Li Siye shook his head with a smile, put the dried linen socks back on his feet, then put on ** boots and stomped comfortably on the ground.

He turned around and asked Fujimu, "What should you do if you are asked to be the keeper of this green ridge?"

Fujimaki said happily without hesitation: "Actively prepare for the war!" Strengthen training, raise troops for a thousand days, and use soldiers for a while. “

"Oh, I ask you, how many horses are in the stables guarded by the Green Ridge? What kind of armor did the soldiers who defended the city wear? Let me ask you again, what do you need to raise soldiers? Of course it's money, I'm going to buy them armor, I'm going to buy them good horses, if there's only food and wine, it's all wine bags and rice bags! I'm selling quilts now just to buy them good armor and horses! What is the purpose of the war? Isn't it just to save yourself and destroy the enemy, as long as I give them good enough equipment, I can improve their battlefield survivability, so that they can fight with one against ten, or even with one against hundred. “

Fujimaki looked up at him, opened his mouth wide and muttered, "Yes, it makes sense."

Li Siye patted Fujimu's shoulder and smiled: "Not only is it reasonable, but I am also very disciplined." Rest well, take the quilt and follow me to the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate. “

Fujimaki was taken aback: "Can't go!" You left your post without permission, how dare you run to the door and bring trouble on yourself. “

"It's okay, I'm not afraid, what are you afraid of?"

……

In November, seven days of heavy snow fell in the four towns of Anxi, the temperature plummeted to the degree of freezing chickens and dogs, the rooftops of the city were full of icicles, and the hooves of the sleeping horses in the stables made the ice freeze on the ground, and it was necessary to pour boiling water to bring the horses out. The soldiers got up at night to go outside to relieve themselves, and the yellow liquid fell to the ground and turned into icicles.

No one could have imagined that this year's cold winter in Anxi would be so cold, much colder than previous winters. According to the news from the four major military towns, there are many frostbitten soldiers, and the situation is unimaginable.

Lai Yao, the envoy of the four towns and the festival, was wearing a thick fox fur and riding on a horse, he had just inspected the military camp in the city, and his face became very gloomy, but he did not expect that the frostbite of the soldiers was very serious, so he was furious and demoted the soldiers in charge of the quartermasters.

The recorder stomped his feet and kept sucking into his hands, in such a ghost weather, it was very suitable to hide in the house and guard the charcoal pot to make tea and eat. But Lai Yao Duhu is an idle person, and he goes around the barracks to check whether the food and grass for the winter are sufficient, and whether the winter clothes for the cold are fully prepared.

After some inspection, there was no shortage of grain and grass for horses to eat, but the winter clothes to keep out the cold were uneven, especially when the soldiers slept at night, they were only covered with a thin quilt filled with reeds, catkins and chicken feathers, and some people were frozen to death in their sleep at night.

Lai Yao returned to the mansion with a pale face, and the personal soldiers around him took off the fox fur from his shoulder, and the deputy capital protector made Gao Xianzhi sit in his study, and the expression on his face was not very good-looking.

Laidu sat cross-legged in front of the desk, Xiao Ting stood behind him obediently, in front of these two bigwigs, he was not qualified to sit down.

Gao Xianzhi smiled bitterly: "This is really hot, everyone is hot, and it is cold." The soldiers with a little economic conditions all have sheepskin jackets, and the wool jackets are protected from the cold, but those who are in poor conditions are suffering, this year is colder than in previous years, and the capital does not have so many sheepskins to give them. ”

Xiao Ting stood on the spot and interjected: "When the weather is cold, the price of sheepskin and wool has risen, when I came early in the morning, I went to the fur market in the city market to have a look, a sheepskin jacket actually cost 600 yuan, and the wool quilt cost 800 yuan, these unscrupulous businessmen will make a fortune in the season!" ”

Lai Yao stretched out his hand to wipe away the hoarfrost remaining on the side of his beard, sighed and said: "Anxi used to be a government soldier, whether it is armor, weapons, or horses, all need to be prepared by the soldiers, and the government soldiers do not need to pay rent and adjustment, but most of the government soldiers have lost their land, where can they afford to buy any armor weapons." When the old man first came to Anxi, more than half of the soldiers of a regiment were missing armor. Now the imperial court has widely recruited athletes to serve in the army, and all the soldiers have begun to receive salaries, but they still have no money to buy winter clothes, but they have frozen to death, and the guilt has to fall on us people. ”

Lai Yao complained for a while, and then stepped into the main question and asked Gao Xianzhi: "Xianzhi, you should tell me, what should we do now?" ”

Gao Xianzhi thought for a while, brushed his beard and said:

"Naturally, I went to Qiuci and bought sheepskin jackets, wool quilts and other warm products in the markets of rich towns such as Khotan, and distributed them to the soldiers in the four towns."

Lai Yao frowned: "You don't know that firewood and rice are expensive, if according to Xiao Ting just said, the sheepskin jacket is six hundred yuan, and the wool quilt is eight hundred, and nearly half of my Anxi athletes are short of clothes and quilts, if you want to purchase it, it will cost six or seven million dollars, and now the copper coins and silk silk in the Anxi treasury can be exchanged add up, a total of only seven million yuan, which is the balance of this year's Anxi rent and trade road checkpoint fees, and you have to wait until next spring to pay for the purchase of armor and depreciated weapons." ”

Gao Xianzhi had a headache when he heard this kind of number, so he had to twist his face to the side and just bow his head and drink tea. Xiao Ting, who was standing behind Lai Yao, was silent for a moment, as if he was also thinking of a way.

Lai Yao suddenly looked up and asked him, "Xiao Ting, what can you do?" ”

The young clerk said: "Merchants hoard and raise prices, but unfortunately we don't have extra leather jackets on our hands, otherwise we can ship them at a low price to punish these illegal traders." But now, we can only buy some of them at a high price, and give priority to the supply of the two important military towns of Shaye and Shule, and after the next year, we should buy more leather and wool in the middle of summer, in case of winter needs. ”

Lai Yao nodded, this is also the way he can think of for today's plan, Xiao Ting's words are comprehensive, and it is not too late to make amends. They didn't expect that Anxi was particularly cold today, and with such an experience, in the coming year, warm and cold items would be prioritized as war preparation materials to be reserved.

……

Li Siye led the horse to deliberately bypass the market in Anxi, and the leather shops on both sides of the road came out to change their signs once a while, and the prices of sheepskin jackets and wool-filled quilts were gradually marked to 730 yuan and 960 yuan, but the doors of these shops were still full of customers.

In addition to seeing the black-hearted faces of these Sogdian merchants, he also saw endless business opportunities.

Li Siye suddenly turned to Fujimu and said, "You go back now, pass on my order, and let the military households and families in the Green Ridge step up their efforts to make cotton jackets and quilts, and tell them to add two more yuan to make a handiwork, and eight yuan for each piece." Let Tian Zhen take sixty soldiers to catch up with the horse, drive the grain truck that we guarded in the green mountains, and load quilts and cotton jackets overnight, and send them to Qiuzi Town. ”

Fujimaki asked with some concern: "I'm gone, what if I leave you alone?" ”

"Nonsense, this is in Qiuzi, what can I do!" He excitedly patted Fuji Mu on the back and said, "Don't you hate staying in the Green Ridge to guard and capture?" Don't you want to be promoted to an official position? Get this matter done, and the day of your brother's rise will come! ”

Fujimu didn't quite believe Li Siye's words, but he still solemnly crossed his hands and said: "Li Yuanjun, please rest assured, Fujimu will definitely live up to his mission and handle this matter well." ”

"Go ahead!"

He unloaded the quilt that Fuji Mu had tied immediately and tied it to the black fat body, so that the other party was familiar with the road and could return to the green ridge faster.