The Eastern Route Army of the Zhou Dynasty arrived in Xiangzhou in early March, and the whole army was temporarily halted. At this time, it will take time for the baggage and some of the soldiers to board the ship and go south, and the march will be much easier for the army to march along the Han River and land. The officials of Xiangzhou found an open courtyard on all sides as a military march in the army, and Guo Shao also stayed, and just had the opportunity, he wrote a letter to Fu Ermei.

He also received some letters from Tokyo. One of them was Wang Pu's private letter, which was immediately selected by Guo Shao as the first letter to read...... Because Wang Pu is a privy envoy.

originally thought that Wang Pu was making suggestions on the military and political affairs of the battle of Shu, but unexpectedly, the opening tone was like a friend's reminiscence. Guo Shao read and read, and his mind became a little vicissitudes......

Wang Pu did not mention attacking Shu at all, he thought that it was only a matter of time before the southern states were unified; Mentioned are some very long-term ideas. Wang Pu said that his illness was getting worse and worse, and there was no sign of improvement, and he might not be able to see that day.

In recent years, the war-torn population of the Central Plains has withered, and the number of registered households at the time of the clearest time of the government is less than one million, but the prefectures in Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Huaibei and other places have raised more than 100,000 forbidden troops and no less than 200,000 town soldiers, and the hundreds of thousands of forbidden soldiers have even completely stopped producing and are all supported by the state treasury. The Central Plains alone can raise so many troops, why not? The number of troops that Shu and Southern Tang could support was not less than that of the Zhou Dynasty, why?

Wang Puyan, looking at the central and local government affairs files, believes that the exploitation and taxation at this time has "brought together the ancient and modern" and has reached the point of unscrupulous means. At this time, it is understandable that in order to survive in the war, all countries are bound to pay a lot of taxes and miscellaneous taxes...... However, in the past hundred years since the end of the Tang Dynasty, exploitation has become a customary system, and in the future, after the unification of the countries, it is likely that the fiscal and taxation system will continue: the peasant households and common people have been exploited too much, and the wealth has been concentrated in the center and important towns.

Is the money and grain collected and concentrated to continue the decades-long military recklessness, or is it to carve up the wealth of a few people in powerful places such as Tokyo and to support the prosperity of several large cities (the prosperity and cultural prosperity of the capitals of the Southern Tang and Shu Kingdoms have begun to confirm this deduction)? General Guo had better think about the layout as soon as possible, otherwise in the future, when the gainers are powerful and the tail is too big to lose, there will be great resistance to snatching food from their mouths.

Scholars and bureaucrats, most people may not see such things; If you see it, you won't say it, and it's boring for people in the officialdom to say it and cut off their own financial resources. The old man can't help but want to say it now.

…… Guo Shao read the long letter several times. Thinking about Wang Pu's life, the most rare thing is to talk about the pain point of the problem (although sometimes it is really not very ear-catching), rather than ordinary scholars and doctors just talking about the righteousness of high-sounding sages. At present, Guo Shao is more and more reluctant to be an old man who is more than twice his age, and he has a sense of friendship.

Guo Shao is still unable to fully agree with Wang Pu's views, because he has been focusing on the military and has indeed not thought too deeply about the concept of governance.

Wang Pu's point of view is just the words of one family, but it is undoubtedly quite insightful and thoughtful. Guo Shao also somewhat agrees with the statement, at least thinking about it...... After the Song Dynasty unified China, the Song Dynasty was once praised as the richest and most civilized era, especially the rise of urban citizen culture, and the culture was particularly prosperous; It seems to be similar to the appearance of the Southern Tang Kingdom before it lost Huainan, so Wang Pu's statement in the letter seems to be very reasonable.

Guo Shao probably knew some historical knowledge in his previous life, and it is said that the financial revenue of the Song Dynasty was very high, probably more than ten times that of the Ming Dynasty; But the Song Dynasty's economic aggregate was not necessarily larger than that of the Ming Dynasty. Under such a high fiscal revenue in the Song Dynasty, it seems unreasonable if the burden of the people is not heavy...... Perhaps the starting point of "ruling the world with scholars" set by the Song Dynasty at the founding of the country was only to guard against military generals, but the fact has caused resources to be skewed towards the scholars who hold power, which is an inevitable situation; Why don't people with power fight for their own benefit? People die for money, birds die for food, and people are just human.

Guo Shao remembered that some people used to say that capitalists are not philanthropists, and maybe no one is either.

He held Wang Pu's letter in his hand, and suddenly felt the vicissitudes of life. The quaint houses in the Chinese army's line, and the faded red paint on the carved windows seem to tell the thousands of things that have happened and will happen in the world.

It would be nice if Wang Pu's illness could be cured, Guo Shao suddenly cared about him very much.

…… The other letter was from Chen Jiali, saying that a large number of goods of the "Shen Chen Li" firm had been robbed in Nanping Kingdom. Guo Shao knew about this when he was in Tokyo, and Aunt Sun and her entourage of the Chen family accompanied the army, just to take care of their goods.

However, Chen Jiali wrote again to emphasize that the urgency in her words was very obvious, and she thought that the shipment was really important to them.

Guo Shao read the letter once, and when he had time this afternoon, he sent someone to call Aunt Sun to come over for questioning. Aunt Sun is the woman next to Chen Jiali, and she should be Chen Jiali's closest person, a half-old in her forties. Guo Shao went to Chen's house several times, all of which were arranged by Aunt Sun.

A short time later, a woman dressed in silk came in and bowed very respectfully. She is Aunt Sun.

When Aunt Sun entered the house, Guo Shao was standing in front of a desk, staring at the things on it. There is a dense drawing on the desk, which is more complicated than the usual drawings that only draw roads.

Guo Shao raised his head at this time, didn't say any greetings, and asked directly: "How many goods did Mrs. Chen have been robbed by Nanping Kingdom?" ”

Aunt Sun hurriedly said: "Back to General Guo's words, there are a large number of valuable medicinal materials such as Shu brocade, silk, gemstones, and Ganoderma lucidum, if they are sold after being shipped out of Shu, they will be worth more than 200,000 yuan...... Those things are not owned by one family, and the owners of the Shen Chen Li Merchant Gang and some businessmen who have joined the gang also have a share; If they can't get it back, many people who join the gang will go bankrupt and be in debt. Madame originally wanted to join the army herself, but later the concubine persuaded her that it would be useless to come by herself, so that's it. ”

Aunt Sun said in a pleading tone: "This batch of goods is a matter of life and death to the trading house, if General Guo can help, you can do whatever you want, and you will definitely repay General Guo......"

Guo Shao heard this, and was a little misunderstood for a while, thinking that Aunt Sun meant that she could do whatever she wanted...... He looked at the woman at the moment. It's a pity that I'm a little older, at least in my forties, so I'm really not interested.

I remember that Gu Long once said that as long as the tea is hot, it will not be too unpleasant, and as long as a woman is young, it will not be too ugly. But standing in front of him was a cup of herbal tea. However, Aunt Sun is actually a little beautiful, and it can be seen that she should be a beauty when she is young; It's a pity that the skin is a little loose now, and there is no such feeling of rejuvenation, which is not quite to Guo Shao's taste.

Guo Shao put his finger on the map and said, "The army went south along the Han River, passed through Jinkou Town to Jiangling Mansion, and entered the Yangtze River. I have to go to Jiangling Mansion, the capital of Nanping Kingdom, if I can help, but it's a good move. Mrs. Chen doesn't have to give anything in return, I am still a person who remembers friendship. ”

Aunt Sun said gratefully: "The concubine will first thank General Guo for his wife." ”

Guo Shao pondered for a moment and asked, "Why did the merchant gang transport so many goods from Jingnan to cross the border, and you didn't anticipate the risk in advance?" ”

Aunt Sun sighed: "It's only to blame Gao Baoxuan, the younger brother of the lord of Nanping, who is extremely treacherous, and we are careless." Gao Baoqiao used to only set up cards to collect tolls, but Jiangling Mansion and Jingmen Army have all been counted, thinking that there will be no problem. A little bit of transportation, the cost will be higher, this time we shipped a large number of goods at one time; Unexpectedly, after Gao Baoqiao learned about it, he directly tore his face and swallowed it all! ”

Guo Shao smiled when he heard this: "Sure enough, it's the way." Gao Baoqiao didn't follow the rules before, but the chips for betrayal were not attractive enough, but he didn't care about faith. ”

Aunt Sun said: "What General Guo said is extremely true, it is really sinister. In this distress, if you can get back the goods, the merchant helped everyone to discuss, as long as the cost is recovered, and you are willing to give the profits to General Guo. ”

Guo Shao shook his head and said: "It is natural for businessmen to make profits, I can't swallow the profits alone, everyone has benefits, and the way to cooperate is to get benefits." This time the profit is still yours, and I don't want any money, but ......"

Aunt Sun hurriedly asked: "What General Guo wants, as long as the concubine can do it." ”

Guo Shao beckoned and said in a deep voice: "You come up, I'll teach you how to do it." He was shyly when he saw Aunt Sun coming over, and immediately said, "I'm talking about business, not planning to do anything to Aunt Sun, don't worry." ”

Aunt Sun actually looked at Qiu Bo and said softly: "Of course the concubine is not worried, but I am afraid that General Guo will dislike it." ”

Guo Shao: "......"

……

Guo Shao made some preparations in Xiangzhou, mobilized the army to advance by land and water, and went straight to Jingmen along the Han River. He also sent someone to Nanping to deliver an official document, to take advantage of the Yangtze River to arrive soon, and ordered Nanping to open and close to Yunyun.

At this time in Jiangling Mansion, Gao Baorong first received the holy decree of the Zhou Dynasty, and then got the military order of the Zhou Dynasty's "Generalissimo of the World's Soldiers and Horses", and he was helpless and didn't know what to do.

General Li Jingwei persuaded: "The matter is urgent, Shu is a big country, and the army of Zhou can use troops to attack Shu this week, and by the way, it will be greedy for the land of Nanping." The Zhou army wanted to go up the Yangtze River, and Jiangling was the grain route and the base camp of the reinforcements; Although Nanping was a minister, how could the Zhou army hand over the rear to others? The last general thought that he should gather troops to defend it strictly, and then contact Shu to say that he would use the cold way to save the joint army to resist Zhou. ”

Gao Baorong was already very stupid, and he was at a loss for what to do, and immediately asked, "Where is my brother?" ”

Li Jingwei said: "Closed doors in the mansion. ”

Gao Baorong hurriedly said: "Hurry up and go to someone and find my brother." ”

Immediately, an official was ordered to leave the palace and rush to Gao Bao's house.

And Gao Baoqiao was still quietly watching the show at home at this time. He doesn't like to watch beautiful women sing and dance, prefers more direct scenes...... Let the strong military general's own soldiers molest the prostitute in the lobby, and he will sit on it and watch the play with great interest for his amusement.