"Xianggong, everything in Texas is like this. Now all states and counties have taken strict precautions and waited for the unexpected. It's just that this Guan Yonghe can't be taken lightly, if you talk about the experience of the army, it is much stronger than the local government soldiers. The swordsmen in Texas, dating back to the second generation, have many fierce soldiers, and now they are the ones who are fighting, the south and the north, the east and west of Liaoning, inside and outside the mouth, all of them have left a reputation. ”

The two unorganized but energetic social groups with the best reputation in the entire Tang Dynasty are Hebei Swordsmen and Jiangnan Swordsmen. The reason for the birth of the two is also very simple, at the beginning, they must have lost their land, or the family was ruined, but they had a certain amount of savings, and they also had some ancestral connections, so they could sell their own force in exchange for survival resources.

In turbulent times, the birth of such groups is natural, people have this need, so such groups are born. It's just that they are a "vulnerable group" after all, unable to form an organization, and even if they do, they will be suppressed by the warlords first and then by the central government.

"Chivalry is forbidden by force", this is an iron law.

Generally speaking, in the era of great unification like the Tang Dynasty, this "disadvantaged group" will lose its vitality and gradually disappear into social labor production. It's too late to plough the land, so how can there be time to cut people?

It's just that the changes in the Zhenguan Dynasty are really beyond imagination, and its society is indeed stable, but the economic activities are quite "turbulent".

The geographical scope of economic exchanges has expanded almost several times, and even the Silk Road is no longer a game for a small group of magnates or adventurers, but can be delegated to ordinary state and county merchants, guilds, and families. Economic activity, as well as long-distance commodity trade, continued the vitality of "chivalry".

So the Hebei swordsmen and Jiangnan swordsmen have survived in the form of "rangers". They do not survive in one place, but in several places, or even in several countries.

There is no doubt that the outlook on life and values have broken through the "local restrictions" of the past, and the original local "traditions" can no longer continue to restrain this kind of people.

When Wang Zuxian was preparing for the dart game, he originally thought that it was still simple, leaving a way back for the old brothers. Yongyetian is not enough to spend, can he continue to sell some force to those who are willing to pay money, right?

And these well-informed "civilian armed forces" who have repeatedly participated in major wars cannot casually sell themselves to any businessman, even if they sell themselves into slavery to a powerful person, they have to pick and choose the quality of this powerful person.

is the same Guogong, can Chai Shao and Zhang Gongjin be the same thing?

is also a baron, Lu Deming is a bad old man, and Zhang De, a "green boy", can they be the same thing?

After broadening their horizons, the "rangers" are increasingly manipulated by their own self-consciousness and can't help but despise "authority". And unlike their predecessors in previous dynasties, the predecessors of previous dynasties and dynasties, the highest ideal, that is, "selling the emperor's family", to them, it doesn't matter whether they sell or not, the important thing is to save money and cultivate one or two generations, so that they can naturally follow the overall rise of some of the powerful people they are attached to.

It's just that this process is undoubtedly endless, and it will not form an unswerving smooth road because of your strong will.

"The Hebei official newspaper submitted above, saying that this person is also a family of loyalty?"

"Guan Yonghe Xingwu, in the early years, he was known as Jiangling Guan Wulang, had four brothers, and died fighting with the Khitans for acres of land in Youzhou."

Just talking about competition, Xue Dading is also very well handled, because in the early years, the official never said that he wanted to eliminate the Khitans, but it is obvious that he encouraged the people to squeeze the living space of the Khitan tribes.

The Khitan people really disappeared from the northern region of Cangzhou, and they had to come down from the position of the governor of Youzhou by Li Keshi. Later, when the imperial court was financially abundant, there was a military campaign in which eight of the ten Khitan divisions were destroyed.

According to the estimation of the imperial court, within a generation, the existence of the Khitan in the Liao River valley can be completely eliminated, and after two generations, the Khitan is just two words in the history books.

It's just that there is no doubt that it is not so easy to make a nation history.

Even now, the south and north of the desert still have the residual influence of the Turks. If it weren't for the fact that the Anbei Metropolitan Protector was a rather irascible general, just sorting out the consciousness of Mobei, he would have to fill in the taxes for three or five years. In the realm of Mobei, Zhang Gongjin is far less useful than Wei Chigong, and Wei Chigong is famous, which is completely different from Zhang Gongjin's "experience" expert.

"It's no wonder that there are many acres of cotton in Texas."

Ma Zhou nodded slightly, but asked Xue Dading again, "This person is quite famous in the rivers and lakes of Hebei?" ”

"It's a comparison of the pre-exam, and the Texas darts go out, and most of them have the name of 'Texas Guan Lao Wu'. In the rivers and lakes, it is quite easy to use. Even if you go to Fanyang, you also recognize it. ”

"Oh?"

Ma Zhou, who was a little surprised, frowned slightly, originally according to the usual experience of previous dynasties, the existence of Hebei swordsmen should tend to die out twenty years after the founding of the Tang Dynasty. There is just no doubt that the economic activities of society require them these civilian armed forces.

It is now Liaodong, and you can see foreigners with swords and knives with strange accents everywhere. Most of these people are from Hebei, Shandong, Jianghuai and other places. The income is much higher than that of the average person, and the same is true for the force value. But the imperial court is in Liaodong, and sometimes it recruits some "warriors" and "people" to maintain law and order.

To deal with the remnants of Goguryeo, you can't keep stabbing with a knife, and the regular army will be abolished if you fight with rookies for a long time.

Ma Zhou pondered for a while, and asked Xue Dading in an inquiring tone: "To Guan Lao Wu, is it a recruit or a fussing?" ”

"Each has its pros and cons."

sighed with emotion, revealing Xue Dading's complex mentality.

Cangzhou is thriving in his hands, although there are countless things to do behind the scenes, but in the eyes of outsiders, he Xue Dading is an "economic talent", otherwise how could he be transferred to the central government?

Thinking about Zheng Suiben, isn't he also mixing rice under Ma Zhou? Of course, Zheng Suiben's realm is now high, and he will not be out of office for the time being, "waiting for the world to change", and then jump out, of course, when to "change", Zheng Suiben has no score. However, he is different from Xue Dading, he Zheng has a girl in the kennel, even if he is not an official, his life will not be much worse than that of a member of the imperial court.

"Your Majesty is on the side, it's better to kill it."

Among the many staff members under Ma Zhou's head, someone said so.

The truth is right, but Ma Zhou can't make a decision now, after all, the matter of Texas is not just a matter of killing and bringing it down. When the time comes, we will continue to follow the current policy guidelines, go to the cotton fu, and forcibly use the official price to "plunder" the cotton profits.

"Killing is definitely going to be killed, but ...... Only punish the evil. ”

Xue Dading cautiously put forward an opinion, and Ma Zhou still looked thoughtful, but nodded slightly, obviously agreeing with a point of view.

That's killing.

It is pointless to appease without killing people, and it will only make people "gain an inch".

But Ma Zhou also knew very well that it was useless to appease the mouth cannon, and it had to be profitable. Giving up a part of the "profits" will continue to be honest in Hebei cotton farmers who are waiting and watching, instead of changing the nail rake with guns and sticks, and the hoes with horizontal knives.

"The Yulin Army has arrived in Henan?"

"When I arrived, I was in Henan, and I could be ordered to enter Texas at any time."

Xue Dading looked at Ma Zhou's reply, but his heart was awe-inspiring, there is no doubt that the prime minister can "pity" the "grievances" of Guan Yonghe and his ilk, but he will not tolerate them to rise up and confront the imperial court.

"Draw up a statement, and after a certain side is presented to the emperor, it can be executed. However, Hongwen Pavilion prepared in advance, and the matter of Enwei and Enwei was all familiar business. ”

"Yes."

Now that the tone of things has been set, it is useless to be perceptual, but to seek their own benefits from this tone.

The advantage of Xue Dading is that he is "preparing a piece of Chen", after all, he is "familiar with Hebei", and he used to be the history of Cangzhou, and now he is presiding over the construction of the "Bohai Rim Expressway", the "head snake". Although there are many "earth snakes", he was chosen, of course, God blessed.

After the meeting ended, Zheng Suiben found Xue Dading: "There is trouble in Texas, I'm afraid it's not just Guan Lao Wu." Xue Gong, this time is different from previous dynasties, if you are not careful, it may be like a quagmire. ”

"How can the old man not know?"

When talking to Zheng Suiben, Xue Dading's expression was quite serious, "But under Ma Xiang's command, someone has already mentioned that he wants to kill him, so the old man can't say more." In the final analysis, it is always right to kill Guan Lao Wu, who dares to oppose it? ”

It is impossible for a bureaucrat to support violence against the civil forces of his organization, even if he is sympathetic and merciful in his heart, but he cannot support it.

If you support it, it means that you are not loyal.

"Who is the one who spoke?"

"Seeing his kind face, I can't remember for a while, but as soon as you came, the old man remembered who he was. Dingzhou Zhang Deli. ”

"Zhang Xingben?"

Hearing what Xue Dading said, Zheng Sui was stunned for a moment, and then said, "I don't have a good heart." ”

"Hedong Hebei family is from the family, no one will be kind. Moreover, even if the emperor knew, he couldn't really go to appease Guan Yonghe. In the final analysis, whoever makes a fuss, the court will appease, and in the long run, won't it be who makes trouble and who eats meat? Chaos is just around the corner. ”

Listening to Xue Dading's words, Zheng Sui was also speechless for a while, sighed, and looked at Xue Dading with complicated eyes: "In the old days, when I was an official in Hebei, where would I have thought that the change in the dynasty would be so drastic." Nowadays, everything is like walking on thin ice, lest there be trouble. ”

"In the old man's opinion, I'm afraid there will be more and more incidents in the future."

Looking back suddenly, Secretary Xue really wanted to strangle himself back then, honestly make a Cangzhou assassin history, and then go home to make fun of Sun, isn't it? But in order to be an official and a big official, he hooked up with a certain Jiangnan native dog, now it's okay, if he meets a powerful king in the future, he turns over the black history and turns over the old accounts, I'm afraid that if the Xue family is not the Xue family, they will be sent to the Western Regions to eat sand.

"That'...... Now, Xue Gong thinks that the situation in Texas will get worse and worse? ”

"Yes."

Xue Dading nodded, very sure of this. When he came to Ma Zhou, he never said that he would solve the Texas problem, this was not something he could control, it was the emperor's decision.

As long as the emperor said that I would only wear silk and not cotton silk in the future, he would ensure that the people of Hebei would praise him. It's a pity, who says that "white stacked cloth" can be sold for a price? And compared with raw silk and hemp silk, since the birth of several categories of cotton spinning machinery somewhere, cotton processing is really simple.

And overseas profits are quite high, like Li Daoxing's Jiaozhou, which originally had little spending power. However, with the development of gold and silver mines, gem mines, and forest resources in Jiaozhou, cotton cloth can be exchanged for a large amount of hard currency in Jiaozhou immediately.

The people at the bottom can't afford to use silk, but the moisture-proof and storage resistance of linen cloth is not as good as cotton, so naturally, cotton cloth has become the largest fabric consumer product in Jiaozhou and even the entire South China Sea.

The profit of the imperial court on cotton, first of all, is the interest rate difference after the forced purchase at the official price, and the second is that there are also cotton processing units in the Guanluo area, plus the cultivation of the "Seven Martial Seas of His Majesty", the emperor also has his own fleet, and he can transform from a pirate to a logistics provider at any time.

And because of the rise of Jiaozhou and Guangzhou, which led to the increase of the bureaucratic team and the expansion of the local "noble clans", this made the official production, to be more precise, the cotton cloth produced by the royal family, not to be worried.

No matter how poor the quality is, government procurement has always only been about reaching the line, not about how to be high-quality.

The profits are so high that outsiders can't imagine it.

How could the emperor give up? How could the Inner Government Bureau let go? The foreign dynasty also eats meat and drinks soup, will it be willing to reduce these cotton subsidies, and the local cotton cloth is filial?

It's impossible to think about.

Even if the emperor says that I have decided to exempt the cotton levy, you can plant whatever you want, the first one who is unhappy in your heart is the bureaucrats of the foreign courts, and then the civil servants who work for the emperor, and in the end, maybe even the emperor's domestic slaves will be unhappy in their hearts.

This series of involvement is not one or two people, but tens of thousands of people and hundreds of thousands of people, so Xue Dading can be sure that the situation in Texas will get worse and worse, at least in the last year or two, it must be like this.

He can affirm this because he can be sure that the court will not let go and spit meat.

In that case, even if we continue to intensify our efforts and suppress the law, it is useless to talk about how to reduce taxes with policies. There are many cuts, and the court is unwilling, and the cuts are reduced, which may stimulate the local swordsmen in Hebei even more.

Because of a slight cut, for these leaders who have seen the world, it is tantamount to a "personal insult". This is like giving a Kaiyuan Tongbao compensation money, and saying that this is sincerity. I'm afraid that if I don't cut the other party directly, half of my body will be unsuccessful, and I won't be able to take care of myself in the second half of my life.

"If so, I'm afraid that Cangzhou will be ruined in the future?"

"Where can it be broken? Now that the Korean Province has been established, all the gold and silver in the East China Sea have fallen into the hands of the imperial court. Hebei cotton farmers, one in and one out, still earn. ”

Looking at the overall situation, although the investment in killing Hebei swordsmen is large, as long as the authority of the entire Bohai region is still there, what profits can't be recovered?