There is a kind of scholar

Chapter 881: An eternal problem, a dead end that cannot be solved!

"elder brother!"

Nalanyan was dumbfounded and hurriedly took two steps forward. She took her brother's arm and pulled him back. She hated iron and said speechlessly: "What are you doing? What are you asking him to do?"

"His Royal Highness, please get up." Su Xian pushed the chair and stood up, and then turned to look at Na Lanyan, grinning and said: "The problem of your Liao Kingdom is actually not difficult."

"I knew Brother Su had a way!" Nalan Jie's eyes sparkled and he was full of excitement. If Nalan Yan hadn't held him tightly, he would have rushed over to entangle Su Xian.

Su Xian smiled and shook his head, glanced at Nalan Yan, pulled out the chair and sat down again, leaned on the back of the chair comfortably, and said lazily:

"Yesterday evening, I just rushed all the way to Youzhou, and the few days before that were spent on the boat."

"Although taking a boat is not as strenuous as riding a carriage, it is quite tiring to sit for several days in a row."

"Hey, my arms and shoulders are sore. It would be nice if someone could give me a few squeezes."

"..."

As Su Xian spoke, he moved his arms, finally glanced at Nalan Yan, raised his eyebrows, and gave her a "you understand" look.

Nalanyan was stunned for a moment, and after taking a few breaths, she suddenly realized it. Her eyes widened, and she said in shock: "What do you mean? You want me to squeeze your shoulders? You have a beautiful idea!"

"If I can't relax, my head will be a ball of mush and I can't think of anything."

Su Xian spread his hands and slumped there leisurely, with a malicious curve on his lips, looking at the Nalan brother and sister with a smile.

Nalanyan felt [-] points of insult. Who was she? She was Princess Ruyi of the Liao Empire!

Who dares to drive her?
And it’s still a job of squeezing shoulders and beating legs.

In desperation, she suddenly remembered that she had an elder brother. Although this elder brother was not like a man on the grassland, he loved her very much.

She turned to look at Nalan Jie, with a wronged look on her face, ready to cry, and then asked Nalan Jie to help her stand up.

However, when her eyes collided with Nalan Jie's, she was at a loss.

Because what she saw in her brother's eyes was not the same hatred.

But...

"You come with me first."

Nalan Jie's eyes sparkled, and he pulled his sister aside. While looking at Su Xian, he lowered his voice and said, "Brother Su's method is crucial to our Liao country. Yan'er, please work hard."

"Brother, you..."

Nalan Yan looked shocked and unbelievable. She scanned Nalan Jie up and down and frowned: "Are you still my brother? You asked me to pinch Su Xian's shoulders and beat his legs? Do the work of a little maid?"

"Is this difficult?" Nalanjie looked puzzled.

"This is not a question of whether it is difficult or not." Nalan Yan was so angry that she was shaking all over, with a rare blush on her face. She clenched her fists tightly and muttered for a long time before finally saying:
"I am your biological sister and a girl, and I have not yet left the government. Do you think it's appropriate for me to give Su Xian a shoulder and a leg like this?"

"That's a problem."

Nalanjie seemed to have finally remembered this and looked troubled.

When Nalan Yan saw this, she breathed a sigh of relief and thought to herself: "He was just too impatient and confused for a moment. It doesn't matter. My brother still loves me after all!"

But suddenly, the troubled look on Nalanjie's face faded, he stared at his sister and said, "But Yan'er, you are not a Central Plains woman, so why should you care about the common ethics? What are you afraid of?"

"I……"

Nalanyan was speechless for a moment and almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

This sentence seems to have come from her mouth, but now her brother is using it to say something about her. This is a typical example of shooting oneself in the foot.

"Stop me and me and go quickly. If Brother Su regrets it, we will lose an opportunity." Nalan Jie urged.

"But..." Nalan Yan is a girl after all, and she still has some shame.

"Don't hesitate. Aren't you always very generous? Besides, all this is for Daliao, for the world of Daliao, and for the people of Daliao!"

Nalanjie continued to advise:
"Besides, that's Brother Su, not an outsider. If it were an outsider, I would never ask you to make sacrifices for me, but Brother Su is different."

"Brother, stop talking."

Nalan Yan quickly interrupted her brother's chatter, gritted her silver teeth secretly, and said with a fierce heart: "I'll just go, but this is all for Daliao's country, not for other reasons!"

After finishing speaking, Nalan Yan strode to the back of Su Xian's chair, put her firm hands on Su Xian's shoulders, and started to hold it gently or heavily.

Su Xian suddenly became happy, but he also grinned and said from time to time:

"Be gentle, do you have a lot of strength that you can't use up?"

"Heavier, haven't you eaten?"

"Left... Hey, do you have a brain? I said left, but you move to the right, right or left?"

"..."

On the side, Nalanjie looked at this scene and smiled like his aunt, and at the same time secretly thought in his heart:

"Yan'er, Yan'er, brother, why don't you understand what you are thinking? People who really don't care will not deliberately explain..."

At the same time, the deputy envoys of the Liang Dynasty, the governor of Youzhou, and the guard of Youzhou Luo Gan, etc., had already fallen into a sluggish state and did not recover for a long time.

Still a Taiwei Niu!

There was only one thought in their minds.

He could actually force the arrogant princess of Liao to squeeze his shoulders and use her as a maid. It was... shocking to them for 100 years. They couldn't even think of such a thing.

As for the deputy envoys of the Daliao Empire, their faces were as dark as the bottom of a pot. If Nalanjie's eyes had not stopped them, they would have burst out and rushed to rescue Her Highness the Princess.

After a while, Nalanjie estimated that the time was almost up, so he stepped forward and saluted respectfully: "Brother Su, I wonder what Brother Su has to say about the issue of our Liao Kingdom?"

Nalanyan quickly pricked up her ears and squeezed Su Xian's shoulders while cheering up. The reason why she made such a sacrifice was for this moment.

Luo Gan, the deputy envoy of the Liao Kingdom and others also looked sideways. Just now, Su Xian had said, "Your Liao Kingdom's problem is actually not difficult," which meant that Su Xian had already found a solution.

Everyone is looking forward to it.

"Your Liao Kingdom's problems are actually not difficult."

Su Xian enjoyed the shoulder-squeezing service of Nalanyan's little hand and said this again.

He squinted his eyes slightly, feeling very comfortable. Not to mention, Nalanyan was very talented. With a little training, her shoulder-squeezing skills actually reached a certain level, which was pretty good.

He lazily leaned back on the chair, suddenly changed the topic and said:
"Although it's not difficult, I don't have a solution now!"

"Thank you, Brother Su, for the tip. Brother Su is indeed worthy of being the most handsome young man in the world... Uh, what did Brother Su just say?!" Nalan Jie was stunned for a moment.

At the same time, the small hands on Su Xian's shoulders also stopped.

Nalanyan was very angry, almost going crazy. Su Xian, a big liar, used a lie to deceive her into condescending and holding her back.

But in the end, Su Xian had no solution to the Liao Kingdom's problem!
Nalanyan not only sacrificed her appearance, but also felt the humiliation of being played by others.

In shame and anger, she raised a palm and slapped Su Xian hard on the side of the face. At the same time, she yelled: "You are a big liar, I am going to kill you!"

However, just as she raised her hand, her wrist was firmly clamped by another small hand, and she could not break free no matter how hard she tried.

Everyone turned around and saw that it was Yang Zhilan.

Su Xian chuckled and ignored Nalan Yan who was so angry that she almost jumped. She turned to look at her brother Nalan Jie and said with a smile:
"Your Highness, don't be anxious. In fact, I only have a general understanding of the situation in Liao Kingdom, and I cannot make a decision based on this. I would like to ask His Highness the Crown Prince to inform you of more specific information."

"Yes, I forgot about this."

Nalan Node nodded, put away his surprise and suspicion, then frowned, and recounted the problems he and the Liao Kingdom were facing...

Su Xian listened patiently and couldn't help but nodded secretly.

As he expected, the problem of the Liao Kingdom was, in the final analysis, a matter of food security.

Just because the climate has been abnormal in recent years, with the weather getting colder every year, it may not be noticeable in the Central Plains.

But in the Liao Kingdom in the north, people have clearly noticed climate changes-winter is getting colder and colder.

There is no problem at present. People and livestock can still withstand it. But in a few years, maybe only one or two years, the people and livestock of Liao Kingdom will not be able to withstand the cold winter.

This is tantamount to a disaster for the Liao Kingdom!
The livestock were frozen to death. What did the people of Liao State eat to satisfy their hunger?
Some time ago, Nalanjie was able to quell the civil strife in Liao because he took advantage of this. He promised the eight tribes that he would find a way to overcome the difficulties, but he needed the eight tribes to unite...

The solution Nalanjie came up with was to reopen Ping'an City and resume trade with Daliang.

However, the trading rules need to be changed. If the change is successful, the 200 million taels of silver that originally belonged to the Liang Dynasty will belong to the Liao Kingdom.

With such a large sum of money, Nalan Festival can spread his hands and feet to stockpile food, hoping to overcome this difficulty.

It can be said that the Nalan brothers and sisters came to Youzhou this time with a huge mission. They could only succeed and were not allowed to fail.

If it fails, the future of the Liao Kingdom will be in doubt.

At the beginning, the Nalan brothers and sisters were unstoppable at the negotiation table, forcing Qian Zhongshu to compromise, with victory in sight.

But who would have thought that Empress Daliang actually sent Su Xian. Su Xian was so evil that he turned everything upside down...

"You'd better think of a solution."

Nalanyan had returned to sit down opposite, but what had happened just now made her feel like a powder keg that was about to explode at any time. She glared at Su Xian and said in a very rude tone:
"Throughout the past dynasties, if the current situation happens, our people in the Liao Kingdom will definitely go south to invade the border!"

"If you don't want Liang and Liao to meet each other, then quickly find a way!"

"..."

Su Xian turned his head and glanced at her, calmly:

"Peace between Liang and Liao is hard-won. What you just said is also something I'm worried about. However, you'd better shut up first and don't disturb my train of thought."

"You..." Nalanyan immediately stood up and stood up.

"Yan'er, sit down." Nalan Jie's voice came.

"Humph!"

Nalan Yan sat down angrily, but did not speak again.

Su Xian frowned secretly. Although Nalan Yan's words just now were unpleasant, looking through the history books of past dynasties, it was the same thing -

Nine times out of ten, the reason why the northern nomads went south to invade the border was because of cold weather and hunger.

Faced with this situation, the Central Plains dynasty usually resisted desperately, because the northern nomads going south to invade the border meant burning, killing and looting...

Su Xian secretly thought that the current situation in Daliang could not withstand the Liao Kingdom's southward invasion.

First of all, the Liang Dynasty suffered from natural and man-made disasters last year, and also suffered a military disaster when the Liao army went south. The national treasury was already empty, and the soldiers and civilians were even more exhausted.

Secondly, the combat effectiveness of the Liang Army was very poor, especially the local garrison. Although Yan Dashan worked overtime to train the "Longwu Army", the time was still short, and the combat effectiveness of the Longwu Army alone could not resist the southward movement of the Liao Army.

It is worth mentioning that although Daliang has hostages from the eight major tribes of the Liao Kingdom, under normal circumstances the Liao Kingdom will not act rashly.

But when your stomach is growling with hunger, you don't care about anything, and the Liao Kingdom will most likely take risks.

Thirdly, the current peace between Liang and Liao is really hard-won. The Queen, Su Xian, Nalan Jie, etc. have all paid a lot for it.

If a war breaks out, all the previous efforts will be in vain, and it will also cause trouble for future generations. The hatred will become deeper and deeper, and ultimately the interests of ordinary people will be harmed.

Fourthly, the current crown prince of the Liao Kingdom is Nalan Jie, and Nalan Jie admires the culture of the Central Plains. If he becomes the emperor of the Liao Kingdom in the future, the two countries are expected to usher in a hundred years of peace. This opportunity is rare...

Su Xian thought about it and found that the best solution at present is to find a way to help Nalanjie resolve the internal crisis of the Liao Kingdom and eliminate the risk of the Liao army going south to invade the border.

After setting this tone, Su Xian frowned and started brainstorming.

In order to come up with a solution as soon as possible, he also asked many details, including the reactions of the eight major tribes, as well as the love and hatred between the tribes, etc.

Seeing this, Nalanjie felt a little relieved. As long as Su Xian used his heart, I believe that with his intelligence, he would be able to think of a solution!
However, this is not a simple question.

The Liao Kingdom's need is a large amount of money, or to solve the problem of lack of food rations in the next few winters.

Daliang's demand is that Ping'an City's trading rules remain unchanged and that the huge sum of 200 million taels be used to dredge the river to avoid flooding of the Yellow River during this year's flood season.

The main problem is lack of money.

As long as there is enough money, things in Liao and Daliang will be easy to handle.

So how to make money?

Su Xian subconsciously thought of the clever idea of ​​"doing business with Nanchen". This project would definitely make money, and the money needed to dredge the river in Daliang could come from here.

With this money, Daliang can agree to Ping'an City's new trading rules and give 200 million taels of profit to the Liao Kingdom. In this way, the Liao Kingdom's problems seem to be solved.

At first glance, this seems like a wonderful solution to this thorny problem.

However, Su Xian shook his head and threw this method behind him, because the negotiations in Ping An City were not only about interests, but also face.

The face of the Liang Dynasty!
If Su Xian agrees to give away 200 million taels of profit, regardless of whether he raises enough money from elsewhere, he will be a sinner of the court and will have a bad reputation if word spreads.

Su Xian didn't want to wrong himself.

If you can't gain both fame and fortune, it's better to do less of this kind of thing.

In addition, there is another issue that was almost ignored.

Su Xian raised his eyes, looked at Nalanjie, and asked seriously:

"Your Highness, if the Liao Kingdom can really make an extra 200 million taels from Ping'an City every year, will it be able to solve the problem of winter rations?"

Nalanjie was silent for a while, and finally shook his head bitterly and said: "It's still difficult. Xiao Wang once estimated that the chance of success is less than [-]%, but it depends on manpower. What if it succeeds?"

Su Xian is not as optimistic as him, [-]%?I'm afraid there won't even be [-]%!
You know, this is ancient times. In ancient times, there was an upper limit to food production. There were no hybrid rice, various agricultural machinery, and no chemical fertilizers.

Even if the Liao Kingdom had money, they might not be able to buy enough food.

In other words, the problem of the Liao Kingdom is not just a matter of money. Where can we get so much food to feed the people of the entire Liao Kingdom?
Su Xian frowned and sat there, silent for a long time.

The problems in the Liao Kingdom are indeed very difficult.

Winter is severely cold, livestock freeze to death, and people starve... This is an eternal problem!
If it cannot be properly resolved, the hungry Liao army will definitely march south to invade the border. Is there really no way to avoid this worst-case scenario?

(End of this chapter)