Zhouya, South Courtyard.
There were soldiers standing outside the house, looking around cautiously.
The room was glittering with golden light. Lou Rui walked excitedly among the wooden shelves. Sometimes he picked up a string of jewelry, touched it gently with gentle eyes, put it down, and suddenly picked up a dagger. The hilt of the dagger was inlaid with
A huge gem with a color that Lou Rui had never seen before. Looking at the dagger in his hand, Lou Rui burst into tears, "It's beautiful. It's so beautiful."
Just when Lou Rui was immersed in the beauty, a cry suddenly came from outside.
"Mr. Lou!! The Turkic envoy is here!!"
Lou Rui reluctantly put down the dagger, walked all the way to the door, turned back again, and looked at his babies again. When he turned his head, the gentleness and kindness on his face disappeared, and his whole face was filled with tears.
Became solemn and ferocious.
He opened the door and walked into the courtyard, his eyes flashing fiercely.
There were four people standing in the empty courtyard, talking quietly. When they saw Lou Rui coming out, they quickly stopped talking and looked at him.
I saw the cold look on Lou Rui's face and the narrow and sinister eyes that followed his father. He looked directly at the envoys in front of him and strode towards them. Several envoys were shocked and looked at them.
Looking at Lou Rui who was approaching step by step, he hurriedly saluted.
"Meet the Governor!"
Although they are dressed in Turkic attire, judging from their appearance, they are definitely from the Central Plains.
In these years, a large number of people from the Central Plains fled outside the Great Wall. Some escaped because they could not bear the hard labor, and some were sold at high prices.
In the past, craftsmen were very popular outside the Great Wall.
After the creeping Anayu Khan came to power, scholars became very popular outside the Great Wall.
This man reused a large number of people from the Central Plains, imitated the Central Plains, established official positions such as Shizhong and Huangmenlang, and strengthened the khan's centralization system, which led to a short-term resurgence in Rouran.
This also led many other tribes to learn to buy these scholars from the Central Plains and use them as officials to help them establish formal official positions and better rule their tribes.
Lou Rui was so close to them that they almost bumped into each other.
He lowered his head and looked at the saluting envoys in front of him. Without returning the salute, he directly grabbed the leader, holding his neck with his hand, and looked him up and down.
Suddenly, Lou Rui sneered, "I thought you were a Turk. Aren't you from Qi with your appearance?"
The messenger said seriously: "My ancestors were from Youzhou."
"Why are you a thief?"
"Although my Khan lives outside the Great Wall, he treats the scholars with great courtesy and will reward their merits. He will not deceive them. Selling them outside the Great Wall is not considered a thief."
Hearing the messenger's words, Lou Rui laughed loudly and pushed him away.
"I have nothing to talk to you. The reason why I don't kill you is because I want you to live to send a message to them. Come on, chop off the others. Cut off this one's ears and send them back."
Several envoys were shocked, and the leader cursed: "Qi State sent envoys to our Khan, but they did not treat us badly. Why are we here now, but we have to suffer such treatment?"
"We came to discuss important matters under the orders of the Khan, but we ended up like this!!"
Prefect Yilou, who was standing not far away, couldn't wait any longer. He walked up quickly and persuaded: "Mr. Lou, you can't treat the envoys like this. Why don't you listen to what they have to say first?"
Lou Rui snorted coldly, "What's there to say to them? When Emperor Wenxuan was still there, they bowed their heads and begged for mercy and were let go. When Emperor Wenxuan just passed away, they sent people to station in my old town. I even want to collude with the Puppet Zhou, so I will ignore the Puppet Zhou and insist on leading the army to fight with that Khan!"
He looked at the messenger angrily and said, "Go back and tell your Khan that since I have arrived here, I will definitely lead a large army to attack him. Either he dies or I die."
The leader of the messenger was shocked.
He looked at the prefect again, and Prefect Yilou couldn't help but said: "Mr. Lou!! Don't be angry, these things. Even if there are these things, you shouldn't do anything to the envoys. We sent envoys in the past, but they didn't Humiliation is inappropriate, it’s really inappropriate!”
Lou Rui pondered for a moment and asked: "They really didn't humiliate our envoy?"
"No, no."
Lou Rui nodded and looked at the messenger in front of him again, "In that case, I won't humiliate you anymore. Tell me, why are you here?!"
The messenger breathed a sigh of relief, but after being so threatened by Lou Rui, his thoughts were completely confused.
He came here this time to put pressure on the Daqi frontier and ask them to give an explanation for the attack on the photo tent.
But now it seems that with the recklessness and irritability of this governor, if he asks for an explanation again, he may not be able to return alive.
The envoy changed his words and said, "Master Governor, we are here to ask why Qi State attacked our tent."
“Yours??”
Lou Rui was furious again, "You were clearly the one who sent people to our country first, so why did we attack you instead?"
The envoy was also very angry, "Why did Mr. Lou say this? The edge of Xinshan Mountain is the homeland of Rouran people. We defeated Rouran and stationed here. How did it become the territory of Qi State?"
"Oh, the messenger is really forgetful. When you attacked Rouran and pursued us to the frontier, the Rouran people asked Qi for help. Emperor Wenxuan led the troops to go out, protected Tiefaqhan, and allowed them to go with the surrendered Gaoche. People are grazing around Mount Xin.”
"Why doesn't this place belong to our country, Qi?"
The envoy's face turned red with anxiety, "But those Rouran people rebelled against Qi again and were defeated by you!!"
"What? They rebelled. Could it be that the land given to them also changed owners?"
"According to your statement, if I raise troops in Shuozhou today and are killed by the temple, will Shuozhou no longer belong to Qi State from now on?"
The messenger was speechless and just defended: "You never sent anyone to govern!"
"So you just grabbed it?"
Looking at the envoy who suddenly fell silent in front of him, Lou Rui continued: "You all know how powerful our Qi country is. In these days, you have been too close to the Puppet Zhou. How can this be done?"
"You should go back to Yazhang first and tell your Khan that the Puppet Zhou may not be trustworthy. When we sent troops to Xinshan before, did they send any soldiers?"
"But if they want to attack you, I will definitely send out all my troops."
"This is the difference between the two countries. If we continue to force each other like this, and Qi and the Turks are at war in the future, will the Puppet Zhou send troops to help? They will wait for both of us to lose, and then send out!!"
"Let Khan think about it!"
Lou Rui waved his hand and sent these guests away.
After they left, the way Governor Yi Lou looked at Lou Rui became a little different.
He hurriedly stepped forward and saluted, "Lou Gong is wise!!"
"What kind of wisdom? If you are really wise, why would you be thrown into this hellish place?"
Lou Rui looked around and pulled the other person towards the backyard. On the road, Lou Rui said seriously: "This time Luo did something really stupid!"
"I went to the border town to check out the situation, and was stopped three times to ask about food and grass!"
"If this continues, I'm afraid that sooner or later the border soldiers will attack the government, a rebellion is imminent, and there will be a chaos!!"
Hearing Lou Rui's words, the prefect was also startled. He quickly asked: "Mr. Lou, they just took a lot of money and grain not long ago, why do they continue to ask for it?"
Lou Rui suddenly stopped.
"Whether it's money or food, it's all the same."
"Having a lot, you want more. Having a lot, you still want more than that."
"This thing has no end, it will never be enough, it will never be enough."
Yilou looked at Lou Rui who suddenly felt emotional, and nodded helplessly, "Mr. Lou is right."
"Naihe, the truth is just for others to listen to."
Lou Rui suddenly said something and quickly regained consciousness. He said: "I came here this time just to fill this vacancy. The temple does not have much food anymore. The issue of border soldiers cannot be delayed."
"From today on, all counties and counties will allocate half of their money to support the border troops."
"What?!"
The prefect's expression changed drastically, "How can this be possible?! We can't afford to pay the tribute alone. We still need help from the temple, and we still need to share the grain? No, no!"
"What's wrong? Do you want to hand it over yourself, or do you want to wait for the border soldiers to come and pick it up?"
"The Governor, this"
"If you feel like you can't finish it, there is another way."
"Those who regard themselves as noble in the temple say that they can farm here and use civilians from all over the country to cultivate and cultivate the land, and let the border soldiers handle part of the food and wages themselves."
The prefect nodded, "We heard from King Shunyang about this matter. Although there is something wrong with it, at the moment, it is the best way and we can implement it!"
"Execution? What do you think is the cultivation of land?"
"Catch those peasants, point them outside, and let them farm?"
"Have you ever farmed?"
Lou Rui suddenly became irritable, "This is easy to say, but how can we really do it?"
"Farming requires arable land. Is there any around here?"
"I need farm tools, do they have them?"
"There are no seeds, no land, not even a hoe, let alone cattle. How can we cultivate land? How can we cultivate fields?"
"Even if all these are complete, how many years will it take to turn a piece of wasteland into fertile land?"
"It's just a scholar's opinion, useless!"
Lou Rui waved his hand, "Just follow what I said and let each locality prepare money and food. What I said comes first. If you can get it together, you have to get it together. If you can't get it together, you have to get it together. Whoever has the money can do it. When the frontier soldiers
I am ready to move and force the border soldiers to rebel. No one can afford to delay. In order to appease the border soldiers, the temple has given me great power. I have the right to kill all ministers and generals in the entire state!!"
The prefect's face became even more ugly.
He hesitated and was speechless. Lou Rui waved his hand and said, "I'll give you half a month to do it!"
"If you can't handle it, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
Lou Rui raised his head and strode towards the inner room.
Seeing Lou Rui leaving directly, the prefect felt a splitting headache and hurriedly led the people away from the government office. Soon, different horses carried their masters and galloped away to various places.
Lou Rui has been in the state government office these days.
Lou Rui had almost no entertainment pursuits. He didn't like hunting or going out. Instead, he hired some craftsmen. It was said that he wanted to renovate his mansion. He kicked out all the officials working in the state government and asked them to stay outside.
Another hospital was set up, and many of his family members and close relatives moved into the state government office. He once again turned this place into his home.
But unlike him, officials and nobles from all over the country were anxious.
After repeated hesitation, they decided that Governor Yilou would come forward and hold a banquet to discuss the matter with Lou Rui.
Stop talking nonsense about asking the frontier nobles to pay to feed the frontier soldiers. It would be better to think about reclamation.
The scale of this second banquet was obviously not as good as the previous one. These people were worried and had their own agendas, and they had no intention of having fun. Lou Rui, on the other hand, had a great time and didn't care about everyone's emotions at all.
Although he told Liu Taozi that these people were difficult to deal with, given his status and qualifications, there was nothing difficult to do in Daqi.
He went out to fight with Gao Huan when he was in his teens and before he came of age. He had already reached the highest position when he was first crowned. If he had not been deposed by Gao Cheng, he would have been one of the three princes in the court.
How dare these poor nobles staying at the frontier to bare their teeth at me? They don’t even dare to return to Luo!
Watching Lou Rui hugging him from left to right and singing loudly from time to time, people sat on both sides and hesitated to speak.
When Lou Rui was tired from singing and was about to take a rest, Prefect Yi Lou finally came out and sat slightly close to Lou Rui.
"Mr. Lou, we have prepared some gifts for you."
Lou Rui glanced at him, "Gift? Do you think giving a gift can solve the problem of border soldiers?"
"No, of course not. This gift is just out of respect for you and has nothing to do with the border soldiers."
Hearing this, Lou Rui's face became more solemn, and he looked around, "Let's evacuate the dancers and attendants."
Governor Yilou hurriedly gave the order, and soon, only these respectable people from the border area were left in the house.
Lou Rui looked at them and sneered, "That time Luo was a vulgar martial artist who didn't understand strategy. Don't you guys also understand?"
"Is this military ration also available?"
"Are you okay now? The border soldiers are ready to move, are you scared? Why didn't you think of it before?"
Everyone slowly lowered their heads.
Lou Rui added: "I came from the frontier and I know your situation. You are not having a hard time either. We really don't have much food at home. If you are asked to support the frontier soldiers, sooner or later we will break through."
"Well, I have a way to make a fortune, would you like to come with us?"
Everyone looked at each other, and Yi Lou hurriedly said: "Please let Mr. Lou know!"
Lou Rui stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Speaking of which, Huiluo is really buying a coffin for a pearl. This great border land has been reduced to this by him."
He looked to the left and right and said seriously: "First of all, it's the matter of reclamation."
"You can bring out the necessary farm tools, seeds, and even farmland."
"You must not be short of these things. According to preliminary calculations, there are 200,000 civilians. However, the actual number is definitely not just these. There are many, many, many more. You also know how much food is produced in the border areas.
very."
"The temple will definitely provide replacement money, and we have settled 200,000 people. No matter how many others are added, they will be our own. If no one comes, we can still find them from outside the district."
Lou Rui looked at the people on the left and right, "Everyone, please remember, it's hard to say how long I can stay here. Just to see the benefits, it will take three years at the earliest. Will I still be here in three years?
I don’t know, but many of you must still be here, especially those whose families are here, haha, you have paid so hard once, and you will reap rewards every year in the future.”
"Firstly, I can appease the border soldiers, secondly, I can have a fixed amount of food every year, and thirdly, I can get rewards from the temple. Well, compared to that, taking out something right now is nothing."
"If you are willing, you can make distribution specifications based on what you pay now. The more you give, the more convenience you will get in the future!"
Lou Rui grinned, "Don't frown in a hurry. Apart from this, there are other good things. This tea is a big business, including tea, iron, salt, porcelain, and paper. How much can be looted? The border fortress is close to all places.
, all operations are being carried out under our eyes, how much profit can we make from this?"
"As long as these two things are done well, money and food will be inexhaustible."
"And the place can be managed, and the temple can also be rewarded, how great is it?"
"I have always been a childlike person in dealing with things. If you are willing to work with me, I can't say that you will definitely make money. If you lose money, I will lose money with you. If you get rich, I will make money with you."
"Everyone can think about it carefully. If you embezzle military rations, you will gain temporarily, but what will happen in the future? What if you are found out?"
"Although the Prime Minister is open-minded, one thing is that he has a rather violent personality and gets angry easily. Once he gets angry, he will beat and kill ministers in the court regardless of the occasion. That is also a common thing."
"Why would you take such a risk and do such an unreasonable thing?"
"But this reclamation is different. The household registration is 200,000. This is a fact. The newly added ones are all our own. Even if the temple knows it, it will never make it difficult. As for trade, the Prime Minister has already opened trade
I have discussed this idea with me many times. Why not increase your income?”
"I'll give you three days to think about it carefully."
"Think about it."
"By the way, if you want to work with me, these gifts alone are not enough. These things are not long-lasting for me, but they are for you. I will charge some fees, not too much."
Lou Rui narrowed his eyes and grinned. The cunning and greed in his eyes were intertwined, which was particularly scary.
Wuchuan.
Liu Taozi maintained her saluting posture and lowered her head forward.
Many of the minions knelt behind Liu Taozi and looked ahead.
An angel stood in front of them, holding an edict and reading it loudly.
". In April, he had meritorious service in defeating the Xi people and bandits. At the end of the month, he had meritorious service in destroying the Turkic tents. In June, he rectified the border troops and appeased the local area. The officials praised him and the governor expressed his merit. I hereby appoint Hufen General Liu Taozi as General Wuyi and order him to
Drill and rectify the border troops and make new achievements!!"
After the angel finished saying this, the solemnity on his face suddenly disappeared, and then he was full of smiles. He quickly walked forward and helped Liu Taozi up.
"Congratulations General!!"
"Congratulations to the general!!"
Chapter completed!