Gao Lishi's letter was sent to Jili Province. Zhang Xiaobao saw a lot of words in the letter and only mentioned 'Your Majesty wants ten hundred-year-old ginseng' at the end. Then, he threw the letter aside.
Wang Juan and Weiwei smiled. "Li Longji is so poor that he has gone crazy. Every time he opens his mouth, he wants ten ginseng. He's so pitiful."
"What's so pitiful about that?" Zhang Xiaobao was worried about the population and did not consider anything else.
"It's a pity that he can't control this place that should belong to the three provinces in the northeast. It's just that the two of us are obedient and help him stabilize this place. Otherwise, look at the Andong Protectorate, Rao Le Commandery, Songmo Commandery, and Bohai Commandery. Which one of them listens to him? Today, he'll give a princess and tomorrow, he'll be an official.
If we didn't go to Tubo, we would still have to play at the border every year. We have to develop, but we have to worry about others attacking us. Especially Ke Tuyu of Khitan, he's a person with some political and military skills. Li Longji has to acknowledge the person he appointed and marry him to the princess. He also has to have an official position.
Others have to be respectful to him. When he speaks, others have to agree. When he's unhappy, others are not allowed to sing or dance in front of him. Otherwise, it's looking down on him. If Li Longji can control him, why didn't he write a letter to ask for more ginseng? "
Wang Juan folded the letter and explained the situation to Zhang Xiaobao.
Zhang Xiaobao knew this person. He was not too far away from his place. If it was connected to the highway, he would arrive in a day. Even now, it would take less than a month to march the army.
Zhang Xiaobao was worried about the population. He had said that he would recruit 100,000 soldiers, but now, it seemed that he would not be able to. There were not that many people. Now, most of the 130,000 people in Jili Province were from Xinluo. It was estimated that they had reached the limit and no one could come over.
He touched a rabbit of the twelve zodiac animals and said, "Should we send someone to Xinluo to take a look and ask if they have any extra people? If they do, we can use pottery to exchange for them. Nowadays, pottery is not selling well in the north. They usually use fur to exchange for it. It's useless for me to have so many furs."
"Even if there is, I won't give it to you. 130,000 is 130,000. It's not a small amount. If you organize it properly, it'll be enough to start a rebellion. See if there's anything else you need to cut down trees and dig holes. If there's nothing else, I'll go train 10,000 soldiers."
Wang Juan was waiting for the ten thousand people to adapt to the cold weather so that they could explore the way. Recently, she had been thinking about tomatoes, potatoes, chili, corn, sweet potatoes, and so on. She didn't like eating anything else.
Zhang Xiaobao waved his hand. "Go, go. There's no need for that for the time being. It's enough. If there's no other way, just get the civilians to do it. The army can't be built forever. We're not construction soldiers. When we reach North America, don't forget to bring me some cigarettes. I'll roll them and smoke them."
"Smoking is harmful to your health. Do you smoke?" Wang Juan agreed, even though the two of them didn't even know what North America looked like.
"Cigarettes?" Zhang Xiaobao paused for a moment. He understood what Wang Juan meant. "I don't know how to smoke tobacco. I can't make it. I didn't smoke tobacco in the past. I only smoke tobacco, not shredded tobacco. Shredded tobacco is too expensive. A box costs a few hundred."
"Yes, you smoke the ones that are dried and rolled up. A few hundred dollars each. Don't be idle. Do some planning. This year, we have to pay taxes. Li Longji, that bully, is really not a good person."
Wang Juan said this and walked out of the door to find her army training.
Seeing Wang Juan leave, Zhang Xiaobao put down the rabbit of the twelve zodiac signs and picked up the cat of the previous zodiac sign. He played with it in his hand and muttered, "It's good to pay taxes. Paying taxes can increase one's reputation. Poor Li Longji. Fine, I'll get some more deer antlers. Otherwise, he'll throw a tantrum if I don't give them to my godfather.
Also, my parents say that the mink fur in the northeast is good. Make some clothes to avoid the cold in winter. In a few days, a flock of geese will be flying south. Forget about the Ural grass. My family doesn't use that to make shoes. "
*****
The days passed calmly and passionately. When late autumn was approaching, the second batch of grain had already started in other places. However, the first batch of grain in Jili had not yet arrived.
Because it was planted late, most of the grains were still soybeans. They had to wait for the frost to fall.
Wang Juan led the ten thousand soldiers to train and swim every day. They took cold baths three times a day so that the people from the south could gradually adapt to the cold weather.
Zhang Xiaobao ordered the people in the province to build kang beds. A large number of reeds were transported from the local area and the surrounding areas to weave mats. Otherwise, the kang beds would be uninhabitable.
The bricks were burned one by one. While the people were idle, they had people make methane ponds so that they could be used on the land next year. No matter what, they had to increase the output. This year's soybean harvest was just so-so. They did not expect to harvest much.
While they were looking forward to the autumn harvest, people from the Song Mo Commander-In-Chief's Office came. They were sent by Li Shaogu. Now, they were the masters of the Khitans. In fact, they had to listen to Ke Tuyu.
The people who came here also represented that Ke Tuyu wanted something.
One was the shark fin and kun bu from Jili, which was the kelp. The other was the furniture produced in Hai Yunjian. Ke Tuyu did not know where he heard that. Gao Lishi's house had a whole set of good furniture. All the wooden furniture was made of agarwood.
In addition to the furniture, there was also a big fish tank in the shape of mountains and rivers. When reflected in the sun, it was colorful.
Therefore, Ke Tuyu also wanted a set.
If he asked for it, Zhang Xiaobao considered the current international situation and gave it to him. The problem was that the people who came did not say, "Give us something. We don't have it. It's good to look at and admire."
What he said was, "My Lord has taken care of Jili. The Governor of Jili should offer something to my Lord like you have already offered pottery."
With Zhang Xiaobao's character, he would not fall for this. He politely offered pottery, but in the end, he was seen as weak. Just as he was about to politely refuse, Wang Juan, who got the news, hurried back and said to the people from the Song Mo Commander-In-Chief's Office, "Jili doesn't need your care. If you want something, fine. If you don't give it to me, you can only give me a broken bowl and half a bowl of spoiled rice. If you are a man, fight me."
The people who came were angry and left unhappily. As a result, just after leaving Jili, Wang Juan, who was still angry, thought for a while and led the troops to chase after them. With only a hundred people, they killed more than a hundred people from the Song Mo Commander-In-Chief's Office, leaving only one leader. Only then did she calm down and come back.
Zhang Xiaobao, who did not stop Wang Juan, waited for Wang Juan to come back happily and said to her, "You are like a child. As the saying goes, when two countries are at war, they don't kill the envoys. Why did you bully them?"
"I am a child. How can they be considered a country? I didn't admit that they dared to threaten us. We are not scared. Write a letter to Ke Tuyu immediately and ask him if he wants me to kill him. If he wants to die, just say it and I will help him. "
Wang Juan said indifferently and said, "This time I didn't bully them. It was a one-on-one fight. The Xiang Army is the Xiang Army. They are only stronger than the Khitans. We won a complete victory."
"Forget it. You rushed up with a hundred people. There are so many people behind you. How can they fight? Who knew that you wanted to kill people? They thought you wanted to kidnap people. They were not prepared at all. "
Zhang Xiaobao could understand the feelings of the hundred Khitans who were killed. Not to mention the Khitans, even the Turks would not expect Wang Juan to kill them.
"I don't care. This is called catching them off guard. They didn't know before, but now they know. If they offend me, they won't have a good ending. Didn't you see? When the leader left, he stared at me. His eyes were full of disdain. "
Wang Juan was still full of righteousness.
Zhang Xiaobao agreed as he ground the ink. "Okay, kill them. We have to kill them sooner or later. If we don't kill them, it will be Liao in the end. I will write a letter and ask him to give us an acceptable explanation. If not, he won't have a good ending. "
"Yes, he won't have a good ending." Wang Juan spread out the paper and took the ink from Zhang Xiaobao and ground it.
*****
It didn't take long for two letters to be written. One was sent to the capital and the other to the Song Mo Commander-In-Chief's Office.
The letter to the capital was sent with a pigeon, but it was sent by the Ministry of Rites.
Gao Lishi was in charge of the pigeon. Usually, as long as it wasn't from important people like Zhang Xiaobao, he could let his subordinates handle it. When it was not important, even if someone was willing to spend more money to send a letter, he would take care of it.
When he heard that Xiao Bao had sent a letter, he hurried over. In the end, he saw that it was sent to the Ministry of Rites. Thus, Gao Lishi could not open the letter directly. Instead, he found the minister of the Ministry of Rites, Su'Er.
Su'Er's days were not very good. Although the position of minister was something that many people could not obtain in their lifetime, compared to his previous position, it was far worse.
When Gao Lishi found him, he was busy behind his desk with the Pilgrimage of Mount Tai. The original date was in November, but it was changed. It was changed to October. Now, there were less than two months left before they had to leave.
The Turks had negotiated with the surrounding small countries. They would not come to cause trouble and would even send people to observe the ceremony.
When Gao Lishi threw the letter in front of him, he opened it and read it. He felt that his entire back was wet.
"Lord, Lord Gao, this … this is a critical moment. What do Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan want to do? His Majesty is about to go for the pilgrimage. Why did they have to make trouble at this time? What if the Khitans do not come to observe the ceremony and prepare to send troops? "
Su'Er felt that the pilgrimage was already very stable and there would not be any problems. He did not expect that at the most critical moment, something would happen in Jili Province.
As for why they did not go to the Censorate but to the Ministry of Rites, the contents of the letter were all grievances, saying that they should be united and should not have come to force them.
Others might not understand, but Su'Er did. After all, he had once been on the same side as the Ziwei Yellow Sect. How could he not know this method? It was more powerful than sending it to the Censorate.
Sending it to the Censorate would be an impeachment, and the result would be to the emperor. Sending it to the Ministry of Rites would be to gain the upper hand in terms of reason. Why did they gain the upper hand in terms of reason? It was to prepare for the deployment of troops. Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan really wanted to make a move.
Gao Lishi did not see what was written in the letter. He took the letter and read it. He gasped and swallowed twice. He did not care about Su'Er and said to him, "I'm going to find His Majesty." He left in a hurry.
Su'Er did not see him out. After a while, he sighed, "You're too abrupt. What can I say about you?"
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