In the small study room, Zu Jue looked serious, kneeling in front of the desk, tapping his hand gently on the wooden desk in front of him.
The servant sat next to him and looked up at him from time to time.
He has not seen such a solemn look on the head of the family for a long time. Even when he was summoned and promoted by His Majesty, he always had a happy face. He was always smiling like this, as if nothing could make him sad.
.
But at this moment, he was extremely serious and solemn.
The servant asked in a low voice: "Master, are we going back?"
Zu Jue glanced at him, "Where are you going back?"
"I fled Yecheng on the grounds that my mother was seriously ill. When the emperor learned about this, he was determined to kill me."
The servant then said: "We will go back to Fan Yang's hometown and hide secretly."
"Oh, there is no other way out at the moment. I know you dislike the windy sand here, the cold and broken conditions, but once a person decides to achieve great things, he must go through this. Except for those who are born with the throne to inherit, who can
Can you escape?"
The servant's face was full of melancholy, "General Liu didn't approve of your big strategy, and we can't go back, so what will we do in the future?"
When Zu Jue heard what he said, he immediately felt a little unhappy, "It's not that he doesn't recognize it, it's just that he doesn't pay that much attention."
"There is nothing wrong with my strategy. Although it has flaws, this is what my lord lacks. He has never had a program that can be used as a guideline for future actions. He just follows the trend and is in a humble position with few followers.
At times, we can do things like this, but if we want to conquer the world, how can we just go with the flow and follow the trend? There must be a strategy to promote everything in the future."
"Once you have a strategy by your side, you can continue to refine it and plan it slowly, and then you can achieve great things."
"Then why doesn't the general take it seriously?"
The servant asked again.
Zu Jue immediately became silent.
He gently stroked his beard and frowned, yes, why?
If you want to achieve great things, there is no better strategy than his. He had checked it before coming. There was no one around Liu Taozi who could come up with a big strategy for him. Most of them were young people from the grassroots who could
You do things, but you can't take charge of them. Your horizons haven't reached that level yet.
Logically speaking, Liu Taozi shouldn't be so contemptuous.
What went wrong?
Zu Jue fell into deep thought again.
The slave looked at him carefully, but did not dare to interrupt. Zu Jue suddenly turned his head and looked into the slave's small eyes, feeling a little upset, "Don't stare at me here, go buy some things and prepare them."
It’s a good home, we may have to stay here from now on.”
The servant did not dare to object, so he quickly stood up and said yes, then turned and left.
Zu Jue was still sitting in the study, frowning and lost in thought.
The servant walked out of the study and came to a simple courtyard.
There were those close followers who followed in the courtyard. At this moment, most of them were gathered together, talking about something unknown. The servant waved his hand, called out a few of them, and led them out of the courtyard.
They did not live in Wuchuan City, but were arranged in a village outside the city.
This is already the largest township around Wuchuan. It feels vaguely like a small town. The roads inside and outside are flat, the houses on the left and right are tall, and there are patrolling soldiers.
The servant looked around and finally politely stopped a group of patrolling soldiers.
Judging from their hair ornaments, these soldiers looked like Han Chinese, but their steps were neat and orderly, making them much stronger than ordinary county soldiers.
The old slave smiled and said: "I'm sorry to bother you, but I just want to ask you, where is the nearby city?"
When the soldiers heard this, they suddenly laughed.
The leader turned around and glared at them, and the soldiers immediately did not dare to laugh anymore.
There is a clear gap between the leader and the rest of the soldiers. To put it bluntly, it is like the difference between the Jinyang soldiers and the local army. They are completely different in height, physique, and eyes.
The man spoke with an accent from Boling and said: "The people living here are all civilians, and the food and clothing are distributed by the general's government. There is no market."
"In the city on the Wuchuan side, only military households are allowed to enter. Outsiders are not allowed to go."
"If you want to buy what you need, you have to go south, to Beiheng or Beishuo, you can buy it there."
The old slave was shocked and asked: "Where is the nearest market?"
The sergeant pulled him over and pointed to the road in the distance, "Go forward from this way. Don't make any turns. Just go straight for twenty miles."
"Twenty miles??"
The old slave pursed his lips, bowed to the sergeant and thanked him, and then led everyone forward.
The sergeant reminded: "Remember to prepare a place to pass, otherwise you will be detained along the way. You also have to worry about the road to the north. Turkic cavalry often appears there recently."
The old slave stopped immediately, his face was troubled, he hesitated for a moment, and then left the place on horseback.
I don't know how long it took, but it was already dark, and the old slave led these people back to the house.
He hurried to see Zu Jue.
Zu Jue looked annoyed, "I haven't seen you for a whole day. I thought you went to Yecheng to report me!"
The study room was extremely messy, and the books that Zu Jue had brought were all casually discarded on the ground.
Zu Jue's hair is also a little messy, and it can be seen that he is really not in a good mood.
The old slave's face was filled with grievances, and he quickly complained:
"Master, the city is too far away!"
"And there aren't many merchants in the city here! If you want to buy things, you have to go to the Great Wall and buy outside the wall!"
"The merchants went over there to do business."
"The items are rare and expensive, and they dare to sell a broken bowl for thousands of dollars! They are simply out of their minds and crazy!!"
Zu Jue listened to the old slave's cry, and suddenly his eyes lit up.
He started walking back and forth, walked like this for a few steps, and then stopped again, "Get the car ready! I'm going to Wuchuan!!"
"ah??"
The old slave didn't dare to dissuade him. The master's ideas were always changeable.
Soon, the carriage hurriedly set off for Wuchuan.
Fortunately, Wuchuan was mostly a military household, and knights and scouts came and went frequently, so there was no curfew to close the city. Zu Jue just came to the gate of the government office again and asked the officials to report for him.
Zu Jue met Liu Taozi for the second time.
Liu Taozi hadn't rested yet. He was still sitting in that familiar room. There was a candle in front of him. The candle was swaying. Through the light of the candle, he could see that there were many maps in front of him. They were densely packed.
, are the defensive arrangements of various garrison towns. Zu Jue did not dare to take another look at them, for fear that he would remember them.
"General!!"
Liu Taozi still looked cold and calm, "What's the matter with you?"
Zu Jue raised his head and said, "General, I settled outside the city and wanted to buy some things for home use, but I found that the city is very far away from here. There are only a few small markets in the entire frontier states, and the prices are high.
What the people can afford, many merchants are even willing to go outside the Great Wall to enter the market, rather than doing business within the territory. Goods are becoming more and more scarce and prices are becoming more and more expensive."
"It is difficult for the people in the frontier to support themselves by farming alone. There are many people who make mulberry trees and many who herd sheep. They need the market. And the other people all need the market to exchange for their necessities."
"There are many specialties in the frontier fortress, and there are many nearby, so trade should flourish."
Liu Taozi put away the maps and slowly looked at Zu Jue with a serious expression.
"Then what do you think the reason is?"
Zu Jue was overjoyed and said quickly: "I think there are three problems at the moment. The first is the thieves. There are too many thieves along the road, and there are too few merchants who dare to come here."
"However, since the general came to power, there have been fewer and fewer thieves, and the garrison towns no longer dare to commit thieves openly."
"And the second point is the Guanjin tax."
"At the end of the Han Dynasty, the princes privately set up customs duties to collect supplies. Wei established one out of ten tariffs, which were followed by successive dynasties. Today, the tax at Guanjin Ferry is extremely high. Merchants have to pay more than half of it every time they pass by, and they have not yet reached their destination.
Land, the goods are paid for.”
"The third point is the city tax. The city tax was originally set at one dollar for entering the market. According to the scale, the shops were divided into five levels and taxed separately. But now, there is no relevant relationship. Each city has a private city tax. This progress
If you have to pay 40% to 50% of the goods sold in the market, who would want to enter the market?”
"They say they emphasize agriculture and suppress business, but there is no business at all. The people are fine, but what about the people?"
"Then what do you think we should do?"
"I have been to many places and have many good friends. I think the method in the south is very good."
"Although the south also levies customs duties and city taxes, there are clear regulations. They call them city assessments and loss assessments."
"The so-called market assessment and loss assessment are not indiscriminate like in the north, where they take your things when you pass through the customs and enter the market. Instead, taxes are levied based on the value and transaction volume of the goods, and the goods are divided into multiple categories to use their profit interests.
I think it is more appropriate to come here to collect taxes than in the north."
"Since ancient times, the prosperity of frontier fortresses has been inseparable from business. The general is now in charge of the four border states. The two cities along the road are under the rule of your majesty. Why don't the generals follow suit, change the methods of expropriation, and set new examples?
Once this happens, merchants who go to places such as Beyond the Great Wall, You, and An will come to Hengshuo one after another. The increase in merchants will be beneficial to the people and even more beneficial to us!"
"The increase in commercial taxes will help us get what we need and gradually get rid of the restrictions of temples!"
"The general now has elite troops, but the only problem is that he relies on the temple for food expenses, but in the winter of last year, the temple had already started to withhold supplies."
"Gao Zhan wants to gradually weaken the general's power by restricting transportation."
"If the matter of money and food cannot be resolved, the general will have to be controlled by the temple. Only through new methods suitable for border areas can we get rid of this predicament."
"When the money and food are sufficient, the general can lead his troops to attack the place where Yuwenhu's confidants are. There is internal disharmony among them. At first, everyone under Duguxin's command was neglected. Yuwenhu replaced them with his own confidants. If the general attacks Yuwenhu's
If the general attacks the confidants of Yang Zhong and others, Yu Wenhu will not save them."
"This is a great opportunity given to you by God!"
"General, don't hesitate!"
"Yang Zhong and other thieves tried several times and wanted to fight the general. Is this because they are loyal to the king?"
"wrong!"
Zu Jue said angrily: "Their situation is now similar to that of the generals. Yuwenhu keeps sending people like Gao Anahu to replace them. The people sent by Yuwenhu are loyal, and he himself can trust them, but there is one thing, they can't
Incapable of fighting!"
"Therefore, if Yang Zhong and others do not want their power to be weakened, they can only use war to make Yuwenhu stop such behavior. With frequent fighting and unstable frontiers, Yuwenhu dare not take action against these people!"
"The same principle applies to the general. The general and Yang Zhong can even cooperate. You can kill Yu Wenhu's henchmen for him, and he can kill Gao Zhan's henchmen for you."
In the small study room.
The old slave watched the soldiers pile supplies into the courtyard, and then looked excitedly at Zu Jue who was sitting aside and holding an official seal.
"Master!! You convinced him!"
Zu Jue shook his head bitterly.
"No. It's much better than the first time. I gave my family everything I needed, and I was given an official position. However, they still didn't recognize me."
The old slave whispered: "Master, after all, you have just arrived, I think you are already doing very well."
Zu Jue gritted his teeth, kept shaking his head, and pulled his hair again. As an extremely confident geek, Zu Jue still felt that there was nothing wrong with his idea.
To achieve great things, is there any strategy that is more complete and convenient than your own?
He has considered all factors and can achieve the greatest cause at the smallest cost. He wants to govern the people and wait until he becomes emperor. What can't he govern? Isn't it more natural than it is now?
The old slave looked at the master of the house who was thinking hard, and went out to place those things without disturbing him.
In the next few days, Zu Jue did not go out. He stayed in the study all the time. He only went out when he needed to go to the toilet. The rest of the time, he was alone and saw no one. He did not even go to see General Anxi again.
The old slave is not too worried about this.
Zu Jue has always been such a person. Lao Nu grew up with him. He has been like this since he was a child. No matter what he studies, if he doesn't learn the best, he will not give up and work day and night until
After doing it well and getting recognition, the slave watched him learn countless things over the years. The slave didn't even know what his master knew. He seemed to know everything.
On this day, as usual, the old slave was leading people to clean up the courtyards and prepare to raise some poultry in the courtyards. There was a knock on the door.
The servant hurried forward and opened the door.
Standing outside the door was a young scribe. The scribe was tall and dark-faced. It was obvious at a glance that he was a scholar from a remote area.
The old slave didn't dare to look down upon him. After all, he was followed by two soldiers. They were not ordinary soldiers, but real soldiers. With this standard, he was not a low-class person.
The man smiled and handed over his name card, "I am Cui Gang from Hengzhou, here to pay homage to my grandfather. This is my name card."
The old slave was shocked and said, "It's Mr. Cui! You've been neglected! You've been neglected!"
"Open the door quickly!"
Boling Cui, that is a huge creature.
The old slave hurriedly went in to report. After a while, Zu Jue staggered out of the study and came to greet him.
Cui Gang took the initiative to salute him, but Zu Jue didn't show off, smiled and returned the greeting, and took him into the study.
The two of them were sitting in the study room. Cui Gang just said: "I always heard about my grandfather's name in the past, but never had the chance to make friends with him. I came to Wuchuan to report everything. When I heard that you were here, I came to see you. It was rude.
"
"How dare you, how dare you. Our two families are quite close friends. It's my fault that we came to the frontier but didn't go to see you first."
Both of them skillfully used the polite manners of wealthy people, and then began to build relationships. After climbing up and down, they discovered that Zu Ying, the former cavalry general of Zu Jue's father, and Cui Ang's father had consulted the great scholar Zhang Tianlong together.
"Shang Shu", therefore, Cui Gang called him brother.
Zu Jue's family is not a small one. He was born in the Fanyang clan, and his ancestor Ti who heard the chicken dance was his ancestor.
The two chatted passionately for a while, and then Cui Gang asked: "I heard that my eldest brother paid homage to the general twice, and after being awarded the official position, he did not go back and stay at home. What is the reason for this?"
"Did the general ask you to come?"
"No, the general is very busy right now. I came here on my own."
Zu Jue shook his head and said with emotion: "I came here not to get a small official position to make a living. I came here to assist the general and achieve great things. However, the countermeasures I offered were not recognized by the general. I myself
I’m still thinking about the reason.”
Cui Gang laughed and said, "When I went to see the general, the general told me about this."
"What did he say?!"
Zu Jue asked quickly.
Cui Gang calmly replied: "The general only talked about your countermeasures, but did not comment. But I think you did two things wrong."
"Oh? I'd like to hear the details."
"Brother, I have always despised the rank and title and paid more attention to the people. Your strategy is centered on how to quickly ascend to the throne, but not on how to govern the people."
Zu Jue shook his head, "This is not a conflict. Only by accomplishing great things first can we govern the people."
"But I feel something is wrong. Didn't Emperor Daxing achieve great things? Didn't Prime Minister Yang ever hold great power? Going forward, what about Shenwu and Wenxiang?"
"The general has become the emperor, but the people in this place are still the same people as in the past, officials, officials, and soldiers. Apart from the fact that the emperor is different, what other differences are there?"
"I feel that what my general wants is to turn the world upside down and build it up again, not to inherit a dynasty full of diseases."
Zu Jue suddenly figured out something. Although he still didn't quite agree with the other party's statement, he did grasp something, breaking and building again, old and new, compromise and thoroughness.
He stood up suddenly and said, "Here comes someone! Prepare your carriage and horses!!"
Cui Gang watched him jump up and ran out of the study, leaving him sitting here alone.
He stared blankly at Zu Jue running out, but hesitated to speak.
A moment later, Zu Jue ran in again and held his hand, "If you can achieve success in the future, you will never forget what happened today!"
After saying that, he ran out again.
Cui Gang walked out of the door in a daze, and saw the old slave yelling, preparing the car, and rushed out with his master.
It is true that like a master, like a servant.
Strange.
Weird people, weird things.
Chapter completed!