"His deputy general manager is appointed by the emperor!" Xue Rengui said solemnly: "Before this, he either served the emperor in Chang'an, and then he was responsible for allocating grain and grass during the expedition to Goguryeo!"
"That can only be like this!" Ashina Daozhen sighed. Guo Daifeng is a close confidant of the emperor, so it is impossible to ignore him and deny him power. Otherwise, I am afraid that the imperial edict will be issued before the army leaves the camp. came down; since he must be given something to do, it depends on what he is good at. Judging from his past experience, the only thing that may be entrusted to him is to command the infantry escorting the baggage. Otherwise, if other things are Leaving it to him would only make things worse.
"Khan, there is no need to worry too much!" , he is not that incompetent person, he will naturally restrain himself when he actually goes to the battlefield!"
Ashina Daozhen snorted coldly, thinking to himself that anyone with a discerning eye can see that Guo Daifeng is not stupid, but relies on his family background to look down on you, Xue Rengui, and is ashamed to be below you. Of course he was honest in front of the British father, but his proud family background was nothing in front of the British father. When Li Ji followed Zhai Rang as a bandit by the Yellow River, his father Guo Xiaoke was still a farmer. ! Do you, Xue Rengui, have this qualification?
Thinking of this, Ashina Daozhen didn't know what to say. He could only say: "The chief manager should think more about it. The front and rear armies are like two oxen on the shaft of a cart. If you can't exert force in one place, sooner or later you will have to do it." Overturned!"
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Songzhou, camp.
Tu Yanmangjiebo circled alertly, with the shield on her left hand and her right hand holding the short iron-leaf spear commonly used by the Qiang people. Tenzin stood calmly in the middle, holding about a fifth of the spear in her left hand. In the one position, his right hand is holding the tail end, only about a fist is exposed. The tip of his spear touches the ground, moving slowly, his eyes are slightly squinted, as if he is about to fall asleep.
"Kill!" the girl yelled, and the short spear flew forward. Denzin exerted force on his wrist, and the spear tip bounced off the ground, like a frightened poisonous snake, pointing directly at the Qiang girl's belly. The girl panicked and tried to cover it with a shield. , but it was too late, the spear tip pierced her lower abdomen, there was no blood, leaving only a white gray spot.
"You lost!" Acton smiled and said: "Tenzin, you won so beautifully!"
"Huh, this is just a competition!" Tuyan Mangjiebo replied angrily: "If it's on the battlefield, he may not win!"
"If it were on the battlefield, you would be dead!" Acton said: "Even if you have armor, you can't stop the spear from being pierced. If your lower abdomen is pierced, you will most likely die!" He turned around and said to Tenzin : "You were so beautiful in that shot just now, who taught you that!"
"This is commonly used by shepherds!" Tenzin said with a smile: "The head and back of wild wolves are very hard, and they may not be killed by a knife, but their lower abdomen is very soft, and they can't stand even being poked by a sharp branch, so When experienced shepherds encounter wild wolves, they often put the sharp end of the stick on the ground and hold the other end in their hands. When the wolf pounces on them, they flick it hard and aim the tip at the wolf's belly. They can all be poked through!"
"What a great skill!" Acton praised twice: "By the way, the army will be formed in two days, so you can be the instructor!"
"Teacher?" the Qiang girl asked in surprise, "These Tubo barbarians want to be our Qiang people's instructor?"
"Yeah!" Acton nodded: "What's wrong? They are all veterans, and you are all new recruits!"
"What happened to the veteran!" Tu Yanmang said anxiously: "In terms of ability, we Qiang people are no worse than them. Besides, they are so powerful, how could they be captured!"
Tenzin's face turned pale. He was about to refuse when he heard Aktun say: "War is not about one-on-one. You Qiang people are fine one-on-one. If you fight in formation, you will definitely not be as good as the Tubo people." !”
"Nonsense!" The Qiang girl became angrier as she listened. She threw her shield and short spear to the ground, turned around and ran away. Seeing this, Tenzin hurriedly said to Acton: "Why is this necessary? Why don't you go after him!"
"Don't worry, she is angry now. Wait until she is over. It's not too late to find her again!" Acton smiled: "The words I just said to you are also what the higher-ups meant. The higher-ups are treating you like this." The Tubo people attach great importance to fighting on this plateau, and we are not as good as you, do you understand?"
"Yeah!" Tenzin nodded. He already understood what the "top" in the other party's mouth meant: "Didn't we already have peace talks with Tubo? Do you mean there will be a war?" he asked carefully.
"This is not something you and I should consider!" Acton smiled: "But for you, restarting the war may not be a bad thing, right?"
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Chengdu, Qingyangsi.
Wang Ence was eating breakfast, a bowl of mutton soup (noodle soup) and two pieces of baked brown pancakes. The maid brought him the attire for going out: green-gray Sichuan brocade straight trim, collar and cuffs rolled up with chinchilla skin. , looks neat and noble.
"Take this one away, and bring the one from the day before yesterday! It's that narrow robe with a coiled collar and me!"
If they regard me as an ordinary martial artist, then I will simply wear it and show it to them. Wang Ence put on the military uniform he originally wore in the army, put on a crew cut, hung a long and short sword on his belt, and then walked out of the door. Zhuge Wen, who was waiting at the door, noticed his outfit and showed a surprised look.
"Xiao Langjun, what are you—?"
"It's nothing, I'm just a soldier!" Wang Ence pretended not to care and said carelessly: "What's wrong? What are your plans for today?"
Zhuge Wen had guessed at least seventy-eight points. It was estimated that someone among the people who met last night had angered Wang Ence. There was nothing we could do about it. With the arrival of spring, the traffic conditions of Songmao Road were getting better and better, and the merchants walking through it were getting better and better. There are also more and more teams. Anyone who is not blind can see that the golden river that this business road can bring in the future will naturally make more and more people covet this small group that has already occupied most of the interests of the business road. More and more are coming. As the protector of this small group, it is not surprising that Wang Ence encountered various rumors, instigations, and attacks. Money and silk are so attractive!
"Xiao Langjun, did someone say something that shouldn't have been said last night?" Zhuge Wen said with a smile.
Wang Ence snorted coldly: "I asked you what your plans are for today, but you asked me about last night. Are you the master or am I the master?"
"Of course it's you, young man!" Zhuge Wen said with a smile: "But I guess there will be a few bad-mouthed people among the people I meet today. If I want to ask about what happened last night, I'd better do it early. It is a sin to make arrangements so as not to offend you, Mr. Young Master!"
Wang Ence did not speak, but walked back and forth a few times, and finally paused and said: "Those people last night were so rude and ridiculed in their words. They said that I was an incompetent person. If I were not the younger brother of Governor Wang, there would be no way. ——”
"It's absolutely impossible for today to happen, right?" Zhuge Wen interrupted Wang Ence's words. Wang Ence was slightly startled. It was the first time that Zhuge Wen was so rude after knowing each other for so long. He wanted to scold him, but for a moment he couldn't. He knew what he should scold, and after a few minutes he said dejectedly: "Do you think the same thing?"
"If you were not the younger brother of Governor Wang, you would never be where you are today, but you are by no means incompetent. On the contrary, Governor Wang cannot do without you. No one else can fill this position!"
"Brother, he can't live without me?" Wang Ence looked at Zhuge Wen in surprise, almost unable to believe his ears: "You don't mean to say this to make me happy, do you? I haven't done anything these days? Every day. He has so many talented people at the high-level banquet, how come no one is qualified?"
"Everything I say is true, and I have absolutely no intention to please Mr. Zhuge!" Zhuge Wen said: "You do have banquets every day in Chengdu, but this is exactly what you should do. Think about it, If you have done everything, then where will those of us who come after us have the opportunity to make contributions? If we have not made any contributions, how can we get the reward from your brother? We will not get the reward. How can anyone serve your brother?"
"Well -, that drinking and eating meat thing, someone else can do it, right?" Wang Ence said with a wry smile.
"Little Master, you have also seen how much money is passed through the Songmao Business Road every day. If they are not close relatives, how can the Governor let other people sit in this position? And if it were another person, would he secretly plant his cronies? , put the benefits into your own pocket?"
"Both and flesh and blood relatives?" Wang Ence looked strange. Before he could speak, Zhuge Wen continued: "It seems that you have done nothing, but you have done everything without doing anything. There will be no overestimation, and the matter has been completed. Isn't it right?" Isn’t it the best? If someone who doesn’t understand the general situation insists on causing trouble, it will not be beautiful!"
"The more you talk, the more confused I become!" Wang Ence sighed: "Forget it, who are you going to meet today, and what should I pay attention to?"
"The people we are going to meet today are some merchants from Langzhong!" Zhuge Wen said with a smile: "You don't need to pay too much attention to it, just like usual. If they say something, you don't need to say anything, just deal with it. Got it!"
"Oh, is that all?" Wang Ence asked with an indifferent expression.
"That's right, that's right, that's it!" Zhuge Wen was overjoyed and extended his thumb and said, "The villains will discuss the rest of the matter with them. That's all you need!"
Zhuge Wen waited for Wang Ence to put on his rich clothes, sent Wang Ence to the carriage, and followed him on horseback to wait on him. After getting along with each other for this period of time, he still doesn’t know what kind of person Wang Ence is, but precisely because of this, Wang Ence is a perfect agent for them: he has a small appetite and is easily satisfied; he has a pure heart and is not suspicious; and he does not have an aristocratic family. The bad habits that children often have: such as being extravagant, prone to killing, meddlesome, and narrow-minded. Of course, this is still far from becoming a big figure who can truly control the southwest business network, but after all, he is still young and has enough growth potential. As long as given time, Zhuge Wen believes that he can help him reach the position he has longed for.
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"The little man pays homage to the gentleman!"
Wang Ence nodded. He looked curiously at the few men who bowed to him. Although they were dressed in Tang Dynasty costumes, from their dark brown skin and high cheekbones, it seemed that these men were not Han Chinese, at least not pure Chinese. of Han people.
"Lang Jun, these are all salt merchants from Langzhong!" Zhuge Wen introduced.
"Salt merchant?" Wang Ence was surprised: "Is Langzhong still close to the sea? Otherwise, how can we produce salt?"
"Hahaha!" The leader laughed: "Langzhong is indeed not close to the sea, but it also produces salt, but it produces well salt, not sea salt!"
After listening to the leader's explanation, Wang Ence finally understood. It turned out that although Langzhong was not close to the sea and had no salt water lake, the local salt was extracted from the salt water deep into the rock formations, thus becoming a famous salt capital in the southwest. These few The merchants are all famous local salt merchants. Some have more than ten salt wells in their homes, while some have three or four. Their wealth is far greater than that of Zhuge Wen, Cai Dingshan and others.
"We originally thought that Mr. Lang must be a dignified and dignified person for doing such a big thing, but we didn't expect him to be so kind!" The leading merchant's surname was Fan Chang'an. He was a fat man with a waist as big as ten girth. He loosened his belt and said, So that I can sit more comfortably: "Please forgive me, sir. I am not being rude. It's just that if I don't relax, I will feel uncomfortable sitting there!"
"It doesn't matter! It doesn't matter!" Wang Ence liked Fan Changan's temperament very much: "By the way, you are salt merchants. Why did you come to Chengdu to see me? Do you also want to do business with the Tubo people?"
"Hahaha!" Fan Changan laughed: "I don't want to hide it from you, I want to do business, but it doesn't necessarily have to be with the Tubo people, as long as I can get in touch with the southwestern barbarians!"
"Southwestern barbarians?" Wang Ence asked: "Then how do you know they have the goods you want?"
Fan Chang'an did not answer Wang Ence's question. He smiled mysteriously and asked, "Does Mr. Lang know what we, who live on well salt and rice, lack most?"
"What is lacking most?" Wang Ence thought for a while: "But firewood. You need a lot of firewood to cook salt, right?"
"Haha!" Fan Chang'an smiled: "Mr. Lang doesn't know that other places require firewood to cook salt, but we have a fire well in Langzhong. Fire naturally comes out and we can cook salt without firewood!"
"Oh? There is such a thing?" Wang Ence clicked his tongue in surprise: "If that's the case, then I don't know what else you want?"
"Mr. Lang, we need people!" Fan Chang'an said: "Whether it is digging wells, collecting brine, or boiling salt, it requires manpower, and everything is difficult. Even a young and strong man can't do it after working in a salt well for four or five years. , now you understand why we just need to get on the line with any barbarian, right?"
After hearing this, Wang Ence finally understood. On the surface, Fan Changan's business is almost costless: the brine is pumped from the well, and the fuel for boiling the salt is natural gas; but the well will accumulate and must be cleaned regularly. Why must it be drilled to obtain more brine? Deep; pumping brine, boiling salt, etc. are also extremely hard work and consume a lot of fresh labor.
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(End of chapter)
