Zhao Xingde took Theodore back to the camp of the Chengying army and registered it with the marching Sima Jin Changtai, and hundreds of his followers were recorded on the roster as soldiers from the army. It's a pity that if you want them to fight with a sword, it's still a little worse. Later, the Chengying Camp will also make waist cards for these people, and then customize a set of followers' uniforms. These retinues also lived in the barracks, and some of them seemed redundant compared to the busy masters. The sergeant of the Chengying Battalion took care of everything by himself, and at the beginning, the entourage couldn't intervene at all, so he could only wait by the side with a bitter face, and kept asking this and that.

Theodore said to himself, "When you have nothing to do, it's not far off." He kept introducing Zhao Xingde to the city's theaters, assembly halls, sumptuous public baths, garden colonnades, tall granaries, waterways, and magnificent churches and palaces. Whenever Zhao Xingde showed interest, he immediately said with a fluttering eyebrow.

Zhao Xingde also learned to instruct his entourage to run errands faster than other sergeants, after all, he had experienced a period of life in the Li Mansion where clothes came to reach out and food to open his mouth. The sergeants had more leisure, and Duan Huaixian also spent more energy guiding them to make up for their personal shortcomings. He specifically asked Zhao Xingde to strengthen the practice of hand-to-hand combat.

Duan Huaixian also gave Zhao Xingde a special military task. "On the national situation of Lumei, make a strategy. Be careful, don't be in a hurry to present it to the General's Mansion. Duan Huaixian patted Zhao Xingde on the shoulder meaningfully and said, "This is an important military affair of my battalion, since you are full of military books, you can take it on with all your might." After speaking, while Zhao Xingde was stunned, he slashed with a horizontal knife, which scared him into a cold sweat.

Early this morning, Chen Xizhai's entourage brought a post to Zhao Xingde, inviting him to go to the Wangdong Building at Zhulian Wharf. This Wangdong Tower is located on the bank of the bead curtain wharf in the south of Lumei City, looking out from the third floor of the Accord, close to the wharf, the ship mast is lined up, from time to time there are ships docking or sailing out, the sailors and porters crowded on the wharf, the hawkers full of knick-knacks shouting loudly, and the beggars playing tricks blow the horn.

The wharf was very noisy, but the upstairs Accord was quiet, and Xia Guoguo made Chen Xizhai and centurion Zhao De sit opposite each other. Although this Chen Xizhai is over forty years old, he has no white face and beard, and his appearance is dignified, holding a teacup in his hand, and there is an occasional contemplative look in his eyes. Whether in terms of official position or age, Zhao De treats him as a junior.

Chen Xizhai smiled slightly: "There are nearly 1,000 merchants from our dynasty living around this restaurant, although the taste is not as good as Chang'an, but it is rare in Lumei." He bit the word "I Chao" very hard, and later Zhao Xingde learned that many of the nearly 1,000 merchants living in Lumei City were Kwantung merchants who moved here, but in the household registration of the Lumei Imperial Court, they all claimed to be Xia people in order to enjoy lower tariffs. Chen Xizhai's mission to Lumei was mainly to safeguard the safety and interests of these business travelers.

At this time, the door of the Accord was pushed open, and the guy came in with a large plate of dishes, Chen Xizhai stopped, and smiled and pointed out to Zhao Xingde some sea views of Zhulian Port.

The shopkeeper placed dishes on the table one by one, including fish tart, roasted mutton, fruit preserves, enema cakes and other Chinese flavors, as well as honey egg pancakes, fried twist flowers and other food of Lu Mei. However, compared to Middle-earth, this guy's attitude was a little less enthusiastic, and he didn't have the mouth to praise the food, and he withdrew after reporting the name of the dish.

After the greetings, Chen Xizhai asked, "I don't know what the envoy Zhao thinks, what is the national situation of the Lumei Kingdom?" ”

Zhao Xingde was stunned for a moment, because Duan Huaixian was "not in a hurry to submit", he was not very anxious to understand the situation of the Lumei country, and only vaguely remembered that the later Constantinople seemed to have been captured by the Turks, so he said casually: "When I first arrived in Lumei, according to my opinion, this Lumei country is like a waning mountain, and the Turks in the east are the great enemies of Lumei." ”

As soon as these words came out, Chen Xizhai's face changed slightly, Zhao De had the responsibility of observing the situation of Lu Mei, and the relevant official documents were also carried out to Chen Xizhai, he also thought that this gentleman was a senior talent in the marching division, who expected that the first sentence would be so inconsequential. "Could it be that Zhang Shanfu is looking at people and looking away?" Chen Xizhai thought secretly, and said lightly, "Zhao Jun makes Gao Jian." ”

Zhao Xingde didn't feel a little ashamed, and humbly said: "It's just a leopard in the tube, and the essentials are not tight, and the national envoy praises it." The situation in this Lumei country still has to ask Chen Guoenvoy for advice. He has experienced the world and looked at his face, so he listened to Chen Xizhai disagree. After saying that, he poured Chen Xizhai the fragrant tea of the new Lumei, Chen Xizhai is quite impressive in terms of qualifications and knowledge, and there is a faint kindness in his demeanor and speech, and he is a character who can listen to more opinions.

Chen Xizhai nodded slightly, softened his tone, and said in a deep voice: "In my opinion, in the long run, the Venetians of the West are increasingly depleting the financial resources of the Lumei country, which is maintained by mercenaries, and the treasury is becoming more and more embarrassed, and it is the matter of life and death that the military salary cannot be paid. Recently, the widowed Princess Anna of the Lumei Kingdom, the marriage with the king of Rus, has been secretly promoted, once this matter comes true, Rus may annex Lumei, and the national strength will soar, but it is greatly detrimental to this dynasty. He paused for a while, and then said, "I don't know how to go about observing the situation in this Lumei country?" ”

Zhao Xingde said with a smile: "I can't enter the door, and I also ask Chen Guoenvoy to give advice." ”

Chen Xizhai also wanted to influence Zhao De with some of his views on Lu Mei, so as not to miss the national affairs, and he did not shirk when he heard the words, and said slowly: "Lu Mei country and folk customs, you can listen to it in Bull Square and Arcadius Square, if you don't care about the naked body, the public bath is also a good place." He smiled slightly, Lumei people love to soak in the pool soup, up to the princes and nobles, down to the people in the market, a bath is half a day, chatting, similar to the Chinese teahouse.

Zhao Xingde nodded and said that he had written it down, and Chen Xizhai said: "The classics that record the major events of Lumei's national politics can be consulted in the library of Constantine City. He smiled and said, "When the time comes, I will take you to the banquet of some princes and nobles of Lumei, and you can listen to their discussions more, so that you can truly understand some of the inside affairs of Lumei Kingdom that are not known to outsiders." ”

Zhao Xingde hurriedly thanked him. Chen Xizhai helped him to observe Lu Mei's matter, which really got twice the result with half the effort and saved a lot of trouble. After talking about business, Chen Xizhai asked Zhao Xingde a lot about the situation in Dunhuang and Chang'an, and talked about the scenery of his hometown, which Chen Xizhai was very embarrassed. He was originally from Dunhuang, and now he has been an envoy in Lumei for eight or nine years.

In the days that followed, Zhao Xingde followed Chen Xizhai's instructions, went in and out of the squares and baths of Lumei City, and listened to the conversation of the people of Lumei. He had already developed the habit of recording his thoughts and feelings, and extracting the essence and sending it to Chen Dong of the Science Society to discuss together, and that night, Zhao Xingde wrote: "The collapse of the military system of the Lumei State shook its foundation. And the fruit of the collapse of the military system comes from the cause of the collapse of the field system. ”

A few months later, Mr. Chen unfurled the letter, which was not named. “...... On the other hand, in our dynasty, the land system is not established, and the rich are connected to the prefectures and counties, and there is no food to gather, and nearly half of the tenants are in the fields, and the peasants are busy at all times, in addition to farming and weaving, they also do miscellaneous work, and they have more than enough food. As soon as the imperial court armor protection law came out, it took time to practice, so that the poor were trapped in hunger and cold, and the people were full of grievances. The decline of the country of Lumei is enough to serve as a lesson for me. If we want to revitalize the country, we must first establish a field system, so that the cultivators can have their fields, eat their strength and have spare time, and then they can teach the war and defend ......"

Chen Dong put down the letter and exhaled deeply, Zhao Xingde's insight is good, but unfortunately, since the collapse of the Juntian system in the Sui and Tang dynasties of the Northern Dynasty for hundreds of years, the current dynasty did not establish the field system, and now the merger of the powerful has accumulated a lot of difficulties. This theory of the Litian system, which is slightly advocated by the Rational Society, is conducive to winning the hearts and minds of the people. But if it is really to be implemented, it is tantamount to being an enemy of the Manchu Dynasty and the corporal of the world.

Zhao Xingde only had occasional feelings, and he just scribbled graffiti. After sending the letter, he went to Constantine Dante's library to check some records of how the military system and the Tian system of the Lumei Kingdom collapsed, which is also interesting, many princes and ministers have written books to criticize this matter, but no one can reverse the situation, everyone is watching the building collapse, and every rescue action makes it overturn even more. On this day, Zhao Xingde stood on a high shelf looking for a classic, but he never found it, and was about to give up. A pair of plain hands stretched out the parchment roll in front of him, "Are you looking for this one?" ”