Because he was anxious about the development of Shuofang's people's livelihood, Xiang Ao couldn't help but want to linger with Jiang Yao'er and devote himself to Shuofang's political affairs. The coal group that he and Ma Jun made up a year ago was indeed profitable, but first, the coal group was not ready to teach the people, so the output of the coal group was limited; Second, its income is mainly in winter. After the beginning of spring, we still have to pay attention to farming, after all, there is a stable source of food, and Shuofang can be stable.

After stabilization, Xiang Ao will find a way to expand the population, so as to prepare for the future defense against foreign races and even the fear of Saiwai Xianbei. And now that Shuofang is weak, in addition to the urgent problems such as food, we have to find ways to increase the defense of chicken and deer stoppers. Therefore, before the New Year was over, Xiang Ao wrote to the imperial court, hoping to expand some troops in Shuofang, strengthen defenses, and even enter the hinterland of Xianbei.

After Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty got Xiang Ao's letter, he deliberately proposed it in the early dynasty, hoping to pass and appear on his body as Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. But it backfired, and many people in the DPRK and China agreed, especially the military generals. However, at this time, the treasury was empty, and Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty had to sell official positions to obtain most of the money to fill the treasury, and it was indeed difficult to increase troops on the border.

Xiang Ao, who received the edict from the imperial court, sighed, such a powerful Han who dominated Yuan Yu, there was no money for border defense in the treasury. Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty's edict was euphemistic, expressing only one meaning, that is, lack of money. However, it is not difficult to see the mood of Emperor Ling of Han who wants to be the emperor of the frontier.

Xiang Ao thought about it for a while, and then went to the book, the meaning is also clear, money Xiang Ao can find a way, whether it is business or plundering from outside the fortress, there is no need for the court to pay a point, and the army recruited must still belong to the soldiers of the Han Dynasty. However, Xiang Ao is not stupid, of course, he will also put forward the condition, that is, Emperor Ling of Han must use an edict to announce to the world that this army can only be used as a war against foreign races, and it is not under the command of any scholar clan or government, not even Shangshu.

And during Xiang Ao's lifetime, this army had to be commanded by Xiang Ao, and anyone who intervened in Xiang Ao had the highest right to deal with it. If Xiang Ao only writes like this, even if His Majesty has the heart to agree to this matter, the treacherous comparison between the DPRK and China will make an obstacle from it. It said that if Emperor Ling of Han came in person, except that the battle was still led by Xiang Ao, the object of the battle could be designated by Emperor Ling of Han, and Xiang Ao would never have any objection and would completely obey.

Despite this, the documents were delivered by 800 miles of fast horses, but it took nearly a month from the first time the letter was written to Emperor Han Ling's reply to the edict, and Xiang Ao could only wait patiently for the edict to come again after replying to the letter. At this time, it was mid-February, and although most of the territory of Shuofang County was still covered with heavy snow, the temperature had begun to warm.

Regarding the recruitment of soldiers, Xiang Ao was more anxious about the cultivation of crops. Due to the fact that the years ago and the future could be dealt with, many people in Shuofang County at this time had not even found seeds. The stock of agricultural seeds in the county treasury is also very small, less than half of that of previous years.

Xiang Ao once again ordered people to go to the Shi clan in the southern realm to buy seeds from the second half of the first month, and he had not returned after half a month. Although Shuofang is an extremely cold place, the temperature in early March is suitable for the growth of some agricultural species, and if the seeds are not found in more than ten days, Shuofang County will not have a good time this year.

At this time, in the boundary of Xiangyang County, Sima Hui and Pang Decheng had a very happy conversation with a young man. This young literati is dressed up, and the binding of his hair knows that he has not yet reached the crown. The young man seems to be about the same age as Xiang Ao, six out of ten, with red faces and white teeth, and his appearance is also extremely handsome. The body bones are not bad, although they are not as good as many sergeants in the army, they are much stronger than ordinary pedants. The young man's surname is Hu Mingzhao, and the word Kong Ming. Hu Zhaoyu read the history of the scriptures, is knowledgeable, especially proficient in the history of the classics, works in calligraphy, and his peerless talent is extremely praised by the world.

"In this way, Na Zhao is really curious, the person who can be so praised by Duke Cao De and Gong Pang must be extraordinary." Although Hu Zhao is a modest person, he also has the arrogance of a pedantic person, and he is also very young.

Sima Hui knows clearly, there is a lot of time, and those who can compare to Xiang Ao are indeed counted in Sima Hui's heart. Before the meeting, the young man joked: "If Kong Ming doesn't believe it, you can go to Bingzhou to see it, this person is now the Taishou of Shuofang County in Bingzhou, and he took office a year ago." ”

The young man frowned slightly, he was already an official at the same age as himself, which was indeed amazing. Originally, the young man who was just talking about it had already made a plan in his heart at this time, and he would set off to meet this person in Shuofang in a few days. Although Hu Zhao never intended to be an official, Hu Zhao did not resist seeing and seeing Junjie.

"Then he will meet for a while to explore and explore the knowledge with this handsome man."

"It should be so, both of you are handsome, if Kong Ming sees this person, he will worship him as a confidant."

"Oh? Hmm..."The young man was puzzled for a while, worshipping as a confidant? Could it be that this person's ambition is similar to mine, so why do you want to enter the court as an official? The young man shook his head in confusion, but he didn't ask much, he knew as he saw it every day.

"Huh? Brother Kong Ming, why didn't he greet Fu when he came to Caode Office today, it's not kind. A young man walked outside the door, it turned out to be Xu Fu, Xiang Ao's confidant two years ago, and ridiculed Hu Zhao stepping into the door and bowing to Sima Hui and Pang Degong: "I've seen Cao Degong and Pang Degong." Sima Hui and the others were not polite, and nodded in acknowledgment.

"Brother Yuan misunderstood." Hu Zhao got up and said, "Zhao is here to say goodbye today, I wanted to say goodbye to the two Ming Dukes and then go to the Yuanzhi Mansion to say goodbye." ”

"Oh? I hadn't heard Brother Kong Ming mention his departure in the previous logs, so why was he so anxious? ”

"There is nothing important about him, I want to travel the world to study." Hu Zhao put down his hands and put them in front of him: "However, the mention of the two of them today that they have Junjie made Kong Ming want to visit." ”

"The one who is valued by Kong Ming must be the one who has it. I wonder where this person is at this time? ”

"Yuan Zhi doesn't need to ask much, the old man mentioned Yuan Zhi's confidant Xiang Ao." Seeing that Xu Fu was so curious, Sima Hui did not hide it and reminded.

"Hahaha... Then Brother Kong Ming has found the right person, my brother, the blessing is not as good as just in case. It turned out that he was talking about Xiang Ao, so he laughed, and his face was also proud, as if he was praising himself.

Hearing that Xu Fu also admired him like this, Hu Zhao was even more curious, and he looked forward to it more and more, so he decided to leave tomorrow to pay a visit. "Originally, Zhao planned to visit his friends on the way to Yingchuan Territory, but today I was fortunate to get news from Junjie, so I will visit from now and leave tomorrow."

Speaking of Xiang Ao, Xu Fu also misses it very much. Moreover, I got the news the day before yesterday, Xiang Ao was already Shuo Fang Taishou at this time, and he wanted to visit Xiang Ao. I came to Xiangyang to visit Pang Degong and leave, but I never thought that Sima Hui was also at Pang Degong's place, and I even met Hu Zhao, who was also handsome, so I stayed for a little longer. Since Hu Zhao is going to visit Xiang Ao this time, he can go with him, so he can take care of it. Xu Fu originally wanted to take care of his mother at home, but Xu Fu's mother was extremely opposed, and a year later, Xu Fu was forced to go out to study.

"Fumoto is also going to Shuofang to visit Brother Ao, since Brother Kong Ming is also going, can I take care of the two of us on the same road?"

Hu Zhao was stunned for a moment, and then said: "This is very good." The two of them said goodbye to Sima Hui and left.

The two made an appointment to go together and went to Shuofang to visit Xiang Ao together. Sima Hui looked at the departing two people and looked at Pang Degong with emotion: "Shang Chang thinks that if these three people get together in Shuofang, it will bring some changes to the world?" ”

"Perhaps, who can tell the posterity?" Pang Degong smiled slightly and turned into the house, Sima Hui saw this, and he was also silent with a smile.

Xiang Ao was extremely busy during this time, and every day he either studied the reconstruction work of Jilusai with Jiang Yan, or did not listen to the problem of urging seeds. Although Shuofang County has the vast fertile soil of Woye County, the rice and rice cultivated in the Central Plains are not too suitable for cultivation in the Hetao.

Xiang Ao also knew that it would be extremely difficult to make Shuofang rich if he cultivated as usual, so he took a few people everywhere to find out if there were local specialty crops suitable for planting. In the heyday of Shuofang County, wheat was planted the most, and the most seeds found this time were also wheat.

Due to years of foreign invasion, the Hetao Plain has been deserted a lot, although the former Xiang Ao arranged for people to recover a lot, but to greatly increase the output value of crops, such a large amount of land is definitely not enough. However, what bothers Xiang Ao even more is that there are too few people who farm.

The wheat seeds were ready to be planted in the middle of the month, and Xiang Ao's focus now was on how to expand the population under Shuo Fang's rule. For this reason, Xiang Ao even issued a ruthless decree to accept refugees after consulting with the county guards of the surrounding counties, and ordered it to be transmitted to the entire prefecture.

Within a few years, not only did the noble tribes in various regions annex land seriously, resulting in many people having no land to cultivate, but also the frequent occurrence of extremely serious natural disasters in various parts of the Han Dynasty led to a rapid increase in the number of refugees in the Han states. Xiang Ao's Shuofang County has a very thin foundation, and it is extremely risky to accept refugees on such a large scale, and if there are too many refugees who come to take refuge, Shuofang County will definitely not be able to bear it. Xiang Ao only dared to accept it in the territory of Bingzhou, after all, the total population of Bingzhou is only so little, how many refugees can come?

Compared with the scene of the entire Han Dynasty seemingly being punished by the sky, Xiang Ao has had excellent luck in the past few days, not only discovering many special products in the Hetao Plain, but also with the help of many experienced farmers gathered by Xiang Ao, the method of producing special products. For example, corn and sorghum used to be only used as small local specialties, and Xiang Ao also led everyone to manage to increase the yield by nearly five times, although it is not as good as the yield of wheat, but corn and sorghum are also rare in many areas of Dahan (don't ask how to improve it, I don't understand, the plot needs it).

Originally, Xiang Ao also wanted to increase the yield of many vegetables, but the climate in the Hetao area was too dry, and many farmers could not do it.

In a blink of an eye, Xiang Ao's population plan and farming plan have achieved remarkable results. Although the population of the entire state is not large, and the counties and counties close to the Sili area are not poor places, they cannot stop the unlimited oppression of the people by the Shi clan, and they cannot prevent Xiang Ao from making favorable arrangements for the people. There are almost no scholars in Shuofang County, and a few small scholars can't occupy much land, so Xiang Ao buys it at a high price, and Xiang Ao doesn't dare to include the new cultivated land in the county government for the time being, so Xiang Ao has to hold it in his own hands at this time, for fear that many of his arrangements will be taken advantage of by villains.