In the middle of the house, Xu Chu was meeting the two.

Li Tong and Chen Gong.

Both of them are from Pingchun County, and both are famous as rangers in Jiangxia and Runan. Chen Gong is old, about thirty years old, and Li Tong looks very young, when he has a weak crown, he looks like he is in his early twenties.

Xu Chu intended to treat the two of them as 'guests', and let the two sit in the first seat on the left and right, accompanied by Guo Jia, Xi Zhong, Xu Shu and other henchmen.

This kind of attitude made Li Tong and Chen Gong happy, but also a little nervous. Although they are all heroes of the famous county, when it comes to the 'performance' of the past, it is a little inadequate. When they arrived in Yingchuan from Pingchun County, they heard on the way that Xu Chu led troops to Luoyang, and at that time both of them felt that Xu Chu would definitely reuse themselves.

At this time and then, after Xu Chu went to Luoyang and returned to the county, his body was shining with gold, not only crowned as a marquis, but also related to the Yuan family, a famous family in the world. Not only that, because Xu Chu was brave in front of the warlord Dong Zhuo and protected the majesty of the heavenly family, the people of the time praised him as a 'heroic general', a rising tiger in Yuzhou.

It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a famous earthquake in Yuzhou.

Xu Chu saw some clues from the words and deeds of the two, and in order to shorten the distance between the two and his 'small group', he asked Guo Jia to say a few words.

I didn't see Guo Fengxiao for more than a month, Guo Fengxiao's demeanor was still the same, he showed his long sleeves, and said flutteringly: "Prince, everyone." Wenda and Bo Xu are both heroic and righteous men, and when they first saw each other, they should be revealed. ”

Everyone said yes, Xu Chu took the lead in raising the wine glass and toasted Li and Chen.

After a glass of wine, Guo Jia continued: "This time the prince went to Lujiang to take up his post, and Wenda and Boxu's subordinates can be described as a long-term drought and sweet rain. ”

Xi Zhong smiled, pointed at Gan Ning and other generals and said, "What does Feng Xiao mean by this? Could it be that the people who are tyrants can't eliminate violence and calm the people for the monarch and marquis? ”

"Zhicai Hugh wants to talk nonsense." Guo Jia stood up, "The Xingba tribe is of great use, but it is difficult to say what the rest of the monarchs are under their command. Lujiang County is mostly a land of lakes and seas, mountains and forests, during which there are many water thieves, and most of the princes are not familiar with water. Xingba came from Shu County, and once led the righteousness from the Xiaoao River, when it was no problem, but unfortunately there were not many people, and now there are hundreds of Jiangxia light heroes brought by Wenda and Boxu as a supplement, isn't it a long drought and a rain? ”

Xi Zhong smiled and said: "What Feng Xiao said is that he will punish himself for three cups and make amends to you." He got up and drank three glasses in a row, and then sat down in the banquet.

The two sang and harmonized, which really made Li Tong and Chen Gong's hearts feel less worried.

Li Tong got up, raised his glass to Xu Chu and said: "Tong left his hometown, but asked for a meritorious career, if the prince is sent, it is incumbent on him!" ”

Xu Chu said secretly: This Li Tong is not only majestic, but also quite good at talking, but the older Chen Boxu is silent and rarely spoken, and seems to be an introverted person.

...... Xun Chen waited in the courtyard for a while, and heard that Xu Chu was receiving important guests, and it was not easy to urge, so he sat in the courtyard with his brother Xun Yue, the Zhong brothers, Zhang Li Duyou and other county officials.

The courtyard was full of people, and looking around, Xun Chen only knew Chen Yi alone. The young man who was chatting and laughing beside Chen Yi and the doorman dressed as a martial artist peeked at the black-clad officials who had been sitting on Xun Chen's side for a long time from time to time.

Xun Yueshu was angry, so he was a little unhappy, and lowered his eyelids and stretched his face.

Finally saw Xu Chu's father-in-law Zhang Feng coming out of the backyard, Xun Chen greeted him and said with a smile: "Deran." ”

Zhang Feng was stunned, saw that it was Xun Chen, and before he could speak, he saw the county official sitting in the courtyard, and said angrily: "How can you let you wait here for a long time!" He turned around and pulled Chen Yi out of the crowd, and said with a calm face: "Ayi, where is your prince?" Didn't he know that Xun Gongcao and others were here? ”

Chen Yi patted his head and accused, "I was negligent, I was busy talking to others, and I didn't want to neglect the distinguished guests." With that, he hurried to the backyard.

The conversation with the county officials lasted for most of the day, and the main direction of discussion was how to deal with the grain and iron hoarded in Yanling County.

If you really want to study it carefully, these things naturally belong to the public, and at that time, the powerful and powerful people in the county were mobilized to open mines, and the displaced people were recruited to tuntian, in the name of the county, and the money and grain sent down were also from the county.

Xun Chen knew that it would be impossible for Xu Chu to leave all the money, iron and other things in Yingchuan, Xu Chu during his time in Yanling, in addition to collecting talents for his own use, he mainly did these two things, with his emphasis on grain and iron, how could he be willing to make wedding clothes for the successor Taishou?

Therefore, the plan proposed by Xun Chen is: take half of the grain and keep half of it; Tie Ze is armed with a thousand people, and the rest are left.

Xu Chu kept shaking his head at first, and in the accounts that Xu Shu reported to him, the counties north of Yingshui under the supervision of Zao You, the total grain obtained in the autumn harvest was about 3.5 million stones, most of which did not belong to the newly cultivated military tun and mintun, but were originally registered acres of harvest. The original tax system per acre was 30 taxes and 1, and the income from the collection was more than 90,000 stones; The newly reclaimed new fields were reclaimed by the displaced people and the Yellow Turbans who had surrendered, and the officials and people who had cattle were divided in half, and the officials who borrowed cattle were six and four people, and the income from the expropriation was about 350,000 stones.

The grain endowment of more than 400,000 stones almost shocked Xu Chu, who got the books at that time, and Xun Chen and others, who were in charge of Tuntian in the counties south of Yingshui. You must know that Yin Xiu patted his ass and left, leaving him with only 20,000 stone grain, and last year, the whole county got the grain from the government treasury for the whole year, and it was only less than 300,000 stone.

Now that the autumn harvest is alone, the counties north of Yingshui alone have more than 400,000 stone grains!

Xu Chu shook his head and refused, Du You and Zhang Li were old, and persuaded Xu Chu: "Junhou, more than 400,000 stones, even half of them have 200,000 stones!" How inadequate the gentleman's heart is! ”

Xu Chu sneered in his heart.

Du You and Zhang Li are old and loyal, calm, and public-minded, but they have too few eyes. Xu Chu wanted to settle in the field, because he wanted to smelt iron in the mines east of Yingchuan, and because he repeatedly sent troops, recruited troops, and trained troops, including recruiting talents, etc., the 20,000 stones left by Yin Xiu and the grain left by the Han family in Yanling County were not enough at all.

He asked Xu Shu to borrow some grain from Haoqiang in Yanling, and when he was in Tuntian, Zaoyi asked Xun's, Zhong and other famous clans in the county to come forward and borrow some grain from Haoqiang in the county for the use of the displaced people when they reclaimed the fields.

In the past, it is not okay to drag this part of the grain for the time being. It's a pity that Xu Chu is now worshiped as the Taishou of Lujiang, and he has to pay off the old debt. Imagine that before others arrived in Lujiang, the stigma of borrowing food and not paying it back had already arrived, so how could he win the trust of the Lujiang Shi clan and the head of Qian.

Xu Shu calculated that the grain to be repaid was about 30,000 stones, and the largest expenditure was on military spending and homelessness. And the expenditure on military spending will be indispensable in the future, the troops and righteous servants brought to Lujiang this time, not to mention thousands of people, the cost of military rations per month is about 10,000 stones, not including the new soldiers to be recruited in the future, as well as the monthly expenditure of the officials who are used after entering Lujiang County.

If you want to be at ease, you have to bring at least 300,000 stone grains to Lujiang.

Therefore, Xu Chu's attitude also changed from the gentle and amiable attitude towards the Yingchuan clan in the past, and said very strongly: "You don't need to say much, the matter of food has been decided, and it will not be too much to keep it." Other than that, it's hard to make more guarantees. ”

Du You and Zhang Li were speechless at each other, and looked at Xun Chen angrily.

Xun Chen didn't seem to see Du and Zhang's faces, and said to himself: "Then dare to ask the prince, does Tie also deal with it like this?" ”

Xu Chu nodded and said: "The same, at that time, Yuan Zhi will be in contact with the monarchs." ”

"The prince insists on this, and Chen has nothing to say." Xun Chen got up and said goodbye, "I hope that the prince will still put the court first." ”

Xu Chu smiled: "Youruo, you are outside me." When I was in Luoyang, I visited Xiao Xunjun and had the good fortune to meet Xun Gongda, another talented nobleman in the house. Wen Ruo and Gongda advised me to leave Beijing quickly, what do you think is the reason? ”

Xun Chen pondered for a moment and said, "Because you are afraid that Dong Zhuo will be unfavorable to the prince?" ”

"In addition, Wen Ruo and Gongda both hope that I can grow my momentum in Lujiang, echo with the princes in Beijing, and restrain Dong Zhuo. In addition to me, Taishan Bao Yuncheng also returned to his hometown. If it is expected to be good, Bao Yuncheng will also be worshiped as a guard. ”

Xun Chenrao is quick-minded, and he doesn't know how to reply at the moment. Xun Yu and Xun Yu are the two most outstanding juniors of the Xun family, and they have been promoted to the court as the close attendants of the Son of Heaven, they largely represent the attitude of the Xun family, and because Xun Shuang is also in Luoyang now, whether there is Xun Shuang's instruction in what the two of them said, it is so far away that it is difficult to figure out.

Xun Chen weighed it again and again, and saluted Xu Chu and said: "The prince is loyal and upright, and Chen has always been convinced. Then he retired, and when the prince came out of the charter, let Yuan go straight. ”