Chastity Layman

"Is Mr. Geng healthy? The last time we went together, Mr. Geng suddenly fell ill in Hengyang. The doctor I accompanied was a famous doctor that His Highness gave me from the East Palace. He couldn't find any clues, saying that it was an intractable disease that he had never seen before. , are helpless." Qin Lang sat on a wicker chair, holding a cup of herbal tea in his hand.

This herbal tea is slightly bitter at the first drink, and sweet after drinking.

It is said to be tea, but it is actually a traditional Chinese medicine. It can remove fire, clear the liver and moisten the lungs. For the Central Plains people who are not tolerant to the heat and humidity in Lingnan, drinking more herbal tea is indeed beneficial.

Feng Zhirui knew that he deliberately pointed out that his father did not report his knowledge last time, and also deliberately pretended to be sick and refused to go south. Because of this matter, the newly married Feng and Qin families had a sweet relationship, but suddenly fell into a frozen state.

"My father is getting old, and he went north in the early years, and he went to the emperor to conquer the east and west. Although he made many military exploits, he did have many injuries. In the past ten years in Lingnan, he also worked hard and exhausted his mind and energy. This time he went north. After the Son of Heaven, he headed south again. He worked very hard, and his old illness relapsed in no time. Fortunately, my father was still in good health, and he managed to recover a lot after recuperation and medication. Because of the heavy responsibility on his shoulders, he did not dare to live up to the king's orders, so he had to hurry Go back to Gaozhou."

"Before I came, my father still kept thinking that he was very sorry for not being able to meet Duke Wei in Guilin earlier. Let me come to see Duke Wei this time, and I will definitely accompany him for the crime."

Qin Lang chuckled.

"What is Geng Gong's crime?"

Feng Zhirui didn't know how to answer the words for a while, he couldn't say that my father knew that Cao Wuzheng was going to make trouble when he was in Hengyang, he had already incited the mountain man to block the road and kill you.

He had no choice but to take out the gift from Feng An.

Qin Lang rolled his eyes.

very rich.

The rice alone costs 10,000 shi, and there are hundreds of pigs and cattle, and there are a lot of salted fish.

Not to mention that all ten of these thousand-material ships were given to him, along with 800 boatmen and 500 slave soldiers.

As always, the grandeur and grandeur.

But is Qin Lang someone who lacks that little money?

He has tens of thousands of people in Guizhou now, but he is neither short of food nor clothing. In the past two months, he has already built many workshops in Guizhou, and even reclaimed a few pieces of land to build them. Several Zhuangzi.

At the same time, they traded with the barbarians again.

Qin Lang's troops who went south to Wu'an Prefecture didn't sit on the mountain, and even started to make money here.

In fact, as long as it is not marching and fighting, under normal circumstances, there is no need to worry too much about food.

"It's good that Geng Gong is in good health. After all, Geng Gong is the pillar of the city that the court relies on in Lingnan. If Geng Gong falls ill, Lingnan will be in chaos."

Feng Zhirui hurriedly said a few words of humility.

But there is a bit of complacency in his tone. After all, this kid is still relatively young. He is not as ruthless and sophisticated as Feng An, who turns his hands around and turns his hands on clouds and rain. A hero with a set of words in his stomach.

That old boy has absolutely no loyalty at all, he only obeys strength.

He only cares about his own interests, he is not impulsive, and he is good at calculating.

For Feng An, loyalty is just because he doesn't have enough bargaining chips for betrayal. Qin Lang has seen through this kid a long time ago, so he never believed his words of loyalty.

But this kind of person is sometimes worthy of cooperation. Everyone is very rational and will not act emotionally.

What Feng An wanted was to maintain the control of the Feng family's territory, to be able to accept a change of title, and he didn't care who was the emperor, and whoever recognized his Feng family's status, he would swear allegiance to whoever the Feng family was.

And Qin Lang also knew very well that although the imperial court also wanted to change the country, kill all these Lingnan barbarian kings, or seize their real power, but the reality is that it can't do it for the time being.

Now that it has entered August, the imperial court is about to launch an all-out war against Jieli Khan, and the entire center of gravity of the imperial court is in the north.

Even if Jieli is destroyed, there are still Turkic tribes in Monan, Tiele in Mobei and other tribes, and even Goguryeo in Liaodong, Tuyuhun in Qinghai, and even Western Turks in the Western Regions. There are still many threatening forces, and what the superficially obedient Lingnan soil kings want is to continue their actual control, which is of course not their top priority for the imperial court.

No matter what, you have to subdue those guys who dare not even bow their heads. What's more, since the past dynasties, the real threat to the Central Plains Dynasty has always been in the north, especially the nomads.

The barbarians in the south, especially the south of the Five Ridges and the Southwest, have never been a serious problem.

At the national strategic level, the Central Plains will not change these facts easily.

So as long as those barbarian kings are not crazy, as long as they don't openly rebel, then the imperial court will not make any big moves against them.

Qin Lang knew this, and Feng An knew this too, so even if everyone was critical in their hearts, they would still be smiling on the surface.

Qin Lang was very angry about Feng An messing with him last time.

It's impossible not to be angry, if it wasn't for Qin Lang's formidable power, maybe the boat capsized in the gutter last time, so who can not be angry. Anger to anger, the cooperation will continue, and no one can tear their face and start a war just because of this.

Feng An didn't dare, and Qin Lang didn't have the qualifications either.

So life has to go on.

Of course, Feng An is also a smart person, knowingly angered Qin Lang, but here he is still a normal person, giving money and gifts constantly, and now he is sending food and ships.

"Guizhou has just had a bumper harvest, and this year the two taxes are newly implemented in Guizhou. Now the official warehouses are full of grain and can't be piled up. I can only rent the warehouses of merchants to store grain. Mr. Geng gave me 10,000 stones of rice. I There's no place to put it here."

Qin Lang pointed out that although Guizhou had just experienced a little chaos, as the situation stabilized and the summer grain harvest was bumper, the rice in Guizhou now costs only 20 yuan a bucket.

One stone is two hundred, and Feng An sent ten thousand stones, which is only worth two thousand guan.

Feng Zhirui took two sips of herbal tea, a little surprised, "Wei Gong's herbal tea is not bad."

"This is the formula I developed when I was in Chang'an. I have long known that Lingnan is hot and humid, so I have done a lot of research on Lingnan. I have studied the customs, customs, history and customs, and even the weather, geography, and figures."

Feng Zhirui heard that Qin Lang said this on purpose, and pointed at it with his sword.

People are still not satisfied with such a big gift, and this gift is also given by no one before or after, but they still can't get angry. His father has confessed to him several times, even if Qin Lang spit on his face in front of him, he will still be angry. You can't wipe it face to face, let alone dissatisfaction.

My father said that if the left cheek was spat on, then stretch out the right cheek to let Duke Wei spit.

"Mr. Wei is really good. No wonder the Shanman is vulnerable to Mr. Wei. My father also knew that this year's summer harvest in Guizhou had a bumper harvest, and the price of food plummeted. But my father heard the news that before Cao Wuzheng's death, he contacted everyone Every brook is savage, and because of the death of Ning Changzhen and Ning Daoming's nephew, Tan Dian suspected that someone sent by the imperial court did it, and was worried that he would be liquidated, so he was already ready to move."

"Mr. Wei, last time the barbarians rebelled in Guizhou. Although it was quickly quelled, there are many Han people here in Guizhou, but it is different in the south. The Han people in the field are only a very small number, and they are all from the Ning family. More The most important thing is the barbarians like Tan Dian, those barbarians are even more barbaric and backward, they don’t have the court and the king’s law in their eyes, once there is chaos, I’m afraid it will not be easy to calm down.”

Once the war starts, the consumption of money and food will naturally increase.

"Mr. Geng expects the Hall of Talks to unite with the barbarians in various streams to rebel?" Qin Lang asked back.

"Most likely!"

"Last time, Tan Dian joined forces with Ning Changzhen to rebel, and even brought your uncle Feng Xuan and your uncle Xian Baoche together to make a rebellion. But after fighting for three years, the court didn't take any action, so your father joined forces with Chen Shulong and Chen Shulong. Have Zhilue and others calmed down? I believe that even if Tan Dian really wants to cause chaos again, your father and the others will definitely accept the imperial court order to raise troops to fight against the chaos again, right?"

Qin Lang meant that if a fight really started, it would be the responsibility of Feng An and the others, and had nothing to do with him.

"Wei Gong patrolled the south of the sky on behalf of the south of the Yangtze River, and declared to govern Jiangnan and Lingnan. If there is chaos in Lingnan, of course we have to rely on the command of Wei Gong. My father said that Li Dudu has already arrived in Guizhou, so I want to invite Wei Gong to go south by boat, first to Guangzhou. Then go to Gaozhou." Feng Zhirui held a cup of herbal tea and sent out an invitation, "My father heard that Wei Gong had been in Guizhou for more than two months and turned Guizhou into a small Chang'an. Therefore, I also want to invite Wei Gong to Gaozhou to preach and guide Gaozhou to implement the two tax laws."

Qin Lang snorted coldly.

"I won't go to Gaozhou, and I won't go to Guangzhou either. In a few days, I'll go straight down to Liuyong, pacify Zuojiang, then pass through Langshan, and arrive in Jiaozhou. After I pacify Annan, I'll visit my fief. After Wuanzhou, when the trade wind blows next summer, I will take a sea boat and go north along the coast with the trade wind. When I pass by Gaozhou, if I have time, I may go to see it. If time is tight, I will go north to Hangzhou or Yangzhou and return. Central Plains."

"Why don't Duke Wei go to Guangzhou and go directly to Yongzhou? Now that Tandian and others are restless, Duke Wei still has to be more careful. It's better to go to Guangzhou and then to Gaozhou. At that time, my father can send a ship to send Duke Wei to Jiaozhou along the coast. It's safer that way."

"Although I really want to visit Mr. Geng, after all, I have official business. It is because the savages in Zuoxi River are a little restless, so I want to go and have a look. Tell Mr. Geng for me, just say what he sent I accepted it, and I also received my heart, as for the apology, there is no need to mention it."

"Duke Geng is now the governor of Gaozhou. Genggong can get one-third of Gaozhou's two taxes, but don't forget the one-third of the court."

Feng An's invitation to Qin Lang to go to Gaozhou was definitely not sincere, he was probably more worried about Qin Lang going to Gaozhou, and the invitation now was just to test Qin Lang's attitude.

Qin Lang was not in the mood to find Feng An at this time, because this guy was too nervous.

Feng An can still cooperate, which is much better than Tan Dian who is liaising with the four parties to recruit soldiers and gather barbarians.

"I know that this year's Lingnan has a bumper harvest in summer. If Mr. Geng has the heart, remember to transport some grain to the Central Plains. The price of grain in Luoyang, Chang'an is quite high now. You can make a lot of money by transporting grain there. When you come back, you can go to Chang'an Good products such as white porcelain, celadon porcelain, blue salt, and white wine shipped back to Gong Kiln and Xingjiao from Luoyang and other places can be sold to Hu merchants in Guangzhou, but they can make a lot of money.”

"Tell Mr. Geng that we are all servants of His Majesty, and the Qin and Feng families are relatives-in-law. We have the strength to act together and think about the same thing. We should help each other. For some things, don't think about it, otherwise The agency was too clever to calculate, and it cost Qingrui's life, don't you think?"

Feng Zhirui's complexion was a little ugly, Qin Lang didn't leave any room for what he said.

To put it bluntly, whoever has the biggest fist is the boss. Of course, the Feng family is the boss with the hardest fist in western Guangdong, but if he insists on comparing his fist with the imperial court, he is courting death. The imperial court will leave room for the Feng family, but it also needs the active cooperation of the Feng family.

Don't play those routines with Qin Lang again. Feng Xuan's rebellion and Feng An's peace of mind are all nonsense, if Feng An insists on playing these tricks with Qin Lang again.

Don't say it's unexpected!

I'm from Qinlang in Lingnan, so I'm not easy to be bullied.

Rengui has self-knowledge, Feng An is smart, but don't always want to play tricks with Qin Lang, the last time, just point it out and write it off, but there can be no next time.

Feng Zhirui bid farewell with an ugly face and left, without taking a bite of his meal, he hurriedly took a small boat down the river and hurried back to Gaozhou to find his father.

Xu Jingzong opened the door and came in.

"Feng Zhirui came with his toes high and high, and when he left, he lowered his head and frowned in a hurry. It seems that he was beaten by Wei Gong."

Qin Lang smiled and waved to Dao Changping of Guangxi who personally asked the emperor to come, "I leave the money, grain and taxation of Guangxi to you, can you take care of it?"

Xu Jingzong nodded. After these two years of changes, he is no longer the somewhat ostentatious Xu Jingzong behind the Xuanwu Gate. This time, he made a comeback and served as a Changping envoy, in charge of the transfer of taxes, money, grain, Changping, casting money, salt and iron, etc. , it can be said that he is in power again, but he knows that Qin Lang gave him all this.

Before assisting Qin Lang's uncle, Jia Runfu, to manage a transfer, Xu Jingzong has accumulated a lot of experience, and now he is finally in charge of Changping, he has great confidence in himself.

"From this, you should also know that the imperial court has been fighting all these years, killing one thousand enemies and injuring eight hundred. The Central Plains area is heavily labored, and farming production has never been fully restored. However, in the past two years, it has encountered a century-old disaster. The frosty cold and low temperature make it worse. The price of grain in the Central Plains remains high, especially in Guanzhong and Chang’an. The Lingnan has another summer harvest this year. There is no shortage of grain here. There is even a shortage of food, and many people are still living on the locust porridge caught last year."

"Old Xu, the first thing you do after you take office is to ask Changping warehouses in various places to step up the purchase of grain and collect as much as possible, even if it is higher than the market price. Ship it to the Central Plains."

"This is the most important thing, but also remember, don't cause public grievances, use cars and cattle, pay for rent, use manpower and labor, and pay for hire. In short, you have done a good job in this matter. His Majesty will also remember your merits, but if you mess up and cause public dissatisfaction, then you cannot escape the blame!"

"Mr. Wei, outsiders are saying that Tandian is going to rebel, and Xidong Man is going to make trouble. If we really want to fight, I'm afraid we will be short of food and the road will be blocked. How to collect and transport food?" Xu Jingzong asked.

"Tan Dian can't be in chaos, I won't let him mess up, Feng An won't let him mess up, and the court won't let him mess up either."

Xu Jingzong was a little skeptical.

Qin Lang had no choice but to confess to him.

It was said that Tan Dian would be chaotic, but it was because Tan Dian was very scared now, and he was worried that he would be cleaned up by the court like Ning Changzhen and Ning Daoming in retaliation for his previous rebellion. Secondly, he was worried that he would be held accountable by the court for colluding with Cao Wuzheng to cause chaos last time.

So now it's a bit like jumping over the wall.

"When I give him two reassurance pills, he won't have to fight back!"