The frequent dispatch of various sergeants and military assets in Xingtai is difficult to conceal from the public, and even though the current does not know the inside story, they can clearly feel the strong atmosphere of slaughter.

However, even under the influence of this atmosphere, this year's banquet was still not greatly affected, and this can be regarded as one of the manifestations of strict military discipline in Taiwan; even though the war mobilization was in full swing, there was not too much infringement on all kinds of civilians, and it was orderly and did not interfere with each other.

Compared with the previous years on the eve of the mobilization of the Central Plains War, the situation when the business affairs of Runan were in a depression have improved a lot.

This kind of progress is not only the progress of Wang Shi's military discipline, but also the increase in Shiliu's confidence in Luoyang Xingtai. In the early years of the Central Plains War, the outcome was really unpredictable, and businessmen sought advantages and avoided disadvantages, and it was inevitable to avoid retreating. But now that the king is powerful, no matter where the troops are used, the odds of victory are uncertain, and the businessmen who walk here will naturally be able to settle down.

In the subsequent closed-door meeting, many cultivation and improvement of mulberry cultivation and garden grafting skills were announced, and several rice seed cultivation techniques were introduced, which can greatly increase the number of grain produced per unit area.

However, the repercussions caused by these agronomic techniques are not too great, and these merchants have become accustomed to the quick profits of goods and goods, and at the same time, from the Jiangdong soil to the Central Plains, the cultivated land resources have been released to the small people on a large scale, and there is rarely a phenomenon of large-scale farm-based management.

The display of these techniques by the Academy of Engineering is mainly to demonstrate the heritage of Xingtai in agricultural affairs, in other words, to reflect the production capacity of goods and the deep material foundation of Xingtai.

Another important point is that the most eye-catching product of this Chinese banquet is tea. Although the tea goods that were publicly released at the banquet were only 6,000 catties, through various other channels, the total amount of tea transactions had actually reached 50,000 catties in just ten months.

Xue Tao's main purpose in entering Luo this time was to buy tea, but the channels he had were really limited, and there was no way to obtain it through the other channels, so in the end he could only bid for 600 catties of tea at the bidding meeting of the Huaxiang Banquet.

And in order to bid for this batch of tea, he paid the price of more than 1,000 cattle and horses. If it is discounted, the price of this batch of tea per catty is as high as thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars!

In fact, in this small meeting, some Western wealthy businessmen shouted a high price of tens of thousands of dollars per catty, but because of the clever way Xue Tao used to pay, he was able to win the bid.

Whether such a price is high or low, Xue Tao can't say clearly, because there is no transaction record of bulk tea on the market before this. At present, tea is an urgently needed commodity for all parties, especially the Hu people, and the only way to obtain it in bulk is Heluo.

Of course, in addition to Heluo, in fact, as far as Xue Tao knows, Shuzhong is also a production area of tea, and their Xue family moved from Shuzhong to Hedong, and some old people in the clan still have memories of this.

But at present, Shuzhong is closed and isolated, especially in Hanzhong, which is fighting endlessly, not to mention that there is no smooth road at all, even if there is, the price to be paid for the distance alone is far higher than buying in Heluo.

The true value of tea is still vague, but for Xue Tao, the heartache is real. Thousands of cattle and horses, even if his family still has a large area of pastoral land in the Fenyin region, these livestock also account for a very high proportion of the current situation.

In addition to a small part of the reserves, most of this batch of tea must be used to deal with Shi Sheng's poverty, which is to solve the military disaster in the entire Hedong, so the payment cannot be paid by the Xue family, the Xue family can afford half of it, it is considered to be exhausted, and the rest needs to be borne by other clansmen in the village.

But this is not just a one-time transaction, it is conceivable that if Shi Sheng's request is satisfied, there will definitely be such needs in the future. Therefore, the trade of tea has become a stable burden on the Hedong Township Sect, unless it can completely defeat Shi Sheng militarily and make him dare not come to disturb him again, but this is also a difficult matter to complete.

Although the transaction has been finalized, it has not yet been finalized, and the Xue family needs to transport this batch of livestock to Tongguan in exchange for customs slips to Luoyang, so that Xue Tao can finally complete the transaction with them.

So during this time, Xue Tao still stayed in Luoyang. He is not idle in Luoyang, and the Fang villagers treat him well, in addition to leading him to visit various schools such as Xinshi Pavilion, there is also to introduce him to some fashionable people, and more deeply appreciate the people and customs between Heluo.

There is another thing that lingers in my heart, and that is to pay homage to General Shen. It's just that Xingtai has been busy recently, and although Xue Tao asked people to submit a prayer post, he was not summoned immediately.

While waiting to be summoned, Xue Tao was also thinking about what kind of posture to take to face General Shen. His attitude is not only related to his family, but also affects the changes in the situation in the entire Hedong, so he cannot be cautious.

During this time, Xue Tao experienced the strength of Luoyang Xingtai from all aspects through personal experience. In fact, it is difficult to maintain the original state of self-defense in the corner of the river alone. Although the situation in Hedong Township is not small, just one Shi Sheng has overwhelmed them, and Shi Sheng has been in vain in front of Wang Shi for a long time, and finally had to flee in the wilderness.

There is a huge difference in strength between them, and Xingtai is where the king's destiny lies, whether it is strong interference or gentle restraint in Hedong, in fact, the people of Hedong do not have much ability to resist.

But even so, Xue Tao didn't feel that he should devote himself to Xingtai without reservation, if that was the case, the voice of Hedong Township would not be respected enough, and Xingtai would most likely destroy Hedong Township without restraint and create a new order of his own, which would inevitably infringe on the interests of Hedong Township.

After weighing for a period of time, Xue Tao's final decision was to first obey the orders of the king of Taiwan, at least on the surface, and at the same time to face General Shen to Chen Hedong's unique nostalgia, hoping that General Shen could understand that the various measures against Hedong should not be too impatient so that people have no buffer.

One day at the end of September, Xue Tao, who was living in the Fangwang Mansion in the south of the city, finally received an invitation from Xingtai, saying that General Shen would receive him at the mansion.

After receiving the news, Xue Tao was in a good mood and was inevitably worried, but Fang Wang's father and son were extremely excited. If Xue Tao can be treated by General Shen, it means that these Hedong Township Sects finally have a representative of the powerful faction in Luoyang Xingtai, and their situation will definitely improve to a certain extent.

On this day, Fang Wang personally accompanied Xue Tao to the general's mansion early to wait for the summons. The entire outer court of the Great General's Mansion was overcrowded, and most of them were like Xue Tao, waiting for General Shen's summons to inquire about it. Someone is summoned and leaves, and before and then a new stream joins in.

It wasn't until late afternoon that Xue Tao was finally summoned. He stood up and moved his slightly paralyzed limbs, and then looked at Fang Wang beside him, already looking excited. It is no wonder that Fang Wangchengfu is not deep, and all the people who live in Heluo are familiar with the legendary deeds of General Shen, and they are all eager to see it.

Xingtai and the General's Mansion were originally in the small city of Xuanren and one body, and the officials who led the way in front took Xue Tao and the two through many pavilions and corridors, and walked for half an hour before finally arriving at the meeting place, an attic located at the side of the Xingtai Discussion Hall.

The small building is exquisitely shaped, surrounded by peach and willow trees, although it has lost the vitality of midsummer, but there is still a bit of fun.

At this time, it seems that there are still guests in the small building who have not left, and after waiting for so many days, Xue Tao is not in a hurry to see him immediately, and takes this opportunity to stand outside the attic and sort out the content of the speech that will be prepared later.

He was standing under the attic corridor, the sound of conversation and laughter in the building came into his ears from time to time, and after listening for a while, Xue Tao found that there was a guest in the attic who was Liu Cheng in the countryside who he had seen outside the city before, and another voice sounded like the sound of flowing water from a clear spring, and it was determined that it was General Shen when he asked and answered.

As for the content of their conversation, Xue Tao listened for a long time before he was able to determine that it was actually "Chongyou Theory" written by Pei Wei, who was also a former sage in Hedong Township. With such a profound topic of righteousness, Xue Tao naturally did not dabble in it, so it was inevitable that he would lack interest.

But in this unavoidable listening process, Xue Tao found that every time it was General Shen's turn to speak, the tone was simple and simple, and even he could understand the meaning. As for the arguments of others, they seemed too difficult for him to understand what they meant in the eyes of others.

Although he only knew a little bit about it, after listening for a long time, Xue Tao found that General Shen gradually gained the upper hand in the debate, because General Shen said more and more words during the conversation, and the rhythm found by Liu Cheng and several others was getting slower and slower, and it seemed that he often had to mover for a long time to get a few words, and then he was broken by General Shen's casual words.

Although he hadn't seen him yet, but only hearing his voice, Xue Tao gradually admired this General Shen. They have inherited the martial arts of the Xue family, and they have always lacked much knowledge of righteousness, so they are also despised by the Liu family and other old families in the township. He also knew that General Shen also had the background of Nanxiang Wuzong, but he had such a high attainment in learning, and even a township sage elder like Liu Cheng was far behind.

Xue Tao waited outside for about half an hour, and the debate finally ended, and everyone inside, including Liu Cheng and others, praised General Shen for his superb learning, which benefited them a lot.

As he spoke, the footsteps were getting closer and closer to the door, Xue Tao hurriedly avoided the corridor and waited until Liu Cheng and a few others appeared at the door, and then bowed.

There were a total of five people walking out of the room, and in addition to Liu Cheng, there were several middle-aged and old people of different ages, but Xue Tao looked at it at a glance, and the first thing he noticed was a young man walking at the back.

The young man was dressed in a shirt and tied with a jade belt around his waist, and the whole person looked outstanding, which was eye-catching, and it made Xue Tao feel what it was like a pearl and shine brightly.

"Your Excellency is Hedong Xue Jun? I have been here for a long time, and I can finally see it today, and I have a wish. ”

The young man stood on the steps, waited until Liu Cheng and the others said goodbye and left, and then turned to look at Xue Tao who was standing on the side, and said with a smile.

There was no need for others to introduce him, hearing this voice, Xue Tao knew that this young man was the famous General Shen in the world, so he felt a sense of crampedness and embarrassment in his heart, and he was a little at a loss and hurriedly said: "Northland ugly man, how fortunate can I get the general's memory." The general has lived in Luoyi for a long time, but he has dared to worship so far, and I hope the general will forgive me! ”