When Li Longji asked the question, he thought that the other party would say that it was nothing and that they didn't need to worry about food and lodging. What trouble could there be?
Who would have thought that the team leader would have a 'big trouble'?
"Please tell me." When Li Longji was speaking to the team leader, he reached out and pulled Zhang Xiaobao to the front.
Zhang Xiaobao was depressed. Why did you drag me out when you're asking me what trouble it is? Why don't I ask it myself? Why do you want me to solve the problem after you ask? Do you want me to be the good guy?
Revenge. It must be revenge for the ice skating rink incident.
The team leader could guarantee that he didn't see the Emperor's actions. He respectfully replied, "Your Majesty, the trouble comes from …"
"Sir, Sir, Sir Xu, are you here? I'm here to send you fish. "Before the team leader could finish his sentence, a voice resounded through the mountains.
Zhang Xiaobao's heartbeat suddenly quickened. There was already snow here, and it looked like it had been there for a long time. If there was a sudden crash and a part of the mountain collapsed, Tang Empire would be in chaos.
Fortunately, the mountain was still firm and didn't move at all.
"Your Majesty, the trouble is here." The team leader first said to Li Longji, then shouted in the direction of the voice, "Don't shout, come over."
Everyone looked over and saw six or seven silhouettes coming out. When they got closer, they could see clearly that there were eight people. They were wearing clothes of various colors, and with a single glance, it was obvious that they were pieced together from the fur of various animals.
Some of them were carrying baskets, some were carrying a roe deer, and there were even two people carrying a deer. There was even a wooden basin covered with fur. They were walking very carefully, and there was probably something valuable in it.
"What's the situation?" Zhang Xiaobao pulled out a dagger and asked. He didn't want to shoot in a snowy area. If there was no other way, he would fight hand-to-hand. He was confident that he could take down two people in a single move.
Xiao Bei also took out her slingshot that couldn't even kill a bird without hitting its head. Regardless of whether it was strong enough or not, its reaction speed was definitely top-notch.
"Don't, Little Young Master. Be merciful. He has a hard life." The captain hurriedly stopped him and explained, "There used to be other people here. They were Momo's people. After that, the local forces were all destroyed by you and Cuckoo. They were also willing to listen to you. In addition to the benefits given, they gathered together and formed a few counties.
The Xinluo people also took advantage of the opportunity to come. In the past, they had conflicts with the Tao Wu, and it was easy for them to die on the mountain. After the Tao Wu left, they were safe. Unless they were careless, no one would die.
Last year, it was even later than this time. There were five people coming up the mountain. When we were patrolling, we discovered that one of them had fallen ill. We couldn't just leave him to die, so the patrolling people carried him back. He was saved by the Wei Medical Doctor who stayed behind last year.
We still have to provide them with food. This shows how capable your families are and how much care they have for us. Normally, after eating the food that we eat, they are reluctant to leave.
Since then, they always come. Sometimes they come in large groups, sometimes they come in small groups. Sometimes they come in groups of two or three, but most of them come in groups of fifty or sixty. Every time they come, they bring things and come to us to ask for our usual meals. "
Hearing this, Li Longji nodded in agreement. How could the food provided by the Zhang Family and the Wang Family be ordinary? It was even to the extent that it was made according to everyone's taste. Otherwise, how could there be such loyal people?
Even if the military camp couldn't make the food according to everyone's taste, it wouldn't be much different. If the Xinluo people saw it, wouldn't they think that it was the most delicious thing in the world?
"According to what you said, you think it's troublesome for them to come and exchange for food?" Zhang Xiaobao made a hand gesture, asking the guards to let them in. He didn't believe that eight people could do anything to threaten Li Longji.
"No, they are coming. You will know when you hear it." The leader stepped forward and stood a few steps forward. The soldiers in the team also protected the Emperor.
The guards closest to Li Longji didn't move. If they moved, they would be killed. For them, there was no concept of subduing. The two fast gunmen also put their left hand on the forearm of their right hand that was holding the gun.
"Mao Zi, stand still first. Don't move. Don't move. Yes, little by little. Slowly take off the weapons in your hands and on your body and gently put them on the ground. When you put them down, don't look up. Xiao Wu, Xiao Qi, go and search them."
When the leader saw that the eight people were closer, less than 30 steps away, he nervously shouted. He didn't want to see the other party be killed directly. There was no need to think about what the guards around the Emperor and the eleven children of the Zhang Family and the Wang Family looked like.
The person called Mao Zi was very obedient. He also felt that the situation was not right. There were too many people. At a rough glance, there were at least eight hundred if not a thousand people.
He said a few words to the seven people around him and slowly put everything down. As expected, he didn't look up. He waited for the two soldiers guarding the mountain to search him again before he was allowed to move forward.
When he was 20 steps away, the leader leaned over and whispered, "Mao Zi, be careful what you say. His Majesty is here in person. Also, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan from Between the Clouds and the Water and their younger brothers and sisters are all here. Stay calm. Don't make any big movements."
While the leader was talking, Mao Zi's body began to pile up. He hurriedly reached out to support him. Mao Zi's legs began to tremble. If he really sat down, the guards would probably think that he was going to do something and directly kill him.
"Xu, Xu … Military Master Xu, you, you are not kidding me, right? I am timid. His … His Majesty is here? Zhang, Zhang Xiao, Xiao Bao and the others are here too? It's, it's so cold. Why, why are they climbing up the mountain? "
Mao Zi didn't need the leader to say more. He already knew what he should do. He had to hold on. He couldn't make any big movements. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to go back alive.
"He came to see our people guarding the mountain. Young Master Zhang said that the entire mountain belongs to the Tang Empire. Let's see if we have guarded it."
The leader puffed out his chest and looked very proud. The Emperor had brought Zhang Xiaobao and Wang family to see. How big of a face did he have? It could scare people to death.
"It has always been like this. We, we only came here to hunt. The other side of the Huangshui and the Muddy River is Xin Luo. The rest is all yours. Xin Luo is far from here."
When a person is overly frightened, they can sometimes suddenly become calm and steady. Cat belonged to this type of person. Her speech was much smoother and her mind was more open. The worst that could happen was death. Moreover, the other party did not say that they wanted her life.
The leader knew what river Mao Zi was talking about. It was indeed quite a distance from here, but he had to explain, "Didn't we just stabilize not long ago? So the Emperor came to take a look. Don't say anything wrong later, especially children. Don't provoke them. Let's go. I'll go over. Stop ten steps away."
"I'll instruct them." Mao Zi turned around and came near the other seven people who were puzzled. They didn't hear what he said just now.
Zhang Xiaobao saw that the seven people slowly squatted down and raised their palms outwards. They lowered their heads and looked at the ground. The person called Mao Zi must have explained it to them clearly.
After Mao Zi arranged for the seven people, he simply took off his outer coat, revealing a patched short shirt inside. It showed that he didn't have any weapons.
Only then did he follow the leader to a distance of ten steps away from Li Longji. This distance was the best distance for a fast shooter to react. It was accurate and the reaction time was enough.
As soon as Mao Zi arrived, he knelt there without other people's instructions and kowtowed three times in a row. The snow where he kowtowed became hard.
"Your Majesty, I didn't know that Your Majesty was here. I've offended you.
I'll be sentenced to death. "Li Longji nodded happily. He didn't think that the other party really wanted to die. However, the other party was from Xin Luo. He recognized him as the Emperor and kowtowed sincerely.
As soon as he was happy, he looked at Zhang Xiaobao and said, "Reward, a set of clothes."
Since there were outsiders around, Zhang Xiaobao was very respectful. He immediately made a hand gesture and someone brought out a set of clothes and a cloth according to the cat's figure. He walked over to the cat and whispered a few words. The cloth was wrapped around the cat.
When Mao Zi came out, he looked completely different from head to toe. He adhered to the style of Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Family (except for Xiao Bei and the other nine people). The clothes were fitting, comfortable, and not ostentatious.
However, Mao Zi didn't think so. He braved the cold to change. What material is this? Why is it so soft? It's warm. The things from Tang are the best. Furthermore, this is a gift from the Tang Empire's Emperor. This set of clothes is comfortable to wear for a while. I have to take it off and take it back.
Li Longji saw that the other party was nimble and nodded in satisfaction. "Come closer and talk."
Zhang Xiaobao cursed in his heart. He and Wang Juan quickly moved a step in front of Li Longji. If they moved any closer, it would be difficult for the fast gunner to judge and it would be easy to misfire. Furthermore, the fast gunner's identity wasn't suitable to be in front of them. It was the same for the other bodyguards.
Only Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan stood there so that others wouldn't feel alienated. Their identities were also extraordinary. It gave people the feeling that the three big shots of Tang were meeting together.
Mao Zi was really excited. He didn't know Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan, but from their positions just now, he could feel that their status was second only to the Emperor of Tang. Looking at their ages, it wasn't difficult to guess who they were.
He moved forward again, little by little. When he was five steps away from Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan, he stopped when Li Longji opened his mouth to speak.
The distance was so close that Mao Zi could even see Li Longji's eyelashes clearly. For some reason, he suddenly had the thought of dying for the Emperor of Tang at any time.
If it was his own Xinluo, he wouldn't even stand so close to a chief, let alone a king. He was afraid that he would cause harm to others.
But the Emperor of the Great Tang, as well as the most formidable Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan, had allowed him to stand at this distance and not go any further. That would be sticking to him. How magnanimous did one have to be to do this?
Of course, he knew that if he wanted to do something dangerous, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan could make him bleed on the spot within a second. The two of them didn't have much strength when they were young, but they could deal with the Emperor's bodyguards when they cooperated with each other with hidden weapons, let alone when they grew up.
"Your Majesty, Jiedushi Zhang, Jiedushi Wang, I'm from Xinluo. I'm here to send something to Captain Xu and the others who are guarding the mountain. I don't know, I don't know, Your Majesty …"
Mao Zi, who had become bold because of the pressure, was once again at a loss because of Li Longji's friendliness. He stuttered when he spoke. This time, it wasn't because he was scared, but because he was excited.
Li Longji understood and made a gesture of pressing down with his hand, indicating that the other party shouldn't be anxious. He said, "Xinluo is a vassal state of Tang. I'll have to trouble the soldiers on the mountain. I saw that you brought deer and roe deer. I'll try it today and let Xiao Bao make it. You can eat with me. Consider it as me taking advantage of you. I'll return the favor later."
When Mao Zi heard Li Longji's words, he started crying. He wiped his tears and said, "Your Majesty, I, I don't want to stay in Xinluo. I, I want to come to Tang.
I, I begged Captain Xu for half, half a year. He, he said he couldn't make the decision. I looked for him but couldn't find anyone else. I could only come here to ask him. Your Majesty, you, you can consider me as someone from Tang. "
This time, Li Longji knew what the trouble was. Captain Xu couldn't agree as he didn't have the authority. That was a diplomatic dispute. Speaking of which, the trouble was indeed not small.
Seeing the other party crying and begging, Li Longji sighed in his heart. He knew very well what the reason was. It was Xiao Bao's plan to destroy the family. He gave them food and then made them grow cotton. How many years had it been? He had already reached the point of forcing them with food.
Compared to that swindler in Yuan Zhou, Xiao Bao was a truly ruthless person. What was there to be proud of by scamming the officials and commoners of an entire prefecture? Xiao Bao was scheming for the country. Otherwise, how could he be on the top of the list of tycoons?
Zhang Xiaobao, who knew Li Longji very well, did not need to turn around to know what Li Longji was thinking. He said, "Your Majesty, this subject is willing to listen to orders and help the people of the vassal countries. Your Majesty, please make a decision."
Li Longji returned to reality from his thoughts and nodded lightly. "Very well, I have a plan. Let the people of the Great Tang and the people of Xinluo build a county together and rule it together. Xiaobao, what do you think?"
Zhang Xiaobao quickly answered, "Your Majesty is wise."
The others followed suit and shouted, "Your Majesty is wise."
Only Xiaobei and the other nine did not shout, especially Xiaobei. She was studying hard. Uncle Emperor was really amazing. At the very least, he was thick-skinned. This was clearly an idea of her brother and sister. Uncle Emperor actually took it for himself and said it in such a righteous manner.
Cat did not know what was going on. He had just made a request and the Emperor of Tang immediately came up with a plan. It was too amazing. No wonder he was the Emperor, and he was from a strong country like Tang.
He thought that this was an idea specially made for him. Cat was so grateful that he did not know what to do. He wanted to kneel, but he was afraid that his movements would be too big and his clothes would be dirty. If he did not kneel, he would not show respect.
Therefore, he did an unimaginable action. He put his feet on the ground and spread his hands apart. It was a push-up position. He let his head touch the ground as a kowtow.
Zhang Xiaobao was full of admiration. Could this be the legendary prostration?
"Xiao Bao, you do the specific things. I believe you can do it well." Li Longji spoke again. He did not forget to tell Cat to get up.
Cat straightened up and looked at his clothes to see if they were dirty. Seeing that there were only a few spots of snow, he was relieved and became calm again.
"Your Majesty said it well. Not only the people, but also the people of many places. They have long wanted to come to Tang. If they continue to stay in Xinluo, they will not be able to survive."
"Hmm? Why can't they survive? Didn't they give you food? "Li Longji asked.
He was really puzzled. Xiao Bao had given a lot of food. Although they could always use food as a threat, it had not been implemented yet. They had just planned to implement it this year, so how could they starve?
Cat sighed, "They did, but they did not directly give it to us. They gave it to the chief, the village chief, or some noble or county magistrate. Their houses have many more exquisite furniture from Tang, so we have less food. Before winter came, we gave them a little. Last summer, in June and July, there were many wild vegetables. We did not see a grain of rice for a month."
Li Longji understood. The food must have been taken by the officials to the border to be sold at a very low price. Then, they could buy expensive luxury goods.
"Your Majesty did not send people to investigate?" Li Longji asked.
"Yes, but our Xinluo does not have three rounds like the Tang Patrol. We will only send one round, so this round of people will have many exquisite things. Our Xinluo does not have a Patrol like Xiao Bei, nor do we have people like Xiao Bei's family's intelligence system. Needless to say, we can bribe at least 300,000 strings of coins every year. Even 300 strings of coins can be bribed."
Cat had already seen a group of children. When he spoke, he glanced again. Xiao Bei stood at the front and returned a bright smile, like a sunflower.
Li Longji and the other officials were silent after hearing this. They all understood that Xiao Bei and the other nine Tang Patrol were special existences. They could not be threatened, let alone bribed. When Shuichiro Watanabe stretched out a finger, Xiao Bei thought it was 100 million strings of coins. Later, he guessed that it was 10 million strings of coins, which was already the bottom line.
But who could take out 10 million strings of coins to bribe? That was 10 billion strings of coins. Not to mention a province or a prefecture, even an official in charge of a road, could he take it out?
The richest, Jiangnan Road or Gyeonggi Road, could take it out, but the premise was that they did not hand over a single coin and gave it all to Xiao Bei. What was the official after? He could not be greedy for money himself.
Moreover, it was impossible to do so. What kind of joke was that if a place did not hand over any revenue?
The entire Tang Empire's revenue this year was only 130 million strings of coins. It was estimated that the Zhang Family and Wang Family earned about half of this amount this year. There was also the 100 million strings of coins from the Great Tang Bank.
This was the confidence of Xiao Bei and the other eight Patrol. They were so rich that they could rival a country. Why would they bribe?
Li Longji waited for a long time. When Cat could not wait any longer, he said, "Come to the Tang Empire. With Xiao Bei and the others here, I will let Xiao Bei watch over the officials in the new district. What do you think?"
"Thank you, Your Majesty. If you really let Xiao Bei take care of it, I … I will definitely take the initiative to pay the rent. There is no need for others to collect it. I will send it up myself. It will only be more and not less."
Cat's face turned red. Xiao Bei, that was Xiao Bei. They did not really need to take care of it. As long as they had a name, which official would dare to touch them?
Xiao Bei was very embarrassed because his sister had said that in the future, even if it was 100 million strings of coins, he would not accept it. He had been greedy at that time. He turned to look at the other eight people. Xiaoyuan and the other eight people looked like they wanted him to make the decision. Xiao Bei stood up and walked to the front shyly.
"Uncle Emperor, in the future, even if it is 100 million strings of coins, we will not accept it. We will not accept money with the premise of harming the people of the Tang Empire. I suggest that we let this, let him, let Cat, let this person be the County Magistrate of the new district.
When the time comes, we will only watch him. If he becomes greedy, we will add all the hatred he had for the officials today to him. Cat, what do you think? When the time comes, it is not just death. Sometimes, death is a kind of happiness. "
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