Su Licai agreed to evaluate Ji Zheng's ability to be a person, but he didn't expect that he would see this Hongshan guard wandering at the door of his courtyard that night.

"General Wang is not going to rest, is there something important to come to me?" Su Li greeted in a calm tone.

Wang Jian hurriedly hugged his fists and said: "I have seen the national teacher, the last general...... The last will just ......"

He didn't seem to have figured out how to phrase it...... Indeed, Su Li's sudden appearance caught him a little off guard.

Su Li didn't answer, just waited patiently for this Wang Jian to see what he could say.

But he didn't expect that under his expectation, this Wang Jian suddenly took out a brocade box from behind his back, and then respectfully handed it to Su Li and said: "The last general is here, just to ask the national teacher to say a few good words in front of the king, the last general ...... The last general ......"

Su Li blinked, he didn't expect that he would encounter such a down-to-earth thing.

Curiously, he reached out and took the brocade box and asked, "What is this?"

Wang Jian's eyebrows twitched suddenly, and he felt that this was the reaction of the national teacher as if it was different from what he imagined.

But he didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly stepped forward to open the brocade box and said: "The last general knows that the national teacher is a strange person who does not like mundane things, so he gave a strange stone accidentally obtained in this Hongshan Pass as a gift. ”

Su Li took a look, but saw that the brocade box contained a palm-sized dark red stone. The stone has a smooth surface and an oval shape, but it is not an extraordinary product.

Just lying there quietly can attract the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi to its side to contract regularly, as if it is breathing.

That's why it also has a very appropriate name, called 'lungstone'.

Not to mention the value of this strange stone, carrying it is equivalent to bringing a spirit gathering array.

It can be seen that this king and cultivator have just reached the innate level, but their vision and luck are good...... It's just that such a treasure would be very precious to an innate cultivator who has officially started to contact the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi, right?

"Many monks also use lungstone as the main material of the natal weapon. Begonia hid in Su Li's hair and muttered.

"It's a good thing, I'll take this gift. "Su Li received a gift and received it, which is called peace of mind.

Wang Jian showed a look of reluctance on his face, but when Su Li confirmed that he was going to accept it, he immediately became happy again...... It can be seen that in his heart, it is better to occupy this strange stone by himself than to give it to the powerful people of the current dynasty.

"May I ask the national teacher, tomorrow Your Majesty will check the armament of this Hongshan Pass, I don't know if you can say a few words for the last general?" Wang Jian saw that Su Li had received something, and he was relieved to say what he wanted.

Su Li sounded a little strange, and then asked, "Is there a problem with your Red Mountain Pass?"

Wang Jian hesitated for a moment, and looked a little unwilling to say it explicitly.

Seeing this, Su Li said angrily: "I have accepted your things, what else can I do with you?"

Wang Jian felt very right when he heard it, so he said without confidence: "Because Hongshan Pass is clear, and the people who should have been rotated three years ago didn't come, so many people couldn't stand it and left...... Now there are only 22,000 people left in this Hongshan Pass...... The last general was afraid that the deserters here would be blamed by the superiors, so he didn't dare to report it. ”

Su Li understood what was going on as soon as he heard it, this guy was still an empty salary!

He was speechless for a moment, and then said to him: "You are really going to be beheaded for this, but it is not your fault to investigate the root cause...... In this way, you can list all the current situation in Hongshan Pass...... You can't hide it at the moment, you can only do it if you make meritorious contributions. ”

Seeing that Wang Jian looked anxious and seemed unwilling to 'blow himself up' like this, Su Li said with relief: "What do you know? Now this Western Regions battlefield almost determines the direction of my Great Qin National Fortune, what matters to you now is not what mistakes you have made before, but whether you can participate in this big war in the future!"

"As long as you can perform well in this battle, this is a matter of showing your face directly in front of the king, are you afraid that you will not be able to offset the merits and even make a fortune for the priests?"

Wang Jian was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and suddenly felt that his vision was really too far behind that of this national teacher.

Seeing that he showed a sudden look, Su Li didn't say anything more, and asked him to go back and prepare by himself.

At this time, Beiguang quietly showed his head, he looked at the king and the distance, and asked in a puzzled tone: "Master, we don't need the gift he gave......, do we?"

Su Li shook his head to stop him from asking, but said: "A thousand people have a thousand faces, and people can't always get along with people with similar temperaments. You just need to watch and listen more, this is the way of a king, and it is not something that can be done well based on personal preference. ”

As he spoke, he briefly processed the lungstone refining and put it in Beiguang's hand as a pendant, saying, "It's better than nothing." ”

Beiguang didn't seem to understand, but he remembered Su Li's words...... Next, he should watch and listen more with the mentality of learning. He was also curious about what Ji Zheng would do with this person......

......

Early the next morning, Wang Jian, who seemed to have not slept all night, came to Ji Zheng with many account books.

He didn't wear armor, but was dressed in coarse cloth and bowed his head with his back bowed, waiting for Ji Zheng to look through the results of these ledgers.

Ji Zheng flipped for a long time...... It's not that he is looking for the fault of this king, but he found that the entries in these ledgers list all the situations clearly, and what is and lacks in this Red Mountain Pass is really clear at a glance.

But again, he sees a lot of problems......

The defenders of Hongshan Pass turned out to be only 22,000 people!

However, the annual military pay allocated here is a full amount of 30,000 people......

But there is a problem...... There is an imbalance between expenditure and income at Hongshanguan every year.

Revenue naturally refers to the materials and military salaries allocated by the imperial court, while expenditure refers to what is actually distributed and the daily consumption and loss......

This part of the expenditure is actually more than the income part every year.

Ji Zheng remembered that Su Li had only 'taught' him yesterday to be happy and angry.

Otherwise, he would have been furious when he saw such a big deficit in this army...... Only now, after patiently looking at it, he found a problem.

This Hongshan Pass is definitely the most difficult border pass in Western Qin, it was originally rotated every three years, but when it was supposed to be rotated three years ago, this place was ignored for various reasons...... So this is the sixth year that the Red Mountain Pass soldiers have been stationed here in a row!

As for what the 'various reasons' are, Ji Zheng also knows it...... At that time, the sons of Qin Wangba in Anyang City were vying to be the king, so naturally they didn't have the heart to take care of coming here.

And at first, the anger against Wang Jian for eating empty salaries gradually subsided, because he found that it was really not that Wang Jian had to eat empty salaries, but that he also distributed part of the vacated military salaries to his subordinates as benefits...... He even posted a lot of it himself!

Otherwise, I am afraid that there are not even 22,000 people in this Red Mountain Pass.

"Stupid!" Ji Zheng couldn't help but scold.

"Poof!"

Wang Jian knelt down directly...... At this time, it should be considered wartime, he came to see Ji Zheng but did not wear armor, sure enough, it was for the ease and convenience of kneeling.

Ji Zheng almost laughed out loud when he was broken.

But he still said with a straight face: "The mistake of the rotation of the imperial court is the fault of those court officials, you actually dare to conceal the situation of deserters for many years, can your head withstand the incident of this Hongshan Pass?"

"Xia Guan is wrong. Wang Jian immediately admitted his mistake and was very obedient.

Ji Zheng still wanted to reprimand two more sentences, but considering that the situation was urgent enough, he could only say: "You should have been removed from your post for reflection, but now that you are employed, let you make meritorious contributions." ”

When these words came out, Wang Jian immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and at the same time he really admired the wisdom of that national teacher...... He knew that even if he lost this battle, as long as he could escort King Qin back to Anyang, then his career would already be smooth.

"Okay, I'm going to review the military appearance in this pass in the afternoon, and you can prepare yourself. "Ji Zheng is driving people again.

Wang Jian knew that he had passed this level, so he hurriedly walked out of the room with his head bowed and his back bowed......

Seeing that Wang Jian leaving, Ji Zhengcai groaned for a while, and then asked Su Li: "Mr. Su, do you think Wang Jian ......?"

He paused and thought for a moment, then continued, "How should he compare with Meng Zhi?"

When this question is asked, in fact, Wang Jian is already a talented person in Ji Zheng's heart. It's just that this person's nature is really uncertain, so he will ask Su Li again.

When Beiguang heard this, he wanted to propose that this person could not be of great use, but thinking of what Su Li said last night, he hurriedly remained silent and wanted to hear how his master judged.

Who knew that Su Li said without hesitation: "If it is General Meng, the current General Zhenbei will be the end, at most let him change places to sit in Pingtuo, where he is, he can protect the stability of the party." ”

"As for this General Wang, how talented he is can make him a big official. This person only needs to tap it from time to time, and it will be very easy to use. ”

"Huh!" Beiguang couldn't help but exclaim, this response was obviously completely different from what he thought.

However, Ji Zheng was slightly stunned and said with some understanding: "Indeed, Wang Jian can be said to be a real villain, he has too many handles, and he can easily control it...... Or maybe that's how he does things. ”

"But General Meng ...... General Meng is loyal, and the widow believes that if the widow has a life, he will not frown when he goes to the soup...... It is true that as Mr. Su said, he can rest assured that he is the most solid shield of the widow. ”

"Such a loyal general, why can't the widow be rewarded?"

Su Li sighed when he heard this and said, "It's because General Meng is loyal but arrogant, so the relationship between him and his colleagues is not very good. ”

"Let him lead an army alone to guard outside the town is naturally peaceful, but if he is allowed to enter the court as an official and work with those high-ranking officials and nobles, I am afraid that he will be hated by others......"

"So I suggest that in order to protect General Meng, the position of General Zhenbei is the upper limit. If His Majesty wants to make amends, he can add more false honors or financial rewards, and reward General Meng with more credit to his family. ”

Ji Zheng suddenly ...... He bowed to Su Li and said, "Thank you for your advice, the widow almost did something wrong again." ”

Beiguang was also in a daze, as if he had learned some more, but it was a little vague. He only knew that his master's advice to those two generals was very reasonable......

The king is both talented, ambitious and smart enough, so he let him fight for glory with his talent.

However, Meng Zhi was loyal and upright, but he did not know how to change, so he ensured that he would be safe and prosperous for a lifetime......