"My lord, I'm not here to ask you for money and food." Liu Cheng replied with a grin.

"Don't you want me to pay for food?" Lu Boqi looked Liu Cheng up and down with a suspicious gaze

"It's true, so be it, if I ask Master Lu for a grain of rice and a penny, the sky will thunder and cut off your children and grandchildren!"

Compared with the modern people who were deeply influenced by atheism in later generations, the cursed oath still had some effect on Lu Boqi, he snorted coldly and asked, "Then what are you doing with me?" ”

"I want to ask Lu Zhizhou to help invite Mr. Ma Ziyi Ma, I have something I want to discuss with him."

"If you want to consult with him, you can go directly to his house, why do you need me to help?"

Liu Cheng smiled bitterly: "You also know that I have already hated Mr. Ma in the matter of Juntun, and if I go directly to the door, I am afraid that I will have to eat the closed door." “

Seeing Liu Cheng admit that he was deflated, Lu Boqi couldn't help but feel a burst of happiness in his heart, and was thinking about whether to prevaricate a few words and give Liu Cheng a little color, but heard Liu Cheng say: "Lord Zhizhou, the military situation is urgent, Ding Zhuang's arrival in Dunzhou is a matter of the end of this month and the beginning of next month, if the meeting with Mr. Ma is delayed, I am afraid that there will be some trouble." “

"What a Qiu Ba, you dare to blackmail this official!" If he hadn't seen Liu Cheng's power, Lu Boqi would not have scolded Liu Cheng's nose instead of slandering, but the generous gift and Liu Cheng's wrist to deal with the gentlemen blocked those foul words in Lu Boqi's throat. After thinking for a while, Lu Boqi finally said in a low voice: "Okay, I promise you, but you have to promise me first, you can't be rude in front of Mr. Ma!" “

"How could that be!" Liu Cheng laughed: "I'm not afraid of the jokes of the old parents, the last general also read the sage book when he was a child, and he still understands the truth of respecting the old and respecting the sage." “

Lu Boqi snorted coldly, didn't speak, and walked straight out of the signing room, the curtain friend smiled apologetically at Liu Cheng before following out, and Du Gu behind him said in a low voice: "My lord, I heard that old man Ma made you vomit blood in anger, can he listen to you?" “

"If that Ma Ziyi doesn't see me, I naturally have no way to deal with him; As long as he sees me, I am not afraid that he can come out of the palm of my hand! ”

"What a big breath, my lord!" Du Gu has been following Liu Cheng for more than half a year, and he already understands that this boss is quite lenient towards his subordinates, and he is also bold: "If I am Mr. Nama, you will turn around and leave when you see an adult." “

"So you're not Ma Ziyi!" Liu Cheng laughed: "You don't know that there is one thing, as long as it is in your hands, brothers can be divided, enemies can be reconciled, strong cities can be broken, and countries can die." ”

"My lord, you're joking again, how can there be such a powerful thing in the world."

Liu Cheng took out something from his arms and slapped it on Du Gu's hand, and said with a smile: "This is it!" He got up and walked out the door. Du Gu looked down, but there was a piece of silver in his palm.

Juzhou Invitation Moon Building.

"Master, the Invitation Moon Tower has arrived!" Steward Ma carefully opened the sedan curtain and asked in a low voice, "Do you carry the sedan chair in?" “

"Get off the sedan right here!" A calm voice came from the palanquin.

"It's windy outside, my lord, your body is bones-" Steward Ma said with some hesitation, although Ma Ziyi did not punish him for failing on an errand last time, he kept a low profile in the mansion, and he became more cautious and cautious in handling errands.

"It's June, so why bother covering it all day? Besides, the old parents invite each other, what kind of system does it become to carry the sedan chair straight into the atrium? Ma Ziyi had already gotten out of the sedan chair while speaking, he paused slightly, looked around, and walked into the door proudly.

The shopkeeper of the Invitation Moon Building was already waiting at the bottom of the steps, and he was still more than ten steps away from making a long gesture, and said with a smile: "Mr. Ma is here, the small shop is really full of splendor, please here, please here!" “

"That's it!" Ma Ziyi arched her hand reservedly, returned the shopkeeper's salute, and asked in a low voice, "Where is Master Lu?" ”

"My parents are in the private room on the third floor, which is the window covered with green veil!" The shopkeeper hurriedly stretched out his hand and pointed diagonally upward. Ma Ziyi looked up, then walked straight upstairs, and the shopkeeper hurriedly followed.

Ma Ziyi pushed open the door, only to see that there was only a table of eight immortals placed by the window in the room, with a few dried fruits and four pairs of dishes and chopsticks on the table, and a screen was placed in the back of the room. ”

"I can't afford it, I can't afford it!" Ma Ziyi arched her hand, walked to the table and said with a smile: "The old parents invite students for others, there must be something important." ”

"This-" Lu Boqi was broken by Ma Ziyi, and thought that the other party knew the reason, and he didn't know what to say for a while. However, the master on the side reacted very quickly, and took over: "How can Mr. Ma see that my family is inviting others?" ”

"What's so hard about that!" Ma Ziyi smiled and pointed to the Eight Immortals table: "There are four dishes and chopsticks on it, but there are only three people here, presumably the brother who hasn't shown his face yet wants to see Ma someone!" ”

"Mr. Ma really has good eyesight!" Hearing that the other party didn't know that he was inviting Liu Cheng, Lu Boqi breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly stretched out his hand to invite: "Let's sit down and talk!" Ma Ziyi didn't push, sat down next to the window, and said with a smile: "Old parents, but I don't know who entrusted you to your door to see the students?" ”

"It's none other than that!" While speaking, a person came out from behind the screen, and Ma Ziyi's face suddenly changed when she saw it, and shouted: "It turned out to be you!" He didn't say much, stood up, glared at Lu Boqi fiercely, and walked straight to the door.

Ma Ziyi wanted to leave, but he didn't want Liu Cheng to take a step forward and stand in front of the door, blocking the door tightly, after all, he was old and weak, how could he compare to Liu Cheng is back then, he couldn't see the door, so he only returned to the table angrily, sat down, and shouted to Lu Boqi: "Old parents, why are you lying to me?" ”

Lu Boqi saw that Ma Ziyi lost his temper, and he was so frightened that he couldn't speak for a while, but Liu Cheng on the side took over: "Mr. Ma's words are a little strange, Lu Zhizhou invited him, and he didn't say in advance that there was no Liu during the banquet, how can I talk about this deception?" ”

Lu Boqi was at a loss for words, and when he heard Liu Cheng's words, it was like a man in the water grabbing a straw, and hurriedly nodded yes. was glared at fiercely by Ma Ziyi, and immediately lowered his head. Liu Cheng saw Ma Ziyi sit down, and walked to the table with a smile and sat down: "Mr. Ma, someone Liu saw you today, not for anything else, but to save the gentry of the people of Yanzhou from fire and water." ”

"Humph!" Ma Ziyi sneered, turned his head, turned his back to Liu Cheng but didn't speak, obviously he didn't believe Liu Cheng's words at all.

"Mr. Ma, you think what I just said is all lies and threats, but you don't know that the situation in the northwest is critical now. After the Shaanxi gentry inherited the great changes, they leaked up and down, sang in the leaky boat, drank under the burning house, and did not know that the drowning would be reached, which is really sad! ”

Ma Ziyi originally planned that no matter what Liu Cheng said, he would come to Cao Ying with Xu Shu - without saying a word, but after listening to Liu Cheng's words, he couldn't help but turn around, he never expected that Liu Cheng, who had never been a vulgar military man in his eyes, would be able to say such beautiful words, and he had to re-evaluate Liu Cheng.

"What do you mean by that?"

Liu Cheng saw that Ma Ziyi opened his mouth, and couldn't help but be secretly happy in his heart, if the other party really didn't open his mouth, he really didn't have anything to do with him, so he hurriedly coughed and said in a deep voice: "A few days ago, there was a military order from Guyuan, saying that he would settle three thousand Ding Zhuang, and Mr. Ma was the leader of the Shilin in Yanzhou, so the general would naturally have to discuss it with Mr. first." “

"Humph!" Ma Ziyi snorted coldly: "I, Ma Ziyi, am just an old man waiting to die at home, but I can't afford to be the leader of Shilin, if you want to settle Ding Zhuang, discuss with Lu Zhizhou, what are you looking for me?" “

"Mr. Ma, there are only you, me, Lu Zhizhou, and Master in this room, and there is no one else. Lord Yang's military order is also no way, since this spring to pacify the thieves, he has written to the imperial court, begging money and food to settle the homeless, but until now, the court has sent very little money and food, only to come up with a way to place 3,000 Ding Zhuang on the land of the Junzhou military cantonment, if it is delayed like this, I am afraid that it will be another catastrophe, at that time, Lu Zhizhou resigned and did not do the old man and returned to his hometown, could it be that the gentry of Dunzhou can be alone? “

Hearing Liu Cheng's words, Ma Ziyi's eyebrows furrowed dangerously, and he straightened his back and shouted, "Lord Liu, are you coercing the old man?" ”

"Don't dare, the last general just made things clear, whether it is black or white, the old gentleman is naturally clear. It's just a small capital, that is, it can't let the imperial court send money and food, and it can't prevent Yang Zhijun from placing strong men, where does the word coercion start? ”

Listening to Liu Cheng's words, Ma Ziyi was speechless, Liu Cheng's meaning was very clear, coercion is to threaten the other party with what may happen to force him to comply, and the imperial court's refusal to send money and grain and Yang He's placement of strong men in Juzhou are both fait accomplis, Liu Cheng is just telling the truth, how can it be said to be coercion?

"Okay, Liu Dusi, how much grain do you want this time?" After about half a sound, Ma Ziyi asked in a deep voice, obviously ready to make concessions.

"Mr. Liu, the last general is not here to ask for money and food this time." Liu Cheng smiled slightly, tapped his palm twice, and walked into an entourage outside, presenting a few scrolls, Liu Cheng took away the dishes, chopsticks, plates and plates on the table, unfolded a scroll on the table, pointed to the unfolded picture scroll and said: "Lu Zhizhou, Mr. Ma, please take a look." ”

Ma Ziyi got up and looked at the scroll carefully, only to see that the scroll was densely packed, vaguely it was the map of the public opinion of Dunzhou, but this map was a little different from what he had seen in the government in the past, there were many fine concentric circles, although he didn't know what these lines were for, but he knew that it was not scribbled randomly, and it must have a unique intention. He was thinking about it, but he heard Lu Boqi on the side ask with some dissatisfaction: "Liu Dusi, what do you think of this graffiti for us, do you want to play tricks on your own officials?" "It turns out that his career is not smooth, unlike Ma Ziyi, who has a father who has been an auxiliary minister, although he is not a big official, but he has a lot of knowledge, and he didn't recognize this as a map with contours.

"Wait!" Ma Ziyi stopped Lu Boqi's accountability, pointed to the scroll and said, "Liu Dusi, are you the map of Dunzhou?" “

"Yes, Mr. Ma really has good eyesight!" Liu Cheng smiled and gave a thumbs up: "This is exactly the map drawn by the last general in the past few months." “

"What, you said you drew it?" Ma Ziyi's eyes widened, he leaned down and carefully checked the map on the table again,

I saw that it not only marked the location of the county seat, but also densely marked more than a dozen large market towns, roads, rivers and mountain ranges.

"Not bad!"

Ma Ziyi turned her head and forced herself to suppress the horror in her heart. In ancient societies, maps were highly classified and only kept in the government, and even merchants who traveled thousands of miles often only had maps of the conditions on both sides of the roads they often traveled, rather than a map of the topography of the region. There is no difference between Liu Cheng's self-admitted ability to draw such a detailed and clear map of the markings and someone in modern society who claims to be able to take out a security map of Zhongnanhai.

After half a ring, Ma Ziyi pretended not to care, sat down again, pushed the scroll, and asked, "Liu Dusi, what are you doing with this?" What does this have to do with those Ding Zhuang? ”

"Naturally, there is something involved!" Liu Cheng re-unfolded the scroll and said while pointing: "The east of Yanzhou is the Huanglong Mountains, the west is bordered by the Meridian Mountains and Ningzhou, the north is separated by hills and Yan'an Mansion, the east is the Luo River, the west is gourd water, the soil is thick, if the water is stored in the east and irrigated by channels, wouldn't it be a great good governance?" ”

"You're going to pay for work?" Ma Ziyi also understood at this time.

"Not bad!" Liu Cheng smiled and took out another scroll, unfolded it on the table, and explained while pointing: "I have checked, dig a canal from here to repair the pi, most of the land on both sides is your local gentry, if this canal is repaired, the slope that originally watched the sky and ate will become a river beach land for drought and flood protection, this benefit is great, you have to reward a few rice money!" ”

Ma Ziyi snorted coldly, did not answer, the look on his face looked much better, and began to carefully check Liu Cheng's channel planning, and asked a few questions from time to time, and Liu Cheng had already been wary, from the calculation of the project, the manpower required, the estimated time, the amount of water stored in the dry and wet periods, and the area that can be irrigated. This is thanks to the trend of university mergers in the 21st century, and the comprehensive college where Liu Chengcheng studied actually offered courses in hydraulic engineering, which was used to mix up food in modern society and not enough to eat, and it was still more than enough to fool the gentry in the late Ming Dynasty.