Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 5052 I Want to Farm
Cheng Yaojin returned to Guzang City and sat alone in his study room in deep thought. After thinking it over, he felt that it was impossible for the aristocratic families to travel thousands of miles to Hexi just because Fang Junzhi forced them to do so, and invest huge manpower, material and financial resources to reclaim hundreds of thousands of acres of land to grow cotton.

These families have been living a life of luxury and extravagance for generations, relying on sucking the blood of the people. How could they possibly do such an unprofitable thing?

No matter how powerful Fang Jun is, he can't stop all the maritime trade licenses of the aristocratic families. Otherwise, once the profits of maritime trade are greatly reduced, there will be a lot of rebukes in the court, and the first one to stop will be His Majesty...

It's profitable.

At around 3 p.m., Niu Jinda returned to Guzang City to supervise the transportation of grain and fodder. He was dragged into the study by Cheng Yaojin, and was dismissed after being served tea by his personal soldiers.

Seeing Cheng Yaojin so mysterious, Niu Jinda asked in surprise, "What do you want to tell me, Marshal?"

Cheng Yaojin took a sip of tea and said, "There is a great happy event."

Niu Jinda was shocked: "Could it be that my sister-in-law is pregnant?"

Cheng Yaojin: "I... your mother!"

He raised his foot and kicked Niu Jinda's leg hard, almost kicking him off the stool, and cursed: "A dog's mouth can't spit out ivory, how can that be a good thing? If this happened, I would have rushed back to Chang'an a thousand miles away and killed that sharp-tongued woman!"

How long has he been away from home?

If his wife is pregnant at this time, then Cheng Yaojin will not only lose his face, but also his life...

He was not angry. Although the two were once subordinates of the commander-in-chief, they were also comrades who fought side by side and brothers who shared life and death. Any joke more excessive than this would be fine.

Niu Jinda laughed: "Hurry up and tell us. We have to transport the food and fodder back as soon as possible. The warehouse is empty. It's okay for people to go hungry for two meals, but horses will lose weight if they go hungry for a few meals. It will be difficult to replenish them."

Cheng Yaojin poured tea for Niu Jinda and whispered, "I think there is a lot of potential in growing cotton."

Niu Jindaqi said, "Aren't you the most impatient about farming?"

Although the ancestors of the Cheng family were not high-ranking officials, they were officials for generations, rich and famous in the village. When Cheng Yaojin was young, his father left him in his hometown of Jeju to look after the property, which was just the fields. Although he did not work, he supervised the workers in the fields all day long, and was very impatient. He often left the farmhands and tenants in the fields and rode his horse to find an open place to practice horse lance.

At the end of the Sui Dynasty, there was chaos in Jizhou and bandits swarmed, often causing trouble for the local area. The county government was miserable about this, but Cheng Yaojin was very happy. He gathered hundreds of lightly armed men and formed an armed team to fight against the bandits and protect the villagers.

When Li Mi took refuge in Wagang, occupied the magpie's nest, and raised an army to rebel against the Sui Dynasty, Cheng Yaojin abandoned his ancestral heritage without a word and led his troops straight to Wagang Village, becoming one of the "Four Hussars" under Li Mi...

This guy is good at conquering and even better at speculation, but he hates farming the most in his life.

Cheng Yaojin stared, "Farming is different from farming. In the past, if you farmed a hundred acres of land in the countryside, you would work hard all year and there would be only a few grains left in the fall. Who would be patient enough to farm? But if you could farm tens of thousands of acres and the cotton bolls were as heavy as copper coins in the fall, then you would be happy to farm."

Niu Jinda was puzzled: "Don't you grow cotton every day?"

"Now they are being grown by the aristocratic families, I want us to grow our own!"

The two men have always been together, not only working hand in hand in politics, but also inseparable in private. The two families' industries are basically together. Niu Jinda is too lazy to think, so Cheng Yaojin usually comes up with ideas and he is responsible for implementation, and he never objects.

So when Cheng Yaojin said this, neither of them noticed anything wrong.

If you say do it, then do it.

Niu Jinda understood and touched the needle-like stubble on his cheek, thinking: "The Marshal means that growing cotton can make a lot of money?"

Farming has never been the most profitable, doing business is, but the advantage of farming is that it is safe. As long as there is no natural disaster that happens once in a hundred years, there will always be a surplus. That is why it has become the number one industry throughout history. Many people who have been promoted and made a fortune, the first thing they do is to buy land.

But for those aristocratic families, farming is definitely not the most profitable thing.

Why have the aristocratic families been buying ships like crazy in recent years? The profits earned from two sea trade trips a year are dozens or even hundreds of times more than from farming...

Cheng Yaojin sighed, "Although our two families have some stakes in the maritime trade, and the 'Eastern Tang Merchants' also has some shares, I always feel that those are not safe. The sea is treacherous, and people's hearts are more treacherous than the waves. I would not be surprised if I lose everything one day... The safest thing is still a piece of land."

He also wanted to explain why he had to farm, but Niu Jinda didn't care about that at all. Instead, he asked, "How do we do it? If we reclaim wasteland now, we will definitely not have enough time to farm this year."

Cheng Yaojin snorted, "How can we wait another year? There is already a lot of land that has been planted!"

Niu Jinda's eyes widened: "What do you want to do? Don't do anything reckless. There are so many aristocratic families gathered together. If we force our way in, we will offend all of them!"

They spent a lot of money and effort to reclaim wasteland and plant cotton, and you went to rob them? Maybe on the surface they were afraid of the two armies in their hands and dared not resist, but even though the aristocratic families were very obedient now, their interests were still intertwined and intertwined, and they were deeply rooted inside and outside the government, and they could not bear to be tripped up in secret.

After all, this is not the Zhenguan Dynasty anymore. Without the Emperor Taizong who protected his shortcomings, His Majesty may not remember any of the meritorious officials of the Zhenguan Dynasty...

Cheng Yaojin was confident: "How can I personally do such a blatant robbery? Let's go visit Liangzhou Governor Guo Guangjing and ask him to negotiate with the aristocratic families to allocate a piece of land in Guzang and Fanhe to each of us brothers."

Niu Jindaqi asked, "Will Guo Guangjing listen to you?"

Guo Guangjing's father was a favorite of Emperor Gaozu. He held the rank of Weiweiqing and the title of Duke of Gao. He was once very popular and had contributed to the ascension of Emperor Taizong to the throne. Therefore, Emperor Taizong treated Guo Guangjing very kindly and he had a successful career. Although he was born a military general, he had extraordinary literary talent and his calligraphy was first-class. He was often compared with Ouyang Xun, Yu Shinan, Chu Suiliang, Fang Jun and others. He was a man of both civil and military talents. He was transferred from the position of military general to the position of Governor of Liangzhou, where he governed a region.

With his family background, qualifications, official position and title, he is an excellent choice. How could he be intimidated by Cheng Yaojin's threats?

"Don't worry, I have my own ideas."

Niu Jinda didn't say much. Since Cheng Yaojin had made up his mind, he would just follow him.

After arranging people to supervise the transportation of grain and fodder back to Fanhe, he accompanied Cheng Yaojin to the governor's mansion to pay a visit to the governor of Liangzhou.

……

As the sun sets in the west, smoke from cooking fires rises from the city of Guzang, fragrance wafts into the air, and people walk leisurely on the road, all in a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere.

The Governor's Mansion is located in a slightly old building in the south of the city. It is said that when Zhang Gui was the Governor of Liangzhou during the Former Liang Dynasty, this was the government office of the Governor's Mansion...

In the back hall, Liangzhou Governor Guo Guangjing sat opposite Cheng and Niu.

Guo Guangjing is in his early forties this year. He has gentle eyes and elegant looks. He sits there in casual clothes with a warm temperament. He does not look like a powerful official at all, but more like a gentle scholar.

Normally, at this age, he should be in the prime of life and should be aggressive and aggressive. However, during his tenure as the governor of Liangzhou, he had a Huang-Lao style of "quiet and inaction, ruling by doing nothing", with a low sense of presence. He rarely showed up on weekdays, and only hid in the governor's mansion to study. Ordinary people wanted to see him but couldn't...

Guo Guangjing had a warm smile, handsome appearance, and was very friendly. He extended his hand to signal the two to drink tea, and said with a smile: "Duke Lu and Duke Langya have come together. I am sorry for not welcoming you in person. I am sorry for my disrespect. I have long wanted to have a few drinks with you two, talk about the scenery of Chang'an and the folk customs of Hexi. Today is the right time, maybe we can get drunk together. But let me say in advance that drinking and gathering is a private friendship, so before that, if there is any official business, please speak frankly, and we will not talk about official business at the table to spoil the fun."

The Governor of Liangzhou was also among the top in the sequence of local officials in the Tang Dynasty. He had a prominent status and great power. He occupied a strategic location, so naturally he had great authority. Even when facing meritorious officials of the Zhenguan period such as Cheng Yaojin and Niu Jinda, he was not at a disadvantage and even took the initiative.

Cheng Yaojin took a sip of the teacup, put it down, and said with a casual smile: "I have been in Hexi for a long time. I miss my family, so I recently planned to write a letter to ask to return to Chang'an. I didn't have much contact with the governor before because of my concerns. I paid a visit to him before leaving, which can be regarded as fulfilling the fate of our colleagues."

In theory, the governor was the chief official of a state, in charge of both military and political affairs, and was undoubtedly the top official. However, due to the existence of the Zuo Wuwei, the Liangzhou Governor's Office was inevitably slightly inferior in military terms, which invisibly affected the authority of the governor.

Therefore, Guo Guangjing rarely met Cheng Yaojin. Even when An Yuanshou was plotting a rebellion, he pretended to be sick and hid in the governor's mansion, ignoring everything...

Hearing this, Guo Guangjing smiled and nodded, and said softly: "Duke Lu, why should you be polite? Although you and I don't know each other much, when my father was alive, he often mentioned his friendship with Duke Lu. In terms of seniority, I am the younger one, so I should call him uncle. We are one family, so we should not say different things. But..."

He seems to be very warm and easy-going in his dealings with others, and his words are pleasant to the ear. He is neither as domineering and stiff as a military general, nor as aloof and arrogant as a civil servant.

But he changed the subject and continued, "Although An Yuanshou admitted his guilt and moved his entire family to Guanzhong, the An family has been entrenched in Hexi for more than a hundred years, and their branches are entangled and deeply rooted. If there is no Zuo Wuwei army to guard it, I am afraid that the remnants of the An family will stir up trouble. If it were in the past, it would be fine, but now the clans from all over the country have entered Hexi in large numbers, renting land, buying good farmland, and reclaiming wasteland, with huge investments. What if something goes wrong, what will we do?"

Cheng Yaojin looked helpless: "Every word the governor said makes sense. I am also deeply worried about the public security in Liangzhou, but I am the commander of an army, and most of my soldiers are from Guanzhong. I can't stay away from Chang'an forever and let them abandon their families and careers, right?"

Niu Jinda said nothing, but admired him in his heart, and explained the reasoning in a few words...

Guo Guangjing narrowed his eyes slightly, as if thinking about something.