Section IV

"Where did the grain go?" Ge Yi just smiled bitterly: "War is a bottomless pit, hundreds of thousands of troops have been stationed in the Qinglu Mountains for a long time, even no matter how much food can't withstand such a toss, where can they go?" I was requisitioned by the army, and now the court has no food, so I reached out to ask us for food. ”

Wu Ming thought for a while and said: "It's wartime, isn't it enough for the imperial court to add wartime taxes?" ”

When the Queen Mother added wartime taxes, Wu Ming also wrote against it, but although Xianzhuang was a woman, she was strong and resolute, and she was very assertive, but she still insisted on going her own way. Wu Ming also knew that Xianzhuang was very jealous of himself, even if he said a lot, the other party might not be able to take care of it, so he didn't bother to worry about it, and the matter was over.

"Enough, how?" Ge Yi's face had a bitter smile even thicker: "If it is really enough, with the character of Tang Dudu, he will not let the refugees wander around and ignore them." ”

Tang Xuan was released as the governor of Nanyang Province by the household servant five years ago, and it seemed that he was demoted, but in fact he was not. As early as a few years ago, the imperial court was very nervous about food, and the queen mother put him in Nanyang, a large grain-producing province, in the hope that Tang Xuan could operate well and solve problems for the imperial court. But now it seems that even Tang Xuan is a little skilled.

Wu Ming thought for a while and said, "A million stones? Do we have it? ”

Hearing Wu Ming's meaning, he really had the intention of lending Tang Xuan grain, Ge Yi was greatly surprised: "Grandpa, one million stones is not a small amount, don't be a good person." ”

One million stones is not a small amount, but listening to the meaning of Ge Yi's words, there must be such a sum of food. Seeing Ge Yi looking at him nervously, Wu Ming couldn't help but smile bitterly: "With Brother Tang's character, if you don't reach the end of the mountains and rivers, you will never ask for my Zhongxi." If you don't give this food, you will starve to death. Besides, didn't he say it, it's borrowing, it's not that he won't pay it back, I still trust his character. ”

"Also, what to take? Tang Dudu's character, I can also trust it, but wars and wars, in the past few years, the court has been fighting, and taxes have been collected until the year after tomorrow, this is a huge hole, we lend him grain, God knows when to pay it back. With the body of the Tang Dudu, I can't imagine that day is gone, and the court will not admit it, who will we go to? ”

Hearing Ge Yi say this, Wu Ming was startled, and said, "What's wrong with Brother Tang's body?" ”

Tang Xuan's health has not been good, and the last time the two met can be traced back to five years ago, which was on the eve of the Lantern Festival, when Tang Xuan went to Nanyang to take up a post and brought his family to resign to him. Before leaving, Tang Xuan's body was like a waning day, and he coughed frequently. In the past few years, although the two have exchanged letters, most of them are just routine greetings, and Wu Ming has also asked about his physical condition, but Tang Xuan has always been vague. This time, even Ge Yi made it clear that his physical condition seemed to be really bad.

Ge Yi shook his head and said: "It's not good, it's not good, a middle-aged man, like an old man with a sixtieth birthday, he gasped for a few words with me, how good can he be?" ”

The war has squeezed out the last bit of effort of this former relict minister, how long will it last? Thinking of the big brother Tang who was dedicated to the people, Wu Ming's heart hurt even more, and he also knew that if Tang Xuan wrote a letter to ask for it in person, most of the food would be available, but in this way, it was inevitable that he would be suspected of coercing him to repay the favor. And going to Liao Gang privately to borrow food, doing official business, and returning it afterwards will not make it difficult for him.

Thinking of this, Wu Ming said: "Brother Ge, it is different from Huaiying, Tang Dudu is dedicated to the public, he came to ask for food, he must really want to do something practical for the victims, this million stone grain, just lend it to Nanyang Province." ”

"No," Ge Yi flatly refused, he was already a stubborn temper and only admitted death. Once he thinks he is right, even the sky can poke a hole, when he was still a slave of the Zhao family, in the face of the 100,000 army of the Southern Barbarians, he even dared to grab the head of Zhao Fei hanging at the head of Xinhe City, what else did he dare not say or do? Seeing Wu Ming's ugly face, he settled down and persuaded bitterly: "Grandpa, you have a very personal relationship with Tang Dudu, and your subordinates also know it." But don't you often say that we need to distinguish between public and private. Tang Dudu's character, naturally he has nothing to say, but he borrowed grain to relieve the victims here, and used surplus grain to support the imperial court there, isn't this a disguised use of our grain to fill the bottomless pit on the front line? ”

When he drove Huai Ying away just now, Wu Ming praised him a lot, and he was secretly happy. But in the blink of an eye, Wu Ming's indiscriminate people had another attack, and one million stone of grain was borrowed when he said he would borrow it. This really made Ge Yi cry and laugh, this Dingguo Gong is good at everything, but he is a little soft-hearted, after so many years, his personality has not changed. But it is precisely because of this that when you work under him, you feel at ease, because this kind of lord has a broad mind, as long as you are conscientious and do not turn your back on him, he will never do anything to you to kill the donkey.

Wu Ming was speechless. What Ge Yi said is the truth. He thought for a while before he said: "Brother Ge, in the past few years, the imperial court has spent a lot of money on the north, so that the people are not able to make a living. This is caused by the Queen Mother's reckless force, but thinking about it on another level, it is precisely because of this that Li Tie was pressed north of the Qinglu Mountains and did not dare to move, so we had five years to recuperate. From this point of view, it is also the merit of the imperial court's use of troops, the so-called drinking water and thinking of the source, he Deng Ge guarded the south bank of the Tianqing River, and still knew that he contributed horses to repay my kindness, if I ignore the Tang Governor, wouldn't it be as good as Deng Ge? Therefore, for public and private purposes, this million grain has to be borrowed. ”

After lending grain to the imperial court, the imperial court used troops against the north, so that China and the West had enough time to develop. When Ge Yi thought about it, his heart was a little smoother. Besides, Wu Ming is the master of China and the West after all, he wants to borrow grain, can he really disobey his orders? Thinking of this, he muttered, "Alas, grandpa, I can't tell you, so let's borrow food." However, Tang Dudu had to write a voucher that this million grain had to be returned. ”

"Yes, according to Brother Ge." Wu Ming suddenly laughed.

With the current situation of the imperial court, this million stone grain is lent out, and if you want to return it, you don't know the year of the monkey. The so-called IOU is just an excuse for Ge Yi to deceive himself and find comfort. However, with such an IOU, in the future, she will ask Shangxianzhuang for food, and with her character of dying to save face, Wu Ming is quite looking forward to how she will deal with it.

After dealing with these, it was already evening, Wu Ming rubbed his somewhat drowsy head, and prepared to go out for a walk. As soon as I walked to the door, I heard someone say in a loud voice: "Scared, you people are so unreasonable, we are also friends of Dingguogong, why can they enter, I can't enter." ”

The housekeeper Lao Li explained: "Since the general is a friend of the old man, then, please show the invitation to the old man, as long as there is an invitation, the little old man will definitely welcome the general into the mansion to atone for his sorrows." ”

Lao Li is the former account office of the Prime Minister's Mansion, and he is also one of the old people who waited for Zhu Yuqing. Dingguo Gongzhi is like governing the army, and strictly orders his subordinates not to be domineering or bullying others. However, after being pestered for so long, although Lao Li said politely, he was already a little impatient in his tone.

The person who is entangled has a serious Iwagawa accent, and it is none other than Koe. Since following Jian Feiyang to Panchuan, Xiao Jiang has lived a very nourishing life in the past few years, and he is already the head of the first battalion, if it weren't for his stinky mouth, it is estimated that he would have been promoted. Jian Feiyang is also a person who knows how to repay his kindness, and once wanted to transfer him to his account, but Xiao Jiang refused, on the grounds that his family was from the Deng Ge tribe. The Deng Ge Department is now guarding the south of the Tianqing River, if he really takes up his post under Jian Feiyang, it will be difficult to even see his wife and children a few times a year, and this is not the life that Xiao Jiang expects.

As soon as he heard Xiao Jiang's voice, Wu Ming couldn't help but wonder, how did this big mouth come to Tingya, could it be Tingya who came with Deng Ge? Just as he was thinking about it, Xiao Jiang muttered again: "Come all the way, what are the invitations, you old man is really, just go in and tell your grandfather." ”

Lao Li said patiently: "General, didn't the little old man say it, my lord is handling official business......

Xiao Jiang was impatient: "Deal with official business, deal with official business, it's been so long, you old man, you must be coaxing me ......" He chattered endlessly, and saw a figure turn out of it, Xiao Jiang greeted him with a surprised face: "Oh, grandpa, you finally came out, and now I want to see you, it's so difficult, I can't wait until my feet are numb." ”

In fact, with his current status, although it is a little difficult to meet Wu Ming, it is not as exaggerated as he said. It's just that today is Wu Ming's youngest son's gift of catching Zhou, and he has dealt with a lot of things after he finishes, so it has been delayed so far.

After becoming a lieutenant, Xiao Jiang's spoken language has also improved greatly, but he still has the dialect of the Iwagawa area, Wu Ming listened, and felt a trace of guilt while being cordial: "I'm sorry, Xiao Jiang, Lao Li was right just now, he did deal with something and made you wait for a long time." ”

As soon as he saw that it was Wu Ming, all of Xiao Jiang's unhappiness was thrown into the Jiyu Forest, but he replied without a mouth: "It's okay, it's okay, it's up to your subordinates to wait for you......"

Looking at Xiao Jiang, who nodded and bowed, Wu Ming was not only amused, but also a little strange: "By the way, you came to me today, what is the matter?" ”

"That's right," Xiao Jiang was a little embarrassed: "My mother-in-law heard that I was going to follow General Deng to the north bank to meet my grandfather, and asked me to meet you no matter what, and ask for a name for my newborn baby." ”

Another begging for a name? But it's okay to choose a name, to prove that people respect you and respect you, Wu Ming was overjoyed and said: "Ha, Xiaojiang, you also have a child, boy or girl?" ”

"Thanks to Grandpa, it's a big fat boy," Xiao Jiang laughed so hard that his mouth was almost closed: "Before I left, the child was only born for ten days, calculate the time, and now it's just a full moon, hehe, now ask Grandpa for a name, I hope to be better than him in the future." ”

When it came to the name, Wu Ming's heart moved: "By the way, Xiao Jiang, I haven't asked you for your name yet?" ”

When the Southern Expeditionary Army was defeated, Wu Ming knew this big mouth, calculating the time, the two have known each other for more than ten years, but due to the disparity in the identities of the two sides, Wu Ming has always been called Xiao Jiang and Xiao Jiang, as for the full name of the other party, he has never asked.

Xiao Jiang pursed his lips and said, "Like us, unless the leader gives a name, then there may be a name." In the past, my old man traveled from south to north, and he was considered to have some knowledge, but he gave me a name, but he didn't use it for a long time. ”

Wu Ming suddenly became interested: "Oh, what is the name, can you tell me about it?" ”

"Hey," Xiao Jiang Han said with a smile: "It's called Jiang Shi, the old man said that giving birth to a baby should be as hard as a stone, so that it is easy to feed." ”

"Poof!"

Wu Ming couldn't help laughing, and laughed first: "It turned out to be called Jiang Shi, which is indeed a bit popular, it seems that I will have to call you Xiao Jiang in the future, so it looks kind." ”

Xiao Jiang scratched his head, and laughed along: "Grandpa told me to do anything, as long as you are always happy." But grandpa, my subordinates are also a lieutenant now, and if the child is like me and doesn't have a name, it would be too old-fashioned. ”

"Name?" Wu Ming groaned: "Let's call Jiang Lei, the stone life is hard, the three stones together, the life is harder, I hope that when the child grows up, he will be as brave as his father and share worries for the country." ”

Xiao Jiang said happily: "Jiang Lei, Jiang Lei!" Ha, Grandpa is worthy of being a learned person, this name is good, thank Grandpa for the name. ”