stand back, let me come

Chapter 1315: Whose food are you eating? (Part 1315) [Seeking monthly votes]

"Cui Lang's words are too frivolous."

Luan Xin was a beat slow to react and stretched out his hand to block Miao Ne.

Recognizing Miao Ne as You Bao by smell may seem like nothing at first glance. At most, one can say that Cui Xiong has a good sense of smell and a good memory, but if one is to find fault, one can also say that he is frivolous. How often do unmarried men and women have to have intimate contact in order to remember each other's smell deeply?
Even though the two of them were acting out of love and courtesy, it didn't sound like that to outsiders. Luan Xin's face wasn't looking good, and his tone was a little colder: "The Cui family is a big family in the southwest, so I think their upbringing is good. If it happens again, I don't mind losing face and having a good talk with your grandfather and your father about this matter."

Cui Xiong’s face turned pale.

It seems that I didn't expect that there would be obstacles.

"I wonder what Mr. Luan's name is?"

Cui's intelligence involved the appearance characteristics of several important officials in the court of King Kang. Even if the portraits were not easily recognizable, they could still be identified by their unique Wenxinhua seals. Although Luan Xin was the Minister of Personnel, the head of the six ministries, his presence was not very high.

According to rumors, this person is gentle, honest, and approachable, and is one of the few kind people among the court officials of Kangguo. I have no grudges or hatred against him, and we have no intersections, so why did he have a dislike for me as soon as we met?
After much thought, it can only be because of "Youbao".

Luan Xin said: "Ximin is my student."

This answer made Cui Xiong's eyes go dark.

Be a teacher for one day, and be a father for life.

The master-disciple relationship is second only to the blood relationship. Being unruly in front of Luan Xin, what is the difference between this and directly offending "You Bao's" biological father? Cui Xiong did not argue, but just bowed and said obediently: "Junior Cui Xiong, meet Master Luan."

He climbed up the pole, and now it was Luan Xin's turn to feel uncomfortable.

"Don't yell at me. What's the relationship between you and me? How can I be qualified to be called 'Master Luan' by the eldest son of the Cui family?" Luan Xin refused bluntly. His tone of voice was steady and unhurried, which gave people a great deal of psychological pressure.

At least sweat had already appeared on Cui Xiong's back, and all the tension and anxiety were covered by the accumulated calmness.

He was so nervous that his eyes went dark. "I have been engaged to your disciple for several years. We have always been affectionate and polite to each other. We have never been presumptuous, let alone frivolous or neglectful. She left me without saying goodbye and has been missing for more than two months. I miss her every moment. I never thought we would meet here so suddenly. I am so excited that I can't control my emotions. I hope Mr. Luan can understand."

Luan Xin ignored long sections of the speech.

He only cares about one thing.

"The person you are engaged to is You."

Cui Xiong's sky was falling down again and again, and his whole body was stiff.

Luan Xin continued, "Is Cui Lang making fun of me? Even though I seldom go out, I know that Ximin comes from the Miao family, a small clan in the northwest. She is from a poor family that has fallen on hard times for many years. It is unlikely that she will get engaged to the eldest son of the Cui family."

Go find your fiancée if she's missing.

Why are you standing here to get disliked?
After Luan Xin finished speaking, he waved his sleeves to signal Miao Ne to follow him. The master and apprentice walked straight past Cui Xiong, with no intention of stopping. Cui Xiong bit his lips slightly, and his dark and watery eyes met Miao Ne's pitifully. The latter avoided his eyes as if he was burned. Miao Ne lowered his head, grasped the hem of his clothes with his fingers, and walked quickly in small steps, as if there were jackals, tigers and leopards chasing him from behind.

She was completely out of Cui Xiong's sight, but she still had the illusion that someone was staring at her from behind. When she came to her senses, she almost bumped into Luan Xin who had stopped walking without her noticing: "Master Luan?"

Luan Xin said, "Don't be soft-hearted."

Don't be soft-hearted when it comes to the men you're in a relationship with.

Because it is impossible to judge whether the other party is truly pitiful or just pretending to be pitiful, they use showing weakness and pity as a weapon to capture the city.

Luan Xin was almost certain that Miao Ne was not only moved but also moved when Cui Xiong said, "It's been three years, I can recognize your smell." Everyone hopes that they are unique and irreplaceable to others.

The faint blush on Miao Ne's face slowly faded away.

She said, "I know."

The tone sounded very complicated.

She had no psychological burden after nearly three years of deception.

For her, being undercover is just her job, and doing her job well is a matter of course. Anything that hinders her from being undercover is a stumbling block.

Cui Xiong is not a stumbling block, but he is also a part of the work.

When it comes to work, you should only reflect on yourself when you mess up.

She completed the task perfectly, so why should she feel guilty?

It was his bad luck that Cui Xiong met him. It was a mistake for him to be attracted to him. He was asking for trouble if he still didn't change his mind after knowing the truth. However, Miao Ne didn't expect to meet Cui Xiong again so soon. He couldn't even calm down.

Luan Xin reminded her: "You have to be patient."

This made Miao Ne confused.

Seeing her questioning look, Luan Xin said slowly, "Cui Xiong is not really one of us yet. Before the southwest is completely under the control of the royal court, he represents the Cui family, and the Cui family represents the interests of the southwest gentry. The game is not over yet."

Investing emotions at this time can easily lead to trouble.

"It's better to wait until the situation becomes clear before considering other things."

During this time, we can also see what kind of person Cui Xiong is, whether he is sincere or fake, it is impossible for him to be flawless all the time.

"From what Master Luan said, you don't really dislike him?"

Luan Xin's words just now were not polite at all.

“Why should you complain? As long as the person you’re looking for is not someone like Gu Wangchao, it doesn’t matter if he is called Cui Xiong or Cui Lang, as long as you are satisfied.” To be honest, Luan Xin was quite satisfied with Cui Xiong.

This satisfaction is limited to Cui Xiong's family.

For a casual marriage, one only needs to look at the face and body of the man and woman, as long as they are handsome and healthy. They can do it when they are in the mood and stop when they are exhausted. However, if you want to consider a longer-term marriage, you have to look at the other party's family background. The Cui family in the southwest has a family background, and Cui Xiong's maternal grandfather Cui Xiao also has a background in the court. As the eldest son and grandson of this generation, Cui Xiong has money, power and fame. How much hardship can he save for future generations?
The talent of offspring also depends on luck.

But the foundation of our parents and grandparents is the real foundation.

Luan Xin did not tell Miao Ne these words directly, and I think she knew them in her heart. Miao Ne was not an ignorant noblewoman who was raised in the boudoir and did not know the world. She had the courage to weigh the pros and cons when her academic momentum was very good, and she decisively dropped out of school to venture into the world. She was reckless, but she could not be said to be wrong. She was still safe and sound after many years abroad. With the experience and knowledge she had accumulated, it was not easy to play a Cui Xiong.
As long as the starting point of the choice is for oneself and the future, even if you suffer a loss, it will not be a big loss. The real problem is that you habitually think about others and have excessive sympathy regardless of their identity or occasion, for example, "He is so pitiful, he can't live without me."

Is the life and death of others more important, or is your own happiness more important?
Miao Ne touched his nose guiltily and changed the subject away from himself: "Why does Master Luan hate Censor Gu so much?"

This kind of dislike was not concealed at all, and he did not consider giving face to his colleagues. He said this behind Gu Chi's back, and he dared to say it in front of Gu Chi. Miao Ne thought that the old foxes in the officialdom were all smiling tigers. Even if they wanted to cut the other party into pieces behind their backs, they would still greet them with a smile in public. Not to mention that Gu Chi was the Imperial Censor, the head of the Imperial Censorate, whose task was to supervise the upper and lower levels, impeach officials, and rectify discipline. Although the Ministry of Personnel was the head of the six ministries, it was also supervised by it.

Isn't it bad to offend someone so openly?
Luan Xin said succinctly: "There is a personal grudge." Miao Ne kept it in mind.

The personal grudge between the head of the Ministry of Personnel and the head of the Censorate, which had caused them to be at odds for so many years, must be quite large. She was not surprised that there was a personal grudge between the officials of Kang State, but she was surprised that both of them were still alive after so many years of feuding.

The thought of this makes my head even bigger.

Cui Xiong's grandfather Cui Xiao was in the same camp as the Imperial Censor Gu Chi. The two of them worked well together except for wearing a pair of calf-nose pants. As a student of the Minister of Personnel, if I broke the ice with Cui Xiong, wouldn't that make it difficult for the teacher? Miao Ne's thoughts turned around.

The heart that was aroused by Cui Xiong's words calmed down again.

Let’s put personal feelings aside for now and talk about it later.

As Shen Tang had expected, Cui Xiong had another purpose for this trip. Meeting Miao Ne was a pleasant surprise, but he did not forget his business because of her. Except for the first day he met Shen Tang, he seemed to be forgotten by Shen Tang and was not summoned.

He didn't seem to be annoyed despite such cold treatment.

"Although he is young, he is very calm and seems to be well prepared. If you don't handle it properly, I'm afraid a big piece of flesh will be bitten off."

Shen Tang stared at the memorial submitted by Xun Zhen while rubbing her temples to relieve the pain. She was most afraid of seeing memorials signed by Xun Zhen. No, to be more precise, she didn't want to see any memorials from the Ministry of Revenue. She didn't need to open them to know that they were either crying poor or hoping to cut the budget for next year, asking everyone to tighten their belts, or they were hinting that they shouldn't ask the Ministry of Revenue for money.

The budget left by the Ministry of Revenue is of great use and cannot be moved.

Apart from the Ministry of Revenue, the next most important thing was the memorials from military generals.

Pensions for fallen soldiers, awards for meritorious soldiers, and so on... The most important demand is to hope that the military budget for next year can be increased. The last point is the most important! It is a foregone conclusion that Kangguo will annex the entire southwest. All places need to set up Zhechoufu, recruit soldiers, and train elite troops. It will cost a lot of money. The military expenditure must at least double, right?

How could the Ministry of Revenue reject even such a small and normal request?
Is the treasury out of money?
All the grievances can be expressed through words.

They felt wronged, and the Ministry of Revenue felt even more wronged. It was not like the treasury had money and could spend it at will. In such a large country like Kang, it was not just the generals who needed to spend money. How many other places were crying out for food? There was only so much money, and the Ministry of Revenue's responsibility was to ensure that everyone could barely eat half full, rather than letting one side eat its fill while the others starved to death.

The generals have objections again.

How come they got so many spoils of war?

Isn't this all money?

Who knew that the Ministry of Revenue would hesitate and talk about other things, talking about everything except money. The two groups of people cursed fiercely from a distance, and some of the words they used were eye-opening for Shen Tang. This also made her suffer. She had been suffering from insomnia for a while, and her palms and backs were all flesh.

Shen Tang felt a throbbing pain in his temple.

It would be great if there was a second Jimo Qiu in this world.

"How can he have such ability?" Shen Tang's eyes were filled with worry, which made Miao Ne feel upset. He also had a problem with Cui Xiong. "The Lord has been in power for many years. Now the monarch and his subjects are of one mind and everything is going smoothly. Isn't this the time of prosperity?"

Shen Tang: "..."

She looked at Miao Ne helplessly with a half-smile.

After being stared at by her for a few seconds, Miao Ne suddenly reacted.

Having followed the former ruler of Qi State for too long, flattering him in different ways every day, she had unknowingly developed a habit of flattering him. Everyone wants to hear good words, but if you are flattered to the point of being arrogant, that is flattery. Miao Ne was wondering how to end the situation, when Shen Tang suddenly reached out and pinched her face: "You have honey on your mouth, right?"

Miao's voice was as soft as a mosquito's: "These are also words from the bottom of my heart."

The situation is indeed very good at the moment.

It was too easy for her to attack Cui's family. She didn't even need to send a large army to attack the border. She only needed to send a few soldiers to bury all three tribes. What scruples, what fears, what weighing of pros and cons?
The lord needs the aristocratic families. Such a huge royal court cannot operate safely without the aristocratic families. Only at this time do the aristocratic families have bargaining chips.

It is obvious that the bargaining chips in Cui's hands have not reached this level yet.

Not having enough chips means you can be slaughtered.

How could Cui Xiong bite a piece of meat from her mouth?

Isn’t this a fantasy???
Shen Tang said: "It's money, it's tax."

Kangguo is currently short of money.

Shen Tang rubbed his swollen forehead and sighed, "Whether they are aristocratic families or warlords, why can they mobilize so many troops at will? There is a saying that goes, whoever gives you milk is your mother. Whoever pays for the troops has the right to speak."

Private troops are just small-scale operations, with a scale of hundreds or thousands, and can only dominate in a small area. But if the stage is enlarged again and again, and the opponent's military force reaches the scale of "tens of thousands", this amount of private troops will not be enough to fill the gaps in the opponent's teeth.

"Previously, the southwest region was in chaos, and the tax items in various places were unclear. Nine out of ten regions were in the red, and one region had been in the red for consecutive years. Not to mention taking the taxes back to the royal court, they complained to the royal court every year about natural disasters and man-made calamities, and begged for exemption of taxes. Guess how much of this is real and how much is fake?" The collected taxes were roughly divided into two parts, one part was handed over to the royal court, and the other part was kept for maintenance of governance.

The retention rate is getting higher and higher.

How much of this is not on the books?
Wang Ting didn't want to suffer any loss, so he simply reduced some expenses.

"Soldiers work for whoever feeds them."

When the proportion of local residents is too high, high enough to support the army, the soldiers will of course eat the local food and follow the generals or local high-ranking officials. The high-ranking officials are mostly from local noble families, and if they can control this link firmly, they can make profits from it. One link leads to another, and the links are linked together.

Operating on this part is like directly cutting the aorta.

The embarrassing thing is that the deficit in the southwest is too big, and Kangguo's current finances are not healthy. If the royal court reduces the local retention ratio, it will be fine, and the local deficit accounts will be balanced by the royal court. If the retention ratio is high, the proportion of annual remittance to the royal court will be lower, and local areas can pay for their own profits and losses. The pressure on the royal court in the short term will be greatly reduced, and it will not affect the subsequent military deployment plan in the central region.

What's the cost?
The price is that Shen Tang will not be able to completely control the southwest.

She is the king in public, but secretly she has countless local tyrants behind her.

The local soldiers will also become alienated from her.

The southwestern territory is too large, and the royal court cannot take care of every corner. Maybe they will have to wait until the termites fall down before they find that the beams and wooden pillars have been eaten away by them to the point of being shaky. When Shen Tang was at the peak of his power, they might not dare to do it too obviously, but what about when Shen Tang is old or abdicates? Tigers always have a nap.

From the development of Kangguo in recent years, it can be seen that as long as time can be extended, the prosperity of the country is inevitable, at least much better than the current devastation. And with the current financial allocation of Kangguo, the royal court can almost firmly grasp the lifeline of various places.

This is obviously contrary to the interest groups behind the Cui family.

No one wants to wait to be fed. If you obey, you will be full. If you don't obey, you will starve to death. Dancing in shackles, you have no control over your fate.

|ω`)
Suddenly I remembered that Tangmei's entrepreneurial project has been in deficit for more than ten years. It is a bottomless pit that has been losing money all the time...