The army traveled all the way, and it seemed that it was about to arrive in Youzhou, so Lu Peng sent a subordinate who could speak well to report the news to Youzhou first, don't get a large army to arrive, but it was turned away, it would be bad.

Youzhou Taishou Mansion, seeing that the tenth year of the first month of the month of Lunar New Year was closed, Taishou Mansion began to clean inside and outside in accordance with the rules, preparing for the New Year, and the Taishou Mansion was full of festive joy inside and outside.

The New Year is the most pleasing for the slaves and officials, the slaves can get a generous amount of money from the master, and they can also get a new set of clothes for the master to put some decency, and the officials can also get their own money, plus the reward of the official, and let the family get a decent food and clothing according to the usual practice, and then wait for everyone to take half a month's vacation, a rare good rest.

Just when everyone was looking forward to it, in the small courtyard in the depths of the Taishou Mansion, the doors and windows of the study were closed, blocking the unique cold wind of the north, and the charcoal fire in the study was raging, so that the room was filled with a strong smell of charcoal fire.

It's not that Liu Yan doesn't want to give everyone the same reward as in previous years, so he has swept everyone's face, but the situation is really bad, which makes him a little embarrassed, and now he is thinking of a way here.

Zou Jing sighed that it was the military salary, the army was in arrears for almost a year, and this is the end of the year, and if some is not issued to appease the army's heart, it will not be good to get those Qiu Ba mutinies and make trouble.

But these two people's miserable money is helpless.

In the Battle of Youzhou last year, with the help of Liu Guanzhang and Lu Peng, the Yellow Turban thieves in Youzhou were finally wiped out. But the big ones are gone, but the small ones are still looting in various places, especially the scattered yellow turban thieves have more signs of slowly gathering again, and another chaos has already appeared.

Not only that, but the most worrying thing is that the Yellow Turban Rebellion completely broke the peace of the original Han Dynasty for hundreds of years, plundering and coercing all the way, causing the people to be displaced and the land barren, and the gentry clans around the country seized this rare opportunity, but also wantonly annexed the land and collected the population, which made the taxes in Youzhou all over the country dry up, and there were many counties not only could not pay taxes to the state government, but also reached out to the state government to ask for it, this out and in, the financial deficit can be described as huge.

"The harassment of the Wuhuan people has become more frequent, and their rangers have appeared in Youbeiping and Yuyang, robbing countless people with money and grain, and burning countless villages and towns. Zou Jing scratched his head and said painfully.

Liu Yan also lowered his head and said: "The border troubles have their own arrangements from the imperial court, Gongsun Zan with three thousand tiger cavalry, has already attacked the rebellion of Bian Zhang Han Sui, this is a few years, Bian Zhang Han Sui is still not peaceful, Zhang Chun colluded with Wuhuan again, and eroded the prefectures and counties of western Liaoning, this is really an eventful autumn." ”

When it comes to Gongsun Zhan, Zou Jing is more embarrassed, because Gongsun Zhan is his brother-in-law, although he has been out for many years, he has also made many miraculous achievements, and he was promoted to the county order of Zhuo County, the capital of Wei, and thought that the military salary was in place, but he did not solve the real crisis, and now he is still soliciting everywhere, and he doesn't know when he will have a result.

At this time, Liu Yan raised his head and said solemnly: "But the border trouble is still in the north, and the place where our Youzhou population is taxed is rampant with bandits, extremely erosive, and too observant of the government order has not gone out of the city gate. ”

Bandits are rampant in various localities and poison localities, and this is not only a matter of political performance, but also a matter of financial endowment, which is quite serious; if this development continues, not to mention the release of the annual rewards of officials for the Chinese New Year this year, even the salaries of officials at all levels next year will become a big problem, and if the officials have no money, the government will be paralyzed, and it will be quite a crisis.

As soon as he said this, Zou Jing complained bitterly: "The dynasty has been peaceful for many years, and the armament has long been wasted, especially the transfer of Gongsun Zhan, with him there are our most valuable cavalry, and the rest are some good and bad, old, weak, sick and disabled infantry, the equipment is very poor, and the supply of food and salary is becoming more and more difficult. ”

"Ben Taishou also knows the difficulties of the general, but if the place is not clean, the finance and taxes will be exhausted, such a vicious circle, how will it be in the future?"

Liu Yan means that the key is to pacify the Kou first, and only by calming down the localities and restoring population production can we have the financial resources to support more troops.

Zou Jing straightened up and said: "If you want to go out to suppress bandits, you must first recruit new soldiers, refine weapons, and give money and food, otherwise you will only bring humiliation on yourself when you go to war." ”

Zou Jing means that he will first take out money and food to recruit and train troops, and then go out to suppress bandits, so that the order of the two people is full of twists, which is like having eggs or chickens first.

So the two of them didn't give in, and the conversation was deadlocked here.

This kind of conversation is not once or twice, and such a stalemate is not once or twice, if it weren't for the fact that the two people have worked together for many years and have a deep relationship, they would have broken up unhappily and eventually turned against each other.

Just when the two of them were in an embarrassing confrontation over this matter, Xiao Si quietly reported: "Master Qiqi, the gate army of the city gate brought a person over and asked to see him outside the Taishou Mansion. ”

Liu Yan, who was worried at the time, waved his hand impatiently: "It's a cat and a dog who wants to see me, is that busy with me all day?" No, no, no. ”

So the little guy bowed and bowed and withdrew.

As a result, as soon as this little guy left, there was a hearty laugh outside the study: "Lord Taishou, if this person is gone, don't regret it." ”

Listening to the voice, it was his cronies who didn't take care of the loss, so Liu Yan said outside: "It's Mr. Guan who is here, hurry in and talk." ”

Guan Yin came in with a dozen cotton curtains, but he smelled a serious smell of charcoal fire in the house, and couldn't help frowning, and then pinned a small crack in the curtain to let the strong smell of charcoal fire in the room dissipate a little, and then Shi Shiran came over and gave Liu Yan and Zou Jing a salute.

Waiting for Guan Yi to sit down, Liu Yan asked with a smile: "Mr. just said that if I don't see anyone outside, I will regret it, but what advice do you have?" ”

Guan Yu said excitedly: "The subordinate just arrived in front of the Taishou Gate, but he saw this person who asked to see, two adults, do you know what news this person has brought to everyone?" ”

Liu Yan and Zou Jing looked dazed and shook their heads.

This Guan Guan slapped his thigh: "So that the two adults know that this person is Lu Peng's messenger, and he rushed to the state capital to report to the two adults in place of Lu Peng, and Lu Peng came back with four thousand men." ”

This news was like the cool air squeezed in through the crack in the door, which made the two people who were drowsy immediately refreshed.