At the end of January, when February was a few days away, Tang Ai's private message from Chen, which had already married, was sent to Wang Cheng Guyin at the same time as an official document he submitted to Xin Er.

In the original time and space, the later He Zhizhang tasted the poem "February spring breeze is like scissors", but He Zhizhang wrote about the Tang capital Chang'an, that is, the early spring scenery of Xianyang, the capital of Puqin, Longdi is far northwest, far colder than Guanzhong and the Central Plains, although it is nearly February, it is still frost and snow sword, especially the day before yesterday, a heavy snow that has been rising for four or five days has just stopped, the snow is not cold, and the weather is colder.

But in any case, it is almost February, and when I go out of the city, I can see that wheat seedlings have just been planted in the fields near and far, and the pastures by the river have also drilled out a faint new green under the withered grass of last year.

In the courtyard of the Xin Mansion, when the mansion was opened last year, Xin Er planted a few adult vines with his own hands, at this time, the vines and branches on the grapevine climbing frame also revealed a thin green, and the white snow that had not yet melted was dipped in the dots, and the two colors were contrasted, giving people a bright and lovely feeling in the early morning sun. Standing on the edge of the shelf, Xin Er touched his short mustache, and thoughtfully came out of his mind for a while.

Although he was obese, and to put it mildly, when he was in Inozawa before, Inozawa was surrounded by desert and there were no wind-blocking mountains around, and the weather was actually colder than in Guyin, but maybe he had a good life these years, but he was quite intolerant of cold and frost today.

I saw that the tip of his nose was frozen like a carrot, he shrank his head and waited at Xin Er's side, the cold wind was like a knife, he covered his clothes and covered it, but he still couldn't stop the cold, and finally couldn't hold it, and said with a smile: "Ming Gong, but are you afraid that the snow will crush the shelf?" It's not a villain who said that the servants in the Ming Mansion are really lazy! Don't sweep the snow when it's snowing, don't sprinkle water when it's hot, the villain has seen it several times! also blames Ming Gong, all because Ming Gong's heart is too kind! These lazy and treacherous things have never been punished! Ming Gong, leave this errand to the villain! The villain will call Bald Lianfan over now, his hands and feet are nimble, a little snow, and he can clean it up in a moment! ”

"Vigorously."

"Hey, Ming Gong."

"You don't always bully Bald Lianfan. I heard you told him to go to prison to catch rats? After catching the mouse, you asked him to string along the street and collect the drowning of the people. Dali, you two are of the same race, why do you want to abuse him like this? ”

The beggar vigorously shouted and said: "Ming Gong, how can the villain abuse him!" The villain asked him to collect dung to find him a living. The villain doesn't have all the money from collecting and selling dung, and the villain shares it with him! This work is dirty, but he really makes a lot of money, I don't believe that Ming Gong summoned him, take a look at him, now he is full of red face, fat and round, and his clothes are also a set of new ones! ”

But it is dung and urine, which has always been the fertilizer of the strong land, in the original time and space, at the latest since the Tang Dynasty, feces have become a commodity, but now, a large number of "dung merchants" who collect the dung and urine of the residents in the city and sell them to farmers outside the city are not rare. After begging Dali was taken away from the shops in the city, in order to make up for the loss, in addition to lending, somehow, he turned his mind to this, so he went through the relationship of the temple in Guyin County, and obtained the identity of a "street envoy" subordinate to the bald Lianfan, and then asked him to take thirty or twenty pigs that were not very good in Guyin today, and walked the streets and alleys, specializing in collecting dung.

"You get two percent?"

Begging Dali said: "Ming Gong don't have to laugh! The waist card of the envoy of the Vulcan Fan Street was asked for by the villain, and the group of people who collected dung with him were also pulled by the villain, the dung truck stinked, entering the city and going out of the city, the doorman was not happy, and the relationship that should go through was also given to him by the villain, although this business was dirty, it could make some money, and there were not a few people in and out of the city, and there were those who were looking for trouble, and the villain pressed it for him. Let's put it this way, Ming Gong, except for not collecting dung, everything else is that the villain is busy before and after running, twenty percent? Just let Bald Lian Fan come over, he is embarrassed to dare to take eighty percent! ”

Xin Er looked at him and said, "Okay, okay." Dali, I tell you, although your business is not in the city, no need for city registration, but it is also a business, the same to pay taxes, you don't have to wait for the Guyin County Temple to find your door, you go to the county temple, and they agree on the amount of tax that should be paid, all the money that has not been paid in the past will be made up, and the money that should be paid in the future cannot be bad. ”

“…… Ming Gong. ”

"How?"

The beggar pouted vigorously, twisted his face to the side, and did not continue.

"Yo, Dali, you are so capable, dare to throw your face at me?"

"How can the villain have this bear bile! Ming Gong, people say that I beg to drill money in the eyes, villain look, Ming Gong, you are in the eyes of money! ”

"Vigorously, the army has been used for many years, the war has not stopped, the country is embarrassed, look, it will be February or March, you know, there may be a big war in Qinzhou, and this will require a lot of military spending, and the country's financial situation is tight, I don't drill the eyes of money, can I do it?"

Xin Er's words were heartfelt, and he also knew the difficulties of Dingxi's finances, so he put away his deliberately pretended sad face, took out a loyal look, and said in a crepe manner: "Without the promotion of Ming Gong, there would be no villain today, Ming Gong is now in trouble, and the villain wants to work together with Ming Gong and do his best to do his meager ability!" Tomorrow, the villain will go to the county temple to discuss the tax amount, and he is willing to set the tax high! ”

"Okay, if you have this heart, it's good."

"Ming Gong, that villain is now calling Bal Lian Fan and asking him to clear the snow?"

"What kind of snow is cleared?"

The beggar vigorously pointed to the remaining snow on the grape trellis and reminded Xin Er.

Xin Er said "oh" and said, "No need." I wasn't worried about the trellis, I was thinking about something else. ”

Before coming out of the court and watching the vines of the grapes start green, Xin Er had just finished reading Tang Ai's letters and official documents. It was nearly February, the war in Qinzhou may be about to start, and there are many military and political affairs, last night, Xin Er did not go home, but worked all night in the house, feeling depressed, so he came out to breathe after reading the Tang Aixin and official documents that were just delivered. But standing in front of the grape trellis, looking at the vines, suddenly from the Tang Ai official document mentioned in some of the content of Qinzhou and Puqin Qinzhou's recent situation, I thought about it, when the new green is lush and the grapes bear fruit, maybe the battle in Qinzhou has ended, and what will be the victory or defeat of this war related to the future of Dingxi? Will his hard work for Dingxi in the past few years be rewarded, or will he have to start all over again? Thoughts fluctuate because they are unconscious.

"Ming Gong, it's too cold outside, Ming Gong is wearing less, don't freeze, why don't we go back to the hall?"

"Go and bring me Shidao, Hui Lang, and Changling."

The beggar replied, "No." ”

"You spent the night outside the hall last night, sleepy, aren't you? After you have brought them in, you can go back. ”

"The villain is not sleepy."

"Go ahead."

Begged vigorously to accept the order, and went to invite Yang Chao, Zhang Seng Cheng, and Zhang Gui.

Xin Er returned to the hall, and the officials in the house brought breakfast.

Two pieces of Hu cake, a plate of meat sauce, a bowl of rice porridge, a meat and a vegetarian dish, and a bowl of ginseng soup are neatly placed on a plate with red stripes on a black background. Xin Er was waiting for food, saw the ginseng soup, and asked, "Where did this come from?" ”

The official replied respectfully: "The ginseng was given to the back kitchen by the beggar order history." ”

Xin Er smiled, didn't ask anything else, and then put down the vegetables, just meat sauce, drank porridge and ate cakes, and was indeed hungry.

The servant brought him water, asked him to rinse his mouth, brought a towel, asked him to wipe it, and then put away the food plate.

Xin Er picked up Tang Ai's private letter and official document, read it again, and was looking at it, when the footsteps outside the hall sounded, and the three of them came. The beggar did not come in, but remained in the corridor outside the hall entrance. The three of them entered, saluted, and sat down.

Yang Chao inspected Xin Er's complexion and said: "Ming Gong, I heard from the history of the beggar Ling, and the prince stayed up all night?" ”

"There are too many things, I just don't have enough time, I can't wait to divide one person into two!"

"Ming Gong, Lord Xin is about to give birth, right? No matter how busy the military and politics are, they can't snub the lord. Lord Xin's temper came up, Ming Gong ......, not to mention, but the Queen Mother has also issued a decree three times and twice, so that the Duke is not allowed to stay up all night and not return, the Queen Mother's decree, Ming Gong must obey it, right? ”

Xin Er shook the official document presented by Tang Ai in his hand, and said with a smile: "I was busy all night, I was going to go back, but the official document of Qianli has just arrived, and it mentions the latest situation on the side of Qinzhou and Puqin Qin Guangzong, so I invited Qing and others to come, let's discuss it." ”

After Tang Ai moved to supervise the military affairs of Qinzhou and other places, General Jianwei, and Qinzhou Assassin History, his original official position in the Central Taiwan Military Department was now taken over by Zhang Gui, in other words, the military affairs of Dingxi and now are directly managed by Zhang Seng Cheng and Zhang Gui. In recent days, when the war in Qinzhou will start has long been the most concerned and concerned issue for Zhang Seng Cheng and Zhang Gui. Hearing this, it was said that Tang Ai had the latest situation reported, and Zhang Gu immediately asked: "Dare to ask Ming Gong, I don't know what new situation is mentioned in Jianwei's official document?" ”

"One is on the Qinzhou side, the scale of the Lang General's Mansion has been established, and the officials equipped with it have generally taken up their posts, sent to various counties, inspected households, etc., selected government soldiers, and made names and entered into the register, and are expected to be completed by the end of February."

Zhang Seng said happily: "This is good news! I didn't expect Jianwei to be so quick, and the lower officials originally thought that the selection and registration of government soldiers would not be completed until March at the earliest. It can be completed by the end of February now, which will be of great help to our defense of Qinzhou. He asked, "Duke Ming, in Jianwei's official documents, is there any estimate of how many government soldiers can be selected?" ”

Tang Ai did expect this in the official document.

Xin Er replied: "Qinzhou's household registration, originally roughly 10,000, plus the original Pu Qin's official slaves, soldiers, strong and powerful people, and homeless people, etc., as well as the eight counties of Tanghu who moved to Nan'an and other counties, and the number of households now is about 13,000.

"Qing and others all know that the government soldiers are selected from the families of those above the middle household, and it is estimated that among the 13,000 households, according to the calculation of 2,000 households, the households above the middle family account for about 40%, that is, more than 5,000 households, and the households are one ding, and those who only have one ding at home can get about 5,000 government soldiers."

In the previous Qin Dynasty, there were 100,000 families, which can be called the middle family. Today, the civil war in the sea has been in turmoil for nearly a hundred years, and the people's livelihood has withered, and it is no longer possible to use 100,000 families as the standard for middle families. Of course, as mentioned above, the current household system is different from the former Qin, and is no longer only divided into three classes, but subdivided into nine classes, and this family has three thousand, which is the lowest first class among the three classes of middle households. The people of Dingxi are poorer than Jiangzuo, because they are waiting for fixed households, and when calculating the family family, it is a little lower than Jiangzuo's standard, and the 2,000 family is considered a middle household.

- To tell the truth, 2,000 or 3,000 yuan is really not much, this is not cash, it is the total price including everything in the family, but compared with the destitute households who do not even have 3,000 or 2,000 households, the family can have assets of a few thousand yuan, and life can always be better. The government soldiers are only recruited from the families of people above the middle household, which is not only to ensure the physical health of the government soldiers, but also to save a piece of benevolence that does not increase the survival difficulties of the extremely poor households.

Zhang Seng Cheng clapped his hands and said, "Okay, good!" If in February and March, Qin Yuguo invaded our Qinzhou, then Jianwei would have this 5,000 soldiers to be temporarily recruited, which would greatly reduce the pressure on our army to send reinforcements to Qinzhou. ”

Sheep fashion, Zhang Gui thought so.

The people of Longdi are still martial, the three counties of Qinzhou are located between Dingxi and Puqin, there are many Qiang Hu in the territory, and the Fudingxi and Puqin have been fighting here for many years, the folk customs of the martial arts here are actually not worse than the interior of Longzhou, although the selected soldiers are just set up because of the Lang general's mansion, there is still a lack of daily array exercises, it must be difficult to use as a fine pawn, but it should be more than enough to defend the city, and there is no problem.

Zhang Gui's mood was also greatly relaxed because of this, and said with a smile: "Lang will set up a grass house, this is indeed good news!" Ming Gong, Qin Yu's Tianshui and other places, has there been any change in recent days? Is there any mention of this in Jianwei's official document? ”

"One is Qin Guangzong's side. The Qin soldiers in Tianshui and other places did not make any changes, but Qin Guangzong used it in recent months to send a lot of detailed works to Longxi, Nan'an and other counties in Qinzhou, to spy on the reality of Qinzhou, and try to instigate the four counties to cause chaos. Qianli official document said that this month alone, since the beginning of the month, Nan'an and other counties have captured more than 10 people of Qin Guangzong's fine work, and a few days ago, put down the Qianghu rebellion in Nan'an County that arose due to Qin Guangzong's instigation. ”

Yang Chao thought for a while and said: "Qin Guangzong is so eager to find out the internal affairs of my Qinzhou, and instigated Qiang to make trouble, Ming Gong, could this be a precursor to Qin's invasion of my Qinzhou?" ”

"I'm suspicious of that, too." Xin Er put Tang Ai's official document, opened the secret box on the case, and took out a piece of paper from it, which was sent by Dingxi'an in Hebei, which was just presented to Xin Er's hands yesterday afternoon, Xin Er unfolded it, and said while re-reading, "But according to this Hebei intelligence that only arrived yesterday, the main force of Pu Qin in Hebei does not seem to have returned to the customs at present." …… I asked someone to copy this information and show it to you, have you all read it? ”

Yang Chao and others replied: "I have seen it." ”

According to this information, Pu Mao dispatched Pu Luogu, Gou Xiong, Yang Man and other troops to enter the counties of Guangping and Yangping, judging his behavior, as if he wanted to take advantage of the victory to advance northward and capture Changle in order to capture Jizhou. If the main force of the Qin army in Hebei does not return to Guanzhong, I am afraid that we will not be able to defeat our Qinzhou with only the troops of Qin Guangzong and others. Xin Er withdrew his gaze from the intelligence, raised his eyes to look at Yang Chao and the others, and said in a deep voice, "In this way, Qin Guangzong's use of my Qinzhou is the precursor of Pu Qin's invasion of my Qinzhou, or is he actually to guard against the attack of our army?" I can't grasp it, because I invited the secretary and others to come and want to hear your opinions. ”