The octagonal pavilion was covered with a thin layer of light veil, slightly blocking some of the cold wind, but also blocking the flying snow, inside the gauze tent, the brazier was blazing, constantly driving away the cold inside. On the edge of the brazier, the copper kettle with warm wine rises with steam, and the aroma of wine is overflowing.

On the thick fur mats, several people sat cross-legged, and next to each sat a young girl, who kept pouring warm wine for everyone in the banquet.

Outside the pavilion, countless plum trees are in full bloom, a piece of purple and red, under the trees or sitting or standing some musicians holding musical instruments, are shaking their heads and playing music, between the plum trees, a group of women wearing light veils, bare skin, are dancing on the snow.

The formation changes, enchanting and colorful, from time to time there will be a team dancing to the outside of the pavilion, accompanied by a large body movement, the graceful figure is revealed, and every time the pavilion is applauded.

Although those dancing girls had smiles on their faces, Han Qi could see it very clearly, their bare skin was already reddish, which was a sign of frostbite.

This couldn't help but make him frown slightly. His gaze swept over the people in the pavilion who were fascinated, and a wave of disgust surged in Han Qi's heart.

After staying in Wuyi for a long time, I saw a lot of the people's style of doing things, and suddenly returned to Hedong again, and when I saw this group of drunken and dreamy guys, I couldn't help but feel quite uncomfortable.

Looking at these people, he suddenly understood why Li Ze wanted to kill these clansmen.

In other places under Li Ze's rule, the big families that Li Ze called the thieves were basically suppressed, and the property that was separated, divided, and retained was far from enough for these people to support a luxurious life, and if they wanted to get rich, the best way was to go into business.

But doing business is risky. If you are not careful, you will lose money and you will not have to wear your underwear, so those people in the past are now conscientious and cautious. And these people in front of them, the poorest also own hundreds of thousands of acres of land, they don't do anything, just sit at home, you can enjoy an incomparable luxury life.

Of course, the corresponding is the overall economic decline of Hedong.

When all the resources are concentrated in the hands of a few people, it is too difficult for others to come ahead.

Han Qi knew the symptoms of this, but he couldn't and couldn't change these people. Because these people are now his basic plate, these people can unite around him, that is, he can now shelter them from the wind and rain and block the implementation of Li Ze's policy in Hedong. And they also need to come up with a lot of money and food to maintain their strength.

Once this balance is broken, it is time for the situation in Hedong to break through.

He saw very clearly that this war against Tubo was a tentative move by Li Ze, and Li Ze had never given up on breaking the current situation in Hedong.

I took a slice of sashimi as thin as a cicada's wing, dipped it in a small saucer, put it in my mouth and chewed it slowly, thinking about how to spread things out.

It's not easy to get food out of these people's bowls.

An exclamation interrupted Han Qi's thoughts, the music stopped suddenly, and he looked up, but it was a dancer who had probably stepped on the ice, slipped under her feet, and fell to the ground, and the dancers who followed her were caught off guard, and fell to the snow one after another, falling into a ball.

Everyone in the pavilion burst out laughing.

Only a look of anger on his face stood up.

But it is the master here, Xue Jun, the head of the Xue clan in Fenyin.

"Come on, drag these out and sell them."

With Xue Jun's anger, more than a dozen Xue family members poured in from outside, dragging those dancing girls outside, without the slightest intention of pity and cherishing jade, but those dancing girls didn't even stand up, so they were dragged out by these family members on the snow.

In an instant, in the plum garden, there was a loud cry of mourning, a voice begging for mercy.

"Enough!" Han Qi slapped his chopsticks on the table with a snap, "A little mistake, human nature, why be so harsh?" ”

Xue Jun was stunned, and when he saw that Han Qi's face was really not good, he smiled and said, "Okay, since Han Shuai has spoken, I will spare them, and count them lucky." ”

Han Qi picked up the wine glass, signaled, and drank it all, which was regarded as a reward for Xue Jun's face.

Xue Jun also drank it all.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this time I made a special trip back to Hedong, not to catch up with you." Han Qi, who put down the wine glass, said: "I came back to ask for everyone's generosity." ”

"Han Shuai, are you still short of money?" During the banquet, Sima Fan, another big Xia County Sima family in Hedong, said with a smile.

"I'm not short of money personally, and in fact, I don't need much either." Han Qi said coldly: "There are more than 1,000 acres of land at home, dozens of servants, and more than 10,000 salaries, which is enough for me to live very comfortably." ”

Han Qi's voice was not good, and everyone's originally smiling faces during the banquet were a little stiff. Here, the poorest people are only afraid that they are countless times richer than Han Qi. Not to mention the big men like the Xue family, the Liu family, and the Sima family.

"Cunzhong, come on!" Han Qi looked at Li Cunzhong beside him.

Li Cunzhong nodded, stood up, and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, according to various intelligences, the pseudo-Liang Zhuwen has colluded with the Tubo Great Theory of Tocharo, and it is very likely that they will launch a large-scale military operation against An Sui in the spring of next year. Ansui is our barrier, and if Ansui is lost, Hedong will be exposed to the attacks of the Tibetans. Take 10,000 steps back, even if Tubo is not capable of hitting us, and Ansui collapses, our Hedong will also be greatly impacted, and when the time comes, I am afraid that it will be a wave of refugees and a rout, which will be enough for us to bear. ”

Regarding the war with Tibet, it is still a secret of the imperial court, and these people do not know about it.

This is no joke. Ansui is really going to collapse, and a large number of refugees and routs are pouring into Hedong, so some of them will suffer.

"Therefore, the imperial court decided that at the most suitable time, the left and right military guards stationed in the river area should intervene in this war, enter Ansui, Tiande and other places in advance, and start the war in these areas, so as to repel the Tibetans and ensure that our homeland is not invaded." Li Cunzhong continued.

Everyone nodded again and again, which was naturally in their interests.

"Still." Li Cunzhong changed his words and said: "The imperial court is clearly in the Ming Dynasty, and it cannot provide us with the money and food needed for the war, but can only ensure the soldiers' salaries and basic needs. Therefore, we have to raise everything we need for the war. ”

There was a cold scene in the middle of the field, and after a long time, Xue Juncai said: "Since it is a major government of the imperial court, why do we need money and grain from the local government?" ”

Han Qi said coldly: "Now that the imperial court has difficulties in terms of money and food, there will be a big battle with Zhang Zhongwu in the north, and the confrontation with Zhu Wen in the south will only intensify. Therefore, this war against Tibet can only be solved by ourselves. Zhang Jia, the right military guard, has promised Li Xiang that in this battle, the land of Shuozhou where he is located will be able to bear the military food needs for at least one year, and our Hedong Prefectures are not as good as a Shuozhou? ”

"Han Shuai, that's not what I said." Sima Fan looked left and right at his companions who were a little embarrassed, and raised his voice: "The affairs of the imperial court are naturally solved by the imperial court with money, why should we pay for it privately?" ”

"yes!" Han Qi smiled: "Why do you want to pay privately?" Because the government of Hedong Prefecture can't come up with money and grain! But why can Shuozhou take it? Why can Dizhou take it? Can Mozhou, Yingzhou and other places take it? I won't talk about places like Zhenzhou and Zhaozhou. They can all come up with money and food to support the army, but we can't take it out if we are born in the Hedong states? ”

The crowd was dumbfounded for a moment.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is not what I asked, this is what Li Xiang asked." Han Qi said with some emotion: "How should I answer Li Xiang?" Could you please teach me? ”

Seeing that everyone was silent, Han Qi continued: "If we can't raise money and food, the court gritted its teeth and let other places help raise it, so that the people starved, naturally it can be raised, but if this is the case, the assassin history of the Hedong states will inevitably be held accountable, and the imperial court can also reappoint the new assassin history in a straightforward manner, everyone, at that time, Han will be powerless, because where does Han still have the face to speak?" ”

"Han Shuai......" Fan Jun arched his hand and was about to speak, but was interrupted by Han Qi: "Master Fan, please call me Han Shangshu, I have long been no longer in Hedong Jiezhen." ”

"This ......" Fan Jun said embarrassedly: "Han Shangshu, tens of thousands of troops need more than a year, this is not a small amount, you also know that in the past two years, we have to maintain the extra part of Zuo Wuwei's army's salary, everyone's life is really not good." But people always come up with it, don't you think? Everyone is in the same boat, we still need Shangshu to shelter us from the wind and rain, don't you also need us to lay a solid foundation for you? ”

Han Qi snorted, "It's good that everyone understands this, although this battle requires us to contribute money and efforts, but if we can win An Sui, it will also be beneficial, if we act slowly, or if we lose the battle, Tu Lichun in the river, and even Wang Sili in Zhaozhou and other places, can all stare at it." Especially if Zhang Jia wins the first prize, with Zhang Jia's virtue, then Hedong will not have a good time in the future. ”

Zhang Jia has been grudging with the Hedong families over the years, and if he seizes the opportunity, he will definitely chase and fight.

"We'll figure it out for money and food." Sima Fan said angrily: "But Han Shangshu, you also have to think of a way to get Cao Zhang's bastard boy away!" ”