Cui Tong returned to Shuozhou City with more than 80 teenagers.

Li Yu saw that there were only about eighty people, and his brows suddenly condensed again.

There are more than 100 people in Shuozhou, plus more than 80 people in Yingzhou, and there are only about 200 people, which is obviously far from the requirements of the system.

"Cui Tong, it's not enough, this king has at least five hundred people to form a pro-army."

Seeing this, Cui Tong suddenly remembered something, so he hurriedly took out Huang Liang's letter, "Lord Wang, this is a letter from Lord Huang to you, saying that after you read it, the problem will be solved." ”

"Oh? Huang Liang's letter? Li Yu was a little curious, he really couldn't think of any way for Huang Liang to solve the problem of insufficient numbers.

Therefore, Li Yu directly opened Huang Liang's letter.

When the letter was opened, there were only two words written on it: slave.

After seeing the word slave, Li Yu immediately understood what Huang Liang meant, it is not enough to find relatives from refugees, so you can find it from slaves.

The slave population in the Tang Kingdom is still quite large, accounting for a quarter of the total population, and there are also many slaves in Shuozhou, and there is no problem in gathering enough 500 people, or even more.

However, although Huang Liang provided himself with a good direction, Li Yu felt that it was a little difficult to achieve.

Because, the slaves in Shuozhou are basically in the hands of those big families and some wealthy merchants, although there are also slaves sold in the Yaren market, but relatively speaking, it is only a drop in the bucket, and I am afraid that there will not be too many of them.

Slaves are in the hands of the family, so how do you get it?

It can't be said that the slaves are freed, with his current strength, it is obviously not possible, if he does this, he will touch the interests of all the clans, and he can't be the enemy of all the clans now.

Li Yu frowned, a little worried.

Cui Tong saw Li Yu like this on the side, and suddenly became strange, "Lord Wang, is it Lord Huang's way?" ”

Li Yu said, "Yes, yes, it's a little difficult to do, he wants me to use slaves as pro-soldiers, but most of the slaves in Shuozhou are in the hands of those rich people, the problem is, how to get those slaves from them, fifteen-year-old slaves must have parents, only fifteen-year-old slaves are brought in, they have some concerns, it is difficult to be loyal, but to get their parents to come, and it is obviously not easy to do, if you buy it, it will increase a lot of costs." ”

Now the palace is indeed rich, but not rich enough to buy a lot of slaves, after all, in addition to these, they still have refugees who need help.

After Li Yu said these words, Cui Tong suddenly laughed, "Lord Wang, it's not easy to get slaves?" ”

Li Yu was stunned, is it easy to get a slave, why didn't he find it easy at all?

"Cui Tong, what do you mean, if you have something to say, just say it."

"Lord, in our Tang Kingdom, slaves are the property of the master, which can be used to buy and sell, and even used as money as collateral, every year when the court collects taxes, many families, rich merchants, will use slaves as money, after all, they have a lot of slaves in their hands, and it costs to raise them, and they sell them every year, mortgage or something, they like to use the means, if the prince also accepts slaves when collecting taxes, then isn't it?"

Cui Tong talked eloquently, Li Yu suddenly came to his senses, he said how Huang Liang said that his problem was solved, it turned out that Tang Guo still had such rules, then Huang Liang must have thought of this, so he said that the problem was not difficult, but he didn't think of it.

The most important thing is that if you use this method to get slaves, you won't be suspicious of the Lu family.

"Yes, yes, why did this king forget this, Cui Tong, when will we collect taxes in Shuozhou?"

"In the case of grain tax, it is a month after the harvest of crops, and in the case of commercial tax, it is collected once in half a year, once in January and once in June.

Hearing that the tax can be collected now, Li Yu was overjoyed again, if this is the case, it will be easy to gather enough five hundred pro-army, right?

"Okay, okay, it's really good, Cui Tong, you immediately start collecting taxes from various merchants in Shuozhou, you don't have to deliberately ask those people to use slaves to fill up their money, but if you use slaves, you must be a family, otherwise don't, understand?"

"Don't worry, the old slave knows it."

Cui Tong retreated after receiving the order and began to collect taxes.

The Tang Kingdom is based on agriculture, agriculture is the foundation, after all, it has to feed many people, so it has always been a bit heavy on agriculture and light on business, and the taxes on merchants are a little heavier.

For this reason, many merchants will use slaves as money when they are faced with paying taxes.

To be honest, it's good for slaves to do some manual work in the house, but if you keep slaves, you have to give them food, clothes, etc., which will add some cost pressure.

Therefore, many merchants, every once in a while, will buy and sell slaves as commodities, and slaves will continue to give birth to slaves, if they are not sold, the pressure will be even greater.

Of course, these people also like slaves to give birth to slaves, because they are born with property and can be exchanged for money.

Actually, it's a bit of a sheep farming feeling.

Shuozhou began to levy commercial taxes, and many merchants in Shuozhou used slaves as money, after all, no one was willing to take out the money they had in hand, but if they used slaves as money, they would not feel very distressed.

Therefore, even when Cui Tong asked that the use of slaves as money must be a family talent, these businessmen did not hesitate.

For them, there is no difference between slaves, and if they sell their family, not to mention the money, it is easy to clear some troubles.

Some old slaves, in fact, no one wants them anymore, and they can't sell them, either waiting for death, or their children work hard to give them food, which is an expense for the merchant family, and now the court wants a family, so it happens to dispose of these old ones, and even mortgage a lot of money, why not?

As for the trouble, it is easy to understand, even if slaves are slaves, they are also human beings, and they also have their own feelings, and if they are dismantled, there will be people who are unhappy and affect the work, so it is better to pack up and sell the family.

Cui Tong's side began to collect commercial taxes in a hurry, because these were the norm in the past, so they did not attract anyone's attention.

Even Lu Xin didn't notice it.

In this way, about seven or eight days later, the tax collection was over, and Li Yu and his family had already obtained more than 1,000 slaves, and these slaves were basically brought with their families.

These slaves came from different families, but no matter where they came, they didn't feel any difference, because their fate was like this, most of them were already dead, and they knew that life would be the same in the future.

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