Chastity Layman

Before leaving Youzhou, Niu Jinda, Su Lie, Dou Hongxian, Li Ludu, Fan Yuan and others came to see him off.

Lao Niu handed Qin Lang a list.

"This is dedicated to His Royal Highness by the Governor's Mansion of Youzhou and the people of Hebei. Please Sanlang take it back to Beijing."

Qin Lang thought it was just local products of Youzhou, such as leopard tail, antler glue, ginseng, fanyang ling, melon seeds, etc., but at a glance, it turned out that there were three thousand Turkic war horses, one hundred stallions, two thousand slaves, 1,500 taels of gold, 5,000 taels of silver, 200 catties of ginseng, 600 pieces of leopard skin, 100 pieces of otter skin, and 1,000 pieces of Fan Yangling..."

There are many types and many quantities.

This is really a heavy tribute list.

"Uncle Niu, your tribute is too much. Right now, it is better to use more money and grain to reward sergeants and make ordnance in preparation for war." Qin Lang felt that Niu Jinda's flattery was too heavy, and the little family background in Youzhou He is clear that he does not have much to spare.

In the end, Niu Jinda said, "These are not from the treasury of the Governor's Mansion in Youzhou. They are all contributed by the Hu tribe attached to Youzhou, as well as local gentry, merchants and powerful people. Everyone, you can take a little bit from me, I am just a summary. This is also everyone's loyalty to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Qin Lang thought for a while, "I think it's better to keep the two thousand war horses in Youzhou. The big battle is coming, so keep them for the brothers."

Now there are quite a lot of soldiers under the governor's mansion in Youzhou, and the soldiers of the commanding army mansions are ignored, only the frontier troops and regiment training soldiers under the governor's mansion are counted.

The frontier army is now supplemented, with a total of 37,500 horses, 12,000 united soldiers, and 6,000 horses.

According to Qin Lang's previously formulated food, clothing and military supplies, it was a huge expense. It has been drawn up and announced before that the clothes of the border guards in Youzhou are divided into spring and winter, three spring clothes and four winter clothes. A frontier soldier needs seven pieces of silk clothes a year. Nearly 50,000 soldiers and horses in Youzhou, one Nianyici needs about 350,000 horses.

And each frontier soldier received one shi of millet in one month, twelve shi in a year, and 50,000 horses were 600,000 shi in a year.

And the consumption of 6,000 horses is also a lot. The cost of one horse is more than that of raising five soldiers. In another year, more than 200,000 stones were obtained.

Calculated in this way, if Youzhou's combat readiness is maintained for a year, then people will need nearly 900,000 shi of grain and 350,000 bolts of silk to eat horse chews. Secondly, the expenditure on armaments will also be huge.

In addition, the soldiers of the government also brought six packs of mules and horses for every ten men. These were also provided by the court when they arrived at the barracks, which was a huge waste.

Such a large amount of military expenditure cannot be supported by the Governor's Mansion of Youzhou. In the past, wars were uniformly dispatched by the imperial court. When one side went to war, troops were dispatched from all sides, and all states and counties provided supplies.

But now that the imperial court is fully concentrating on preparations for the war in Guanzhong, East and Longyou, and supplies are concentrated there, Qin Lang figured out the method of border markets and regiment training, and he figured out a way to solve the problem of insufficient military supplies, food, and personnel.

But the border market has not yet been able to function normally.

"Saburo, don't worry, these horses were donated by the Hu tribes, and the money was donated by the tyrants of the gentry. Among them, the regiment trainers and others took the lead in donating the most."

"I dare not keep these 3,000 horses. Horses eat a lot. One horse is worth three pawns. Once a war starts, one horse can even be worth five pawns. Now raising 6,000 horses would consume a lot of money. We in Youzhou this time It is mainly for defense, so there is not much demand for war horses. Let’s focus on the court first! Also reduce the cost of raising horses.”

In fact, Youzhou also needs horses, but Niu Jinda knows that the court needs them more.

"Although the cost of clothing and food for the frontier army is not small, we are paying one item a month now, so there is no problem for the time being. We don't have to worry about the taxes when the frontier market is running. And when the Turks are defeated, our frontier army can be reduced. Some of the united soldiers can also be disbanded and returned to their hometowns, and the expenses will be small.”

Horses, gold, silver, and slaves were mainly donated by the Hu people in the inner circle and the powerful officers of the newly appointed regiment training camp. These people were the vested interests of Qin Lang when he presided over Youzhou. Now that Qin Lang is leaving, they pooled the money Letting him bring him back to Chang'an to present the prince is also to continue to maintain the newly gained benefits.

Niu Jinda and the others sent money, silver and horses to Chang'an because they also felt that although the Turkic War was about to happen, it would not last long, and the 50,000 horses in Youzhou would not be weaving for a long time. One-third of the frontier army is enough, and the cost can be greatly reduced.

"Uncle Niu, Shi Wen, the governor of Youzhou, is stable. I think you will be the governor of Youzhou after this war. Your future is boundless." Qin Lang felt that Lao Niu seemed careless, but he was very thoughtful. , very similar to Cheng Yaojin, no wonder he was selected to come to Youzhou among the generals in the Prince Qin's Mansion, seeing how careful he is, he knows how to calculate.

Although Qin Lang felt that he appreciated this kind of calculation.

Don't think about yourself first when encountering problems, but think about your boss first. Such a person will definitely be favored by your boss.

"Okay, I'll carry everything for you."

Niu Jinda hesitantly took out another list and said in a low voice, "This is a little money everyone prepared for you, Saburo, and a little kindness for the brothers in Zhenfusi."

Qin Lang didn't reach out to pick it up, but just laughed and said, "Uncle Niu, this can't be accepted, no matter how much it is. I can buy some local products from Youzhou and sell them back to Chang'an, but I can't accept this gift. This is a matter of principle. .”

"It's really just a little care."

"That's not OK."

On the morning of his departure, Niu Jinda had someone prepare a sumptuous breakfast for everyone early, including hot flax pancakes and mutton soup cakes with a lot of mutton.

And send off wine.

Qin Lang sat in the see-off pavilion set up in front of the city gate, ate a full meal of soup cakes, and finally drank the wine in the bowl.

"Okay, I have enough food and drink, I should go too. I don't know how many people in Hebei are expecting me to leave early, so I won't stay in their eyes."

When they came, they came with more than a hundred camels, and when they left, they had increased to a thousand camels, followed by more than 5,000 horses, and more than 3,000 slaves.

More than half of them were dedicated to the crown prince, the other half were goods purchased with public funds from the Zhenfu Department, and the other half were goods purchased together by the Zhenfu Department and the others with reward money and silk.

It was not easy for such a huge team to travel, because the team was too big to take a boat on the canal, so they had to slowly go south along the official road of the canal. Fortunately, Qin Lang was not in a hurry.

After he stepped on his horse and waved his hand to order the team to set off, Qin Lang still couldn't help but look back at the tall Youzhou City, feeling a little regretful in his heart.

It's a pity that I couldn't fight the Turks here halfway.

It is rare to command the six states of Youzhou and control an army of 50,000.

Twenty miles out of Youzhou, a large group of people appeared ahead blocking the way.

"Lu Mou pays his respects to Duke Yi!"

A middle-aged man in a toga with long sleeves stepped forward and saluted with his hands crossed.

Qin Lang looked at him right away, and then at the hundreds of people behind him, among them were dozens of people led by Eguanbo, and he knew at a glance that they were all powerful nobles from Hebei.

Since the person in front of him called himself Lu, he must be Fan Yang Lu.

Wei Zheng, who was traveling with him, immediately stepped forward and introduced beside Qin Lang, "This is Lu Chengqing, Duke of Fanyang County, the current head of the northern ancestral house of the Lu family in Fanyang."

Qin Lang knew the name of Fan Yang's Lu family, known as one of the five surnames and seven families.

Wei Zheng, a native of Hebei, knew better about the Fanyang Lu family in Hebei. He explained that from the Wei, Jin to Sui, the descendants of Lu Zhi in the Han Dynasty were all officials and officials. .

"The ceremony of the boudoir is recommended by the world. The daughters of the imperial clan also want to marry Fan Yanglu's family. There used to be three princesses in one family, and they were proud of it in the world. At the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the three sons of Taichangqing Lu Jing served as the imperial tutors of the Wei, Qi, and Zhou kingdoms respectively, so their branch is called the imperial tutor by the world."

"Then who is this Fan Chengqing?" Qin Lang asked.

"He is the twelfth grandson of Lu Zhi, a great Confucian in the Eastern Han Dynasty. His ancestor Lu Sidao, the prefect of Wuyang in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, his father served as the Hedong Commander at the end of the Sui Dynasty. The rate is even higher. However, Lu Song died early, so the title was inherited by Fan Chengqing, who has been at home and Ding You."

Qin Lang understood the importance of this guy. It seemed that although he stayed at home and did not become an official, he was still the leader of the noble clan in Hebei. He had been criticized in various ways before, and it seemed that this guy was probably behind the scenes.

It's a bit interesting that the Lu family of Hebei's land snake has suffered a lot because of the ban on border taxation by himself, but he came to see him off today.

"I didn't expect Mr. Lu to see Qin off. I'm flattered."

As soon as Lu Chengzong waved, a servant presented a bronzing letterhead.

"This is a small gift prepared by the gentry in Hebei, and it will be practiced for Duke Yi. I wish Duke Yi a smooth journey!"

The Lu family of Fan Yang is most famous for his traditional family studies of classics and history, and he is also very good at calligraphy, poetry and Fu. Later, Lu Zhaolin, one of the Four Great Masters of the early Tang Dynasty, came from the Lu family of Fan Yang.

The Lu family of Fan Yang pays attention to intermarriage. For hundreds of years, they have basically only intermarried with the other six families of the five surnames and seven families, and sometimes intermarried with the contemporary royal family occasionally.

A family that can marry three princesses and a family of three emperors is indeed worthy of being a famous family, but now it is obvious that this Lu Chengqing came here with a somewhat smug face, he wanted to see Qin Lang, the defeated general, look disheartened The look of leaving.

It's a pity that Qin Lang didn't show such a look, and didn't even look at the gift he offered.

"Thank you, Mr. Lu, for bringing the gentry folks from Hebei to see us off today. Qin Lang will never forget this kindness in his heart. I won't stay any longer when it's getting late. I have to catch up with the sun. In short, the green hills don't change, the green The water flows forever, we will meet again later! I look forward to meeting Lu Gong soon in Chang'an!"

Hebei is the territory of these people, but Chang'an is Qin Lang's home field. Qin Lang's invitation back made Lu Chengqing a little embarrassed.

Originally, he wanted to show Qin Lang the strength of the Hebei gentry first, and then give some money and gifts to show his favor. Who would have thought that this young man is quite tempered, and he is so proud after being kicked out of Hebei, that he even issued an invitation letter against them.

"Okay, when the three-year filial piety expires, Lu will naturally go to Chang'an, and he will definitely visit Duke Yi at that time!"

"Alright, I'll be waiting for you in Chang'an!"

Qin Lang beat his horse and left.

The team raised smoke and dust, and Lu Chengqing and others quickly avoided it.

"This kid is really a stubborn guy. He offended the Zheng family of Xingyang before, and later heard that he also offended the Cui family of Boling. Now he doesn't even pay attention to me, Fanyang Lu family. He is really ignorant and fearless. !"

"It's just an idiot!" Several Lu's children said disdainfully.