In the swaying carriage, he was holding a mirror in one hand and stroking his cheek with the other hand, carefully looking for flaws on his face?
Are you old? Not old! From the hidden eyes of the men around her, she could confirm that she was very familiar with that look and knew what those men wanted to do to her, which was the desire to take off her clothes.
However, no matter whether it was Yuan Gang who spoke coldly or Niu Youdao who spoke frivolously, there was no look in their eyes that she wanted to see, which made her feel very insecure.
That's right! It didn't violate her desires, but made her feel insecure.
He put down the mirror in his hand and looked out of the car window. The uneasiness in his heart still hadn't calmed down. Niu Youdao refused to admit that he did it.
Nowadays, she is no longer the girl who loved Shang Jianbo to death. She does not believe that there is such great help in this world for no reason and without asking for anything in return. There is no definite answer. She always feels that there is a huge black hole behind her.
As if he was about to devour her at any moment...
After seeing off the guests, Niu Youdao came back and saw Gongsun Bu standing outside the thatched cottage.
"Is something wrong?" Niu Youdao asked with a smile.
Gongsun Bu asked: "Is there no news yet about Lu Shengzhong?"
Niu Youdao: "Either he was killed by Shao Pingbo, or he surrendered to Shao Pingbo. In short, it is impossible for Shao Pingbo to let him back."
Speaking of this, his expression became a little deep, and after reflection, perhaps one of his decisions missed the chance to save Lu Shengzhong in the end.
People from the three sects should not have gone to the Song Dynasty to join forces with Lu Shengzhong. If Shao Pingbo could not see the contact person, he would know that he was exposed. It was impossible to let Lu Shengzhong back, otherwise Shao Pingbo might use Lu Shengzhong as a countermeasure.
Gongsun Bu said: "It would be best to die."
Niu Youdao smiled slightly and was noncommittal...
It’s midsummer again, and it’s been a year later in the blink of an eye.
The waterfall poured down from the cliff. On the stone under the waterfall, a figure was submerged in the water curtain and remained motionless.
Black Peony flew over and shouted, "Master Dao!"
The figures in the water curtain suddenly flashed and shot up along with the pouring water.
Going upstream was very fast and did not stir up any unusual water splash.
A man drew his sword in the water curtain, bang! The water above the waterfall exploded, and a figure drew his sword and pointed to the sky, rushing out of the water.
He flipped in the air, returned the long sword to its sheath, and then turned and slid down, landing next to Black Peony.
Black Peony was stunned. Such a huge water pouring down seemed to have no resistance to this person.
With steam rising from his body, Niu Youdao pestered the sword and asked, "What's the matter?"
Black Mudan replied: "I asked about what you are talking about. It is not a spy, but the population of Qingshan County has increased sharply and merchants gather here. It is not too far from the county town. It is normal for people to come here by mistake from time to time.
.The prince learned that he had disturbed the Taoist Qing Dynasty, and he had ordered people to make some inscriptions prohibiting passage, and he would have people set them up around him later."
That's it! Niu Youdao nodded. He heard Yuan Gang mention it before, saying that there are always people trying to break into this place, so he asked about it.
"Listening to what you said, is Qingshan County very prosperous today?" Niu Youdao asked.
"Prosperous!" Black Peony nodded and said, "It's simply too prosperous. The difference between one year before and the next is as big as clouds and mud."
"After the prince implemented the New Deal, refugees from all over the world came after hearing the news. The population of the two counties increased by seven or eight times. Most of the cultivated land abandoned in Qingshan County in the early years has been reclaimed. In order to retain the refugees, the prince wanted to allow the refugees to truly live in their hometown.
To settle down in the two counties, they not only divided the fields, but also specially allocated 100,000 gold coins, recruited a large number of scholars to be teachers, and set up free book schools in various places in the two counties, so that all the refugees could have fields and all the children of the refugees could go to school. Nowadays, around the fields and
Where the school is located, villages are rapidly taking shape. In Lan Ruoting's words, as long as the family business is here, these refugees will not easily leave the two counties unless they are forced to do so."
"The gathering of a large population and the reduction of commercial taxes have attracted merchants from all over the world, who in turn employ a large number of homeless people to do work. Today's Qingshan County is really different from what it used to be. The city is too lively, but there are also troubles. People
There are too many, there are not enough shops, and those merchants have needs. Mr. Lan is negotiating with those merchants."
"Negotiation?" Niu Youdao was stunned for a moment, "What to talk about?"
Black Peony: "Your Majesty plans to treat the current county city as an inner city. With the inner city as the center, it will be expanded five miles to the surrounding area, and an outer city will be built on the periphery."
The surrounding area expanded five miles? Niu Youdao was slightly surprised, "Where did he get such huge financial resources?"
Black Peony: "That's why Mr. Lan wants to negotiate with those merchants and prepare to provide free land in the outer city to those merchants to build shops, but the premise is that those merchants must fund the construction of the outer city wall. It will be measured according to the length of the wall.
The amount of land in the city that will be obtained for free can be used to find something to support their families for those refugees who cannot be resettled in the short term. It is said that the talks are almost complete, and there are still some conflicts of interest that are still being negotiated."
Niu Youdao asked: "Are these all Lan Ruoting's political opinions?"
Black Peony nodded: "It seems so. Regarding internal affairs, the prince seems to have delegated power to Lan Ruoting. The prince mainly focuses on military affairs."
"This Lan Ruoting is indeed a talented person and a generous person!" Niu Youdao sighed with emotion, but his thoughts flew to Beizhou.
He meditated here and hardly interfered with the affairs of the two counties. On the contrary, he was more concerned about the affairs of Beizhou.
According to news reports, Shao Pingbo's efforts were even greater. He recruited well-educated people and skilled craftsmen to try to open up the entire Beizhou water conservancy network in these troubled times. It is said that in just over a year, the results were extraordinary. The same population
surge.
It seems that Shao Dengyun gave Shao Pingbo greater power, which relieved Shao Pingbo from many constraints.
Today, Shao Pingbo is in charge of military affairs and internal affairs. He has extraordinary abilities. With his superb skills and governance ability, he has almost completely changed the entire Beizhou in just over a year. The strength of the entire Beizhou is rapidly increasing in a snowballing manner.
It almost directly absorbed the human and financial resources from the surrounding areas and used them, which made the surrounding states embarrassed and sad, but it also lost its temper with Beizhou.
Niu Youdao himself had to admit that his ability in this area was far inferior to that of Shao Pingbo.
Because of this, the changes in Beizhou made Niu Youdao worried. The stronger Beizhou was, the greater the influence of the spiritual practice community that Shao Pingbo could use.
News from Beizhou said that Shao Pingbo's abilities attracted great attention from Dachan Mountain and they sent additional experts to protect Shao Pingbo.
After coming back to his senses, he glanced at the energetic Black Peony who was talking about it. Niu Youdao smiled at the corner of his mouth and realized that this woman was different. She gradually became concerned about these things, otherwise she would not be able to speak clearly and truthfully.
"Where is Yuan Gang?" Niu Youdao asked.
Black Peony: "It seems that he went to the crafts workshop. He has been going to Gongsun Tieniu more frequently recently."
Niu Youdao was silent for a moment, then waved and said: "I haven't been out of the mountains for a long time. Let's go and see the county town."
Black Peony immediately went to the three sects to hire some masters to protect them.
As soon as he approached the town of Qingshan County, Niu Youdao, who had not been out of the mountains for a long time, immediately felt a different atmosphere.
There is an endless stream of people coming and going on the official road, and there are many scenes of cars and horses pulling. There are small officials outside the city measuring, drawing lines, and driving wooden stakes for positioning. It seems that the expansion of the city is imminent.
As soon as he entered the city and took a walk around, the streets were bustling and noisy. Compared with the slightly deserted streets at the beginning, Niu Youdao almost thought he was in the wrong place.
Although many people's clothes are in tatters and not decent, and there are even many people begging with bowls in their hands, it is really very different from before.
There were people everywhere, which made Niu Youdao, who had been cultivating Qing Dynasty for a long time, not comfortable with it. He lost interest in walking around and went directly to the county governor's house.
The personal guards of Shang Chaozong knew him, and asked the guards who blocked him to retreat, and personally led Niu Youdao in.
When I came outside the meeting hall, I heard Shang Chaozong and Lan Ruoting discussing inside.
Niu Youdao stretched out his hand to stop it, asking the guards to pause the briefing and listen outside.
Lan Ruoting's voice sounded inside, "Your Majesty, look here, the seaport to the south is our advantage. In the face of surrounding blockades, it is a shortcut to import and export materials by sea, which is also great for merchants.
It is convenient. It is recommended to synchronize the city expansion method with the seaport here and build a city near the seaport to facilitate the transfer and storage of materials for merchants..."
"Ahem." The guard on the side suddenly coughed. He really felt that it was inappropriate for people to eavesdrop on the prince's conversation. Regardless of Niu Youdao's obstruction, he reported, "Your Majesty, Mr. Tao is here."
Niu Youdao stared at him, smiled, and walked into the house.
Shang Chaozong and Lan Ruoting also came out, both of them were a little surprised. This person had not been seen all year round.
"Master Tao, why are you here?" Shang Chaozong raised his hands and asked, "But what's the matter?"
Niu Youdao followed them into the meeting hall, and immediately saw the map hanging in the room. He walked to the map and looked at it, "Nothing. I just heard a few words outside. What, are we blocked by the surrounding area?"
Lan Ruoting: "It hasn't reached that level yet, but the progress here has aroused the vigilance of the surrounding areas. It will be a matter of time to block the trade routes here. No one will want to see the situation here. Be prepared for a rainy day.
Hurry up and build the sea route here. The sea is boundless and there are roads everywhere. The forces in the surrounding areas can only cut off the land route. It is not that easy to cut off the sea route. Another point is that once the surrounding blockade is strengthened, it will be more difficult for the war horses to come in.
Yes, taking the sea route is one way."
Niu Youdao nodded, "Mr. Lan has great insights and thinks long term!"
Shang Chaozong frowned and said, "The people from the three sects and Tianyumen who went to Qi have not yet given a reply."
Lan Ruoting explained: "Master Dao, what the prince means is that our development progress is not slow. Once the people around us feel that the threat is huge, we may not just block it, so we must have strong force to deter us.
We are in urgent need of war horses, otherwise the mobilization speed of our troops cannot keep up, and we will have to wait to be beaten! The less our troops can keep up, the easier it will be to arouse the aggression of foreign enemies!"
Niu Youdao: "We can't just rely on Qi State. Don't we think of another way?"
Shang Chaozong: "We have purchased some horses from the surrounding areas. There must be thousands of them. However, there is still a big gap between war horses and ordinary load-bearing horses. The proportion of horses that can run quickly and fight in battle is very small. The original ones here
The war horses are also gradually aging. There are tens of thousands of war horses here. It is impossible to search for them from the surrounding areas in the short term. However, there are countless good horses in the pastures of Qi State."