As the saying goes, poor mountains and rivers are bad, and Hujin is poor, but there are not many turmoils before. However, with the rapid growth of taxes and labor service, there are still people in chaos in many places.

Of course, Meilong knew the reason why a spark could start a prairie fire, let alone under such a turbulent situation in the world?

To ensure the safety of Hujin, one can only maintain a single army. To maintain a military force, one can only increase taxes and increase taxes, which will naturally cause unrest in the people, and the people can only mobilize troops to suppress them.

Meilong is so worried. At this time, Xuanyuan Shao brought hundreds of guards to Hujin.

Meilong naturally knew that Xuanyuan Shao was the emperor's confidant, with hundreds of guards, and they were all top soldiers of the empire. Naturally, they could not be careless about the arrangements of these people. They could only increase one more expense and temporarily serve these people with delicious food and drink.

If Meilong could barely hold on in this situation, then news came from ahead, Wenpu led the remnants from Yanshan to Hujin, which made Meilong take a breath of air conditioning.

His first reaction was not that his power in Hujin would be weakened, but that how could he support the thousands of Qin troops who retreated?

Moreover, the news came very clear. A large number of people under Wenpu's command dispersed, and the remaining people were all Royal Guards.

The Royal Guards that arrived earlier were served with delicious food and drink, but now there are a large number of people coming here, so naturally they cannot favor one or the other.

Meilong knew very well that the Hujin army is just barely filling every day, and there is no question of eating enough, let alone eating well. If the whole family is like this, there will be no big trouble. However, if thousands of guards are delicious and delicious, not only will Hujin bear a huge burden on money and food, but it will also have a great impact on the morale of the Hujin army.

There are already many refugees who fled to Hujin Road from Hexi, which has increased the burden on Hujin. Now that the guards are coming, Meilong is even more upset.

He just ordered a county town in northern Hubei to temporarily receive the group of Qin soldiers led by Wenpu, and did not allow Wenpu's troops to continue to come south.

The excuse is naturally just the Qin soldiers working hard on the way and are temporarily resting there.

However, if a county town wants to supply thousands of Qin troops, even if they have the will, they are not strong enough. They send people to report continuously, hoping that Meilong will make other arrangements, and even if they really want to keep the Qin troops there for the time being, they will still allocate food and grass.

Mei Long agreed, but did not take any real action.

He now deeply understands what it means to be in dire straits. Now he doesn't think about the wolves around him. However, there are many problems within Hujin Road, and the problems of the Qin army they are facing are extremely difficult.

There are not many soldiers and horses under Wenpu's command, but for Meilong, there are not many. After all, these soldiers and horses are all extremely elite royal guards. They are far above the Hujin army in terms of equipment and combat effectiveness. The tens of thousands of soldiers and horses recruited by his own subordinates have only two or three thousand people. Even if they gather all the soldiers and horses on Hujin Road, they may not be the enemy of the retreating Guards.

He naturally saw clearly the tricks. Before Wenpu arrived at Zhengcheng, the capital of Hujin Road, Xuanyuan Shao was still weak and he was in a position to rely on others. But even so, Xuanyuan Shao repeatedly asked Meilong to continue to recruit food and grass, hoard troops, and wait for Dingwu to arrive, and prepare to restore the country with Hujin as the foundation. If Wenpu's thousands of soldiers arrived, Xuanyuan Shao had the confidence, and I am afraid that Meilong would have the final say in Hujin Road.

After a few days, Meilong's hair turned much whiter.

"Report to the Governor General, Chief Wei is asking for a meeting!" Just when Mei Long was feeling depressed, Wei Fan, head of the Ministry of Revenue of Hujin, came to ask for a meeting.

Being able to take charge of money and food in Hujin is naturally Meilong’s capable confidant.

Wei Fan was over 50 years old and looked mature and steadfast. When he saw Mei Long with a worried look, he sighed: "I didn't want to come to disturb Mei Du, but hey, Mei Du, I wonder if Mei Du knows about the guards' winter clothes?"

"Winter clothes?" Wulong frowned.

Wei Fan explained: "Just just now, Commander Xuanyuan sent someone to the Ministry of Revenue and ordered the officials to prepare winter clothes as soon as possible, saying that General Wen's troops would arrive in Zhengcheng in a while, and that all winter clothes must be prepared before they arrive."

"It's really the commander of Xuanyuan who loves soldiers like his sons." Mei Long said with a caress: "He didn't send anyone to inform me."

Wei Fan smiled and said, "Maybe Commander Xuanyuan thinks this is a trivial matter, so I'll just let someone tell me the Ministry of Revenue Department, but!" He shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Mr. Mei, I'm really powerless to ask the officials to make two or three thousand sets of winter clothes at this time. We are not enough winter clothes for our Hujin Army, so we can barely make do with it. If we could make these thousands of winter clothes, wouldn't the officials have already allocated them to our own troops?"

Meilong's face was cold and he didn't say anything.

"Duke Mei, look at this!"

"Don't pay attention." Mei Long said lightly: "Is Xuanyuan Shao clear about the situation in Hujin? Wuping Mansion fell and brought a large group of people to eat, but he didn't bring any farts. Can we still steal it?"

Wei Fan hurriedly said, "But if you can't take out the winter clothes at that time, with the character of Commander Xuanyuan, I'm afraid it would be fine if you cut off the official's head, but I'm afraid that it will affect the Mei Tu."

"Master Wei, don't beat around the bush. My governor understands your thoughts." Mei Long glanced at Wei Fan, "Do you dislike those people and want me to tear my governor and Xuanyuan Shao apart?"

Wei Fan hurriedly said, "The officials and officials dare not."

"There is nothing to dare or not." Meilong said: "We are old brothers for many years. In front of me, there is no need to cover up your eyes. You can say whatever you want, just be happy."

Wei Fan sighed and said, "Mr. Mei, the lower officials don't care about Xuanyuan Shao's group. They have only more than one hundred people in total. Even if we are big fish and meat every day, it will not be difficult to deal with it. But from that point of view, the commander Xuanyuan is planning to let Wenpu's thousands of soldiers and horses come to Zhengcheng. If this is true, the lower officials will be unable to support it."

Mei Long frowned and said, "At the time when the emperor asked me to recruit soldiers and horses in Hujin, I thought the court would always allocate some money and food, but I didn't expect that I would get a penny from the court, but instead wanted to take money and food from Hujin to Hexi. Now there are thousands of soldiers and horses retreating from Hexi. I am worried about how to solve the problem of eating and drinking among these thousands of people. Master Wei, I am still preparing to ask you for advice. Now it seems that even you have no choice."

Wei Fan smiled bitterly and said, "Others don't know that Mei Du knows it. Our Hujin Guanjian has never had any food in stock. To put it bluntly, we had to eat and dress from other places. We could barely deal with it. Now we have tens of thousands of soldiers to raise. As the saying goes, when the trumpet sounds, there will be tens of thousands of taels of gold. Even if these tens of thousands of people sit still, they will have to go out every day. Mei Du, to say something unpleasant, we have nothing to do with Hujin. It's clear and white. Since the founding of the country, we have never raised so many soldiers. If he knew that the cost of raising soldiers was so good, the lower officials should have tried their best to stop Mei Du from recruiting soldiers."

"Hebei rioters are eyeing each other. If they don't raise soldiers, are they watching them come here?" Mei Long said angrily.

Wei Fan said: "That's right, but what can I do if I raise a soldier? The gang of thieves in Hebei robbed their families and robbed them, and they would rob them if they were short of food and silver. Where can we go to get food and silver? And if the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in our hands really could be resisted if the Blue Heavenly King attacked us? Now that the other end of Hexi has been occupied by the Northwest Army, who knows, who knows whether they will take the opportunity to go south!" He looked distressed.

Mei Long clenched his fists, as if he was about to get angry, but the anger on his face quickly faded away, and he sighed helplessly: "It's time to hold on for a while, you can't sit still and wait for death."

"Director Mei, according to the opinions of the officials, you must not let Wenpu's men arrive in Zhengcheng." Wei Fan hesitated for a moment and looked firm, "It would be fine if they didn't come. If they came seriously, they would be afraid of a big mess."

"Big mess?" Mei Long frowned and said, "What does it mean?"

Wei Fan sneered: "Duke Mei, most of the guards under Wenpu are guards. These people have eyes on their heads. We are all serving the hundreds of people in Zhengcheng. We are all serving like grandpas. If Wenpu and his group come over again, what should we do? If the service is bad, those people will inevitably cause trouble. But if we have to serve them well, we don't have the ability. Even if we have that ability, after the Hujin army knows the truth, does Mei think they can be willing?"

Mei Long sighed and said, "I don't know what you said, but Xuanyuan Shao has said twice and twice that he wants Wenpu to come to Zhengcheng to rest as soon as possible. He also said that this is the most important guard of the emperor and the foundation for restoring the country. I have delayed it for a long time, but I can't continue like this."

"If you tell me the method, there is still one more." Wei Fan smiled and said, "Aren't these guards brave and good at fighting? Are there bandits in Hujin now? Why don't Governor Mei ask the Commander Xuanyuan to order the guards to suppress the bandits? Since they are all eating Hujin's grain, the Hujin army is in the low-end Hebei bandits in the south, and the guards can suppress bandits in Hujin. In this way, there is no need to rush to Zhengcheng."

Mei Long's eyes lit up and he said, "This idea is not bad. The guards suppress the bandits!" Before he finished speaking, he heard a voice from outside: "Cavalent Mei Governor Mei, Commander Xuanyuan asked for a meeting!"

Before Meilong got up, he heard footsteps outside. Then he was already standing outside the door, but he did not enter the door immediately.

Mei Long stood up and saw that the man was wearing armor but not wearing a helmet. He had white hair and a long bow, and was cold and upright. It was Xuanyuan Shao.

"Master Xuanyuan, why are you here?" Mei Long bowed with a smile. Before he finished speaking, Xuanyuan Shao asked, "Mr. Mei, can you enter the house?" As he spoke, he glanced at Wei Fan behind Mei Long.

"Please invite me quickly, come and have a tea!" Meilong invited Xuanyuan Shao in, "Master Xuanyuan, please sit down first!"

"There is no need to sit down." Xuanyuan Shao said: "Mr. Mei, I came here to say to you. I have sent someone to see Wenpu and told him to set off for Zhengcheng. In order to avoid misunderstandings, Mr. Mei also quickly sent someone to notify the checkpoints along the way, so that they could immediately let them go when they saw Wenpu's people, so as not to have unnecessary misunderstandings between the two sides."

Meilong and Wei Fan both changed color slightly. Meilong's smiled face had already sunk, "Master Xuanyuan, are you talking about it, are you ready to transfer them to Zhengcheng?"

Xuanyuan Shao looked cold, arrogant and arrogant, and said lightly: "Yes, may Lord Mei have any opinions?"

"I said that General Wen suddenly came with thousands of troops. Zhengcheng would naturally make some arrangements." Mei Long frowned and said, "At least the camp of the garrison must be arranged properly. Otherwise, after General Wen arrived, would he be the heaven and the earth be the seat? In addition, food and drink, he always needs to prepare some things. Is Commander Xuanyuan too anxious?"

"But Xuanyuan did not see Lord Mei making arrangements." Xuanyuan Shao said lightly: "If the Lord Mei comes to Zhengcheng and does not see the Imperial Guards, then the Lord is furious. I wonder if it is Lord Mei or I, Xuanyuan Shao?"

"Don't be anxious, this commander Xuanyuan." Mei Long smiled reluctantly and said, "Actually, I was about to discuss with General Wen. Commander Xuanyuan, the main forces of the Hujin army are now stationed in the south, but there have been many mob rebellions in Hujin. I wonder if General Wen's troops can go first!"

"Are you going to let the Guards wipe out the bandits?" Xuanyuan Shao frowned and sneered: "Mr. Mei, when did the Guards fall to this point?"

Mei Long also sneered: "Commander Xuanyuan, whether it is the Guards or the Hujin Army, they are all soldiers of the Qin Dynasty. The rebellious mobs are all rebels. Is there any difference between the bandit suppression? The Hujin Army is shorter than the Guards?"

Xuanyuan Shao said: "Mr. Mei, I'm afraid Xuanyuan Shao didn't explain it clearly to you. The Guards are the cornerstone of the Emperor's restoration of the country. In the future, the Qin Dynasty will be restored. The guards will rely on the guards. Good swords should be used on the blade. If the Guards are to be wiped out, I'm afraid even the Emperor will not agree."

"Is this what Commander Xuanyuan means?" Mei Long said: "If the Lord is here, he may not approve of the proposal of the governor."

Xuanyuan Shao shook his head and said, "Mr. Mei, I won't argue with you. I have sent people out. At most, five days, Wenpu's troops will set off. If there is really any mistake on the way, it will be hard for you and I to explain in front of the saint." He glanced at Wei Fan, "Master Wei, I will send someone to prepare your winter clothes, you should not forget!"

Before Wei Fan could speak, Xuanyuan Shao turned around and left.
Chapter completed!