The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 242 Mid-Autumn Festival in the second year of Qianyou

Chai Rong, Zhao Kuangyin, and Zhang Yongde lived in Jiedu Mansion. Zhu Xiu lived in a separate courtyard to the west of another courtyard. Zhu Xiu asked people to hollow out the partition wall and rebuild it into an arch. The two courtyards were connected to form a large courtyard with a quiet environment. .

This was also the busiest time in the Changyi Jiedu Mansion in the past ten years. Taking into account the servants and grooms brought along by Fu Jinhuan and several of Chai Rong's personal guards, the occupancy rate of the rooms in the mansion exceeded [-]%.

Zhu Xiuhua made great efforts to renovate the bathroom and toilet from the spare room, which also came in handy.

Especially the toilet, Zhu Xiu designed it carefully and paid great attention to sewage and water drainage. The fertilizer in the septic tank can also be used in the back garden. As the saying goes, the fertilizer and water do not flow to other people's fields.

After the toilets with as many as ten pits were built, it was discovered that they were a bit wasteful. Zhu Xiu used them alone most of the time. Naturally, they were fixed in the chief pit, and most of the others were idle.

The urine in the trough dried up before it flowed into the septic tank. After a year, the septic tank was so empty that even flies didn't bother to go there.

On the contrary, a public toilet built at the connection between the main hall and the back house has gained a lot, and people in the mansion often visit it.

Sometimes when Lao Shi got in the mood, he would come to Zhuxiu courtyard early in the morning, dragging him to squat together, chatting while squatting.

But most of the time, this guy is too lazy to run, so he just uses the bucket in the house to solve the problem.

At most, he ran out of the back house and went to the public toilet, saying that he wanted to have some personal atmosphere.

He was asked to run two more steps and go to the hut in Zhu Xiuyuan, but he was unwilling.

Since Chai Rong and others moved in, the usage rate of the toilet has greatly increased. When I get up early in the morning and run in, I will always find someone who has gone earlier than me.

No matter how late they sleep, Chai Rong and Zhao Kuangyin will get up before midnight almost every day. At about six o'clock in the morning, you can see them active in the open courtyard.

Zhang Yongde usually has to take care of Chai Rong's daily life when he is marching, and he has no habit of snoozing.

After moving into Changyi Jiedu Mansion, he didn't have to worry about food, but he still made it a habit to visit the back kitchen.

The guests got up early, so Zhu Xiu, the landowner, naturally couldn't sleep in. In addition, he wanted to appear more diligent in front of Chai Rong, so he could only forcefully adjust his biological clock to keep in step with them.

Sometimes I get up early, and the white fish belly in the sky has not yet turned up. I run into the toilet anxiously and see that Chai Rong and Zhao Kuangyin have been squatting for a long time.

The three of them looked at each other and smiled knowingly. Zhu Xiu untied his trousers and squatted in the middle. Chai Rong was on the right and Zhao Kuangyin was on the left. They covered their mouths and noses and squatted down to chat, which was quite relaxing.

After arriving in Anding County for four or five days, Chai Rong and Zhao Kuangyin had woken up from the initial shock.

On the day they entered the city, they were deeply impressed by the straight, wide and bustling official roads.

Later, I walked on Baiyan Avenue and was even more amazed. It felt like I had been to Luoyang Zhuque Avenue and Kaifeng Tianjie.

The same crowds of people, the same constant flow.

The sanitation lady wearing a red armband and the urban management team wearing soap clothes and iron-wrapped short sticks gave Chai Rong a glimpse of the grassroots governance in Jingzhou.

Zhao Kuangyin bought some chestnuts, peeled off the skins and threw them away. He planned to eat them while shopping, but he was stopped by an aunt from the health team before he took two steps.

At first, Zhao Kuangyin was at a loss and was blushing after being lectured by the aunts. Fortunately, Zhu Xiu arrived in time, admitted his mistake and apologized to the aunts, and cleaned up the dust thrown along the way, and was able to escape.

Li Chongjin laughed at this matter for a long time, and Zhao Kuangyin's white face turned black with anger, but he could not argue.

The name of Master Zhu Xiu is well known to everyone in Jingzhou, but not many people have actually seen him and can recognize his appearance.

Both the health team and the urban management team knew that they had the young envoy Jun behind them, so they worked extra hard, but they couldn't recognize the real person in front of them.

When Zhao Kuangyin was in Jingzhou before, the Baiyan Avenue and the Health Team Urban Management Team had not yet been established, so he didn't know these new rules.

Unexpectedly, after returning to the old place after half a year, Anding County has undergone new changes.

The prosperous business exchanges in the county also changed Chai Rong and Zhang Yongde's deserted impression of the northwest border towns. Counties such as Jingyang, Wugong, and Wannian in Guanzhong, which are famous for their developed commerce, have less than half of the prosperity of the market in terms of market prosperity. .

Chai Rong was very surprised by this. Logically speaking, several counties in Guanzhong have a solid business foundation and a more advantageous geographical location. The government also encourages business travel. Why is it that the development over many years is not as stable as the changes in just one or two years.

This issue involves the basic laws of business and the understanding and attitude of those in power towards business. It is relatively complicated. Zhu Xiu just explained it briefly.

Generally speaking, we need to improve the business environment, make government offices more friendly to business travelers, formulate strict city customs taxation policies, and prevent business travelers from entering and exiting the customs, and the customs guards will take advantage of them. We should start from reality to improve the status of merchants. , The legal system protects the legitimate interests of businessmen.

The status of pure traders is not high, but because they often travel around and deal with all walks of life, they have broad knowledge and are more sensitive to changes in the social environment.

A smart merchant can tell at a glance which place is conducive to doing business and which business can make money.

Before Li Shouzhen raised the flag to rebel, merchants in Chang'an were transporting grain in large quantities. Li Shouzhen sent troops to stop them. They arrested some and killed others, and sealed the city on the grounds that the Yongxing army had changed defenses. This was to avoid the panic of Chang'an merchants fleeing. .

In the counties of Jingzhou, especially in Anding, there are basically no soldiers dispatched in groups on the streets. There are patrol officers and urban management teams to maintain public security.

Businessmen will not threaten to ask for benefits when they encounter small businessmen. The tax forms for business travelers entering and exiting the city are quickly cleared, and there is no kickback at all.

In a few months, Anding County's reputation for good public security and good business environment will spread, and business travelers will feel at ease.

It was not easy to achieve this step. I spent a lot of effort and brutally punished some soldiers who were accustomed to asking for benefits from ordinary people. I also relied on Yan Ping to send the Zangfeng Battalion to conduct in-depth investigations and deal with a group of officials who did not act as officials. Only then did I slowly see that achieve results.

These are meticulous and patient tasks in the governance process. They are difficult to achieve in a short period of time, and they are also easy to offend people. Without the attention and strong implementation of those in power, it is impossible to work.

Zhu Xiu's understanding of business is naturally higher than that of most people in this era, so he attaches great importance to the improvement of the business environment.

After listening to his explanation, Chai Rong understood a little, but more questions arose.

For example, Zhu Xiu's emphasis on the business class was difficult for him to understand.

Just like he couldn't understand that when he was in Cangzhou, Zhu Xiu explained to him that Buddhism had a beneficial side to the state power.

It’s not surprising that Chai Rong has this idea.

Traditional agricultural society has low production efficiency and economic self-sufficiency. The foundation of national political stability is land and food. However, excessive development of commercial activities will destroy the land, the basis of social relations. Therefore, commercial activities in the feudal era are often suppressed by the ruling class. .
From Chai Rong's perspective, he could see the destruction of the land system caused by businessmen, hoarding by businessmen, and commercial interests inducing more people to give up farming, etc., which undermined the stability of the regime.

However, he did not fully understand the taxation, commodity circulation, and increased income of urban people and government brought about by the prosperity of commerce, or these benefits were not worth mentioning compared with the stability of the regime.

How to control business activities and put business development at a relatively balanced level is a completely unfamiliar field for Chai Rong.Zhu Xiu's mouth was dry and she explained for a long time. The more she spoke, the more profound she got, and the more questions Chai Rong had.

This is no longer something that can be explained clearly in a few words. This is a difference in system cognition.

If he wanted Chai Rong to fully understand his thoughts, Zhu Xiu could not think of any other way except changing his head.

Issues related to business and economics have become the main topics of discussion between Zhu Xiu and Chai Rong in the past few days, and Zhao Kuangyin often participates in them, playing more of a listener role.

Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival. After the festival, the Changyi Army will set off for Wonju.

There will be no public news about this march to the north. Three thousand tooth troops had set off secretly two days ago, and there were five thousand civilians escorting the baggage behind. Zhu Xiu and his party would not leave until after the Mid-Autumn Festival, and led two thousand cavalry to Yuanzhou.

After more than a year of unconventional immigration, Jingzhou's population has increased significantly. In normal times, the population is not small according to rough calculations, but in wartime, it is still somewhat stretched.

The construction of the salt factory and water conservancy facilities in various counties accounted for the majority of labor. Five thousand civilians was already the limit that Jingzhou could allocate. For this reason, the production capacity of the salt factory had to be reduced by [-]%, and the construction period of several main water diversion canals had to be postponed.

When the civilians entered Yuanzhou, they had to withdraw 2000 people, and Yuanzhou sent troops to take over.

Fortunately, it is not far from Pinggao County in Yuanzhou. A normal march would only take half a month at most. There are also supplies of food and grass along the way, so there is no need to worry about the shortage of military rations.

Before the Ya army was dispatched, Shi Kuangwei wrote a letter and sent it to Pinggao County to take with him to the troops heading south. He cursed angrily, showing anger and helplessness, and threatened to send troops to seek justice.

Shi Kuangwei knew the temperament of the Dangxiang people. The more harshly he spoke, the less likely the Dangxiang people would believe that the Zhangyi Army would really dare to send troops.

Zhu Xiu had never dealt with the Dangxiang people. If he could catch them by surprise, it would be best to give the enemy troops a head-on attack. It wouldn't matter if they were discovered by the Dangxiang people. At worst, they would all set up battle formations and fight in the wild.

Anyway, the purpose of going here is to build a reputation for the Changyi Army. The bigger the noise, the better.

There were also Chai Rong, Zhao Kuangyin, and Zhang Yongde as foreign aid. Even if Li Yiyin came in person, Zhu Xiu dared to stretch his neck and curse a few words face to face.

Early in the morning, after finishing discussing business and economic topics in the toilet, Zhu Xiu went to the Yajun camp to check the preparation of military equipment.

Chai Rong returned to the open courtyard and practiced a set of boxing techniques to stretch his muscles and bones. It was already bright and the autumn sun was high, but Zhao Kuangyin and Zhang Yongde were nowhere to be seen.

Zhang Yongde should have gone to the kitchen to help prepare breakfast, but Zhao Kuangyin did not know where he went.

Chai Rong was a little strange. When he went to the house where Zhao Kuangyin lived, he still saw no one.

Zhang Yongde came back with several portions of porridge and side dishes, and set them on the stone table in the open courtyard, and the two of them sat down to have breakfast.

The preserved egg and lean meat porridge cooked by Jiedufu has a wonderful taste. Sprinkled with a handful of chopped green onions, it is extremely delicious. With a few pickles and noodles, it will greatly increase your appetite.

Chai Rong usually doesn't have the habit of having breakfast. After living in the mansion for a few days, now he gets up early every morning and feels a little uncomfortable without having a meal.

Mainly because there are so many kinds of delicacies in the house that it is difficult to resist the temptation of appetite.

Chai Rong took a bite of the meatloaf and looked at the golden and crispy meatloaf in his hand. He couldn't figure out how Zhu Xiu could have so many strange things in his head, and he was even quite proficient in various cooking skills.

Zhang Yongde has always been polite when eating. Even in the face of the temptation of delicacies in the house, he can barely maintain his dignity as a cold-faced gentleman. However, today he ate very quickly, and the bowl of meat porridge was full of water in just a few mouthfuls.

Two crispy meat patties were also swallowed by him in a few mouthfuls.

Chai Rong saw this and asked strangely: "Do you have something to do today?"

Zhang Yongde smiled sheepishly, picked up the tea and drank it down. He cupped his fists and gritted his teeth and said, "I'm sorry, Commander Chai, but I can't be with you today. Yesterday, I played mahjong with Li Chongjin and lost him more than fifty thousand dollars. I must get my capital back today!"

Chai Rong held half a piece of cake in his hand and was stunned, wondering: "You have never liked gambling, how come you can imitate Li Chongjin and play mahjong?"

I heard Zhu Xiu briefly introduce it before. When I visited the county, I also saw many privately run chess halls and chess and card rooms, as well as special mahjong rooms.

Chai Rong thought it was just a new type of gambling, which was not surprising.

He is not interested in gambling and thinks it is something to play with and lose one's ambition.

Zhang Yongde never played gambling, and he even scorned games like leaf games and dice.

Why is it that Li Chongjin, who was so incompetent, started playing mahjong now?

Chai Rong felt incredible.

Zhang Yongde blushed and said with shame: "Chai Shuai doesn't know something. This mahjong game is completely different from other games. It makes people very fascinated! Yesterday Li Chongjin cheated on me because of my poor skills and won me more than [-] yuan. This damn guy is full of sarcasm, and his face is so disgusting when a villain succeeds!
Today I will fight that thief for another hundred times to save my face and win my money back! "

"By the way, Zhao Kuangyin went to fight with Li Chongjin early in the morning. He also lost more than a hundred dollars yesterday, which was worse than me."

After Zhang Yongde finished speaking, he stood up, saluted with clasped fists, and strode out of the courtyard.

Chai Rong was stunned. No wonder Zhao Kuangyin was nowhere to be seen in the latrine early in the morning. It turned out that he was looking for Li Chongjin to play mahjong.

Chai Rong smiled bitterly, shook his head, picked up the bowl, drank the porridge, and put away the tableware.

I saw Zhao Kuangyin rushing into the archway in a hurry, and I was stunned when I saw Chai Rong. He cupped his fists and forced out a smile: "Good morning, Chai Rong!"

Chai Rong nodded and said, "Have you had breakfast? There is still porridge and noodles in the kitchen."

Zhao Kuangyin shook his head and said, "Thank you very much, Chai Shuai. I bought some steamed buns on the street and ate them."

Chai Rong looked at it and said strangely: "Then what are you doing?"

Zhao Kuangyin said with an annoyed look on his face: "I played mahjong with Li Chongjin and lost more than ten guan in less than an hour. The guy was afraid that I would default on my debt, so he had to ask me to sign a private seal. I came back to get the seal, and then I went to fight with him."

With that said, Zhao Kuangyin rushed into the house and rummaged around for a while, then quickly ran out and said apologetically: "Shuai Chai, say goodbye! I'm leaving!"

Seeing Zhao Kuangyin running away angrily, Chai Rong was completely stunned. Then he shook his head and murmured with emotion: "Playing with things will cause great harm to people, so it's better not to be contaminated."

(End of this chapter)