightly, and said: "The eyes of the rats are bright, and the flies are dogs." It's hard for this group to grow! ”

"Don't worry!" Xue Shao smiled, confidently persuaded Princess Taiping, and said, "If an official position of Xia Guanshang Shu can block me to death, then they really underestimate your man." ”

"If you go back, you must be the prime minister." Princess Taiping said this sentence very seriously, but the next sentence was a little angry, "Otherwise, we won't go back!" ”

Xue Shao stroked her back and said with a smile: "Okay, listen to you, the prime minister will be the prime minister!" ――Why don't we slaughter a roe deer and roast it first? ”

"Roasted and eaten first?" Princess Taiping laughed, "Where did you learn such strange words?" ”

"I learned from someone named Xingye."

"Master Xing? Who? ”

"A coquettish old man from the stars."

"you!"

The next day, Xue Shao and his entourage changed their route and walked to the factory and mine built by Yu Hongye at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain.

This is the largest "workshop" under the name of Yu Hongye, which specializes in mining iron ore and making cement. It is like a large military camp, covering a very large area, employing as many as 10,000 helpers. These workers live here with their families, and the workshop is both their place of work and their new home.

Every year in this country, farmers lose their land, and some people become displaced by floods and droughts. In the past, they usually went to the private reclamation of other roads, and from then on they broke away from their original household registration and land and became "runaways", or sold themselves to become private slaves of wealthy families, and there were not many people who became beggars, thieves and robbers, and became a destabilizing factor in society. One of the biggest things they have in common is that none of them will pay taxes to the country anymore and will no longer be the "effective population" of the country.

But now, these people have become employed workers of the Momiji Chamber of Commerce, have a new life and unified management, and the Momiji Chamber of Commerce pays taxes to the state in a unified manner. This is a good thing for the country, the Red Leaf Chamber of Commerce, and these displaced people.

Nowadays, the chambers of commerce and workshops established by Yu Hongye in Helong, Liangjing, Bingzhou, and Hebei have accommodated tens of thousands of displaced people and fed thousands of families. She not only makes money for herself, but also solves many problems for the country.

This is also an important reason why Yu Hongye is favored and appreciated by the empress.