"Shizi, there are a few students who come to the door, all of them are talented and talented ministers in nearby towns, and according to the rules of the previous Shizi, they were all persuaded by us to go back."

Li Yi temporarily served as a guest of the Hou Mansion, Kong He was his assistant, one of them was a lifter, the other was a clerk, just to deal with the influx of guests from all sides.

In fact, each mansion has a special person to do, in the show or lift people to pick a good talk, like to make friends, bold atmosphere, good at drinking and sneering talent to be a guest, the same is the official of the imperial court, the guests of the Hou Mansion are specially to do the things to usher in, of course, from the imperial court books, it is to welcome the court envoys, on behalf of the prince to the Beijing to visit the ancestral temple, to the household department to count a year of Hou Mansion income and so on.

Since the Hou Mansion made a three-year pilgrimage, Xu Zixian did not have to be in a hurry before the time came, but as soon as the three years came, Xu Zixian had to appoint guests to make the Hajj to Beijing on behalf of the Hou Mansion.

Li Yi and Kong He were both sweating profusely, the guests of the Hou Mansion in the past few days were more than a hundred times more than usual, Xu Zixian had lived here for three months, and there were not more than one-tenth of the guests in these three days.

Nearby officials, people, and talents, almost all those who are qualified to come to the other courtyard to pay a visit.

Xu Zi disappeared at first, and he was in a bad mood and didn't want to discuss it with everyone with an article commemorating his deceased father.

It was originally impolite to refuse customers, but Xu Zixian's practice caused praise again...... In fact, for Xu Zixian, this kind of play is too common in later generations, hype a wave, then a low-key wave, and then wait for people to accept their status psychologically, and then calmly go out of the mountain to reap the fruits of victory.

This kind of low-key is quite necessary, especially the article he wrote in the name of commemorating his deceased father, if he triumphantly came out to meet the guests and take the opportunity to make a name for himself, he would definitely be criticized, and some people would make a fuss about it, and perhaps among the guests who came to see him, there would be people who were deliberately running to find trouble.

"I'm sorry to trouble Mr. Li and Mr. Kong." Xu Zi thanked him first, and the two subordinates replied one by one.

There was only one unusual guest in front of Xu Zixian, Liu Changshi from the Qi Palace.

Since yesterday, he was ordered to send a hundred yuan to come, and Liu Changshi stayed in the courtyard for a day under the pretext that he was tired from the journey.

Xu Zixian also didn't care, and continued to boil his body, practice arrows, write, and read.

He knew that Liu Changshi would definitely ask a lot of people, so Xu Zixian would not deliberately behave, everything was as usual.

There was also such a thing in the previous life, Liu Changshi was ordered to come to see Xu Zixian, but Xu Zixian at that time was depressed and lived a very decadent life, and finally the Qi Wangfu sent dozens of money, and there was no follow-up after that.

Later, Xu Zixian learned that Xu Yingxing, the king of Qi, and his father, Xu Yingbin, the Marquis of Nan'an, were close friends, and if Xu Zixian was a little motivated, the king of Qi would take care of him, and with the power of the king of Qi, he would give Xu Zixian a little support, and Xu Zixian would not die without the slightest power in his hands.

This time, of course, Xu Zixian changed the previous result, but he didn't intend to influence Liu Changshi with anything, everything was as usual, he did his best, and obeyed the fate of heaven.

"Shizi." Warden Qin Dongyang hurriedly walked into the inner courtyard, hugged his fists and said: "Jin Baoyi saw Li Cheng and his son in the southeast of the town, Li Fu seems to have gone to another Zhuangzi, and Li Cheng is coming to the town. ”

Xu Zi nodded first and said, "The time has come for it to be launched, and the time is almost over." ”

"Shizi." Li Yi said with a solemn expression: "It's not difficult to overthrow Li Cheng, but what I'm afraid of is that his dog will jump off the wall in a hurry." ”

"A few more teeth will come over." Qin Dongyang also said: "Manpower is still insufficient, if Zhuang Ding is transferred from various villages, I am afraid that there are Li Cheng's people among them, which will lead wolves into the room, so it is better not to use it." ”

"I have an idea." Xu Zixian said: "On the south side of the Minjiang River, there are at least a few thousand Zhangzhou displaced people. They are scattered within a radius of 100 miles, and they heard that there are displaced people in Quanzhou and Jianzhou, and ten years ago, there were even more displaced people, reaching tens of thousands of people. ”

"That's right." Li Yi said: "What the prince said is right, when the five pirates at sea broke through Zhangzhou, it was a great disaster, and more than 10,000 soldiers and civilians in the city were killed and injured. Later, when the imperial army arrived, the five thieves burned the city and market town before evacuating, and a large number of people fled, at least more than 100,000 people scattered and fled to Shaowujun, Jianzhou, Fuzhou, and Quanzhou. ”

Kong He also said: "In recent years, Zhangzhou has recovered most of its vitality, business travel has been heavy, and displaced people have slowly returned to their hometowns. But there are always many people who are poor and sick and can't return to their hometowns, originally this should be done by the government, to help with the travel expenses to return to their hometowns, as well as the cost of settling in, the money for cultivating cattle seeds, not too much for a family, ten times of money is enough, more than 1,000 households of displaced people, more than 10,000 dollars, what is it? All the yamen are pulling their skins, and no one cares about the lives of the displaced people. ”

Kong He really didn't get along well in the yamen, and when it came to official business, he was angry, and he felt a little old and angry, no wonder he was squeezed out.

Xu Zixian smiled slightly and said, "We can't take care of the affairs of the government for the time being, and we can't help too much." But now that there is enough food in the Hou Mansion, and most of the homeless people are hungry and cold, we are looking for some fifteen or sixteen-year-old children to come into the mansion and cultivate them for a few years. The Hou Mansion wants to build a large number of generals, and it takes some to recruit, but more still has to rely on itself. ”

Cultivating young people, raising them as their own children, in terms of loyalty and ability, they are all trustworthy and reliable, and they are indeed much more credible than outsiders.

This kind of practice, of course, is not costly, and it is much cheaper than spending money to hire ready-made heroic warriors.

It is enough for a teenager to give five guan settling fee, and the dynasty is not allowed to buy out the death deed, that is, it is not allowed to raise slaves and maids, but the longest can sign a long-term contract of five years of slaves, and recruiting fifty teenagers will cost less than three hundred yuan, and if you invite a good hero and strong ten, one person will be at least fifty yuan, and the maximum will be one year, and loyalty cannot be guaranteed.

"Shizi's method is wonderful." Li Yi was the first to agree, and said: "The food in the house is enough, and at the end of the year, many hidden households can't pay the money, so they are allowed to pay grain, pickled meat, fish, and grain, and there are still a lot, and dozens of mouths are enough to eat for a while." ”

"Weapons are also available." As a lieutenant, Qin Dongyang had already checked the arsenal, and when he slapped his fist, he said with a smile: "Ten big bows for practicing strength, fifty hard bows for foot combat, thirty horn bows, thirty shields, thirty long guns, thirty iron spears, thirty obstacle knives, ten horizontal knives, and ten ritual knives." There are still more than 100,000 arrows, horns, tendons, and strings piled up in the corners of the wall, and I have not counted them. ”

"I'm afraid it's hard to continue." Everyone was a little excited, but Kong He poured cold water and said: "There will always be a day when the grain and meat are finished, and there will be dozens of mouths at once, and I will definitely buy grain and meat in the future." Those who practice martial arts have no strength if they don't eat meat, and they have to eat well. Weapons will be consumed, you have to fight a new one, but the price is not cheap, and even if you recruit a servant boy, training is hard work, more tiring than being a servant, and there is no monthly reward, I'm afraid it won't last too long. I have a friend who is a bookkeeper in the Qi Palace, and the Qi Palace, which is not fully commanded, but there are 300 soldiers, most of whom are strong soldiers brought out by the King of Qi for many years! These three hundred tooth generals, live in the palace of the king of Qi in shifts, each person has five times a month, and at the end of the year, they will be rewarded with three or four dollars, and they will eat and live in the house when they are on duty, at least 1,200 to 1,500 yuan a month, and 300 people will spend hundreds of dollars just to eat, plus the loss of armor, weapons, and arrows, and the king of Qi will raise these three hundred soldiers, which will cost tens of thousands of dollars a year! ”

Li Yi and Qin Dongyang's faces changed...... In this world, you really can't find anything more expensive than raising soldiers.

The imperial court earns 160 million yuan a year, raises 1.2 million soldiers, consumes more than seventy percent of the financial income in a year, and the remaining thirty percent is used to support the royal family, civil and military officials, and when it comes to helping the people, official expenses, such as post stations, river work, roads, bridges, relief, and regular equal expenses, the imperial court has been difficult to sustain.

Therefore, in recent years, the state has become increasingly embarrassed, the imperial court is stretched, and the pressure of the people is also greater day by day.

Li Yi frowned and said: "Our Nan'an Hou Mansion can't be compared with the Qi Wangfu, the Qi Wangfu has more than 160 official and private villages, more than 11,000 households, forced labor, hidden households, and the annual income of these alone is more than 100,000 yuan." There are also a large number of shops, money houses, and a few sea boats going to sea, and there is also a lot of furniture accumulated in 200 years...... Moreover, the soldiers raised by the king of Qi are not taboo, because these tooth generals are more than forty or even fifty in half a year, and they are all veterans who have followed the king of Qi for many years, and they are old and injured, and the king of Qi can't bear to abandon them, and the court also knows that the king of Qi is suffering......"

Everyone looked at each other, it doesn't matter if the court knows the hardship, the problem is that the Hou Mansion must raise elite soldiers, from Xu Zixian's attitude, everyone can see that this prince is a person who wants to have a great spread in the future, after staying in the Wujinshi, the court will grant the real position, whether it is to go back to Fujian or go elsewhere, a general is the foundation of the prince in the army, and it is also the greatest help to make contributions.

Many clans that were military attachés did this, and they used their teeth to make meritorious contributions to their left and right arms, in order to make meritorious contributions to the country, and when they wanted to succeed to the throne, the court remembered that the clan had contributed to the country, and allowed to inherit one or two more generations or three generations.

For the princes, dukes, and kings of the clan, this is the greatest motivation for them to become officials.

Only a poor and crazy clan like Nan'an Houfu would think about the little bit of being an official, which is really ashamed, don't say it.

Kong He looked at everyone and said, "Just fifty teenagers and more than ten existing generals, sixty people, five yuan a month......

Xu Zi covered his face with his hands first and said, "Kong Xuanping, you don't have to count it anymore, I will find a way to ......"

Everyone looked at the prince in front of them with sympathetic eyes, the ordinary Hou family, whether there was more money or not, there was always a hundred thousand family properties.

At worst, there must be tens of thousands of dollars to hide, and there are some artifacts and antiques that are kept at home to maintain their value.

Nan'an Hou Mansion is interesting, except for the imperial gifts, it is almost like washing, and there is no chance to sell the property as an unworthy descendant, and the ancestors themselves will not be filial first.

No wonder the first generation of Nan'an Marquis, as a prince, didn't even get a prince, and was directly kicked out of Beijing and demoted to Fuzhou, and he didn't get much wealth, and the official village only gave six, and the income was only more than 1,000 yuan a year, which was simply a humiliation for a clan marquis.

"There's always a way." Xu Zixian didn't have much frustration, and said with a smile: "Since I want to make the Nan'an Hou Mansion shine, I can't make this little thing in front of me difficult." Recruiting and training people cannot be delayed. Captain Qin, I'll leave this matter to you. ”