"My lord, this is handsome. You're just so shabby, aren't you? The county Cheng looked worriedly at the banquet that Chen Tingjing used to entertain Li Xiao.

Two meats, two vegetables, four dishes and one soup, the standard reception standard of the Ming court. Although the soup is soft-shelled turtle soup, it can be ......!

The county doesn't think that the handsome man has not even drunk Wang Ba soup!

"This is the practice of the imperial court." Chen Tingjing didn't understand the "kindness" of the county Cheng, and his waist was straight and proud like a rooster.

"My lord, although you are young, you have also been a county magistrate for three years. You are sorry for yourself when you say this, four dishes and one soup ......, you used to entertain colleagues but found it like this?

Who has ever complied with the standards set by the imperial court...... The handsome man has just promoted you. ”

Li Xiao upgraded the county seat to a government city, which is not a problem for Chen Tingjing to be promoted alone.

A city of Tige chicken dog ascended to heaven, this is the voice of all officials in Huating County today.

The county seat of Tige to Fucheng, that is to say, all officials in Huating County are promoted by two levels in situ, regardless of size.

The pie finally fell from the sky, and it was still pure beef filling. This is what all the officials in Huating County think, how can such a good thing not be celebrated.

If the celebration banquet is blessed by the handsome man himself, then everyone will be even more excited.

The great commander of the Ming Empire!

This kind of petty official, who has never seen each other in eight lifetimes, is absolutely against a big man.

It's a great pleasure to be able to see each other.

Now Chen Tingjing actually put on such a banquet and let the handsome eat four dishes and one soup?

"Huh! Old Hu, you are older than me. I'm afraid I'm still wearing open crotch pants, so you'll be on an errand. ”

"Count the teeth, the old man should have just been born when he was on an errand." Lao Hu's face was red, he was a child who was born that year. Now it's actually my own boss!

Man is better than man!

"Why do you think I got into this position? Just because I have a junior high school degree?

Let me tell you, when we go to school, we don't just learn physics and arithmetic.

Do you think the handsome man will come to eat with us? Chen Tingjing turned his head and asked the county old Hu with a smile.

"Are you saying that the handsome man will not come to eat with us, nor will he stay in the post house we have prepared?" Lao Hu looked at Chen Tingjing very suspiciously, it's almost dark this day, where will the big handsome go?

"How did the handsome come? Flew from the sky. Isn't it hard to send a telegram before the event?

We weren't informed beforehand, that is, the big man was going to see something that hadn't been retouched. This is different from the style of the Governor!

Last year, the Governor came to inspect it, and you saw what it was.

Believe it or not, the wind of the handsome coming to us is dissipating. The officials of the provincial capital and county, are you still rushing to our Huating?

Wherever you want to go, there will be a large group of people around, so fucking look at the shit.

You go outside the city now, and the handsome eighty percent are gone. ”

"Gone? Where to go? Lao Hu looked at Chen Tingjing in surprise, could it be that what this young man said was true?

"Lao Hu! Who are they? Handsome!

If you come to eat our food, stay where we are. Do you mean that you won't send someone to supervise the cooking? Won't you check the handsome's residence beforehand?

Are you really a handsome man and haven't been assassinated? ”

"This ......!" Lao Hu nodded abruptly.

Indeed, the marshal did not send anyone to supervise the cooking. At the same time, no one came to check the prepared inn. This is indeed a bit unusual!

"No one has come yet, which means that the handsome man doesn't want to eat here at all, and he doesn't want to live with us."

"What does the handsome man eat, people are iron and steel, you can't stop eating."

Chen Tingjing pointed to the sky: "Old Hu, what age is this?" Carriages can be transported from the capital, do you say that there is a problem with the handsome transporting food from the capital? ”

"No problem!" Lao Hu shook his head, and the fat on his head rippled like waves.

"Lord Xiancheng, you see that it's time for the handsome, the handsome side ......!" A Xu official accompanied him carefully to Shangguan, and the officials of Huating County City all gathered here, and they all wanted to be familiar with each other in front of the handsome.

But waiting and waiting, the food was cold, and there was not even a movement on the handsome side.

"Why don't you send someone outside the city to contact you?" Old Hu roared.

"Oh! Promise! The officials hurried out like frightened donkeys, and found a horse and led the people out of the city.

Li Xiao really didn't have the idea of eating in Huating County!

While the news had not yet spread on a large scale, he wanted to see what the real Jiangnan was like. can also take a good look at what Li Hao has done in recent years.

The carriage drove on the official road overnight, followed by a dozen cavalry riders.

Li Xiao's carriage was very comfortable, and Li Xiao and Li Hao were lying inside. While drinking wine, I ate roast duck.

"How many rolls have you eaten?"

"Ten volumes. Not to mention, this roast duck is really good. I go back to the capital once or twice a year, and I almost forget what this duck tastes like. By the way, where is the best roast duck restaurant in Beijing? ”

"Quanjude! Known as a duck roasted with fruit wood, Chen Tingjing is not bad. At least this way has come and gone, and the road is still complete, not too bumpy.

If the roads in Jiangnan are like this, then you have done well all these years. ”

"It's true that Gangnam Road has been renovated all the time, but it's only on official roads. Big brother, you know, there have been too many things to do over the years, and I can't be busy at all.

Besides, cultivating the official road is really expensive. Over the years, the imperial court has drawn very little tax in Jiangnan, but the imperial court can't always subsidize Jiangnan.

As the territory of the Ming Dynasty, it also has to collect some taxes for the Ming Dynasty. I know your difficulty, big brother, the money of the imperial court is all invested in education, building official roads, building railways, and building various factories.

Looking at the annual income, it is actually overstretched. I also want to share my worries for my eldest brother! ”

Li Xiao picked up the wine jug and poured a mouthful of the second pot head produced in the capital into his mouth: "You try this, Niulanshan, although it is not as good as Wuliangye and Moutai wine, but it tastes good." ”

Li Hao also took a sip and nodded.

"It's good that you can realize this level. Over the years, we have seen the infinite scenery. Reliable goods export trade to make money, in fact, there is not so much profit.

Europeans pumped from the Americas, like water pumps, for more than a hundred years. Let's be Ming...... After 20 years of drawing, it's almost done.

Over the years, trade profits have gradually declined. The Europeans really have no money, do you think I want to encourage the whole of Europe to besiege Russia?

It's not like I'm thinking about making a good deal in Russia.

With Russia's little industrial capacity, if they want to catch up with the Ming Dynasty and exhaust Dolgon, they can't do it. Even, France's industrial capacity is much stronger than that of Russia.

No money!

Now we have to find new sources of money, after all, we have more places to spend money. Li Xiao's words were filled with melancholy.

"Zhang Huangyan is also difficult to do in the position of Shoufu, I will let him do it. It is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, and the Ming Dynasty is now a province with a lot of financial surpluses.

In fact, it is Shandong, Shanxi, Liaoning, Donggi and Hebei.

In Henan, the Yellow River is always overflowing. I want to owe all the people in Lankao counties. Shaanxi had done well in the early years, but it was troubled by the Uighurs, and it has not been relieved to this day.

As for the northwestern provinces, you don't know it. Not much at all!

Jiangnan is rich, but the people's hearts have been unstable these years. Stabilizing the hearts of the people is the most important thing, and the Donglin Party will one day be annihilated in the long river of history with the passage of time.

In five years at most, Jiangnan must become rich.

Susong and the second government are half the world, Jiangnan must support itself, and also have to bear the investment of Liangguang and Fujian.

Five years, in a snap of a finger!

I'm very worried that Jiangnan won't be able to help when the time comes. Cause turmoil that spreads across the country! ”

The topic was a bit heavy, and the brothers were reluctant to talk anymore. His body swayed with the carriage, and he drank some wine, and he didn't know when he fell asleep in a daze.

When I woke up in the morning, the carriage had just passed Kunshan.

The sun had just come out, and the power of the Great Golden Crow had not yet been fully realized.

The carriage stopped at the edge of the official road, and Junko poured water from the kettle into the copper basin. Li Xiao took a towel and cleaned his face, and there were dew drops hanging on the leaves next to him.

The air was so humid that it was very comfortable to breathe in your lungs.

The rice in the field is being filled, and the eyes are green one by one.

"The front is the boundary of Suzhou, and it is said that the beautiful scenery of Suzhou and Hangzhou is the best in the world. You don't take a good look at it on weekdays! Li Xiao looked at Li Hao, who was brushing his teeth, and smiled.

"I've been to Suzhou twice, but I didn't have time to see the sights. It's all about looking at the silk there!

In Suzhou, silk production has been expanding. It feeds a lot of people, and these things are exported in large quantities.

I heard that it is very popular in Europe and the Middle East. ”

"Those people have a lot of hair, so they like to wear silk things. You haven't been to Hangzhou? I heard that the scenery of West Lake is good. Li Xiao shook his head helplessly, picked up the toothbrush and began to brush his teeth.

"I've been to Hangzhou a few times, and West Lake is far from being as good as I imagined. Someone pointed out Leifeng Pagoda to me, and it didn't look very good. Li Hao rinsed his mouth after brushing his teeth, and went to the side to serve noodles.

The guards set up a simple marching stove on the side of the road, and boiled a lot of noodles in a large pot. There were more than a dozen cans of canned beef, and the aroma of cooked meat wafted far away.

The water used to cook the noodles is all water brought from the capital in a horse-drawn cart.

This place in the south of the Yangtze River is still an epidemic area for schistosomiasis. Li Xiao was very jealous of that kind of disease.

As if he had seen through Li Xiao's thoughts, Li Hao shook his head and said, "Over the years, I have been promoting drinking boiled water in Jiangnan. Now people in the city have begun to get used to drinking boiled water.

It's still a bit difficult in the countryside, and after all, I can't send people to watch every house. ”

"Some things have to be done slowly, and this is something that can't be helped. Let's eat noodles, I'm going to Suzhou today. Look at the Suzhou embroidery and silk you said, there are only these two things in Suzhou at the moment. ”

"Gangnam Girl is good!" Li Hao looked at his eldest brother with a smile.

"You kid, I don't know we don't have much time. It's important to get down to business! Li Xiao reprimanded Li Hao with a righteous face.

Quickly looked around and saw that there was no one on the left and right: "Is there really a beautiful woman?" ”

"Really! Suzhou and Hangzhou beauties, that's called a water spirit. Pinch a bag of water! Li Hao looked at the eldest brother quite proudly.

"You kid pinched hard enough......!"

"Uh......!"

These days, there are no big trucks with light blue exhaust fumes. There are also no unscrupulous guys, cars that drive at a fast pace. The air is outrageously fresh, and there is no dust on either side of the road.

After washing, the brothers squatted on the side of the road and snorted and ate noodles.

The sound of more than 20 people eating noodles together is really magnificent. A few men with farm tools on their shoulders passed by and looked sideways, and saw merchants eating on the side of the road.

You can cook noodles on a stove on the side of the road, and this is the group that eats noodles.

"Fellow! How far is it to Suzhou? Li Xiao smiled and greeted the peasants.

“＆＃％＊¨……！” The peasant replied in two sentences in the standard Wu Nong soft language, but Li Xiao didn't understand a word.

Ay......! There is still a long way to go to promote Mandarin.

There's no way, what people say here is another language for Li Xiao. Turning his head to look at Li Hao suspiciously, this kid has been in Jiangnan for a long time, and he should already be able to understand Wu Nong's soft words.

"He said that after Yushan Town, he arrived." Li Hao saw that his eldest brother was embarrassed, so he could only act as a translator on the side.

"Yushan Town! Let's go to Yushan Town in front to have a look, this Jiangnan town is quite beautiful. ”

"I've been to that town, it's just a normal town. The rice wine there is good! ”

"Okay, let's go ahead and drink some rice wine."

The two brothers finished eating the noodles and got into the carriage and continued on their way.

Passing by a village in front, Li Xiao asked the carriage to stop. He was going to wander over to see what the village was like.

It is a standard small village in the south of the Yangtze River, and most of the houses are thatched houses. There is a courtyard of a brick house, which is presumably the house of the landlord's family.

Walking into the village, Li Xiao saw several bare-bottomed children running wildly.

Older children, driving a flock of ducks into the pond. I saw a flock of ducks enter the water, and several half-grown children also went into the pond and fluttered.

"Big brother, guess what these kids are doing?" Li Hao looked at Li Xiao with a smile.

"What?" It was the first time Li Xiao had seen that people were swimming with ducks. Humans, physiologically speaking, cannot swim a duck in any way.

"Just look at you."

I saw those half-sized children, from time to time they burrowed their heads into the water and stabbed their fierce sons.

These half-sized children are so water-based that they can hold it in the water for five or six minutes. On several occasions, Li Xiao had the heart to ask people to go down to catch people.

A child emerges from the water and mutters something.

Li Xiao saw that this kid was actually holding a duck egg in his hand.

"Ducks sometimes pull duck eggs into the water. These children will go into the water and scoop up the duck eggs. ”

"Huh! Soaking in such water all day long, it's no wonder that you don't have schistosomiasis. When Li Xiao saw the dark green water in the pond, his heart was blocked.