Three Kingdoms.

  Chapter 2148 Four worries

  Cao Cao’s level is over there. Even though Xu County is in financial distress, the banquet welcoming Guo Jia cannot be omitted. After all, it represents the beginning of "Six Victories".

  It is probably not yet You time, but due to the short autumn and winter days, it has become a little dark. In the compound of the General’s Mansion, lights have begun to be decorated, and the lights are shining in all directions, stubbornly fighting against the gradually suppressed darkness.

  Soldiers guard outside, attendants run inside, everyone performs their own duties, and they dare not slack off at all.

The General's Mansion was originally the Sikong Mansion. It was built almost at the same time when the Emperor Liu Xie's Palace was built. Although it is smaller than the Imperial Palace in terms of regulation, it is more majestic and huge than ordinary government offices. .

  The wide space of the main courtyard, coupled with the majestic buildings, will naturally make people feel their own insignificance, and they will involuntarily feel the coercion formed by the power in the space, which will affect the heart and form a sense of fear.

Around the Yazhengyuan of the General’s Mansion, the corridors are brightly lit and there are many people, but the scene is not chaotic, some are hurrying, or standing on one side, there are few people talking loudly, and there are no people running around indiscriminately .

  Guo Jia is naturally one of the protagonists, surrounded by many people, big and small, with different official positions, but they all have almost the same smile on their faces,

  『If there is no offering of sacrificial wine, we will be like Nozawa quail, at a loss what to do...』

  『That’s right! The sacrificial wine is like a bright lamp, shining brightly in all directions! 』

  『We look forward to the return of the sacrificial wine, just like looking forward to the nectar after a long drought. Fortunately, the heavens have mercy, and the sacrificial wine returns safely. 』

  『Exactly! The sacrificial wine is safe, and our hearts are at ease...』

Regardless of whether they knew each other before, or whether they had any friendship before, anyway, a large number of people gathered here, chirping and whistling. He just smiled slightly, nodded in greeting, and then couldn't help signaling to Xun Yu and the others who were standing far away with his eyes.

   Man Chong looked up at the sky, as if he didn't see it at all.

  Liu Ye nodded and smiled, as if he felt that Guo Jia's popularity was a good thing, and he didn't want to step forward to stop him, nor did he intend to rescue Guo Jia.

   Xun Yu couldn't bear it after all, so he went forward, separated the crowd, and then pulled Guo Jia out, "It's really cold here, Feng Xiao came from a long way, you should pay attention to your body!" It’s still early in the day, and the banquet still needs to be prepared, and I’ll come with a certain filial piety, and I’ll wait in the warm pavilion temporarily...』

While talking, Xun Yu took Guo Jia out. Even if the surrounding officials wanted to have a close relationship with Guo Jia, a popular fried chicken, they didn't dare to say anything because of Xun Yu's status. Can watch Guo Jia leave helplessly.

   After entering the warm pavilion, Xun Yu didn't say anything to Guo Jia, but just sat silently. Outside the Nuan Pavilion, small voices floated in, and then stuck to the two of them.

  The Nuan Pavilion was originally used as a place to rest temporarily while waiting for the formal meeting, and it can accommodate six people to rest here, so when there are only Xun Yu and Guo Jia, it is inevitably a bit empty. The warm pavilion can keep out the cold wind and rain, but it can't block the gossip.

  Guo Jia opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but saw Xun Yu raise his hand, just waved it...

  Guo Jia took a breath, then exhaled slowly, and fell silent.

  Noisy outdoors, quiet indoors.

  Two or three palace lanterns swayed to form circles of light circles, interlaced together. The black shadows curled up under the various utensils, shaking with the size of the aperture, like beasts lurking one after another, waiting for the moment when the light relaxes.

When Guo Jia was in Chang'an, except for some time running east and west under the "accompaniment" of the guards, most of the time he ate and slept, slept and ate. There was not much labor and effort, and the doctors of the Hundred Medical Center made a diagnosis and treatment, so that now it looks really white and fat, with a lot of richness.

   On the contrary, during this period of time, Xun Yu needs to calculate this and allocate that every day, and also needs to keep an eye on the surroundings of Xu County, inside and outside the palace. How can there be a comfortable life? Therefore, Xun Yu's face was unavoidably old and tired, and his complexion looked much worse than Guo Jia's.

  Thoughts tossed between light and darkness, the light from the palace lantern fell on Guo Jia's face, but Xun Yu's eyebrows couldn't be seen clearly. The two sat on both sides of the table, but the shadows behind them seemed to be inseparable under the sway of the palace lantern...

Unknowingly, the preparations for the banquet outside were in disarray. People from inside and outside, actors, musicians, etc. had all gathered in the corner of the lower courtyard of the corridor hall. There were about seventy or eighty people, clanging. Piecemarily adjusting the pitch of the instrument.

  Many things are a kind of tacit understanding without words. There is no need to express it. Everyone understands that Cao Cao’s grand acceptance of Guo Jia is not just to welcome Guo Jia’s return, of course, there is a deeper meaning...

  At three o'clock, the banquet officially began. Cao Cao came out from the backyard, first accepted the worship of everyone, and then invited everyone to sit down. As an important guest, Guo Jia sat in the chief position under Cao Cao.

  The rest of the officials, large and small, sat down one after another according to their respective official positions.

   Soon after, the sound of the ceremony bell rang first, announcing the start of the banquet.

  Servants and maidservants filed in, and immediately placed several dishes and drinks prepared in advance on each table...

  Of course, these things are just appetizers, and they are all cold. Maybe the cold appetizers are served first in the banquets of later generations, and this is where it comes from. All the people present just had a taste, only those little officials sitting in a remote corner, because no one would pay attention to them anyway, just picked up the plate and poured it into the pockets they had prepared.

  Cao Cao sat in the middle, holding a wine jug, smiling and inviting everyone to have a drink together, and chatting with Guo Jia, Xiahou Dun and others from time to time, he seemed relaxed and happy.

The surrounding musicians also began to play, all of which were specially selected happy songs. The ding ding dong dong added a lot of joy and peaceful atmosphere. Unknowingly, more than a dozen actors in colorful clothes, like The colorful fish usually swim through the gaps between the banquets, and then dance their water sleeves or sway their bodies in the open space of the courtyard. .

  Cao Cao shook his head, as if he was completely absorbed in singing and dancing.

   During the four years of Taixing, too many things happened, which made Cao Cao physically and mentally exhausted, so it seemed how rare and precious this short-term relaxation is.

   But joy is always short-lived. After drinking three rounds of food and five tastes, Cao Cao stood up, staggered and said that he wanted to change clothes, and turned his head slightly to look at Guo Jia before leaving...

  Guo Jia understood and stood up after a while. After turning around the corridor, he saw Dian Wei standing aside and beckoning.

  『Feng Xiao, sit down...』 Cao Cao greeted, and then ordered, 『Bring some tea...』

  Guo Jia cupped his hands and said, "Duke Ming, let's get some wine..."

  Cao Cao glanced at Guo Jia, smiled slightly, and nodded, "Forget it, I will be filial piety." 』

   Not long after, a servant brought drinks and some food.

  Cao Cao waved his servants to retreat, then raised his wine glass, "Fengxiao has been through hardships all the way, thanks for your hard work!" Come, let's pay with this wine! 』

  Guo Jia was not polite either, he gulped and put down the glass.

  Cao Cao pondered for a moment, "Before Feng Xiao said that he had six victories, but he didn't know...Feng Xiao watched it in Xijing, where the hussars can be good?" 』

  Guo Jia got himself another cup, drank it, and then said slowly: "Ming Gong... the six victories are true, they are all our strengths...but we also have four worries..."

  『Four worries...』 Cao Cao nodded, and there was no obvious change in expression because of Guo Jia's remarks, 『Feng Xiao can be blunt! 』

Guo Jia stretched out his thumb, and said: "Let's talk about merchants first... Under the hustle and bustle, the strength of commerce and trade, the Duke of Ming knows... In Chang'an, the world's wealth and goods are gathered, and things from all over the world are desirable. The glue of the East China Sea, Nanshan Wood from the North Desert, gold from the Western Regions, every day in the market, there are tens of millions of money and goods... This is what our "businessmen" worry about...』

"The Zhen family in Hebei, the Chen family in Xuzhou, the Cai family in Jingzhou, and other merchants from all over the world gathered in Chang'an. The Dahan Chamber of Commerce established under Huqi's command covers all sizes and formulates business regulations. It is like a court outside the court. According to the law, merchants big and small are subject to its control, and there are no disadvantages in this matter..." Guo Jia said slowly, "If you wait for it to become powerful, you can order merchants all over the world...to ban the sale of certain items...or not to resell Here...'

  Cao Cao nodded.

"That's why the Duke of Ming should also set up a business here, give it a name, and manage business through business, so that we can compete..." Guo Jia said, "If you only use checkpoints and customs to control... I'm afraid it will be good at first, and it will last forever... This thing of money and silk is the most touching...」

  Cao Cao held his beard and remained silent.

  Generally people think that setting up checkpoints on the road will solve the problem, but in fact, apart from some effects in the early stage, it will bring more disadvantages later.

  When card tolls are set up on official roads, someone will always be able to find some bypass roads, and these bypass roads, since the caravan can pass, then at certain critical moments, it also means that the army can pass!

  So Cao Cao's pass checkpoints still have meaning?

  In addition, you can also directly use money to buy sentry soldiers and generals, and those who have collected money once to release caravans, will they also collect money to release other queues in the future?

Therefore, Guo Jia made it clear that it would be useless to hinder merchants simply by setting up checkpoints. Even if Cao Cao ordered that no trades be made except horses and soldiers, it would not have much effect. After all, only the strong side can make rules. , and the weaker party can only passively accept it more often.

Just like the mutual market between the Han people and the Hu people, they often listen to whichever side is stronger, and now Feiqian is obviously stronger than Cao Cao in business, so naturally Cao Cao can do whatever he wants in many things. up.

  Guo Jia raised his second finger, "If you want to benefit business, you must first be better than workers." Therefore, the Duke of Ming should summon skilled workers from all over the world to divide and cooperate with each other and study their skills carefully, so that they can compete with the workshops under the hussars...Nowadays, the hussars are so strong that they are the best in the world, which is why they are strong workers, and we artisan…"

  Cao Cao continued to nod. Cao Cao was also embarrassed to tell Guo Jia that he had tried in this area, but the result of the experiment...

Nowadays, the craftsmen of the Han Dynasty, or the craftsmen of the Shandong generation, are no less than Fei Qian in terms of overall number, and the intelligent people among the craftsmen are not much worse than Fei Qian's Huang's craftsmen, but the only difference is, That is, Fei Qian is more concentrated and scaled.

  Guo Jia's meaning is to suggest that Cao Cao learn from Fei Qian and develop large-scale centralized craftsmen. Because after being concentrated, craftsmen can communicate with each other, and study a certain project with the strength of everyone, so that each person does not study each other, and then wastes some time and energy repeatedly.

"..." Guo Jia drank another glass of wine, "Ming Gong needs to select talented people to lead the craftsmen... When I was in Chang'an, I often heard that if there was any difficulty among the craftsmen, they would call It can be written or described on the hussars, and the hussars can be solved by spinning...』

  Cao Cao raised his eyebrows and said, "Could it be that Fei Ziyuan got the true biography of Mozi as it is rumored?" 』

  『Maybe there must be...』 Guo Jia shook his head, "Someone also often wonders, is there such a well-educated person in this world? On Lishan Mountain in Chang'an, there is also a star observatory, where Huqi can observe the sky and correct the calendar... This astronomy and geography is actually omnipotent...』

  Cao Cao sighed, and said: "Maybe it should be so... Fei Ziyuan was taught by Cai Zhonglang back then, and he was taught by Mr. Pang De under Lushan, and later... I heard that in Luoyang, the book of Dongguan, he got more than half..."

  Guo Jia sighed, "The fortune is so thick, so it is so?" 』

  The two couldn't help but sighed together.

   After a while, Guo Jia went on to say: "If you want strong labor, you need strong agriculture." 』

  『Agriculture is not prosperous, and there is no focus on work...』 Guo Jia raised his third finger, "Agriculture is the foundation of a country, and only when the foundation is solid and deep can it flourish. Now the field under the hussars is very effective, but our field is not satisfactory, and there is no other reason...』

Guo Jia glanced at Cao Cao, hesitated for a moment, but quickly continued, "The people who hustle and garrison the fields, the minimum is five years, and the maximum is ten years. Don't spare any effort, lest if you do less, you will have no land to gain. However, we will garrison the fields, and use more troops to garrison them. The amount of production has nothing to do with it, but there is no need to scold with sticks...』

  Cao Cao took a deep breath, then glanced at Guo Jia, and didn't say anything.

Cao Cao's military garrison means that most of the land harvests belong to Cao Cao, which also supports Cao Cao's large-scale explosive troops, but in the same process of garrisoning the fields, these half-soldier and half-farmer garrison soldiers cannot be regarded as A good soldier cannot be regarded as a good farmer, even though both aspects have been taken into account, it is equivalent to a poor performance in both aspects.

   Let’s say they are soldiers. The combat effectiveness of these soldiers in the field is worrying, especially when compared with those of the hussars.

From a farmer's point of view, these military settlements cannot concentrate on scouting crops like farmers. In more cases, these military settlements are just like what Guo Jia said. Even if the punishment is done, the work efficiency and initiative will be greatly reduced.

Even if there are also some agricultural bachelors to guide, on the one hand, Cao Cao and others always hold a skeptical and scrutinizing attitude. Many technologies have to wait for one or two years of experimentation before slowly expanding to the whole territory. On the other hand, many agricultural bachelors Tuntian soldiers would not do the suggestions they put forward, because their superiors were not bachelors of agriculture, but Lieutenant Diannong. They are willing to do it after the order of the army, so they don't expect much output from the fields of these army stations.

   After going up and down, the output of one mu of land differs by two or three stones, so how much is the difference overall? Guo Jia didn't count, he didn't want to, let alone dared to count.

  『Using military settlements to change civilian settlements, this disadvantage should be solved...' Guo Jia looked at Cao Cao, and said, 'If you want to change it, you must first solve this last worry...』

  Cao Cao frowned and stared at Guo Jia, and suddenly interrupted Guo Jia, "Feng Xiao said, it will eventually fall on this "scholar"?" 』

  Guo Jia poured another glass of wine, gulped it down, nodded, and said, "Yes. 』

  In fact, the four worries seem to be four aspects, but in the end it still falls into one word, which is "scholar", because in Shandong, the gentry controls everything, and everything is connected with the gentry.

  The shops are controlled by the gentry, the land is in the hands of the gentry, and the officials are also in charge of the gentry. Cao Cao himself came from a huge gentry, and thousands of people in the Xiahou family and the Cao family depended on Cao Cao for their lives. Cao Cao has no way to delegate power like Fei Qian.

The reason is very simple. Here in Cao Cao, most of the sons of the gentry always swear when they take office, I believe, I can, I promise, but once something happens, I don’t know, I don’t understand, I’m sorry, it’s a big deal Make a statement, and the weeping general will not get any punishment if he shakes his hat, or he will deal with it with a lot of thunder and a little rain, and continue to make money in another place...

  Under such circumstances, who would really be willing to take responsibility? It's nothing more than who is worse than the other, or who can cover up better than the other.

  What Guo Jia said, Cao Cao actually had some thoughts in his heart, but if he really tried to change it like Fei Qian, Cao Cao had no idea. Because of the brand-new political ecological environment and operation mode created by Fei Qian in Guanzhong, Cao Cao didn't understand at all, let alone be familiar with it.

  Facing unfamiliar things, human beings naturally have a sense of fear, and Cao Cao is also unavoidable.

When Cao Cao recovered from his long contemplation and wanted to ask Guo Jia some more questions, he realized that Guo Jia had already drank the whole pot of wine at some point, and fell on the mat in a drunken state. Sleeping soundly, unconscious...

  (end of this chapter)