Li Mu came to Li Yan's side and asked suspiciously, "Why are you so polite to him?" There are few of them left. ”

"Now is not the time," Li Yan explained: "We only have this little strength, and we can't withstand the encirclement and suppression of the official army, so why should we offend people?" ”

Li Mu frowned and asked, "So you can't offend him?" Isn't it just as offended? ”

Li Yan smiled and said, "Didn't I give him an idea?" Maybe he'll be able to move up the next level, hahaha. ”

"Gather the outcasts? How many people can he support? He can also get a field in Kaifeng? So how much combat power can he have? Li Mu said disdainfully.

Li Yan smiled: "Then it depends on his ability." But he doesn't have much time left, isn't there no more thieves in Suizhou? Let Gao Mingheng leave in the next two days, and let him leave. ”

"General," a soldier came running over and reported, "Su County Order, please go to the county office." ”

Li Yan wanted to take a look from afar, and found that Wang Bantou was stopped in the distance. So he instructed Li Mou: "I'll go to the county office, and you can maintain it here." Send people to the barracks guarded by Yang to monitor and prevent them from making trouble. ”

"Okay." Li Mu nodded in agreement.

Li Yan and Wang Bantou went to the county government together. On the way, Li Yan asked, "Wang Bantou, is there anything wrong with the county honor?" ”

Wang Bantou replied respectfully: "It's Kaifeng, it's a military academy, it may be that we are going to prepare grain and grass here, and Kaifeng is going to send troops to encircle and suppress the thieves in Guide Mansion." What's more, this year's summer tax has not yet been levied, and the county is a little anxious. ”

Wang Bantou is very respectful, because the specific affairs now are basically done with Li Yan's consent. Moreover, the management is still very strict, you can't accept bribes, you can't eat for nothing, you can't oppress the people, and you can't cheat and cheat. In short, the bad habits of the previous ones must be broken, otherwise the whips and sticks of those soldiers will fall on them. Four officials and one scribe have already been beaten, and two have been crippled, and they can only live in bed for the rest of their lives.

Of course, it's not just high pressure, but also some benefits, otherwise they would rather not do it than continue to stay and be afraid. Li Yan now gives them food, and grain is a good exchange, in the market in the northeast corner of the city, you can exchange for almost everything.

If you exchange grain for silver, you can get more. But now they are all stockpiling grain, and no one wants to sell the grain in their hands. Even the farmers who have just harvested this year have 70% of the grain in their hands, and they have stored it at home. People were frightened by the famine of the past two years, and they were desperately stockpiling food for fear of continuing to starve.

Li Yan came to the county office, and the person from Kaifeng was no longer there, only Su Jing was waiting for him in the back hall.

"I've seen the county honor." Li Yan clasped his fists and saluted.

Su Jing raised his hand, let Li Yan be polite, and said, "Just now Kaifeng came to the military academy, and the report said that we should prepare grain and grass." Five days later, Vice General Chen (Chen Yongfu) will come over with 5,000 soldiers and horses and go to Guide Mansion to exterminate the 'One Dragon' and 'Yuan Laoshan'. Horse two steps eight, you have to prepare grain and grass. ”

Li Yan frowned and said, "It's all up to us?" ”

Su Jing nodded and said, "Yes, five thousand men and horses, all of which will be supported by us." ”

"I can't do it!" Li Yan said bluntly: "Please ask the county to tell the people who came, we can only support thirty percent, and they will take care of the rest." ”

"This, isn't it? Vice General Chen was ordered by the imperial court to recover and return to Defu and exterminate the thieves. Not only Kaifeng will send troops, but also the governor of Fengwan will also send troops to suppress it. Su Jing explained: "The officials and gentry of the Guide Mansion have all written to Your Majesty, and the Hou family, the Shen family (Shen Li family), and the Ye family (Ye Tinggui family) are not Jia Dilenke, and relatives and friends are all over the government and the opposition. If you don't do your best at this time, the court will be punished! ”

Li Yan didn't expect that the power of Guide Mansion was so big, and he actually directly asked the emperor to issue an order to suppress it, and "Yuan Laoshan" and "One Dragon" were famous this time. But if he really wants to support it all, this is not a small amount, and he still has to raise soldiers, so he can't starve others to death.

He thought for a while, and suddenly brightened up, and said with a smile: "All parts of Henan have been affected, and there are not a few people who have lost their grain harvest, and it is also said that there is less grain and grass. As for the imperial court, now is the time to collect the summer tax, as long as the county respects half of the summer grain tax, the emperor will definitely look at the county lord differently. ”

"Half? Can there be so many? Su Jing said immediately. He has been a county magistrate for several years, and the most time is Chongzhen, who has just taken office, for ten years, and he has received less than half, and at other times, he can collect three achievements and burn high incense. Half of the tax amount is done, and that's almost an impossible task.

Li Yan assured: "The county respects rest assured, since the humble post has been spoken, half of the tax amount will definitely be completed." "The imperial court wants silver, and now the price of grain in Henan is so high, it is generally more than 1,000 yuan of rice. If he was asked to pay the grain, he wouldn't be able to pay that much, but if he paid the silver, he could still do it.

Su Jing also knew that what the imperial court wanted now was food. As long as you can make achievements in completing the tax amount, then you will not run in terms of performance appraisal and promotion. So he nodded and said, "Okay!" I'll summon the military academy from Kaifeng in a moment. The matter of Xia tax will be handed over to General Li. ”

"The county respects rest assured, the lowly will get things done." Li Yan assured.

Li Yan was about to leave, but he remembered one more thing, so he asked, "Then Gao Xun still wants to go to Suizhou now?" ”

"If you don't leave now, he wants to go with Vice General Chen." Su Jing said.

Li Yan nodded with a smile and said: "That's good, when the county lord and Gao Xun are chatting in the past few days, talk more about Suizhou and Guide." There are many big clans and countless slaves, and the people there are waiting for Gao Qingtian to redress their grievances. ”

"What does that mean?!" Su Jing asked with a frown. Although he relied on Li Yan, he would not allow a martial artist to assign him a task in the future.

Li Yan explained: "If Vice General Chen stays here for a long time, we will have less food. Half of the tax amount is more than 16,000 taels of silver, and it will not work without 1,600 stones. However, if Gao Xun pressed the urging, Vice General Chen could go to Suizhou as soon as possible. At that time, the grain and grass will not matter to us. ”

After listening to Li Yan's explanation, Su Jing stretched his brows and said with a smile: "Well, what General Li said makes sense." After all, we are going to Guide Germany to suppress bandits, and there is no reason for us to support the grain and grass. ”

Li Yan nodded and said: "The county lord is right, in fact, all the county towns of Guide Mansion are in the hands of the official army, and the thieves are just looting in the suburbs, and the Guide Mansion is fully capable of supporting the grain and grass of the official army." ”

Su Jing stroked his beard and nodded constantly, and said, "You go and deal with the matter of Xia tax, I'll let Zhang Dianshi help you, he is familiar with it after all." ”

Li Yan knew that this was to send him a prison army, but could this Zhang Dianshi still dare and supervise him? He didn't react abnormally, and clenched his fists and said, "Okay, take your leave." ”