Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 329 Gifts
Yang Menglong is a very loyal person. On such a good day, of course he will not forget the soldiers who have worked hard with him for two years. About 1000 people were left to stay in the barracks, and the remaining 1000 people all put on the latest military uniforms and ran over to have a wedding wine.One of the characteristics of these soldiers is that their waists are very straight. They sit like bayonets and stand up like javelins. They have sharp eyes and are extremely energetic. They appear very cautious in front of the villagers and elders. They even lower their voices deliberately. For fear of scaring people, they didn't dare to look at a beautiful big girl passing by. When some courageous girls looked at them curiously, they smiled shyly and then quickly looked away.They are all young people in their twenties, just at the age of hard work. They have not been infected with all kinds of bad habits of soldiers. Strict military discipline has become their code of conduct. There are rules and regulations to follow, and I dare not violate them a little bit.It's the first time for everyone to get along with the fierce Wuyang elite soldiers so close to the emperor, and they were a little nervous, but seeing these soldiers are so cautious, they feel a little pitiful——how have they been trained? ah.Still so restrained on such a big day!Many people went over to toast these soldiers, and these soldiers toasted back with a smile, a little flattered, which made people feel at ease.

Yang Menglong returned to the hall and started toasting table by table.After finally catching the opportunity, these guests of course would not let him go, they raised their wine glasses and launched rounds of attacks on him, determined to knock him down.Yang Menglong never refuses anyone who comes, and he must do every one, with a heroic spirit.The two iron towers, Xu Meng and Wang Tiechui, each held a big wine jar and followed behind him. Seeing him finish drinking, they poured it up immediately. They were very honest. The figures of these two also surprised the guests. My dear, You can be a cow if you have a full meal!After going through five passes and beheading six generals, he finally came to the center of the hall, where Fang Yizhi, nine county magistrates, and Tang Shisun Zhu Yujian were waiting for him.Yang Menglong didn't know Zhu Yujian, but he knew Nanyang's parents and officials very well. He raised his glass and said, "It's my face that everyone can come and drink this wedding wine. Come, I'll toast you all!"

This group of parents and officials stood up one after another and toasted in return. This one called: "Master Yang, don't get drunk and let the bride stay alone in the empty room!" The other called: "Master Yang, we drove two or three hundred miles Going to Wuyang to drink your wedding wine, it won’t last for many years, is it enough to give you face? You will also give us face sometime, set up a thousand households in our county or something, so that we can also have an extra source of taxation ?” Someone said: “It’s better to set up some workshops with us too! My lord, to tell you the truth, I’ve even found the land for you, and I’m just waiting for you to set up a thousand-household office!”

Yang Menglong waved his hand briskly, and said: "What you said is nothing serious! Let me tell you, Wuyang Guard now has as many as [-] military households, and it will definitely increase next year. By then I set up a thousand-household office in each county to reclaim military fields and set up workshops, as long as you cooperate, I guarantee that you will get rich returns!"

The county magistrates said: "Then we will wait, and we must keep our word!"

————Thanks to the blessing of Wuyang Guard this year, Wuyang County, Biyang County, and Tongbai County paid all the taxes without any effort, and were praised by the chief envoy, which made other counties The county magistrates are very envious. They also want to live a good life where they can sleep at home and have large amounts of tax money delivered to their doorsteps!Taxes are becoming more and more heavy these years. Not only the common people can't bear it, but even the local officials can't bear it. There are not a few county magistrates who were hanged to commit suicide in the Jingcha because they failed to pay the taxes...

A young man with gorgeous clothes and extraordinary bearing stood up, raised his glass with both hands, and said to Yang Menglong: "The general has reclaimed wasteland, resettled refugees, and wiped out bandits. In just two years, he managed the land of the three counties to prosperity. He even led elite troops to the aid of western Liaoning, killing Jiannu blood into rivers, and made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty. He is truly an all-round talent in both civil and military affairs. Zhu Yujian admires him very much, and I would like to offer a cup to the general as a token of respect!"

Yang Menglong was startled: "Zhu Yujian?"

Fang Yizhi said angrily: "This is Tang Shisun Zhu Yujian. Tang Wang died of illness three years ago. He has kept his filial piety for three years. Next year he will succeed Tang Wang."

In this way, Yang Menglong understands, dare to love this is his number one sufferer, Tang Wang who forced him to marry in a hurry?Uh, that's not right, they haven't been canonized yet.He didn't have a good opinion of the vassals of the Ming Dynasty. He didn't do business or politics. He built a dung making machine.The most hateful thing is that these guys are super productive. By the eve of the Ming Dynasty's demise, the population of the vassal king's clan was nearly one million, and each of them had to be supported by the state's salary!The most disgusting thing is that these guys have no other skills, and the annexation of land is more than one cow. Most of the good land in Henan is either occupied by landlords or annexed by vassal kings, and the common people have become their tenants.When he opened up wasteland in Nanyang, he often had conflicts with Tang Wangfu. People often came to tell him which field belonged to Tang Wang, which made him extremely annoyed.However, none of these things made a big deal. Seeing his tough attitude, those guys just yelled a few words and let it go. After Wuyang Guard completely replaced Nanyang Guard, Tang Palace returned [-] mu of military land.At that time, he wondered why the Tang Palace was so easy to talk about. Now it seems that Tang Shisun was keeping his filial piety. He had no intention of conflicting with the rapidly expanding Wuyang Guard over these lands, and simply returned the previously occupied military land.There was no substantial conflict of interest, and the other party was unlikely to become his father-in-law at his age. Yang Menglong was in a good mood immediately, clinked glasses with Zhu Yujian, and said, "It's done!" He raised his head and drank it clean.

After Zhu Yujian finished drinking a cup, his pale face flushed a little, he gave Yang Menglong a thumbs up, and said, "The general is so bold, Zhu likes to make friends with people like you the most, come, let's toast the general again!" Picking up the jug, filled it up for himself and Yang Menglong respectively, and toasted.

Yang Menglong said: "Your Majesty is also a man of temperament, not bad! Well... In the past two years, when Wuyangwei was reclaiming wasteland, I had some conflicts with the Tang Palace. I don't know etiquette very well. I have offended you. Please forgive me!"

Zhu Yujian waved his hand and said, "What are these trivial matters? There are domestic servants in the Tang Dynasty's family who are rampant and lawless, and there are many evil deeds that occupy the army's land. Zhu will pay the general here!"

Yang Menglong said in his heart that this vassal king can do it, he is very reasonable!The goodwill is going up in a straight line...

Zhu Yujian saluted and apologized, and said: "The general has made great contributions to the country. On the day of the wedding, the Tang Palace should buy a big gift to congratulate the general. It's just that the grandfather passed away three years ago, and it cost a lot to organize his funeral. The treasury is empty, and there is no decent gift for a while, a mere gift is not a respect, please accept it with a smile!" Then he took out a stack of yellowed paper from his sleeve and handed it over.Yang Menglong took it over and opened it, good guy, it's a land deed for a whole 30 mu of fertile land!Although Wuyangwei already owns nearly [-] mu of military farmland, most of them are new fields that have been reclaimed in the past two years. There are not many fertile farmlands with convenient irrigation. , What a great handwriting!
After Yang Menglong was sure that he was not joking, he asked in surprise: "What is the prince doing? This is a huge fortune!"

Zhu Yujian said with a smile: "The general has taken in tens of thousands of refugees this year and provided them with food and clothing so that they will not die of cold and hunger. There is no great kindness. However, there is not much fertile land in Wuyangwei, and I am afraid it is not enough to house so many refugees. As Zhu, Naturally, the descendants of the Zhu family cannot just watch the people of the Ming Dynasty starve to death, so these lands will be given to the general to resettle the refugees."

Yang Menglong said: "Then you...don't you lose a lot of income?"

Zhu Yujian said: "There is still a lot of land under the name of the Tang Palace. It is not much more than the [-] acres of fertile land, and it is not much less than the [-] acres of fertile land. Of course, if the general can sell some phosphate fertilizer seeds from the Tang Palace, these lands can increase their yields. , Zhu is also very grateful. If the general can come to the house in person to teach Zhu how to manage the farmland, Zhu will sweep down the steps to welcome him."

Now Yang Menglong understood that, to put it bluntly, he wanted to use the [-] mu of fertile land in exchange for phosphorus fertilizer and potato planting techniques.I have to say, this Tang Shisun is really bold, and he does things in an aboveboard manner. How could he be willing to exchange so much land for other feudal lords?It must have been robbed by all means.Since the family asked for something, Yang Menglong was relieved, and accepted the gift with peace of mind, and said straightforwardly: "This year, many people have shipped boats of phosphate rock from the Jingxiang area, and the quality is excellent. Set up a phosphate fertilizer processing plant near Nanyang Fucheng, and the phosphate fertilizer produced will be supplied to the surrounding areas nearby, and then give the Tang Palace a [-]% discount!"

Zhu Yujian was overjoyed and said: "That's a lot of thanks to General! I wonder how much it will cost to set up this phosphate fertilizer processing plant? If the general doesn't have enough money, Zhu can pay part of it!"

Fang Yizhi said: "My son's words are wrong. Since it was done near Fucheng, the money should of course be paid by Fucheng!"

Several county magistrates near Fucheng said: "Our county can also share a part!" Everyone's eyes lit up, gearing up, excited.There are really too few people who don't know the usefulness of phosphate fertilizers. People with a few acres of fields in their families hope to buy phosphate fertilizers so that their crops can grow better. He was so stubborn that he refused to sell anything.Now, thank God, this guy is finally willing to go to Fucheng to set up a phosphate fertilizer factory. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and he will be a fool if he doesn't hurry up!

Yang Menglong sat down carelessly: "Everyone, don't worry, let me tell you, I heard that phosphate rocks are very rich in Jingxiang area, but the local people are too stupid, and they don't know how to use the phosphate rocks! Waiting for them to send the ore over for processing in Nanyang is too strenuous, why don't you think of a way to bring the mining area over, and then you can mine whatever you like?"

Having said that, everyone’s eyes are brightened, and you started discussing with each other, saying that you should find a way to get the entire phosphate rock, such a treasure can’t be wasted, but how to operate it is still quite a headache , can't let Wuyang's elite soldiers fight directly?That is no different from rebellion.Everyone was so involved in the discussion that they forgot the time and didn't even notice that the many guests were already full and left one after another... If someone hadn't come over with a serious face to mention it, Yang Menglong might be able to sit here and talk about it. Tell them with gestures for three days and three nights!
It was Liu Ziyan who walked over with a straight face to remind Yang Menglong that it was time to enter the bridal chamber.It could be seen that she was in a bad mood, and her attitude was quite rough and bad, she almost hit Yang Menglong with the flagon.Seeing the candles and lanterns that had already been lit, Yang Menglong realized that it was already late at night!With a cry of alarm, he jumped up and rushed towards the new house like a gust of wind... Oh my god, I almost forgot about the bride again, I'm bewitched today, right? How can I make a fool of myself!Everyone watched him rushing towards the new house in a panic, and shook his head. Fang Yizhi said with a bit of drunkenness: "Let's go back to the posthouse to continue the discussion, and come up with a charter as soon as possible. This matter can't be delayed!"

All the county magistrates agreed one after another, stood up staggeringly, walked out of the Yang Mansion with the support of their servants, and returned to the post house to continue discussing how to get the Jingxiang Phosphate Mine... They will spend this year in Wuyang.

Yang Menglong sneaked into the new house on tiptoe, uh, more than half of the red candles were almost burned out.The bride is still Fengguanxiapei, sitting in front of the bed and waiting for him.He walked over with a smile, sat beside her, scratched his head and said, "Drink a few more drinks with Mr. Fang and the others. I forgot the time. I kept you waiting. I'm sorry."

Xiao Yufang asked softly, "They must have given you a lot of drinks?"

Yang Menglong said: "No, what I drink is water. As far as I can drink, if what I drink is wine, they each toast me a glass, and I have to lie down and come in... Am I very smart?"

Xiao Yufang smiled softly: "You are quite smart, but if you could care about me more, you would be even smarter."

Yang Menglong said: "It's all their fault, they have to drag me to talk about this and that, I will ignore them from now on!" Leaning closer, he laughed: "May I help you take off the hijab?"

Xiao Yufang didn't speak.

Yang Menglong gently lifted the hijab, his glamorous face made him feel slightly suffocated.This woman who is as pale as a chrysanthemum has already removed her heavy makeup, but only put on a light makeup, with cherry lips and a beautiful nose, jade face and black eyebrows, her eyes are like autumn water, her eyes are flowing, her smile is like a flower, no matter how you look at it, it is not enough.He said blankly: "If I knew you were so beautiful today, I would have come in earlier."

Two red clouds flew up on Xiao Yufang's cheeks, and she couldn't help laughing again: "You..." After taking off the phoenix crown, a hair of black hair cascaded down to her waist like a waterfall, it was so beautiful...

(End of this chapter)