A thousand soldiers, dressed in the standard armor of the Liang Dynasty, walked in a mountain col in the southeast of Xiangcheng, the mountain road was narrow, and the long procession was like a black line across the mountain road, marching slowly and orderly.

Although the number of this batch of armor is not much, the color is still good, the style is unified, the workmanship is exquisite, looking at this bright armor of the troops, giving people a sense of joy in the new year.

Listening to the sound of uniform footsteps and the sound of the familiar armor rubbing, Tang Yuan was in a trance and remembered that when he was in Jiaohe City, it was a glorious moment worthy of his memory. During that time, he was the ruler of Jiaohe City, and when Min Yue was in charge of Jiaohe City, he was as big as him.

Retracting his thoughts and looking at this batch of armor, Tang Yuan nodded with satisfaction.

These armors are made of iron sheets, although they are single-layered, but they are also two forms of chains and locks, and there are animal skins thickened at the front and back, although they cannot resist the charging and assassination of hard crossbows, heavy weapons, and cavalry, but when the infantry is strangled, they can withstand the knife and slash. That's already remarkable. These thousand ironclad soldiers are Tang Yuan's most valuable family background now.

In addition, Tang Qi also brought him a batch of horses, although there were not many, but they had the taste of sainthood. At the very least, it can allow officers above the rank of lieutenant in the army to have horses to ride, which saves people from laughing.

In addition, the new number of Tang Yuan's troops has also come down, which is said to be the result of the joint efforts of Cao Dingbang and Tang Qi.

Of course, Tang Qi was in a hurry to get a number for Tang Yuan, because this involved a matter of honor, otherwise the establishment of Tang Yuan's troops was still the establishment of the militia group, and Cao Dingbang asked him for the establishment because he wanted to properly control Tang Yuan and save him from always making trouble for himself.

Therefore, the new number of Tang Yuan's troops was the Flying Tiger Ninth Division.

Although Tang Yuan is now nominally under the management of the Jingzhou Garrison, in fact, Tang Yuan has always gone his own way and does not report to the commandery.

Cao Dingbang knew it, and it was not difficult for Tang Yuan, just ask Tang Yuan not to come out of the moth. Save yourself from going to the bandit at every turn and knock him on a bamboo pole.

"Tossing Cao Dingbang, there must be a time to come, and it can't be endless." Li Xian said with a little worry: "That person looks kind, in fact, there must be something extraordinary, the dog jumps off the wall when he is in a hurry, he is anxious and doesn't know what he can do." ”

"Cao Dingbang has always been cautious in doing things, if Cao Dingguo is not the general of Zhenjiang, he will be tougher in the future, if the two of them are generals at the same time, they will definitely be very low-key." Nalan Xin said firmly: "If he wanted to be tough, he would have been hard a long time ago, so why wait until now?" ”

"Cao Dingbang is not an honest man." Tang Yuan said: "There are all kinds of signs that he has expropriated and embezzled countless people. Don't underestimate him, his corrupt practices are not necessarily self-inflicted, but self-preservation. He is corrupt, and the Empress Dowager Cao is relieved, if he is a clean official who is as clear as water and as clear as a mirror, the Empress Dowager Cao will not be at ease. ”

"You say, does the emperor like to use traitorous ministers or loyal ministers?" Tang Yuan suddenly asked Nalan Xin and Li Xian.

"Loyalists, of course." Li Xian said.

Nalan said: "It will not be a traitor, and if a traitor is in charge, the country will be ruined." ”

Tang Yuan waved his hand and said, "Then you say, does the emperor like clean officials or corrupt officials?" ”

Nalan Xin was silent.

Li Xian said: "Qing official." If there were no corrupt officials in the Liang Dynasty, the annual treasury revenue would increase by at least three layers, believe it or not? ”

"I believe it." Tang Yuan said: "Those mediocre officials, they are not only incompetent, but also corrupt, and the emperor will be very angry. But on the contrary, if it is a capable minister who holds a lot of power, I think the emperor prefers corrupt officials. Because the emperor has the handle of corrupt officials in his hands, he can take down corrupt officials at any time. If the emperor deliberately did not take it, this corrupt official and capable minister would be dead set on the emperor. On the other hand, Qing officials, now there are some imperial historians in the court, they may not be Qing officials in the future, but now there is no place to make oil and water, they have no handle in the hands of the emperor, you look at their style, they dare to attack the emperor above the court, but in the name of revitalizing the country. If there are more and more people in this group, and the emperor lives in such an environment all day long, you say, will he be happy? ”

Li Xian thought for a while and said, "You mean to say that some corrupt officials are deliberately supported by the emperor?" Also, do you think that if all of them are clean officials, the country will be in chaos? ”

"Not absolutely, but quite possibly." Tang Yuan said: "It is human nature to be greedy for money, if a person can restrain his own nature, what kind of person will he be?" If this person is dedicated to the court and the people, then of course it is good, but what if he is for himself? It's going to be a very strong opponent. If the officials of the whole country are such people, you say, can the emperor still be able to sleep? ”

"I don't agree with what you said. At most, I agree with half of it. Nalan said: "It's like the country of Nanjia, when the country was first founded, there were Qing officials everywhere, and the officials at that time were dedicated to the benefit of the country, the country developed rapidly, the people were united, and they were almost invincible." Later, it slowly became corrupt, and many people have forgotten that they are earned on horseback, and they are lazy and slack, and their descendants can't even ride horses. This is also the reason why the combat power of the male Jia Kingdom weakened later. ”

"Just a casual chat, you two are serious." Tang Yuan smiled bitterly: "I don't think we will be civil officials in this life." The battle of the Great Liang Dynasty is endless, isn't Min Yue from less than twenty years old to the present? I think Cao Dingbang and Cao Dingguo, the two brothers, can't escape such a fate, and we are even more so. ”

"Don't be too discouraged, if the Liang Dynasty has a bumper harvest for ten consecutive years, the population may double, with the style of the Emperor of the Liang Dynasty, at that time, send troops to attack these disobedient Fanbangs, and nine out of ten will be stable." Li Xian said with a smile.

"Accumulate a lot." Tang Yuan said: "It's a good way, it's a pity, these countries won't let the Liang Dynasty stop, I think soon, Shu Han will go to Hanzhong to make trouble, when the time comes, our team doesn't know if it will be seconded, and then I will meet Tang Xiao again, I'm worried that he will arrange a dead mission for me." ”

"Be prepared." Nalan said: "Do we also want to imitate Cao Dingbang and form a stealth army?" ”

"I think it's necessary," Tang Yuan said: "But you can't follow Cao Dingbang's path, he makes mountain bandits, and we also make mountain bandits, so where has Jingzhou become?" My idea is to let some of the soldiers retire early, but they are not allowed to leave, if we go to Hanzhong, this army is lost, as long as a few of our backbones run back, we can quickly recover. ”

"It's a good idea." Li Xian said.

"But it takes money." Nalan Xin frowned.

"Oh, yes." Nalan Xin said again: "The goods from Luoyang have been sent one after another, and I have to go into the city to meet Meng Zhaoyang." ”

"I'll go too, it's been a long time since I've seen my eldest nephew." Li Xian said.