My whole person froze, and I sank down and asked the evil thirteen: Have you been to the Yellow River Ancient Gate?

Evil Thirteen denied: "I haven't been, but I once tried to covet the world behind the ancient gate against the sky, but I was beaten back by a guard, and I almost lost my life, the smell of the guard is very familiar to me, and it is very close to what the old man put in your body." ”

"The world behind the ancient gate."

I fell into deep thought and asked Evil Thirteen, "What kind of world is that?" ”

Evil Thirteen smiled bitterly: "I haven't been there, I just know that it is a place exiled by the Heavenly Dao, but it seems that this is just everyone's speculation, after all, no one has ever been there, and the ancient gate has never really been opened, it is all speculation out of thin air, and it can't be true." ”

I nodded thoughtfully, feeling a slight firelight not far away, and when I raised my head, I saw that the dart boat of the Luoyan Dart Bureau was stopping at the fork of the river not far away.

After the two boats were handed over, I stepped onto the dart boat and asked Boss Jiang, "Has General Wu come out?" ”

Boss Jiang nodded, stretched out his backhand, and was holding my black sword that had been detained in the county lord's mansion in his hand, and said, "General Wu asked the adults to leave quickly, and there can be no delay for a moment." ”

"Let's go, then."

As soon as he finished speaking, Boss Jiang hesitated and said: "General Wu also said that on the way back, try to avoid the water dividing pass, and before the Lord Wu makes a decision, don't have any direct contact with him, the stakes are very high, and you should think more before acting." ”

I was stunned when I heard this: "Well, then do as he says." ”

At night, and with the convenience arranged by General Wu, the dart boat left the patrol range of the county lord's mansion before dawn, stayed overnight, and galloped towards Luoyan Town.

Cautious along the way, it was already the fourth day after leaving the county lord's mansion when the boat arrived at Luoyan Town without docking, and it took twelve days to go back and forth to do errands, saving three days than planned.

As soon as he returned to the ferry port of Luoyan Town, he hurriedly ordered someone to carry the eldest aunt to the bamboo forest and handed it over to the grass king to treat her injuries as soon as possible, and then met with the seventh aunt to understand the dynamics of the town these days.

But Aunt Seven avoided talking about these things, and told me about an issue that is most important at the moment, or directly related to the future development of Luoyan Town: money.

The soldiers and horses did not move, and the grain and grass went first.

There were not many people in Luoyan Town before, and it has been in a state of self-sufficiency for a long time, but now with the rapid increase in population, and the increase in the number of troops, as well as the endless wars, the problem of insufficient money and food has been fully exposed.

I was sweating profusely when I listened, and then I realized that I hadn't paid attention to this since I came to the ancient road, and I thought for a while and asked, "What kind of money do you use?" ”

"Silver, gold, and five emperor coins." Aunt Seven replied.

I nodded, "Luoyan Town includes several surrounding towns, how many people are there now?" ”

"Less than 20,000." Aunt Seven said.

"How many soldiers are available?" I thought about it and asked.

The Seventh Aunt pondered for a moment: "Excluding the craftsmen who have been arranged in the major forging shops, the number of troops in Guangluoyan Town is close to fifteen thousand, and this is not counting the defenders in Wuyuan City. ”

"Everybody's a soldier." I sighed and asked, "The strength of Wuyuan City should be able to meet self-sufficiency, how much do we need for a year's military salary on our side?" ”

"According to the minimum allocation, 200,000 taels of silver are needed a year." Aunt Seven said.

"200,000?"

I gasped, "Do we have any income, or how much do we have?" ”

"There is no inventory, and there are only 10,000 in stock." The seventh aunt sighed: "The remaining 10,000 are still the belongings brought by these people to join Princess Wushan, and it is the town that gathers the money together in the name of the princess, but because of the rapid expansion of the army, coupled with the fact that Luoyan Town basically has no income, it has long been unable to make ends meet and has become a deficit." ”

"For less than 15,000 people, the annual expenditure is 200,000 taels of silver, that is, less than two taels of silver a year for one person......

Aunt Seventh interrupted my deep groan: "This is calculated according to the minimum configuration, according to this configuration, there are still drawbacks in defending the city, let alone plundering the land?" ”

"What's more, today's Wuyuan City is no longer what it used to be, the city has experienced wars, shops have been closed, people have fled, everything is in a standstill, although General Wu has led the troops well, but with the passage of time, it has also been stretched thin on food, if this problem is not solved in a short time, tens of thousands of soldiers under Luoyan Town, I am afraid that it will change."

I was speechless for a while, now the attack on Shuofang City is imminent, this battle is not the same night to take Wuyuan City, without ten days and half a month is not to see any results, such a scale of war must have sufficient food supply, otherwise if tens of thousands of troops are trapped there, or waterways, I am afraid that all the belongings of Luoyan Town will be folded there.

Thinking of this, the already hanging heart began to sink, staring at Aunt Seven for a long time and saying, "But is there any good way?" ”

Aunt Qi's eyes seemed to be a little embarrassed, and after thinking about it, she said slowly: "In the long run, Luoyan Town is guarded by Boss Shi, and several other towns along the river have basically been renovated, forming a huge weapons and equipment forging area. The five iron warships that General Wu ordered to build alone have not been able to find such a large amount of black iron now. ”

I frowned when I heard this: "You mean, don't fight?" ”

The seventh aunt shook her head: "Not only can you not fight, but you must also make a noise, although Luoyan Town has an excellent geographical location as a strategy in the ancient road, but to be honest, it can't be used for business, and it can only be maintained by the sale of weapons and equipment, and if the weapons and equipment of Luoyan Town really make a name for itself in the ancient road in the future, attracting many forces to buy it, if this move can be implemented smoothly, it can not only solve the problem of money and food in Luoyan Town, but also control the military lifeline of the entire ancient road in one fell swoop, this statement is not groundless, It's that I have actually inspected the new things forged by Boss Shi, and the overall level is far better than the current ancient road military equipment, which means that whoever will be good friends with Luoyan Town in the future, not to mention anything else, can far outperform him in terms of weapons and equipment. ”

Speaking of this, the seventh aunt paused and continued: "But the sale of weapons is different from other commodities and goods, and all you have to face are princes of many parties, and if you don't have a strong foundation of your own strength, it is tantamount to a puppet, so if this plan is to be truly implemented smoothly, it should be the key to take Shuofang City!" ”

I looked at Aunt Seven in shock, I never thought that this remark would come from the mouth of a woman, but for the attack on Shuofang City, the secret between me and General Wu Jiyun, how did she know about it?

I took a deep breath, looked at Aunt Seven and said, "Someone asked you to tell me these words, right?" ”

Aunt Qi's face changed, and then she sighed: "It's lingering." ”

"Sure enough, it's her."

I sighed faintly, feeling more and more that this woman's horror exceeded my expectations and bottom line again and again, and even walked my mind in front of me and Wu Jiyun, but thinking of this, I suddenly became agitated, and said to Aunt Seven: "Take me to her." ”

In the bamboo forest, Huaibei and Hua Qiyan's injuries have been gradually recovering in the past ten days since I left, I can walk around on my own, but I can't do too intense exercise, I don't have time to see them at the moment, I directly found the room where the dust was lingering, stood at the door, thought about it, or knocked lightly on the door.

"The door is open, and Lord Lao Bai himself has pushed the door."

Listening to the lingering resentment, I shook my head helplessly, pushed the door in, and closed the door with my backhand.