Not everyone is omnipotent, and the same is true for Li Kui.

In a border place like Yan'an, trying to develop business is basically a fool's behavior with no profit, let alone collecting taxes. Yan'an Prefecture is not a capital city, but it is actually less populous than most counties in the Central Plains. The only thing that can be relieved is that the people in Yan'an Province have a high spending power.

Most of the people living in the towns of Yan'an have one or two forbidden troops.

The forbidden army has a salary.

According to the second-class forbidden army salary, the income of each forbidden soldier is about three times per month. If the generals in the land of the four wars were greedy for ink, if they were greedy for the soldiers' salaries, when they really wanted to buy their lives, the disgruntled soldiers at the bottom would sell their boss's lives as soon as possible. Empty pay is inevitable, but it is also much better than the Central Plains.

Therefore, compared with the people of the Central Plains, the family income of the people of Yan'an Mansion is much more stable and considerable.

But this is also a military family, and compared to real farmers, Yan'an is very unfriendly.

Although the tax was not heavy, the conscription was the heaviest state capital in the Great Song Dynasty. I heard that Ma Zheng may be reopened recently, leading the local people to put themselves in danger. Coupled with the wartime, regardless of the conscription of the old and the young, the people of Yan'an Mansion have reached the verge of collapse.

If there are too few people, and there are elite forbidden troops of the Great Song Dynasty all around, there is no future for rebellion.

Otherwise, the people of Yan'an Mansion would have risen up long ago.

"Master, wash your feet!"

Washing feet?

Li Kui was a little confused, he couldn't remember the last time he washed his feet. Probably in the spring of this year...... It's winter.

Well, when he was in Western Xia, Li Bingqian, the new monarch, did not have the concept of taking a bath. Li Kui can't pretend to be motivated, and he washes and changes every day. The moment Li Kui pulled his two feet out of his boots, the mist shrouded his socks like black pottery, and his concubine, who had reunited after a long absence, almost drowned in the footbath because the biochemical weapons were too powerful.

Li Kui sighed and said, "Arrange for the kitchen to prepare hot water and take a bath!" ”

Nie Cuicui left in a hurry as if she had been pardoned, and Li Kui could even feel the woman's gasping breath after she went out. I almost didn't suffocate.

This can't be blamed on him, when he was in Western Xia, Li Kui didn't find that person loved clean. Even Li Bingqian, who has lived in the Great Song Dynasty for many years, endured the itching on his body, but he stiffened himself and did not take a bath.

Soaking in a bath is pleasant and relaxing, and it would be nice if there weren't so many petals in the tub. Obviously, the temporary hostess of this family is a little resentful of Li Kui from Western Xia.

If you meet again after a long absence, if you hold hands and pour out your heart, this is definitely not an adult's style.

At least in Li Kui's view, confiding cannot be regarded as a means of sublimating feelings between men and women. He has his own method, although it takes a bit of time, but judging from the performance, it seems that he and the concubine are very satisfied. It's just that when he got up the next day, he found in the courtyard that the expressions of Ruan Xiaoer and the others didn't seem to be quite right, and he felt a kind of mental malaise after a tired night.

Fortunately, Li Kui came to them to discuss things, and asked as soon as he opened his mouth: "Tell me how Master Ben can do something practical for the people of Yanzhou, so that people can think that Master Ben has lived up to the expectations of the imperial court." ”

Ruan Xiaoer stared at the two dark circles under his eyes, he listened to the scene of the goblin fight for a night, and at this time his head was still buzzing, as if his ears were full of noise from the collision of magic weapons, and he didn't care about his brain when he spoke, and said bluntly: "My lord, didn't you always say that the court has no expectations for you?" ”

Although this is true, it is very hurtful.

Li Kui immediately said angrily: "This official is the general judgment of Yan'an Mansion ordered by the imperial court, if the imperial court has no expectations for this official, how can it be possible to let this official come to Yan'an Mansion to take office?" ”

"But ......"

"Xiao Er, you are young, don't express your opinions indiscriminately."

Li Kui really had no expectations for the ideas that could pop up in Ruan Xiaoer's head, and immediately deprived Ruan Xiaoer of the right to express his opinions. Then he looked at Ruda. Lu Da was not much better than Ruan Xiaoer, and after realizing it, he found that Li Kui was looking at him, and then Ai Ai said: "My lord, I think it's better to move out and live?" ”

Only then did Li Kui find out that he was still occupying the back office of Yan'an Mansion. It stands to reason that this should be the residence of the prefect. Of course, it is not for nothing that the state capital of the Great Song Dynasty has been sentenced to the rear office. Most of the governors and prefects of the Great Song Dynasty did not live for a long time, and the back office was not necessarily much more comfortable than the official residence outside.

But Li Kui is different, Zhou Yuan is his teacher, and it is easy to be criticized for occupying the rear office.

In the past, it didn't matter if he wasn't in Yan'an Mansion, Zhou Yuan wouldn't go to the official authority with a woman, but now that Li Kui is back, he can't be wasted in etiquette.

He immediately said to Ruan Xiaoer: "Xiao Er, you go to the scribe to check the house under the name of the government, and move after noon." ”

"My lord, we just came back, do we want to go out again?" Pang Wanchun bowed down and asked, he always felt that something was wrong with Li Kui, as if something was wrong since he met Zhou Yuan.

Li Kui held his chin with his palm, and said helplessly: "Now that all industries in Yan'an Mansion are withering, if I have no achievements in this general judgment, how can I have the face to return to Tokyo to be an official in the future?" Besides, now that the war in the northwest may be stagnant for several years, how to maintain the livelihood of the people during this period is a big problem. ”

"Why don't you open up the wasteland and farm the land?"

Ruan Xiaoer doesn't feel tired of farming, in fact, in comparison, fishing is not easier than farming. But Li Kui felt that Ruan Xiaoer's suggestion was unreliable, and worried: "Farming? ”

Li Kui immediately shook his head and objected: "Yan'an Mansion can't build a new water conservancy, have you thought about it, can the harvest from farming make the people live a good life?" Even if Yan'an Mansion is full of terra nullius nominally belonging to the government, there are no canals, and the land can only be harvested on the banks of the river. But the land around the banks of the river was the land of the Lord. You want to farm, but there's really no place for you to plant. ”

Li Kui couldn't help it.

In Yan'an Mansion, and even the entire Yongxing Military Road farming, there is no big way out of the business. On the contrary, it will lose money and make ends meet.

The key is that the water conservancy in the northwest has been in a state of abandonment. Of course, the Guanzhong Plain is an exception, which is the granary of the northwest. But in Huanqing Road, in Yanyan Road, Suide Army and other areas, there is no shortage of rivers here, and there is no lack of flat land. But no one is going to build the water conservancy. This is very unimaginable in the Great Song Dynasty, you must know that if there are two eunuchs randomly pulled out of the Great Song Palace, one of them may be a water conservancy expert.

The officials of the Great Song Dynasty, especially the local officials, must have been cultural and educational in the first class.

This is determined by the mainstream value of the Great Song Dynasty, if you read well, you can get ahead by reading.

But in Yan'an Mansion, there is really no scholar. It's not that this place is rude, but it's a battlefield where wars are fought, where could there be readers? Although the Great Song Dynasty did not restrict military households from participating in the imperial examination, the candidates in Yan'an Mansion had never run out of Jinshi for the children of military families who had traveled to the capital for many years.

There is no hope for culture and education, and it can only increase grain production.

But Yan'an Mansion is still the same old problem, the battlefield.

There is no shortage of rivers in Yan'an Prefecture, Yanshui, Qingshui, and Hunchuan, which are all relatively large flow rivers in the territory. But successive Yan'an officials never thought of building water conservancy. The main reason is that to build water conservancy facilities, it is necessary to build dams. And Yan'an Mansion is the front line of the war between the Great Song Dynasty and the Western Xia, once the Western Xia people attacked into Yan'an Mansion, this dam became a sharp weapon for the Western Xia people to plague the Song army, and it was much less labor-saving to break the embankment and release water than to attack the city. It is impossible to say anything about the construction of water conservancy in Yan'an Mansion and give the Western Xia people the opportunity to attack with water.

Without the assistance of water conservancy, agriculture has become a tree without roots, and farming can only grow some food rations along the river.

There is no hope for farming, culture and education.

There is no foundation in business, and such a situation makes Li Kui very helpless.

Of course, it is actually very easy to be an official, Li Kui only needs to mix one day a day, and this day will pass quite quickly, and he even guessed that he will be promoted in less than three years. After all, although his merits are hard to say, but they are real, and with the favor of the emperor, it is not a dream to be a high-ranking official

。

Ruda suddenly raised his hand, indicating that he had something to say.

Li Kui raised his hand to signal for Luda to say something.

Luda said: "My lord, we can disguise ourselves as sand bandits......"

When Li Kui heard this, he immediately glared and said, "You won't want to go to Xixia to make a fortune, right?" ”

Western Xia was poor, but at the same time not so poor.

After all, in terms of the amount of livestock, Western Xia was rich for the people of the Great Song Dynasty. What kind of wealth and hair don't count, this kind of nonsense won't work at all in the Great Song Dynasty. The price of meat in the Great Song Dynasty has always been a desperate existence. But how could Li Kui agree? He glared and said: "Don't even think about it, now that the Great Song Dynasty and Western Xia have just signed an alliance, if you really go to Western Xia to make a fortune, no one will be able to save you." Besides, the current situation in Western Xia will definitely require a large amount of silk to go to the Western Regions to trade. At that time, the caravan exchange of the Great Song Dynasty will be a troublesome matter. ”

"My lord, why don't we set up a checkpoint to collect taxes?"

Pang Wanchun suggested. Collecting taxes is actually similar to the king of the mountain, and not all of the kings of the mountains in the Great Song Dynasty are killing people and killing embryos, and buying road money is a serious business.

But Li Kui made a mistake: "You can collect taxes, but you can't collect much." ”

If the Western Xia wanted to go west, it was a serious matter to form a caravan to spy on the news in the Western Regions. But the native products of the Western Xia are not worth it when the people of the Western Regions look down on the party members, after all, the special products that can be produced in the Western Xia are not lacking in all countries in the Western Regions. And...... The wolfberry of Western Xia, that is, the Central Plains people are a treasure, and when they are taken to the Western Regions, how can they be compared with raisins?

Once the Western Xia launched a war, the Western Xia caravans in the Western Regions were completely cold. I'm afraid that when the time comes, even if Western Xia has the intention to sell silk, porcelain and other valuable goods from the Central Plains, no one will buy them.

Business prosperity is only a short-term return to the light, especially the business that dares to do business with the party members, which is not simple.

"Bad luck! Even repairing the fortress can't be regarded as a merit, isn't this the time to go down the assessment? I've only been an official for a few days! Ruan Xiaoer realized that Li Kui's troubles were also his troubles, Li Kui couldn't make meritorious contributions, so he couldn't make meritorious contributions. If you don't make meritorious contributions, how can you get promoted and make a fortune?

The clouds of gloom suddenly spread.

The joy that comes after the war is not reassuring.

Ruan Xiaoer lay on the dining table and complained: "If I knew this, it would be better to burn all the cities in Western Xia, the black oil of Western Xia is easy to use and powerful, and this scourge in the province will block the master." ”

"Wait......" Li Kui suddenly called out to Ruan Xiaoer and asked, "What did you say?" ”

"The party members have blocked me."

"What about before?"

"Burned all the cities in Western Xia...... The black oil of Western Xia is easy to use and powerful......"

Ruan Xiaoer shrunk his neck, he was worried that he would make a mistake again. The nervousness in his eyes was indescribable, and he didn't dare to look up.

But Li Kui suddenly had an idea, and hurriedly went out to find Chong Jianzhong, near the city wall, he finally found Chong Jianzhong, who was supervising the construction of the city wall, and pulled the latter and asked: "Uncle Yu, have you heard of black oil?" ”

Black oil?

The mind was full of question marks, and he couldn't understand it, now that the Xixia people have run away, but the city wall and fortress should always be repaired, right? The prefect is the shopkeeper, and Li Kui is not a person who does the right thing, and now he suddenly came over and asked him what black oil?

It's strange that his face can be good-looking, of course, Chong Jianzhong also admires Li Kui, after all, Li Kui's record is amazing, and his subordinates have already folded two queen mothers. He said that he couldn't learn anything about this kind of skill.

As for black oil?

Of course, I have heard of it, and in the northwest, black oil is really not uncommon. There was output in Western Xia, and there was also output in Yan'an. Otherwise, Shen Kuo would not have recorded this kind of cheap but unpopular thing in Mengxi's writings. And Shen Kuo is an official in the northwest and spends most of his time in Yan'an Mansion, Li Kui guessed that the black oil Shen Kuo mentioned was probably the oil found in Yan'an Mansion.

Chong Jianzhong said casually: "There are people in the city who sell it, but except for the poor people, no one will buy it." Because it was so thick, it could not be made into an oil lamp, but only a torch, and it was so smoky that it smelled bad, and even the poor did not want to see it. ”

"Take me there!"

"My lord, what's going on?" Chong Jianzhong was puzzled by Li Kui's anxious appearance. In his opinion, even the poor don't use such a thing as black oil, Li Kui's worth is naturally heard in Jianzhong, how can a rich man with a family of millions use such a vulgar thing as black oil?

The common people in the city did not like the pungent smell of black oil, and it was only in the broken alleys where the poor were gathered that this cheap oil was sold. While leading the way, Chong Jianzhong explained to Li Kui: "My lord, black oil is not rare in Yan'an Mansion. Originally, when Lord Shen Kuo was there, he thought about storing black oil as a material for defending the city. However, this oil is difficult to preserve, and it will become thicker and thicker over time, and it is troublesome to light it. ”

Li Kui didn't care at all and said, "Uncle Yu, don't worry, I've used black oil." I used it when I attacked Xingqing Mansion in Western Xia. After boiling, the oil will soften and it will work well when ignited. ”

Seeing that Li Kui didn't look like he was bragging, he was even more puzzled in the planting and construction center, could it be that Li Kui didn't want to go to Xixia again to harm people, right?

In a small alley in Fushi City, Li Kui smelled that the air was filled with a smell of tar, but it was lighter than the asphalt smell, and he couldn't help but feel comfortable, and said vigorously: "That's right, it's this taste, strong, domineering." ”

：。 ：m.x