General's Palace.

In front of the mansion, Guo Jia personally sent Youzhou Governor Shi Guanjing and his party out of the mansion gate, and watched them get into a carriage and leave.

Sending off people with a smile like this, Guo Jia has done a lot in the past two days, counting the Youzhou mission that left at this moment, this is already the fourth batch.

For the two days prior to this, two delegations were received each day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and no receptions were arranged in the evening.

Early yesterday morning, Li Li rushed back from the front line in Chencang. After returning to the mansion to freshen up for a while, he put on a brocade robe and met with the Jingzhou mission.

The principal of the Jingzhou mission was Cai He of the Cai clan of the Jingzhou Wang clan, that is, the younger brother of Cai Mao of Jingzhou.

When they met, Cai He was very well-behaved, not only took out the list of gold sacrifices by Liu Biao, but also gave an extra "heart" on behalf of the Cai family. Seeing that the Cai family was so generous, Li Li naturally would not refuse, accepted it calmly, and did not hesitate to reward the Cai family: Cai Mao was crowned as the general of Jingzhou and the marquis of Hanshou Pavilion, Zhang Yun was the general of Fenwu, Cai He was the general of Fenyong, and Cai Zhong was the general of Zhonglang.

At noon, Li Li held a banquet in the main hall to entertain the Jingzhou delegation, and called Cai to the inner hall alone during the banquet to speak. This conversation lasted for half an hour, and as for what the two sides said, except for the parties and Guo Jia, who was the companion, no one else knew at all. I only know that when Cai He left the General's Mansion with the mission, his expression was very excited, and his right hand sleeve was bulging, as if he was carrying something, and happily got into the carriage and returned to the post house.

The delegation that entered the General's Mansion that afternoon was somewhat unexpected, this group of people was an envoy sent by Lu Bu, and the leader was Wei Xu, a Zhonglang general who had almost died at the hands of Li Li in the Battle of Bahe three years earlier. Wei Xu didn't bring much tribute here. Because of the current war in Yanzhou, it is difficult for the brigade of chariots and horses to get through from Cao Cao's territory. Carrying only four priceless rare things, as well as Lu Bu's handwritten handwriting, it can be regarded as full of sincerity.

It's just that Lu Bu's secret letter in handwriting reveals the intention of asking for help, obviously unable to resist the fierce offensive of Cao Cao's army, and Yanzhou is about to be unable to be saved. Therefore, Lu Bu, who had never been convinced, couldn't help but ask Li Li for help, hoping that Li Li could send troops to Henan County. Finish off Cao Cao's temporary lair. For Wei Xu and his entourage, Li Li also treated each other with courtesy, and set up a banquet in the evening. Both guests and hosts were suitable, and there was no loss of face for the Lu Bu mission.

However, Li Li only sat for a moment at the banquet and left the lobby early, noncommittal. There is no official statement. Subsequently, Guo Jia was responsible for entertaining Wei Xu and his party. As for what Guo Jia said to Wei Xu, no one knew, but Wei Xu had a difficult face when he left the General's Mansion, as if he had encountered something very tricky but could not refuse. The most important thing is that he can't be the master at all, so he can only return to Yanzhou to report to Lu Bu, and in the end, Lu Bu has to take the idea.

This is yesterday's reception, and Guo Jia is responsible for arranging everything. ushered in the send-off, busy and happy.

This morning. Li Li met with the delegation sent by Yuan Shu in Shouchun, the principal was Yuan Shu's uncle Yuan Yi, and took two generals to protect the safety of the mission along the way. The gold gift list is quite rich, a full 30,000 stone grain and grass and 15,000 gold, which is also the first time for Yuan Shu, who has always been stingy, and it is the most tribute money and grain in the past three years, and it is rare to be generous. However, the Yangzhou mission claimed that there were only 30,000 stones of grain and grass to the outside world, and did not tell the truth, and this is exactly Yuan Shu's consistent style, which cherishes face very much, and will not show weakness to anyone, purely slapping a swollen face and pretending to be fat.

In the face of Yuan Yi and his entourage, Li Libiao was very modest, put on a feast, entertained with good wine and meat, and praised Yuan Shu's generosity. However, he was limited to verbal appreciation, but in fact it was perfunctory, and did not mention the request in Yuan Shu's letter to be crowned as a pastor of Yangzhou and to punish Liu Xuan. In the middle of the banquet, Li Li left early under the pretext of busy military affairs, and then Guo Jia picked them up. Guo Jia didn't say anything about the Yuan Shu mission, as if it was official business, and he was just ordered to be sent there.

In the afternoon, Li Li met with the Youzhou delegation and made an exception to entertain them with high standards. During the banquet, Li Li held a banquet in the inner hall of the main courtyard and had a secret conversation with Guan Jing alone, which lasted for an hour, and after the discussion, Guo Jia personally sent Guan Jing out of the house. The reception standard is high, and he is the head of all the missions, so Guan Jing felt flattered, his vanity was greatly satisfied, and he left happily.

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"It's all gone, and I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Such a cumbersome entertainment is indeed very laborious and torturous, far more arduous than leading troops to fight. ”

In the main hall, Li Li sat leisurely drinking tea in the hall, and when he saw Guo Jia coming in, he beckoned him to sit beside him.

"What the lord said is very true." Seeing that Li Li was indeed a little tired, Guo Jia smiled and said: "In the past few days, the lord has been running between the front line of Chencang and Chang'an, and he is indeed very tired. Weichen knew that the lord had never liked to socialize, but this time he had to do it as a last resort, and it was imperative, otherwise he would miss a good opportunity to make friends with princes from all walks of life. Therefore, Weichen sent a fast horse to Chencang and asked the lord to come back to preside over the overall situation; If they do not see their lords, the missions will not leave, and they will not be able to return to their respective lords. So?????? Those who can work harder, they can only bother the lord to run more. Hehehe! ”

After speaking, Guo Jiaxin smiled, his expression was very casual and unrestrained. And this is what Li Li admires most about Guo Jia, he speaks casually but measured, in front of Li Li, he is neither restrained nor respectful, which makes people very comfortable and willing to talk to him.

"Hahaha!" Sure enough, Li Li smiled heartily and said loudly: "Speaking of which, I have really worked hard to serve filial piety recently. Facing these chattering princes and envoys all day long, this is the most abrasive. ”

Guo Jia smiled and said: "This is a matter within the responsibility of Weichen, not to mention hard work." On the contrary, such an unavoidable entertainment, instead of being troublesome, Wechen hopes that the more the better. In just half a month, the envoys of various princes entered Beijing one after another, offering hundreds of thousands of stones, grains and grass for our army, as well as hundreds of thousands of gold. With such a lucrative entertainment, why not do it?

And the money paid by these princes' envoys is only a small part of the many items that have been made this time. What is really gratifying is that there are also dozens of scholars and powerful gentry from various states and counties who have followed the princes' envoys into Beijing this time. That's the biggest takeaway. ”

"Oh? Could it be that these gentry of the noble clan also donated a lot of grain and grass to us? Li Li asked with a surprised expression.

Guo Jia nodded happily and said with a smile: "Exactly." In recent days, the streets and alleys in front of the General's Mansion have been full of cars and horses. The streets and alleys are blocked. If it was only the envoys of the princes of all sides, at best, it would only be a thousand people, far from being so lively, and the people who really blocked the streets and alleys were the gentry and powerful gentry of various states and counties. Among the crowd, a single family is not enough to compare with the princes' missions, but it is superior in numbers, covering all states and counties in the world. In this way, they gathered together far more than the legation, occupying the four streets and alleys in front of the General's Palace.

It is reported in detail. In the past half a month, more than eighty percent of the inns in the city have been full, and the people who live in the inns are nominally caravans who have come to Chang'an to do business, but in fact they are indeed teams sent by the families and gentry to find a way to meet them.

Among them, most of them are the families and gentry from the states of the Central Plains. I think they must have seen the battle of Si Li. The princes of the Central Plains were not the enemies of our Xiliang army, so they were eager to find a way out, and wanted to secretly befriend our army, so as to seek a way out for their respective families. Therefore, they took advantage of the opportunity of the princes' envoys from all parties to enter Beijing, bribed the mission personnel, followed them to Chang'an, and then tried every possible way to find a way. Trying to get in touch with the generals and subordinates in the army. To this end, they donated a large amount of grain and grass in the name of their respective families. The amount is far greater than the amount of money offered by the princes' envoys, and even several times the amount of money and grain offered by the princes.

As of this morning, Gong Cao, who was in charge of the treasury, reported that the grain and grass donated by the nobles and gentry through various channels had reached more than 500,000 stones, and the money was as high as 87 million, which was three times the amount of money and grain donated by the princes. And that's not all, it is understood that there are still dozens of caravans in the city that are still looking for a way, presumably there will be a large amount of money to follow, and the number is considerable. If nothing is expected, the money and grain subsidies received by the General's Mansion within a month will be a year's tax revenue from the four states of Xiliang, or even exceeded. This means that this income alone can completely make up for the entire consumption of our army in the battle of Sili, and there is even a surplus. And this is the biggest win after Si Li's big victory. ”

Li Li was surprised when he heard this, and asked in confusion, "Why is this?" In the battle of Sili, our army has made a lot of gains by exhausting all the materials stored in the Allied camp, why does Fengxiao think that now is the biggest gain after the war? ”

Guo Jia smiled slightly, and said respectfully: "The lord is generous." In recent years, the princes of all sides have fought wars for many years, and the defeated are often defeated, while the winners have been able to quickly regain their strength, and the fundamental reason is that they have received financial support from major families and powerful people. The reason why my Xiliang Army did not receive funding from the major families and powerful gentry before was because many big families were all raided by the lord. In addition, Xiliang is a place of long-term war, wars are frequent, and there have been endless wars in the past 30 years, and there are relatively few large families of scholars, and many families have migrated to the counties of Zhongyuan Prefecture.

However, this battle is very different from the past. After the great victory in this battle, our Xiliang army will be able to deter the states and counties of the Central Plains, and will wave its troops to enter the Central Plains at any time. In this way, it is bound to touch the family interests of the major noble clans and powerful gentry, and even directly destroy them, confiscating the family property to replenish military funds. This compels them to prepare in advance, preferably in secret friendship with our army; Only in this way will it be possible for them to preserve their family business and avoid being affected as much as possible when our army enters the Central Plains. ”

"Well, I see." Li Li bowed his head happily and said with a smile: "I really haven't thought about these twists and turns of interest entanglements before. Now listening to Fengxiao's explanation, it's really like this. It's really; Intentionally planting flowers does not bloom, and unintentionally planting willows and willows into the shade. Hehehe! ”

Guo Jia was surprised when he heard this, and said with a smile: "The lord's words are incisive, in one sentence. Weichen also has a report, just now Mrs. Zhang of the Inner Mansion asked the maid to pass the word, and wanted to invite the lord to go to Nanyuan Restaurant in the evening to taste the new seafood delicacies. I don't know what happens under the Lord's will? ”

"Oh, seafood?" Li Li was shocked and said with a smile: "I just said it casually before, I didn't expect that she was really a caring person, but it was not easy to get some seafood at the moment." In this case, Bongxiao will go with me later and taste fresh dishes. Hehehe??????"

Seeing that Li Li agreed, Guo Jia was immediately overjoyed, and said with a smile, "I don't dare to ask for ears, and Weichen obeys." ”

Li Li keenly noticed that Guo Jia's expression was different, and asked: "It seems that the person who came to deliver the message just now is not simple, and he dares to put pressure on you, or directly threaten you to complete the task, I guessed correctly, right?" Hehehe! ”

"Uh, this ??????" Guo Jia looked stunned, his cheeks were slightly red, and he couldn't help but show embarrassment, and said with a smile: "The lord is wise." The person who just came to deliver the word was Nie, the day before yesterday, the imperial doctor said that she was pregnant, but I didn't expect that today she would bring the mission delivered by her mother-in-law. Yes, Weichen is not easy to shirk, so he can only say to the lord head-on, if the lord does not go, Weichen really doesn't know what to do. Hey, hey, hey! ”

Li Li laughed and said: "Fengxiao is a newlywed party for a month, and it has been a queen, it seems that Fengxiao is also a person in temperament, it is really good!" Hahaha??????"

―――――――――――――――― (To be continued......)