The two great khanates, plus Zhu Yaoshi's men and horses, faced off with the Liang army in the river for more than half a year, but only ten people were drowned. Both sides were well prepared and did not dare to attack easily.

People in Hebei wanted the silk and satin and salt and hemp medicinal materials from the south, and the south also needed corn, cattle, sheep, horses, and various other items from the north. So some people took desperate risks and paddled sheepskin rafts and bamboo rafts to smuggle back and forth in the ungarrisered sections of the river.

.

Under the pressure of the army, the prices of various materials increased, and smugglers naturally made a lot of money. But the good times did not last long, and guards from various places also joined in. While sending troops to kill the smugglers, they also used building ships to kill them.

They patrolled the river with goods. Memorials from various places reporting meritorious service were reported to Jinling one after another. Xiaoshan and the others were not happy, so in the name of replenishing the treasury and purging the court, they asked the emperor to send tax inspectors to various places to strictly investigate the actual involvement of local generals and officials in smuggling.

Emperor Liu Xuan was used to these ministers fighting back and forth, so he happily gave Xiaoshan and Xiao Ding a favor to handle it.

However, several aristocratic families had a dispute over the scope of sending tax supervisors. Xiao Ding of Xiaoshan insisted on sending tax supervisors to all states, counties and counties across the country, while Xie Rui only agreed to send tax supervisors along the line from Chang'an to Xinli in Dahe and objected to

Regarding the dispatch of tax supervisors to the mainland, Chen Hongda only agreed to send tax supervisors to the north, but Lingnan was not allowed to send tax supervisors. Yuan Kang also opposed the dispatch of tax supervisors to the mainland. Several parties argued for a while, and finally agreed to send tax supervisors nationwide, but Lingnan and the mainland were not allowed to send tax supervisors.

The three families of Chen Xie and Yuan sent people, while those along the river were sent by the Xiao family.

Xie Rui left in anger. After all, the most profitable place was controlled by the Xiao family, and the tax supervisor sent by the Xie family to Shuzhong was lucky not to be killed by Wang Xian's men. Where could he collect the money?

Come. The more Xie Rui thought about it, the angrier he became, so he told his men to save their lives and befriend local officials and generals when they arrived in Shu, and then wait for his instructions. He also wrote a letter to Wang Xian and Chen Hongyi and sent it to his confidants.

After Wang Xian got the letter, he laughed: "The idiots in Jinling City also want to get a share of the Xiao family's good deeds. The Xie family sent me a letter to be careful. Haha, do I still have tens of thousands of people?"

I am no match for a few tax inspectors, but with a large army at my disposal, who can do anything to me?"

Wang Daozhi frowned: "General, if we don't give them some advantages, I'm afraid they will cut off our army's food and grass, and it will be dangerous then."

Wang Xian put away his smile: "What you said makes sense, just send some gold and silver to the people you sent. You draft a letter for me to Chen Hongyi, saying that we have followed the imperial decree. Let's see what he does?"

"

Wang Daozhi was a little surprised: "As far as I know, Chen Hongyi's subordinates were not involved. What did he do?"

wang

, won’t this lucrative business belong to us by then?”

Wang Daozhi was also a little worried: "Now that we are facing a powerful enemy, we are so busy fighting among ourselves that it may not be beneficial to the country."

Wang Xian touched his beard: "I am thinking about the country. In my opinion, there is no hope of training troops for the Northern Expedition to regain the lost territory. The only way is to gather money to redeem the land, and maybe some cities will be exchanged for it. Now we

There is no army in Daliang that can compete with the enemies in the north. Fortunately, in the past six months or so, the enemies have not crossed the river to attack."

Wang Daozhi sneezed: "It's almost summer, and pollen is everywhere. As long as the weather gets hot, the Mobei cavalry in the north will naturally retreat. The general's good intentions will soon bear fruit."

After Chen Hongyi received the letter from Xie Rui and Wang Xian, he informed the generals, who were filled with indignation and expressed their intention to kill the tax inspector sent by the imperial court. Chen Hongyi remained silent and looked at Chen Kuan.

Chen Kuan turned around and faced everyone: "Killing the tax supervisor is an open rebellion. Then Wang Xian and Zhong Zhiming, plus the Mobei people opposite, will come to attack us. What are our chances of winning?"

Everyone looked at Chen Hongyi in silence, and Chen Hongyi stood up: "What the imperial court is really afraid of is not the enemies across the river. In their eyes, these enemies can cede territory, negotiate peace, and are easy to deal with. The imperial court has always regarded us as a serious problem.

Wang Xian is entrenched in Jingzhou and Bashu. I have led troops to fight for many years. Even Zhong Zhiming, whom they supported, has been under their surveillance. Being a general in this era is our sin. But I don't care about these things. What I worry about is

Our internal fighting gave the enemy on the other side an opportunity. In the eyes of the imperial court, the Mobei people were uncivilized savages who could be bribed and exploited. However, the enemy was not a fool. The enemy was also learning and thinking about us. We talked about using barbarians to control barbarians, wouldn't the enemy not?

As far as I know, their national advisor is Hu Gao, a prodigy who has been unjustly imprisoned in the Central Plains for decades. This man is now recruiting craftsmen to build warships, and I am afraid he will go south soon."

General Xu Youzhi asked: "The imperial tax inspector is here. We don't have much money to give away now. It won't be easy to spend by then. We can't plunder the people anymore."

Chen Hongyi sat down slowly and pondered for a while: "A few days ago, weren't there some children from aristocratic families who came to beg us to facilitate their smuggling? Let's give them a favor for the time being. Remember, if you want to sell at a good price, you have to control them.

When the tax inspector arrives, let the tax inspector ask for the money. I am not incapable of killing someone with a borrowed knife."

As soon as Luoyang was opened, it immediately attracted many people to smuggle, and ships of all sizes came in an endless stream. In fact, it was no longer smuggling, but trade all day and night.

Hu Gao, on the other hand, saw that the officers and soldiers of the Black Banner Khanate were very lacking in managing the local area, so he had no choice but to post a list to recruit the children of local wealthy families to serve as county magistrates and county guards.

Since the aristocratic families were severely hit in the north, the only people who had studied were some wealthy local families from poor families. Hu Gao evaluated everyone one by one and selected more than a hundred people to serve in various places. He also selected from among the generals of the Black Qi Khanate.

Dozens of people went to various places to recruit refugees to assist the appointed officials in guarding the city and collecting taxes and grain.

The Green Banner Khanate followed suit. In Jinyang and other places, they also joined forces with local large households to defend the city, collect grain, collect taxes and recruit refugees. Wang Xian fully expected that the Mobei army on the opposite side would retreat in the hot summer. He did not expect that the opposite side had already taken root.

Even the envoys who came to trick him into negotiating peace were gone.

After Murong Ling left, Li Xiaofei saw that Chang'an was peaceful and peaceful and Wang Xian was busy making a fortune, so he took leave and ran back to Shouxian County to see his wife and children.

When Li Xiaofei rode to Zhangjiacun, Murong Ling also arrived on horseback. They were both surprised when they met. Murong Ling thought Chang'an had fallen, and Li Xiaofei was surprised that Murong Ling still held a child.

The two of them walked away holding the horses and talking. Murong Ling told him about going to Jinling to seize the young prince. He didn't go straight to Shouxian County because he was afraid that the people from Zhongyi Hall would follow and harm the villagers, so he ran all the way north to Xinli City.

Then he spun around and ran back.

Li Xiaofei heard that Murong Ling was playing with thousands of troops in Jinling City, and he felt itchy in his heart: "Murong, you did such a majestic thing without me, it's so boring."

Murong Ling touched the little prince's forehead: "Take you with me, I can't keep you alive, or you might get involved and ruin my reputation for the rest of my life."

Li Xiaofei laughed and scolded: "You have become like a crow. Am I that bad in your eyes? I am a person who will command thousands of troops in the future."

Murong Ling smiled: "Yes, I will go to Jinling another day and ask them to send you to raise horses. Do half of it first."

The two of them laughed and arrived at the bamboo building where Hong Rui was. Hong Rui held the child and saw Li Xiaofei and Murong Ling coming back from a distance, so she got up and walked towards them with the child in her arms.

Li Xiaofei threw away the reins, ran over and hugged Hongrui and the child. Hongrui retracted: "The child is asleep, don't scare her. You heartless person is finally willing to come back." After that,

He bit Li Xiaofei on the shoulder. Li Xiaofei was afraid of waking the child and did not dare to scream. He leaned down to hug the child.

Murong Ling handed the little prince towards Hongrui: "Breastfeed him."

Hong Rui opened her mouth and looked at Murong Ling: "How old is your child? Xiaofei, look at how Murong became a father and took the child with him wherever he went."

Murong Ling blushed: "This is not my child."

Hongrui took the child and sighed: "Murong, you are really amazing and magnanimous. My sister really admires you. If you feel uncomfortable raising other people's children, my sister will help you raise them. You and Xuehua can still live as you want.

, she has already made a mistake, you should forgive her."

Li Xiaofei almost choked: "What are you talking about? It's not what you think. This is the little prince Murong brought back from Jinling!"

Hongrui untied her clothes to feed the little prince and giggled: "I never thought that I, a maid from the Xiao Mansion, could be the prince's nanny. Wouldn't I be the emperor's nanny in the future?"

Li Xiaofei was holding Li Youran and looking around, making Li Youran smile and didn't listen to Hong Rui's words.

Murong Ling said cheerfully: "This woman forgets everything when she has a child."

This sentence reminded Hongrui, and Hongrui asked: "Isn't the prince Liu Jian? Why did he become this child again?"

Murong Ling then told Hong Rui the whole story. After hearing this, Hong Rui cursed at Li Xiaofei: "It took me a long time, but you have been out for several years, and finally you relied on Murong to become a titular Tutor. You have no soldiers."

If you don’t have money, you don’t even have a government office, you are so useless!”

Li Xiaofei said with a smile: "It has been difficult to fight in the past few years. The more we fight, the worse we are in Mobei. It's good that I can save my life. I finally understand that making contributions and serving the imperial court has been decided by the wealthy families long ago."

That’s right. I might as well hug Youran at home and be happy every day, how nice it is!”

Hong Rui only said that Li Xiaofei said these words out of frustration, and then softened again: "I don't want you to do much government work or make great contributions. I married you in the first place because you were a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers and has great achievements."

Ambition, if it comes to money and family background, I would have married to Jinling a long time ago. You are free to hide at home, but you can't just care about yourself. When your daughter grows up, she will still have her life to live. If we were in the Liang Kingdom

If you die in the future, how will you live your leisurely life?"

Li Xiaofei hugged Youran and continued to spin in circles: "I don't have brother Murong's peerless martial arts, nor do I have the literary skills and military skills. My sister asked me to come out to save the country and save the people. I'm afraid even you don't believe it!"

Murong Ling interrupted: "Do you know why I always save you? For no other reason than because you are stupid. You are so stupid that everyone is willing to believe you. If you are with you, you won't suffer and you don't have to worry about being plotted by you. You have

The ability to gather people together to do something, but we can’t do it no matter how high our martial arts skills are and how resourceful we are!”

Hongrui had finished feeding the little prince, then returned the little prince to Murong Ling, and walked towards Li Xiaofei: "In my opinion, you are indeed incapable of writing beautiful articles in literature, and you are incapable of going into battle and beheading generals in martial arts, but you have a kind of

Thing, it makes us all willing to follow you and protect you. I think this is your pure heart. The reason why I follow you wholeheartedly is that I feel at ease when I am with you. I can beat you and scold you.

I laugh at you, but you are always very kind to me. How many people in the world can marry a man who treats them like this?"

After speaking, Li Xiaofei's eyes widened: "So, do you all look at me like this? I thought you always thought I was incompetent and useless?"

Murong Ling walked over and touched his head: "Fool, we never thought it was just because you are incompetent and useless, hahaha."
Chapter completed!