He used to beg for help, but now it's finally his turn for others to beg for him.
"Just do as you say..."
Li Zhaoliang said with a smile.
Zhu Neng said quietly from the side: "So... can you afford 500,000 acres of land?"
The expression on Li Zhaoliang's face froze.
Five hundred thousand acres of land are for farming, not for viewing.
It would take at least 10,000 tenants to be able to grow it.
Although the Li family's property is large, it does not have tens of thousands of idle tenants.
Li Zhaoliang glared at Zhu Neng angrily, "I can't eat it, and neither can you."
Zhu Neng was stunned for a moment. Seeing Kou Ji's calm expression, he thought for a moment and said with a smile, "That's not necessarily the case..."
Li Zhaoliang rolled his eyes and immediately looked at Kou Ji, "You have a way..."
Kou Ji said calmly: "When the imperial court moves people to Hexi, the prisoners will naturally be free. They can help me farm the land."
Li Zhaoliang immediately said: "The prisoners belong to the imperial court...the imperial court will arrange for them...how can they be given to you for personal use..."
Kou Ji glanced at Li Zhaoliang and said calmly: "The prisoner in Jiao Siluo's hands was bought by me privately. No money from the court was used."
Li Zhaoliang's eyes lit up, "Give me some..."
Kou Ji smiled, his smile was very bright, "One person, one hundred strings."
Li Zhaoliang stared and shouted: "Are you dark-hearted? When you bought those prisoners from Jiao Siluo, you only spent one hundred thousand guan."
"It's a rare thing to live in...you don't have to want it..."
Kou Ji said as if he was convinced of Li Zhaoliang.
Li Zhaoliang gritted his teeth fiercely, "I want...six thousand people..."
Kou Ji nodded with satisfaction, "Don't look like you are at a disadvantage. As the saying goes, the big fish eats the small fish, and the small fish eats the shrimp. I am sure to eat you, and you are also sure to eat those who come from Bianjing City to reap the benefits. of people.
If I make money from you, you can also make money from them.
Maybe you can get more out of them, maybe."
Li Zhaoliang thought about Kou Ji's words for a while and felt that it made sense. He immediately nodded and left the gate of the camp in silence.
Zhu Neng asked: "What did he do?"
Kou Ji said calmly: "Of course I will send someone back to Bianjing City to find other people to make money."
Zhu Neng raised his eyebrows and said, "Should I try too?"
Kou Ji glanced at Zhu Neng and said, "Are you familiar with Shi, Gao, Pan and others?"
Zhu Neng smiled bitterly.
Kou Ji continued: "Those people you know have low status and small appetites. If you try to make money from them, you won't be able to make much money."
Zhu Neng cried and said: "But I don't have many people in my hands. If I want to take prisoners from you, I have to pay."
Kou Ji said quietly: "You should be poorer to be normal."
Zhu Neng didn't understand its meaning.
Kou Ji whispered: "In this battle in Hexi, you, Zhu Neng, have made great contributions. The officials will definitely reward you a lot, and the civil and military officials in the court will keep an eye on you. So you should be poorer, and if you are too rich, you will be too conspicuous." If you do this, you will be easily criticized by others and will easily offend officials.
You are different from Li Zhaoliang. You have just started your career, so you should not have a rich background.
Li Zhaoliang’s Li family has been around for three generations, so it’s a bit normal.”
Zhu Neng was not stupid. He understood as soon as Kou Ji said it.
He was also dazzled by the benefits in front of him, so he somewhat lost his ability to think.
Now after Kou Ji woke him up, he realized that there was danger behind the benefits.
Seeing that Zhu Neng was thoughtful, Kou Ji continued: "The more low-key we are now, the better... Don't put all the land that you and I have been assigned under our own names. Find some people in the clan and share it out.
If it doesn’t work, give it to the tribes and let them occupy it.”
Zhu Neng nodded heavily.
After Kou Ji finished talking to Zhu Neng, he looked east in the direction of Bianjing City and said quietly: "Our good news should have been sent to Bianjing City... The reaction from the court will soon be sent to us...
We are just in Hexi, waiting for news from the court..."
…
Just when Kou Ji was looking eastward at Bianjing City.
Ten fast horses rushed into Bianjing City like a gust of wind.
They rushed and shouted all the way.
"Great victory in Hexi! Great victory in Hexi!"
"The land west of Hexi! All belong to our Song Dynasty!"
"..."
The good news, accompanied by their shouts, spread throughout Bianjing City.
In an instant, there was joy inside and outside Bianjing City.
All the people who got the news rushed to the streets to celebrate.
After receiving the news, the officials put on their court uniforms one by one and ran quickly to the palace.
…
Inside the palace.
Zhao Zhen frowned and threw a memorial to the ground.
Chen Lin took small steps, picked up the memorial, and threw it into the stove not far from the imperial stairs.
Seeing this, Lu Yijian and Wang Zeng, who were sitting under Zhao Zhen, stopped writing, looked at each other, and sighed secretly in their hearts.
Lu Yijian pondered for a moment and asked: "The official...is this another memorial to impeach Kou Ji?"
Zhao Zhen cherishes words as gold.
"yes……"
Wang Zeng sighed, "Although Xue Tian was not killed by Kou Ji, he was forced to death by Kou Ji. Naturally, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty would not let Kou Ji off easily."
Lu Yijian complained: "The same goes for Kou Ji... Li Di wanted to help him avoid disaster, but he didn't appreciate it... He insisted on bringing the matter to the court, causing all officials to impeach..."
Lu Yijian felt that Li Di's help to prevent Kou Ji from disaster would be very beneficial to Kou Ji.
Li Di has been dismissed as prime minister and his career has come to an end.
Even if he has the reputation of forcing Xue Tian to death, it doesn't matter.
It is impossible for the court to kill him for this.
After all, he has contributed to the court.
The most the imperial court could do was issue an edict and reprimand him.
Li Di will only gain a little more bad reputation.
Wang Zeng said bluntly: "I think Mr. Kou dares to do what he does..."
Wang Zeng hasn't finished speaking yet.
Just listen to Lu Yijian shouting: "Dare you dare to do it? Are you taking your career as a bet?"
Wang Zeng sighed and said no more.
Lu Yijian's words were full of dissatisfaction with Kou Ji, but it was not that he had any grudge against Kou Ji.
But I hate him for not living up to expectations.
It can be said that Kou Ji's future is bright.
Lu Yijian also wanted to work with Kou Ji to be a pair of virtuous ministers in the world, so when Li Di and Wang Zeng helped Kou Ji pave the way, he also helped Kou Ji lay a lot of stones.
But Kou Ji failed to live up to his expectations and insisted on taking the trouble on himself. How could Lu Yijian not be angry?
The more Lu Yijian thought about it, the angrier he became. He was so angry that he said: "The trouble we have caused for him here is a headache. It would be better for him to hide in Shazhou and enjoy peace and quiet."
Wang Zeng mused: "Listening to Li Di's report, Kou Ji intends to pass through Shazhou and open up countless fertile fields in Shazhou. He also did not hide in Shazhou. If he can really manage the fertile fields in Shazhou,
, it is also a meritorious deed for me, the Song Dynasty."
Lu Yijian stared and said, "Can this matter be discussed in court? Once it is mentioned, it will lead to his massacre of the Shazhou Uighurs. The officials will impeach him for being unkind."
Wang Zeng frowned and said: "What kind of benevolence can be said between countries? In the Song Dynasty, tens of thousands of people died because of the Shazhou Uighurs, so they should pay for it with blood. Some ministers in the court are just stupid in reading. Let's talk about it.
What kind of benevolence and righteousness does the state have to talk about? When the Liao Kingdom insulted me, the Song Dynasty, did they ever talk about benevolence and righteousness to me, the Song Dynasty?"
Lu Yijian said disdainfully: "What kind of country are the Shazhou Uighurs? They are just grassroots forces."
After a pause, Lu Yijian continued: "I have been thinking about a problem recently. Is there any benefit to be gained from our passing through Shazhou? Shazhou is located in a remote place and is not connected to the Song Dynasty. People from the Song Dynasty want to
To go to Shazhou, you have to take a road in the middle.
If others are not willing to lend us a way, how can we pass through Shazhou?"
Wang Zeng pondered: "Didn't Li Di say it in the document? He said that Kou Ji intended to take over the entire Hexi region and connect Shazhou with the Song Dynasty."
"Is Hexi so easy to get? Are the Xixia people weak? If he wants to fight the Xixia people in Hexi, it will take at least two or three years of fierce fighting. How much food will it cost to fight for two or three years? There is not a penny in the national treasury now.
We also borrowed a lot from Yizijiaozipu. Food became even more scarce. In order to support them in fighting in the Western Region, we almost emptied the entire Changping warehouse in the north.
He did gain a lot of money in Shazhou, but after all, the money is dead and cannot be exchanged for food for a while."
Lu Yijian said nonchalantly.
Wang Zeng said with a pity on his face: "It would be great if it were autumn now... If it were autumn, we could harvest a large amount of food from the people to support Kou Ji and his troops in fighting in Hexi.
After capturing Hexi, our Song Dynasty will have a very large horse herding land.
The road to the Western Region can be connected.
It can be said that capturing Hexi will have countless benefits for us, the Song Dynasty.
pity……"
Wang Zeng was unable to continue speaking until the end.
Lu Yijian said unwillingly: "It's a pity that we didn't live up to our expectations and didn't save enough food for the army to fight fiercely outside."
"Four months... no, three months, as long as we have three months of food and grass that is enough to support the army's campaign abroad, we will be able to recover..."
"If Bianjing City had not suffered that flood, perhaps the food in Changpingcang would have been enough..."
"Thanks to that flood, otherwise we wouldn't even have the food to support the army for the past few months of fighting outside..."
"..."
Wang and Zeng were talking to each other one by one.
From the beginning of complaining about Kou Ji, to the end they talked about the problem of raising food.
At the end of the conversation, the two of them vaguely came to a decision.
That is to borrow a large amount of money from Yizijiaozipu and buy grain at a high price from private grain merchants to support the army in the war.
For the many benefits that Hexi can bring to the Song Dynasty, we must take a chance.
If it is done, the national power of the Song Dynasty will rise sharply.
If it doesn’t work, don’t mention anything about Hexi from now on.
Zhao Zhen sat in front of the Long Case and listened to the conversation between Wang Zeng and Lu Yijian. He casually opened another memorial and saw that it was about the impeachment of Kou Ji again. He threw it on the table, rubbed his eyebrows and spoke in a slightly conciliatory tone.
She said tiredly: "Chen Lin..."
"My slave is here..."
"Tell the Secretary to screen the memorials submitted in the future. The memorials to impeach Kou Qing should not be submitted to my desk."
"Here..."
Zhao Zhen finished rubbing his eyebrows, picked up the tea soup on the table, and took a sip. Just as he was about to speak, he saw a young eunuch hurriedly entered the Zishi Hall.
Don't wait for the little eunuch to greet you.
Seeing Zhao Zhen frowning, he took the lead and said, "Xue Tian's son knelt down at the palace gate again?"
The young eunuch hurriedly said: "Back to the official's house, it's..."
Wang Zeng heard the conversation between Zhao Zhen and the young eunuch, and snorted coldly, saying: "Xue Tian was so ignorant that he killed tens of thousands of people in our Song Dynasty. His crime cannot be punished. His son still has the honor to kneel at the gate of the palace."
Lu Yijian frowned and said: "Xue Tian's son didn't say that Xue Tian was not guilty. He just wanted to meet with the officials and ask how they would decide on the political affairs of our dynasty when the governor of our dynasty was forced to death."
When Wang Zeng heard this, he also frowned.
Xue Tian was involved in political affairs and one of the three assistants in the Song Dynasty.
This is no ordinary cat or dog.
No matter how big a mistake Xue Tian made, it was not something Kou Ji could force or deal with.
Now that Xue Tian's son has brought this matter up, the three of them have no way to refute, let alone use their power to drive him away.
"Headache……"
Wang Zeng knocked on his head.
Lu Yijian said coldly: "There must be someone behind Xue Tian's son...otherwise how dare he make trouble at the palace gate and threaten the officials and us..."
Zhao Zhen narrowed his eyes and said coldly: "Then go check it out."
"Here..."
The one who responded was a young eunuch beside Zhao Zhen.
It had never appeared in the court before.
After the young eunuch left Zishi Hall, Zhao Zhen snorted coldly: "Xue Tian's son threatens me, and I can accept it... I gave Kou Qing the Emperor's Sword. Whatever Kou Qing does in the Western Regions,
It can be said that it was ordered by me.
So if Kou Qing was wrong in forcing Xue Tian to death, then I should also bear a part of it.
But I will never allow others to embarrass me behind my back."
When Wang Zeng and Lu Yijian heard this, they both raised their hands and said, "The official sage..."
Now is the time for everyone to work together to benefit the Song Dynasty.
But someone is stirring things up behind the scenes.
Really damn it.
Wang Zeng and Lu Yijian finished speaking.
There were faint cheers coming into Zishi Hall.
Zhao Zhen and the three others were stunned.
Zhao Zhen ordered Chen Lin beside him: "Go and see what happened that made the whole city cheer."
Chen Lin agreed and left Zishi Hall. Not long after, she ran into Zishi Hall as fast as flying.
As he ran, he shouted loudly: "The official family, a great event, a great victory in Hexi!"
Zhao Zhen stood up suddenly and shouted in surprise: "Great victory in Hexi? But another state was won?"
Chen Lin smiled bitterly and said: "The soldiers who sent the Eight Hundred Miles Express are still on the way. I heard their shouts and hurried in to report to you. I have never seen the Eight Hundred Miles Express, so how can I know the contents?
.”
Zhao Zhen glared at Chen Lin and scolded with a smile: "You old man, you dare to reply to me before you understand the news. If it is because of your fault that the joy I feel is reduced by half, I will inevitably punish you.
Fan.”
Chen Lin instantly showed a bitter face.
He knew that if Zhao Zhen wanted to punish him, he just said it casually, but he still had to show the proper attitude.
Not long after Chen Lin arrived at Zishi Hall.
The soldiers who had been dispatched for eight hundred miles all appeared in Zishitang.
Zhao Zhen, Wang Zeng, and Lu Yijian were shocked when they saw the momentum of the ten soldiers. They all stood up and looked at them expectantly.
After the ten soldiers entered the Zishi Hall, they all knelt on the ground.
The leading soldier raised the mailbox in his hand high above his head, and the ten people shouted in unison: "To the officials, a great victory in Hexi! All the land west of Hexi belongs to the Song Dynasty! Congratulations to the officials! Congratulations to the Song Dynasty!"