Pei Xuanji said he couldn't understand why Li Shan chose to settle outside the city and found such an abandoned village... It's not like going on an expedition, so you still want to show that you share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers?
Alas, in this era, although Li Shan rose to fame and even became famous all over the world in just a few years, his steps were also dangerous. Lying in the house arranged by Pei Xuanji, I really couldn't rest assured.
After a few words of greeting, Li Shan couldn't wait to ask: "Brother Xuanji, Gengniu..."
Well, Pei Xuanji is over 40 years old, and Li Shan has just been crowned this year, but one only records affairs and joins the military, while the other canonizes the prince and serves as the Minister of Agriculture. Naturally, this is how he is called... In fact, Li Shan
When I arrived in Longzhou, I called him "Pei Canjun", but the other party insisted on calling me "brother".
Pei Xuanji smiled bitterly and shook his head, "I went to see the manager last night, but..."
Although Chang Da was not good at military strategy, he was highly trusted by the sage Li Yuan. He served as the general manager of Longzhou twice and was extremely powerful in Longzhou. Several other assistant officials, such as Chang Shi Yang Ze and Zhang Shilong, all had small reputations, but they were all
No real power.
But Pei Xuanji had real power. On the one hand, it was because the position of Director of Military Affairs led to Sinong, Division of Soldiers, Treasurer, etc. to join the army. Pei Shiju put his son in this position not only for gold plating but also for experience.
On the other hand, although Chang Da was strong, he had to give face to Pei Shiju, who was the prime minister, not to mention that he was born in the Wenxi Pei family and had an uncle who was the prime minister.
Therefore, yesterday, Pei Xuanji came to visit and asked if everything was in trouble. Li Shan shamelessly followed suit and mentioned the lack of cattle.
Unfortunately, hope was dashed.
Li Shan was also mentally prepared for this and had backup means. He just curled his lips and said: "It seems that Chang Da is very narrow-minded!"
Pei Xuanji was also speechless. When the news came that Chang He was deported back to Beijing, Chang Da was furious... Naturally he would not take the initiative to help at this time.
Li Shan looked at Pei Xuanji curiously, since he didn't get the cattle, what are you doing here?
You can’t really hit it off right away, can you?
Li Shan chatted casually, but couldn't help but daydream in his heart. If he and Pei Xuanji returned to Beijing one day and called themselves brothers, he didn't know what kind of expressions Pei Shiju and Li Dewu would have on their faces.
Pei Xuanji seemed to notice that Li Shan was a little absent-minded. He emphasized his tone and said with a smile: "Although there are no cattle, it is said that His Highness went to Longzhou this time and only planted dozens of acres of cotton?"
"Yes." Li Shan nodded, "No more than twenty acres."
Pei Xuanji asked curiously: "Then why are there so many cattle?"
Twenty acres of land were plowed. It was really not possible to borrow two cattle from the homes of wealthy households in the city. However, Li Shan hoped that Pei Xuanji could raise a hundred cattle for backup. With such a large number, Pei Xuanji was really powerless. Guanzhong Tai
There is a shortage of cattle.
Li Shan smiled and said: "After all, I am the Secretary of Agriculture, and this time I went to Longzhou in the name of inspecting the farmland. I saw that many official fields were abandoned..."
"I see." Pei Xuanji pondered for a moment and whispered: "There is a trick..."
Li Shan raised his eyebrows. He was short of both manpower and cattle. Although he was prepared, he might as well listen.
Two-quarters of an hour later, Li Shan, Pei Xuanji and more than a hundred riders appeared near Dazhen Pass on the east side of Liyuan County.
"In the fifth year of Wude, the Turks broke through the Great Earthquake, looted a lot, and displaced people everywhere." Pei Xuanji pointed to the refugees gathered in the distance and explained: "Longzhou is fine, but a large number of people in Lingzhou have lost their homes and people, and they have been reduced to
He is a refugee, running around in all directions."
"What does Brother Xuanji mean?"
"It's hard to find oxen, so we might as well use manpower to plow the land. They are just refugees anyway." Pei Xuanji said nonchalantly: "Now that the weather is getting warmer, the fields are not as hard as they were more than half a month ago, and manpower is enough to plow the land."
Plowed."
Li Shan is a bit confused. How does human power compare with ox power?
The oxen pulling the plow can just walk all the way, but if it is human power, it will have to be plowed bit by bit... Just the more than 100 acres of fields around the valley, with thousands of young people, may not be able to be plowed in two months.
Pei Xuanji advised: "His Royal Highness went to Longzhou as Sinong Qing. What he did was not just a dozen acres of cotton. Otherwise, he would have woken up around Chang'an. Why come to Longzhou?"
"If there are other purposes, we can't get cattle for the time being. These refugees... only need one bite to eat. Besides, they can also be driven to plant in the future."
Seeing that Li Shan was silent, Pei Xuanji lowered his voice and said: "Even if he dies from fatigue, he will not cause any trouble."
"There really won't be any trouble?"
"Of course, they are just refugees." Pei Xuanji sneered: "Is it possible that there are still people who complain about it?"
Li Shan thought about it in his mind. It was nonsense to use these refugees to cultivate the fields, but taking in some refugees would indeed provide more manpower, which was a good thing. However, Pei Xuanji's attitude of treating the refugees as livestock
It was a bit unbearable for Li Shan.
In fact, this attitude is quite common in this era. When Li Shan was in Daizhou, he discovered that, not to mention those aristocratic families, even the wealthy rural families did not take human life seriously. The weight of the lives of these refugees was in the hearts of some people.
Probably not as heavy as a sheep.
This is also one of the reasons why Li Shan's roots in Daizhou were so deep that his successor Li Jing was restrained. Officials like Li Shan who were kind to the people at the bottom were very rare in this era.
Before Li Shan returned to Beijing last year, Wang Junhao and Zhang Zhongjian reorganized the Guards, and the whole families of the selected Guards had to move to Chang'an...Wang Junhao told Li Shan privately that many people were selected through bribery.
This is also the main reason why the personal guards around Li Shan are strong and loyal.
Li Shan feels that in this era, many children of aristocratic families have traveled to later generations. If they do not become criminals, the most suitable profession is to be a doctor.
These people basically have no compassion, and they will never give up and change careers due to their psychological endurance like many newly graduated medical students.
Li Shan was about to respond, but he felt something was not right. He glanced out of the corner of his eye and found that Pei Xuanji did have a somewhat anxious look on his face.
"Then thank you Brother Xuanji." Li Shan said with a smile: "This time I went to Longzhou, the manager was indifferent, but fortunately Brother Xuanji helped me."
"It's just my responsibilities."
Li Shan drove his horse forward and said casually: "When I came to Longzhou this time, I felt like old friends at first sight with Brother Xuanji... Then Brother Xuanji, please tell me straight."
"What?"
Li Shan raised his finger and pointed at the refugees gathered in front. Seeing that there must be at least a thousand people, he smiled and said: "There are many young and strong people. If there is trouble..."
Pei Xuanji rushed to say: "Who doesn't know what these unarmed refugees can do when the bodyguards of the King of Handan guard Guji Town and go north to pursue the Turks?"
"Hahaha!" Li Shan laughed and said, "Brother Xuanji has already thought of this... Then tell me, why do you have to give it to Gu?"
Pei Xuanji was startled, blinked his eyes, and laughed a few times, thinking that he was indeed a worthy scholar with a great reputation. Chang Da had told him about this last night. Unexpectedly, King Handan noticed it in a moment.