In the courtyard, under the lamp in front of the hall, Lan Tian and Hu Ke sat down to greet each other.
From the time he entered Jianye City in the morning until nightfall, Lantian had no chance to talk to Hu Ke, not because he was unwilling, but because he had too many worries, and Hu Ke himself knew it very well.
Hu Ke is the son-in-law of the Zhang family and is the hero who assisted Zhang Zhao in his surrender. If his true identity is exposed, the Zhang family will most likely be ostracized, which is something Lan Tian does not want to see.
"Long time no see, how are you doing?" Lan Tian's words were kind and kind.
Hu Ke smiled and replied: "Thanks to Mr. Hongfu, I will eventually marry a wife and have children here. I will live a very happy life. I just can't listen to the teachings often, but I'm fine now."
"You have worked hard these years, and the first contribution to the recovery of Yangzhou for His Majesty must be yours. Please accept my respect." After saying this, Lan Tian stood up solemnly, cupped his fists and bowed to Hu Ke.
Hu Ke was shocked. He quickly held Lan Tian's hands and said excitedly: "Sir, how can this be done? If Hu Ke accepts your gift, how can he go to see the brothers who are trapped in the enemy army? This is all the responsibility of the general, sir, please don't do this." "
Lan Tian was helped to sit back down, shook his head, smiled and praised: "People say that Yu Zecheng is very smart. I didn't expect that he would be such an official. I have always buried him in the past."
"Whatever you said, sir, if I hadn't heard it and seen it by your side, I wouldn't be as capable as I am now." Hu Ke always maintained a humble attitude in front of Lan Tian.
"You have become more tactful. With your current ability, if I deal with Sun Quan a few years later, I'm afraid I won't just be annoying the left governor of the Wei Dynasty, right?" Lan Tian suddenly remembered a line, three years and three years.
"Hey, it's hard to tell." Hu Kexin said that if Lu Xun had any good intentions, he might be able to compete for the unlucky governorship with the help of the Zhang family and Sun Quan.
"I met Zhang Huishu at the dock last night. He was full of praise when he mentioned you. It seems that the Zhang family is very satisfied with your son-in-law and will contribute more to the governance of Jiangdong in the future." The Lantian family boasted to the end and finally brought the topic down to business.
Hu Ke stood up with clasped fists: "Hu Ke, everything is given by my husband. I will do my best to help you control Jiangdong. In fact, if it weren't for this coup, the Zhang family would not have paid such attention to me."
Lan Tian waved his hand for Hu Ke to sit down, "A big family naturally puts the interests of the family first. Even if Sun Quan and Zhang Zhao are your matchmakers, your background is always a bit poor. It's good to be kind to you. Now Jiangdong Although it has not been completely pacified, the Jiangdong nobles, Huaisi Zhang Zhao and others are all trying to make a move. Now I want to know the actual situation in Soochow. You used the trading house as a cover, so you should be able to get a lot of information, right?"
"There is indeed a lot of information. I wonder what you want to ask about, sir?" Hu Ke asked back.
Lan Tian stroked his beard and said: "To put it simply, rights are nothing more than military rights. Now that His Majesty has conquered the world, the original private military system of Soochow can no longer exist. In addition, with the surrendered troops collected in the Pingxiang War, I do not intend to continue to grant them to private individuals. Jiangdong Where did the money and food go in the end? Please tell me carefully, and try to be as detailed as possible."
"No problem. Jiangdong's land is mainly concentrated in wealthy families and clans, and the tax pricing power is also there."
Hu Ke summarized and summed up what he heard in Sun Quan and the court, as well as the information obtained by Yu's trading company, and said it in a leisurely manner. The content was as detailed as the number of acres of a certain family's fields and how many unknown things were concealed by the family. They talked about the tenants who were registered as tenants and the specific speakers in each county for an hour.
Lan Tian frowned when he heard this. He finally understood the reason for the internal strife in Soochow. During the war, the big clans in various counties and counties, as well as the Sun clan, continued to annex land and almost divided up the fields in Jiangdong. The fields of the poor families were mostly barren and barren. , the number of household registrations reported to the government was greatly reduced, so that Sun Quan often had to bow to the nobles when he wanted soldiers and food.
Sometimes Sun Quan didn't want to bear it anymore, so he brought out the Huaisi faction to fight, but then Shanyue "rebelled". The counties and counties were unable to pay taxes due to military disasters, and Shanyue could not be wiped out cleanly, so in the end he could only obey the orders of the nobles. It was suggested that Jiangdong-born generals be used to quell the rebellion. As a result, the local gentry had more and more say in politics. After many rounds of "run-in" between Sun Quan and the gentry, a situation of "harmony between emperor and ministers" was achieved.
"General Hu, drink some water." When Lan Tian frowned and thought, Lan Yuan brought a glass of water to Hu Ke.
Upon seeing this, Hu Ke stood up in a hurry, caught the cup with both hands, and said hesitantly: "How dare you let the eldest son do it in person?"
"The general has made outstanding contributions, so it is understandable that I bring you a glass of water, not to mention you are my elder." Lan Yuan responded with a smile.
"Ah this." Hu was at a loss.
"Boyang is right. Isn't it just a glass of water for the junior? You have watched him grow up, don't be so formal." Lan Tian disagreed.
"Hey" Hu Ke replied in a low voice, then brought it to his mouth and took a sip.
Lan Yuan was also listening just now. He couldn't help but sweat for his father, thinking that there was so much laughter at the previous banquet that Jiangdong was actually a dragon's pond and a tiger's den.
"Father, Jiangdong is much more complicated than Jiaozhou. It is unrealistic to completely suppress the gentry, but it goes against your true intentions like Sun Quan did. The thought of it is more troublesome than fighting." Lan Yuan frowned.
Lan Tian stroked his beard and nodded, "To defend the world and govern the world is inherently more difficult than to conquer the world. The essence of politics is to distribute benefits. If the distribution is not good, chaos will occur. To conquer the world, you can use violence to solve it, but violence cannot solve all conflicts. This is Sun Ce came to his senses before his death, and instead of letting Sun Yi succeed him, he chose the more stable Sun Quan."
"Sir, why don't you run a newspaper in Jiangdong?" Hu Ke suggested.
"It is necessary to run a newspaper to control public opinion. All editors and editors must be our own people, and distribution can be left to obedient nobles. But I haven't decided who will take the lead." Lan Tian frowned.
"Huishu (Zhang Wen)?" Hu Ke tentatively asked about his uncle.
Lan Tian shook his head gently, "In the early stage of filing a report, it will be innocuous, but at a certain stage it will really hurt people. We can't put Zhang Huishu in the spotlight, but we can let him recommend a talent."
"Well, I will go back and talk to him later." Hu Ke nodded in confirmation, and then continued to ask: "Isn't the newspaper alone not enough?"
"Of course. I'll think about it carefully in the past few days. The fish has already entered my pot. As for what seasonings to add, we have the initiative." Lan Tian smiled slightly.
"Sir, you are unparalleled in resourcefulness, and you will definitely have a good plan." Hu Ke complimented with clasped fists.
Lan Yuan suddenly asked: "Father, now that Jiangdong is about to be pacified, when will General Hu be allowed to restore his real name?"
After hearing this, Lan Tian twitched his beard and asked Hu Ke meaningfully: "When do you think the time is appropriate?"
"Well, General Mo was born in the common people of Li, and there were not many people in his family. Later, they died one after another in the plague war. If he hadn't been working in Xinye with his husband, he would have died of starvation long ago, so it doesn't matter what his last name is." Hu Ke shook his head gently. .
"Since you are famous as Yu Xiu, you may as well continue to use it for the time being. You will change it back to your original surname when the world is settled."
(End of chapter)
