Hearing Shang Cheng say that the origin of this one-word hall has been blurred and confused, everyone sighed and regretted in their hearts. They had all heard about the exoneration of the former Yanshan Weimu with a copy of "63 Stickers", and they couldn't help but sigh at Shang Cheng's good luck. Especially Ye Xun and these Beijing officials, they are even more envious. Since the end of the 19th year, Zhang Pu visited the prime minister for the second time, and immediately implemented the strategy of "first the south and then the north", first the adjustment of the six departments of the three provinces, and then the transfer of officials from the east and west of Beijing and the south of the Yangtze River...... The litany of personnel changes is dizzying; In the middle, there is also the pursuit of responsibility for the nineteen-year grassland defeat and Xiao Jian's comeback, which shows that the dispute between the north and the south in the court has intensified. Although the southward faction has the upper hand nowadays, who can say clearly about the changes in the court? Far from the topic, the blind man Yan Shanwei and Shang in front of him are the proof of the confusing situation now! The northern and southern factions in Shangjing have not yet come up with a result, and Yan Shanwei has already fought with Tu Quanci on the grassland, who can say that this is just an unauthorized move by a blind man who does not know the depths? Without the military department and the military behind the scenes, without the acquiescence of the prime minister's office, and without the continuous supply of grain and grass from the Central Plains, what would Yanshan do to send troops? All these things cannot but be pondered and pondered over and over again. However, the more I pondered it, the more I felt that the mystery was unfathomable, and the future development of the situation was difficult to grasp and unpredictable. At such a delicate juncture, there is a rare painting and calligraphy that is close to me, but it is safer than anything else......

Everyone watched around the middle hall for a while, and when they saw Zhu Xuan sitting down, they all returned to their seats.

Zhu Xuanqing coughed and said, "Come to visit Shang Gong...... today" Shang Cheng immediately bowed in the chair and said, "Don't dare to be." Zhu Xuan nodded, waited for Shang Cheng to sit down, and continued, "...... I came to visit Shang Gong today, but there is nothing important. The imperial court sent me to Yanzhou, mainly for General Huo Shiqihuo's previous disposition in Duanzhou. After this period of consultation and investigation, everything has now been completed, and the details have been submitted to the three provinces for the imperial court to decide. Right now, I'm waiting in Panhuan in Yanzhou, and I'm also waiting for the official document of the imperial court. ”

When he spoke like this, although the faces of several Yanshan Wenwu who were sitting on their knees were nothing, the corners of their eyes and eyebrows were full of joy.

Ye Xun really couldn't sit still. After listening to Zhu Xuan's first sentence, he knew that it was going to be bad. This old master has not done any practice, and he doesn't know the skills of speaking in officialdom at all, so he says "nothing important" and closes his mouth "the investigation is done", isn't this a life for others to take the handle? After the matter was investigated, they came to find out whether Yan Shanwei was at fault or not, this is "nothing to do"; They have nothing to do, that is, "advocating interference in local government affairs without authorization"! With this reason, if the blind man is in a good mood, he will meet and talk around a few words, and if he is in a bad mood, he doesn't need to say any superfluous words, and a mere sentence of "suffocating the place" can make them all roll back to Beijing in a gloomy manner...... Seeing that Shang Cheng was about to open his mouth with a smile on his face, at this time, he didn't care about the difference between officialdom etiquette and etiquette, and hurriedly interjected: "Lord Zhu led us to stay in Yanzhou, and it was not just a case of Duanzhou. In addition to waiting for the court to decide, there are several other matters that must be solved in person by the business governor. ”

Lu Ji and the others looked sideways at Ye Xun together. If Guo Biao hadn't dragged him hard, Zhang Shao would have jumped up and asked fiercely: Shangguan spoke, what did you Ye Xun say? Do you want to lose face?

Shang Cheng glanced at Zhu Xuan, but Zhu Xuan picked up the teacup and drank water, then turned his face to stare at Ye Xun and asked, "Then, what does Lord Ye have to ask me?" ”

Zhu Xuan didn't hear the other meaning in Shang Cheng's words, and put down the teacup casually; Ye Xun's heart was clear. He had long known that this young admiral was not easy to match, but he didn't know that it was so difficult to deal with, and at the same time embarrassed him and Zhu Xuan; The monk talks about Zen and fights the wit, but this is not the case, but this lay monk can think of it temporarily! He bowed his hand to Zhu Xuan, and then said to Shang Cheng: "It's not a particularly important matter. It's just that we don't know what to expect, so we have to ask the merchant governor face to face. He paused. Seeing that Shang Cheng looked at him, he didn't answer, so he had to continue by himself, "When the grassland retreated the month before, the Shang Governor ordered Mogan to leave all the military resources such as grain, grass, ordnance, armor, and tents in Mogan Village, I don't know if this is the case? ”

Shang Cheng nodded: "You're right, there is such a thing." ”

"I wonder if the Shang Governor can still remember how much military assets were left in Mogan at that time?"

Shang Cheng didn't understand the purpose of Ye Xun's interrogation for a while, and he was also reporting these losses in detail to the imperial court, so he didn't think much about it, and said: "All kinds of grain are about more than 1,000 stones, more than 1,300 bundles of hay, and about 900 sets of armor and ......" He had a good memory, and with his fingers, he gave a general idea of several important military resources left in Moganzhai at that time, and finally said, "...... That's basically it, and the difference isn't too big. In addition, in order to speed up the march when the troops retreated, some broken swords, guns, armor and captured were discarded; I can't remember the exact data. However, the Wei Mansion should have a detailed record of this, and if Lord Ye needs it, he can go there to check the account books at that time. Speaking of this, he saw that Zhang Shao and Guo Biao were desperately giving him a look, and Lu Ji Di Xu also had a serious face.

He paused for a moment. What do you mean?

Ye Xun asked again: "What was the consideration of the Shang Governor at that time to leave so much military resources in Mogan?" ”

Shang Cheng was stunned. This surnamed Ye is really a drunkard, and he doesn't mean to drink!

"When the Shang Governor gave the order, did he consider what the consequences would be if so many military funds were left in Mogan, and if they all fell into the hands of the Tuqi people?"

Shang Cheng, who was a little distracted, was amused by Ye Xun's words: "If these things don't fall into the hands of the Tu Tu people, who else will they fall into?" ”

Lu Ji and they were already so anxious that they were about to stomp their feet. If it weren't for Ye Xun's identity as a messenger, and if he was asking Shang Cheng on behalf of the imperial court, they would definitely have jumped up to defend Shang Cheng. This businessman! At such a critical moment, he still has the heart to laugh! Hasn't he heard it until now, is this surnamed Ye a trap for him? "Falsely ordering the enemy", can he afford these two crimes?

Ye Xun already had a faint smile in his eyes, and asked again: "I remember that there is a record in the case file of the Wei Mansion that the Shang Governor ordered the retreat from time to time on the 11th of April, and the last team withdrew from Moganzhai on the 12th. Is that so? ”

Shang Cheng took a sip of water from the tea bowl and said lightly, "You remember well." ”

Ye Xun lowered his eyelids and said slowly: "After reading the case file, I thought about it for a long time, but I just couldn't understand: why did the Shang Governor never order the burning of grain and grass to destroy military funds for eight hours?" Not only did he not give orders, but he also repeatedly stressed that no one was allowed to burn military funds. ”

Shang Cheng smiled, glanced at Ye Xun and said, "Lord Ye is a civil official, and he doesn't know much about military affairs, so it's not uncommon for him to not understand this." He raised his face and recalled, "I remember that after returning to Liuzhen, I presented Chen Wen to the military headquarters and the three provinces, giving a detailed account of the before and after of this dispatch, and also carefully explaining the reasons why Mo Gan ordered that grain and grass should not be burned when he retreated. Yiyi really adults have seen that Chen Wen, right? ”

Of course, Zhen Qian has seen Shang Cheng's Chen Wen; But at this time, it is impossible to admit it in any way. He was a little tired of Ye Xun; It's not because of political opinions or because of government affairs, it's just that I hate this person out of purity; So when Ye Xun came to him a few days ago and asked him about this, he also nodded and affirmed Ye Xun's idea of using not burning grain and grass to deal with Shang Cheng one by one; He was bent on watching Ye Xun plant a big heel. Therefore, he immediately shook his head and said: "I was on business in Liyuan Daying for a few days, and I didn't see Chen Wen, the business governor. ”

Shang Cheng stared at him deeply. He turned his head like no one else, and talked to Chang Xiu next to him in a low voice.

Zhenqian's words are actually full of fallacies. He is Zuo Shilang, the second most powerful person in the Ministry of War, not to mention going to the Liyuan camp near the left side of Gyeonggi on business, even if he runs a little farther, the Ministry of War will immediately send someone to copy Shangcheng's Chen Wen to him. But Ye Xun didn't think through this, and said reluctantly: "...... That's more than 1,000 stone of grain. It was transported from the Central Plains to Yanshan, and from Yanshan to Mogan, how much artificial and animal power was consumed, so it was handed over to the Tuqi people in vain. I really can't figure out why the Merchant Governor did this. Why did you do this......" said with a smile on his face, obviously inexplicable.

Looking at his ridiculous appearance, Shang Cheng couldn't help but sneer and said, "Lord Ye, you want to find fault with me with this, but you took the wrong handle." He ignored the stunned and resentful look on Ye Xun's face, paused, and said, "On the day I ordered the withdrawal of the army on April 11, the situation of the enemy and us on the line from Mogan to Luhe was as follows: on the west bank of the Heishui River, twenty miles west of Mogan, there were the five Alegu divisions of the Tuqi Ci and most of the remnants of the enemy in Mogan, totaling sixteen,000 men; To the north of Moganzhai is the remnants of Mogan and the reinforcements of Heishui City, with about 3,000 men and horses; In the White Wolf Mountain to the east of Mogan, there are 4,000 big tent soldiers led by the king of Donglu Valley......"

Zhang Shao interjected: "Let me add that at that time, there were more than 4,000 big tent soldiers of the King of Donglu Valley in the White Wolf Mountain. According to the information sent by the left army ten days ago, they interrogated the prisoners, and when the king of Donglu Valley galloped west to help Mogan, he was accompanied by 5,000 elite tribesmen from the four divisions of Shanzuo. He also said to Shang Cheng, "The captives captured in Luhe also prove this." ”

Shang Cheng grinned and muttered an unpleasant word, and continued: "...... In the Valley of the White Wolf are nine thousand Turbats; From Mogan to the south to the old camp of Luhe, there were still about 1,500 to 2,000 remnants of enemies. The total number of enemies was 30,000. At that time, our army had less than 8,000 soldiers who could fight in Mogan, and they had to defend the three important support points of Heishui, Mogan and Baiwolf Pass on the 60-mile front, as well as maintain transportation and grain routes. Retreat in such a situation, dare to burn grain and grass military funds? ”

Ye Xun stiffened his neck and asked, "Why don't you dare?" Eight hours is enough to burn all the grain to the ground! ”

Shang Cheng had nothing to say at all. He glared at Ye Xun for a long time before he said with a wry smile: "Lord Ye, retreating under the siege of 30,000 Tuqi people, the slightest disturbance will alert the enemy, and burning grain and grass one by one is tantamount to sending a signal to tell the enemy that we are retreating." In that case, do I dare to burn grain and grass? ”

"Why don't you dare?"

Shang Yuan still wanted to reason with Ye Xun, but Ye Xun's appearance of picking oil and salt in the egg really him off. After all, he couldn't hold back the surging flames in his heart, and said in a deep voice: "Lord Ye, you don't understand military affairs, and I don't want to talk nonsense with you." Besides, you don't have the right to ask about Yanshan's military affairs. He glanced at Ye Xun, whose forehead was full of blue tendons, and his face was pale. Take it easy! I'm telling the truth. You are a household servant, and you were ordered to investigate the case of Li Shen in Duanzhou, and if you want to inquire about my military arrangements, you are overstepping your authority. He glared at Ye Xun: Don't forget, there is a royal history in Yanzhou City, and I can sue you for the crime of "interfering with local government decrees"! I'm not going to do anything to you, but some of them are the ones who use this to clean you up!

Ye Xun puffed out his eyes and was about to refute, but suddenly thought of something, and his momentum was discouraged, so he sat in the chair and did not open his mouth.

Since Ye Xun retreated, Shang Cheng didn't care too much, and continued with a soothing tone: "Of course, Lord Ye is working in the household department, and I can understand the feelings of the people who are working hard and feeling sorry for the grain, grass and armor. But you also have to think about it, at that time there were 7,000 soldiers, 2,000 wounded, and more than 3,000 soldiers and craftsmen in Mogan, and it was indeed extremely difficult to retreat quietly without alarming the enemy. Even now, when I think back to that time, I am afraid. Lord Yiyiye, you say, in that situation, do I dare to burn grain and grass? ”

In this case, what else could Ye Xun do except nod? He said: "What the Governor said seems to have a point. ”

Seeing that Ye Xun touched his gray face, Lu Ji and the others were all determined. Several Beijing officials, the great Confucian Zhu Xuan is not practical, Chang Xiu is a literati, and Zhenqian is considered to be most of his own people, but Ye Xun is stubborn and not easy to deal with. Now that Ye Xun has been cleaned up by Shang Cheng, the matter of the four Qin messengers coming to the door is almost over. Lu Ji stood up, smiled and filled everyone's bowls with tea soup, and was about to say a few words to turn the topic to the side, but Zhu Xuan, who had been silent, suddenly said:

"Governor Shang, have you read the "Re-persuasion of Nongsang Wen" promulgated by the imperial court some time ago?"

Shang Cheng nodded. He received this official document on the grassland in March, and read it again in May when he inspected Yanzhongbei to avoid suspicion, and the main points were "the Son of Heaven personally cultivates", "the people's cultivation is important" and "respect the town of Fu". The content is even more ordinary, that is, to tell everyone that every spring and February when agriculture is at the beginning, the Son of Heaven will sacrifice Houji, and then personally go to the field to help the plow, so everyone should take the Son of Heaven as an example and work hard, do not be impetuous, do not sacrifice the roots, and forget that the foundation of the farmer is in the land; In addition, it also contains some common sense of farming, such as "the field is governed by deep ploughing and shallow planting, deep ploughing is thick, and shallow planting is disease", or it is a call for fertilization of "collecting manure soil, then the soil is fertile and beautiful", and some are basic principles of life, such as harmonious neighbors and filial piety to elders......

In short, it was a very ordinary official document, and he didn't see anything particularly noteworthy. On the way, he also heard some rumors and discussions that the imperial court was going to re-inspect and measure land and new taxes, and he didn't pay much attention to it. In his opinion, more than 100 years after the founding of the Great Zhao Dynasty, it was common for the problem of land annexation to occur; It is also normal for the state to curb the momentum of land concentration and alleviate the social contradictions caused by land concentration through policy adjustment and administrative means. It's not worth all the fuss. Besides, the phenomenon of land annexation is not very serious in Yanshan, and there are very few large lands concentrated in a large area. It wasn't common for landlords to get into disputes, so he wasn't worried about anything going wrong in this area. As for persuading farmers to persuade mulberry one by one, there is no need to think about it, Yanshan has no conditions to develop mulberry sericulture; And the problem of persuading farmers in Yanshan is actually a water problem. If the irrigation water is solved, there is no need to persuade the people to grow grain and open up wasteland. Therefore, he and Lu Ji have long discussed that no matter how tight the health department's finances are, it is necessary to ensure the investment in water conservancy in the past two years, especially for large hydraulic projects such as the gradual cofferdam diversion on the Yanshui River and the benefit of six or seven counties along the river......

Zhu Xuan drooped his eyelids, didn't look at Shang Cheng, and continued unhurriedly: "But when I came to Yanshan in May, I walked through several counties along the way, and the persuasion of farmers in each county did not seem to be very effective. ”

Shang Cheng didn't know which route Zhu Xuan took when they came to Yanshan, so he asked him: "Which counties are the counties that the boss is talking about?" At the same time, he also muttered in his heart, which county would not give himself a long face.

"Dun'an County is one of them."

Shang Cheng's mouth opened wide in surprise. He hurriedly asked Zhu Xuan: "The boss is not mistaken, is it indeed Dun'an County?" ”

"Indeed, Dun'an." Zhu Xuan glanced at Shang Cheng very dissatisfied. Although he is old, he is not old enough to be confused!

Shang Cheng was speechless for a long time. He didn't want to talk either. Zhu Xuan said that wherever he failed to persuade farmers, he could believe it, but Dun'an couldn't! He had just returned from Dun'an, and he knew everything about the situation! What was the situation last year and what is the situation now? Dun'an's current county order is the former deputy teacher of Yanzhou Prefecture Ouyang Zhi, who was so suave at the beginning, and he has only been in Dun'an for a year, so black and thin that he can't recognize it at all, which is also called "persuading farmers to be ineffective"? Ye Xun is a representative of the Southern Advance School, and it is understandable to find fault with his own mistakes; But he couldn't understand what Zhu Xuan was doing at all! As a high-level intellectual, and a high-level intellectual who does not participate much in politics, the great Confucian Zhu Xuan would ignore the facts and talk nonsense with his eyes open because of the dispute between the north and the south, which is really too unexpected for him!

Before he could speak, Di Xu spoke first: "Lord Zhu, this person is reckless, sometimes he doesn't know the depth of his speech, don't blame me." I just want to ask Master Zhu, what evidence do you have for saying that Dun'an County is not effective in persuading farmers? As soon as his words fell, Lu Ji also said firmly: "Lord Zhu, as far as I know, since Ouyang Zhi took office, Dun'an County has been diligent in government affairs day and night. ”

Zhu Xuan sneered at each other and asked: "There is a saying in "Persuading Nongsangwen Again" that deep ploughing must be two feet and two inches, and in Dun'an County, how many acres can be done?" The land must be repeatedly ploughed and harrowed, not allowed to be not deep, not allowed to leave a piece of dense and coarse mud, how many acres can be done in Dun'an? "Re-persuading Nongsangwen" also said that the land must be divided into two, one ploughing and one idle, and less solid and narrow harvest, has Dun'an done it? ”

Di Xu and Lu Jideng stopped talking. They didn't go below, the specific situation was not thorough, and Zhu Xuan's questions couldn't be answered; Moreover, they have never really worked as a farmer in their lives, and there is no way to refute Zhu Xuan.

Shang Cheng took over and said: "Master Zhu, I remember that there is such a sentence in "Persuading Nongsangwen Again", 'Collect manure soil, accumulate mountains in every household, one can be swept between the wells, and the other is to make the soil and plaster fat, the rice roots are drought-resistant, and the rice grains are strong', right? ”

Zhu Xuan nodded. This "Re-persuading Nongsangwen" is from his handwriting, and it is his experience of serving as a local agricultural envoy several times, of course, I remember it clearly.

Shang Cheng asked: "The rice and rice mentioned here are talking about the Jiangnan region, right?" ”

Zhu Xuan nodded again.

"Master Zhu is a great Confucian, of course he knows the story of 'orange born in Huainan is orange, and born in Huaibei is orange'," Shang Cheng said, "What is the reason?" I remember the original saying: 'Orange is orange when it is born in Huainan, and orange is orange when it is born in Huaibei, and the leaves are similar, but the taste is different. So what? The water and soil are also different. That's what I want to say, one by one, the soil and water are different. The Jiangnan region has a dense water network, fertile land, and dense population, so the land can be cultivated deeply. But our Yanshan is different. First of all, we can't dig deeper. Yanshan is different from the south of the Yangtze River, and the Central Plains is also different, after the cultivation depth exceeds a certain level, the following is raw soil instead of cooked soil, the land fertility is worse, and can not retain water one by one to irrigate the water source has always been a big problem in our Yanshan agriculture. Therefore, we encourage the use of soil to mix with river mud, manure soil and local soil to increase soil fertility. Second, you mentioned the fine work. We're looking for ways to change people's farming habits. But you know, extensive farming is a regional tradition, something that has been handed down for hundreds or thousands of years, and we want to correct and improve it immediately, and I can only say: it is difficult, very difficult, and it will take a long time, maybe five years, maybe ten years; But we're not sitting back and waiting for it to change on its own, we're doing that...... Thirdly, you mentioned the rotational cultivation of the land. I don't agree with this, so I asked the pastoral government to implement the "Re-persuasion of Nongsangwen", delete this article, or do not deliberately emphasize ......"

Zhu Xuan said coldly: "Only by ploughing and resting can the soil power be maximized." This was clearly demonstrated when I was in Jiangnan. ”

"I believe you have done experiments in Jiangnan, and they have been successful." Shang Cheng said sincerely. He has now seen clearly that Mr. Zhu is not at odds with the Yanshan Health Department because of some north-south dispute, but he really wants to persuade Sang and persuade farmers, and he is sincerely for the good of the people, although some of his ideas are very unrealistic. "But I'll say it doesn't work."

Zhu Xuan looked at him coldly, waiting for him to continue.

“…… Because it violates the basic premise of "Shang Cheng said," there is a fully guaranteed grain output and abundant grain reserves. I ask you, do we have enough food to eat? He raised his hand and asked Zhu Xuan not to interrupt his words. I'm not asking you if you have enough food at home, or asking anyone here who has enough food to eat, I'm asking ...... our country Is there enough food for all of us in Dazhao? Is anyone starving? Is there anyone who is eating sorghum mixed vegetable leaf dumplings? Is there anyone who can't even eat the dumplings and can't eat enough? ”

Zhu Xuan stopped talking. Obviously, he didn't have to answer that question. Even in his own home, it is impossible for his subordinates and the servants to eat white rice every meal, but also to eat vegetable dumplings......

"It's because food can't be guaranteed that I don't think it's possible to spread the fallow of the land. If you want to promote it strongly, the consequences can only be unimaginable. I'm not alarmist! Forcing this method will inevitably cause a catastrophe in the end! The method of land fallow and rotational cultivation is indeed good, but it must be based on four prerequisites: first, food security; second, the output per unit area is guaranteed; Third, the production technology is advanced enough; Fourth, there are sufficient means of storage and transportation, smooth sales channels, and a broad market, all of which are indispensable. But we don't have any of that right now. Therefore, fallow must not be promoted. The first thing we can and must do now is find ways to feed everybody, and it's clear that we're not there yet......"

After Shang Cheng said this, there was silence in the main room for a long time.

No one spoke. Everyone is thinking.

As for what kind of questions they are thinking, they can only ask themselves......