Zhou Shaofeng took his father and others away, took away all the people who were hiding in the Han Mansion of the Yuan Tianjiao, and finally moved the stone that pressed on Han Yuan's solid head, and from then on, the sea and the sky were at ease.

The family felt the old man's happiness and thought that it was the reason why the honey fruit business had made a lot of money. Honey fruits have been marketed around the Mid-Autumn Festival, and various types of honey fruits are sold in several nearby states, because they are not far from the place of origin, and the price is quite reasonable, around one or two silver.

The court wants to clean up the redundant troops and send them to the Huazhou military tun, so there will be fewer veterans of farming in the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate, and it will be difficult for fruits, melons and vegetables to meet military needs, and the appearance of honey fruits just makes up for this demand. A series of covert operations finally formed a report on the surface, and Sima Han Liangqing of the Metropolitan Protectorate suggested to the marshal Yang Xiangliang that he first temporarily buy 50,000 cans of honey fruits for military needs, and the price was naturally cheap, half of the market price of 500 Wen.

Yang Xiangliang had eaten honey fruits and felt that it tasted good, and the young marshal Yang Huaizhong helped say a few good words beside him. A few days ago, Jiang Anyi sent 100,000 taels of silver for this year's customs duties, Yang Xiangliang didn't think much about it, and agreed to buy 50,000 cans of honey fruits to improve the lives of the soldiers.

Fertilizer and water do not flow into the fields of outsiders, this transaction naturally fell on the Han Mansion, although it is only half of the market price, but it is better than the quantity, this transaction can at least net ten thousand taels of silver. What's more, it has a relationship with the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate, and the transaction of military supplies is good for a long time and in large quantities, and Han Liangqing is not worried about not getting the account.

Soon after Han Liangqing left, Yang Huaizhong found an excuse to also come out of the Shuaifu and went to the quartermaster's office, and on the way, he saw Han Liangqing greeted him with a smile, and handed over a stack of silver tickets quietly, and negotiated the benefit fee of two thousand taels in advance.

There are many official affairs in the Shuaifu, and there is an endless stream of people who come in to do business, and they are not idle until noon. The two brothers, Yang Huaizhong and Yang Huaiwu, came in to salute, and as long as they were fine, the two brothers had to accompany their father to dinner.

Yang Xiangliang glanced at his eldest son and asked coldly, "How much benefit fee did Han Liangqing give you?" ”

Yang Huaizhong was startled, and he didn't dare to make a sound.

Yang Xiangliang sighed: "My father has been in the army for more than 30 years, from a small soldier to today's status, don't want to hide the mess in this military camp from me." ”

Seeing his father's grim face, Yang Huaizhong panicked in his heart and confessed: "Han Liangqing gave me two thousand taels of silver. As he spoke, he took out the silver ticket from his bosom and presented it to Yang Xiangliang.

Yang Xiangliang waved his hand and said: "That's it, for my father to know that the water is clear and there are no fish, the army is hard, and the military discipline is strict, who wants to be a soldier if there are no benefits." This silver is what you got by speaking for Han Liangqing, you can put it away. ”

The father didn't blame him, Yang Huaizhong was relieved, and quickly put the silver back into his arms.

However, Yang Xiangliang's tone changed sharply, and he said solemnly: "You two remember to your father, it is nothing to get some benefits in the army, but there are a few things that are taboo and must not be done." First, you should not drink the blood of soldiers, the salary that should be given to the soldiers should not be deducted, and the rewards should be given enough, so that the soldiers will obey orders, and only when they go to the battlefield can they have the fighting spirit, and they are willing to obey the command and are not afraid of life and death, so that they can rely on their subordinates to make meritorious contributions. ”

Yang Huaizhong's eyes rolled, and he thought to himself, his father taught his brother a serious lesson, didn't Mei Hongmin's ministry take the army because of unfair rewards and punishments, this Anxi capital protectorate, in addition to his father's 20,000 pro-army, deducting the soldiers' salaries and silver abounded.

Yang Xiangliang saw that the expressions of the two sons were very different, Yang Huaiwu's serious face was listened to, and Yang Huaizhong smiled at the corner of his mouth, his eyes fluttered, obviously he didn't take his words seriously.

"The disadvantages in the army have been around for a long time, and my father knows that some people in the Anxi Protectorate are drinking the blood of soldiers, and this practice has existed since ancient times, and the law does not blame the public, and my father will not tear this face, but you remember to me that if you want to make a difference in the army, not drinking the blood of soldiers, rewards and punishments are clearly the foundation of your life." Yang Xiangliang roared hoarsely.

"Of course", Yang Xiangliang's tone softened and said: "As a marshal, you have to judge the situation and how to deploy troops is also knowledge. ”

Yang Huaizhong showed a clear smile, Yang Huaiwu was confused, Yang Xiangliang sighed in his heart, one of the two sons is too slippery, the other is too simple, it would be good if he could neutralize it.

"It is difficult to raise an army only by relying on the silver of the court, the four major capital protectorates have their own ways to make money, my Anxi capital protectorate relies on the commerce and trade of the Western Regions, Huazhou Thorn Shi Jiang Anyi promised to pay 800,000 taels of silver for his father every year, 300,000 taels for the three major checkpoints, and the remaining 500,000 taels of silver for my Anxi Protectorate, with this 500,000 taels of silver, my father will be able to pacify the army."

Yang Huaizhong's eyes lit up, 800,000 taels of silver a year, at least more than 100,000 taels of rebates, Yang Huaizhong looked at his father with admiration, his little fight was really not worth mentioning in front of his father, 2,000 taels of silver he was still very happy, it seemed that his vision was too low.

Suddenly thought of the pervasive dragon guards and secret guards, there must be secret agents of the dragon guards in the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate, maybe which general is the one in the dragon guard, how can this matter be hidden from the Son of Heaven. Yang Huaizhong had a frightened look on his face, and said in a panic: "Father, what if the Son of Heaven knows?" "There is another sentence hidden in Yang Huaizhong's heart and did not say it, I also expect my father to take over as the captain, and in the future, the son will inherit his father's business, and the Yang family will replace the Zhu family to become the first of the Great Zheng Jiangmen.

Yang Xiangliang showed a sly smile on his black face, and said, "The Son of Heaven already knows, I estimate that Jiang Anyi secretly told the Son of Heaven about my deal with him." ”

Yang Huaizhong scolded angrily: "Damn, villain. Yang Huaiwu's eyes also shot out of anger, his hands were clenched, if Jiang Anyi was in front of him, he would definitely punch it over.

Yang Xiangliang said unhurriedly: "However, the father also made the Son of Heaven clear in the secret music. ”

Seeing the dumbfounded appearance of the two sons, Yang Xiangliang smiled happily: "This is the second point that the father wants you to remember, no matter what you do, you must put loyalty to the Son of Heaven in the first place, so even if you do something wrong, the Son of Heaven will not be blamed." ”

"This, this eighty taels of silver a year, won't the Son of Heaven blame?" Yang Huaiwu couldn't believe his ears, in his mind, his father was upright, upright, loved soldiers like a son, and was a model in his life, and the idol collapsed in an instant, which was really difficult for him to accept.

Yang Xiangliang stood up, walked to his second son's side, patted him on the shoulder and said: "Huaiwu, you are honest and honest, this is your strength, but sometimes you have to learn like your brother, and think about it more when you encounter problems." As the protector of Anxi, I have 160,000 soldiers and horses, if I am really as honest as water and love soldiers as sons, I am afraid that the Son of Heaven will not dare to use me. Do you know that Zhu Zipu served as the governor of Anxi for eight years, and at least pulled a million taels of silver to his home. ”

Yang Huaizhong enlightened his younger brother earnestly, "Brother, some of the generals in the Duhu Mansion are trafficking goods, some are partnering with others, and some are doing business with the Western Regions. It is customary for Huazhou to give the capital to the palace to pass the customs, but there are not as many as 800,000 taels, in addition to rewarding the meritorious soldiers, these silver sons and commanders also have to deal with the military department and the yamen in Beijing, and there are not many that can really fall into the hands. ”

Yang Huaiwu's eyes were dazed, his head was a mess, he looked at his father for a while, and his brother for a while, as if there were two strangers standing in front of him.

Yang Xiangliang continued: "As my father said just now, the Son of Heaven is loyal in employing people, as long as you put your loyalty to the Son of Heaven in the first place, the Son of Heaven will not treat you badly. So, there are some things that can be done and some things that must not be done. For example, trafficking in arms, colluding with foreign enemies, and training private soldiers, if they are involved, no matter how great their favor is, they will not be able to save their lives. ”

When he said this, Yang Xiangliang stared at his eldest son tightly and warned: "I don't want to take care of what business you and Han Liangqing are doing, but you must not touch the few things I said, otherwise you will not be able to live by yourself, and I am afraid that your family will be affected." ”

Yang Huaizhong shrank his neck and muttered, "I know, don't worry, father." "He knew that when his father was appointed as the protector of Anxi, the Son of Heaven had secretly ordered his father to track down the loss of the winch crossbow, and later traced that it was Shi Wuqing of Sima Mansion's Gongcao Mansion, this person was the secret son of Yuan Tianjiao, and later defected to Qingshan Water Village, is this case not over?

Yang Xiangliang returned to his seat with a heavy face, leaned heavily on the back of the chair, his thick eyebrows twisted into a ball, and sighed to himself: "A wave of unevenness has risen again, the matter of the winch crossbow has just been found out, and the newly made four-shot repeater has been lost again, and this Anxi Duhufu is about to become a den of thieves." ”

Yang Huaizhong's heart tightened, and he stepped forward and said, "Father, the child is willing to find out about this matter." ”

"You?" Yang Xiangliang waved his hand and said: "You don't get involved, my father has already sent someone to investigate, and Long Wei is also secretly investigating, you just don't know about this matter." By the way, you must not tell Han Liangqing that the ordnance was lost, and as a Sima, he is not a small suspect? ”

"Huh? Han Sima is a loyal member of the Han family, so he will be fine. Yang Huaizhong saw Han Liangqing's treacherous smile in front of him, as long as there is money to earn, this Lord Sima must have put Zhongyi aside, he and he have teamed up a few times, and he must not let his father know.

Yang Xiangliang picked up a letter from the table and said: "Jiang Anyi's 800,000 taels of silver is not easy to take, this kid has sent a letter, let me help him track down the caravan that has not entered the border city of Huazhou, Huaizhong, you can do it." ”

The imperial court set up the prime minister of the border city of the Western Regions in Huazhou, and Jiang Anyi set up a border city office outside the Huiye Mansion to allow merchants to trade and collect taxes. However, many traders didn't want to enter the border market and wanted to sell it themselves, so Jiang Anyi thought of a way to issue vouchers when entering the checkpoint, so that these caravans could register with the vouchers in Huiye Prefecture, and even if they did not trade in the border market, they would have to collect a certain amount of taxes. In the past, caravans traveled between Dazheng and the Western Regions without other taxes except for the payment of tariffs and silver, and the merchants were heavily profitable, so they were willing to spend more money in vain, and they all diverted to Huazhou without going through Huiye Prefecture.

Jiang Anyi ordered that because the court set up the border city of Huazhou, all merchants who had business dealings with the Western Regions should be registered with the state government, issued business licenses, and declared goods to the government with vouchers, and confiscated goods without a license or declaration; Externally, entry vouchers were issued at the checkpoints, and in the name of preventing spies in the Western Regions, unlicensed caravans were strictly checked, and some caravans entered from Bingzhou, so Jiang Anyi asked the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate to help check the caravans in the Western Regions.

Yang Huaizhong took the letter and quickly skimmed it, and said with a smile: "This Lord Jiang has a good calculation, so that the caravan that is found will not only have to pay a large amount of money to buy peace, but also delay time, it will not be long before these caravans will obediently go to Huazhou to pay taxes." It's just that Jiang Anyi and my family are not in harmony, why should my father help him? ”

"Although Jiang Anyi is young, he is young enough to be able to make a history of assassination in Huazhou, and he is still admired for acting as a father, how can you be petty", Yang Xiangliang scolded coldly: "Do you think he is doing this to exploit the merchant's silver?" You don't want to think about how much silver his family's perfume can earn a year, and how much money he can earn a year from honey and fruits, he can give it for free, is such a person a greedy person? ”

Yang Huaiwu saw that the eldest brother was scolded by his father, so he hurriedly broke the siege and asked, "Father, what is the purpose of Lord Jiang's move?" ”

"The court is short of money, Jiang Tingshi is collecting money for the court, and he is collecting money for the Son of Heaven, and the Son of Heaven secretly told me that Jiang Anyi will hand over an extra two million taxes and silver to the court every year, so that I can cooperate more." Yang Xiangliang said with a gloomy face: "Just now my father said that in everything you do, you must put loyalty to the Son of Heaven in the first place, this Lord Jiang did this, how can you say that the Son of Heaven does not like him." Huaizhong, you don't have to do this matter, Huaiwu, you are responsible for this matter, I will arrange a few people to assist you, and be sure to plug the gap on the side of Bingzhou. ”

Yang Huaiwu promised loudly, and Yang Huaizhong's face was not depressed.