The cold night is like a beast, wanting to choose people to eat. In the current panicked world, it is even more common for the road to have frozen bones. It's hard for adults to survive the cold, let alone two and a half children?

Shi Qingfeng hugged Heya and didn't allow her to sit in the snow, because he was running around for days and sleeping in the open, his immature face was already covered with wind and frost, his skin was cracked, and some places had suppurated, which made him look extremely embarrassed.

However, it is still a great thing for an eleven or twelve-year-old boy to be able to take her sister from the northern clouds to Luoyang in the peaceful world, let alone now, which shows his ability.

At this time, the young man's eyes looking at Luoyang were full of stubbornness and disobedience, and he said to his sister: "Heya, don't worry, we won't freeze to death here, we will definitely be able to enter the city!" As long as we enter the city and see Brother Shi, we no longer have to worry about hunger and cold. You have to be obedient and believe in your brother! ”

He Ya snorted and nodded vigorously, but she was extremely weak and didn't have the strength to say even a word more. Shi Qingfeng reached out and touched Heya's forehead, almost retracting his hand from being burned. The young man's bright eyes were suddenly filled with deep sorrow, his hands were clenched into fists, and his joints were white.

"Brother, how do we get into the city?" I don't know how long it has been, when the young man stared at the city in front of him, the voice of the river girl sounded as if it were nothing.

Shi Qingfeng didn't know either.

The wind and snow seem to be getting bigger.

Of course, he knew that when the city gates were closed, they would not be opened easily unless there was no special person or special thing.

Shi Qingfeng was desperate. Because of despair, his eyes, which had not yet seen the wonderful things in the world, were full of sadness, but at the same time, he was even more unwilling. From Youyun to Luoyang, a land of thousands of miles, after several hardships and dangers, and now he has finally come here, but because he is a hundred steps away, he can only fall short, how can he accept it?

"Heya, my sister, my brother won't let you die here!"

The cold wind was howling, and Heya's whole body was shivering, her lips were purple from the cold, and her eyes couldn't be opened.

Shi Qingfeng's eyes suddenly became fierce, he reached into his arms, and when he pulled it out again, there was already a pitch-black and ugly dagger in his hand. It may not be appropriate to say that it is a dagger, because it does not look like a dagger at all, and it is more fitting to say that it is an iron block. Shi Qingfeng glanced at Heya, and when his eyes fell on the dagger again, his eyes flashed with ruthlessness that was extremely inconsistent with his age.

At this moment, a group of freshly dressed and angry horsemen galloped past him, their hooves stepping on the snow, but they were unusually steady, and the splashes of snow were like flowers.

Without this team of knights in Shi Qingfeng's eyes, he didn't look at the other party at all, because he had more important things to do. In just an instant, the dagger in Shi Qingfeng's hand moved. The blade, which was not sharp, cut a deep scar in his own palm, and when the blade left the skin, the muscles on both sides of the wound parted to the sides, revealing not red flesh and white muscle, like cotton. After a while, a little red blood oozed from the white cotton, and then, the blood gradually gushed out.

Shi Qingfeng was expressionless and put his palm to Heya's mouth.

Heya, who was already extremely weak, frowned when her dry, dark lips touched the hot blood, and instinctively sucked up.

Shi Qingfeng's eyes were filled with Heya's serene and slightly painful little face, and he stretched out his other hand to help her remove the snowflakes from her messy hair, and smiled warmly. At this moment, his eyes were so gentle, as if he could melt countless snow.

He murmured, "Heya, with my brother here, you won't die." If—the sky has no eyes, if our brothers and sisters really want to die like ants, I will die before you! ”

After saying this, Shi Qingfeng's eyes darkened, and his body slowly softened and fell into the snow.

He Ya fell down Shi Qingfeng, leaning on his chest and being held in his arms. Her brow gradually relaxed, as if there was no more pain in this moment.

The wind and snow covered the sky and the sun, swallowing up this side of the world, and everything was white at the moment. The brother and sister who fell in the snow were as small as a drop in the ocean. However, in their world, each other is everything, and embracing each other is embracing everything, even in the face of death, there is nothing to fear.

The wind and snow are tighter.

The group of knights who had passed by them turned back and stopped beside them, and the knights on their horses jumped off their horses and stepped in front of them in a few steps.

The first knight was in his fifties, his beard was full of weather, and his face was full of majesty. He glanced at Shi Qingfeng's still bleeding left hand, and an indescribable look flashed in his eyes. He waved his hand, and immediately several knights stepped forward, helped Shi Qingfeng and Heya up, and put them on their backs.

When the knights reappeared at the gates, the gods opened the gates. The knights galloped into Luoyang, leaving behind a snowstorm. A hundred paces away in the snow, there was a streak of blood that was unusually conspicuous. However, it will soon be buried deep in the snow and will not be seen again.

On this day, General Li Siyuan returned to Luoyang City from the military camp outside the city.

Youzhou.

The city is full of lights.

Li Congjing stood in the attic of his house, looking at the snow and the lights of the city.

This is the twelfth Spring Festival he has experienced in this era.

Ren Wanru walked up to the attic, gently put on a big coat for Li Congjing, hugged him from behind, and quietly leaned her face on his shoulder.

Li Congjing held Ren Wanru's hand and said softly: "It's cold upstairs, why did you come up?" ”

Ren Wanru didn't move, she seemed to be enjoying this moment, her face rubbed on Li Congjing's shoulder, and said greasyly: "It's not cold." ”

Li Congjing smiled and stopped talking.

It was rare for the two of them to enjoy the warmth of the moment, but just a moment later, Ding Hei came to report to Li Congjing, saying that a guest had come to visit.

Li Congjing smiled apologetically at Ren Wanru. Ren Wanru is sensible, she didn't get tired of Li Congjing anymore, and reached out to pull the silk hair on her sideburns, "The concubine is waiting for her husband to return in the room." After saying that, he went downstairs shyly.

Li Congjing was dumbfounded, a little surprised by Ren Wanru's boldness and directness, touched his nose, and Shi Shiran walked down the attic.

"Who's coming?"

"Mr. Wei and his son, Mr. Zhang and Mr. Wang." Ding Heidao.

Wei's father and son can only be Wei Xingming, Wei Dao, Wei Ziren father and son, Zhang and Wang, needless to say, Zhang Ziyun and Wang Buqi. Several of them were close to Li Congjing, and what they had in common was that they were all scribes.

Li Congjing did not meet them in the main hall, but made tea and talked with them in the side hall.

Wei Dao, Zhang Ziyun and others came together, not a coincidence, but Li Congjing's arrangement in advance. Today, they are specially summoned, in addition to celebrating the festive season, the more important thing is to deploy the civil affairs of the coming year. Civil affairs are naturally done by civil officials, and several people, as the most powerful scribes under Li Congjing, how to carry out civil affairs in Youyun in the coming year, first discuss with them is the proper meaning of the topic.

After everyone sat down, there were maids and servants who served snacks, because Li Congjing liked to drink tea, and when Ren Wanru went north, he also brought two tea doctors. These two tea doctors, a man and a woman, are loosely dressed and have elegant manners, like immortals in the hot air. The tea is not boiled, and everyone is already in the artistic conception of drinking tea.

Wei Xingming sighed leisurely, "After the Wei and Jin dynasties, the civil and military were separated, the warriors became more and more vulgar, and the literati became more and more squeamish. Since the chaos in the world, reckless people have shown their strength and occupied high positions, and even more rude people have been nobles, especially soldiers. The military marshal is long in the army, but he has an elegant atmosphere, which can really be described as a Confucian general. ”

Li Congjing was not modest and unassuming, and said with a smile: "Martial artists emphasize the spirit of strength, the spirit of strength, the foundation of men's blood, and it is also the need to be vigorous; The literati attach importance to the elegant posture and elegant posture, so the self-cultivation is not upright. Mencius said that there is a great righteousness between heaven and earth, and where the righteousness is located, all evils will not invade, and it is a gentleman. Although I am not talented, I would like to see the wise and wise! ”

Zhang Ziyun quipped: "There are 3,000 gentlemen around Gongzi, why worry that he can't become a gentleman?" ”

Everyone laughed.

From time to time, the tea is boiled, and everyone shares and tastes it. Because all the people sitting there were scribes, they had some experience in the tea ceremony, and this meal was very lively.

After three minutes of tea, everyone began to talk about business.

Li retreated from Jingping left and right, and asked Ding Hei to wait outside the door to ensure that everyone's remarks would not be heard by outsiders. Everyone here is Li Congjing's cronies and confidants, and what everyone wants to plan is a confidential matter, so naturally it cannot be easily passed on.

"Youyun Sixteen Prefectures, except for Yingzhou, etc., there are thousands of miles of land, hundreds of thousands of people, countless forests, and abundant mineral profits, I want to prosper here, in order to inspire the army and the people, in order to be able to wrestle with the Khitan, what should I do, why do you teach me?" Li Congjing threw out the question and asked everyone to answer.

This question is not the first time that Wei Dao, Zhang Ziyun and others have heard of it, and they have not just begun to think about it, long before this, Li Congjing had already told everyone about this matter, so that everyone thought about it, and today's interview was to get a definite plan.

Wei Xingming was the oldest, and he was the first to speak, saying: "Since ancient times, if you want to prosper a place and enhance the strength of a place and a country, what is important is nothing more than three points. ”

"I want to hear it."

"First, farming; second, fortifications; Third, commercial. Wei Xing will be stable next year, and he said without hurry at this time, "Foreword farming." To promote agriculture, it is nothing more than four words: open source and reduce expenditure. Open source, reclaim wasteland, open up the land, expand its cultivated land, repair its water conservancy, teach the people to cultivate the land, supplemented by farmland tools; throttling, suppressing annexation, light taxation, and rectification of officials. If this happens, within three to five years, agriculture will be prosperous, and grain and grass will be abundant! ”

Li Congjing frowned and asked, "Three or five years is too long, if I want to benefit from it for a year, what should I do?" "It's not that Li Congjing is anxious, but the current situation of Youyun, he won't give Li Congjing three or five years to prepare at all, who knows when he will fight with the Khitan?

Wei Xingming was not dissatisfied with Li Congjing's eagerness, on the contrary, his old god was saying: "If the commander wants to profit for a year, it is not impossible, but it is difficult to do so." ”

"How?"

Wei Xingming said two words, "Tuntian." ”

"Tuntian?"

"Tuntian is divided into military tun and mintun. Since the Han Dynasty, there has been no shortage of moves in various dynasties to move people to the border, and it is necessary to raise the army of the border land with the land of the borderland. In order to carry out the act of tuntian, there are two things that must be done, one is that the grain species, the border land, the time and the place are different from the Central Plains, so the grain planted is also different; Both need to have the strength and organization that can carry out the change. In the world, those who did not hold the military and political power of one side could not do it. ”

Li Congjing nodded as he listened. In fact, his actions of clearing land and dividing land in Pingzhou, and Du Qianshu's strategy of developing agricultural affairs in Pingzhou, are also in the development of water conservancy, repair of equipment, and help the people to farm.

Next, Li Congjing and Wei Xingming discussed in detail all aspects and details of farming and tuntian.

When this matter was generally explained, an hour had passed, Li Congjing nodded with satisfaction, and then said: "There is a feasible plan for farming, so how about the fortification?" ”

Fortifications refer to handicrafts, involving a wide range, from mining to garment making, and even military workshops, all of which are subordinate to fortifications.

After Wei Xingming finished talking about farming, he was resting at this time, and it was Li Congjing's question that Wang Buqi answered. Wang Buqi is old, but since he made up his mind to follow Li Congjing in Qimen, it is like rejuvenating the second spring of his life, and his spirit is no worse than Zhang Ziyun, Wei Dao and others. Because of the relationship between Tao Xiaoxiao, Li Congjing didn't want to let him suffer from the clouds in the north this time, but he couldn't resist Wang Buqi's insistence, and Li Congjing valued his talent, so he agreed.

Wang Buqi habitually put his hands in his sleeves, his expression was still slightly arrogant, and when he spoke, he was not lighter than Wei Xingming's light breeze, and he was particularly loud, he said: "Compared with the four-character mantra of Wei Lao's farming, the fortification is half simple, only two words: open source." Exploring mountains and rivers, mining profits, is open source; The construction of the fishery salt farm is for open source; More weaving cloth, or open source. As long as the military commander gives the old man enough manpower, and the old man dares to make a military order, within three years, the military commander will be able to expand the army by 30,000 people with iron, cloth, gold and silver! ”

Wang Buqi said it lightly, but in fact, there are words in it, and there is a lot of knowledge in it, which needs to be studied deeply. This old man is like this, he needs you to keep asking, and he will keep saying his thoughts. By the time Li Congjing finished talking with him, more than an hour had passed. Wang Buqi's way of speaking is very unpleasant at first glance, but it is not. He just asked Li Congjing to ask one question after another, and then he answered, as the question continued to deepen, Li Congjing's continuous thinking, his understanding of this matter will be more full and profound.

When the fortification is finished, it is business.

Business is Zhang Ziyun is in charge of, unlike Wei Xingming and Wang Buqi, who both said that Youyun has the benefits of agriculture and tribute, he opened his mouth and said that Youyun is disadvantageous, "Youyun is poor and has no valuable property; The clouds are far away, and the people are too poor to afford to buy curiosities; The cloudy land is mountainous, and the thieves are serious, which is not conducive to the caravan walking; Youyun has a lot of wars, and there is no prosperous commercial distribution center......" said in one breath for nearly half a minute, Zhang Ziyun stretched out a finger and said with a smile: "Therefore, Youyun wants to prosper business, only in one way: buy low and sell high." ”

"What's the explanation?"

"Buying low and selling high, the reason for the rise of this business. The strength of the clouds is not how many goods they produce, but how many goods they produce. The things of the Central Plains, the heavy of the grassland, the things of the grassland, the strange things of the Central Plains, the things of the Western Regions, the expensive things of the East, the things of the East, and the lack of the Western Regions. If he has the remainder, he will get three times the profit from here; There is no one or the other, and from this to the other, there can be ten times the profit. Youyun is located in the north, facing the grassland, back to the Central Plains, the left can go to the Western Regions, the right can go to Goryeo, the sea, with this position of the center of the trade road, the Youyun merchants, can be empty, transfer goods from all over the world to sell elsewhere, do not have to worry about production risks, the cost is greatly reduced, and the profits are huge, for which there should be infinite benefits! And what Childe has to do is just to grasp the commodity information of various places and then protect the caravan thoroughly. ”

Zhang Ziyun's idea can be encapsulated in four words: empty gloves white wolf. He grew up with Li Congjing, and came into contact with Li Congjing's "advanced knowledge", which appeared with words such as "commodity information" and "production risk".

Although Wei Xingming, Wang Buqi and others are not proficient in business, they heard Zhang Ziyun's remarks and knew their weight, and they couldn't help but be impressed by Zhang Ziyun's boldness and intelligence, and expressed their amazement.

Li Congjing was also very satisfied with Zhang Ziyun's concept, and did not mention it in detail at the moment.

In the end, late at night, Wei Dao, who had never spoken, played the role of a summarizer, and he raised the difficulty of promoting these three things, "To promote these three things, regardless of the inside, there are three difficulties outside. ”

"What are the three difficulties?"

"A difficulty is in the court; The second dilemma is in the enemy country; The trilemma lies in the clouds. Wei Dao said with a serious face, "Although the military commander has the power of the military and political affairs of Youyun, if he makes such a big move, he will be known to the court." If the court supports it, it will be fine, and if the court is embarrassed and restricted, it will be difficult to do so. Second, the military commander has repeatedly defeated the Khitan when he goes north, and now he has to make drastic changes to improve the people's strength, material resources, and military strength of Youyun, and the Khitan will sit idly by? It is necessary to destroy the great cause of the military commander. Third, the military commander will greatly promote agriculture, industry, and commerce, which will definitely destroy the original balance of power in Youyun and break the existing power structure of Youyun, so that the local vested interests of Youyun will not sit idly by. Not only that, but some villains will compete for power and profit, and fight openly and secretly with the military marshal, and sabotage the military marshal's strategy! ”

Wei Dao said this, and Li Congjing deeply agreed. At the beginning of the establishment of the army in Qimen, there were still forces led by the He family to make a hindrance, and now in the land of more than ten states, Li Congjing has made big moves, so he naturally has to face various opponents.

In this regard, Li Congjing has long been mentally prepared.

He stood up, looked around at everyone, and said resolutely: "The reason why Ben Shuai is in the clouds, the original intention is to 'protect the border and fight the thief', and now the Khitan country is getting bigger and bigger, Yelu Abaoji is eyeing the Central Plains, and he must pay special attention to it." At this moment, if you want to break the trend of the Khitan for decades, you must first change the sky of clouds! I know that it is difficult, but it is not difficult, it is not enough to show the heroic demeanor of my generation, it is not difficult, it is not enough to become a great cause that I can go all out to create. Today, the military and political reform of Youyun is ready to be launched, and I hope you will encourage me. ”

"Agriculture, industry, and commerce are the foundation of Youyun's self-improvement, and all plans are led by you, and when spring begins, you will do it. No matter how many thorns and difficulties there are on the road ahead, we should move forward, overcome thorns and thorns, and ride the wind and waves! ”