Meng Tian's reaction surprised Wang Mang.

Meng Tian glanced at Feng Tang and knew what Wang Mang was doing, and bluntly said the problem directly, then this matter seemed interesting.

Wang Mang glanced at Meng Tian and said, "Since you already know what I came here to do with you, then you can tell me." ”

Meng Tian glanced at Feng Tang and said, "Lord Feng, you are the commander of the clouds, so you should talk about this matter first." ”

Feng Tang was stunned for a moment and said, " Since Dingbei Hou asked me to say, then I said, I arrived in Cloud City, and soon found that the commercial trade of Cloud City is very bleak, and compared to the bleak on the surface, the black market in Cloud City is very lively, the news in the black market is rampant, smuggling is rampant, according to the preliminary investigation, the business circulation on the bright side of Cloud City is almost zero, but the private business circulation is extremely developed and not weaker than the Central Plains population of millions of cities, I carefully investigated the reason, and found that one of the reasons for this situation is that sand thieves are rampant, sand thieves block the trade routes, and merchants can not safely trade goods from Cloud City, so most of them chose secret channels to do these businesses, they are used to doing business in the dark, so the first thing I did after I found out about this matter was to find out that Beihou you borrowed a team of soldiers and horses to clear the sand thieves near Cloud City. ”

"Lord Feng's move has gained a lot of money, and more than a dozen sand bandit forces near Cloud City have been wiped out by Lord Feng recently. Meng Tian echoed on the side.

"But after exterminating these sand pirates, I found that the trade routes were not opened. Feng Tang said: "I investigated carefully and found that the sand thieves are not simple, the black market is not simple, and even the Dingbei Hou Mansion is not simple. ”

"Lord Feng has found out that my Dingbei Hou Mansion is related to sand thieves, and it is related to the black market?" Meng Tian said.

"Yes. Feng Tang nodded and said, "Not to be exact, but I have found a lot of signs, all of which have something to do with the Dingbei Hou Mansion, isn't this matter strange?"

"It's not strange, the Dingbei Hou Mansion does have something to do with this matter. "Meng Tian said generously.

Feng Tang looked startled, stood directly beside Wang Mang, looked at Meng Tian and said, "What do you mean?"

Meng Tian looked at Feng Tang and asked, "This sentence should be because I asked you, what does Lord Feng mean, so guarding against me, is it because you are worried that I will be unfavorable to Your Majesty?"

Wang Mang waved his hand and said, "Feng Tang stepped back and Meng Tian spoke." ”

"Your Majesty can trust Meng Tian?" Meng Tian looked at Wang Mang and said.

"The Meng clan has guarded Yunzhong City for the Great Qin Town for many years, and has made great contributions, and has to be named the Marquis of the North, and will always be stationed in the northwest of Daqin, as the emperor of the Great Qin, how can I not believe in the Meng clan, General Meng Tian went to the battlefield at the age of three to kill the enemy for the Great Qin, and he has already made great achievements in the war before he was twenty years old, for decades, in this Cloud City, Dingbei City, eating sand and drinking the northwest wind, without a word of complaint, how can I not believe the general?" Wang Mang said.

Meng Tian looked slightly stunned, and kowtowed with a touched face: "Minister Meng Tian thank Your Majesty for your grace!"

"Dingbei Hou doesn't have to be like this, I'm not here to ask for guilt, I'm here to help you and Feng Tang clear up the misunderstanding. Wang Mang said: "You two are now the supreme commanders of the military and political affairs here in Yunzhong City, if you have a suspicion, then the northwest of Daqin will be in danger." ”

Meng Tian was silent, and Feng Tang arched his hand towards Meng Tian and said, "Dingbei Hou, I believe in your character, but some words are better to say clearly." ”

"It's fine. Meng Tian said: "Today coincides with Your Majesty being here, so it is better to explain these things together." ”

After listening to this, Meng Tian looked at Feng Tang and said, "Lord Feng, do you know how much it costs a year to spend here in Cloud City?"

"More than 100,000 taels of silver a year. Feng Tang said.

"More than 100,000 taels?" Meng Tian shook his head and said, "That's Lord Feng, you only calculated the cost of civil affairs in Cloud City, not the cost of military affairs. ”

After a pause, Meng Tian continued: "My Great Qin implements the policy of stationing troops, using war to feed the war, and the soldiers work to support themselves, but if this bitter cold land in the northwest is lacking in resources and the environment is harsh, even if my soldiers are all good hands in the crop fields, it is impossible for them to cultivate the land to support themselves while ensuring their combat effectiveness, has Lord Feng ever thought about this?"

"Dingbei City has the most fertile land in Cloud City, and I have carefully investigated, there are farmers who specialize in agricultural production, so why do soldiers need to work themselves. Feng Tang retorted.

"Adults are talking about the present, not the past. Meng Tian said: "Everything you see now is Dingbei City today, Cloud City today, what you see is not Dingbei City ten years ago, let alone Dingbei City a hundred years ago, a hundred years ago, where we are standing now, except for a few stones piled up Dingbei Hou Mansion, there is nothing else, yellow sand everywhere." ”

"This ......," Feng Tang said silently.

"My lord is in charge of civil affairs, I don't know the military, anyway, there are no outsiders here, Meng Tian handed over to everyone, in this Dingbei City, there are 300,000 standing soldiers, and the cost of eating and drinking Lazar alone is not less than one million taels of silver a year, in addition to personnel costs, there are also equipment replacements, city wall construction and other expenses, it can be said that since I inherited the Dingbei Hou Mansion, Dingbei City's annual military expenditure has never been less than two million taels of silver. Meng Tian said lightly: "This is still our Dingbei Province to do it by frugality, in order to spend the silver where it is most needed, there are no wine shops, no restaurants in Dingbei City, and there are no places where all the money can be spent, this is a fortress, a military fortress standing in the northwest of Great Qin." ”

After a pause, Meng Tian said: "Great Qin's finances have always been tight, and the treasury income for the whole year of these years is only five or six million taels of silver, and the amount that can be allocated to me is only one or two hundred thousand taels of silver, which can be said to be a drop in the bucket. ”

"So the Dingbei Hou Mansion has become the behind-the-scenes boss of the smuggling in Cloud City?" Wang Mang said.

"Nope. Meng Tian shook his head and said: "The men of Dingbei Hou Mansion are all men on the battlefield, don't do this kind of business, let alone black market trade, about a hundred years ago, the combat power of Dingbei Hou Mansion weakened to the point that it was almost impossible to maintain, in order to maintain combat power, for the stability of the northwest of Great Qin, the then Dingbei Hou agreed to the conditions of the black market in Yunzhong City at that time, and turned a blind eye to the black market, and the black market sponsored the Dingbei Hou Mansion every year for training 200,000 taels of silver, which has gradually increased to 1.5 million taels in recent years. ”

"So you Dingbei Hou Mansion gave the public weapon to the black market?" Feng Tang sneered: "When you took the 200,000 taels, do you remember that you are the guardian of the people of Great Qin?"

"It's because I remember, so Cloud City can't be lost!" Meng Tian said categorically: "Under that circumstance at that time, Cloud City at that time could only make this choice. ”

"And now?" Feng Tang sneered, "Does the Dingbei Hou Mansion continue to turn a blind eye to the black market?"

(End of chapter)