Fan Zhi never imagined that three years later, he would still go to Hexi.
When the Tokyo gangsters controlled by Zhang Liecheng found him, Fan Zhi only hesitated briefly before agreeing to go to Hexi.
After all, there is no way for him to rise in Tokyo. Who dares to use a person who is so deeply entangled with Zhang Tianwang to occupy a high position?
The route to Liangzhou this time is the same as last time.
However, the last time Qinzhou's Xiongwu Army was sent to Weizhou as the imperial army, but this time, Qinzhou's Xiongwu Army had become the military force of Liang State.
Moreover, Yan Jin of Qinzhou, who was in charge this time, was not prepared to send a strong force to escort Fan Zhi and others to Liangzhou.
As the only two special figures in the Liang Kingdom, Yan Jin holds the four positions of deputy ambassador of Longyou Road, governor of Qinzhou, commander-in-chief of Xiongwu Town, and envoy of Qinzhou Town.
Among these positions, the first two are in charge of the people, and the last two are in charge of the military.
Although the officials of the Liang Kingdom do not deliberately distinguish between civil servants and military attachés, they have established rules.
That is, Taoist ambassadors and deputy ambassadors who serve as high-ranking civil affairs officials can no longer concurrently serve as military attachés in charge of suppressing and suppressing such officers.
The only two exceptions are Yan Jin and the governor of Shanzhou, the deputy commander-in-chief of Hanhai Town, and the patrol envoy of Huangshui, Fan Quan.
One of them had to face Qin King Li Congyao in Fengxiang, and then peek into Guanzhong, and the other was responsible for intimidating the Tibetan tribes on the plateau, so he was a special existence that the military and civilians could catch.
Yan Jin, apart from being unparalleled in bravery and handsomeness on the battlefield, another great advantage is that he is cautious.
He knew that Zhang Zhao had the habit of overcoming warriors being too arrogant at this time and constantly overpowering their superiors, so he paid special attention to this aspect.
They are particularly cautious about using powerful troops, and of course they will not send anyone to escort Fan Zhi.
After giving Fan Zhi a banquet, they arranged for them to go to Liangzhou together with the merchants from the Hexi Chamber of Commerce.
Hexi Chamber of Commerce is now a semi-official organization under the Ministry of Commerce of Hexi Liang.
Chairman Cao Wantong joined the army through the Ministry of Commerce. All major business leaders on the Silk Road could basically hold official positions under the Ministry of Commerce as long as they joined the Hexi Chamber of Commerce.
The advantage is that you can meet officials without kneeling, and are not subject to scrutiny by ordinary officials. Moreover, this position does not necessarily require people from the Liang Kingdom, and can be held by merchants regardless of their place of origin.
Of course, these benefits obtained by joining the Chamber of Commerce are not without cost. The price is that they must assist the Liang State Ministry of Commerce in collecting commercial taxes.
Specifically speaking, it is a tax package. Every year, every big businessman must promise a certain amount of business tax. Only those who can complete it will be eligible to hold a position in the Ministry of Commerce.
The second major aspect is the circulation and supervision of banknotes, especially the identification and crackdown on counterfeit banknotes.
Last month, there was a case of a Khotan businessman forging banknotes. The Ministry of Commerce immediately notified the major merchants in Khotan and asked them to send caravans to protect Xiaoqi.
It only took ten days to catch the man, and he was sent to Liangzhou in twenty days. He was then tried severely, and his head was lost, and his wife, son and daughter were made slaves.
Of course, the Ministry of Commerce actually has a secret organization - the Jinyi Messenger. This organization is directly under Zhang Zhao, but is a spy organization under the Security Department of the Ministry of Commerce.
Anyone who joins the Brocade Envoy will receive a brocade garment as a reward, hence the name.
Currently under the control of Zhang Liecheng, its members are mainly Sogdian merchants, as well as other ethnic groups. They are spread across the area from Dunhuang to Kaifeng, Tokyo, and have even begun to develop in the Later Shu and Southern Tang Dynasties.
In addition to searching for intelligence and obtaining bribes, the greatest mission of the Jinyi Envoy is to maintain the normal operation of the Silk Road.
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As soon as Fan Zhi came out of the Qinzhou Governor's Office, he saw the market outside the office was very lively.
There are a dazzling array of products and people shouting. I came too late yesterday and didn't realize that Qinzhou is already so lively.
Fan Zhi's wife also came from a low-level official family and was a native of Kaifeng Prefecture in Tokyo. She always loved to be lively. When she saw people coming and going outside, she encouraged Fan Zhi to take her four-year-old son for a walk.
The bustling street market quickly soothed the restless hearts of those who rushed all the way from Tokyo.
Although Fan Zhi's wife was mentally prepared for her husband's trip to Hexi, she was still quite afraid.
It was not a peaceful time at this time, even in Kaifeng Prefecture in Tokyo, robberies were not uncommon.
Many soldiers who had no money even changed into civilian clothes and started robbing homes and buildings.
This is the case in the capital of the Emperor, let alone Kaifeng Prefecture in Tokyo.
Yang Guangyuan and his son from Luoyang, Xijing, blackmailed wealthy businessmen when they saw them. If they didn't comply, they would beat them. In worst cases, they would throw them into Yinshui and drown them.
They even dared to kill someone like Fan Yanguang, who had an ironclad book on alchemy, and they showed no mercy to businessmen and ordinary people.
Fortunately, the embroidered messengers who escorted them were very experienced and often traveled with several caravans, so they were much safer.
But once they passed Chang'an, their feelings were completely different.
The order in Chang'an City is actually better than that of Kaifeng Prefecture in Tokyo and Luoyang in Xijing. When entering Chang'an City, although the soldiers of the Jinchang Army collected taxes ruthlessly, they still did not dare to beat people at will or withhold goods.
After arriving at Fengxiang Mansion, Fan Zhi and his wife and Liu Tao's family members who were accompanying them had a strange feeling, as if they had changed places after arriving here.
However, although the Fengxiang Army in Fengxiang Prefecture is slightly lighter in tax collection than the Jinchang Army in Chang'an City, its overall appearance is very bad and seems a bit too lazy.
Everyone in Fengxiang Mansion revealed that, uh! How should I put it, if Fan Zhi knew the word "lying flat", he would definitely find it very appropriate.
From the top of the Fengxiang Mansion to King Qin Li Congzuo, and down to the soldiers of the Fengxiang Mansion below, they all showed a strange temperament of lying flat.
‘Dong! Dong! Dong!’ A rush of footsteps came, and Fan Zhi looked in surprise.
I saw a group of soldiers running over from a distance. They even wore military uniforms with the phoenix mark of the Fengxiang Legion on them. Twenty or so people holding swords rushed towards the Qinzhou Governor's Office.
Seeing this scene, Fan's wife and Liu Tao's mother screamed in surprise.
Fan Zhi was so frightened that his legs trembled. He quickly took his son into his hands and ran to both sides.
"Hahahaha!" The roar of laughter suddenly sounded, and the pedestrians and vendors in the whole street burst into laughter. Only then did Fan Zhi realize that they were the only ones running around, and no one else moved.
"Is this Sheren from the Jin Kingdom? He must have thought there was a mutiny! Don't panic. Your Majesty is kind and sent the envoy Yan to govern Qinzhou well. We in Qinzhou have not had tooth soldiers to cause trouble for several years.
"
An old man selling cotton fabrics, with a toothless mouth, said cheerfully to Fan Zhi.
"What Zhang Weng said is right. The people in Xiongwu Town are all good men. When they went to Hunhe with the king, even the Khitan Emperor was afraid of them and insisted on becoming brothers with the king.
I heard that everyone above and below has been rewarded like heaven. It's so beautiful that no one is stirring up trouble. These are the soldiers who came from Fengxiang Mansion, and they probably came here to seek refuge."
Another Sogdian selling Hu cakes also helped.
Fan Zhi, his wife and Liu Tao's parents were relieved, while Fan Zhi was secretly frightened.
This Qinzhou originally belonged to the imperial court and was assigned to the Liang Kingdom for only two years. Now it has been returned to King Zhang.
Sure enough, when these twenty or so majestic Fengxiang Army soldiers arrived, they did not mess around at all. Instead, under the leadership of a leader, they squatted and rested outside the Qinzhou Governor's Office.
Only then did Fan Zhi see that when they came, there was also a small school from Xiongwu Town and a few soldiers following them.
After the small school arrived with these Fengxiang Army soldiers, they immediately went in to report.
After a while, the Qinzhou judge came out in person and invited Fan Zhi and this strong man from the Fengxiang Army in.
As soon as they entered, Yan Jin was already waiting in the main hall. When the strong man from Fengxiang Army saw Yan Jin sitting on the throne, he immediately fell down and bowed down.
"A certain Xu Jiu is the head of Fengxiang Army's left camp. I pay my respects to Lord Yan!"
"Get up and talk. General Wang Ya of the Fengxiang Army came here a few days ago. Today you are waiting for him again. Is the King of Qin so mean to others?"
After Yan Jin signaled Fan Zhi to sit down, he asked the strong man named Xu Jiu to get up, and then asked with a frown.
Hearing Yan Jin's question, Xu Jiu was very angry and said loudly.
"Since the last war, the King of Qin has become more and more stingy. He is either drinking and having fun every day, or gathering his surrounding actors to sing and dance for fun. The warriors in the camps are often in arrears with their pay.
Our martial arts skills cannot be wasted in the hands of these people, so we have crossed the border to surrender and ask Lord Yan to take us in."
Yan Jin's frown deepened, and he smiled bitterly at Fan Zhi and said.
"Brother Wensu, you see, this King of Qin is very cool and unrestrained. He doesn't care about anything except having fun. He acts as if I, the governor of Qinzhou, are his subordinates."
After saying that, Yan Jin looked at Xu Jiu and said: "You Xu Jiu are good at spears and sticks, and you are especially good at shooting. I have heard about it, but the rules in our Daliang Palace are different from yours in Prince Qin's Palace.
The king recently intends to recruit warriors, so if you are really here to vote, then go to Liangzhou. If you don’t want to go to Liangzhou, I will ask someone to give you ten coins, so you should go back and live in peace!"
Fan Zhi frowned. He finally found the source of the bad temperament of King Qin Li Congyao and the Fengxiang Army.
It turns out that Li Congsuo was originally from the second generation of Quan. He liked drinking, feasting, singing, dancing and poetry since he was a child. He was not very interested in military affairs and had no talent.
Four years ago, he finally managed to pull himself together and promoted the rebellion of Chang Yi Army. However, Zhang Zhao appeared and snatched away the fruits of his victory.
Then he was too angry to go to Zhang Zhao to settle the score, and was beaten severely at the foot of Mawei slope. After An Shenqi's mediation, he paid 350,000 guan in compensation before he escaped.
However, after losing 350,000 yuan to Zhang Zhao and returning to Fengxiang, Li Congzuo, whose treasury was almost empty, was reluctant to pay for the soldiers and honor the rewards.
It didn't take long for a military rebellion to break out, but it was only thanks to Yan Jin and Jinchang Army Jiedushi An Shenqi sending troops to calm it down.
From then on, Li Congyao was completely at peace. He only had a few hundred tooth soldiers to guard him, and the rest of the Fengxiang army completely ignored him.
The generals below saw the chaos and were unwilling to suffer poverty. Most of them came to Qinzhou. Those who stayed in Fengxiang Mansion were basically just making a living.
Xu Jiu thought for a while and felt that there was no good place to go.
Now that he has run away from Fengxiang Mansion, he can't go back to Fengxiang, right? The only way to go is from Liangzhou.
"Then thank you Yan Shijun for showing me the way. I'll go to Liangzhou soon!"
"Very good!" Yan Jin nodded with satisfaction, and then raised his hand towards Fan Zhi.
"A certain person has just received the King's decree, and a large number of people will hold the imperial examination in Liangzhou in March next year, with the three subjects of literature, martial arts and agriculture.
Civilization includes clear scriptures, clear calculations, strategies, etc., military equipment includes spears and sticks, riding skills, archery, generals, etc., and agricultural equipment includes farming, breeding, water conservancy, etc.
He ordered Qinzhou athletes, regardless of their status, as long as they have a skill, to go to Liangzhou to prepare for the exam.
Fortunately, Brother Wensu is here, so please go to Liangzhou with us. I heard that Brother Wensu once presided over the imperial examination in the previous dynasty, and please call me Qinzhou son-in-law on the way."
