Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 195: Money and Beauty
"Yang Zhiwen, a military officer of Shannan West Road, courtesy name Dezhi, pays respect to the commander-in-chief..."

On the eighth day of May, upon learning that Liu Jilong was willing to meet him, Yang Zhiwen rushed from Xingzhou on horseback and arrived in Fujin County five days in advance.

"General Yang, please take a seat!"

Liu Jilong's voice came from the study in the inner hall. As Yang Zhiwen looked up, Liu Jilong also walked out of the study.

When the two met for the first time, Liu Jilong only thought that Yang Zhiwen was a handsome man with a medium build, but Yang Zhiwen was stunned for a long time just like Xue Kui was at the beginning.

It was not until Liu Jilong sat down and called him that he reacted and hurriedly sat down.

"General Jie has a very heroic appearance. When I first saw him, I couldn't help but be distracted for a moment. Please don't blame me, General Jie."

After taking his seat, Yang Zhiwen started to flatter him, but Liu Jilong didn't care and just said:

"General Yang came all the way to Wuzhou, I'm sure he didn't come to talk about these things."

"Of course." Yang Zhiwen nodded and continued:
"The court ordered us to send troops to fight with the general for Wuzhou. My minister was worried that the general might misunderstand, so he sent me here to explain to him."

"To show our sincerity, the trade route between Shannan West Road and Longxi has been opened. Otherwise, the commander would not have been able to meet Yu Yaya and others so easily."

Yang Zhiwen first explained the contradiction and then said what they had paid.

Liu Jilong took a sip of tea from the teacup. His every move caught Yang Zhiwen's attention. Yang Zhiwen couldn't help but sigh at his magnanimous demeanor, which was far superior to those generals' sons who came from famous families but were domineering.

"People say that General Jie was born in a commoner family. After seeing him today, I feel that General Jie is a natural genius. I guess those are just rumors."

Yang Zhiwen sighed, but Liu Jilong chuckled and said, "I am indeed not born a commoner. To be more precise, I was born a slave."

"Uh..." Yang Zhiwen was speechless after hearing Liu Jilong's words. After all, anyone who reaches a high position would want to cover up his or her shameful past. Many people even find an unrelated celebrity ancestor for themselves.

There are very few people as open-minded as Liu Jilong who directly speaks out about his past.

"Jie Shuai is a great man. Could it be that the bandits have not tried to win over Jie Shuai?"

Yang Zhiwen continued to ask without giving up. He felt that with Liu Jilong's demeanor and appearance, he must not be a simple shepherd slave. However, Liu Jilong glanced at him in confusion.

"Jinchang County's Zhongjie'er only has two sons, and he hates Han people, so he beats and kills slaves at will."

"At the border of Guasha, there is a Jingguan built with the heads of Han people. When I was in Jinchang, I was hungry, weak, and my talent and beauty were not visible. The foreign bandits humiliated me many times, so how could I win them over?"

Thinking back to the previous seventeen years of slavery, Liu Jilian felt extremely helpless.

I was so hungry that my hands and feet were weak every day. I was too young to grow up, so there was no bright moment for me.

When Liu Jilian and Zhang Yichao discussed the population in Hexi, they mentioned the population changes in Jinchang.

When it was reported that Liu Jilian was joining the army, there were less than 4,200 of the 4,900 people in the city left, and half of them were Tibetans.

Most of the Han people who disappeared became slaves and starved to death, and only a few of them survived to adulthood.

Thanks to his thick skin and strong flesh, he was able to survive until Zhang Yichao recaptured Jinchang. He then joined the army and ate full meals for more than half a year. Finally, he had the opportunity to show his strength.

When it comes to reducing the Han population, the Tibetans have an endless variety of methods.

"I see……"

Yang Zhiwen felt somewhat embarrassed. Liu Jilian's background was a heavy blow to him, a descendant of the famous Hongnong Yang family.

He came from a prominent family, but after eleven years he was still a soldier in a remote area and had never served as an official in Beijing. However, less than six years after Liu Jilong's uprising, he had already become a local commander.

"I summoned General Yang here because I need his help with something."

Liu Jilong suddenly spoke, and Yang Zhiwen quickly said, "General, please feel free to speak."

Seeing this, Liu Jilong continued, "I heard that there are many hungry people in Shannan West Road, and the population in Longxi is sparse. If Yang Canjun is willing to persuade Shangshu Feng to relocate the hungry people to Longxi, I am willing to help comfort them."

Yang Zhiwen was stunned. He didn't expect that Liu Jilong would target the starving people.

Although the government was trying to cover up the peace and claim that the time was "the reign of Dazhong", people in Jiangnan, Huainan, Jiannan, Shannan and other places were starving.

Hedong and Guannei were all inhabited by mixed Hu people, and only the people in Lingnan, Annan, Hebei and other places were spared from fleeing.

Lingnan and Annan were prosperous because there were too few Han people and they were precious. Hebei was prosperous because the three towns of Heshuo treated the people as livestock and raised them, which allowed the people of Hebei to live a comfortable life.

But livestock will eventually be slaughtered. For example, when the military governors of Weizhou changed several times, there were mutinies and looting of prefectures and counties by guards, which led to the decline of people's livelihood in the various prefectures within the town of Weizhou.

Generally speaking, there are indeed few peaceful places in the Tang Dynasty at present. The so-called peace is nothing but a whitewash by the dignitaries in the temple.

Most of the starving people in Shannan West Road gathered in Sanchuan. Although they had been massacred twice by government troops before, the local administration did not change, and new starving people soon appeared in the area.

Feng Ao had no other way to deal with these starving people. If he mobilized troops, another massacre of the starving people would inevitably occur.

This matter troubled Feng Ao and Yang Zhiwen as well.

If Liu Jilian could solve the problem of the hungry people and Dao Zhong could make money from them, then it would naturally be the best of both worlds.

Thinking of this, Yang Zhiwen finally spoke: "If the court knew about the relocation of the hungry people, they would definitely punish the minister and me."

"If you don't want the court to know about this, you have to bribe people from top to bottom. I wonder how much money and grain the commander is willing to pay to relocate the hungry people?"

As soon as Yang Zhiwen opened his mouth, Liu Jilian knew that relocating the hungry people had become a business.

"I want to make the hungry people into slaves of the Liao barbarians, and then send tooth merchants to buy them and bring them to Longxi in batches."

"I will pay the deed tax, and I will pay a certain amount. If you need anything else, just let me know."

Liu Jilong told Yang Zhiwen what Yu Conghui had taught him, and Yang Zhiwen nodded after hearing it:

"This method is not bad. After receiving the deed tax, the states will naturally not expose Daoli and Jieshuai. However, Daoli still needs to be managed."

"How about this..." Yang Zhiwen paused and continued:

"How about five strings of cash for each horse, regardless of gender, age or physical condition?"

"Five strings of cash?" Liu Jilong frowned after hearing this, but soon relaxed his brows.

There were still 40,000 pieces of silk in the Longxi military treasury, as well as more than 70,000 strings of cash earned from last year's commercial transactions. In addition, there were accumulated precious metals such as bran gold, silver, and red copper. All in all, there were still 130,000 to 140,000 strings of cash.

Besides, Chen Ying has been in Guannei for eight or nine months, and he should be back soon.

By the time Chen Ying returns, the army will have accumulated at least 300,000 or 400,000 strings of cash.

Even if the slave was valued at five strings of cash, with the deed tax from the prefectures and counties, it would be no more than seven strings of cash.

Thirty or four hundred thousand strings of cash are enough to buy out all the starving people in Sanchuan.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong nodded in agreement, but added: "When the tooth merchants are on the way to relocate the people, the soldiers can send Zhibai to follow them."

"If someone dies on the road due to physical weakness, I will not pay the five strings of cash."

"Of course!" Yang Zhiwen agreed readily, his eyes becoming brighter.

In this day and age, you need money to command troops. If the horse-trade can be concluded, the treasury of Shannan West Road will have an extra tens or hundreds of thousands of strings of money, and Feng Ao will not be so frustrated.

If Feng Ao can be more assertive, then I can follow him back to the capital and have a bright future.

As for whether this matter would be exposed, Yang Zhiwen was not worried.

As long as the money is enough, no one will report it after the bribery. After all, the hands and feet of the various prefectures are not clean. If someone really wants to report it, such a small matter as that of Shannan West Prefecture will be a trivial matter.

"In that case, Yu Ya Ya and Yang Canjun will discuss the matter of the mouth and horse from now on."

Liu Jilong glanced at Yu Conghui who had been waiting at the door, and Yu Conghui hurriedly bowed to Yang Zhiwen.

Seeing that he had appeased Liu Jilong and found a way to make money for Feng Ao, Yang Zhiwen was very happy and was eager to get things done.

"In that case, I will rush back to Xingyuan Prefecture and explain this matter to Minister Feng."

"Goodbye, general." Liu Jilong nodded to signal Yu Conghui to see him off.

Seeing this, Yu Conghui led the way for Yang Zhiwen and soon disappeared into the inner courtyard.

After they left, Cao Mao walked in from outside the door with a happy look on his face, obviously having heard what Liu Jilong and Yang Zhiwen said.

"General, if we can bring in the hungry people from Shannan West Road, our Longxi strength will surely increase!"

Cao Mao spoke excitedly. Although Liu Jilong was also very happy, he was far from being excited.

He knew very well that Yang Zhiwen still needed time to convince Feng Ao.

In addition, how long this matter can work also depends on Feng Ao's political IQ.

If Feng Ao fails to manage this matter well and the imperial court finds out, the imperial court will certainly investigate, and then this path of strengthening Longxi will be blocked.

Because of this, once this matter is finalized, the speed must be fast, and all the hungry people in Shannan West Road must be moved to Longxi before people change their minds. By then, even if the court knows about this, I have already moved the hungry people to Longxi, and even Li Chen can't do anything to me.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong stood up and walked towards the study, followed by Cao Mao.

Soon, Liu Jilong wrote a letter and handed it to Cao Mao, saying, "You should copy the letter and send one to each state."

"Yes!" Cao Mao quickly took the brush and copied the letter written by Liu Jilong onto other letter paper.

There was not much content on the letter, mainly asking the governors of each state to set up porridge stalls within their territories, with one stall set up every twenty miles, waiting for news from Wuzhou before cooking porridge.

Cao Mao quickly copied several copies of the letters and ordered them to be delivered to the capitals of various states by express horses and handed over to the governors of each state.

After doing all this, he and Liu Jilian stayed in Wuzhou, waiting for good news from Yang Zhiwen.

While they were waiting for news from Yang Zhiwen, Yang Zhiwen also rode his horse quickly to Xingyuan Prefecture.

On May 14, Yang Zhiwen led more than ten riders back to Nanzheng, the seat of Xingyuan Prefecture, and hurriedly found Feng Ao who was enjoying himself in his study.

"Is Dezhi back?"

Seeing Yang Zhiwen rushing back exhausted, Feng Ao quickly put down the brush in his hand, walked forward and held his hand.

Yang Zhiwen bowed and said, "Minister, the important matter has been finalized. Liu Jilong will definitely not invade Shannan. In addition, I have also agreed on one more thing."

"What's the matter?" Feng Ao was a little surprised, and Yang Zhiwen quickly told him the story of the horse-trade.

"what?!"

After hearing this, Feng Ao was stunned and even a little frightened. After all, the imperial court had very strict control over Longxi. If they knew about his horse-trade with Liu Jilong, he would probably lose his reputation in his later years.

But facing his surprise, Yang Zhiwen couldn't hide his excitement and said:

"Shangshu, if this is accomplished, the starving people in Sanchuan alone will be enough to earn Daozhong hundreds of thousands of strings of cash."

"With this money and grain, we can do a lot, whether it's dispatching troops or bribing court officials, not to mention solving the problem of starving people in Sanchuan."

"Shangshu, if you miss this opportunity, there won't be another one next time."

Yang Zhiwen made Feng Ao hesitant in just a few words. He wanted to do it, but was worried that the matter would be exposed and his reputation would be ruined.

Seeing him hesitate, Yang Zhiwen knew that there was a lot of potential, and continued:

"The Supreme Lord has always disliked the former emperor's old ministers. The Minister and I are both former ministers of the former emperor, so the court has often made things difficult for us."

"Right now, the hungry people of Sanchuan are gathering. If there is another massacre, the Shangshu will still be convicted and dismissed."

"The Minister is over sixty, how many more years can he enjoy life?"

"If I am deposed, I will lose my reputation and my reputation will be ruined."

"In this case, it would be better to relocate the hungry people in Sanchuan. Perhaps I can stay in the post of Jiedushi for a few more years."

"If this matter is handed over to students, it will definitely be done perfectly!"

Yang Zhiwen persuaded Feng Ao, and Feng Ao gradually became interested, and couldn't help asking: "Can this really be done perfectly?"

"Of course!" Yang Zhiwen knew too well the personalities of officials in the prefectures and counties of Shannan West Road.

In addition, the eunuchs in the province are also greedy for money. As long as you give them enough money, their mouths will be as tight as iron clamps.

Hearing this, Feng Ao gradually relaxed and asked:
"If everything goes perfectly on our side, will there be any mistakes on Liu Jilong's side?"

"No!" Yang Zhiwen shook his head firmly, which surprised Feng Ao.

"It seems that Dezhi trusts him very much."

Feng Ao was hinting at something, so Yang Zhiwen explained: "Liu Jilong has the appearance of an outstanding person and a magnanimous demeanor."

"He was born a slave, with no background, but he was able to rise from a small soldier to the current commander of Longyou within five years. His ability must be outstanding."

"If the Shangshu makes friends with him, maybe he will lend a helping hand in the future. Even if he cannot return to the imperial court, he can still keep his wealth and honor."

The words "a great man" immediately convinced Feng Ao.

After all, Yang Zhiwen was from the Hongnong Yang family, and Feng Ao had never heard him make such an evaluation of anyone.

Moreover, the news of Liu Jilong's outstanding character had spread throughout Chang'an through the mouths of Xue Kui and Wang Zonghui after they were transferred back to Chang'an.

Thinking of this, Feng Ao's eyes flickered, and after a moment he asked tentatively: "What does Liu Jilong look like? Is he married?"

Yang Zhiwen's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he immediately guessed what Feng Ao wanted to do, so he bowed and said:
"Liu Jilong has a strong and resolute spirit, long and sharp eyes, is eight feet tall, has a very majestic appearance, is twenty-two years old, and has no wife yet."

"Are there really such people?" Feng Ao was stunned. He thought that a great man just looked different from ordinary people.

But after Yang Zhiwen said this, Feng Ao was a little hesitant to believe it.

The 22-year-old Jiedushi was not only good at fighting, but also handsome and unmarried...

"Liu Jilong is better than what I said. If the Minister does not believe me, you can send someone to Wuzhou with me to test him."

Yang Zhiwen strongly recommended Liu Jilong, and Feng Ao was slightly tempted when he heard it.

"How about this, I will send Meicheng to go with you. If Meicheng likes her, you can try to act as a matchmaker for Miss Xiaoqi."

"But Liu Jilong is just as you said. I'm afraid he doesn't think highly of Miss Xiaoqi."

"If things don't work out, you and Meicheng should come back for now, and don't let it affect Kouma's affairs."

Madam Xiaoqi is Feng Ao’s seventh granddaughter, and Meicheng is the courtesy name of Feng Ao’s eldest grandson Feng Bangyan.

Upon hearing this, Yang Zhiwen immediately bowed and said, "I have seen that Liu Jilong attaches great importance to the issue of marriage. In addition, he is still unmarried at the age of 22. I am 60% sure that I can be a matchmaker for Miss Xiaoqi!"

"Okay, okay..." Feng Ao quickly agreed after hearing that, and then ordered someone to call his eldest grandson Feng Bangyan.

Not long after, Feng Bangyan walked into the study room wearing a green robe. He was nearly thirty years old, with a handsome appearance. He was the eldest of Feng Ao's seven grandchildren.

"Meicheng, I called you here because of Madam Xiaoqi's marriage."

Feng Ao told the story first, and then asked Yang Zhiwen to introduce Liu Jilong.

Feng Bangyan frowned after hearing this, and after pondering for a moment, he bowed:
"Ah Weng, Liu Jilong was born a slave, how can he be worthy of my seventh sister?"

"Besides, he is a warrior, exposed to the wind and sun, how good can he look?"

"Stupid!" Feng Ao was so angry that he blew his beard and said with his eyes wide open:
"Liu Jilong controls Longxi and has tens of thousands of people under his command. Even the imperial court is wary of him. How dare you, a kid, look down on him?"

"I..." Feng Bangyan just didn't want his younger sister to marry a warrior. Now that his grandfather said so, he felt embarrassed to continue.

Fortunately, Yang Zhiwen was right beside him and quickly tried to smooth things over:

"Shangshu, please don't be angry. Meicheng and I will find out what Liu Jilong is like."

"If Meicheng doesn't like her, then there's no need to be a matchmaker for Miss Xiaoqi."

"Okay!" Feng Bangyan agreed quickly. He didn't think what Yang Zhiwen said was true. As long as he didn't mention matchmaking at that time, the marriage would be cancelled.

Seeing this, Yang Zhiwen smiled and looked at Feng Ao: "Minister, if that's the case, then I will go to Wuzhou with Meicheng tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll trouble you with this matter." Feng Ao nodded with satisfaction. After all, if this marriage went through, he, Feng Ao, would have something to rely on.

With Liu Jilian's military power and the money earned from the horse-trade, these arrogant and powerful generals in Shannan West Road would not dare to disobey him.

Thinking of this, Feng Ao felt that he would finally live a comfortable life.

When he was thinking this, Yang Zhiwen also bowed and said, "Shangshu, although that is true, if the marriage is to be successful, we still have to put on a show."

"Pretending?" Feng Ao frowned and looked at Yang Zhiwen in confusion. Yang Zhiwen quickly said:

"The court will naturally be suspicious if we conclude a marriage for no apparent reason."

"If this is accomplished, we still have to send people to create some disturbances on the Xingwu border. If the court sends people to inquire about it afterwards, we can say that it was Liu Jilong who forced Xiaoqi to marry her, and the Shangshu had no choice but to marry Xiaoqi off. This will calm Liu Jilong's anger."

"Good!" Feng Ao stroked his beard with satisfaction. Feng Bangyan shook his head and interrupted coldly:

"Let's wait until Brother Dezhi and I meet Liu Jilong before discussing this matter."

"It's natural."

Yang Zhiwen responded with a smile, thinking that once Feng Bangyan saw Liu Jilong in person, he would be eager to marry Miss Xiaoqi away.

(End of this chapter)