"Zheng Yuanjun, are we going in the wrong direction?"

Fang Chongyong, who was following behind Zheng Shuqing, found that their group was heading towards the Chunming Gate in the east of Chang'an City. And not far from the place after going out, it is the place where Li Longji "killed three sons in one day" that day: Chengdong Station!

"Let's go to the East Post and meet the man."

Zheng Shuqing said with a somewhat unnatural expression. Not long ago, three princes were hanged on the beams of the post hall hall, and now the cow cyclamen can live there without changing their faces.

This is probably an honest man who came up from the grassroots!

Zheng Shuqing couldn't help but sigh in his heart. On that day, he approached Niu Xianke, and the attitude of the other party was very modest, it was not like a person who had become a secretary of the Ministry of Works, but like a small official at the grassroots level.

At the beginning in Kuizhou, those who followed Zheng Shuqing to do chores carried the same breath as Niu Xianke. After Zheng Shuqing proposed to ask for advice tomorrow, the other party agreed without hesitation.

I have to say that Li Linfu grasped the mentality of Niu Xianke very accurately, Niu Xianke, who was born as a clerk, was suddenly transferred from Hexi Bian Town to the center as an official, and when he saw the magnificent appearance of the imperial capital, he remembered the complicated officialdom here, and the sadness of being despised (not only Zhang Jiuling and others).

The desire to find a political ally is simply there!

Niu cyclamen, who has been working at the grassroots level for a long time, does not know the importance of networking? He can go all the way, isn't it just because of the support of his boss?

"Well, you still haven't told me who it is? And you won't show me the case, so you can write it yourself. ”

Fang Chongyong turned around and was about to leave, but Zheng Shuqing hurriedly pulled his sleeve.

"Don't! I'm here, just take a look, the old rule, I'm dumb today, everything is up to you! This person's name is Niu Xianke, who has been working in Hexi for decades, and has just been awarded the post of secretary of the Ministry of Industry, so you have to be polite. ”

Zheng Shuqing hurriedly comforted Fang Chongyong and said, cold sweat was about to break out on his forehead. At this time, it will really kill people!

"Niu Cyclamen, this name seems familiar."

Fang Chongyong muttered to himself.

He recalled it, and it seemed that he had seen this person in a history textbook in his previous life, but he didn't remember what the other party had done at all.

"Okay, that's the last time, Zheng Shilang."

Fang Chongyong sighed helplessly.

"I promise the last time, and I won't bother you again, hehe."

Hearing the word "squire", Uncle Zheng's heart was full of joy. With the insight of Niu Xianke, a senior bureaucrat in Hexi, and Fang Chongyong, who is terrifying in making money, the two of them are enough to push him to the throne of the household servant.

Zheng Shuqing felt that although he was not good at being an official, his wrist was very good.

As for why he didn't consult with his staff about such a big matter, it was because the staff of the Tang Dynasty were also officials, that is, the so-called "adjutants". When Zheng Shuqing was no longer the assassin of Kuizhou, the adjutants around him did not listen to him.

This was the case in the Tang Dynasty, there were still many channels for civil officials to ascend to the top, and adjutant officials were a small road that was not easy to follow. Therefore, no one with the ability would be willing to be a "pure staff" without official status.

The threshold for adjutants is very low, as long as they are not "lowly", and even some businessmen can obtain similar official positions by donating money. Of course, it doesn't matter what the official status is, it's the "errand" that really matters.

Fang Chongyong is too young and belongs to "child labor". Otherwise, a person of this level would have become an official a long time ago. As long as he is not an official under Zheng Shuqing, Fang Chongyong can theoretically completely dismiss this official who is about to become a household servant.

"Wouldn't it be nice for us to come empty-handed today?"

When he was about to arrive at the Chengdong Station, Fang Chongyong suddenly remembered this stubble, stopped and asked. Let people be "consultants", don't you pay consulting fees or something? This is a bit too unsophisticated.

"Do you think that gift-giving is all about dragging an ox cart and sending gifts?"

Zheng Shuqing also stopped and asked angrily.

"So what's not? Isn't that what you give me a gift for? The old cow ate my forage before leaving. ”

As soon as he thought of this, Fang Chongyong was angry, Lao Zheng drove to give a gift, but didn't fill the car with gas, and rubbed himself a box of gasoline before leaving, which is really unreasonable.

"You know a fart, if I pull the car over, won't it be clear that I am bribing the court officials? In the future, I will be a squire of the household department, and I will be an official in the same dynasty as Niu Shangshu, will I not be impeached by the officials of the Imperial Historical Observatory? ”

Zheng Shuqing took out a sticker and shook it in front of Fang Chongyong, and said in a low voice:

"This is a house deed close to the house in Chongxian Square in the West Market. When Niu Shangshu first arrived in Chang'an, shouldn't he buy an industry? This deed saved him a lot of effort, didn't it?

In terms of ingenuity, a certain is not as good as you.

In terms of officialdom etiquette, you are still far behind. ”

Understood, sure enough, you can still play.

Seeing Zheng Shuqing's smug face, Fang Chongyong nodded slightly, the bit of Taoism in the officialdom is really not worth taking out and saying deliberately, after all, it is just the four words "fly camp dog gou".

Of course, Li Longji will also give the Niu Xianke Mansion to show his favor, this deed seems useless and redundant, but in fact it is to express the officials of Li Linfu's family to the Niu Xianke, a foreign official, and accept it!

The property that Zheng Shuqing gave to Niu Cyclamen may not necessarily be Zheng Shuqing's own property. Fang Chongyong didn't want to inquire about the inside story here.

To sum up in two words: very moist.

Compared with the upper position of officials, these accessories are all flowers in the mirror, and they are not worth mentioning.

I don't have power, I just act as a free custodian for others.

The two entered the Chengdong Station, and Fang Chongyong subconsciously looked at the beams of the house where the three princes were hanging, and the hideous and terrifying picture is still in his mind.

All this seems to remind him all the time that officialdom is sinister and unpredictable. The ups and downs of the sea not only depend on one's ability, sometimes luck and background are also very important.

Not to mention, there aren't many good days left in this prosperous Tang Dynasty!

……

"It's a simple place, you two of you, please take a seat. I'm going to make tea. ”

The cow cyclamen is already a sixty-year-old man, dressed like a peasant man, and has no shelves at all.

"Niu Shangshu doesn't have to be polite, Zheng Shilang suddenly fell ill yesterday and couldn't speak, everything is inquired by me, a boy. If the etiquette is not good, please don't be surprised by Niu Shangshu. ”

Fang Chongyong bowed to the cow cyclamen.

"Where did you get any Shangshu, the appointment of the imperial court has not come down yet, and the contemptible people are now just white, white."

The cow cyclamen brought a simple set of tea sets and began to make tea skillfully. While breaking the tea cakes, he smiled kindly: "If Zheng Shilang has anything you want to ask, just ask directly, it's all for the people of Hexi and for the stability of the frontier."

There must be no reservations in the future, and if you have anything to say, you will not delay the overall situation of Hexi. ”

The attitude of the cow cyclamen was very sincere, which was somewhat unexpected by Fang Chongyong. When an unknown official is questioned, it is enough to give a few perfunctory words and explain everything, is it necessary to say "know everything and say everything"?

In fact, what Fang Chongyong didn't know was that the reason why Niu Xianke agreed to Zheng Shuqing to inquire about Hexi was not because of Li Linfu's face, and even this factor was not the main reason.

The real reason is closely related to the life experience of the cow cyclamen himself.

Niu Cyclamen was originally a quail from Jingzhou and was born near Hexi. He has been an official in the Hexi Corridor for decades, and it can be said that he has been all over again, from the people to the officials to the officials.

His rich resume in Hexi and his deep roots are so deep, among so many officials in the Tang Dynasty, he can deserve to give a thumbs up and say: Lang Bowan!

Hexi is the hometown of the cow cyclamen, the place where he was born and raised, and let him go to Qingyun Road. Niu cyclamen's good work in Hexi is not unrelated to his resume as a local.

Now that I heard that the imperial court was preparing to use troops from Hexi to fight against Tibet, Niu Xianke naturally wanted to teach them and contribute to their hometown.

Zheng Shuqing pointed to his throat, then pointed at Fang Chongyong, and nodded slightly at Niu Xianke, the meaning was very clear: I can't speak, what this kid says means what I said.

"Niu Shangshu, may I ask, are the weapons of the Hexi Arsenal, such as soldiers, bows, crossbows, arrows, armor, horizontal knives, saddles, stirrups, etc., locally produced or from Guanzhong?"

Fang Chongyong asked in a deep voice, already spreading out a large piece of paper on the table, ready to record.

Originally, Niu Cyclamen was still thinking about what questions a child would ask, but he didn't expect that the first question pointed to the biggest weakness of the four counties in Hexi!

"Xiao Langjun doesn't know that all the armaments in Hexi are from Guanzhong, and most of them are from Chang'an. And many bows and crossbows in Chang'an come from places other than Guanzhong.

The Hexi Corridor is mostly sandbars, with lush pastures but not many trees. The wood needed to prepare the bow and crossbow cannot be provided in Hexi, and he can't even wait to plant trees, so where can there be trees to cut down?

As for the armor, in addition to the iron ore needed to smelt pig iron, it is also necessary to burn wood into charcoal. These things cannot be produced in Hexi. Many of the bows, crossbows, horizontal knives, and arrows needed by the government soldiers came from Sogdian merchants, and their sources were too mixed to be generalized.

Zheng Shilang is worthy of being the person who is the head of the household department, and his question is really to the point. The trouble in Hexi lies in armaments. ”

Niu Xianke couldn't help but praise Zheng Shuqing.

"Well, so-and-so wrote them down. So ask Niu Shangshu another question, is there a shortage of grain in Hexi? How much is missing? Where is it missing? ”

Hearing this question, Niu Xianke and Zheng Shuqing both looked at each other, and Fang Chongyong's "lack of common sense" mistake was committed again.

Niu Xianke laughed and said, "This is what Xiao Langjun wants to ask." Hexi is rich in grain and straw, and raises 70,000 horses for the imperial court. However, the imperial court only had a lot of land in Liangzhou and Ganzhou, and other places, including the Western Regions, all relied on this place to supply grain.

When Guanzhong was short of grain, Hexi had to supply grain and grass for Guanzhong. ”

Speaking of his hometown, the cow cyclamen can't help but feel a wave of pride.

Fang Chongyong coughed lightly to cover up his embarrassment, in his previous life, the ecology of the hinterland of Gansu had been destroyed to the point that it was not good, and the lack of water made people's throats dry and sore.

But at this time, the Hexi Corridor, especially the area of Liangzhou, was a place where the imperial court spent a lot of effort to settle the fields. It can be regarded as a grain and grass supply warehouse in the western section of the Western Regions and the Hexi Corridor.

Even in the first two years, there was a shortage of grain in Guanzhong, and a lot of grain was transported to Chang'an in Liangzhou!

"How are the soldiers of Hexi Prefecture? Or is it a local recruitment, and the family members are all there? ”

Fang Chongyong asked a series of questions.

The expression on Niu Xianke's face was in a trance, as if he had returned to the old days, he thought for a while and shook his head and said, "These things are really hard to explain. Although those people are still called government soldiers, they are no longer the rules of government soldiers.

The men in the village, those who have served in the army, eight or nine times out of ten, can be said to be a soldier and a soldier is also a people. The imperial court handled the affairs of Hexi according to the script, which would not work.

All kinds of people with government military status are over fifty years old, and there is no longer an increase. The rest are recruits, soil regiments, and the border soldiers are bitter, and there has been no rotation for many years, most of them have settled down in Hexi, and the imperial court account books are probably not credible. ”

Niu Xianke introduced Fang Chongyong to the shocking military system of the town in the west of the river.

The so-called government soldiers have long been nominal words, and as for the rules of the government soldiers, rules such as "two brothers in the army and one person" are even more self-deceptive actions of pinching their noses and coaxing their eyes.

Even if it is a recruitment, because it has not been rotated for many years, most of the soldiers recruited in the mainland have settled down in the local area to get married and have children. And the war in Hexi is frequent, and there are countless men who join the army through various channels.

If the noble lord is exempted from military service, plus the old and weak are also excluded.

That's all soldiers!

Niu Xianke said that when he was on an errand under the command of Yingtian Guan, he met a 57-year-old government soldier who later died on the battlefield. His son, who was twenty years old, died on the battlefield the following year.

As for whether there is a dead household, Niu Cyclamen does not know, because at that time he has already risen to the top and gone to become an official elsewhere.

The reason why Hexi is prosperous is that it is located on the key passage of the Silk Road, and its location is very critical. Second, it is also the military cantonment and large-scale militarization that restrain land annexation to a certain extent.

There is no destined to have any big families here, when they are facing the court, they are border towns, and if they are not facing the court, they are warlords. In terms of the current situation, the degree of smoothness of the decree on the Hexi side is far greater than that of other places outside Guanzhong.

The Maison wants to play land annexation? Everyone on the west side of the river is a soldier, you can merge and try it!

"What is there on the west side of the river? For example, it is rare in Chang'an. ”

Fang Chongyong asked and made "notes", and his heart was full of emotion. The Hexi in the mouth of Niu Cyclamen is completely incompatible with the hinterland of Gansu Province in his heart that is lagging behind in economic development due to lack of water!

"There are so many Hexi specialties! The first thing worth mentioning is the Sogdian tapestry! However, it was not produced in Hexi, but brought by the Sogdians. ”

As soon as this is mentioned, there is an endless stream of cattle cyclamen.

"Lambs, wine, glow-in-the-dark cups, Sogdian brocades, alas, I can't finish talking about them for a while. You let me speak slowly......"

Looking at him as he spoke, he had a flying look on his face, as if he was several years younger.

Fang Chongyong thought to himself that although Niu Xianke was now appointed as the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, he probably still regarded himself as the local bureaucrat who was shining in his hometown and was widely loved and praised.

As the saying goes, a tree moves the dead and a man lives, but sometimes there is no shortage of counterexamples.

Niu Xianke can obviously do something big in Hexi, why did the imperial court get him to the center to be isolated and suppressed?

This is a good person, but he may not be able to be a good official in the center, but it's a pity.

Fang Chongyong sighed secretly in his heart, and the hand holding the brush wrote faster on the paper.