Chapter 69: Etiquette Demands Reciprocity

  Zhang had just returned, if it were someone else, they would definitely be extremely surprised. Just now, he was so scared that he almost peed his pants and even ran away without shoes. Now, he's calling "Li Zei" brother, shouldn't this be surprising?

  Ke Yulin's army didn't show any surprise, they just put down their guard. After calming down from the initial shock, they were overjoyed again. In the capital city, this kind of "turning enemies into friends" was something they had seen many times before. The big shots would secretly sabotage each other and stab each other in the back, but no matter how fiercely they fought in secret, on the surface they still maintained a harmonious facade.

  It's not just the big shots, these Imperial Guards are also like this. They call Zhang Jue a dead eunuch behind his back, but on the surface they still address him as "Zhang Zhongguan" with great familiarity. One set of words for his face and another set for behind his back - nothing strange about that, not a rare occurrence!

  The Weilin army rushed together to Li Qings nod and smile, they looked at the two soldiers following behind Li Qing, thinking in their hearts: "I wonder if there is a share for us? This Li Qing looks like he knows how to treat people, he wont leave us out, right?"

  Wei Linjun was just scared out of his wits, but as soon as he felt safe, he immediately regained his composure. They formed a square formation in the courtyard, with everyone standing at attention and their hands on the hilts of their swords. Just by looking at them, they could intimidate quite a few people, at least enough to scare off the civilians peeking from outside.

  Li QIN and Zhang Jiu entered the main hall, Zhang Jiu sat in the middle, Li QIN and Tang Jie followed him to sit down, while Jia Xiang sat behind Li QIN, which was the position of the strategist, who could whisper to Li QIN at any time.

  Everyone sat down, and the two soldiers held the trays, standing in the middle of the ground, looking at Li Qin. But Li Qin said: "Brother Zhang, do you think... it's convenient?"

  Zhang had been listening to Li QIN calling him Zhang brother, to be honest, he was quite disgusted, shaking his head and saying: "Not convenient."

  Li Qin sat up straight, and Jia Yu stretched out his hand to secretly write two characters on his back. Li Qin understood, smiled and said: "What Lord Zhang said is absolutely right, I was too rash." He waved his hand, and the two soldiers immediately put the tray on the table in front of Zhang Jiou, retreated and went out, closing the door behind them.

  Li Qindao said: "Officer Zhang, is it convenient now?"

  Zhang Jiu squinted his eyes and looked at the two trays, which were indistinguishable in shape. As a eunuch, he wasn't afraid of being called greedy for wealth - he was indeed greedy for it! He reached out to gently lift the red cloth, took a glance, and his eyes suddenly widened. "Not convenient!" he exclaimed loudly, then looked at Tang Jie.

  Tang Jie didn't mention the annoyance in his heart, of course he understood what this gaze represented. He stood up and said: "Officer Zhang, I still have something to do outside, so I'll take my leave first, please don't mind!"

  "No wonder! No wonder!" Zhang Jiu looked at Jia Yu again.

  Jia Yu stood up at once and said: "Mr. Tang has a lot of things to do, I'll go help!" He tactfully went out with Tang Jie and still closed the door.

  As soon as the door was closed, Zhang Ji immediately lifted up the two red cloths and looked at the two treasures in the plate. He took a deep breath and thought to himself: "These two treasures can both complete Grandpa's task, and might even get praised, but the problem is which one to choose, there's a story behind this, I'd better ask first."

  Zhang nodded slightly, looked at Li Qin and said: "Mr. Li, let's not speak in riddles in front of everyone. You know what you did tonight, and I'm clear about it too. My background must have been thoroughly investigated by you, or else you wouldn't have acted this way. So, these two good things, one is for the Central Envoy, and the other must be for me. Which one is for me?"

  Li Qin listened to his words, and in his heart he was secretly thinking that this eunuch's way of handling things was really different from ordinary people! If it were another official, after what happened today, wouldn't they first scowl and ask how dare you offend him? Wouldn't they have to go through a round of questioning before reluctantly "forgiving" him? Wouldn't they make him grovel and plead before accepting the gift with difficulty? Wouldn't they have to beg and plead before saying "let's keep in touch from now on"? And finally, wouldn't they exchange smiles and chat about family matters?

  Look at Zhang Jiu, this dead eunuch, no nonsense, as long as there's a benefit now, he won't mention what happened during the day, absolutely realistic, not playing with anything virtual!

  Li Qin laughed, he didn't want to laugh, but couldn't help it! He pointed at the crystal gathering treasure basin and said: "Of course it's this one. The jade horse is for Zhong Changshi, so that Zhong Changshi can serve the emperor like a dog or horse, and this gathering treasure basin is for you, Zhang Daren, so that you can get rich!"

  It's a compliment to say that eunuchs are working like dogs and horses, ordinary people want to serve the emperor as dogs and horses, but the emperor doesn't even want them. Jia Yu has already told Li Qin about this.

  Zhang Ji's face suddenly showed a joyful expression, he picked up the crystal gathering treasure basin to admire it, and exclaimed in admiration: "Such a good thing, even in the capital city, it's not easy to find! It should be from the Western Regions, or made by a skilled craftsman from the Western Regions who is familiar with our Great Han's preferences. This is exactly what our family likes!"

  He looked at Li Qin with a very good attitude and said: "Today's daytime things, our family has already forgotten them all, you can't mention it again!"

  Li Qindao said, "Yes, the end will also forget, and naturally won't mention it again." He paused for a moment, then said, "Zhang Daren, the end general is after Fei Jiangjun, the ancestral gate is glorious, unfortunately..."

  Zhang nodded and said, "As long as you understand the situation, restoring your family's reputation is just a word from me, the Imperial Censor. What else do you have to offer? Bring it all out!" He put the golden basin back on the tray, directly asking for bribes.

  Li Qinzhen did not expect such a situation to arise. When Jia Yu and he discussed it, they thought of many countermeasures, but they never expected Zhang Jiuzhou to be so decisive and unreserved. This made many countermeasures useless. Of course, this cannot be blamed on Jia Yu, as he had no experience dealing with eunuchs and could only roughly understand their common nature, but not guess their individual temperaments. Who would have thought that Zhang Jiuzhou was "refreshingly" straightforward to such an extent!

  Li Qin organized his words and said, "Zhang Gong, why don't you take a look? Every year, I send two gifts to the palace, neither of which is inferior to what's in front of us. One is for you, and one is for you to pass on to Zhong Changshi, how about it?"

  Zhang Ji burst out laughing and said, "Li Lang, you're really good at socializing! But you have to understand one thing: the officials in the palace are not allowed to associate with local military officers, this is a rule!" As soon as he mentioned gifts, he stopped calling him Mr. Li and started calling him Li Lang instead.

  Li Qin smiled and said, "I didn't say to make friends. Governor Zhang, you have family members doing business, but they were robbed by bandits in Liangzhou. I'll help you get them back and send them back to the capital. Who can still gossip about that?"

  Zhang was taken aback and exclaimed, "This method is great! How come I never thought of it before? Nobody in the palace has ever thought of it either." He asked, "Who taught you this trick?"

  Of course, it was Jia Xian's teaching, but Li Qin said: "I thought of it myself." After a pause, he said: "Or, Lord Zhang, you can do this. You find someone in the capital to open a shop and buy jewelry, and secretly I'll send people to the capital to sell jewelry worth thousands of gold coins. You can take them for just a few cents, and if they want to sell, they'll sell, and if they want to keep it, they'll keep it. Everything will be within the rules, so no one else will know about it."

  Zhang suddenly sat up straight, staring at Li QIN with wide eyes. He rubbed his nose, which still hurt a lot. Li QIN's words made him suddenly enlightened, and a bright road appeared in the business of receiving bribes!

  After a long while, Zhang finally murmured: "What a great plan! You came up with this strategy and are willing to send treasures every year... So, what you're asking for is not just the restoration of the Li family's gate, is it?"

  Li Qin hesitated for a moment, Jia Yu had told him that when speaking with eunuchs, it's better to speak nonsense at the beginning, don't worry about saying too much nonsense, just be afraid of not saying enough. But once the door is closed, never speak nonsense again, and go straight to the point without beating around the bush. And Zhang Jiou in front of him was exactly this kind of person.

  Li Kui gritted his teeth and said: "I swear an oath to never share the same sky or moon with He Jin, and be eternal enemies!"

  At that time, He Jin was not yet a great general, but he was not a small official either. He still held the position of Shizhong, and relying on the power of the empress, he was at odds with the Ten Eunuchs, who were his arch-enemies. Because He Jin's foundation was also in the palace, he posed the greatest threat to the Ten Eunuchs, and was a sworn enemy of Zhang Rang and others!

  As soon as these words came out, Zhang was taken aback and stared with wide eyes: "You really dare to make a written guarantee?"

  Most officials in the capital stood on He Jin's side, and even Cao Cao, a eunuch's grandson, supported He Jin. The local military commanders were even less likely to support the Ten Attendants, as they always sent supervisors to oversee them! However, even if they didn't support He Jin, they wouldn't openly oppose the Ten Attendants on the surface, nor would they leave any written evidence saying they would fight to the death with He Jin. Li Jue was the first one to do so!

  Li Qian said: "Write it now!" He took the pen and a roll of white silk from the desk, wrote with his brush: He Jin was ignorant of people's wisdom, causing chaos in the Han dynasty, gods and humans were angry together, his death was justified, and the world shared the same anger. Signed: Li Qian of Fu Jiao.

  But he didn't write the date!

  This is no longer what Jia Xian can teach. Jia Xian speaks in plain language, but he's not a half-immortal and has no way of predicting what will happen after He Jin, so there's nothing to teach.

  Ke Liqin knew that, no matter what he wrote in the book or said, not a single word mentioned relying on Shi Zhonggui. Of course, even if he had mentioned it and later denied it, who could do anything to him? But he didn't mention it at all, only misleading Zhang Jiulong, letting Zhang Jiulong think that he had relied on him. If he turned against him in the future, he couldn't blame him; it was just mutual utilization, no need to complain.

  And what he wrote in this undated silk book, even if it's dug up later, doesn't matter, others will think that He Jin didn't recognize the evil wolf Dong Zhuo, everyone is scolding He Jin for inviting a wolf into his home, dying was what he deserved, Li Jue scolds him, it's just a common enemy, very normal thing.

  Before He Jin's death, it was impossible for the Ten Eunuchs to take out this silk book and ask Li Jue for help, because He Jin himself was the one who solved the problem of the Ten Eunuchs. What kind of help did they need? Therefore, before He Jin's death, this silk book could not be exposed at all, and after his death, it might have been exposed, and Li Jue might even have become a vassal in the campaign against Dong Zhuo, recognized by others!

  This is the benefit of being insightful, Li QIN will definitely gain benefits from this scroll in the future. The benefits that will come later are not to be mentioned, but the immediate benefits have arrived!

  Zhang Ju picked up the silk book, his hands were shaking, this was the first piece of evidence that dared to die with He Jin, it was extremely precious, even more valuable than the wealth obtained from the land of Liangzhou, and even more significant. If Zhang Rang had gotten this evidence, he would have been overjoyed!

  Zhang Ji looked at Li Qian and said, "You're just a military marquis now? That's too small, too small! You need to expand your power and join us in opposing He Jin. This bit of strength is not enough! Hmm, our family moves slowly, we must send someone to take this letter back to the capital, for Zhong Chengshi to see. What do you need? A noble title, an official position, weapons, iron armor, warhorses, or craftsmen?"

  Li Qindao said: "When the Forward Corner Army was first established, it was poor and white, with many things needed..."

  "Enough, no need to say more!" Zhang Ji's voice became even sharper with excitement. "We'll write a letter to the Zhongchangshi right away and explain this matter. By the end of summer this year, we'll have everything you need brought from the capital. We don't care about ordinary military equipment, so we'll allocate it from the Wei Lin Army's arsenal!" He paused for a moment, then pointed outside: "First, give him fifty sets of iron armor. Now, strip those guys of their clothes, I'm in charge here!"

  Li Qian was overjoyed and said: "Thank you, Lord Zhang. Should I write a memorial to scold He Jin right now?" He didn't even have the qualifications to write a memorial, it was just an offhand boast.

  "Absolutely not, absolutely not. You and our people are collecting evidence of He Jin's treason, it must be kept secret, can't be spread out, only then will it have the effect of a surprise attack. Alas, your official position is really too low!"

  ——

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