Wu Jing's eyes flickered: "Your Majesty, what do you mean...... Do we still have a chance? ”

"I don't know." Shi Rui's brows were furrowed tightly, and at this moment his heart was full of entanglement and self-blame: "The textile technology of the deer clan is unique in the world. Before me, the lion kings of the past generations have waged wars against the deer tribe more than once, and they have also been captured by a large number of deer tribes. We have enough weavers and enough land to grow cotton and hemp. But the problem is that cloth production has not been able to rise...... There is really no better way than to exchange grain with the deer tribe every year. ”

Wu Guo persuaded in a low voice: "This is a good complement of resources, they need food, we need cloth, and they can be regarded as taking what they need." ”

"That's not what I'm trying to say." Shi Rui raised his head and glanced at his old friend Guoshi, who was sitting opposite: "In this transaction, it is indeed us who have the upper hand. I have been using various methods to suppress cloth prices, which in turn have raised food prices. But there must be a balance in this, not to let the deer people earn more, nor let them get too little, otherwise it will cause famine within the deer people, and we will not get anything at that time. ”

"There is only a superficial alliance between us and the Tigers. We need horses, they need food. Hu Yao was a shrewd man, and he repeatedly joined forces with the Deer Clan to put pressure on us and force me to lower the price of food. He was an unlikable guy, but he was more or less supportive of the monetary system I proposed and was willing to accept tokens. ”

"I was negligent...... When the Ox Clan captured Broken Horn City, I should send troops to attack from the direction of Fangs City to relieve the pressure of the war on the Deer Clan. At that time, I was thinking about the size of the troops, and the time. There's no way around it, it's hard to attack Rock City from Fangs. The road is long, and it is difficult to walk, the logistical pressure is very high, and it is difficult to say to what extent. After all, the Deer Clan is a big clan, and the Niu Clan has not declared a full-scale war on them, just a small Thunder Cattle Division, no matter how you look at it, it is a small and big one. Even if the Niu people occupy Broken Horn City, it may only be the beginning of defeat, and then they will have to face a full-scale counterattack by as many as hundreds of thousands of Deer Clan's army. ”

Wu Guan turned over the memory of more than a year ago from the depths of his mind, and he said with a solemn expression: "The speed of the Niu people is very fast. It's not your Majesty's fault, I didn't expect them to capture White Deer City in such a short period of time and force the desperate Deer King to cease fighting. Now that I think about it, the cattle clan ...... at that time No, it should be the Thunderhorn Division, their war potential should be at its limit, and they must temporarily pause to digest the results that have been achieved. ”

Shi Rui said sullenly: "Yes, I didn't expect the war to end so soon. At that time, the Deer people only had one Stag City left, and then there was Red Moon City, a fortress on the southern border. If we had sent troops to attack Rock City a week earlier, it would not be the situation we are in now. ”

Wu Guo saw the reality clearly, and he couldn't help but shudder: "Your Majesty, the pig clan and the deer clan are no longer there, and our food ...... Who will you sell it to later? ”

Shi Rui raised his head and looked at him in silence.

Everyone is a smart person, and some things don't need to be said so clearly.

Without buying and selling, no money would be produced.

Without a large enough business circle, it is impossible to generate enough profits.

Whether it is the pig clan who exchange their heads for food, or the deer clan who trade cloth for cloth, they are all important customers of bulk grain trading.

But because he was too smart, the Lion King didn't pay attention to the war between the Niu Clan and the Pig Clan, thinking that Tianhao's act of annexing the Pig Clan was self-defeating.

If it's just a mistake in this step, it's still too late to correct it later. However, the Lion King wants to seek greater benefits through tribal warfare, so he sits idly by and ignores the Deer Clan who have lost the fortress of Broken Horn City, and wants to wait until the war between the two clans is in a stalemate before taking action. is like the fisherman who didn't jump out until the end in the competition between the snipe and the clam competition, and the benefits on both sides were soft.

If you think of the Lei Niu as a sandpiper, the deer clan is undoubtedly the poor mussel. However, the shell of this mussel was not hard enough, and it was pecked through by the ferocious sandpiper at once, and by the time the fisherman watching by the side was stupid to make a move, the sandpiper had already eaten all the mussel meat, absorbed sufficient nutrients from it, and evolved into a more fierce and powerful man-eating eagle.

Now, the Leonoth is in a very awkward situation.

There were a lot fewer customers in the past, and now only the Tiger Clan and the Eagle Clan are left. Of course, there is still business between dragons and leonins, but in terms of transaction volume, it has shrunk to a headache.

Now, the lack of silver content within the community has made everything even more chaotic.

"Let's solve the problem of tokens first!" Shi Rui calmed down and said lightly: "I will sign an edict later, emphasizing the legitimacy and value of the token." Whether it is gold or silver, or grain, in short, the merchant must do business as honestly as before. ”

Wu Guo is not optimistic about this: "Your Majesty, this is difficult to implement. There is too much opposition from below. ”

"Since it doesn't make sense, we will resolutely suppress it." Shi Rui showed a tough and cruel side: "Order the city guards everywhere to maintain order, arrest all those involved in the riot, and strictly screen them." Those who are the leaders will be killed, and the main coercion will be punished with flogging, exile, and house raids depending on the severity of the circumstances. ”

Wu Jing's face showed hesitation and fear at the same time: "Wouldn't this be too reckless?" I think it's better to talk to those businessmen first and listen to their opinions. ”

"Talk?" Shi Rui snorted coldly and shook his head: "What is there to talk about with them?" I know very well that they are thinking nothing more than taking the opportunity to exchange gold and silver, and then gain control of the market and the power to price goods. They are not as kind as you think, and many civilians are being coveted by them to ask for exchange. You have to understand that civilians don't have high material requirements, they only care about whether the tokens in their hands can be used or not. As for gold and silver...... In their eyes, it's no different from tokens. ”

Wu was convinced.

He nodded slightly: "Okay, just do as you say." Try it first and see how it works. ”

Repression is the least costly means of maintaining stability.

The Lion King saw it very thoroughly.

Of course, he can also get a lot of benefits from the dead through military repression.

……

To the north of the Tiger Clan's territory, Mighty Wind City.

A squad of heavily armed soldiers surrounded the witch grove and patrolled the chaotic streets.

Although the Dragons and the Tigers signed an armistice, and the Tiger King Yaoxian paid a sufficient amount of gold and silver as war reparations as agreed, the truce stated in the text was only five years, not forever.

Lifeng City is located to the south of Tiejaw City, and it is also one of the cities built along the Pantuo River system. According to the old territory before the war between the two clans, Lifeng City already belonged to the hinterland of the Tiger Clan, and it was still an extremely important grain production area.

Wu Lin put on his long-lost robes and wore a delicate silver tiger head badge on his chest.

This is the exclusive emblem of the national teacher.

Faced with a complicated situation, the anxious Hu Yaoxian was forced to use Wulin and reappointed him as the national teacher, with full responsibility for the people's livelihood in the country and the construction of a new defense line in the northern part of the territory.

In all fairness, Hu Yaoxian was not willing to do this at all. He knows the strength of Wulin, and he also knows that Wulin has a very high reputation among the people. However, reality always gives the ideal a heavy blow when it is needed most———— successive defeats, and a large number of refugees have fled south, which has caused a serious impact on the southern walled cities. These refugees have lost their basic means of subsistence, no land, no food, and worse, winter has come, and if they are not properly resettled, they can only freeze to death on cold winter nights.

When you feel jealous of someone, your previous kindness and friendship are instantly gone. Wu Lin was not Hu Yaoxian's first choice, and the persistent Tiger King first appointed his relatives to be responsible for disaster relief. However, a week has passed, and the situation of the refugees has not improved, and even fierce clashes have broken out with local civilians over food rations and other issues. There is much evidence that the quantity and quality of food rations have plummeted because of the greed of the royal family members in charge of the supplies, and the hungry refugees have no choice but to rush into the homes of local people and rob them violently.

The other is the "New Northern Defense Line Reconstruction Plan".

The fall of Tiger Prison had a ripple effect on the entire Tiger Clan. On the one hand, it is the loss of natural danger, and on the other hand, the new weapons and equipment and combat methods of the dragon clan are overwhelming. After the two sides paid compensation for the ownership of Ironjaw City and the Tiger Clan, Hu Yao and his commanders carefully studied the northern terrain and decided to reluctantly give up a large area of territory between Ironjaw City and Mighty Wind City, with Mighty Wind City as the core, relying on the nearby mountains, to build a new pass as soon as possible.

Wu Lin had already been appointed as a national teacher at that time, but out of vigilance, Hu Yao sent him to Yellowstone City first, only responsible for the resettlement and pacification of refugees, and did not let him interfere in the military.

"Own people" are very important, especially for military commanders and military engineering projects, and Hu Yao must use henchmen first.

Another member of the royal family was sent to the north to take charge of the construction project of the Lifeng Pass in the capacity of "military director". Two weeks later, Hu Yaoxian received three requests for additional allocation of materials required for the project. The reasons for this are good———— good rock must be used, the use of steel must be increased, and the standard of rations for workers must be raised.

Hu Yao was well aware of these so-called "reasonable requirements". This is a common method of corruption among members of the royal family. The additional allocation of materials can never be turned into a welfare for workers or a guarantee of the quality of the project. These relatives of their own can do any dirty thing for the sake of profit. As for the interests and security of the community as a whole...... I'm sorry, but this is the king's duty, and it has nothing to do with us.

After racking his brains and thinking about it, Hu Yaoxian reluctantly found that the only person who could use it was Wu Lin. It's not that his talent is unique in the entire high-level circle of the Tiger Clan, but Wu Lin has a reputation for personal conduct and integrity.

The situation in Mighty Wind City is even more chaotic than expected.

The fall of Ironjaw City gave the Tiger Clan higher-ups a glimpse of what a "landing battle" was. Because of his weakness in water warfare, Hu Yaoxian could only reluctantly give up a large area north of Mighty Wind City with a similar basic terrain to Iron Jaw City. Local civilians were forcibly relocated south. In the process, a large number of civilians went bankrupt, and the previous royal family members were in charge of the construction of the pass, and this person took the opportunity to scrape a huge profit from the civilians who moved south. By the time Wu Lin took office, Mighty Wind City, which originally had as many as 500,000 residents, had been filled, with a total population of more than 1.3 million.

Wu Lin has always been very serious in his work. It took him a day to calculate the data he had collected from all sides, and he came up with a total amount of food needed to sustain all the refugees in the city.

The first messenger was sent to Bloodclaw City to ask for rations, but the reply was "Bloodclaw City is not stockpiled with enough food, and if there is a problem, it will be solved according to the specific situation." ”

Wu Lin has followed Hu Yaoxian for many years, and his psychological grasp is extremely accurate.

There had been a scandal in which members of the royal family had used their power to enrich themselves, and with Hu Yaoxian's suspicious personality, he would definitely associate his request for increased food allocation. If it was changed before the war, even if Hu Yaoxian had an idea in his heart, his subjective consciousness would definitely be on his side. After all, Wulin has no bad deeds and is trustworthy.

It's different now, and the experience of being pushed down and pulled up again will definitely make Wu Lin complain. People change. In Hu Yaoxian's opinion, Wu Lin is very likely to become "smart" because of those things before. It is very likely that he will change his mind and choose to stand with the royal family and nobles.

It was a talisman. Only those who have tasted and experienced the pain will be desperate to escape and make the right choice.

Hu Yao first knew that there was a large influx of refugees from the abandoned areas to the north.

He knew exactly how long the city's reserves would last.

Of course, the daily rations of the workers are not included. That is the unified transportation, management, and distribution by the military. Even Wu Lin, who is the local military management director, cannot interfere, let alone embezzle.

There must be food in Bloodclaw, and there are plenty of them. Just after the autumn harvest, the grain taxes in various places have been paid, and the treasury of Bloodclaw City is full.

The thoughts of the superior are very complicated, and Hu Yaoxian's thoughts are even more special. He felt that he could take this opportunity to buy people's hearts and minds, and at the same time reduce the status of Wulin among the commoners———— temporarily withhold the allocation of food and grass, and let the people in Mighty Wind City starve for a while. With the character of Wulin, he will definitely not let the civilians have enough to eat. In the two branches of "reducing the share of rations to continue life" and "eating up all the food stocks in a short time", Wu Lin will only choose the first one.

People who don't have enough to eat will feel angry. They will definitely cause chaos in the city. Either smash and loot, or kill and kidnap people.

As long as the army is sent to escort the food to the city in time for the turmoil, and the "life-saving food sent by His Majesty the Tiger King" is trumpeted, the hungry civilians will naturally be grateful, and their support for them will also reach the peak.

What a wonderful picture it is, and just thinking about it makes people feel excited.

As long as you control the army and control the hearts of the people, no matter how big the trouble is, it will not be a problem.

This is what Hu Yaoxian thought.

Unfortunately, he didn't know that Wu Lin, who was far away in Mighty Wind City, had seen through everything.