Hsu Fengnian stopped at Mount Qing Liang for a short rest. Then, he led the light cavalry of the Phoenix Battalion toward the new city that had broken ground at the beginning of the year. Traveling with him were Xu Beizhi, who had just left his post as the provincial governor of Lingzhou, and Chen Xiliang, whose official rank in Liuzhou had always been neither high nor low.
The woman who had previously died with him, the King of Beiliang, was his aunt, Zhao Yutai, accompanying Xu Weixiong. Chen Yu and the green-robed little girl hit it off very well and also stayed at Mount Qing Liang. The two of them liked to throw copper coins of wishes at the wishing lotuses in Tidehark Lake. Jia Jiajia and Xu Ying, who had become playmates in Great Peace City, also began to "go their separate ways" when they arrived at Beiliang Palace. Haha, the girl liked to run with the two Tiger Kui from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the mountain, and then from the front of the mountain to the back of the mountain. Only when she occasionally saw the woman called Lu Chengyan would she stop and laugh happily. Xu Ying, on the other hand, liked to listen to the stories of Wang Chudong, a great literary figure in Liyang. In short, Mount Qing Liang seemed to become lively all of a sudden. In particular, Chen Yu, who had competed with a certain Nangong for the top spot in the rouge evaluation, only a few glimpses of her arrival were enough to shock people. Every time she stopped by Tidehark Lake for a stroll, if the Beiliang subordinates of Song Dongming and Bai Yu noticed her with their sharp eyes, they would quickly spread the news. No matter how busy they were, they could shamelessly find some lame excuses to swarm to the railings of the small square outside the yamen to "enjoy the scenery". Deputy Administrator Song turned a blind eye to this. He never made things difficult for or stopped these simple-minded young scholars.
Although they had successfully thwarted Beiliang's invasion to the south, the construction of the new city never stopped. It could even be said that they worked day and night. The construction of the outer main wall rose up at a shocking speed that could be seen with the naked eye. This kind of spectacular scene inevitably required Beiliang to exhaust countless financial and material resources as a huge price. Thus, many scholars who went to Mount Qing cited classics and classics. They used the previous dynasty's capital of Da Chu as examples. They all "rested with the people" for 30 days and did not delay the people's farming. Thus, they criticized Beiliang's actions as draining the pond to catch fish. The young and strong civil officials of Mount Qing Liang, led by Beiliang's Deputy Administrator Song Dongming, sneered at this. Thus, it triggered a debate that quickly spread throughout Beiliang's scholarly circles. Then, in this large-scale written battle without gunpowder, the new city site was always in full swing. Other than Xu Fengnian, who was only a general and a master craftsman in name, the two governors of the new city, the Administrator Li Gongde and the Master of Mo, the Liangzhou Prefectural Governor Wang Peifang, the six deputy supervisors, as well as the nearly sixty thousand local garrison troops and the several hundred thousand military laborers of the three prefectures in Northern Liang Pass, nobody paid any attention to the internal affairs of the pass. They paid no attention to the debate about whether or not the construction of the new city was a waste of manpower and wealth.
Hsu Fengnian, Xu Beizhi, and Chen Xiliang rode side by side. Behind them were the happily chatting Xu Yanbing and Groom Yu.
Chen Xiliang, compared to when he first entered Mount Qing, was a fair and delicate scholar from Jiangnan. His hands holding the reins were full of calluses, and he had become a charcoal skinny villager. However, his eyes were bright, steady, and determined. At this time, he said to Hsu Fengnian, "As long as Mount Qing Liang can take out the silver, Liuzhou can immediately move 40,000 young and strong men to the new city. However, I hope that other than not owing them wages, you can also recognize their titles. Our Liuzhou people are suffering too much! "
Hsu Fengnian was in a difficult position. "The silver …"
Xu Beizhi, who had been signaled with his eyes, rolled his eyes. Now, he was officially the transport envoy of Beiliang. He slowly said, "After defeating the Beiliang barbarians, other than the soldiers' salaries and pensions, the military reward that was given out was close to 900,000 taels of silver. This was after Yan Wenluan, Yu Luandao, and the other border generals took the lead and asked not to accept any rewards. In the end, Mount Qing Liang converted things like silk and stationery into silver and sent them out. Otherwise, the silver in Beiliang Palace's treasury would have been completely depleted. We can still squeeze out an extra million taels of silver from Lingzhou, but the matter of purchasing provisions has to be placed first. After all, the imperial court has yet to lift the ban on transporting grain, so it's not good for us to have too much hope. While the Lianghuai and Jingan Roads have finally relented with great difficulty, as long as the officials of Lingzhou have the means, they're all using public silver to buy provisions. Unless it's absolutely necessary, we can't touch Lingzhou's money. "
Chen Xiliang did not fly into a rage out of humiliation, but he did not give up either. He asked, "If we don't want wages, would it be possible for the people of Liuzhou to exchange a year of labor for the title of Beiliang's official Liangzhou household register?"
Xu Beizhi thought for a while before shaking his head. "Normally, it would be possible, but the war has just ended. Of the first batch of youths from Liuzhou who entered the Remote Cool Border Pass, only the twenty thousand refugees who participated in the defense of Xiaguang City and the slaughter at the Calabash Pass were given official household registers. Even the refugees outside the Liangzhou Pass who did not enter the battlefield have not received this treatment. If they could become Liangzhou citizens just by participating in the construction of the city, there would definitely be people who would be dissatisfied. Don't worry about scarcity, but worry about uneven distribution. This has always been the case. "
Chen Xiliang suddenly felt a surge of anger, but it was not directed at Xu Beizhi and Hsu Fengnian. He gazed at the distant yellow sands of the great desert, his lips tightly pursed.
He thought of the battle to the death in Azure City. At the final juncture, just how many youths from Liuzhou had rushed over and charged into the battlefield, casually picking up the weapons of the Beiliang cavalry and the Beimang barbarians? Just like that, they had died in battle.
Hsu Fengnian softly asked, "Chen Xiliang, have you ever thought about the day when the population of Liuzhou, which has less than three hundred thousand people, will all be citizens of Beiliang's Liuzhou household register? There will be no need for them to risk their lives to obtain the citizenship of a different province?"
Chen Xiliang took a deep breath and said nothing. His eyes were absent-minded, as if he was looking forward to the arrival of that day.
Many times, even the Provincial Governor of Liuzhou, Yang Guangdou, had joked that in all of Liuzhou, only Chen Xiliang, a foreigner who had only settled down for a few years, considered himself to be a citizen of Liuzhou.
Xu Beizhi suddenly smiled and said, "Your Highness, this pie of yours really doesn't cost a single copper coin. Compared to your extravagant spending in the past, you're much better at managing the household now."
Hsu Fengnian laughed heartily. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he did not hold the reins. His body rose and fell with the bumpy ride of the horse, and his expression was rather contented.
Chen Xiliang also smiled and agreed, "You do have the posture of a thrifty housekeeper now."
After Hsu Fengnian finished laughing, he turned his head and said teasingly, "Xiliang, I know you don't care about being promoted, but this time, you have defended Qingcang and Liuzhou. Even if you don't take credit for it, at the very least, you can't run away from it. If you insist on not being promoted, what will your colleagues who should be happy about it do? You will be free, but they won't be free. "
Chen Xiliang shook his head and said, "From the Provincial Governor's mansion and the Long Xiang Army to the soldiers of the three towns, you can reward me however you want. You don't have to worry about me. Liuzhou's officialdom is different from Liangzhou and Lingzhou. It doesn't have as many twists and turns as you imagine."
Hsu Fengnian seemed to say casually, "Provincial Governor Yang Guangdou himself knows that he won't stay in Liuzhou for too long. I also don't have the heart to let this old man stay outside the Great Wall and accompany you young officials who are in the prime of fighting. When the time comes, once the battle of Liang Mang ends and the border is settled, Liuzhou is destined to have a 'change of dynasty'. Not only will the scholars in Beiliang be crying piteously for food, even the local officials of Beiliang from the three provinces will be envious. In the future, Liuzhou will be a place that must be passed through to connect Liyang with the Western Regions, and it will also be an important transit point. Right now, the officials in Liuzhou are worthless, but in the future, they might be even richer than Lingzhou in Jiangnan. When Provincial Governor Yang leaves and returns to Liangzhou to be the Deputy Administrator or something, he will retire. When that time comes, you 'old men' in Liuzhou's officialdom and the two to three hundred thousand refugees will be like a group of dragons without a leader. Aren't you worried? "
Chen Xiliang fell into silence.
Xu Beizhi changed the topic and said with schadenfreude, "Our Beiliang's God of Fortune is said to have traveled to every inch of land in Liangzhou and Liuzhou in just two short years. He also holds the position of the Deputy Administrator of the new city. This time, he suddenly caught a cold and is recuperating at home.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
