Yatang, study.

Pu Yang Min looked at Cao Peng with incredible eyes.

Bu Qi sat aside, looking at the stack of regulations in his hand seriously, feeling a little dizzy.

These, if they were done by an adult, such as himself, such as Deng Ji, Bu Qi would never have such a feeling.

The person who did this was Cao Peng.

And the person who planned this from beginning to end was also Cao Peng.

One was only 14 years old...... Oh well, in Cao Peng's words, he's going to be fifteen soon! A fifteen-year-old boy may be able to go into battle to kill the enemy, or he may be able to fight the battlefield. But to talk about negotiating...... Bu Qi is really a little worried about Cao Peng.

After all, this kind of thing is meticulous work, and there is no need to fight and kill.

Cao Peng looked depressed, and said with a sad face: "My knife is still light." The guys agreed without discussion. As soon as this happened, I raised the management tax to 1,000 percent. Look at the group of grandsons who promised so happily, 800 times less! ”

Puyang Min smiled bitterly ......, "Youxue, what is the use of these taxes you levied?" ”

Bu Qi put down those contracts, looked at Cao Peng, and asked softly.

"What is the use, it is naturally to raise soldiers."

"Huh?"

"Otherwise, what is the purpose of my establishment of the Cao Peng Agency?"

Pu Yang Min couldn't help but squint his eyes, looked at Cao Peng, and asked softly after a while, "Do you want to suppress the bandits?" ”

Cao Peng stood up, walked out of the study and looked around, and then shouted loudly: "Hu Ban, pass the order, no one is allowed to approach the study for twenty steps." ”

"Whoa!"

Hu Ban has now almost become the steward of the county government.

With Zhou Cang Xiahou Lan, Pan Zhang, and Feng Chao being appointed one by one, many times, Cao Peng is not good at calling them back and forth like before.

Seeing Hu Ban's response, Cao Peng relieved himself and turned back.

"Mr. Puyang, Mr. Zishan...... To tell the truth, Deng Xianling never stopped the idea of pacifying the pirates. It's just that we all know that those pirates have eyes and ears in the county. As soon as the soldiers of Haixi County are replenished, the pirates will inevitably get the news and strike first.

Therefore, the county commander of Deng County consulted with me and decided to declare to the outside world that only 100 patrols would be accepted and no more troops would be expanded.

But this soldier must be expanded...... As we gain a firm foothold in Haixi County, sooner or later we will offend the interests of some people. Don't look at the fact that we are at peace with the pirates now, but I dare to say that sooner or later there will be a conflict between us, a conflict of life and death. ”

Puyang Min and Bu Qi were expressionless and silent.

In fact, why don't they understand this truth?

It's just that they know better that once they expand their army, the pirates will never let Deng Ji grow bigger.

"You set up the Cao Peng Agency......"

"Haixi needs stability, and the market needs stability. Under the pretext of rectifying the bazaar, I secretly recruited soldiers. The number of people will not be too much, 100 people are enough. When the time comes, I will hand over these people to the fifth and seventh brothers to manage, and secretly train soldiers and horses in the name of the market. ”

"Ming Xiu plank road, dark Chen Cang?"

Bu Qi's eyes lit up, and he immediately understood what Cao Peng meant.

Cao Peng nodded and sighed softly, "Our strength is still weak after all. ”

He smiled wryly and said, "If we have enough strength, why bother sneaking around? This is also something that can't be helped, there are some things that Deng County's order is not good to come forward, so I will be the villain with the surname Suo. However, such a small number of manpower is still not enough! ”

"Friends, take your time."

Pu Yanghong didn't know how to explain it, so he could only comfort him with gentle words.

"Ha, I'm fine......"

Cao Peng took a deep breath and shook his spirits.

He suddenly asked, "Mr. Zishan, have Chen Sheng's industries been cleaned up?" ”

"It's mostly cleared up...... The property under this man's name is quite staggering. Out of the twelve shops in the North Market, in addition to dabbling in various industries, there are still thousands of hectares of fertile land. He has thousands of households in Beizhuang outside the city, all of which are attached to Chen Sheng's name, not registered in the official government. This situation is not Chen Sheng's family, including many families, there is a phenomenon of hidden population...... I have a headache now, what should I do with these thousands of farmers? If Chen Shengtian's property is confiscated, how will these people survive? ”

Cao Peng thought for a while, "Tuntian! ”

"Huh?"

"Following the example of Cao Gong in Xudu, let's be in Haixi Tuntian."

"Tuntian...... It's a solution. If the fields can be tuned, at least Haixi will no longer need to import grain and rice from outside, and the barns can be fully filled. It's just that we don't have a large population. It is difficult for a single thousands of households to become a climate, and it has little effect. ”

After hearing this, Cao Peng also felt a little headache...... What Bu Qi said is indeed a real problem.

Over the years, due to repeated raids and plundering by bandits, the Haixi people have rarely engaged in farming. This has also caused a very serious consequence, that is, Haixi County has been seriously affected by external influences. Without people's livelihood industries, everything depends on input, and it will be difficult to develop for a long time after all.

Cao Peng asked, "Mr. Puyang, how many people do you estimate will be hiding in those merchants' homes?" ”

"Oh, I've been sorting out the case all this time, and I've been paying attention to this aspect of the situation. Haixi is now hiding a population, about seven or eight thousand? Well, about this number, I estimate that it will only be more, and it will never be less than this. Why, what do you ask this for? ”

"Can you let them release these hidden people?"

Pu Yang Min and Bu Qi glanced at each other, and shook their heads, "This, I'm afraid it's difficult." ”

"What if there's a stake?"

"It depends on how much is at stake...... If it's small, I'm afraid these businessmen won't agree. ”

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, what was the most important?

Answer: Population!

Different from the era of hot weapons in later generations, the era of cold weapons is all about manpower.

Cao Ying pacified Qingzhou, but refused to kill the millions of yellow turbans, why not? For the sake of the population!

In Eastern Wu, the Sun clan continued to wage war against Shanyue, encircling and suppressing the indigenous people...... It is said that it is a barbarian dispute, but in fact, what is sought is the population!

With people, you can farm, you can fight, you can have children, and you can continue to increase the population.

Speaking of which, in addition to having a prominent family background and inheriting family knowledge, those family lords also control a large amount of land and population resources.

How could these businessmen in Haixi not know this truth?

As Bu Qi said, there is not a huge interest that wants them to give up the resources in their hands? It's hard, it's hard!

But the question is, what huge interests are there in Cao Peng's hands?

—————————————————————————— night was already late, and Cao Peng sat in the room, rummaging through the boxes in front of him.

Nine in a row?

This can also be a fucking gift?

And this thing, isn't it just a finely carved puppet, when Lao Tzu is a child?

The boxes were all filled with KitKat's silver skills that Haixi merchants had given to Cao Peng through Wang Cheng. But to be honest, it's not much use.

Cao Peng was not interested in this thing at all.

However, he was very strange, how could Wang Cheng come up with this?

Was it accidental, or did it have ulterior motives?

Tonight, Wang Cheng did not appear in the Feiyang Pavilion. This is also Cao Peng's intention...... He wanted to see how Wang Cheng would react! But according to Hu Ban's report, Wang Cheng behaved very calmly and did not even react at all.

At dinner, he ate at a wine shop in Xili.

Then he went home and went to sleep...... This is not the reaction that a normal person should have.

If you change to Cao Peng, after a busy time, you won't even be qualified to attend, and you will definitely be unhappy.

This guy is weird!

Cao Peng picked up the jade ball from the bookcase and played with it in his hand.

"Ah Fu, why don't you rest?"

"Brother Tiger Head, I'm thinking about things!"

Wang Mai lived in the wing room next to Cao Peng, and woke up in the middle of the night, only to find that the light in Cao Peng's room was still on.

He rubbed his eyes and said in a daze, "Ah Fu, don't sleep too late. If you don't understand, don't think about it until you get back. ”

"I got it......"

Cao Peng put down the jade balls, but he didn't want the two jade balls to roll on the bookcase, and accidentally knocked over the fish-kissed copper town placed on the edge of the bookcase.

The copper town fell to the ground with a muffled thud.

Wang Mai hurriedly walked up, picked up Tongzhen, fiddled with it in his hand, and was about to put it on the bookcase, but suddenly said: "Ah Fu, look at the mouth of this fish, it's really interesting." ”

"Huh?"

Cao Peng stretched out his hand to take it and swept his eyes.

With a slight frown, he hurriedly took Tongzhen in his hand and put it under the light to observe carefully.

"This fish mouth is indeed a little weird, how do you feel ......" Cao Peng raised his head, looked at Wang Mai and said, "I can't tell, but it seems to be different." Fish Kiss, Fish Kiss...... How do I feel it, the shape of this fish's mouth seems to be a lock cylinder. ”

"Really?"

Wang Mai took it and stared at it with wide eyes for a long time.

"No, right...... In my opinion, you're just tired, so rest early. ”

"Hmmm......"

Cao Peng secretly lucked himself and nodded.

"Maybe, I'm suspicious!"

"Ah Fu, I think you've been a little crazy lately! Why should you care too much about this kind of kit kat silver skill? ”

"yes, I think so too...... Wait, what did you just say? ”

Cao Peng stood up with a sigh, his eyes widening.

Wang Mai was startled and stammered, "I didn't say anything." ”

"You said it, you said I ......"

"Oh, I said you've been a little crazy lately."

"It's not this one, it's the next one."

Wang Mai scratched his head and said with a smile: "I mean, this kind of KitKat silver skill, there is no need to be too careful. ”

KitKat Silver!

He grabbed Fishkiss Coppertown and turned his head to look at the box next to him. His eyes flashed with scorching essence, and his mind seemed to become much clearer in an instant.

Fish Kiss Copper Town—Li Guangli's Treasure—The Death of the Successive County Commanders—Wang Cheng—These Strange Things in Front of Him—Mai Cheng...... Cao Peng seemed to understand, and suddenly there was a feeling of hair, and a layer of goosebumps suddenly appeared on his body.

"Ah Fu, what's wrong with you?"

Wang Mai saw that Cao Peng's face was ugly, so he hurriedly stepped forward and hugged Cao Peng.

"Brother Tiger Head, there is still one link left, one link!"

"What's the link?"

Cao Peng took a deep breath and said softly: "A link that can solve all the mysteries!" ”

——————————————————————————————

(To be continued)