In early September, Cheng Shimeng, the new volcanic army guru, arrived, and Du Zhongxiao and a group of officials welcomed him into the city.

After entering the yamen, the guest and host took a seat and had tea. Cheng Shimeng said: "When I came, my husband repeatedly reminded me that this place is important. But the newly built city is not tall, isn't it a bit simple?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "It's not as high as before. The taller the city wall, the better. The Khitan and Dangxiang people were not good at attacking the city, let alone the surrounding foreign lands. This city is enough. The small volcanic army needs to build a big city, but there are not so many people."

Cheng Shimeng nodded without saying a word. Before coming, he heard that the Volcano Army used a lot of muskets and cannons here, but he had never seen the usage. It was hard to say much about things he had never seen before.

After the reception banquet, Cheng Shi Mengzi went to rest. Du Zhongxiao looked for Cheng Wenli and Pan Zhen and said, "In the past two days, you will clear your accounts to prepare for the New Knowledge Army to check. After I leave, you will still have to work under Cheng Zhijun, so you must not be careless."

Cheng Wenli and Pan Zhen agreed and went back to make arrangements.

The handover of old and new officials and checking the accounts of each database is the top priority. If the old job is in deficit, the one who takes over must be clearly stated, signed and stamped, and approved by the boss, otherwise the blame will be taken on the blame. Everything is clear, and the new official takes office and the old official leaves. Some places are too outrageous, and new officials refuse to take office no matter what, resulting in the old official being unable to leave.

Du Zhongxiao made countless money when he arrived at the Volcano Army for more than a year. Not only did he not lose money, but he also had savings in each warehouse. In this case, Cheng Wenli and Pan Zhen worked very hard and took their accounts to Cheng Shimeng to seek credit.

In the ranch, Du Zhongxiao and Chen Qin sat opposite each other and drank wine with a pot of meat and a fish.

After three rounds of drinking, Du Zhongxiao said to Chen Qin: "The new official has taken office and has been checking the treasury everywhere these days. How about the pasture?"

Chen Qin said: "Cheng Zhijun came once the day before yesterday and saw the livestock in the ranch. He admired it very much, and there was nothing else."

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "That's good. Now you have become an official, you can't compare to the past. You don't have to follow me back to Beijing and take a look at the Volcano Army. If the new army of zhijun appreciates it, you will make some contributions and find a way to be promoted. If you do not do it well, tell me in time that I will find a way. If you are an official like you, the court does not take strict control of yourself, so you don't have to be wronged."

Chen Qin said yes. He said this very clearly. If you do it happily, you should continue to do it. If you don’t do it, Du Zhongxiao finds a way to transfer him away. If there is really no way, he will apply oil to the soles of his feet and leave him. If you are a small official in charge, the court will not care about it. If you return to Du Zhongxiao, there will be a chance in the future.

After arranging a future, Chen Qin sighed and said, "I have nothing, what is my identity before? Now I am an official, what else is there to be dissatisfied with me! It's just Saisai. I heard that the official returned to Beijing and he wanted to stay here with me. I was very dissatisfied and had a few quarrels with me."

Du Zhongxiao said: "What are the couples? They have to fight and make trouble, and their lives will continue. If you become an official, he will be glorious in front of others."

Chen Qin nodded, smiled and said nothing. After years together, although Lu Saisai was as lazy as before, he no longer left Chen Qin at all. When he was in Yongcheng, the two of them lived together. After a few years of running-in, they finally became a real couple.

After seeing Chen Qin's expression, Du Zhongxiao knew that Chen Qin and Lu Saisai had been struggling for several years and finally stabilized. He said to him: "While you are young, you can have a few children and live a solid life."

Lu Saisei grew up in a pleasure boat when she was young. I don’t know what to do to avoid having children. It’s the secret method of these people. Luo Jing, who stayed at home, already had a son, and Lu Saisei wanted to have a child.

Chen Qin was also confused about this and just agreed vaguely. Chen Qin was in charge of the ranch. In addition to his salary, he also had a lot of extra money. The two of them lived a very rich life. As long as Lu Saisei calmed down, he should live a good life.

Seeing that Chen Qin was not speaking, Du Zhongxiao shook his head, why don’t you say anything? After a while, he suddenly remembered and said to Chen Qin again: “By the way, Jingjing will follow me back to Beijing this time and let you know. Without Jingjing, your wife will have a break from her thoughts, and do her life well.”

Chen Qin nodded silently. Lu Saisai has always been that kind of personality. He has never had the intention of being a good woman in his bones and has always had the intention of relying on Jingjing to support his elderly care. Even though Jingjing is from the Du family now, her idea is still there and she doesn't want to have children by herself.

Du Zhongxiao thought that Chen Qin was really smart when he met such a woman. However, Chen Qin was happy with it, so he couldn't say anything. Now that he became an official, he would support him more in the future. I think Lu Saisai would slowly change.

In the past, Tao Shiqi followed his several of his people in Yongcheng, and Tao Shiqi went to Xiangzhou to become the chief officer of gun casting and cannons. Chen Qin managed the ranch, and they all had an official position. Luo Jing was in his family and now he was in charge of the family, and his life was better than these two people. Now there was only one Shisanlang following Du Zhongxiao. Du Zhongxiao also thought about let Shisanlang join the army and gain a background. However, he had no connections in the army and had no wars. He might not have a future in the army, so he would still be with him first.

After leaving the ranch, Du Zhongxiao rode his horse and followed his followers slowly towards the newly built volcanic county town not far away.

In just over a year, this area has been opened into farmland, with flat land, neat roads and crisscrossing ditches. There is no longer the desolate scene when Du Zhongxiao first came. On the main road, a large cart passed by, and the drivers sat on the shaft and rushed leisurely.

From a wasteland to a crisscrossing road, this change makes people feel a sense of accomplishment. Du Zhongxiao sighed a lot. At this time, the Song Dynasty was not very crowded, and a few places in Fujian were covered with wastelands. As long as they were organized properly, food shortages should not occur. For local officials, Du Zhongxiao was actually a good example. According to the prescriptions and medicines he made, many places could develop.

The financial situation is tense every year, and the Sansi racked his brains to plunder the people, for many reasons. First, there are too many troops. In such a large country, more than one million regular troops are equivalent to dozens of households raising a soldier. Moreover, most of the troops are located in the north, and the burden on the people in the north is too heavy. Another thing is that the logistics level is too low, and the cost of long-distance transportation of materials is too high. Most of the food and grass transported to the border areas is wasted on freight.

Compared with Khitan and Dangxiang, the population and economy of the Song Dynasty were too strong. If it could be transformed into military strength, one to fight two, it should be suppressed. But after staying in the volcanic army for more than a year, Du Zhongxiao knew that it was far from that. Not to mention the more remote Shaanxi, as far as Hedong Road was concerned, the local area could only support 100,000 troops. It would be nice to transport grain from outside, transport it from the two capitals and one area to the place, and one tenth of them were left to the place. The farther place would be wasted on the road. The 100,000 troops would have no advantage over Khitan and Dangxiang.

Looking at the big carts that occasionally passed on the road, Du Zhongxiao strongly felt that this inconspicuous means of transportation was actually very important to the current Song Dynasty. If there were developed roads, the big carts could be unobstructed to the capital, and it would be no problem to increase the Hedong Road army several times.
Chapter completed!