After listening to Kou Ji's words, the soldiers carefully wrote them down, not daring to miss a word.
The soldiers rested for a while in the palace, ate some food, and then set out on their journey to deliver the message again.
After the soldiers left, Kou Ji felt a little uneasy.
It is certainly gratifying that Zhu Neng and Li Zhaoliang took Guazhou.
But while Li Yuanhao retreated to Yumen Pass, he would definitely occupy Yang Pass.
Yumen Pass and Yang Pass are the two passes that Zhu Neng and Li Zhaoliang must pass on their way eastward.
Neither of the two great passes is so easy to break.
If Zhu Neng and Li Zhaoliang stormed the two great passes, many soldiers would surely die.
Li Yuanhao will definitely take advantage of the terrain advantages of Yumen Pass and Yang Pass to continuously consume the Song Dynasty's troops.
If he could drag the Song Dynasty's military strength to the point where it was equal to his own, or only slightly more than his own, Li Yuanhao would definitely lead a counterattack.
In order to prevent the Song Dynasty soldiers and horses from suffering losses at Yumen Pass and Yang Pass, and to prevent Li Yuanhao from making a comeback, Kou Ji felt that he needed to make some preparations.
Late at night, he quietly left the palace, found the Kou servants stationed outside the city, and ordered them to secretly collect the ingredients for gunpowder and the iron for cannonballs.
He will take time out to secretly make a batch of artillery shells and invincible mine cannons.
The artillery shells and invincible mine cannons he carried on this westward trip were completely used by him on the way to Shazhou City.
Now the only thing that can be used in hand is the musket.
It's just that the number of muskets is not large, but the lethality is enough, but it is difficult to scare a large number of enemies.
Therefore, the only firearms that can be used to frighten the enemy and defeat the enemy are artillery and invincible mine cannons.
After Kou Ji handed over to the craftsmen, he returned to the palace to rest.
The next morning.
The weather is cool.
After Kou Ji woke up, he wrapped himself in a thick cloak and went out.
As soon as he went out, he bumped into Fan Zhongyan who was rushing over.
"gentlemen……"
"Is something wrong?"
Fan Zhongyan nodded and said: "The student wants to mobilize another three thousand troops from the master."
Kou Ji asked suspiciously: "Are those monks in Thousand Buddha Cave dishonest?"
Fan Zhongyan shook his head, "It's not that they are dishonest, but they are too honest. It's unbelievable. In just seven days, they have cultivated 35,000 acres of fertile land..."
Kou Ji raised his eyebrows and heard the deep meaning in Fan Zhongyan's words.
Opening up wasteland is not about cultivating land.
Without the help of oxen and horses, it is easy for one person to plow an acre of land a day.
But it is very difficult for one person to clear an acre of land a day.
Often you have to work like an animal from sunrise to sunset before you can barely finish it.
The monks in Thousand Buddha Cave are not Song people who are good at hard work, but people from the Western Regions who grew up on horseback and in the scripture team.
If they want to clear an acre of land a day, they will have to work harder.
The monks in Thousand Buddha Cave are not good people.
They had put in so much hard work, and if they didn't have any agenda, Kou Ji would definitely not believe it.
Kou Ji pondered for a while and said: "There is no need to dispatch troops and horses for now. Pay close attention to them and see what they want."
Fan Zhongyan hesitated for a moment and nodded.
"Anything else?"
Kou Ji questions.
Fan Zhongyan nodded immediately.
"have……"
"Just say it."
Fan Zhongyan pondered: "Now we have cultivated a lot of fertile farmland, and the civilian laborers and prisoners are already familiar with how to cultivate fertile farmland in Shazhou. Should we separate the civilian laborers?"
Should the people who are willing to stay in Shazhou and have been allocated land be allowed to return to the land they received and carefully take care of the crops that have been sown?"
Kou Ji was stunned and said hesitantly: "Is the time ripe?"
Fan Zhongyan nodded solemnly.
Kou Ji nodded slightly and said: "Then separate them and let those who are willing to stay in Shazhou return to their assigned land to farm. In order to distinguish the differences between them.
From now on, we will separate them from the common people, re-register them, and record them as citizens of Shazhou under the rule of the Song Dynasty."
Fan Zhongyan smiled happily and said: "In this way, Shazhou can truly belong to me, the Song Dynasty."
Kou Ji nodded in agreement.
Fan Zhongyan continued: "In addition, there are two things that I need to make up my mind. First, after getting along with each other for a period of time, some of the civilians and soldiers want to stay in Shazhou. I wonder if you will accept them?
Secondly, a lot of forest land has been reclaimed, and there is a serious shortage of fruit tree saplings. I still need your help to find a solution."
When Kou Ji heard Fan Zhongyan's words, he was slightly startled and said: "Those civilians were unwilling to stay in Shazhou before, so why are they willing to stay now?"
After a pause, before Fan Zhongyan could speak, Kou Ji continued: "Are you greedy for the girl's body, or are you greedy for the thousand acres of fertile land?"
Fan Zhongyan stared and laughed uncontrollably: "It's both..."
Kou Ji followed with a smile and said: "Since they want to stay, then let them stay. But I can't give them three wives, I can only give them one. There are not many women left, and I still hope that they will attract
More people are staying.
As for fertile farmland, let’s continue as usual.”
Hearing this, Fan Zhongyan hesitated and said: "It's so unfair, will they..."
Kou Ji said calmly: "We have to talk about first come, first served, right? Those who arrive first have to take advantage, right? If there is no difference between those who arrive first and those who arrive last, what's the point of arriving first?"
Fan Zhongyan thought about Kou Ji's words.
I think what Kou Ji said is reasonable.
People always have to pay a certain price for the things they miss.
If you don't pay any price, what's the point of missing things?
"Students understand..."
After Fan Zhongyan figured it out, he nodded in agreement.
Kou Ji continued: "As for the problem of saplings, you don't have to worry, someone will help the people get enough saplings."
Kou Ji was full of confidence when he spoke.
Fan Zhongyan didn't ask any more questions.
He apologized and left the palace.
Not long after Fan Zhongyan left, someone who could help the people get enough saplings arrived in Shazhou.
A team of thousands of people escorted hundreds of carts through the desert of Shazhou and appeared in the wilderness outside Shazhou City.
It was a caravan, a huge caravan.
Except for three carriages with people in the caravan, the rest of the carriages were filled with goods.
The peasants who were clearing up wasteland stopped what they were doing and stopped to watch.
The steward of the caravan sitting in the three carriages also opened the curtains and stared at the peasants who were clearing the wasteland.
The scene of hundreds of thousands of people clearing wasteland was so majestic that it deeply shocked the caravan steward in the carriage.
"I'm a good boy... there are at least a hundred thousand people who are clearing up wasteland, right? One hundred thousand people are clearing up wasteland, how much fertile land will be opened up? I have been doing business in the Western Regions for so many years, and I have never seen such an impressive group of people.
scene."
Qian Le held his belly pressed on his thighs and said in amazement.
Meng Weizhong stroked his long beard, stared at the scene of land reclamation outside the carriage, and said with emotion: "In the whole world, only the bandits can do such a shocking thing."
Mu Chong lay on the soft couch in the carriage and coughed. There was a hint of flush on his pale cheeks. He said in a slightly hoarse voice: "Back then, the Kou officials came to find the three of us. We all thought that the Kou officials
The Ministry wants to exploit us by relying on its authority and wants to steal some money from us to spend, and we are well prepared to be squeezed.
Unexpectedly, people don't think much of our little family wealth at all.
We have been cooperating for several years, and not only have they not squeezed a penny out of our hands.
Instead, in just a few years, it helped us make money that we would never be able to make in several lifetimes.
Kou Libu is one of the few capable people in the Song Dynasty. It is a blessing that we have cultivated for several lifetimes to be able to hook up with him."
Qian Le narrowed his eyes and laughed in a low voice: "If it weren't for the kindness of the Kou officials to our three families, the three of us would not have rushed to the Western Regions after hearing the instructions of the Kou officials."
Mu Chong glanced at Qian Le and said in a weak voice: "Are you reluctant?"
Qian Le immediately retorted: "I am willing, I am too willing."
Meng Weizhong glanced at Qian Le, admired and Chong, and said with emotion: "The bandit officials are going to give us another great blessing."
The three of them, Mu Chong, have been doing business for many years and have become fine people.
The scene of people clearing wasteland in the wilderness is just clearing up wasteland in the eyes of many people.
But in the eyes of Mu and Chong, they were just mining.
Pieces of money mines.
"Sniff...hehehehe...I can already smell the smell of money..."
Qian Le stared at the civilians watching them outside the car window and took a greedy deep breath.
Mu Chong and Meng Weizhong both frowned when they heard Qian Le's words.
Seeing that the two of them looked strange, Qian Le asked doubtfully: "What's wrong with you two? Don't you have any interest in money?"
If a businessman is not interested in money, then he is not far from failure.
Mu Chong and Meng Weizhong looked at each other but did not speak.
Qian Le asked suspiciously: "What's going on with you two recently? Why are you so weird?"
Meng Weizhong pondered for a moment, opened his mouth, but said nothing.
On the contrary, Mu Chong said earnestly: "You have eaten enough. If you eat more, you will be so fat that you can't walk."
Qian Le said disapprovingly: "When I really can't walk on the road, I will find ten or eight people to carry me."
Mu Chong narrowed his eyes and sighed: "The imperial court has a clear law that prohibits treating humans as animals. Now if you want to find someone to carry you, I'm afraid the government won't agree."
Qian Le waved his hands carelessly and said: "With our current status in the Song Dynasty, the government does not dare to deal with us easily. It should be noted that the steward of our Yizijiaozi Pu is the uncle of the country. The court still owes us a debt.
Where is our money?"
When Mu Chong heard this, he decisively shut his mouth and did not speak again.
Under the watchful eyes of the people, the group entered Shazhou City along the avenue.
The young steward of the Kou Mansion received them in the outer city of Shazhou City.
After they had placed the goods they had brought, the steward of the Kou Mansion led the three of them into the palace to meet Kou Ji.
Kou Ji set up a banquet in the side hall of the palace to entertain them.
The three of them entered the palace.
After saluting Kou Ji.
Kou Ji asked them to sit down.
After we sat down, we exchanged pleasantries and said some polite words.
After three rounds of wine and five dishes, Mu Chong coughed lightly and smiled at Kou Ji: "After the three of us heard the message you sent, we immediately prepared the goods and rushed to the Western Regions.
We brought a lot of goods and sold a batch in Qingtang.
In the territory of Huangtou Huihe, a batch was sold to the soldiers in the army.
The rest were shipped to Shazhou."
Kou Ji nodded slowly and ordered: "I will send people to set up a Wazi City outside Shazhou City later, and the goods you bring will be sold in Wazi City.
The demand for goods by the people of Shazhou will gradually increase, so I hope that each of you will send a steward to sit in Shazhou to communicate the goods between Song Dynasty and Shazhou to ensure that there will be no shortage of goods in Shazhou."
Mu Chong cupped his hands and said, "Everything depends on your orders."
Qian Le cupped his hands and said, "Didn't you ask us to come here to sell cattle and sheep?"
Kou Ji pondered: "I did have this idea before. However, there are some changes now. We did not seize many cattle and sheep from the Shazhou Uighurs, and we did not have many cattle and sheep to distribute to the people.
In order to ensure that the people of Shazhou have horses, cattle and sheep to graze.
I plan to sell the cattle and sheep seized from Huangtou Huihe to the common people."
Kou Ji didn't say it was a free gift.
Because those cattle and sheep were apparently the assets of the Yuanshan tribe. If Kou Ji gave the assets of the Yuanshan tribe to the people of the Song Dynasty for free, it would cause a lot of unnecessary trouble.
"People from Shazhou?"
The three of them looked at Kou Ji suspiciously.
Kou Ji roughly explained the origin of the people in Shazhou.
After hearing this, the three people suddenly realized.
Meng Weizhong pondered and said: "According to your statement, the people of Shazhou are all selected from the common people. Although they have some rewards obtained from the battlefield, the number is not large, and there is no way to digest what you have in hand.
Owned cattle, sheep, and horses.”
Kou Ji nodded slowly and said: "You are right, so I am going to use improved breeding methods to distribute cattle, sheep, and horses to the people."
After hearing Kou Ji's words, Mu Chong muttered: "You want to sell some of the cattle, sheep, and horses to those who can afford them, and give the rest to the common people to help raise them."
?”
Kou Ji nodded in admiration and said: "Yes, most of the people have no money, so we will give them cattle, sheep, and horses to raise, and give them wages, or at the end of the year, we can use cattle and sheep to compensate for their wages.
The common people will get their own cattle and sheep in the process of raising cattle and sheep."
Qian Le frowned and said: "I heard that those cattle and sheep are from the Yuanshan tribe. We help the Yuanshan tribe and distribute the cattle and sheep to the common people to raise. In the end, it is the Yuanshan tribe that makes the profit, not us.
Why do we do this thankless thing?”
Kou Ji glanced at Qian Le and said calmly: "The men and horses of the Yuanshan tribe are all fighting in the Huangtou Huihe territory. They don't have time to take care of this batch of cattle and sheep. So they handed over the disposal of this batch of cattle and sheep."
I.
I don’t have enough manpower to do this, so I need to use the manpower you have.”