When it comes to money and food, Deng Wenhao also has a headache, don't look at the 600,000 army in his hands now, but the daily consumption is also astronomical, in the past, he could also build new cities to feed the war, but now Chu has all been taken down, there is no new source of income, so they can only sit and eat, for which several of their main generals are also worried every day.

"Now, except for a few cities such as Shouchun, Jiangdu and Lin'an, which have resumed production, other places are still in shambles. The local forces that surrendered to us, although they did not have military power, did not pay the taxes they collected, and they said that this was the way it was stipulated before. Deng Wenhao was also angry when he talked about these local forces.

Deng Yuanjue sighed: "This is indeed the pit that Wu Shiqi buried before, his decentralization of local policy back then, although it brought some trouble to me and Tian Wuji and Jiang Huanchu in the short term, but the sequelae are also obvious, the local forces are crazy to expand the army in order to enhance their own strength, resulting in a large amount of land no one cultivates, handicraftsmen have no intention of producing, and the economy is in a depression." ”

"Then father, why do you still reuse Wu Shiqi? Such a person might as well be killed with a knife. Deng Wenhao was very puzzled by his father's approach.

Deng Yuanjue said earnestly: "In terms of fighting, you are the most courageous of the three brothers, but when it comes to political means, you are far inferior to your eldest brother Wenying." In addition to the Xiang family and the Gao family, the most powerful family in Chu is the Wu family. The reputation of the Gao family is already stinky, so there is no need to worry. But the Xiang family is still on the opposite side of us, if we kill Wu Shiqi again, then won't everyone in the remaining families be in danger, and how will we govern them then? Besides, Wu Shiqi is also a great talent, the dignified prime minister of Chu State, how can I be willing to kill him easily. ”

"What the father teaches, the child knows is wrong." Deng Wenhao lowered his head.

"But the cage is the cage, and Wu Shiqi has to fill the pit he dug himself. The power given to the localities below must be regained to the central government, and the taxes that should be paid every year cannot be less, and you will tell Wu Shiqi later, no matter what method he uses, he must get this matter done for me. Deng Yuanjue's eyes showed a cold light.

"General, the recovery of taxes is also a matter of the future, and our money and food are only enough to support half a year, why don't I lead a force to Qin State to borrow some money to solve the urgent need at the moment?" Zhou Yunjing was also very worried about the food problem, and what he said was to borrow it, of course, to rob it.

"No, we can't use troops easily for the time being, it's okay to win, once we lose or fall into a stalemate, our consumption will be even greater." Deng Yuanjue rejected Zhou Yunjing's opinion, and said to Deng Wenhao: "Wenhao, if you write to Your Majesty and ask him to give him some material support, he will still give us some more." In addition, you can send people to Qin and Yan to see if they can help us, and if not, go to the local rich merchants and try to buy some grain from them first. ”

Deng Yuanjue thought for a while and then looked worried: "With my understanding of Your Majesty and Yan Chixing, after they give us support, they will definitely backhand us to blockade the economy, and then we will be in trouble." ”

Deng Wenhao said suddenly: "I have a way I don't know if it is feasible or not, I heard that after Gao Yi returned to Jianye, His Majesty named him the Great Si Nong, and in the future, he will be in charge of the finances of the Great Song Dynasty with Li Situ." This Li Situ must be dissatisfied in his heart, why don't we ask him for help? ”

Although Zhou Yunjing is from Chu, he also has a certain understanding of the five great families of the Great Song Dynasty: "Will he help?" I've heard that your family doesn't get along well. The Deng family is also one of the five great families, so Zhou Yunjing's words are relatively euphemistic.

Deng Yuanjue thought it could: "Yes, this idea is feasible." General Zhou, don't you know, don't look at our five great families usually fighting separately, but as long as it involves the struggle between the family and the imperial power, we will definitely unite together. His Majesty has forgotten how he got the throne, if it wasn't for the cooperation of our five great families, how could he have taken the throne from the crown prince Xiao Daoyuan. ”

Deng Wenhao saw that his father recognized him, and said with great joy: "It just so happens that the third brother is in Jianye now, I will write a letter to him and ask him to secretly go to see Li Situ, Li Situ has been in charge of the Great Song Dynasty finance for so many years, if he is willing to help us, there will definitely be a way to solve the grain and grass problem for us." ”

Deng Yuanjue said with a straight face: "Even if he is willing to help, this is only a temporary solution to the urgent need." If you want to survive in this troubled world for a long time, you can only rely on yourself. In the next period of time, the fighting will not be as frequent as before, and we must seize the time to resume production in Chudi as soon as possible. ”

The war in the two directions of Xiakou and Xuchang continued, but Tian Wuji and Jiang Huan Chu were obviously running out of power, the state of Chu perished, and the hegemony of the state of Qi and the state of Song in Chu this time ended in the defeat of the state of Qi. Although the Qi State also occupied a lot of cities, it still benefited too little compared to the pay.

Tian Wuji wrote to Jiang Wushuang that he did not plan to withdraw for the time being, and the reason was very simple, he knew that the contradiction between Xiao Daocheng and Deng Yuanjue would definitely be further intensified, as long as he continued to drag Deng Yuanjue on these two battlefields, he would have the opportunity to drag him down, and then he would be able to take the entire Chu State in one fell swoop.

Qi Guo used this trick to deal with Yan Guo back then, so Jiang Wushuang also agreed to Tian Wuji's suggestion. If you want to fight for national strength, not to mention just a ruined Chu State, even the other four countries on the mainland combined are not as good as Qi State.

But everyone underestimated Deng Yuanjue, who survived the most difficult year with the secret help of Li Yuanqing and other three major families.

A year later, under the operation of Wu Shiqi, the local tax revenue returned to Deng Yuanjue's hands. As the prime minister of the former Chu, Wu Shiqi is indeed a rare talent, in order to save the lives of himself and his people, this year can be regarded as painstaking, with his efforts, most of the cities in Chu have resumed production, and the country's financial revenue has reached the pre-war level of fifty percent.

Of course, Deng Yuanjue was very satisfied with such an achievement, and after determining whether Wu Shiqi was a threat to him, he delegated all the government affairs of Chudi to Wu Shiqi, and he was only responsible for the military.

Wu Shiqi is also grateful, he used to be by Xiong Huan's side, although he was the prime minister, but because of the family, Xiang Tong and Gao Yi had to suppress him steadily, plus Xiong Huan himself was also very strong, there was not much room for him to display his talents.

And now Deng Yuanjue gave him, in addition to the title of prime minister, his actual power has far exceeded that of the beginning. Deng Yuanjue is also very good at serving, as long as the people do not make trouble, there is no turmoil in the place, and the army's food and salary can be paid in time, he will not interfere in his work.

When Deng Yuanjue was in full swing to restore the economy, Tianzhu Peak was not idle, and the three of Shi Luosheng, together with Zu Qingzhi, were all in retreat to cultivate the vast stars. Ling Zhen was responsible for training 30,000 recruits, and Shi Yu and Wang Lun were responsible for the daily work on Tianzhu Peak and the preparations before the incident.

Yang Yi and the disciples of the Hidden Star Sect, who were far overseas, were completely shocked when they inspected the Ryukyu Islands, Naha was far more prosperous than any city they had seen before, and they were dazzled by all kinds of goods, they had never thought that there was such a big world outside the continent.

When Hua Haoxuan asked them if they would like to join the Tianluo Sect at the end of the inspection, everyone agreed without surprise. There are also many people who are willing to be lobbyists to persuade those Hidden Star Cultists who are still in exile in the Central Plains to join in.

It is not surprising that Shi Luosheng is a result of this, and the personnel placement has long been prepared, and the new personnel are placed in the three sects of the sun, the moon, and the stars. The people of Ilzong went to Changheungdo Island and were in charge of the trade of Qi, Yan, Busan, Luzon and other places. The men of Wolmune remained in Naha and were in charge of trade in Southeast Asia such as Ryukyu, Wakoku, and Siam, as well as some areas of the Indian Ocean.

In the end, the people of the Star Sect were brought back to Tianzhu Peak by Yang Yi, and they were responsible for the development of the Tianluo Sect in the Central Plains.

"Sect Master Yang, you came back at the right time, our army is about to set off for Jiangzhou, and we just need you to carry out a mission." Shi Luosheng was overjoyed when he saw Yang Yi come back.

"Don't say it yet, let me guess." As soon as Yang Yi joined the Tianluo Sect, he served as the sect leader of the Hidden Star Sect, and he also wanted to show his ability in front of everyone.

"Jiangzhou is a mountain city, we only have 30,000 troops, if we attack strongly, the loss must be not small, the sect leader wants me to take the masters of the Star Sect to sneak in first, and control the Taishou and the city defense army commanders in Jiangzhou." In this way, when General Ling attacked the city, the defenders became headless flies with no one to command. Yang Yi thought for a while.

Shi Luosheng laughed: "That's right, your metaphor is very vivid, that's what I mean." Do you want to go? If you don't go, Zixuan will rush to go. ”

Yang Yi glanced at Liu Zixuan and said with a smile: "Deputy Sect Leader Liu, don't fight with me, a newcomer, our Hidden Star Sect has just been established, how can we gain a foothold in the sect after we have no military merits." ”

Liu Zixuan was a little embarrassed when he said this: "Sect Master Yang said with a smile, you are willing to go in person, brother, I can't ask for it, then I wish you a victory." ”

Yang Yi arched his hand, and before he could sit down when he returned to Tianzhu Peak, he led the people of the sect away.

"The morale of the people of the Hidden Star Sect is high, and it seems that they will be able to make meritorious contributions here." Wang Lun walked to Shi Luosheng's side with a smile.

Shi Yu also smiled and agreed: "That's natural, they have just joined the religion, and they all want to compete for meritorious service." ”

Ling Zhen looked at Yang Yi's back and said to Shi Luosheng: "Give them three days, it should be about the same, after three days, I will set off for Jiangzhou with the army." ”

Shi Luosheng nodded: "This is the first battle in the name of our Tianluo Sect, Zixuan and Wan'er and I will go out with the army, and Mr. Wang will also go together." Tianzhu Peak was entrusted to Master and Mr. Shi. ”

Zu Qingzhi and the others nodded in agreement.