Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 167 Sweeping the Floor and Borrowing a Long Whale (3)

"Let's go out and join in the fun." Wang Tongdeng said with a smile, he quickly broke free from his depression, and joked to Zhao Xingde, "Zhao Jun can't be a savage."

Zhao Xingde smiled unconsciously.Ms. Xia spent a lot of time and energy on public life.The most important group action in the army, it is generally believed that those who do not fit in the group either have ulterior motives or are barbarians.Not only is it difficult to mix in the army, but it is also difficult to gain a foothold after retirement.Zhao Xingde is fond of reading and often thinks alone. In the eyes of the sergeant, this is a kind of eccentricity.Fortunately, he is easy-going and enthusiastic about business affairs. After getting used to it, people sometimes make fun of him as a "savage", but they don't care much in their hearts.

The city of Shule Prefecture is small, with no more than [-] permanent residents. Nearly [-] people flocked into the city to celebrate the victory that night.Shule Prefecture is where the Populus euphratica army is stationed, and many people wearing military robes are also mixed among the shady households.The sergeant and the local government are extremely closely integrated.This is also the characteristic of the military government rooted in the local area.Courageous men enlist in the army, and when they return home with titles, they can participate in various elections and discussions in the battalion, and they are also qualified to recruit shady households.Zhao Xingde and others were not conspicuous in the crowd.

Lanterns are hung high in the markets on both sides, and vendors along the street are full of food, grilled beef and mutton skewers, dried meat, wine, fruits, and scones. "The military government and the chamber of commerce paid for these," Du Chuijiao had inquired clearly a long time ago, holding five strings of meat in his left hand and a wine glass with horns in his right, he said with a smile, "Eat and drink to your heart's content!"

"It seems that Hu Yangjun's mansion is very rich." Chen Yongqi sighed, "It is actually able to entertain the common people for three days with the chamber of commerce."

"The location of Shule Prefecture is good," Wang Tongdeng said. "Besides, these meats, preserved fruits, and scones are all locally produced, and they don't cost much money. The prefecture and county have to save three years of rations. Just to consume the things that are about to expire and free up the storage." He grabbed an apple and stuffed it in his mouth and took a bite.

The street suddenly increased by three or four times the usual crowd, and suddenly became narrow, everyone was talking loudly, and the street vendors shouted enthusiastically.The sergeants are all discussing which military mansion is the richest.In this extremely noisy environment, Zhao Xingde fell into deep thought instead, "The influence of ordinary people on the government is not only far inferior to that of sergeants, but also inferior to the chambers of commerce in various places. Compared with ordinary people, in addition to superb martial arts, sergeants How can the group maintain their dominant position," he thought to himself, "even when there is no war, even retired sergeants will participate in the election layer by layer, regular gatherings and 'drills', whether it is discussion or even petition, most of them have detailed suggestions On the other hand, ordinary people, although they are far more numerous than sergeants, are weak and powerless. Even if they petition Zhu Guo, tribunes, and state and county officials, most of them are only related to their own interests and have nothing to do with national policy.”

"After Ross is dealt with and the west is stabilized, it's Mobei's turn." Wang Tongdeng said happily while chewing the candied fruit, "The chaos in Liao Dynasty is a good opportunity for Mobei to grow up. It is a confidant's trouble, and the Huguo Mansion will never sit idly by. I don't know if I can catch up with the battle in Mobei."

Du Chuijiao said with a bitter face: "The tribes in Mobei are worth some money except horses, cattle and sheep, and there is no oil and water." Wang Tongdeng said with a smile: "That's worth a lot, and there is land." Du Chuijiao said: "It's too cold and dry over there, so you can't grow crops, you can only graze cattle and sheep. Even if there is a good land, it has already been occupied by the Anbei Army."

Zhao Xingde looked at the bustling people around with great interest.The celebration in Shulezhou City lasted until midnight, and the people living outside the city took their wives and children home one after another.In the early morning of the next day, Paoze from Chengying's [-]th Battalion set off an hour later than usual. One person and two riders rode along the Chidao River from Shule to Kucha.

In the signing room of Dunhuang Zhuguo Mansion, three scribes rubbed their red eyes.In the past few months, the documents sent to Zhu Guofu have not been interrupted. "Old men sleep less and stay up late, we will be in bad luck." Zang Buha opened the tea bucket, carefully took out a section of ginseng whiskers, broke off two sections, and threw one section into the teacup. Pass a piece to Chen Xian.

The old man these scribes spoke of was the highly respected Zhu Kingdoms in the Zhu Kingdom's Mansion.In the past few months, Xia Guo successively used troops in Annan, Ross and Mobei three times.But these old men were so excited, many of the five or sixty-year-old Zhu Guo themselves were retired generals and state herdsmen, and they stood in front of the map and gesticulated when they had nothing to do. It was a pity that Zhu Guo's government did not have the right to directly intervene in the deployment of the battle.Especially after defeating the country of Ross, the former land of Ross will be divided into more than a hundred marquis territories, and eight more founding marquises will be canonized.More than a dozen Grand Dukes of Ross asked the Xia army to stay for at least five years and help them build up their armaments and deter their neighbors to the west.Zhu Guofu needs to pass many laws and regulations. The long history of the prime minister's mansion against Cao brought a few scribes and almost lived in Zhu Guofu, explaining the laws and regulations to be promulgated to Zhu Guo people one by one.

Chen Xian was not too polite, he threw half of the ginseng root into the teacup, soaked it in boiling water, put his face on the teacup with a big mouth, and smoked his face with the dense ginseng steam. It's swollen.The little girl of the Zhu family was proud and arrogant. After that blind date, before the Chen family could reply, she sent back all the gifts from the Chen family, which made him pay attention to this girl instead. During this period of time Although they have never met each other, it is conceivable that they should have the appearance that strangers should not get close to each other.Chen Xian raised his head, wiped off the water drops, looked at himself in the mirror, smiled slightly, showing his white teeth.

"For me, the guaranteed ticket for the Liyuan private seat for the past three months has been voided." Gou Junsheng complained, holding a piece of gold-painted incense stick between his fingers.Liyuan is the guaranteed ticket for the private seats of the largest theater in Dunhuang. There are ten seats every month, and two months have been invalidated for three consecutive months.Zang Bu and Chen Xian looked at each other and smiled. Although they were both nobles, this Du Junsheng was the eldest son of the hereditary Qingyuan Hou Gou family. He could inherit the family business and title in the future. Zang Bu and Chen Xian's partnership played tricks.

Gou Junsheng was about to throw the theater ticket into the writing paper bucket, but Chen Xian's eyes lit up, and he shouted: "Slow down!" He took out one and a half taels of silver and threw it to him, and said with a smile: "It's a pity to lose it, why don't you give it to me."

Gou Junsheng took the money, didn't care about it, threw it back to him casually, and said, "It doesn't matter if it's for you, the mansion is so busy, can you still ask for leave to go to the theater?" He opened the file, and today the relevant Dongshi The representative of the Zidong People's Association went to the Zhuguo Mansion to make a statement, but the matter of the petition was to hope that the Zhuguo Mansion would issue a law prohibiting the workshops of the Guanzhong Chamber of Commerce from concealing laborers from Guandong. The government properly accommodated.

"Naturally." Chen Xian chuckled, put the theater ticket in his pocket, and the silver coin was not polite.

"Oh? What's going on here?" Seeing him pretending to be mysterious, Zang Bu couldn't help being curious, and a strange look flashed in Gou Junsheng's eyes.

"Hey," Chen Xian took a sip of ginseng tea quite proudly, "After the three battles of Annan, Ross, and Mobei, the national treasury is almost empty, and if the Huguo Mansion is still tossing, taxes have to be levied. Is it possible for the captain to raise taxes easily?"

Zang Bu took a deep breath and said in surprise, "I, Daxia Xiang, called Yinfu. In these three battles, the battle of Ross has already been won, and Annan and Mobei are also victorious. How can the treasury be empty?" 'Lu' appeared thoughtful, and immediately pretended to be surprised, asking Chen Xian to explain clearly.

Chen Xian saw that these two colleagues were humbly asking for advice, so he couldn't keep it up anymore, and said in a deep voice: "Wars are fought for food and wages. The three battles of Ross, Annan, and Mobei were all labor-intensive attacks. Except for the battle of Annan, Dali Kingdom transferred In addition to food and salaries, in the battle between Ross and Mobei, most of the food and salaries had to be transported long distances. Whether it was transported from Guanzhong to Xiaohai, or to support the army to cross the stone mountains, there was no food and grass. Du Han and Hengzhai, because the autumn harvest was delayed The amount of food and grass transported is not only for the food of the soldiers. The three battles have cost tens of millions, and the materials accumulated in the treasury over the years have also consumed a lot. These three places can’t be used for fishing without limit, so within a few years, the newly acquired places will maintain the garrison and quell the rebellion, all of which must be subsidized by the treasury.”

Satisfied, Chen Xian took a sip of tea, and finally concluded: "The war in Mobei is over, and the Huguo Mansion should not be tossing about again recently." He thought suddenly, and sighed, "In my opinion, the three major battles Victory, at least half of the credit is given by the logistics department and road cao, but it is a pity that the limelight has been seized by those who are in the military department. It's really unfair!" At that time, the war between Mobei and Annan was not over yet, but he thought that the marching department had a thorough plan and the logistics department in the rear The transfer was successful, and the victory was already in his pocket, but he couldn't help but feel a little unfair that the limelight of the officials of the five governments was overwhelmed by the generals in front.

"Where are these Dong people who have expressed their feelings?" Gou Junsheng tapped the file with his fingers, and said in a deep voice, "This group of scholars are restless everywhere, from Guandong to Chang'an Scholars' Mansion. The exiles accommodated in the workshop are very involved, if the old men really want to do this, I am afraid that they will be exhausted for several months."

"However, it is true that those people from the Kanto region suffered too much in the workshop." Zang Bu showed a look of unbearable emotion on his face.

"Could it be that the Huguo Mansion and the Zhu State Mansion really don't know?" Chen Xian said with emotion, "Most of the land taxes are kept in the military mansions, and the mining tax has to be distributed to the prefectures and counties. The finances of the five mansions are far more dependent on industry and commerce than in the Kanto. These chambers of commerce Every time a refugee is accommodated in the workshop, it means a real tax for the five prefectures. Therefore, Zhu Guofu must pay attention to the complaints of these Kanto scholars. I have three words here, difficult, difficult, difficult." After finishing speaking The old god took a sip of tea on the ground, and buried his head in the case again.