When Liu He entered the mansion, he happened to meet Han Fu, Zhao Gai and Qi Zhou and others walking out.

"Han Zhou Mu, Zhao Beijia, Qi Zhizhong, why did the three of you come to the house together today?" Liu He jumped out of the carriage and greeted the three of them.

When the three of them saw that it was Liu He who returned, they immediately showed a relieved expression, and they stepped forward in turn to salute Liu He, and then Zhao Cai said: "The eldest prince suddenly disappeared in Jicheng for more than a month, and seeing that the New Year is approaching, he can't find you, so Han Zhoumu had to take me and Qi Zhizhong to visit Lord Taifu, and I want to ask for instructions on how to handle the New Year Festival in the state this year." ”

Liu He thought for a moment and said, "It turns out that it is for this matter, you are not in a hurry to leave, and after I enter the house to discuss with my father, I will give you an answer immediately." ”

After Liu He said this, he went to Liu Yu's office in the middle courtyard like a gust of wind, while Guo Jia accompanied Han Fu and the other three to drink tea and wait in the living room in the front yard.

"Father, the boy is back!" Liu He came to Liu Yu's study excitedly, with joy on his face.

"Look at the smugness on your face, this visit to the north went well?" Liu Yu's face was gentle, neither excited nor distant, in line with his usual style.

Liu He then made a concise report to Liu Yu about the process of this trip, and as for what he did in Juyong County, he avoided the important and passed by lightly.

It's not that Liu He wants to deliberately hide anything from Liu Yu, just because his methods and methods for dealing with Wuhuan people are a little different from Liu Yu's approach, and many things should not be too publicized before the results are out, Liu He simply did not tell Liu Yu the truth for the time being, and then reported to his father in detail when the opportunity was ripe.

After Liu Yu listened, he nodded approvingly and said: "Shiren only watched and didn't do anything on this trip, and understood the truth that the superior does not have to intervene in everything, and he is very happy for his father." You can personally go to Juyong Pass to appease Otun and the guards and live with them for a few days, and you can also do a good job. In the future, your position in the eyes of these soldiers will be secured. ”

"Isn't Father worried that the child will poach your veterans away?" Liu He asked jokingly.

Liu Yu didn't care at all, and said with a smile: "Your father doesn't like those things like fighting and killing, if Wei Dun and Zhang Zan can be subdued by you in the future, it will save me from worrying!" ”

Being able to stand up to such a generous and tolerant father, Liu He suddenly felt that it was also a very happy thing.

"Father, when the child entered the house just now, he saw Han Fu and a few people, chatted with them for a few words, and then left them in the front yard."

"Well, the three of them came to discuss with their father about the condolences and rewards to the officials in the city years ago, and advocated for their father to be thrifty. Try not to use too much of the state's reserves, but Han Fu advocated that this year be as rich as possible, so as to appease officials at all levels and big households in the city, after all, when defending Jicheng some time ago, the officials and big households in the city also made a lot of efforts. ”

"Can the father have the man calculate the difference between the two methods of doing it all by frugality and proper enrichment?" Liu He likes everything to speak with accurate numbers, and doesn't like vague words such as "probably", "about touching", and "seemingly", so he deliberately guides his father to pay attention to specific numbers and do more statistics and comparisons.

"I've already let a few of them calculate it on the spot, if it's by my standards. It can save about 50,000 yuan for the state. However, what Han Fu said also has a certain amount of truth, and now the state treasury has increased its revenue year after year, although most of it has been consumed in order to reorganize the armament war. But there is still a part of the balance, and the officials in the state also know this, so they ......"

Liu Yu said this, with a hesitant expression on his face.

"50,000 is not too much. But Youzhou is now the time to use money, and spending these 50,000 guan now is equivalent to killing a hen that can lay eggs and eat meat. Although it is a temporary relief, it will affect the daily eating of chicken in the future. Let me think about it, is there a way to get the best of both worlds? Liu He scratched the back of his head and said to himself.

"You think about it slowly, anyway, the money saved is for you." Liu Yu looked down irresponsibly at a rare bamboo slip collection borrowed from Cai Yong.

"Ha Lu Ha! Pregnant! After a while, Liu He slapped his thigh and came up with a way to save money.

On the evening of the same day, all the carpenters, carvers and lacquer craftsmen in Jicheng received a temporary notice, saying that the eldest prince urgently summoned everyone to work tomorrow, and the price was twice as high as usual, and those who were fast and skilled could receive three times the salary.

As soon as the craftsmen heard that the eldest prince was going to work and that there was still money to be paid, they responded to the call one after another, and came to the designated place early the next morning to gather.

That morning, Liu He summoned hundreds of craftsmen from the city on the construction site of Yenching University, which had already broken ground. He concealed from Scholar Cai that he transferred a batch of high-quality cypress wood from the reserve timber warehouse of the construction school, and asked the carpenters to urgently make a batch of vertical planks six inches wide and one foot two inches long. After the carpenters made these wooden plaques, the carvers who were guarding the side copied and carved several pieces of white silk with handwriting provided by Liu He, and made a vertical plaque engraved with yang characters. The lacquermakers took the plaques that had been formed, painted them with bright red lacquer, and then baked them to dry.

I saw that these plaques were engraved with words such as "supporting the army and giving preferential treatment to family members", "diligent and honest public servants", and "model businessmen", which seemed to be some words of praise.

Liu He worked for almost five days, and finally made nearly 1,000 plaques with similar appearances on the 25th day of the lunar month. At this time, in Jicheng, the atmosphere of the New Year's Festival has been very strong, many officials and big families in the city are stretching their necks to wait for the movement in the Taifu Mansion, they feel that even if the Taifu Lord picks the door again this year, it is time to "express" it. A few years ago, the state was so poor, and everyone could still get dozens or hundreds of catties of pickled horse meat during the Chinese New Year!

Early in the morning of the 26th day of the lunar month, the state officials who had received the notice happily came to the front yard of the Taifu Mansion, waiting for the summons and rewards of the Taifu Mansion.

According to the level of their positions, these officials in the state who have followed Liu Yu for many years lined up from the front yard to the middle courtyard, and then walked out of the door happily holding a vermilion plaque after a while.

The officials who didn't go in later blocked the first out, and then gathered around to see what the mystery was on this plaque, which could make everyone so happy.

"Diligent government and love the people?"

"A diligent servant?"

"Supporting the army?"

"Just such a small plaque sent us away? What about the benefits of good luck? "Everyone talked about it.

"Shhhh The eye sockets are also shallow! Don't you see that the words on this plaque are from the handwriting of Master Taifu? The state issued dozens of dollars and divided into several bags of grain and meat, can it be compared with this heavy plaque? As long as I hang like this at the door of my house, the whole family will have a light on my face in the future! Let's go, everyone, get out of the way, I have to hurry home and hang up on the door! ”

The official, who was holding a sign of "diligent government and love the people" in his hand, shook his head and walked away very proudly, which made a group of colleagues in the rear begin to blush.

"Hurry up and go in, don't listen to Yang Xiao's tricks! He left in a hurry, because he was going to lead sheep and pick servants in the northern military camp! The hand is fast, the hand is slow. I can't let Yang Jintao pick up the good guys......" An official who followed Yang Xiao out, also holding a sign in his hand, was also in a hurry, and kindly reminded his colleagues as he walked.

"Huh?!" Everyone exclaimed, and secretly scolded Yang Xiao in their hearts for not being a thing.

It turned out that Liu He's solution was to have a large number of praise plaques made, and then Liu Yu, Han Fu, Zhao and others personally presented them to the state officials, the gentry and merchants in the city. In line with the principle of giving priority to spiritual rewards and supplementing them with material rewards, Liu Yu allowed some officials with particularly outstanding performance to go to the northern military camp to lead a sheep and a Wuhuan slave home. Inferior in performance were sheep and no slaves. If the performance is first-class again, there is only a plaque, which should be a consolation reward.

Liu Yu was responsible for summoning officials in the palace and awarding "medals", while Liu He sat in the northern military camp and waited for the officials to lead sheep and pick slaves according to the pre-drawn list. The 100 head of bullock is a very scarce agricultural material, and Liu He himself is reluctant to slaughter one to eat beef for the New Year, so other officials don't even think about it. The 500 war horses belong to the strategic materials that are absolutely strictly controlled, except for a small part of Liu He who is retained for other purposes, and the rest are to be incorporated into the army.

Liu He was so whole, the 50,000 guan money in the treasury was saved, although he lost more than 100 fat sheep and hundreds of Wuhuan slaves, but these were all obtained by him from that building, and the value was far less than 50,000 guan, which can be said to be a great saving of expenses.

Han Fu was mainly responsible for awarding plaques of "moral housekeeping" to the gentry and large families in the city, while Zhao Gai and Qi Zhou presented plaques of "supporting the army and giving preferential treatment" to the merchants and craftsmen with outstanding performance in the city.

The gentry in the city actually didn't care about the New Year's benefits issued by the state, but cherished the wooden plaque written by Liu Yu himself, and every family wrapped it in red silk, and then hung it on the lintel with joy.

As for those ordinary people who have won the plaque of "Supporting the Army", they can go to the North Military Camp tomorrow to choose a Wuhuan slave as a reward.

Liu He was busy in the northern military camp, and suddenly Shi A ran in with his eyes squeezed, and whispered to him: "Childe, Miss Cai suddenly came to the barracks, and now she is pestered by Xu Sima, looking at her, she seems to be very unhappy." ”

"Why is Akihime here? Let Xu Huang lead her in, I'm going to ask who provoked her! Liu He threw away the pen in his hand and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Hmph, it's you who provoked me!" Before Cai Yan's people entered the house, the crisp voice floated in first.

Xu Huang followed closely behind Cai Yan, looking at Liu He innocently, and the meaning in his eyes was clear: Son, don't blame me, I dare to stop others, Miss Cai is your daughter-in-law who has not passed the door, I dare not offend......

Shi A glanced at Xu Huang, and the two of them walked out, and by the way, they also dragged the two guards at the door. (To be continued......)