Mr. Wang is very satisfied with the environment here. After a while, the www.biquge.info dishes came up, and when Lord Wang saw it, it was really commonplace. There are not many dishes, just four: soybeans and peanuts mixed with vermicelli, fried diced pork with edamame, pig's trotters with dipping sauce, and fried chili with eggs with broken flowers. Looking at the wine, wine is a local specialty. The staple food is also very common, and various foods made with sorghum flour, cornmeal, potato flour, barley flour, etc., some are steamed and some are fried. Seeing that Lord Chen did not feast extravagantly tonight, Lord Wang was very satisfied with his style.

Why did Lord Chen only order these coarse tea and light rice when he was washing the dust for Shangguan? This has to talk about Lord Chen's experience as an official, because after receiving Lord Wang, Lord Chen has already figured out Lord Wang's temper, this person is very upright, but his personality is too straightforward, and sometimes it is embarrassing. Since he has a clean sleeve, if you want to impress him, you can't rely on your whiskers to pat the horse, but let him see how he is an official on weekdays, anyway, Lord Wang will come this night, and he will go back the next day, so he must behave frugally in order to win his appreciation. Therefore, Lord Chen asked his subordinates to stay in the duty room and work hard, so as not to go wrong. At the same time, he ordered his subordinates to go to the "Delai Restaurant", remove the meals prepared before, and replace them with the special dishes that ordinary farmers often eat during the holidays. In this way, the dinner will not look cold, but it will not be difficult to swallow, and it can also leave a good impression in front of Lord Wang, and at the same time save money, which can really be described as killing many birds with one stone.

Chai Baochen first poured wine for Lord Wang, and then filled Lord Chen and his own cups. Lord Chen suggested that everyone drink one first. After a glass of wine, Chai Baochen felt that this wine was not ordinary, the entrance was soft, the line was straight, the wine was not strong and the aftertaste was full, very good wine. At this time, Lord Wang smacked his lips and asked, "What's the name of this wine?" I really haven't drunk it. It tastes so good. ”

"Lord Hui, this wine has a very nice name in our place, called 'Taibai Qixian', because the price of this wine is not expensive, and there are many drinkers, so it is named. Ask the people of the city, and all of them have drunk it. So this wine is nothing rare, most of the wine that adults drink on weekdays is famous wine, so I have never tasted 'Taibai Xian', hahaha......" Lord Chen quipped.

"'Taibai Xian', well, a good name, it's also a good wine, it looks like I'm going to drink more tonight." Lord Wang seems to know that he has a problem with alcoholism, and he doesn't want to drink more on weekdays, but the taste of this wine today is very appetizing, so he is eager to drink more.

During the banquet, the staggered bargaining, and as the jar of wine was drunk, Lord Wang's conversation box was also opened. He chatted with Chai Baochen very speculatively. Lord Wang has traveled north and south by himself, and has seen a lot, boasting of his rich experience in front of Lord Chen and Chai Baochen, but no matter what city he mentions, Chai Baochen can pick up the conversation, and he knows more about the region than Lord Wang, especially Chai Baochen has a very detailed understanding of the Hetao area. This made Lord Wang's eyes light up.

You must know that in the Ming Dynasty, the competition between the imperial court and the Mongols for the Hetao region lasted for more than two hundred years, and the Central Plains Dynasty actively advanced northward, while the nomads often went south to chase the Central Plains.

Lord Wang was very happy to see that Chai Baochen was also very experienced, and he was interested in testing his vision of government affairs analysis, so he asked Chai Baochen, "Recently, the general Shi Heng wrote to the emperor, asking for one-third of the people of Datong to join the army to strengthen the military power of the border, what do you think?" ”

"Hey, Lord Wang, don't come up with questions to embarrass my virtuous nephew, these questions have their own ministers in the court and the central government to share the emperor's worries, how can you refer to my virtuous nephew's opinion?" When Lord Chen heard Lord Wang ask about Chai Baochen's state affairs, he was very worried, afraid that Chai Baochen would say something indecent, and it would be bad if it was spread out, so he wanted to divert the topic.

"It's okay, what Chai Baochen said tonight came out of his mouth and into my ears, and then disappeared. If Lord Chen is still not at ease, you can look outside the door. “

Lord Chen was really worried that there were Jinyiwei's spies outside the door. Because Lord Wang's goal is too big, his every move must be under the surveillance of Jinyiwei. Lord Chen got up and walked to the door of the private room, and suddenly opened the door, only to see two people standing outside the door, he was suddenly startled, and when he looked at their clothes carefully, it turned out to be one of the dozen or so guards that Lord Wang brought over today. Master Chen couldn't help but sweat, and then closed the door. Xindao: It seems that he really underestimated him, his guards are out of nowhere, and they will appear here to protect his safety, and rule out the possibility of Jinyi guards tracking and spying, this Lord Wang should have some skill to sit in such a high official position.

Lord Chen returned to his seat and sat down, he saw that Lord Wang was looking at him with a smile, the feeling in his heart was indescribable, he barely squeezed out a little smile, and said to Chai Baochen: "Virtuous nephew, I have seen it, it's okay, we can talk happily tonight." ”

As soon as Chai Baochen heard Lord Chen say this, he became bold and said, "I think it's inappropriate to be lowly. The people in the border areas are living in difficulty, and the population is already sparse. If one-third of the people were to be conscripted into the army, production would be put on hold, the people would flee, and the city would fall into decay. Datong is an important city in Northern Mongolia, and it must be fully populated to be able to hold it. ”

"Good. You're saying a good thing. I think so too. Lord Wang clapped his hands and said, "Let me ask you a more difficult question." Recently, the imperial court sent officials to Xuanfu and Datong to measure the land, and each army had to pay taxes for farming, and those below 80 mu were exempted, and the other fields had to be taxed according to five liters of grain per mu to accumulate grain and fill the treasury, what do you think of this move of the imperial court? ”

Chai Baochen knew that this was the time to test himself. When he heard the first question asked by Lord Wang, he already knew the official's ideology and values. Lord Wang's second question seems difficult to answer, but in fact it is consistent with the core idea revealed in the first question, that is, the Confucian idea of benevolent government. Mencius once told Qi Xuan Wang Tian in "Mencius Liang Hui Wang": The property of the Ming monarch and the people will make Yang enough to serve his parents, and he will be able to live for his wife, and he will be full for life, and he will be free from death in the fierce year.

Chai Baochen quickly had his own opinions based on this theory, and he contacted his own historical knowledge, and replied angrily: "My lord, you really care about the people of Li!" When I was Emperor Wen, he once issued an edict for the border army to do their best to reclaim farmland and not to levy taxes, and now His Majesty has also reiterated this edict, I don't know why this suddenly happened? The sergeants of all walks of life in the border fortress worked very hard to guard the border pass, and there was no other industry to rely on for their livelihood, so they could only engage in farming.

In the border area, every year from winter to spring, the army and the people have to greet the Warat envoys with solemn etiquette, and it goes without saying that the people and money are lost during this period. In the beginning of spring and March, farmers have free time to work in the fields, and in the middle of summer and July, they have to go into the fields to weed, sweating like rain. Cen Shen, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, has a poem that 'the north wind sweeps the ground and the white grass breaks, and the snow flies in August', so the Hu people may come to loot the property after August, and the people will also have to serve in the military and repair the city defense. In this way, the people have no free time during the year. Moreover, the land was barren and hard, the frost came early, and the harvest was very small. If taxes are collected from these people, they will no longer want to live in Biansai, and they may flee to other places. At that time, if Warat knocks on the pass by force, who will guard the border with the imperial court? ”

When Lord Wang heard this, he praised him: "Okay, this official didn't misunderstand you, you are really a capable person, and the purpose of my trip is not in vain." ”