"Prime Minister, is it too much to ask for a place of eight cities like this?" The monks of Qiuci retreated in despair, they needed to get in touch with the royal family of Qiuci as soon as possible to discuss the matter, Liu Wei finally couldn't help but ask: "With the wealth of my Han Dynasty, there are not many millions of stones, grain and grass, and thousands of cattle and sheep, right?" ”

Ye Zhao began to pay equal attention to agriculture and animal husbandry in recent years, after the Xianbei and Xiongnu exterminated the clan, they have begun to plan pastures, and have studied a set of reasonable pasture plans, and even in Guanzhong, there are plans for agriculture and animal husbandry to complement each other, Shuzhong has five million stones of grain tax every year, part of which is stored as military funds and emergency grain and grass, and part of it is operated by the caravan controlled by the imperial court, in exchange for a large amount of resources, before Yang Xu said that a state tax, that refers to Guanzhong, after all, the population is not as good as Shuzhong, although Liu Wei does not know the specific number, But he also knows that millions of stone grains and grass are really not a problem for Ye Zhao today.

"Your Majesty." Ye Zhao bowed to Liu Wei and said, "Do you know how many people there are in the country of Qiuzi?" ”

"This~" Liu Bian, he really didn't know.

"Sixteen cities, the five thousand people mentioned by the minister just now are the lowest number of people, the total population of Qiuci, when it is about 15 to 160,000, if the disaster falls today, it may be less, one million grains and grass, plus 1,000 cattle and sheep each, he Qiuci soldiers and civilians may not be able to eat it for three years." Ye Zhao sneered: "The grain and grass of my Han Dynasty are planted by the people with hard work, and they are handed over to the imperial court as taxes, and my imperial court uses these taxes to raise soldiers and develop new equipment. ”

"As a vassal country of our dynasty, Qiuci is under the shadow of my Han, but he has not contributed to my Han, dare to ask Your Majesty, what do we owe him Qiuci? Do you want to use the wealth that should be used on the people, on the soldiers who threw their heads and shed their blood for my Han, and on his Qiuzi people? Ye Zhao looked at Liu Wei and said loudly: "Since you have something to ask for, you should take out something of equivalent value to mortgage, Your Majesty can ask this courtier, is the request of the ministers worthy of this million grains and grass?" ”

Liu Wei really didn't understand, so he could only look at Yang Xu.

Yang Xu is a person from Taishan County, his ancestor was the captain of Sili when Emperor An, and his father also worshiped too often, to Yang Xu's generation, regardless of academic reputation, even if it is not as good as Cai Yong, Lu Zhi, Zheng Xuan, etc., it is not much the same, after Liu Wei ascended the throne, Yang Xu moved his family westward and became the leader of the current Guan sergeant class, of course, today's scholars are only high status, in fact, under Ye Zhao's rule, the scholars in the four states of the land, whether it is the right to speak or land or wealth, are not much stronger than ordinary wealthy families.

However, Yang Xu is famous, and he is indeed capable, after entering the court, he was recommended by Ye Zhao as a prince, with a very high official position, but no real power, but in the hearts of Sergeant Guan, he is a banner and a loyal supporter of Liu Bian, but at this moment, seeing Liu Bian's gaze, he can only smile bitterly and nod.

In this matter, he couldn't veto Ye Zhao's words, although this would boost Ye Zhao's prestige even more, but Liu Wei was obviously biased towards the Qiuci people this time, not to mention Ye Zhao's henchmen, military generals, and scholars, there were also many who would be dissatisfied, which was not a good thing, and the Qiuzi people obviously regarded the Han as a wronged leader, first used Buddhism to bewitch Liu Wei, and after being beaten back to his original form by Ye Zhao, he opened his mouth again, and was opposed by Ye Zhao, and he was only self-defeating, Liu Wei really didn't need to argue with Ye Zhao about anything in this matter.

When Liu Wei heard this, he could only sigh, and this matter was over.

……

"Lord, our army is going to use troops against Guanzhong now, if we really transfer millions of grain and grass to the Qiuzi people, there will be a burden on the military rations!" After the dispersal of the dynasty, Qiu Chi caught up with Ye Zhao and bowed down.

Now the land of Sizhou in Ye Zhao's industry, agriculture, and commerce combined with each other, and under the operation of promotion, a virtuous circle has been formed, if it is usual, they can also take out millions of grain and grass, and it will not affect the operation of the imperial court, but now, the war with Cao Cao is imminent, at this time, and then transfer out a million stones of grain and grass plus thousands of cattle and sheep, it will be able to solve the shortage of logistics without affecting the people's livelihood in the case of war, and now the economy is in a state of vigorous development, once there is a problem with logistics, there will be a chain reaction, the economy is sluggish or even beginning to regress, this is not a trivial matter.

"Isn't it that you haven't given it yet?" Ye Zhao sneered: "Even if they agree, this million grain and grass will only be sent in batches, and a group of bald donkeys came here to find a sense of superiority, I really don't know who gave them the courage." ”

Xi Zhicai, Li Ru, and Guo Jia just smiled and said nothing, when Ye Zhao promised the Qiuci people, they probably guessed Ye Zhao's thoughts, if it weren't for the fact that it was not peaceful today, and the war was imminent, Ye Zhao's main energy was on the Central Plains, with Ye Zhao's style, it would not be so simple to let go of the Qiuci people, knocking on the bone and sucking the marrow was light, even now, Ye Zhao used the method of cutting meat with a blunt knife, and when he freed up his hands here, I am afraid that it would be the time when the Qiuci royal family and those monks were unlucky.

Therefore, the three of them didn't say anything, but Qiu Chi couldn't see this, as a courtier, he came to admonish, and he was also loyal, Ye Zhao naturally would not force the other party's IQ, Qiu Chi was a specialized talent, especially in recent years, Ye Zhao has accumulated more and more talents, Qiu Chi has gradually focused on the operation of business, in this regard, no one in the entire court can reassure Ye Zhao more than Qiu Chi, it is already very good to be able to do this step.

In fact, Ye Zhao has a lot of specialized talents like Qiu Chi under him, Ma Jun among the craftsmen, Huang Shao who is proficient in farming, and even now in the academy, they have begun to pay attention to the education of specialized talents, after all, geniuses like Guo Jia, Xi Zhicai, and Fa Zheng are all in the minority, and it is good to have so many in an era.

Qiu Chi suddenly, after getting his own answer, immediately retired to Ye Zhao, now that the Silk Road has been stabilized, Ye Zhao's main energy is in the Central Plains, but Qiu Chi's current main energy is invested in the Western Regions, so he generally does not participate in military discussions.

"Calculate the time, it is time for Zheng'er to arrive in Hongnong now." Ye Zhao took everyone back to Xiangfu and said, "What is the situation in Luoyang now?" ”

"Since Cao Cao moved the capital to Xuchang, over the years, Luoyang originally recovered some of the vitality, was also taken away by Cao Cao, according to rough statistics, now Luoyang, plus Yangliang, Yanshi, Gongxian, Gucheng and other places, the population is only a few thousand, the prince went to Luoyang this time, I am afraid that even the recruitment of craftsmen is a little difficult, only with the accompanying hundreds of craftsmen, I am afraid that it is not enough to complete the task of rebuilding Luoyang, unless the soldiers of the three armies are used to rebuild Luoyang." Li Ru looked at Ye Zhao and hesitated for a moment and said, "Lord, do you want to send some farmers from Hongnong and Hanoi to come over?" ”

"No, the autumn harvest is imminent, and farming is busy everywhere, and collecting too many farmers at this time will affect this year's taxes." Ye Zhao shook his head and refused directly: "It depends on his ability, this is the first battle of Zheng'er, the more difficulties there are, the greater the benefits for him in the future." ”

When several strategists heard this, they couldn't help but look at each other and smile bitterly, although Ye Zhao's teaching method for Ye Zheng was effective, it was too cold-blooded, how could it be like father and son?

However, since Ye Zhao has decided so, they can't persuade them anymore, and their own sons are not in a hurry, what are they worried about.

"I want to know, what has Cao Cao been doing lately?" Ye Zhao looked at everyone and diverted the topic.

"Cao Cao recently settled in Jizhou, I heard that the girl of the Cui family in Qinghe married Cao Cao's eldest son Cao Ang, it should be after suppressing the family, and at this moment began to win over the family, after all, the war is imminent, Cao Cao is different from our army, if the family rebels at this time, Cao Cao will be difficult to do." Li Ru said with a smile.

"No one will be so stupid, Cao Cao can still keep most of the family property, if we help us win Cao Cao, the benefits are not comparable to the losses." Ye Zhao shook his head and said: "This is an illusion, Cao Cao is doing this now, just hoping that we will think so, of course, there is also a certain intention to appease the family, but if I am Cao Cao, I will definitely take this opportunity to further weaken the family." ”

In Cao Cao's political team, the family accounts for a large proportion, such as Xun Yu, Zhong Xuan, and Chen Qun, so under the pressure of Ye Zhao, Cao Cao and the family are destined to be like grasshoppers tied to a rope, at least before Cao Cao did not defeat Ye Zhao, the family did not dare to easily deviate from Cao Cao, after all, if Ye Zhao won this time, it would be a real disaster for the family, because with the stability of the four states, Ye Zhao has completely owned the private land, which is also the reason why those families who defected to Liu Wei resolutely stood by Liu Bian's side and supported Liu Bian, Ye Zhao's move is tantamount to breaking the family's previous survival mode.

Therefore, on the issue of treating Ye Zhao, even if the family is dissatisfied with Cao Cao's various suppressions in the past two years, they will firmly stand behind Cao Cao in this matter and spare no effort to support Cao Cao in this battle.

If Cao Cao didn't take this opportunity to carry out another wave of weakening, it wouldn't be Cao Cao.

"The minister suggested that the people of our army in the Central Plains pay close attention to the movements of Cao Cao's troops and horses, since it is difficult to penetrate into the high-level side, then start from the grassroots level, no matter what he wants to do, if he wants to fight with our army, the troops will definitely be mobilized, and in this regard, people cannot be deceived." Guo Jia saluted Ye Zhao.

Ye Zhao heard this, nodded silently, although this method is a bit stupid, the manpower and material resources used are huge, but the information obtained is also the most real, Ye Zhao has sent people more than once over the years to infiltrate Cao Cao's high-level side, but with little success, Cao Cao's mansion, even if it is a family member, must find out the eighteenth generation of ancestors, and also be able to find out where the other party has been over the years, but if there is one thing that is not clear, it will never be hired, the people sent by Ye Zhao are difficult to get in at all, and not only Cao Cao, Cao Cao's important generals, Since Guo Jia's incident, the advisers will also carry out a similar method.

Now that the two sides are in the tentative stage, it is very important for the grasp of intelligence, Ye Zhao believes that not only him, but Cao Cao will also use various methods to obtain the information on Ye Zhao's side, and now it depends on whose intelligence is more accurate.