Songyang Inn, corner of the lobby.

Cheng Ling heard someone talking and looked sideways.

It turned out that the person who made the sudden noise was a man at the next table. He looked to be in his thirties, had a Chinese character face, and had a heroic and even rough temperament.

There were two other people at the same table with him.

The two of them are slightly older, one has a white face and no beard, and there are wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. They look round and round, and they look kind and kind.

The other old man was a burly figure. He was sitting directly opposite Cheng Ling. As soon as Cheng Ling's eyes fell on him, he suddenly raised his eyebrows, and his eyes were slightly opened like those of a tiger.

There is a tendency to be self-defeating without being angry.

Cheng Lingtong's heart moved slightly. If an ordinary person was looked at like this, he would probably become timid at that time.

If this person is not a top expert, he must be of extraordinary status, or perhaps both.

The capital of the Wei Kingdom is indeed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. If you sit anywhere you want, there may be an expert at the table next to you.

Cheng Ling greeted the three people at the next table with his hands, then smiled slightly and answered the question of the heroic man.

She said: "I am just an idler from the countryside. I am neither a high official in the court nor a lieutenant in the army. I really don't dare to be a coward."

In other words, I have no identity and no position, I am just a common citizen. Why is the term "cowardly" being put on my head?

Although Cheng Ling has a graceful manner and does not show any anger or loss of temper even when she is ridiculed, she does not give in her words.

He also said: "I am a humble citizen, just a few words. In this war, the first priority is logistics, which is a safe way. Why, in your opinion, the frontline soldiers should just fight without bringing food."

Is there something to eat?”

The heroic man was choked immediately and could not answer for a moment.

"In war matters, logistics is the most important thing?" The burly old man repeated this sentence, as if he was chewing on it.

"What you say is interesting, but the current war in Qi State is at a time when its national strength is weak. If we miss this opportunity, when Qi State is completely stable and our country sends troops again, the difficulty of the war will increase many times.

.”

The old man sighed: "This opportunity must not be missed, the time will never come again!"

This old man was actually Emperor Wei who traveled incognito!

The white-faced old man beside him is the chamberlain Chang Hong, and the heroic man is the knight Wang Wen.

The meeting between Emperor Wei and Cheng Ling when he was traveling was not by chance.

In fact, the Southern Expedition has been mentioned again in the court in recent days, and civil and military officials are quarreling fiercely. The war faction and the anti-war faction each have their own reasons, and they can fight each other in the court eight hundred times a day.

The Emperor of Wei did not make decisions or express his attitude. He just watched the quarrels with a cold eye, occasionally arrogant and sometimes suppressing, suppressing the left side and balancing the right side. The emperor's mind was slipping.

However, seeing that everything was under control, Emperor Wei was not in a good mood.

During the Southern Expedition, not only were hundreds of officials quarreling over it, but Emperor Wei himself was actually suffering from it in his heart.

No one between the main war faction and the anti-war faction could convince the other side, and similarly, no one from these two factions could convince the Emperor of Wei.

This decision was too difficult. Thinking about the difficulty, Emperor Wei took the "Records of Farming and Mulberry" and sighed to Chang Hong: "Although the person who wrote this farming book has outstanding talents, it is a pity that cotton is not food after all."

!”

It was cold in the north, and the presence of cotton was a good thing for the soldiers guarding the Hu-Han border, but it was of no obvious help to the southern expedition.

After all, cotton could not fill the granaries of the Wei Dynasty and could not promote the southern expedition.

Emperor Wei expressed his emotion to Chang Hong, and Chang Hong said: "Your Majesty, Mr. Cheng who wrote "Records of Farming and Mulberry" has arrived in Beijing, and today he received the invitation letter from the Chamberlain. When will he be announced?

"

On which day did Xuan Chengling come to the palace for an audience?

Chang Hong's question made Emperor Wei suddenly think deeply.

"Cheng Yuzhi entered Beijing? Where is he now?"

Chang Hong was always paying attention to the people summoned by Emperor Wei to the capital. He immediately said: "Your Majesty, Mr. Cheng is currently staying at the Songyang Inn in the east of the city."

Just at Songyang Inn? That’s great!

Emperor Wei laughed and stood up immediately. He didn't ask anyone to come to the imperial garden to fish, let alone wait in the palace. He simply took Chang Hong and Wang Wen with him, changed his clothes, and left the palace incognito.

Whether or not you see Cheng Yuzhi is a secondary matter. The point is, if you can't fight a battle and you're bored to death, it's better to go out of the palace to relax and get rid of your boredom!

Cheng Ling didn't know that the old man talking to him in front of him was actually Emperor Wei, so he just said as usual: "What the old man said is that the opportunity cannot be missed, it will never come again. Therefore, if you want to be safe and seize the opportunity, then you can only

…”

At this point, she paused.

Hey, good boy, the reselling is off the hook!

Emperor Wei was immediately displeased and said, "What? What a great and earth-shattering idea you can't explain?"

Cheng Ling's eyes moved slightly and passed by Chang Hong's Adam's apple. She lowered her eyes, but suddenly put a hand on the table, leaned forward slightly and said, "It's not that I can't say it, but I need to lower my voice."

He said, this idea is a little too bad to be heard by others. “

A bad idea?

Emperor Wei suddenly became interested. He also leaned forward and lowered his voice and said, "Okay, then please lower your voice and let us listen."

Wang Wen frowned, Chang Hong pricked up his ears, Wu Yun, Yang Lin and Xu Yi quickly moved their bodies and sat closer to Cheng Ling.

Cheng Ling lowered his voice and said: "We don't have enough food ourselves. If we want to maintain domestic stability in a short period of time and obtain enough military rations, we have two strategies. One strategy is to deal with the inside, light corvee and low taxes, so as to calm the people's hearts..."

Light corvee and low endowment?

If Emperor Wei hadn't been right next to him, Wang Wen would have almost cursed.

Good guy, you have to collect food when fighting a war, you still want to take corvee and pay little tax?

But Cheng Ling then said, "The first policy is to deal with foreign countries, especially Chen and Shu. We can purchase grain from these two countries."

What?

The Emperor of Wei frowned slightly and said: "Chen and Shu know that our country, Wei, is powerful, how can they sell grain to our country?"

Cheng Ling chuckled and said: "Of course I don't directly go to the two kings to buy food, but if there are those with a weak temper, those who like to sit on the fence, those who are greedy for money, or those who are lustful... In short, they are scholar-bureaucrats with various weaknesses, look for them

When buying grain, the old man thinks about it, will they not sell it?"

How else to say this is a loss?

Emperor Wei was silent for a moment, and then laughed out loud.

The laughter even disturbed the students who were still talking loudly next to them, and suddenly this corner attracted a lot of attention.

Emperor Wei glanced around and gradually stopped laughing, but the eyes of others obviously did not really affect him. His bright eyes fell on Cheng Ling, and he smiled and said: "You, a young man, look honest and simple, but it turns out you are not.

No."

Cheng Ling blinked, but said innocently: "Old sir, is this junior not being honest?"

Emperor Wei:......

(


Chapter completed!