When Wei Ba left the Wei family's manor early in the morning, there were twenty big men standing at the gate of the manor, each carrying a package on his back, carrying a ring knife and bow and arrow at his waist, and holding a step spear, the waist pole was as straight as the spear in his hand. Dunwu stood in front of them, his face was happy, and as soon as he saw Wei Ba coming out of the village, he greeted him and whispered, "Young master, those are the twenty warriors that Madame arranged for you." ”

Wei Ba glanced at those warriors and knew that these were the most elite warriors of the Wei family. When he set off from Chuyang, his father gave him twenty personal guards, and they all grew up from these soldiers, and now Mrs. Zhang arranged another twenty for him, which is the same number as his father, which is not only a love for him, but also a faint indication that her status in the family is the same as that of her father.

Wei Ba walked over, his gaze swept over the faces of the twenty warriors one by one, and nodded with satisfaction. He could see that these twenty soldiers should have all been on the battlefield, and the smell of iron and blood on their faces was very strong.

"What's out of the ranks!"

The two warriors took a step forward and replied loudly: "Shi Chang Tang Qianyu and Zhu Yi, meet the young master." ”

"Very good, you will follow me in the future, Dunwu is your superior."

Tang Qianyu and Zhu Yi glanced at each other, and saluted Dun Wu again: "Meet the Marquis of Dun Jun." ”

Although Dunwu was young, he was not stage frightened, and returned the salute calmly. Wei Ba asked the names of those soldiers one by one, and then ordered to set off. He learned the method of leading soldiers with his father Wei Yan and his master, and they all mentioned that they should be as familiar with their soldiers as possible, and being familiar with them is not only able to win people's hearts, but more importantly, when they are used in the future, they can know each person's strengths and weaknesses, and appoint them according to their aptitude. Now that time is tight, he can only ask for names, and when he has time, he has to contact them more to understand their abilities.

Mrs. Zhang not only gave Wei Ba twenty military guards, but also fifty sets of newly created armor from the Wei family. All of this armor was made using a modified steelmaking method, which was twice as light as ordinary armor and twice as strong as ordinary armor. Forty of them are naturally for these forty warriors, one set of Seiko is for Wei Ba himself, and the remaining sets are kept for him, which can be given as gifts in the future. For generals who lick blood with a knife head, there is a set of haode armor, which is a life-saving equipment.

Before this, Mrs. Zhang had sent fifty sets to the camp, but Wei Yan and Wei Feng were not sociable people, so far, only two sets were sent out, one set by Fu Xing, which was to repay him for saving Wei Ba's great kindness, and Zhao Yun's set, which was part of Wei Ba's apprenticeship, and even Zhao Guang did not get it.

Wei Ba and his mother Deng Shi, as well as Lan'er, the little girl who got up early in the morning to see him off, waved goodbye, and took forty soldiers and a large cart of gifts on the road to the dock by the river.

In the small building in the backyard of the Wei family's manor, Mrs. Zhang stood by the window, looking at Wei Ba in the distance without saying a word. She looked a little tired, as if she hadn't slept well last night. The maidservant Huan'er stood beside her, pursing her red lips and sulking. Last night, Mrs. Zhang thought about her thoughts for half the night, and she is still thinking about it, but she, the most caring person, doesn't know at all. This was the first time in her memory, no matter how important things Mrs. Zhang used to do, she would tell her more or less about them, and even discuss them with her. Only this time, Mrs. Zhang didn't even reveal a word to her.

So far, all she could guess was that this matter was related to Wei Ba, and it was very important, and nothing else was known.

……

At noon, Wei Ba waited for Zhuge Qiao's army at the riverside wharf in Nanzheng, got on his own boat, and after placing those soldiers, Wei Ba took Tang Qianyu and a set of armor to Zhuge Qiao's handsome ship to meet him. Zhuge Qiao was having lunch, not wearing battle armor, but wearing a regular uniform. There is no crown on his head, tied with a plain ribbon, and a plain silk coat, which is pure and elegant.

"Duwei is really like a fairy, which makes people look at it and disappear the smoke and dust." Wei Ba arched his hand and said half-truthfully.

Zhuge Qiao laughed with a "snort", squirted out half a mouthful of millet porridge, he wiped his mouth with a cloth towel, squinted at Wei Ba, and said with a smile: "The immortals don't eat the fireworks in the world, but I am eating, are you deliberately entertaining me?" ”

"How dare you." Wei Ba said solemnly: "Du Wei is different even if he eats porridge, and he has the air of dust. ”

"Whew!" Zhuge Qiao took a bite of him and beckoned, "Have you eaten it?" Come and sit together. ”

Wei Ba sat down, and there were guards serving lunch, Wei Ba didn't rush to move the chopsticks, and first signaled Tang Qianyu to send the armor up. Zhuge Qiao glanced at the armor, and then at Tang Qianyu. "Who is this, haven't seen it before?"

Wei Ba knew that Zhuge Qiao had a strong memory, and Zhuge Qiao knew all the people around him, although he might not be able to call him by name, but it was not the first time they met, and he could see it at a glance. Today, he specially asked Tang Qianyu to follow, which meant to let Zhuge Qiao know that there were more people around him. These people are his subordinates, and they can be regarded as private soldiers. Zhuge Qiao is not easy to call, but the food has to be allocated by Zhuge Qiao according to Jihua, and it is not okay to not notify him.

"This is because my mother was afraid that I would make a mistake, so she sent me an additional twenty guards. Tang Qianyu, don't you want to see the captain? ”

Tang Qianyu stepped forward and saluted, offering the new armor with both hands.

Wei Ba said: "This is the armor that my mother prepared for me, a new product made by my Wei family, a small gift, not a tribute." ”

Zhuge Qiao stroked the new armor, picked up the helmet, looked inside and out, and praised: "Ziyu, your master mother is really good to you, and the priceless high-grade armor is willing to be taken out and given away." I'm so ashamed. ”

Wei Ba smiled. Although this armor is not as expensive as the exaggeration, it is indeed a rare good thing. But Zhuge Qiao didn't know the truth, if he knew that the forty warriors around him each had a new armor, although the style was not so gorgeous, the practicality was not bad at all, I don't know what he would think.

"Thank you." Zhuge Qiao asked the guards to put away their armor, turned his head and said to Wei Ba: "Weishenme is in such a hurry to come back, aren't you going to Taishou Mansion to arrange grain and grass?" ”

"I have already arranged for Zhao Su, the chief bookkeeper of the Taishou Mansion, to prepare for this matter, and it will be shipped in half a month." Wei Ba explained: "Du Wei ......"

Zhuge Qiao interrupted Wei Ba's words: "Ziyu, there are no outsiders here, so you don't want to be a captain, do you want to remind me that your position is higher than mine?" ”

Wei Ba was a little embarrassed, if he really talked about his position, he was really a little higher than Zhuge Qiao when he joined the army. "That'...... Am I presumptuous? ”

"Hehe, when did you stop being presumptuous?" Zhuge Qiao smiled and waved his hand: "Okay, let's get down to business." ”

"That...... I made a preliminary estimate. There are now about 20,000 households in Hanzhong, and there are few people and many lands, so there is a lot of land distribution. After several years of reclamation, almost every household in the sky has 100 acres. Four stones per mu are collected, and the tax is taken at 30 to one, and the land rent in Hanzhong this year is about 270,000 stones, and there are 150,000 stones left after excluding the officials' salaries. An army of 5,000 needs 60,000 stones in half a year, which was not a problem originally, but ......"

Zhuge Qiao's eyes flashed: "How many stones is Jihua in the Prime Minister's camp?" ”

"130,000 stones."

Zhuge Qiao frowned: "So, it's definitely not enough for me?" ”

Wei Ba nodded. The most fundamental reason why it is difficult to fight a war is money and food. If this point is not restricted, then it can be requisitioned in large quantities and consumed by the tactics of crowds. But reality is reality after all, every time one more soldier is recruited, he must be responsible for one soldier's food, clothing, and ordnance, which one does not cost money? In fact, you can save a little, but you can't save food anyway. A soldier costs six liters of rice a day, one stone and eight buckets a month, and twenty-one stones a year. Hanzhong's field rent is only enough to raise 10,000 soldiers under normal circumstances, which is already the limit, or there is no war in peacetime, and there are 20% of the normal rotation rest, and you can go home to eat. If you are in service all year round, you can't afford to support these 10,000 people.

Now Prime Minister Zhuge has more than 100,000 troops stationed in Hanzhong, and the daily consumption of grain is nearly 10,000 stones, relying only on the grain in Hanzhong, at most half a month, and it is precisely because of this that Zhuge Liang wants to send Zhuge Qiao to Chengdu to transport grain. The distance is too long, the consumption is very staggering, and the burden of labor on the people along the way is even heavier. If it is stationed for a long time, then there is no need to fight, and the economy of Shu Han will collapse.

In fact, Zhuge Liang returned several times in vain, all because of the lack of food. He made several northern expeditions, and also dragged the economy of Shu Han into the quagmire, and there was no big battle in the hands of Jiang Wan and Fei Yi, and the economy eased somewhat, but later Jiang Wei was in power and launched wars year after year, and the economy of Shu Han was close to collapse, and the Shu people represented by Qian Zhou were willing to surrender, also because they couldn't support it.

Of course, the current economic situation is far from being so bad, there is still food, but it is certainly not enough to rely on the rent standard set by the law, and the people still have surplus grain in their hands, it depends on how you collect it, whether you increase the levy, or buy it with money.

"There are still more than 10,000 stones left in the granary of the Taishou Mansion in Hanzhong, which is definitely not enough. Do you think it will be levied locally, or will it be uniformly allocated by the prime minister? ”

"How much can I receive if I collect it on the spot? What is the approximate price? ”

Wei Ba breathed a sigh of relief, since Zhuge Qiao mentioned the price, it was not a forced increase, and his work was much easier. "Originally, after the prime minister's army arrived in Hanzhong, the price of grain rose a lot. However, the restoration of the Han Dynasty is a serious matter, I think the people will support it, with the previous market price, 80 yuan a stone, the purchase of 100,000 stones, should not be a problem. ”

Zhuge Qiao thought about it and nodded in agreement. "That's okay, I'll go to the Prime Minister's Mansion and ask the Prime Minister to transfer eight million money to the Taishou Mansion in Hanzhong. It's hard for you to negotiate with each family. ”

Wei Ba smiled: "This is originally my business, so what's the hard work." I have already agreed with Zhao Su that he can send food first to ensure that the food of the army is safe. ”

The corners of Zhuge Qiao's mouth were crooked, and he laughed: "It seems that my father asked you to be my army and be in charge of grain and grass, which is really the right person." ”

Wei Ba didn't laugh, he pondered for a moment, and said faintly: "Bo Song, it's not that I'm alarmist, this kind of thing can not be repeated." Once it blows up, and then declines, Sanke will be exhausted. Now that everyone has food in their hands and is full of confidence in the Prime Minister's Northern Expedition to the Central Plains, they will be willing to sell us grain. When the food is scarce, they are not so generous. "———— off the list of new books, all kinds of data have dropped, ask for help! Recommend, Favorite, Click, I want it all!