Escape: I rely on the food exchange system to survive to the extreme

Chapter 195 Covenant
"what is this?"

Lu Ji and Wu Hui, who had just woken up from their dreams, were in a trance when they saw Thornton throwing two copies of silk with Xirong and Anguo characters in front of them.

"This is……"

When Hu Yulin picked up one of them and read the text clearly, his expression suddenly froze. He looked up at Thornton and said in a sharp voice: "Do you want all the areas in Jiangbei?"

Hearing Hu Yulin's words, Wu Hui and Lu Ji were excited and hurried forward to check the content. The faces of Lu Ji and Wu Hui were extremely ugly!

"Every year, there is another annual tribute of 200,000 pieces of cloth and 100,000 guan of money... You, why don't you go and grab it?!"

Wu Hui was so angry that he kept talking. Thornton looked up at Wu Hui and said with a threatening tone: "Aren't you unwilling for us to rob them? If we rob them, we will naturally get these things."

"you!"

Hu Yulin knew that this visit would definitely involve land division, but Xirong was too open-minded. How could he swallow the entire Jiangbei?

"This is too much..."

Xiao Jian, who had just climbed up from the ground with his little brother in his arms, also knew that this was not the time for him and Thornton to argue. He got up and came over to see Xirong's conditions and suddenly took a breath: "Aren't you guys too cruel? "

After Xiao Jian finished speaking, his eyes fell on Hu Yulin beside him. Seeing that the other person's face was also ugly, he breathed a sigh of relief.

All in all, all it takes is for this condition to be agreed to.

"Prime Minister Thornton, are you going to ask us to agree to your conditions like this?"

Lu Ji, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke and attracted the attention of other people present.

"I wonder what Luyuan Envoy means?"

Thornton looked at Lu Ji with a murderous look in his eyes.

He still clearly remembered what this man said yesterday, but he was not an easy person to get along with.

"After signing something like this, we have to eat something, rest, and tidy up. It won't be too late to talk about this matter until we are almost recovered tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? What's the difference between tomorrow and today? If you don't agree, won't it be a waste of my time?"

"It's tomorrow, even if the covenant is really signed, we here reluctantly agree, it is not good to spread the news, lest you end up with a reputation of coercion.

There are countless contracts made under coercion. "

Lu Ji almost said, "If you entertain me with delicious food and drinks, I will agree."

As soon as Lu Ji finished speaking, Hu Yulin, who had just recovered from the unfair treaty on the silk, couldn't help but shouted: "Lu Ji! What are you talking about?"

"I didn't say anything. We have been here for so long, and we were originally here to share His Majesty's worries.

Now that Xirong is willing to turn hostility into friendship with us, then..."

As he spoke, Lu Ji straightened his clothes, looked at Thornton, and said, "But it shouldn't be a good idea for us to sign the contract like this."

"Lu Ji!"

Hu Yulin roared again, but Lu Ji seemed not to hear him.

Thornton also didn't expect that the first person among them to understand the current affairs was Lu Ji. This man would be honest after just two meals.

Thornton smiled unconsciously, raised his hand and asked someone to prepare the meal. He also heard Lu Ji saying that someone would boil some hot water and come so they could freshen up.

Thornton also agreed, and he even asked if it was necessary to change a few rooms. After all, there were so many officials here, but Lu Ji refused.

Lu Ji said: "After we sign these tomorrow, we hope that the Prime Minister will send us back so that we can hand over the signed covenant to His Majesty as soon as possible."

"So good."

Thornton left happily. As soon as he left, Hu Yulin was so angry that he came over to teach this junior a lesson. As a result, Lu Ji directly grabbed the other man's hand and did not intend to accept Hu Yulin's slap.

"Do you know what will happen after signing?!" Hu Yulin stomped his feet angrily. If Lu Ji hadn't known that only he and Wu Hui had met King Yongning that night, he would have thought that Hu Yulin had also met King Yongning. of people.

"Isn't this why Your Majesty asked us to come?"

Lu Ji pulled a sarcastic smile from the corner of his mouth and said: "What's the difference between giving less and giving more? In the end, with the strength of the Xirong people, as long as the ceded land is opened, it will never be taken back.

Is it possible, Mr. Hu, that you are absolutely sure that you can still force the Xirong soldiers to retreat without giving up any land in Jiangbei?
You don’t think it’s enough to pay more, do you? "

After Lu Ji finished speaking, a group of Xirong soldiers came with food and buckets of hot water.

Lu Ji ignored him and went to eat first.

He also greeted the others. The civil servant, who had been hungry for several meals, had long since lost the energy to curse. Now that Lu Ji was taking the lead in eating, they couldn't care less.

Seeing this scene, Hu Yulin was so angry that his beard was shaking, and he immediately fainted as soon as he rolled his eyes.

"Sir, Master Hu?"

Seeing that Hu Yulin was fainted from anger, a group of people gathered around Hu Yulin to ask for help. Wu Hui brought a bowl of hot soup for Hu Yulin to drink. After that, he stood next to Lu Ji with a pancake in one hand and said: "You this time It’s too much.”

"Oh~ if this had not happened, wouldn't this peace negotiation be all about his words? When the time comes, those who are angry and scolded will have to take us with them."

Who doesn't know that Hu Yulin was summoned by His Majesty alone before this trip, and that the seal of the peace talks was also in Hu Yulin's hand.

Everyone kept saying that they were unwilling to cede the land in Jiangbei to Xirong, but anyone with a discerning eye would know at a glance that this land must be ceded. It was just a matter of how much.

"I hope everything goes well tonight."

Lu Ji whispered and drank the hot soup in the bowl...

···
Jiangnan was unaware of the chaotic situation in Jiangbei during this period. In the early autumn, before the autumn harvest, the relevant tax policies had already been issued.

Mrs. Mei had just returned from the village with her two daughters-in-law. She had kept a straight face all the way. Who couldn't tell that Mrs. Mei was angry again?
“Are you going to charge taxes on all the land that is not cultivated?”

When they were allotted twenty acres of wasteland, Mrs. Mei realized that her family didn't have enough manpower, so in the spring only ten acres of land were cultivated.

Among them, their family planted a total of ten acres of grain, and she directly planted some fruit saplings and some vegetables in the remaining few acres of thin fields.

This summer, Lao Mei's family had a lot of vegetables. They sent many people as favors and made a lot of dried vegetables.

The rest don't know how Mrs. Mei found a way to negotiate a deal with a small county tavern, supplying them with fresh vegetables for two months and making a small profit.

As a result, during the autumn harvest, I told them where someone from above told them to collect taxes based on acres of land, with a 50% tax on each acre of land.

As soon as these words came out, Mrs. Mei thought again and again. Wouldn't it mean that the land she had worked so hard to cultivate this year would be in vain?

"Here, how much do we have left?"

Han didn't understand, so she turned to look at Jiang, who frowned slightly: "No, our family only farms ten acres, but we have to pay the tax on twenty acres..."

"what?!"

This time Han's reaction was even greater than that of Mrs. Mei!

"We haven't finished planting those wastelands at all! If I had known, if I had known, the tenants would have been planted by others!"

"To whom are the tenants given? Do you think anyone around here is short of land?"

Mrs. Mei said this angrily. The tax was not low to begin with, but in the end, it was charged on an acre basis. When their family first settled in Taohua Village, it said there were 20 acres.

Mrs. Mei couldn't help but muttered: "It's really like reaching out from under the coffin - demanding money!"

Mrs. Mei: I can’t live this life anymore!
Mei Qian: Comparison reveals happiness, which is better than mine.

Mrs. Mei:......