Of these six options, the first and second two are very unlikely, because both the northern grasslands and Qinghai and Xinjiang are poorer than Guanzhong, and the language barrier is also very difficult; The fourth, fifth, and sixth are more likely, because both Hanzhong and Sichuan are far richer than Shaanxi, and the strength of the local Ming army is far weaker than Shaanxi. But in Liu Cheng's view, the biggest possibility is the third one, that is, to cross the Yellow River into Shanxi, because the fourth, fifth, and sixth all have to pass through at least hundreds of miles of dangerous mountain roads, and they are easily ambushed by the enemy and annihilated. There is only one Yellow River separating Shanxi and Shaanxi, and even if there are no boats, it is not difficult to cross the river with simple river-crossing equipment such as sheepskin rafts and wooden rafts, and it is even easier when it freezes in winter.

The second reason why Liu Cheng chose to occupy Chaoyi was because for him, it was a better base than the original Yanzhou. As a time-traveler, all the things Liu Cheng has done since he came to this era can be boiled down to one - getting money to pay his army. Many modern people think that it is enough to get enough food at the end of the Ming Dynasty, because in the Han and Tang dynasties and even the early and middle stages of the Ming Dynasty, grain and cloth were used to pay soldiers, of course, no one thought so at the end of the Ming Dynasty, for example, when the Jinzhou army mutinied in the winter of the first year of Chongzhen and asked for a salary, Zhou Yanru, who was the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites, said that there was no shortage of food in Shanhaiguan, but there was a shortage of silver, so why not pay with food? It is clear that the military attache instigated the soldiers to make trouble and blackmailed the boss, and many modern people think that what Zhou Yanru said is reasonable, and the generals prefer silver rather than food in order to make it easier to deduct military salaries. But those people have forgotten a problem, people in addition to eating, clothing, tea and other aspects of consumption, these are not able to use food, the reason why the Han and Tang dynasties can use food to pay soldiers, that is because food was the currency recognized by the state at that time, the state accepted the common people to pay taxes with food, even if they do not need food for the time being, they are willing to accept the use of food as a means of payment; But it was different at the end of the Ming Dynasty. The state received silver rather than grain as a tax, so except in rare cases (such as in besieged cities), silver was more popular in the market than grain, and it was easier to get the goods needed. There is a very simple example to prove this, when the Tokugawa shogunate was first established, the stone system was used, that is, rice was used as a unit of currency, and the samurai also used white rice to pay their salaries; However, with the development of the commodity economy, gold and silver coins gradually replaced the position of white rice in commodity circulation, and the economic status of the samurai became lower and lower. Because they had to sell their grain at low prices in exchange for money to buy the goods they needed, the wealth of the society soon gathered in the hands of merchants. Although the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty did not understand economics, they also knew that it was better for them to pay their salaries with silver rather than grain.

So how can you get a stable source of money? The easiest way is to collect poll tax and property tax, as Liu Cheng did in Juzhou and Yichuan. But both of these methods were temporary and extremely hateful, especially the latter, which was separated from robbery by a thin line, and according to the political system of the Ming Dynasty, military attachés had no power to meddle in civil affairs. Not to mention the direct collection of poll tax or property tax. Liu Cheng dared to do this only because of the special situation in Shaanxi at that time, and he also had to pay a considerable price politically. We have to find a new source of income.

The second method is to collect circulation tax, which is a popular analogy of blocking roads and setting up cards to collect fees, which is better than the former, after all, for the peasants, who account for the vast majority of the population. This tax is not on their heads, and the tax cost is also low, so there is no need to destroy a few powerful chickens to show the monkeys. It is only necessary to send a small team of soldiers and a few scribes in places with a large flow of people, and the merchants who come and go also have enough cash to pay the taxes, and if they can't do it, they can use the goods to offset the taxes, and they will not collect a bunch of chicken and dog scraps and things that are not easy to realize. Undoubtedly, Chaoyi, which controls the Pujin ferry, receives more taxes than Juzhou.

And the last and most important reason: Liu Cheng's foundation mainly includes two parts: long-distance trade with Outer Mongolia and textile, forging, and military industry with water power as the power source. For the former, the biggest cost is the tax and the cost of people, livestock and time at the checkpoints along the way, while for the latter, a stable and abundant water source is the guarantee of profitability. Compared with Juzhou, Chaoyi undoubtedly occupies an absolute advantage: the caravan with Mongolia can be changed to a waterway in the Hetao area, down the Yellow River, and transported to Chaoyi, which does not need to worry about the checkpoints along the way, and saves a lot of transportation costs; In terms of water resources, Chaoyi, located on the bank of the Yellow River, is far superior to Dunzhou; Finally, whether it is textile or military industry, it is necessary to import a large amount of raw materials, output a large number of products, located in the throat of Qin and Jin Communications, and can export products to Chaoyi in the Central Plains through the Yellow River, and its geographical location is by no means comparable to Yanzhou.

But there is a new problem for Liu Cheng: whether it is to set up cards to collect taxes, buy land, or build dams for hydraulic machinery, he must have the support, or at least no objection, of local officials. It is hard to imagine that Liu Cheng's success in Juzhou and Yichuan can be separated from the cooperation between Lu Boqi and Qu Duan, but Lu Boqi and Qu Duan are cowardly and greedy, and they both have weaknesses in their personalities that can be exploited, coupled with coincidence, Liu Cheng can contribute to it, but now the local officials in Tongzhou and Chaoyi are not so easy to deal with, thinking of this, Liu Cheng couldn't help frowning.

"My lord, there are people out there asking to see you!" Outside the door came the sound of Dugu's communication.

"Nope!" Liu Cheng, who was disturbed by his thoughts, replied casually. But after a while, Du Gu reappeared at the door: "My lord, it's Lord Zhao Wende Zhao!" “

"Lord Zhao?" Liu Cheng was stunned when he heard this, and hurriedly asked, "Where is he?" Invite him in! “

"It's right at the back door." Du Gu said in a low voice: "I wore a gray straight dress, led a donkey, there was not even a servant by my side, I looked like I was more than ten years old, if he hadn't called my name, I wouldn't have recognized it." “

Liu Cheng stopped, he hesitated for a while and said: "There are many people here, you go and arrange a place for Lord Zhao to live outside, be quiet, clean, and I'll see him when it's dark, understand?" “

Du Gu nodded knowingly and said with a smile: "Don't worry, there is a widow Chen on the side of the south gate." Twenty-four or five, he guarded a child, and lived on tile money, and the widow loved the most clean, so I went to the room over there and placed Lord Zhao there. ”

"Eat tile money?" Liu Cheng frowned: "Then there will be no visitors, there are too many idlers." ”

"No!" Du Gu said with a smile: "The people living there are all merchants coming and going, and now the soldiers are in chaos, and the houses are empty, where are the people." ”

"That's good!" Liu Cheng nodded and returned to the map. was busy with the planning of the factory and the wharf, and it was not until the third pole on the moon that he changed his clothes and went out to the south gate with a few personal soldiers.

As soon as Liu Cheng and his party arrived at the south gate, they saw Du Gu coming up, leading Liu Cheng into an alley, and knocked lightly twice in front of a courtyard, and the courtyard door opened. Liu Cheng walked into the courtyard gate and saw the blue bricks paving the ground. It was very clean, there were two plum trees planted on the left side, and there was a stone table and two stone tables under the trees. The plum blossom had already bloomed for a small half, the breeze was coming, the dark fragrance was floating, and Liu Cheng couldn't help but take a deep breath. Half of the day's hard work has been gone before you know it.

"I didn't expect that there was such a quiet place in this Chaoyi city." Liu Cheng sighed: "I don't know when I will be able to steal half a day of free time, eat snacks here, and bask in the sun." It must be very pleasant.

Du Gu smiled when he heard this: "When Lord Zhao entered the courtyard, he stood under this tree for a long time, just staring at this tree, as if he was crazy, and several brothers said that this tree had become a monster, which fascinated Lord Zhao. ”

"What kind of spirits are there in the world?" Liu Cheng laughed: "Du Gu, you are talking nonsense, take me to see Lord Zhao quickly!" ”

"Your Excellency, please come down!" Du Gu said with a smile while leading the way in front: "Don't say it, adults, people in the city say that the widow Chen in this house is a spirit, the babies are seven or eight years old, and the mother is as pretty as a fifteen or sixteen little girl." ”

"Hugh is nonsense!" Liu Cheng hurriedly stopped Du Gu, and at this time the two had already passed through a corridor and arrived at the door of a side room. Du Gu hurriedly stepped forward and knocked on the door twice, and said in a low voice: "Mr. Zhao, my master is here!" ”

After a while, Liu Cheng thought that something had changed in the house, and a voice came from inside: "Come in, the door is hidden!" “

Liu Cheng stretched out his hand to push open the door, only to see that there was no light in the room, a man dressed in gray was facing away from him, standing facing the window, the moonlight was shining on his body, seeing that the back was Zhao Wende, he hurriedly smiled and said: "Lord Zhao, please Haihan if you are too far away to welcome the lazy!" “

"Where else is Lord Zhao!" Zhao Wende turned around and said with a wry smile: "There is only Monk Xuanci here, and there is no Lord Zhao anymore!" As he spoke, a ray of moonlight shone on his face, and he saw that his face was thin, his cheeks were sunken, and his face was full of wrinkles, as if he was more than ten years old.

Liu Cheng couldn't help but be dumbfounded: "Zhao, Zhao, Brother Wende, what's wrong with you?" “

"What's wrong?" Zhao Wende's cheek muscles twitched slightly, and his face was full of indescribable bitterness: "I don't know what's wrong, Lord Yang is dedicated to the country's society, the court, and the gentry of Shaanxi." But he ended up in prison and asked for death for his crimes. “

"What? Imprisoned, guilty and dead? Liu Cheng couldn't help but be dumbfounded, although he expected Yang He to go to work, but after all, the Ming army had not fought any defeat in Shaanxi, and even the mess that lost in Liaodong may not be considered dead, not to mention that Yang He should be said to have made certain achievements in Shaanxi, Yang Hao, who lost the battle of Salhu in the forty-seventh year of Wanli, was only executed in the second year of Chongzhen, when did the Ming court become so resolute.

"Not bad." Zhao Wende sneered: "The provincial minister impeached him for being cowardly and playing with cowardice, the minister played his thief and deceived him, the Son of Heaven hated him for delaying Western affairs, and the whole court wanted Lord Yang to die, how could he not die?" How can you not die? ”

"Brother Zhao!" Liu Cheng looked at Zhao Wende with some uneasiness, obviously the other party was a little too excited, he comforted in a low voice: "There are many dull people in the world, and there are few wise people, these things will naturally be revealed over time, and Lord Yang will naturally be able to avenge his grievances." “

"Really?" Zhao Wende sneered: "I don't think there are many dull people in this world, but there are many smart people, too many." Everyone is taking care of their own little benefits, and they are confused, don't you say, Lord Liu? “

"This-" Liu Cheng is not a fool, he can naturally hear that there is a thorn in Zhao Wende's words, what he said is that he got the letterhead from He Renlong that he was instructed by the people in the court to kill Shen Yikui and not to touch the mud, and re-triggered the Shaanxi people's uprising, but he refused to hand it over to Yang He and kept it for his own life. In Liu Cheng's own opinion, even if Yang He has this letter, he will not be able to solve the problem in Shaanxi, sooner or later it will be finished, it is better to save it for his own life; In Zhao Wende's view, Liu Cheng's behavior is clearly betraying his benefactor in order to protect himself, especially the promotion just now has become the best evidence for his speculation. These two views are just different positions, and there is no right or wrong, so Liu Cheng also felt that he couldn't tell the difference, so he simply kept silent.

Zhao Wende saw that Liu Cheng didn't distinguish between them, and the anger on his face gradually subsided, and in the end, only a miserable thing remained: "That's it, Lord Liu, although you take care of yourself, you can't blame you, killing people and setting fire to the gold belt, building bridges and paving roads without anyone to bury them, this is the way it is in this world." “

"Brother Zhao! What's next for you? “

"Intended?" Zhao Wende smiled bitterly: "I am dedicated to the country, but I end up like this, what else can I plan?" The Green Lantern Ancient Buddha lives in the world, just to see what kind of fate these guys end up with! “

"Brother Zhao!" Liu Cheng sighed and said, "Why do you want to be like this? I'm afraid Lord Yang doesn't want you to be like this. ”

Liu Cheng's words broke Zhao Wende's spiritual defense, and he turned his head, but with the help of the moonlight, Liu Cheng could still see tears sliding down his cheeks. Liu Cheng was about to say a few words of comfort to the other party, but there were two gentle knocks on the door outside. Liu Cheng walked to the door, instinctively grasped the handle of the knife on his waist with his right hand, and asked, "Who is it?" ”

"Two masters, the concubine is here to deliver supper!"

A woman's voice came from outside the door, Liu Cheng let go of the handle of the knife and walked to the table and sat down, the door was pushed open, and a curling figure walked in, holding a tray in her hand, on which there were four or five dishes, presumably the supper she said. The woman stood in the dark, and Liu Cheng couldn't see what she looked like even if his eyes widened, only to see that one of her hands was like a porcelain dish on a tray, white and moist. The woman blessed them both, went to the table, and laid out the dishes one by one. (To be continued.) )

PS: Thank you for the book friends who voted for the monthly ticket, it's very powerful, Weber thanked me here, if you can, you can do more in the future, the results in other aspects are bad, and this book is a little bit out of the way.