Fang Xuanling waited all night, and finally met Yang Chong at breakfast, Fang Xuanling was such a smart person, he knew that Jiang Fei's arrival must be strange, but he didn't ask, he asked about the drought in the Central Plains. Yang Chongneng judged this year's drought last autumn, this kind of sky-watching technique can be described as miraculous, Fang Xuanling wants to know when the drought will end; Liang Shuo and Guan Jin, who were eating at the table together, were dumbfounded when they heard this, and they almost didn't know what to eat.

Yang Chong smiled embarrassedly: "Xuan Ling, celestial phenomena can only be seen whether there is or not, if you can predict when it will start and when it will end, it will be a fortune-telling stick." However, judging from the Di newspaper, we can't have illusions that the conquest of Goguryeo requisitioned millions of troops and people, and how many people can be left in the Central Plains to cultivate the fields; It is not yet autumn and there are already groups of thieves in various places, and once the pitiful harvest is collected by the government, more people will become homeless and robbers. ”

In the year of famine, the rent should be reduced and exempted from forced labor, but when the national war machine is activated, when the army and materials are transferred from Jiangnan and Guanzhong to Zhuo County, it will only increase the forced labor for the people in Henan and Hebei, and there is no half reduction or reduction. Unless Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty announced the suspension of preparations for the Eastern Crusade, this situation would occur, and according to Fang Xuanling's understanding of the imperial court, this was simply impossible.

At present, the disaster has just begun, and many families still have surplus food or can borrow food, even if there are homeless thieves, it will not look so terrifying, and the officials from the top to the bottom can whitewash the peace layer by layer and conceal it. After one winter, the situation of thieves became serious, but by that time, the conquest of Goguryeo was already on the line and had to be sent; Someone has to come forward to take responsibility for the collection of troops, and Emperor Yang of Sui and those important ministers in the center do not seem to be people who sacrifice their lives for the world.

Yang Chong couldn't bear it in his heart, Fang Xuanling was really a person who was worried about the country and the people, and comforted: "You and I are on the one side, and it is also considered to be fulfilling our duties to protect the people under our rule." ”

Fang Xuanling said bitterly: "My father wrote from Yingchuan County, estimating that this year's harvest is only 23/10 of previous years, and the rent of tenant farmers has reached 30%, plus the government's agricultural tax, what do the people rely on to live." The situation in Hebei is said to be even worse, at most 12/10 of previous years, and the people are suffering. ”

Yang Chong didn't know how to persuade for a while, and Liang Shuo interjected: "This kind of disaster is actually not terrible, it depends on whether the government and the scholars open a warehouse to release grain." The imperial court built Xingluocang, Huiluocang, Liyangcang, Guangtongcang, Heyangcang, Changping, except for Guangtong Cang, Changping, the other four cantons are in the north and south of the Yellow River; The small warehouses of the counties and the granaries of the scholars were only a lot more than these six warehouses, and in terms of numbers, the relief was more than enough. ”

The problem is that there will definitely be no relief, once the government opens a warehouse for relief, it will hold the local county accountable for the county order, as long as the city is not attacked by the displaced people, one by one must be deaf and dumb; For the Shi clan, the famine year is a good opportunity to annex land and buy the population, maybe ten catties of rice can buy a yellow flower girl, and the relief is not unpleasant to find yourself. Fang Xuanling was speechless, and after eating breakfast with his head down, he got up to say goodbye, there were still a lot of things going on in Gaochang City.

As soon as Fang Xuanling walked out of the Yang Mansion, he was greeted by a fast horse galloping, and the person on the horse turned over and dismounted when he saw Fang Xuanling, his face was more gray than Fang Xuanling, Fang Xuanling fixed his eyes and saw that it was Liu Weiming, the ordnance supervisor. Fang Xuanling asked in surprise: "Didn't you go to the Kesu Valley Iron Works and discuss with Shi Wanbao about next month's plan?" ”

Liu Weiming said angrily: "Lord Fang, Shi Wanbao entered the city in the morning and took his subordinates to the Turpan Commercial Bank to find a fork, but the lower officials didn't stop him. ”

Fang Xuanling almost wanted to scold, was this something that didn't stop? If the Turpan Commercial Bank has a loss, Yang Chong and Jiang Duo will definitely not give up; If Shi Wanbao suffers a loss, even if he completely tears his face with Li Yuan, Li Yuan is now a guard lieutenant, a close minister of the Son of Heaven, and he has the opportunity to slander. Fang Xuanling still hopes that Yang Chong can get along with the ministers of the DPRK and China, and there is no need for swords and swords every day. Fang Xuanling asked the doorman of the Yang Mansion to report the news inside, and he hurriedly got on the horse and galloped towards the Turpan Commercial House with the guards.

Not long after Du Yan arrived in Hunicheng, the Shanjia stopped the Fenghuanggou Iron Mine, saying that there was a problem in the mining area, Liu Weiming and Shi Wanbao looked for Shanlian several times, but Shanlian didn't eat hard and soft, but he didn't agree to start work; Without the iron ore in Fenghuanggou, the Kesugu Iron Works could not start work at all, and Liu Weiming asked the Bijiashan Iron Mine to coordinate, and the answer was that the supply to the Turpan Iron Works was not enough. Shi Wanbao was angry today, and was instigated by the eldest grandson Wunai, so he rushed to the Turpan Commercial Bank.

When Yang Chong heard the news, he stopped Jiang Duo and asked Kou Jiuhui and Miao Yun to take someone to deal with it, Liang Shuo and Guan Jin said hello and came over with them. When everyone arrived at the door of the Turpan Commercial Bank, at least thousands of people were around, including Fang Xuanling, eldest grandson Wunai, Tuoba Anhu and others; Kou Jiuhui asked, only to know that after Fang Xuanling and Tuoba Anhu came, they finally calmed down the scene of the scuffle, but Shi Wanbao was like a crazy demon, and there was another bastard boy in the trading house, no one could separate him, and he didn't dare to hurt the two, so he could only let the two go head-on. As soon as Kou Jiuhui saw that it was Luo Shixin, he didn't rush forward.

In the field, Shi Wanbao is tall and broad-waisted, with a majestic appearance, and a thick-backed long machete in his hand, sometimes like a whirlwind that sweeps everything, sometimes like the water of the Yellow River rolling down, the knife is unpredictable, always shrouded around Luo Shixin, and seems to be only waiting for the fatal blow to break the enemy; Luo Shixin's pure iron spear is a clear move, a move to fight for life, each shot is destroying the front and breaking through the formation, stabbing left and right, and exerting the power of the iron gun to the extreme.

Tuoba Anhu and the others all measured in their hearts how they would face these two people if they met; Kou Jiuhui suddenly heard someone behind the eldest grandson Wunai talking: "Childe, if you fight, it must be Shi Wanbao's defeat, although his sword skills are exquisite, he wants to wait for the opponent to fight back when his strength is poor, but that bastard boy is born with divine power, and he won't be exhausted if he fights two lilies, if he wasn't only twelve or thirteen years old and inexperienced, Shi Wanbao would have been defeated a long time ago." ”

There is such a master by the side of the eldest grandson Wunai, Kou Jiuhui glanced sideways with a heart, and the person who spoke was a Hu man, dressed as a general, with a short figure, a face like iron, and his eyes were shining; Hu Ren actually felt that someone noticed him, and his eyes swept around, and Kou Jiuhui looked away in time and looked at the field.

Under the continuous attack of Luo Shixin's iron spear, he raised his personal state to the peak, and with a loud shout, the iron spear turned into a heavy black shadow, accurately hitting the back of Shi Wanbao's knife; Shi Wanbao was so shocked that his arms were weak, and the long knife could only be dragged backhanded, and he was forced to retreat step by step by Luo Shixin. barely supported more than a dozen moves, Shi Wanbao was powerless to fight back, so he could only fight hard with Luo Shixin; However, with six moves, Luo Shixin was invincible in one move, and Shi Wanbao was shocked to the extreme, and a mouthful of blood spurted out of his mouth.

Luo Shixin put away the gun in time and took five steps back; Almost at the same time, a big man from the crowd grabbed Shi Wanbao and shouted, "Uncle, how is it?" ”

Shi Wanbao looked at it and said happily: "Daqian, it's really you." ”

(End of chapter)