Paying attention to the young heroes was a lie. What he was really thinking about was how to kill Wang Chong. With a straight face, he said things that went against his conscience. As he rose in rank, his skin became thicker and thicker.
It had been so difficult for the Li family and the Chen family to get to this point. There were some lies that should not be exposed.
Seeing that he was willing to share his burden as the provincial governor, Li Yi decided to leave him some face.
Chen Chong did not continue this topic. He sat down opposite Wang Chong and asked, "Your goal this time is the King of Shu?"
Li Yi shook his head and said, "That's the opposite of what you said. The King of Shu's goal should be me."
"The result is the same." Chen Chong looked at him and said, "They want to attack Yong County. Their goal is you, and your goal is also them, as well as the spies they planted in Shu Province. They are no match for you, but if the two sides start fighting, the first to suffer will be the people of Yong County. You also chose to attack at the end of the year. If you can't control it, something big will happen."
"Catch a turtle in a jar and beat the dog behind closed doors. What big thing can happen?"
"Catch a turtle in a jar and beat the dog behind closed doors?" Chen Chong looked at him and shook his head. "Since you already have plans, I won't say more."
He changed the topic and said, "About the lifting of the curfew, opening of commerce, attracting merchants from the two countries, lowering of tariffs, and reducing part of the agricultural taxes, there are still some details that need to be discussed before it is officially implemented …"
…
"A hundred thousand taels?" Fang Yu looked at the purple-clothed man and asked with a frown, "Did they really say that?"
They could fork out a hundred thousand taels of silver, but it was not a small sum to them. The Saint Church needed money to expand their believers and plan their operations. Although they could earn back the capital with interest if the operation was successful, he still needed to think about it carefully if he had to fork out a hundred thousand taels of silver.
The purple-clothed man nodded and said, "Yes, they said a hundred thousand taels of silver, not a single copper coin less. Otherwise, it would mean that we are not sincere enough and there is no need to talk about cooperation …"
Just as Fang Yu was hesitating, a voice came from the side.
The King of Shu walked over and said disapprovingly, "Isn't it just a hundred thousand taels of silver? If they want it, just give it to them. That Li Yi is rich. After the matter is settled, he will be rewarded ten times or even a hundred times more. What are you worried about …"
Fang Yu pondered for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Then give them 100,000 taels …"
He lowered his head and looked at it again. A trace of doubt appeared on his face as he muttered, "Why can't 250 people work? Two hundred and sixty people will do. It's just ten more people. Is there a difference?"
"It's just ten people. It doesn't matter if there are more or less. Don't care about these details …" The King of Shu shook his head and asked, "What else did they say?"
Fang Yu continued reading and said, "They said that they would choose to make their move during the New Year. At that time, the other party would not be on high alert, so it would be the easiest to succeed. They even found the most concealed and safest route …"
"That's a good idea." The King of Shu nodded and said, "Those baldies are not stupid. We should take advantage of this time to prepare. Show me the route …"
Fang Yu handed him a marked map.
The King of Shu looked at it and nodded, saying, "Not bad. This route is mostly in the mountains and there are no villages. Although it's a little difficult to travel, it's hidden enough. After we leave the mountains, we will face the west gate. The west gate is the most dilapidated and the guards are the weakest. If someone cooperates with us and opens the gate in advance, we can go straight in …"
Seeing this, the King of Shu suddenly slapped the table and said with a smile, "These baldies are quite familiar with the defense of Yong County. It seems that we have found the right people!"
Behind him, a man nodded in agreement.
In the two days before the New Year, everyone was preparing for the New Year. Even the guards guarding the city were not paying attention. It was the time when their vigilance was at its lowest …
Even the King of Shu had praised the route they had chosen, so it could not be wrong.
Those baldies were indeed well-educated bandits. They had ideas, insights, and were very considerate and thoughtful …
…
Shu Prefecture was the last inhabited place in the west of the Jing Kingdom.
In the hearts of the people of the Jing Kingdom, Shu Prefecture represented remoteness and poverty. Because it was located at the border between the Jing Kingdom and the Qi Kingdom, those who did not know much about Shu Prefecture would always feel uneasy living there, as if the Qi Kingdom could attack them at any time.
In fact, this was completely groundless fear.
Shu Prefecture was adjacent to the Chaotic Land and had endless mountains. Even though it was adjacent to the Qi Kingdom, if the Qi Kingdom wanted to use Shu Prefecture as a breakthrough point to attack the Jing Kingdom, the inconvenient transportation would cause the entire army to collapse.
This was also the reason why Shu Prefecture had only been plagued by bandits in the past few decades, even though it was adjacent to the Qi Kingdom.
Precisely because of this, the city walls of Shu Prefecture did not need to be too high or thick. Twenty feet was enough. The government also did not spend extra money to repair the city walls, because it was completely unnecessary.
Yong County, west city wall.
The western city wall of Yong County was already very dilapidated. Of course, this was only what it looked like from the outside. The walls were made of layers of black soil or loess, and were still very sturdy and durable.
Fang did not understand why the son-in-law had come here with him today. This place was dilapidated. Other than the mottled city walls, there were only low-rise houses. There was nothing to see, and there was nothing fun to do.
Li Yi picked up a branch and casually drew on the ground.
Fang looked at it for a while, and finally could not help but ask, "Son-In-Law, what are you drawing?"
Li Yi pointed around and said, "What do you think about building a few shops here?"
Fang looked around and finally understood what Li Yi was drawing. He carefully squatted down and looked at it again. He shook his head and said, "Even if we want to open shops and build workshops, there is no need to build the houses as high as the city walls. Moreover, these shops in a circle will look like an urn. It doesn't look good …"
Li Yi threw away the branch and said, "You don't understand. This is called a business district. A business district, a business district. It has to be in a circle …"
The son-in-law was rich, so he could do whatever he wanted. He did not care and casually asked, "When do you want to build it? I will arrange for people."
"Start now. It must be completed within three months. The shops will open on New Year's Day."
Fang was surprised and said, "So urgent?"
"Is it difficult?"
"It's not that difficult." Fang shook his head and said, "Just find more people and spend more money. I will arrange it. I guarantee that the task will be completed within two months."
Li Yi nodded and said, "It's okay to spend more money. It's fine as long as it can be completed earlier."
"As long as you are happy …"
Fang shook his head. He did not know what a business district was, but he was sure that the son-in-law only knew some miscellaneous military tactics. He did not know what a barbican was.
A barbican, as the name suggested, was a city that looked like an urn.
Only important cities would build a small city in a circle around the city gates and build it as high as the city walls. This was so that when a strong enemy invaded, as long as the two city gates were closed, the enemy could be trapped. It would be like catching a turtle in a jar …
When the time came, the choice of ambushing soldiers in the city or letting the archers shoot arrows, splash boiling oil, or throw stones on the city walls depended entirely on the mood …
Shu Province was not a strategic location. Why would the son-in-law spend so much effort to build a barbican? Was he worried that the Qi Kingdom's army would cross the mountains and attack from here?
There was a urn, but there was no turtle …
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