Ordinary government offices are always shabby and iron-clad. Officials who are running through the government are also called passing officials, and passing officials generally do not know how to repair the government offices. This does not matter whether they have money or not.
But building a government office is a thankless task.
Even if the local economic development is good, if you spend money to build a grand government office, the people will think that you are using the wealth of the people to enjoy themselves, and even your superiors will have a bad evaluation.
Therefore, except for necessary repairs, ordinary officials will not repair the yamen. A dilapidated yamen will make the people think that he is a good official who is thrifty and endures hardships.
But Lingzhou Dudu's Mansion is different, it's very grand.
Li Daozong has been here for five years, and the Governor's Mansion has been built for five years. Today he builds a pavilion, tomorrow he builds a pavilion, and the day after tomorrow he decorates the garden.
The Dudu Mansion occupies a very large area and even has a small lake. It is designed like a Jiangnan garden and is even in line with the style of a royal prince.
Li Daozong didn't mind at all that the officials and people of Lingzhou knew that he preferred to enjoy himself.
King Ren Cheng even held Wu Huaiyu's hand and proudly told him how he had spent five years transforming the originally dilapidated Dudu's Mansion into what it is now.
The 27-year-old Governor of Lingzhou, the King of Rencheng, and the 19-year-old Governor of Yanzhou, the founding father of Shouyang County. Both of them have a tall and heroic appearance, wearing purple robes and jade belts, but they attracted a group of concubines from the back office of the Governor's Mansion. The concubines and maidservants looked around.
Li Daozong was very enthusiastic.
The enthusiasm was so intense that Wu Huaiyu was a little overwhelmed.
In the past, I had only heard that Li Xiaogong was as addicted to wine and sex as the Supreme Emperor, and had hundreds of concubines. Then Wu Huaiyu discovered that the old Li family of the royal family seemed to be very good at this.
Li Daozong's back office of the Lingzhou Dudu Mansion was actually full of orioles and beautiful maids. Moreover, these young women were all dressed in silk damasks and pearls, which showed off King Li Xian very well. of great financial resources.
Moreover, although Li Daozong's orioles have black eyes, green eyes, amber eyes, and blue eyes, they are all on the plump side.
Li Daozong is very handsome, somewhat similar to Li Shimin, with a square face, big ears, a beautiful beard, and a slightly curly beard.
When he saw Huaiyu looking at the beauties, he said generously, "Shouyang Duke came to Shuofang to take up his post, and he probably didn't bring any women with him. Why don't you pick some from me, and pick whichever one you like? If you like them all, Just take them all away.”
"Hahaha, the prince is joking. A gentleman will not take away someone's beauty. These are the prince's women. How can I take away someone's beauty?"
"Women are just like clothing," Li Daozong said bluntly in front of those beauties, not afraid of hurting their hearts.
It's still a bit cold in Lingzhou in February, especially the wind is strong.
Although the Lingzhou city wall and the high wall of the Dudu Mansion blocked a lot of wind and sand, Li Daozong still chose to entertain Wu Huaiyu in the garden.
Don't be afraid of strong winds.
First, a circle of curtains was built, and then hundreds of maidservants were called to surround him several times.
It's quite a bit of a legacy from the Wei and Jin Dynasties.
Wu Huaiyu had only heard of the meat screen in history books before, but now he felt it personally. Those beauties in furs and silks gathered in a circle, making Wu Huaiyu in it not only eye-catching, but also able to smell the fragrance. .
In such an environment, everything you eat tastes delicious, and it doesn’t matter what you eat.
Beautiful and delicious.
This is really a stick-rich chaebol’s sense of vision.
There is no big fish or meat, and no delicacies from the mountains and seas.
Li Daozong didn't even invite anyone else to his reception banquet. Today was considered a private banquet and only Wu Huaiyu was invited. Tomorrow he plans to hold another large banquet to invite Yanzhou civil and military officials, who will be accompanied by Lingzhou officials.
The only guests today are Li Daozong and Wu Huaiyu.
As for the hundreds of beauties, they are all backgrounds and screens.
The first dish, milky corn.
It's corn boiled with milk. It's very tender and fragrant.
Seeing Li Daozong entertaining him with corn, Wu Huaiyu didn't know what to say.
"This is an auspicious sign. I heard it was obtained from overseas by Xiaoyao Yinxian, the revered master of Duke Shouyang?"
"Um."
Li Daozong said that he finally got some from the emperor's brother in the greenhouse of the Royal Garden.
Wu Huaiyu felt that he shouldn't be showing off to him, after all, the Wu family often ate corn.
Sure enough, Li Daozong was also very frank.
"I heard that Duke Shouyang has a lot of auspicious corn in his house. I also have some land in Lingzhou and want to plant some. I want to ask Duke Shouyang for some corn seeds."
He stretched out his palm and made several gestures.
"How about I exchange ten hectares of good land in Lingzhou for some auspicious corn seeds from Shouyang Gong?"
Ten hectares of land is equivalent to a thousand acres. Even if the border land is worthless, it will cost several hundred dollars per acre, so it will be at least several hundred guan.
Of course, it depends on the land. If the land is large, if it is hundreds of acres or even thousands of acres, the value will be higher.
Wu Huaiyu didn't answer immediately. He wanted to know what Li Daozong meant. It was said that this man had tens of thousands of acres of land in Lingzhou. It was not unusual to give Huaiyu a thousand acres.
"I heard that Duke Shouyang also has potatoes and sweet potatoes, which are also good things from overseas. How about I ask for some seeds from each of them? Each of them will give me ten hectares of land."
hiss.
Wu Huaiyu couldn't help being surprised.
Lingzhou is not like a place like Yanxia. This is the Hetao Plain where the Yellow River has all the evils but only the richest. This is the south of the Yangtze River outside the Great Wall. The land here is very fertile.
Three thousand acres of land, just give it away?
"If the prince wants some seeds, I can just give them to him directly. There is no need to exchange land." Huaiyu waved his hand.
"Although I am the king of the county, I have never been in the habit of taking things from others for free. The land in Lingzhou is not valuable. To be honest, Duke Shouyang, I have a lot of land here. There is too much land to plant. Most of it is just
It can be used to raise sheep and horses.”
The second dish is served.
Fried potato chips.
The fried potato slices are bubbling, fragrant and crispy, and are very skillful. This is obviously a method passed down from the Wu family.
The third dish, shredded sweet potatoes, is also obviously a skill brought by Wu Huaiyu.
Li Daozong used the auspiciousness conveyed by the three martial arts jade and also used his cooking method.
interesting.
"The prince speaks directly if he has something to say."
Li Daozong was indeed a cheerful man. He thought Wu Huaiyu was a good person and admired him very much. Now Wu Huaiyu has come to Shuofang to serve as the governor of Yanzhou, where there are four major salt ponds.
Li Daozong had been involved in the green and white salt business in the past. When the Tang army controlled the salt pool, they directly produced and sold salt. If Liang Shidu controlled it, or the Turks took control, they would trade and sell it privately.
In short, Li Daozong accounted for a large share of the salt in Yanzhou, and even the salt in Yanzhou was eventually shipped to Lingzhou for distribution and sales.
The three thousand acres of land were not so much about buying auspicious seeds as they were the basis for cooperation, used to win over Wu Huaiyu, the new governor.
Li Daozong hoped that he could continue to participate in the profit management of the salt pond in the future, and even hoped that Wu Huaiyu would join him to make it bigger and stronger and prosper together.
Of course, it’s not just for the benefits of the salt pond.
There is also the smuggling trade with Turks and Puppet Liang. This share is also very large. Wu Huaiyu is the new governor of Yanzhou and is not yet affiliated with the Lingzhou Governor's Office. If he wants to continue to maintain this 'trade', he cannot bypass Wu Huaiyu.
In addition to salt and smuggling, Li Daozong also wanted to have deeper cooperation with Wu Huaiyu, such as catching slaves together. In Shuofang, in addition to Han and Turks, there were many barbarians.
There are both Qiang people who migrated from Longyou in the early years, as well as Jihu people.
Jihu is also called Buluoji, or Mountain Hu. They belong to a different species of Xiongnu, originating from the Southern Xiongnu. They migrated to the east of Hedong during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. In the seven to eight hundred miles of Luliang in northern Shaanxi, the species flourished in the Hengshan valleys and mixed with the Han people.
, farming and mulberry farming, and also grazing and hunting.
The Xia Sui and other areas controlled by Liang Shidu were one of the main inhabited areas of these Jihus. Many Qiang and Mountain Barbarians had also surrendered to Liangshidu earlier. These Hu people were also unruly and often rebelled.
For example, during the Northern Wei Dynasty, the leader of Jihu gathered a crowd to rebel, claiming to be the emperor. He used Yunyang Valley as his base camp and went out to plunder.
From the Northern Wei Dynasty to the Northern Qi Dynasty and then to the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Shanhu also continued to rebel. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, the leader of Lishihu, Liu Long'er, also separated himself from one side and claimed to be the emperor. After Liu Long'er's death, his brother Liu Liu'er and his son Liu Jizhen continued to rebel.
Liu Liu'er also led Liu Wu's Zhou army to capture Tang Shizhou, killing officials and seizing land. Liu Jizhen claimed to be the crown prince.
Later, Liu Jizhen claimed to be Tuli Khan and made Liu Liu'er the king of Tuoding. After Liu Liu'er was defeated, he surrendered to the Tang Dynasty and was named the governor of Lanzhou.
Liu Jizhen later also surrendered to the Tang Dynasty and was granted the title of General Manager of Shizhou. He was also given a national surname and was granted the title of Prince of Pengshan County. Unfortunately, he later joined forces with Liu Wuzhou to rebel. After being defeated again, he surrendered to Mayi Gao Manchu and was eventually killed.
There are many mountain beards on both sides of the Yellow River, but they are relatively loose. Although they are brave, they are difficult to achieve.
Since the end of the Sui Dynasty, anti-kings such as Liu Wuzhou, Liang Shidu, Guo Zihe, and Liu Jizhen have roped in or coerced many mountain barbarians, Dangxiang Qiang, etc., but these Qiang barbarians are just their cannon fodder.
Li Daozong fought with Turks and Liang divisions in Lingzhou for many years, and captured many Qiang and Hus. After they were captured, they were no longer slaves. They were either sold to the mainland, sent to manors for farming, or sent to pastures for grazing.
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Later, Li Daozong often took the initiative to attack Liangshidu. In fact, he went to rob people. He directly went to the Qiang and Hu tribes in the Hengshan Mountains to rob their cattle and sheep, their money and food, and even their people.
This deal is a huge profit.
Anyway, Li Daozong was able to develop tens of thousands of acres of land in Lingzhou. Although he only planted part of it, he still relied on these slaves to farm the land and graze the animals.
As the governor, Li Daozong acquired so much land and slaves, why wouldn't the generals and officials under him follow suit?
Besides, if the boss has already taken it, is it appropriate for the people below not to take it?
Li Daozong wanted to cooperate with Wu Huaiyu, the governor of Yanzhou. He had soldiers, horses, money and food. When Wu Huaiyu sent troops to cooperate, everyone would work together to suppress the rebels. In fact, they would capture slaves, plunder and sell people.
The main settlement areas of Jihu are south of the Baiyu Mountains, that is, south of the Great Wall, Gyeongju, Yanzhou, Suizhou, Yinzhou, Yanzhou, Danzhou, as well as Shizhou, Lanzhou, Xizhou and other places on the east bank of the Yellow River in Hedong.
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To the north of the Baiyu Mountains, in the Yanxiayou area, there are mainly Dangxiang Qiang and other Qiang people, as well as some Turkic nomadic tribes.
Capturing a Din slave can be sold for more than 10,000 yuan, a Din maidservant can be worth 7,000 to 8,000 yuan, grabbing a Tun horse can be worth 7,000 to 8,000 yuan, and a straw horse can be worth 3,000 to 4,000 yuan. These are just the minimum.
Ordinary low-end prices, if it is a good horse, a beautiful woman, a brave warrior, etc., the value can be doubled or even multiple times.
So this is an extremely profitable business. This is no longer a war, but a business.
During Li Daozong's five years in Lingzhou, Lingzhou not only became a transportation hub and military center in the northwest, but also became the largest slave trading center in the northwest.
From Lingzhou to Yanzhou, and then to Qingzhou, etc., it can be said that almost all the generals and officials in the governor's offices and prefectures were involved in this business of catching and selling slaves.
Li Daozong did not hide anything from Wu Huaiyu, and even told him that this business was not only done by the Tang people, but also by the ministers of Liang Shidu, and even the Turks were involved.
What’s even more shocking is that the most active slave-hunting and trading people are actually the Jihu people in the 800-mile mountainous area. Many censorship tribes are tempted by the profit of the slave trade. They don’t care about the same race and the same species. They hunt and plunder everywhere, and then
Therefore, these people became important partners of the Tang Army. Not only did the Tang Army not fight them, they even secretly sold them some obsolete old weapons.
There are many such partners, including Li Daozong and Duan Decao.
Li Daozong made it clear that he wanted Wu Huaiyu, the new governor of Yanzhou, to join their chariot and trade salt, horses and slaves together.
Huaiyu glanced at the meat screen several times. He estimated that many of these beauties were from the Jihu tribe in the 800-mile mountainous area, and some might have been kidnapped and sold to the Tang people by Ji.
