Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

"Well, I'll pay attention!" Wang Wenzuo couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. Of course, this so-called "New World businessman" was a lie, but Jin Renwen was also telling the truth. At that time, the kind of businessmen who pretended to be diplomatic envoys from distant countries were really too There are too many, and all of them can talk about trains. He probably saw a lot of them when he was a hostage in Chang'an, so naturally he wouldn't believe what Wang Wenzuo said.

"But the idea you mentioned of sailing along the coastline, building trading stations at the mouths of rivers, and trading with barbarians is indeed a good idea!" Jin Renwen said with a smile: "When I was a child, I heard someone say that although the weather in the north is very cold, But furs, sea fish and other products are also extremely rich, and if they are handled well, it will be worth it, but this will have to wait until the chaos is settled. I guess you have already settled on Jin Famin, right?"

"It's hard to say whether it will be successful or not!" Wang Wenzuo smiled: "I sent envoy Di Renjie, but before he came back, he took advantage of it. In this way, I have already won three points!"

"Jin Famin detained the envoy?" Jin Renwen laughed when he heard this: "If Uncle Yu Xin was still here, he would definitely not have made such a foolish move!"

"That's natural!" Wang Wenzuo smiled: "The ship is about to dock. We will discuss the specific strategy after we get ashore!"

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Pier, pier.

The wharf of Zhouliu City is located under the towering city wall. Standing on the deck and looking up, you can see the black holes on the tower. Smoke from campfires on the shore is curling up. The morning air is misty. Ten thousand soldiers are preparing to have breakfast under the flag. . A variety of ships are moored side by side on the shore, their masts forming a forest.

Wang Wenzuo recognized Master Shen at a glance. Compared to a few years ago, he was much older and thinner. The black cloak on his body had faded due to the wind and sun, and there were already a lot of white spots on his short beard. Dot and Dian wore a glove on his left hand. When he saw Wang Wenzuo, he quickened his pace, and his quick footsteps thumped on the wooden board.

"Mr. Shen, I have worked hard for you all these years!" Wang Wenzuo grabbed Shen Faseng's arm and stopped him from bowing: "I am over in Chang'an and miss you all the time!"

"Sanlang!" Shen Faseng felt a soreness in his eyes, and he lowered his head: "I can't say it's hard. I just have to deal with the Silla people here. It's really hard for you in Chang'an! Not only do you have to deal with things outside, but also To deal with the people in the palace, if it were anyone else, a hundred lives would be lost!"

"My brother, there is nothing hard or hard!" Wang Wenzuo patted Shen Faseng on the shoulder and walked behind him. Facing the familiar faces, Wang Wenzuo either said a greeting or two, or patted the shoulder, a familiar feeling The feeling gradually surrounded everyone, as if the person who had just spoken to them was not the powerful general, but the Langya King Sanlang who led them out of the pile of dead people.

"I've seen the general!" Gui Shiyun stood at the end of the welcoming team. She bowed to Wang Wenzuo and said, "I haven't seen you for several years, but you still have the same style. I'm really gratified!"

"Still the same style?" A wry smile appeared on Wang Wenzuo's lips: "How is that possible! When I look in the mirror, I already have white hair, but you are still the same!"

"Really?" Gui Shiyun smiled slightly: "But in my eyes, you are still as high-spirited as before, and you haven't changed at all!"

"Listening to what you say, I have to look in the mirror again at night!" Wang Wenzuo smiled and turned around: "Fang Monk, what have you prepared for the welcome banquet? Every day on the ship, there are only dry biscuits, cured meat, and fish. I’m so fed up!”

The banquet hall that welcomed Wang Wenzuo was located on the top of the tower in the center of Zhouliu City. It was a wide circular room with walls made of black stone and without decoration. There are four tall narrow windows in the hall, facing east, west, north and south. In the center of the hall is a large table carved from a huge wooden board. This large table was ordered to be built by Wang Wenzuo after he conquered the Japanese state. The entire table is over seven feet long, the widest point is about half the length, and the narrowest point is less than nine feet. The carpenter cut out bays, peninsulas and islands according to the entire Northeast Asian continent. No part of the entire table is straight. The entire land of Northeast Asia at that time was depicted on the table, including all the rivers, mountains, fortresses, lakes and forests... all in great detail, and glowing with the luster of polished rosin.

Wang Wenzuo's seat corresponds to the position of Zhouliucheng. His chair is higher than everyone else and he can overlook the entire banquet hall. He raised his wine glass and said: "I wish the emperor good health and peace in the world!"

"The emperor is well and the world is at peace!" Everyone at the table raised their wine glasses and drank the liquid in the glasses. Their eyes were focused on Wang Wenzuo's face, full of expectation. Jin Renwen could feel the burning anticipation, enough to set people on fire.

"It's hard to unite when there are many people!" Jin Renwen remembered what his father said when he was a child. Although the people at the table all claimed to be Wang Wenzuo's loyal subordinates, they also had their own thoughts, and some of them were even their own thoughts. Paradoxically, it is not an easy task to gather these people with different ideas into an army.

"General!" A man stood up next to the long table, probably located on Shikoku Island in Japan. He was a lean man with a scar on his left cheek. He raised his glass to Wang Wenzuo: "You are here to attack Silla this time. person?"

"Not bad!" Wang Wenzuo had already recognized the person who was coming. He was one of the first Baekje people to follow him: "I have this plan, what's wrong!"

"I have three sons, two have died on the battlefield, one was in the Japanese country, and the other was killed by the Goguryeo people!" The man said solemnly: "I only have this one son, and he is now in Xinjiang. In the hands of the Luo people, I had originally made an agreement with the Silla people to redeem him with money! But——"

"What's the ransom you agreed on?" Wang Wenzuo asked.

"Three hundred copper coins! Plus two good horses!" the man replied.

"I'll pay the money, and I'll give you twenty pieces of Shu brocade. You can exchange your son for it when you go back. The sooner the better!" Wang Wenzuo said.

"Thank you, thank you!" Tears welled up from the man's eyes, and his voice choked up: "I know I shouldn't say such things here, but, I really can't help it. My territory is very far from the border. Recently, there have been continuous wars, and the harvest of the fields has not been good, so——"

"Needless to say! I'm glad that I have the opportunity to solve the problem for my friend!" Wang Wenzuo smiled and picked up the wine glass: "For the sake of our children, what hardships are we unwilling to endure? When this battle is over, you can do it again There’s no need to worry about the Silla people’s troubles!”

The people at the long table burst into cheers, and the man's plea seemed to be a signal. After that, people kept standing up and pleading with Wang Wenzuo. Most of them were pleading for something similar, the destruction of war. In order to support the production of the manors, they had to borrow money in order to bear military service and taxes, and they were unable to bear the increasingly heavy taxes; the land they received was not enough to raise their children and give them adequate education; they lost money during the war. He had lost all his children and had to adopt a child, but the adopted child was still too young. He was worried that if something happened to him, his adopted son would not be able to keep the family property and would be taken away by his tribe or neighbors.

Wang Wenzuo faced everyone patiently. He wrote down everyone's name and what they requested. Oppressed by debt, he promised to donate money. The land was not enough to raise his children. The gesture of giving education would make their children better. If you join your own guard, you will get a military salary and appropriate military training; if you are worried that your adopted son will not be able to keep the family property, you can ask yourself or Shen Faseng to be the guardian of your adopted son to ensure his safety before adulthood and his inheritance after adulthood. While Wang Wenzuo was doing all this, Master Shen remained silent. He was like a stone statue, sitting on Wang Wenzuo's right hand until all the entreaties were over. People knelt down and saluted Wang Wenzuo with great gratitude and left the banquet hall. He then stood up and bowed to Wang Wenzuo to apologize: "Sanlang, please forgive me for being rude!"

"Is it your intention for these people to do this?" Wang Wenzuo clapped his hands and looked into Master Shen's eyes.

"Everything they said is true! You can send someone to verify it one by one!" Shen Faseng said: "I just told them that I have no ability to help them, but you have the ability! As for what they do, I don't know Didn’t say anything!”

"Yeah!" Wang Wenzuo nodded: "You want to tell me that the current situation in Baekje is very bad and it does not have enough ability to defeat Silla!"

"Yes!" Shen Faseng was unequivocal: "Most of the warriors are very poor. They have been fighting for many years and have never stopped. The warehouses in the governor's house are full, but the warehouses in the warriors' homes are rarely full. Yes, the bowls of their wives and children are always filled with radishes and barley, but rarely with corn and rice. The horses rarely have fat. This kind of army can defend, but it is difficult to attack!"

"Is the situation so bad?" Wang Wenzuo sighed: "What about trade? Doesn't trade bring you income?"

"Sanlang, trade has indeed benefited us a lot!" Shen Faseng sighed: "It is precisely because of the wealth brought by trade that we can support ourselves until now. But trade can only benefit a few people, such as merchants and citizens of Zhouliucheng. and the surrounding farmers, but most farmers and the warriors in the interior will not get any benefits. They have to fight and bear military service and labor. Many people live in poverty! But the money and food in my hand are used to cope with the war. , and cannot be used to help them!”

"I understand!" Wang Wenzuo sighed. At that time, the Xiongjin Governor's Palace was in the dilemma of "the officials were rich and the people were poor", that is, the warriors and farmers who shouldered a large number of military services lived in poverty, but the government had some money and food through trade and taxes, but Shen Faseng It was impossible to use the money and food to relieve the poor warriors. After all, there was no such thing in the law, and once the war started and the treasury was empty, they would be beheaded.

"What about the Japanese side?" Wang Wenzuo asked: "I remember Yuan Aolie and He Bayong should be doing pretty well over the past few years, right? They have opened up a lot of new fields, there are no major battles, and they have begun to promote cotton and sugar. For planting, they should have extra financial resources, right?”

"The Japanese country has given us some help!" Shen Faseng said: "Every year, they send about a hundred horses, some soldiers, ten thousand to twenty thousand stone rice, and twenty to thirty thousand gold. It seems like a lot, but it is also I can't help you!" At this point, he paused for a moment: "Sanlang, I have been struggling in the past few years, and I have been exhausted mentally and physically. This time when you come back, I will tell you what I mean to you, can you change it and let me go to the Japanese country? In a few years, let He Bayong, Yuan Aolie and the others take over for me and have a taste of what it’s like here!”

"Change it?" Wang Wenzuo was stunned. At this time, he didn't know what Shen Faseng meant. He felt that the pain and joy were uneven and he was in a mood. He thought for a while and then said: "Let's do this. Anyway, Heba and the others will come in a few days. Then everyone will make a plan. But I have to say something ugly first. Now the destruction of Silla is the top priority. , if anyone takes this seriously, I won’t agree to it!”

"That's natural!" Master Shen hurriedly smiled and said: "I actually don't know the importance of people. Don't worry, Sanlang. As long as I sit in the position of the Governor of Xiongjin Governor's Mansion for a day, I will fulfill my responsibilities for a day. I will never Joking about the war!"

"That's good!" Wang Wenzuo breathed a sigh of relief: "That's it for today! I'm tired from the journey. If there's anything else, we'll talk about it tomorrow!"

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bedroom.

Wang Wenzuo panted and turned over, facing up to the sky, looking at the patterns on the ceiling.

"You're still the same!" A white arm stretched out from the side and hugged Wang Wenzuo's neck. Gui Shiyun kissed his cheek and frowned: "This beard! How long has it been since you trimmed it?"

"How long? Let me think about it!" Wang Wenzuo smiled: "It seems that I didn't prune it before I got on the ship. You know, fresh water is very precious on a sea ship!"

"That's not enough for you, right?" Ghost Room said angrily, "You are a general after all!"

"General?" Wang Wenzuo laughed: "What's the point? It's just a false name!"

"You are the only one in the world who doesn't take such a high-ranking official seriously!" Gui Shiyun turned over and sat up, revealing her smooth upper body, and looked at Wang Wenzuo's face intoxicated: "How have you spent these years in the Tang Dynasty? Okay? I heard that you are married to your first wife, the daughter of the Cui family of Qinghe. Is she beautiful? "

"You women are always concerned about this!" Wang Wenzuo smiled: "With my status, I naturally want to marry a daughter of the Cui family and the Lu family. My appearance is secondary!"

"Really?" When Gui Shiyun heard this, a hint of joy appeared on her face: "Then did she give birth to a son for you?"

"Yeah!" Wang Wenzuo responded casually.

"That means you have a legitimate son?"

"So what?" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "How old is the child? Does it matter whether he is the legitimate son or not?"

Sorry for the late update today!
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