stand back, let me come

Chapter 1372: He is a captain, but also a poisonous one (Part 1372) [Seeking monthly votes]

"Hahahaha—Wangchao was really beaten by Shaoxuan?"

There are few stars in the moon, and the full moon hangs high.

Shen Tang in the inner hall of the palace was smiling with gloating eyes.

"Lady Xiahou is so cunning and mean, looking down on others?"

After all, that sharp-tongued young man was also her subject.

"I guess when you were making things difficult for Wangchao, he must have said something like 'My Lord is in the palace', 'Every wrong has its perpetrator' or something like that?" Shen Tang eased his smile and said confidently, "How can you say that I'm cunning and mean? It was clearly Wangchao who started the trouble with his mouth, and he got beaten up physically. This time he can stay here and recuperate. Shaoxuan beating Wangchao is just a hobby between young lovers. She has already 'sacrificed her own family for the sake of justice', so can Luo Hou still hold a grudge against the young man?"

After hearing this, Luo San was speechless for a long time.

"My lady, you have conspired against the three of us."

Gu Chi's mouth was always bad, which gave Luo San an excuse to vent her anger and she was able to divert the trouble to someone else; she led Gu Chi to find Bai Su, so that Gu Chi suffered more physical pain and also gave him a sick leave to recuperate; Bai Su understood the meaning of the music and took the initiative to beat Gu Chi, while Luo San watched the fun from the side and had no reason to argue with Gu Chi for his bad mouth.

How can he, at his age, still be so petty with a young man?

If this matter gets out, it will damage Che Hou's reputation.

Shen Tang shook his head: "If it weren't for Luo Hou's broad-mindedness, willing to raise high and put down gently, no calculations would work."

This is only the case with Luo San, an old man with a stable mood. If it were someone else with a rebellious and conceited temperament, let alone sneaking in to eavesdrop on what was going on, he would directly fly over the palace and start kicking the door. Shen Tang thought he was telling the truth, but Luo San didn't think so: "I thought it was just that young man's eloquence, but I didn't expect the root cause was you."

It is said that these two kings and ministers can play together. It turns out that they have the same taste and can really fool people with their sweet words. Shen Tang praised him so highly in just a few words. If he pursued it further, it would make him look petty. On the other hand, Lady Xiahou did say several times that she had no intention of rebelling. He was overthinking it again and again...

From this point of view, Lady Xiahou and I should both be punished with fifty lashes, and no one can blame the other. After some mental activity, Luo San's remaining resentment completely dissipated. He did not forget the other purpose of his trip, and took out the escort items and threw them to Shen Tang: "Lady, please keep them. If you return the jade intact, I will have fulfilled my mission."

Now it was Shen Tang's turn to be surprised. She only knew that Luo San was emotionally stable, but she didn't know he was so reasonable. The same thought as Gu Chi came to her mind - the power of poison is so terrifying!

Shen Tang tentatively asked Luo San where he was staying.

If you still haven't found a place to stay, you might as well stay in the palace first.

If Luo San rejects Shen Tang's proposal, it means that he still has a grudge against Shen Tang; if he agrees, it means that the matter has completely turned over, and Luo San truly accepts the reality that Xia Hou Li is Shen Tang, the king of Kangguo, and his feelings for the two identities can be transferred intact.

Luo Sanyi knew her temptation clearly.

However, Che Hou was reserved and his expressions were implicit.

"The last thing I like in my life is owing favors to anyone. When it comes to paying off a debt, I only look at the IOU, not who holds it." This sentence not only expressed the old man's inner dissatisfaction, but also soothed Shen Tang's worries.

Shen Tang: "..."

No matter from which angle, Luo San is a meritorious minister. He rushed all the way to deliver the letter and saved Miao Ne and his party. As a king who clearly distinguishes rewards and punishments, Shen Tang naturally cannot be stingy, so he invited Luo San to the night market: "Tell me what you like, Lord Luo, and I'll pay for it."

Luo San was not a materialistic person, but Shen Tang's stinginess really opened his eyes: "You say Lady Xiahou is stingy. You spent 10 million yuan to repair the damaged city wall of Shanyong County. But if you say you are generous, you invite me to a place like this?"

What good things can there be in a night market in a shabby place?

It would only cost a small amount to buy them all.

If it weren't for the fact that the old subordinate had indeed received a lot of military luck without any dilution, Luo San would have suspected that she did it on purpose.

Shen Tang opened his eyes and said expressionlessly, "When Marquis Luo is well fed, his whole family is not hungry. When he wants money, a bunch of old friends and subordinates rush to help him. How can they understand the hardships of people like me? For a long time, even mice were unwilling to patronize my private vault. In Kangguo, it is the highest honor for the king to pay for the bill with money from his private vault. Most of the time, it is the ministers who pay for it."

Guang Wuhui and Yuan Liang stuck to themselves a lot.

Luo San naturally didn't believe it.

How can there be such a poor ruler in this world?

This is not the way to sell misery.

Shen Tang sighed faintly: "It doesn't matter if you don't believe it now. When you meet someone named Xun Hanzhang in the future, you will believe it."

Luo San had done some research before coming to Kangguo and had a basic understanding of the civil and military officials of Kangguo. He had a very good impression of Xun Zhen.

I heard that the local officials of Kangguo had a five-year term, with a small exam every year and a big exam every five years. The officials in Beijing also had a similar system, and even the six ministers had to follow it. The re-election of others was a bit bumpy, but only the position of the Minister of Revenue was popular. You know, the Ministry of Revenue has always been lucrative. Xun Zhen, the Minister of Revenue, was re-elected without any controversy, and his personal ability and character are obvious to all.

But according to Lady Xiahou...

Are you feeling some resentment?

Shen Tang sighed: "Don't mention Han Zhang. It hurts my heart to mention it."

Luo San: "..."

Luo San also had a basic understanding of the situation in the nearby states and counties. First, there were warlords everywhere, and then they were conquered by troops sent by Kangguo. In the past two hundred years, there were less than one-tenth of the years that they could live in peace. It was not an exaggeration to say that they were extremely poor. How could there be any people in the night market here?

Unexpectedly, there were more people than expected.

There are many kinds of goods in the night market.

"Where do all these people come from?"

"I invited you down from the mountain." Shen Tang was wearing a light round robe. Except for the lining which was made of fine skin-friendly cotton, everything else was of the quality of a small wealthy family. There was not a single piece of silk or satin. When Luo San walked beside her, he looked more like the head of a wealthy family than she did.

"On the mountain?"

"Some of them fled to the mountains to escape the war, and some have lived in the mountains for generations. If the southwest wants to revitalize, they need people. There is a shortage of young and strong people everywhere, not just here. It's too late to encourage women to have children now, so we can only think about other things. As long as we solve their problems, we can move people down from the mountains."

The reasons for their escape into the mountains were nothing more than war, corvée labor, crimes committed by their ancestors, and because their families had no land and they could not live without firewood. The hilltops near the city were all owned by others, so if they wanted to cut wood, they could only go to the unowned mountains...

As a result, the population hiding in the mountains is quite considerable.

"It took a lot of effort to get them down." They had to register the population, allocate land, and settle them down. They also had to consider their future livelihoods, and at the same time, they had to send people to educate them. After living in the mountains for a long time, the evil in human nature was released and returned to wildness. Shen Tang brushed aside all these hardships, "Fortunately, everything is moving in a good direction."

Luo San had been the commander of Suginaga County for so many years, and he had been devoted to training and managing the army, but he had not paid attention to local administration. These were the jobs of the county magistrate and the county government, but that did not mean he knew nothing about it.

Just by listening to a few words, you can imagine the amount of work behind it.

If we distribute land to people, where does the land come from?

The arable land had long been divided up by the local tycoons. It was not enough to take it out from these people, and the remaining vacancies had to be reclaimed by people, and after the reclamation, it had to be distributed fairly, ensuring the livelihood of the common people while satisfying everyone.

Common people cannot live without firewood. Firewood comes from the mountains, and the mountains are also the private property of the gentry. The mountains with owners are patrolled by mountain guards. If common people cut down trees without permission, it is a crime of theft, and they deserve to be beaten to death. They can only cut firewood from distant unowned mountains. Where are the roads on these mountains? The cut firewood can only be carried on people's backs and legs. How to solve these problems?

These questions were lingering in Luo San's mind.

Until the two of them sat down in a restaurant and had some midnight snack.

We chatted while tasting the local dishes.

When he heard that Shen Tang had actually settled people with different surnames in different areas after registering them, he was stunned for a long time: "Lady Xiahou is too bold?" This was something that the Magistrate of Suginaga County would not even dream of doing.

Let’s not talk about other things first——

Luo San moved the mat forward and approached Shen Tang to discuss in detail: "Let's not talk about other things for now. My lady, do you know that many poor people in the countryside have big stoves to save firewood? People with the same surname have a fire in the same stove?"

If each household cooks with fire, the firewood consumed will be much more than if several households cook together. How much firewood and charcoal can be saved in a year? Although people of the same surname and clan may fight and exploit each other, they also help each other. If people of the same clan are more lenient and give more wheat rice, perhaps one more child in the family can live...

If Lady Xiahou does this, those poor people will have no way to survive, and it will be difficult for them to even get firewood from their fellow tribesmen and villagers to cook a meal.

When he arrived, he noticed that the area was severely deforested.

The cost for ordinary people to chop wood would be higher. Even if Lady Xiahou opened the owned mountains to the common people for felling, it would be a temporary solution as the growth rate of the forests could not keep up with the consumption rate of the common people.

Shen Tang said: "Of course I know."

She would take all the officials out to hang out whenever she had time.

Don't be in high positions and be ignorant of the suffering of the people.

"then you--"

Shen Tang said with emotion: "Literary and martial spirits can change your life."

"what?"

Shen Tang said, "Didn't Lord Luo see before that the high efficiency of Wudan warriors was used to avoid conscripting corvée labor from the people?"

Given the scale of the city walls of Suginaga County, if the civilians were to bear all the weight of the wall, how many young and strong laborers would be occupied, how many years of local livelihoods would be delayed, and how many people would be exhausted to death! As long as the warriors and scholars were no longer high and mighty, everything could be solved.

Luo San stared: "I thought it was just a temporary solution."

"But I don't intend to use it as a stopgap measure. This is a long-term plan." Even when facing Luo San, the Che Hou, Shen Tang did not intend to be shy. "God randomly grants powers to all living beings. Some can become scholars with literary minds, some can become warriors with courage. If you count other Mohist doctors... all of them are only one in a hundred living beings. The remaining ninety-nine are worthy of disappearing into the dust?"

Luo San looked at Shen Tang calmly.

Shen Tang uttered, "This is unfair. It is fair for everyone to enjoy the power bestowed by God."

Luo San didn't feel offended, he was just curious about how she was still alive.

He thought so and asked so.

Shen Tang smiled and said, "Lord Luo didn't see it?"

Gu Chi is a typical example.

Luo San: "..."

Thinking of the young man whom he had scolded as a flatterer, he could not help but be speechless. To say that this monarch and minister are unreliable, they understand each other very well, but to say that the monarch and minister are reliable, one said "the master is in the palace", and the other said "Wangchao was really beaten by Shaoxuan".

It seems like these two have a grudge against each other.

He said: "They are all people of temperament."

Shen Tang clapped his hands and smiled, "He is even smarter."

The offspring of a martial warrior/literary scholar may not necessarily inherit their father's genetic lottery, but ordinary people may also have the opportunity to give birth to a talented person with the talent of a literati/martial warrior. After one generation, the offensive and defensive types change, and the roots of war are thus laid.

In this case, it would be better to be fair and allow everyone to enjoy the power given by God. Then, no matter whether the next generation is excellent or mediocre, there is no need to reignite the war because of this contradiction.

Luo San looked at Shen Tang deeply, his eyes filled with an indescribable admiration, passionate and frank. He reminded Shen Tang: "With the status and strength of the female monarch today, do you still have no regrets about your choice?"

Shen Tang said: "Time will give Luo Hou the answer."

Luo San drank the rice wine in one gulp.

This kind of folk-brewed wine has no alcoholic taste, and tastes slightly sour and light. Luo San just feels happy. Even the taste of the inferior wine on the tip of his tongue is better than the nectar that can only be found in the palace of heaven: "Long live Miss Shen. Luo toasts to you."

Shen Tang also drank it readily: "Long live Lord Luo."

It was refreshing when drinking, but a bit awkward when paying the bill.

Even the inferior wine is made from food, so the price can't be much lower. Shen Tang lowered her head and opened the purse, her eyes almost touching the mouth of the purse. No matter how she looked at it or counted, it was not enough to pay. She scratched her forehead in embarrassment. She couldn't eat a free meal in front of Luo San, so she had to wave to the guards in the dark, signaling them to come up and pay: "I've paid, and I'll go back to the Ministry of Revenue to settle it."

Luo San: "..."

Do I need to ask the Ministry of Revenue for this expense?

Shen Tang grabbed his wrist and muttered, "Hey, there is no good food or wine here. Marquis Luo went to the palace, there is good wine there."

Good wine, and it's free.

Luo San was skeptical about this statement: "Don't lie to me, old man."

Shen Tang really didn't lie to Luo San.

The two dug out a pile of fine wine from the cellar of the palace.

After opening the red cloth seal, Luo San was intoxicated by the aroma of wine. "Is this the wine? The young men I met gave me some, but the only drawback was that there was not enough... How come you have so much?"

Shen Tang said: "A unique secret recipe."

Luo San asked again: "What year is it?"

Shen Tang opened his mouth and said, "Eighteen years."

Regardless of whether it was from the Shang and Zhou dynasties or last week, they were all eighteen years old. Not to mention that this batch of wine tasted authentic, even if it was diluted with water, Luo San couldn't taste it. She had more experience selling fake wine than being a lord: "Lord Luo, why don't you try it?"

Luo San still had to be reserved.

"In this case, it's better to be respectful than to obey."

He is not a big drinker, but no warrior can refuse this good wine.

Uェ*U

The keyboard has been cleaned up, but it has been stored for too long and dust has accumulated, so the keycaps are a little dirty. I'll take them apart and clean them... I'll post them on Big Eyes once it's done, so remember to pay attention.