After sending Shi Nai away, Tiezhu walked in again.
"Commander, Gu Qi is here again, do you want to see him?"
Jia Cong smiled: "Since you're here, of course you want to see him, but I want to see what he has to say?"
Amin went back on his word and sent people to sneak attack and ambush him.
Jia Cong didn't take it too seriously.
Comparing your feelings with your own, if it were you, you might do the same thing.
"Yes, I will call him in now."
Tie Zhu agreed, turned around and walked out of the hall.
After a while, Gu Qi came in again.
As soon as Gu Qi came in, he knelt down directly in front of Jia Cong.
"I see you, my lord."
Jia Cong looked at him with a half-smile but not a smile: "Brother Guqi, we are old friends. I have always believed in you. I never thought that you would take advantage of my trust and send us false information, which almost made us eat." What a shame, it’s not fun if you do this.”
When Gu Qi heard this, he felt extremely embarrassed.
He has been getting along with Jia Cong and others for six or seven years.
The people on Jia Cong's side are indeed very nice to him, just like one of their own.
But no matter what, he is a barbarian and Amin's man, and he must obey Amin's orders.
He was very conflicted at the time. He didn't want to harm Jia Cong and the others, but he had no choice but to disobey his orders.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I was just following orders. I was helpless. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
Jia Cong waved his hand: "Come on, everyone is his own master and has his own helplessness. I don't blame you. If you become a prisoner in the future, you can report my name and I can keep you safe." , it’s not like our acquaintance was in vain.”
"Thank you, Your Majesty. Your Majesty has a broad mind, which I admire greatly."
Gu Qi stood up, somewhat touched by Jia Cong's attitude.
Even so, his mission here must still be completed.
"Your Majesty, our Great Khan did not know about what happened last time. The Great Khan agreed to the Prince's conditions and decided to order the withdrawal of troops. However, after the Great Khan led his troops and left, some generals behind him were unconvinced and made the decision without authorization. The sneak attack was not our Khan's original intention.
Later, when the Great Khan found out, he became furious and severely punished those generals. The purpose of sending the young man to see the prince this time is to clarify the misunderstanding with the prince, hoping not to affect the friendship between the two parties. This is a gift from our great Khan to the prince, and I hope the prince will accept it. "
As Gu Qi spoke, he took off the package on his back and held up his hands.
Tie Zhu quickly stepped forward to take it and brought it to Jia Cong.
Jia Cong took the package and did not open it immediately. Instead, he looked at Gu Qi.
"You, the Great Khan, are smart people, and I am not a fool. Since you, the Great Khan, say you don't know anything, just treat it as ignorance. I don't intend to care about it. Let this matter be revealed. I hope it won't happen again in the future. Something similar happens again."
Hearing this, Gu Qi felt embarrassed again.
Seeing that Jia Cong didn't care about it, Gu Qi felt happy again.
I didn't expect that this matter would go so smoothly. This prince is really an open-minded person.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. We, the Great Khan, don't want to be at odds with Your Majesty. Nothing like this will happen again. I will also convey His Majesty's words to our Great Khan."
Jia Cong nodded: "Go back and tell you, Great Khan, that Liaodong will be my king's territory from now on. If he wants to expand his power, he can consider expanding to the east. The territory of Goryeo is not small, and there are Japanese countries to the east of Goryeo. A good choice."
Gu Qi bowed and saluted: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your advice. I will definitely convey His Majesty's words to our Great Khan."
After chatting for a while, he asked Gu Qi some things about the barbarians, and then asked Tiezhu to see him off.
Jia Cong carried the package and returned to the inner house.
Qingwen, Nianci, Hongluan, Chunxia Qiudong and others were all sitting in the back hall talking.
See Jia Cong holding one
When the package came back, he stepped forward to take it.
"Commander, didn't you go to see Lord Shi Jiahou? Why did he also give you a gift? Does he want to arrange for their heirs to come to Liaodong?"
Jia Cong smiled: "The second uncle of the Shi family is indeed here to establish a relationship. He wants his nephews to come over. I promised to let them come over and give it a try. If they work well, they will stay. If they don't work, they will rush back. This is all just to see. The face of the old lady and Xiangyun.
But this package was not sent by Shi Jia's second uncle. It was Amin who asked Guqi to send it here, saying that Amin didn't know about the last sneak attack and it was an unauthorized act by his subordinates. This time he asked Guqi to come here to talk about this matter. "
Qingwen said with a look of disdain: "Amin, you are treating us all as fools. Marshal, you won't believe his lies, will you?"
Jia Cong rolled his eyes: "Girl, don't you think you are a fool too?"
When several people heard this, they all covered their mouths and chuckled.
Hong Luan smiled and said: "Our first goal has been achieved. We will not fight with the barbarians for the time being. Amin suffered a big loss this time and is already a little afraid of us. He is not willing to conflict with us again. This is what both sides do." a step."
Jia Cong nodded: "Hong Luan is right. We still need to keep the barbarians to deal with the court. We should support the bandits and respect themselves. Now that Ah Ma has moved to lower his head, why should we hold on tightly?" Don’t let it go?
We have some friendship with Amin. Although we have different statuses now and it is impossible to truly trust each other, we can still use each other to our advantage. "
Chunlan said: "So, since there is no war this year, we can also relax a bit?"
"Well, not only are there no wars this year, but I am not planning to fight next year either. After this war, Liaodong needs to develop and recover well, and then train the army well.
There are more than 200,000 troops guarding the city. It is very safe. Amin does not have the courage to take the initiative to start a war. Once the officials from various places are selected, nothing will really happen. If you have nothing to do, just discuss how to spend this winter. "
Han Nianci said: "We have already discussed these matters, so the commander-in-chief doesn't have to worry about it. We have basically been in Liaodong and know what to prepare."
"Hey, there are ginseng, deer antler, and dongzhu in here. Although there aren't many, they are all top quality."
Qingwen opened the package and spread it on the table.
There were two ginsengs inside, which looked like century-old ginseng, and six pairs of deer antlers, all of which were top-grade medicinal materials.
Then there are about two hundred East beads, each one is round and about the size of a fingertip, and the color is crystal clear. They are valuable at first glance.
The more you see these things, the less strange they become.
My family has been trading with barbarians all year round, so there is no shortage of these things.
Now my family is the largest wholesaler of ginseng and fur in the country. Dongzhu, deer antlers, and tiger bones are also the main products.
Others simply can't compare with their own.
He has almost a monopoly, and at least 80% of the output on the grassland is in his hands.
The object of his transaction with the barbarians is Amin, which is equivalent to trading with the entire barbarians. Not only is the quantity large, but the quality is also better than others.
Jia Cong took a look and said, "Nianci, please put away the ginseng and deer antlers. You can divide these pearls among yourself. You can make them into bracelets or necklaces, as you like."
"Thank you, Marshal, you're welcome."
Everyone was overjoyed when they heard this, even though several of them had Dongzhu's jewelry.
But as a girl, who would think that she has too much jewelry? These beads are all shiny and make people like them just by looking at them.
After several people divided the beads, they started chatting among themselves.
Jia Cong's expectation of sleeping with a big quilt did not come true.
Only Qingwen and Dongmei stayed with him, while Chunlan and the others lived outside.
Han Nianci and Hong Luan both went to their own rooms to rest.
The three of them lay hugging each other and had no sleep all night...
······
Another ten days passed in the blink of an eye.
Jia Cong finally selected about thirty people who can do things.
Prepare to arrange them to the towns below to take charge of management work.
It was just at this time that the first batch of cotton-padded clothes and a batch of grain and grass shipped by the imperial court happened to be delivered.
In addition to the escort officials from the Ministry of War, there were more than a dozen other officials accompanying him.
Jia Cong called them into the hall and met with them.
"I will pay my respects to the prince later."
Looking at these people below, Jia Cong was somewhat confused.
"My lords, you don't need to be polite. We don't need so many people to escort supplies, right? I wonder why you are here?"
Song Shunwen cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, your Majesty is worried that there will be no one available for the prince, so he has appointed subordinates and others to help the prince and manage the government affairs here in Liaodong. This is our document, and I ask for your understanding."
After listening to what this man said, Jia Cong understood.
These officials were all sent by the imperial court to serve as officials in Liaodong.
It can also be said that the emperor sent them to monitor him.
He doesn't have any suitable candidates, so there's nothing he can do if he keeps them.
Although I have selected more than thirty people, these people are all novices and are definitely not as good as these existing officials.
As long as they do their work seriously and don't cause trouble for themselves, that's fine.
Those people you select can also take the opportunity to place them as deputies to help you supervise them.
He was thinking this in his heart, but his face remained calm.
"I really have no one available in my hands. I am worried about this matter. You came just in time. Thank you so much for your majesty's busy schedule. You can still think of my affairs. My lords are here to do things in Liaodong. I welcome you. .
If you don't come, I will find a few literate people and plan to arrange them to take care of things first. Now that I have found them, it is not easy to drive them away, so let them be your deputies. "
These officials looked at each other, glanced at each other, and nodded in agreement.
They were already very happy that Jia Cong could agree so happily.
"I obey my orders, the full-screen prince has the final say."
Jia Cong nodded: "One more thing, I need to explain in advance. No matter who you are, as long as you work under me, you must obey my instructions. I hope you can work seriously, serve as an official, and benefit one party.
If you dare to collude with local powerful people, wantonly oppress the people, take bribes, abuse power for personal gain, and cause cholera in the country, I will recognize you, but my sword will not recognize you. "
Some people couldn't help but feel shocked, but they didn't dare to refute.
"I am a lowly official. I will follow your prince's teachings and work hard for the people."
Jia Cong is still very satisfied with the attitude of these people.
As for what they will do in the future, we can only wait and see later.
He would not be so naive as to think that these officials would become obedient if they were threatened with a few words.
"The first thing you do when you take office is to appease people and stabilize the local area. The second thing is to conduct a census of the local population and the number of fields. After this war, there should be a lot of ownerless fields, and these have been taken over to the public. , given to newborn babies.
In addition, if the call continues, ordinary people are encouraged to actively cultivate farmland. Newly cultivated fields will be tax-free for five years. No matter how much land is cultivated, it will be owned by individuals. After five years, only 30% of the rent will be collected.
This policy is suitable for everyone. Even people from the customs can come to open up wasteland and settle down. We are short of people in Liaodong. If any of you can move more people, I will count you as a great contributor. "
Jia Cong has no choice. The population in Liaodong is too small now, so he can only find ways to attract more people.
Only with a large population can we develop faster.
Jia Cong arranged the people he selected and let them take office.
Let them work for a year and see, and keep those who are somewhat capable.
.
Those who have no achievements at all and are just here to mess around, then let them go back and forth wherever they want. You don't want to raise waste under your hands.
Jia Cong asked the generals of each battalion to come and distribute all the winter cotton clothes according to the number of people.
He also sent people to the Ministry of Industry and hired several master craftsmen to help him design and plan the construction of the palace.
After a period of exploration, a chassis was selected in the north of the city to build the palace.
The palace has strict customization. The specifications of the palace are generally more than 600 meters from north to south and 400 to 500 meters from east to west.
The palace buildings are of high grade and large scale, and are generally composed of three roads: middle, east and west. On the central axis there are the gate, main hall, back hall, back building, etc.
Just leave these to professionals, so Jia Cong naturally doesn't need to worry too much.
It is said that these were built by the imperial court.
Let's report it to the court at that time and see what the other side says.
A few days later, the Jia family's caravan arrived in Liaoyang City.
He brought a large amount of daily necessities and some winter clothing to Jia Cong and the others.
At the same time, he also brought a letter from home, written by Lin Daiyu to Jia Cong.
Mainly, he asked about Jia Cong's safety, talked about some family matters, and asked some questions about Jia Cong's side, asking him to take care of himself and not to take risks easily, etc.
There is deep nostalgia and longing in every word.
There are also words of concern and longing from Xue Baochai, Shi Xiangyun and others.
As Jia Cong watched, he also missed these little wives.
I had only been married to Shi Xiangyun for a few months, so it would be weird not to miss her.
It was less than two years since I got married to Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai, and within a few months of getting married, I led my troops to Shaanxi for a year.
Just a few days after returning, something happened about Prince Zhongyi seizing the throne.
The quarrel lasted for several months, and then it calmed down, and the following things happened again, so we didn't really spend much time together.
Jia Cong was thinking a little and took them over.
