Chapter 246: Difficult to use both soft and hard tactics

Chapter 246: Difficult to use both soft and hard tactics

Chapter 246: Difficult to use both soft and hard tactics

 The night had just fallen, and a rare candlelight came out of the outer study in the backyard of the Governor's Mansion. Qu Zhizhan, who had not been involved in government affairs for several months, was sitting on the mat, leaning on his desk, his expression full of exhaustion.

Qu Chongyu threw the documents in his hand aside, with a sarcastic smile on his face, "Two hundred thousand stones of grain and grass, ten thousand cold jackets, twenty thousand pieces of cloth... This Su Dadu Protector has a really big appetite! Now, in Western Xinjiang, The total number of Tang troops is only over 10,000. Does he want these things because he wants to open a military market for business?" When he looked up and saw Qu Zhizhan's expression, his face became much more serious, "Father, I am writing this in the afternoon. My son has seen it and has started to make arrangements. You can just take care of it and leave this matter to your son!"

Qu Zhizhan sighed deeply, "Tell me first, why did Protector Su make such arrangements this time?"

Qu Chongyu pondered for a while and said, "Su Haizheng has bravery, but is greedy. He was the governor of Shazhou twenty years ago, and it took a long time to become the governor of Anxi. He is old, his future is at an end, and he is greedy. Not enough. The so-called remnant party in Qiuci only has three thousand soldiers and horses and only two cities in its territory. It is really not something to be afraid of. This time he made a big fanfare and rushed to write a request for troops. The reason for coming to fight was to use weapons to satisfy his selfish desires. The more food, grass and military resources, the better.”

"Second, it's a personal grudge. Pei Shouyue once told his son that the Su family's coming to Western Xinjiang had something to do with him. The Helu battle seven years ago was because we joined forces with Pei Shouyue to massacre the city. It was revealed that they were both former military commanders. Su Dingfang rose to prominence, but Su Haizheng was ignored by the court. In addition, Su Nanjin repeatedly made things difficult for Pei Shou, and the two parties had deep personal grudges. Su Haizheng's idea this time was probably to strike first. Qiang, this time we are going to put our Qu family and Pei Shouyue in an embarrassing situation, so that we can slowly be at his mercy in the future."

Qu Zhizhan's face softened a little and he nodded, "You can see clearly and don't take any chances. Half of what happened this time came directly to our Qu family. The Holy Lord's decree came too quickly back then. A thoughtful person will easily understand that it is not a secret that you have a good relationship with Pei Shouyue. Su Daduhu has given an order to coordinate military resources for his father, so he has already seen through the key points. Wanting to run amok, the Qu family has been running the business in Xizhou for generations, and Pei Changshi's deep kindness to the ten Turkic surnames is definitely not a good thing for him. If we don't find a way to stop it, we will not stop. ”

Qu Chongyu snorted, "This is a strategy that kills two birds with one stone. From the looks of it, for you to coordinate the transportation this time, you can use the three states and four towns under the Anxi Protectorate and more than a dozen places to control the governor. The government's collection of grain, grass, silk and silk doesn't seem to be too much, but the governor's office does not have to pay taxes to the court. If it requires more, trouble may arise, or even if there is no trouble, it will cause Pei Shou. The kindness of that year has been reduced by half.”

"And among the military households in the three prefectures of Xi, Yi, Ting and four towns who can really collect grain, everyone knows that Xizhou is the richest. If everyone is treated equally, Xizhou will probably be okay, but other states will inevitably be too harsh. If It depends on the financial resources. If Xizhou has more money, it will make the people of Xizhou feel unfair, and it will inevitably lose the support of the people... In short, preparing military supplies before the war is the most thankless task, and the amount he set is so Gao, if we want to pay on time, we have to press around. Even if we can raise it all, how can we get anything easy? "

Qu Zhizhan was silent for a long time and sighed, "I have been thinking about it for more than an hour. These two hundred thousand stones of grain and grass plus cold jackets and silk fabrics are a bit harsh after all, even with the bumper harvest in Western Xinjiang in recent years. This matter I had some plans to ask the Qu family's granaries to bring in as much grain as possible during the autumn harvest, but I didn't expect that Su Haizheng's actions would come so quickly. It’s just that the three states and four towns in Western Xinjiang will all lose their vitality... Using the reputation of the Qu family to satisfy the desires of the Su family is really a brilliant idea!"

Qu Chongyu laughed slightly in surprise, "It turns out that father had already planned it!" After a pause, his smile became deeper, "Don't worry, father, Pei Shouyue and I have each made great progress in the past two months." After thinking of some ways, I have accumulated...nearly 50,000 stones."

Qu Zhizhan couldn't help but be shocked, "You guys are too fast!" After pondering for a moment, he still frowned, "Even so, the remaining hundreds of thousands of stones cannot be underestimated. If those Jisi Dufufu are not To support the family, the combined total can only produce 10,000 to 20,000 dan. Nowadays, the taxable households in the three prefectures of Anxi, Xi, Yi, and Ting, total less than 20,000, plus the army of more than 10,000 households, if they are all collected. One hundred thousand stones of grain and grass, 20,000 pieces of cloth from the official warehouse in Xizhou, and each household in Xizhou are given a cold jacket. I think the rest of the grain and grass are still from Xizhou. It is not difficult for these people to buy some from the hands of wealthy people. Xizhou has had good harvests year after year. It is not difficult for these people to have more than 30,000 stones of grain and grass on hand. "

Qu Chongyu raised his eyebrows and looked at the expression on Qu Zhizhan's face that gradually became relaxed. He didn't say much, but simply responded, "Yes, my son will start to do it tomorrow."

Qu Zhizhan sighed again, "Su Haizheng is really brave. He only wanted to conquer two hundred thousand stones of grain and grass for just a few thousand Kucha rebels! Back then, General Su suppressed the rebellion in Western Xinjiang and swept across Ashina. He Lu's 100,000-strong coalition army lasted more than a year, and all the food and grass they used was only 200,000 dan. He was so greedy, even if he dealt with it this time, he might still cause trouble in the future. If I join him immediately after taking office, it would seem like I have ulterior motives."

Qu Chongyu sneered, "So what? Although he, Su Haizheng, is the Protector of Anxi, he can't cover the sky in Western Xinjiang with just one hand. This person was originally a veteran of slaughtering cities and plundering land. If he continues to act like this, sooner or later he will be found guilty. If he falls behind, can we still let him run free?"

Qu Zhizhan nodded, and his tone became more solemn, "These are all things for later, we just act according to the situation. But although there are some signs of raising food now, you should also pay more attention to the deployment of troops. Press According to the military order, there can only be more than a thousand soldiers left in the more than ten cities in Xizhou. We must keep all the elites! Also, our servants," he gave Qu Chongyu a meaningful look. "It's time to cheer up!"

Qu Chongyu nodded and said nothing, his original casual expression temporarily put away.

Early on the next morning, Qu Chongyu sent his name card to the eldest sons and clan chiefs of the big Xizhou clans such as the Zhi family, the Zhang family, the Wei family, and the Meng family, and invited them to come to the government to discuss matters. When everyone arrived on the second day, he got straight to the point and said, "You must all know that the Governor is coordinating military resources this time. There is still some shortage of food and grass. The Governor's Office wants to purchase food and grass from you. The more the better, anyway. I will take as much as you have.”

The news that Governor Qu wants to coordinate military resources has spread in Xizhou on the first day. With such a large quantity to be prepared this time, the price of food in Xijiang will inevitably rise. Everyone has already made a rough count of the surplus food in their home warehouses. Once again. Many people had exchanged news with each other the night before, and when they met outside the house this morning, they even discussed it.

After hearing what Qu Chongyu said, everyone looked at each other, somewhat surprised. It was expected that the Governor's Mansion wanted to purchase grain and grass, but how much more is better? If all the remaining grain in the warehouse is really handed over to the Governor's Mansion, wouldn't the plan of the first family be in vain? Someone couldn't help but ask, "As soon as the news spread yesterday, the price of millet in Xizhou increased by 20% today. Now we don't have much surplus grain on hand. I wonder what the market price the prince said..." Chongyu said calmly, "Since I invite you all to come here today, I will naturally charge today's price. Please rest assured that Pei Changshi and I have mobilized tens of thousands of grains and rice. We will not let the price of food in Xizhou continue to rise, nor will anyone He is hoarding money and will not give up until he makes a fortune from this." His eyes slowly scanned everyone's faces, "The Qu family and the other clans here have always advanced and retreated together, and shared blessings and misfortunes. This time they encountered difficulties. , Naturally, I hope you can give me a little help, and I will definitely not treat each family badly in the future. I wonder if you, the clan leaders, have anything else to ask? "

Facing this cold look, everyone froze in their hearts. They lowered their heads in a hurry and responded vaguely. They secretly said something bad: I only wanted Governor Qu to take charge of this matter. He was a talkative person. Why did he forget that the Crown Prince did not He is a powerful character who can't tolerate any grit in his eyes. If he had known this, it would be better to let Pei Changshi take care of him...

Qu Chongyu's voice became gentler, "Please rest assured, the grain collection this time will be based on today's market price to prevent anyone from having ulterior motives to drive up grain prices. When the day comes for you to hand over the grain, Chongyu will add an additional 30% The fee is a token of my gratitude. What do you think?"

Everyone immediately breathed a sigh of relief. So it turns out that the 50% increase in price is reasonable. The profit each family can get is not much worse than wine making, and it is more worry-free and labor-saving. Although in the end it is better to wait until the price of food rises before selling, but It's better than offending Qu Yulang.

Qu Chongyu paused for a moment, and a smile appeared on his face, "You are all Chongyu's elders, and you know that Chongyu's temperament has never been very good. Anyone who helps my Qu family in difficult times, I will not treat you unfairly in the future. If he wants to take advantage of the fire, he might as well give it a try. At least Chongyu admires his courage and wants to get closer to him! "

His mellow and soft voice echoed in the hall. It was clearly without any smoke and fire, but it made everyone in the hall feel a chill behind them. Some people laughed and said, "As for the prince, now it is the governor who is in charge of this matter." , If there is an unscrupulous child in any family who dares to be so unjust for the sake of profit, we will never spare him without the prince taking action!"

Everyone nodded, seeming to have completely forgotten the discussion they had made before entering: the governor wanted to collect 200,000 shi of grain from Xijiang, and the price of grain in Xizhou would at least double. Even if the government wants to collect grain, the price cannot be lower than selling it. To the common people!

Qu Chongyu then smiled, hugged his hands and bowed, "I'll leave it to you to collect the grain."

After sending everyone out, he turned and went straight to the Governor's Mansion. As soon as he entered Pei Xingjian's house, he chuckled and said, "Shou, I think you are really worrying too much! When it comes to purchasing grain, these clan chiefs of various tribes in Xizhou today Everyone agreed, and we can open the warehouse to collect grain in three days!"

Pei Xingjian looked up at him with a strange expression, "In three days..." He shook his head and smiled.

Qu Chongyu frowned, "What? What's wrong?"

Pei Xingjian stood up and shook a piece of paper in his hand, "This is the news that came from Kucha City this morning. On the second day after the military order was sent out, Su Nanjin has led 500 elite soldiers to leave Kucha. I think he will come tomorrow at most You can arrive in Xizhou in the afternoon.”

Qu Chongyu sneered, "It would be a surprise if he didn't come! But what can he do now that he has arrived in Xizhou? Can he make the common people of Xizhou not pay household tax, or can he make the big households of Xizhou not sell grain and grass?"

Pei Xingjian smiled faintly and said, "Yulang, I'm afraid you may have been relieved a little too early."

The wind has been blowing for most of the day at Tiananmen and Dashilar today. Although it is a little warmer than on the Great Wall, it is still blowing... Donglaishun is really expensive and tastes bad... I have to send you off to the airport at noon tomorrow. Alas, I am gone (ugh) , then who, I don’t dislike you, it’s just that it would be perfect if you came a month later). I’ll update at 8pm tomorrow. Scratching your head ING. Next week is the last week before school starts, so I have to work hard to update. Calling for pink votes...there are still 20 more votes left to add.

　　

　　

 (End of this chapter)