Abandoned inns, mottled courtyard walls, deep nights, and the intermittent whispering of wild beasts outside the courtyard walls. These unsettling elements made Fang Chongyong and his party very vigilant. Three of the people were on duty with crossbow arrows, and the others sat around the campfire.

Shifts change every hour, no different from marching and fighting.

"Why is Luomenyi so desolate, it's actually not very far from Chang'an."

Pei Xiu's mallet asked a question that was stupid on the surface, but actually had a lot of connotation.

"People run out, that's all."

Fang Chongyong replied casually, still closing his eyes and recuperating. Pei Xiu didn't have to talk a lot on duty, not that they and his party pitied the fragrance and cherished the jade, but that everyone really didn't dare to entrust their lives to a mallet who had no experience in surviving in the wild.

In another half an hour, Fang Chongyong should change shifts, and he was too lazy to gossip with Pei Xiu when he closed his eyes and recuperated.

"People run out? And there is no war, why run? ”

Pei Xiu was stunned for a moment, not understanding what Fang Chongyong's words meant.

"Because life can't go on, what else can it be.

When a certain person was a thorn in Shazhou, a small farmer's family there could only divide less than 40 acres of land, which was far less than the 100 acres required by Juntian. Their annual harvest is about 40 stones. The situation in Guanzhong is similar, and Longyou will only get worse.

Chang'an rice is cheap, and the grain produced by cultivation can't be exchanged for much money, and the required farm tools, daily oil, salt, sauce and vinegar need to be bought. This comes and goes, and life is even more difficult.

In the long run, what are these people still doing in their hometowns, they sell their land to local heroes, and then go to Chang'an to do some work to make up for it. ”

Fang Chongyong said angrily.

There are many things that are prohibited by law, as long as there is a huge and urgent need, those are not a thing! There is always a way to get around those "obstacles".

Fang Chongyong believes that it is very easy to make Brother Ji's life happy, but it is difficult to make the life of the people of Datang easier.

Fang Chongyong has been in Datang for many years, and he basically "researches" wherever he goes. Then Fang Chongyong sadly found that even without land annexation, Datang's existing economic model would be difficult to sustain.

Actively or passively joining variables is the call of the times, and no one can stop it.

Because in the small-scale peasant economy, the land owned by an ordinary farmer in the Tang Dynasty during the Tianbao period was far less than the amount of land that should be in the field. The average land system requires 100 acres, but the actual average is probably less than 40.

And even without land annexation, the average will be smaller and smaller.

40 acres of land, with the current productivity, it is no longer possible to feed a family of five by relying on the output of the field!

In other words, in the best case, there must be someone who has to work in a side business for a long time, or even work as a hawker to subsidize the family, in order to maintain the family.

This is the pressure that the continuous population growth puts on the land! It's not that a change of emperor can solve it.

Therefore, for the barren Longyou area, for the local farmers, there is a very straightforward question in front of them: since it is not easy to mix in the local area, should I go to Chang'an to make a living?

The output of the land in Longyou is less, and life is more difficult, and since the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, the population flow of the Tang Dynasty has been strengthened, and population control has been relaxed. The life of the local wealthy families is just like that, everyone is barren land, and the landlord's family has no surplus food.

Are these people from small peasant families going to Chang'an to earn a living?

The situation in the vicinity of the Lokmen Station is very typical.

Because the local people can't survive due to economic pressure, they can only migrate. The specific destination is Chang'an. There are also a few people who have become Long March athletes, and their families have gone to the border.

As a post station, the supplies it needs are all purchased from the surrounding villages. There was no one around, and the forage for feeding the horses in the post station, the rice, flour, grain and oil, fruits, vegetables and meat needed for cooking were all gone.

If you don't abandon it, are you still waiting for Chang'an to send something over to maintain it?

Therefore, the question asked by Pei Xiu is easy to answer on the surface, but in fact, the deep-seated social and economic crisis of Datang is gradually breaking out! How can there be a solution then!

Even if it was Fang Chongyong's previous life, the world more than a thousand years later. Poverty in Longyou cannot be solved because of the rugged roads and more than 90% of the mountainous area. Because of the congenital deficiencies, the ROI here is very low.

At that time, there was a developed agricultural science and technology blessing, not to mention the current Datang!

This is a typical "Matthew effect", where those who have less in their hands will be taken away, and those who have more will be more enriched. Chang'an's low grain prices have caused "blood sucking", so that the resources of Guanzhong and the areas close to Guanzhong are constantly tilting towards Chang'an.

As a result, the weakest place was the first to go bankrupt, and the area around Luomenyi, which was close to Guanzhong and the land was very barren, was the first to appear in the situation of "deserted villages and hundreds of miles of uninhabited". If the price of grain in Chang'an is high, then these places can also send grain to Chang'an or the government's regular closing position, and exchange for more wealth, so that life is above the subsistence line.

However, Chang'an's grain was transported from all over the country, especially in Hebei, where the water system is developed and the farmland is vast. How can the agriculture of the Longyou Mountains compete with the agriculture of Hebei?

In other words, the cost of growing grain for the people of Longyou is higher than the price of grain in Chang'an. Instead of farming, they might as well go to Chang'an to buy grain. However, they have no money to buy grain, so they have to sell the grain produced in the fields at a price below the cost in exchange for the necessities of life, and in the long run, there is only one way to go bankrupt.

To put it bluntly, it was the low-priced grain that was transported to Chang'an through the canal that suddenly washed away the lives of these mountain people.

If this situation is caused by some local tyrant running rampant in the township, then killing the family can alleviate the problem. But now the problems faced by the people in Longyou are much more complicated and almost unsolvable.

"According to what you say, if the people of Longyou don't plow the fields, their lives will be better?"

Pei Xiu asked in disbelief, what Fang Chongyong said was completely deviant from her education.

But she vaguely felt that Fang Chongyong's statement made some sense.

There are countless small merchants and vendors in Chang'an City, many people push a flatbed truck, build a stove on it to do business, Hu cake soup cake or something, the technical content is not high.

These people are not necessarily worse off than farming at home. Even if you don't see these vivid examples, you still hear them a lot of times.

So where do these petty traders come from?

The answer is not asked.

Pei Xiu already understood.

"That's what you said, I didn't say that."

Fang Chongyong closed his eyes and waved his hand, cautious in his words and deeds, many words could not be said directly.

"Whew!" "Whew!" "Whew!"

Outside the yard, there was the howl of a wild wolf in the mountains!

Everyone stood up vigilantly, and even Pei Xiu's mallet tightly held his saber and looked back and forth around.

The people in the Longyou region will migrate, but the wild wolves in the mountains will not! The vitality of these wolves is very tenacious, even after more than a thousand years, you can still see the traces of wolves from time to time in the countryside of Longyou.

In the Tang Dynasty, there were many Qiang tribes in the Longyou region with "wolves" as their totems.

"Fang Yushi, we seem to be besieged here by wolves."

He Changqi, who was on duty at the door, retreated to the courtyard and said to Chongyong in a low voice.

"It's a wolf summoning its companions, and you retreat and stand by the fire, and it seems that you will not be able to sleep tonight."

Fang Chongyong instructed everyone.

Behind the fire were the carriages and horses in which they were riding. The wolves weren't necessarily targeting people, maybe the restless horses.

The night was deep, and the firelight was already invisible a few meters away, and in the darkness not far away, a pair of "shining" eyes were constantly moving. Their bodies are invisible at all, and they can only detect the location of these wild wolves through their flashing eyes.

They kept wandering outside the courtyard gates, seemingly reluctant to come in at all. Fang Chongyong felt that the low courtyard wall didn't seem to be able to stop the footsteps of these wild wolves. These wolves are reluctant to enter the yard, they just don't want to be killed, they are waiting for the opportunity.

"What should I do?"

Pei Xiu leaned over and asked in a low voice.

"Be on guard against all changes, and the wolves will retreat after dawn."

Fang Chongyong said in a deep voice, his voice was not small, and everyone present basically heard it.

Those "swimming" eyes in the darkness, dangling and not stopping. But what is very chicken thieves is that none of the wild wolves have entered the range of the yard, they seem to be constantly looking for flaws, and they will not shoot if there are no flaws.

The wolves did not disperse, and Fang Chongyong and they couldn't sleep, and they all held exquisitely crafted crossbow arrows in their hands. Within five steps, the thing is almost anywhere, and the reaction speed is unusually fast, which is a sharp weapon against the wolves.

As a result, the wolves lingered outside the courtyard for two hours, until the sky spit out the whiteness of the fish's belly, and then retreated with a howl from the wolf king, and walked away.

After the wolves retreated, Fang Chongyong and his party felt that their whole bodies were soaked with cold sweat, and they were so tired that they were about to collapse, and their legs and stomachs trembled almost when they walked. These wolves are very cunning, and if they don't have a chance, they won't do it, preferring to continue to starve.

This kind of enemy, although it is only wild animals, is also terrifying and respectable.

Fang Chongyong and the others didn't say a word, packed up their things, rode horses, drove cars, and went straight to the county seat of Longxi County in the west. The danger along the way was beyond imagination, and Fang Chongyong felt that it was necessary to use his authority to update his equipment in Longxi County.

……

In a certain "entertainment room" in the Calyx Xianghui Building, Li Longji, the son of the Tang Dynasty, is waving a certain "wooden stick" with both hands, which is the polo cue he was good at when he was young, the front is straight, only the end of the cue is an arc structure, which is also the part where the polo is hit.

It looks a bit like Fang Chongyong's ice hockey stick in his previous life, but the end arc is larger.

The workmanship of this polo stick is quite exquisite, and the material is also very unusual, not directly engaged in a piece of wood, but the use of "composite wood", the production method is a bit similar to the horse mallet rod, the strength is extremely high, the toughness is also very good, and it is not easy to break.

"The Anren army wants to deceive the Tubo people?"

While waving his club, Ji Ge asked Fang Youde, who was bowing on the side.

"Returning to the saints, it is true."

Fang Youde said stiffly.

He knew that he was pinched by Fang Chongyong this time, but there was no way, it was a matter of Datang border defense, even if he was pinched, he had to do this.

"Nonsense, the Tubo people are extremely cunning, how can they be like this? It's just that the People's Army is making trouble with military salaries. ”

Brother Ji sneered and said, obviously not taking the letter that Fang Chongyong asked Cen Shen to write.

"That's it, the winter clothes of the People's Army will be reissued for one year first. I asked the imperial court to think of a way to see if I could make up the military salary for the army on the right side of Long. ”

Brother Ji tried the club in his hand again, I don't know if it was an illusion, this polo club that used to be the most handy, now feels a lot heavier, and I feel tired after a few swings.

"Thank you for the grace of the saints."

Fang Youde crossed his hands and saluted, and he had nothing to say.

Brother Ji's reaction was expected by him. Neither did they completely make up for the salaries of the Anren army, nor did they play any new tricks to "deceive the Tibetans" and engage in "fraudulent surrender" against the Tibetan people. In fact, it's not that Brother Ji doesn't want to clean up Tibet, but once the war starts, Chang'an and Guanzhong's wealth will be supplied to the border towns in large quantities.

That inevitably reduces the quality of life in Kigo. So if you can avoid fighting, it's better not to fight as much as possible.

It's just that Fang Youde is worried, Brother Ji probably doesn't know what will happen to those people if he forces the eight people in Bian Zhenqiu.

Tang Dezong Li Shi, when he pacified the feudal town, treated the meritorious troops on his side harshly, which led to the later Jingyuan Mutiny. The serious consequences of this incident are, to some extent, even worse than the Anshi Rebellion.

Today, there is an army, don't you know that there are still stubble after stubble of proud soldiers and fierce generals?

"The Twelve Capitals of Shence, how are you recruiting now?"

Kee Ge asked as he changed to a lighter polo cue and weighed it in his hand.

"Back to the saints, the soldiers have been recruited."

Fang Youde saluted and said.

"Oh? Ling's movements are quite fast, so what about the combat power of the Divine Strategies army? ”

Li Longji asked with interest.

"Back to the saints, the Divine Ce Army doesn't have any combat power right now. Weichen plans to train his troops in the form of rectification and training and retrenchment.

The twelve capitals of Shence do not necessarily need to be fully staffed, and it is better to lack than to abuse. ”

"Well, that'...... How to deal with Long Wujun? ”

Li Longji asked with some hesitation.

"Back to the saints, the Long Wu Army can move the garrison to Chengdu Mansion and Tunzha Shudi. At the same time, the scale will be reduced to less than 7,000 people. ”

Fang Youde said quietly.

The general border army of the Tang border town is between 5,000 and 7,000 people, the main force of the field army is more than 10,000, and the army directly under the imperial court such as the Chishui Army and the Jingsai Army is more than 20,000.

Fang Youde's suggestion was to demote the Longwu Army from the Central Forbidden Army to an ordinary border town border army, and vacate the forbidden army for the Shence Army.

It's like vacating a cage for a bird!

I have to say, this is indeed a good way to go. Because the Longwu Army itself was formed under the strong promotion of Ji Ge, its source is quite "extraordinary", and it did not follow the path of the former Northern Ya Forbidden Army.

From private placement, to the border army. This can be regarded as a strange and humble walk.

Fang Youde's suggestion made Li Longji cry and laugh, he put the polo stick aside, patted the other party's arm and said: "Quan Zhong, I plan to reopen the Lingyan Pavilion and add some heroes to it, the specific number has not yet been decided, but you are ranked first!" ”

Brother Ji had a smile of ardent expectation on his face, but Fang Youde was just stunned on the spot, as if he was so shocked by the news that he couldn't say a word.

The meaning of Lingyan Pavilion may be a glory for Brother Ji.

But for Fang Youde, this is not the case at all, and his feelings are much more complicated.

In his distant memory, Zhu Quanzhong had also entered the Lingyan Pavilion, and its meaning really made everyone fall silent at that time.

Now that he is Quanzhong is also going to enter the Lingyan Pavilion, is this the fate of the name "Quanzhong"?

"Quan Zhong, what do you think? You wouldn't want to, would you? ”

Brother Ji asked in an unkind tone.

"Weichen, thank you for the saint's kindness."

Fang Youde knelt on the ground and made a five-body bow.

(End of chapter)