Aspirations for Nation and Beauty: Section 15 New Situation

Communication with these people is obviously much easier than those orthodox nobles, and Wufeng also knows most of them through Gu Ji's information, so the topics are much richer.

The ball started soon, but Wufeng didn't seem to have much interest in dancing. He left behind those noble ladies and wives who were frequently winking at him, and joined the circle of businessmen on the right. Because he is amiable and humorous, he is completely different from those pretentious nobles, and he soon mingles with businessmen, chatting and laughing happily.

When businessmen asked about the Qingyang defense battle, Wufeng also took the opportunity to introduce the new policies that Qingyang Mansion is currently implementing, and hinted that His Majesty the Emperor is also very interested in this plan to revive Qingyang and even the northwest region. The merchants had already heard about this plan, and after hearing Wufeng's introduction, they heard that His Majesty the Emperor was also very interested, which immediately attracted the attention of some merchants, who inquired about the details.

Just as Wufeng was having a lively conversation with the merchants, Duke Marco came over. "Master Li, the dance has already started, why haven't you invited any lady or madam to dance?"

"Oh, Duke Marco, I'm talking about some interesting things with these friends of yours, and I don't have much interest in dancing, I think I'd better stay here and chat with my friends." Wu Feng Obviously he didn't want to let go of this opportunity to promote his plan to businessmen.

"How can I do that? It's very impolite of you to do this. Ask a friend for a bowl of water. You have been here for a while, so you should go over there to deal with it. They are all They are very famous people in the emperor, offending them will have a great impact on your career, it is not a wise move." The treacherous and cunning Duke Marco is very good at reading people's minds. "Besides, there are many opportunities, so don't rush for a while."

Wu Feng thought for a while, Duke Marco said it was very reasonable, these nobles did not accomplish enough, and failed more than they did, it is best not to offend them, anyway, there is still time anyway, I can spare time to be these merchants work. Thinking of this, Wufeng showed a leisurely smile on his face, picked up a glass of cocktail brought by the servant, walked comfortably into the crowd of nobles.

The musicians played the cheerful "Blue Ram River" dance music, and Wufeng also politely invited a lady next to him to dance with her. The lady was flattered and accepted the invitation happily. Wufeng, who was born as a gentry, has also dabbled in these court dances that are popular in the upper class of the empire, and he has also studied and lived in the Western Continent, so he is still handy with this kind of dance. Everyone danced lightly to the cheerful dance music, and Wufeng's graceful and skillful dancing posture was particularly eye-catching among the crowd. The girls and women on and off the court were all attracted, and they all stared at the noble lady who danced with Wufeng with jealous eyes that could be melted into gold.

After the song ended, Wufeng politely greeted everyone present and drifted away.

Many years later, the "Emperor's Style Record" recorded: "His Majesty the Emperor used his superb dancing skills to overwhelm the crowd, making the men present be defeated, and the ladies present beating their chests and feet, regretting too much, because they lost An extremely rare opportunity to dance with His Majesty the Emperor, except of course Mrs. Apollo. It is said that after dancing with His Majesty, Mrs. Apollo no longer dances with others, in memory of that unforgettable scene.”

In the next few days, Wufeng met with several people who had sent invitations, and the topic was of course inseparable from Wufeng's development plan. In particular, both Miao Yao and Wan Renming expressed strong interest in Wufeng's plan. Wufeng also strongly invited the two to develop in Qingyang, and promised to give them extremely favorable conditions. He agreed to open a branch in Qingyang, but also raised doubts about the current security situation in Qingyang, saying that he would observe and observe the situation. Wufeng said that he would eliminate all horse thieves and bandits in Qingyang within three months.

Wufeng is also very enthusiastic about the representatives of the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce and the Nanyang Alliance. Because Jiangnan County is the richest county in the empire, it has a large population and dense water network. The merchants in the south of the Yangtze River are very powerful. They transport the silk, porcelain, grain, tea, paper, handicrafts and other special products that are rich in the south of the Yangtze River to all parts of the mainland, and then transport the special products from all parts of the mainland back to the south of the Yangtze River to obtain high profits. profit. So Jiangnan people even look down on the nobles of the imperial capital. The small city-states of the Nanyang Alliance are also based on business. The local climate is warm and humid, and it is close to the fertile South Sea. It is rich in salt, fish, agate, pearls, coral, shells, fruits, etc. The shipbuilding industry is also quite developed. Wufeng tried his best to publicize the new opportunities that Qingyang is facing to the representatives from these two aspects, and hoped that the two of them could pass this message back and encourage local businessmen to develop in the Northwest. The two were also very satisfied with Wufeng's warm reception, and expressed that they would try their best to promote the economic and trade cooperation between the two places.

While Wufeng was working hard to sell his plan, Qingyang, which was thousands of miles away, also began to see a gratifying situation. Liang Chongxin and Cui Wenxiu did not dare to slack off after Wufeng left. On the one hand, they vigorously trained the army, and on the other hand, they dispatched intelligence personnel to collect information on horse thieves and bandit forces in Qingyang Mansion. The two of Cui fully demonstrated their military talents, successively adopted strategies such as leading snakes out of holes, knocking mountains and shaking tigers, etc., to wipe out many groups of small-scale horse thieves and bandits. the size of the troop.

There are also encouraging signs of immigration. Due to the effective publicity measures and the slack season in winter, many poor and landless farmers flocked here, most of them were old Qingyang people who had fled their hometown due to the war. With such favorable conditions, they dragged their children and brought their daughters home one after another, and the whole family moved back. At the most, nearly 300 people moved here in one day, and there was a gradual increase.

The government agencies headed by Xiao Tang also began to operate normally, and each agency performed its own duties. The reconstruction of the city defense and municipal facilities also started. Yangfu City has been redesigned according to Wufeng's idea, and its scale will be expanded to three to four times the area of ​​the original Fucheng. The entire Qingyang has become a huge construction site, presenting a great situation in full swing.

But Xiao Tang, Liang, and Cui also have hidden worries. With the large-scale influx of immigrants, more and more urban defense and municipal facilities have started construction, and irrigation systems in various parts of the countryside have also begun to be dredged and repaired, so as to prepare for spring plowing in the coming year. Preparations for production will require more and more funds, and there has been no news about Wufeng's progress in the imperial capital; several of the largest horse thieves and bandits in Qingyang Mansion suddenly disappeared, and intelligence personnel did not find out. More valuable information, it is still uncertain whether they have fled to it or temporarily hid to avoid the limelight; in addition, the army of the Yinchuan Prefecture in the north has also been a little ready to move recently, whether they want to provoke a war or test their own side The strength is also worrying.

On January 20th, 692 in the mainland calendar, Xiao Tang held the first military-government contact meeting after Wufeng left in Qingyang City Shoufu. Those who attended the meeting were still the same people who attended the meeting last time, only one Wufeng was missing. The meeting was chaired by Xiao Tang.

"Today we called a situation exchange meeting. Your Excellency has been away for almost a month, and there is no news yet. We still don't know how things are going. When will your Excellency come back? It is unknown, but no matter what, our current work still has to start and not stop. Therefore, the purpose of holding this personal meeting today is to communicate with each other, and to come up with our work plans for the next step. Bring it up here, let's discuss it and solve it together." Xiao Tang made a simple opening remark.

Liang Chongxin and Cui Wenxiu exchanged glances, and then Liang Chongxin spoke: "Then I will come down and talk about it. According to the deployment of the adults, Wenxiu and I have strengthened the training of the troops on the one hand, and on the other hand. Looking for an opportunity to wipe out the horse thieves and bandit forces in Qingyang, this period of time has yielded some gains. Several gangs have been wiped out, and the strength of the troops has increased. However, the most active organizations have suddenly disappeared. Our intelligence The personnel have not obtained information about them, and it is estimated that they have taken precautions and are now hiding. Now we are still searching further."

Cui Wenxiu also went on to add: "In addition, Sun Yuanliang's small troops from Yinchuan Prefecture in the north have been appearing in our border area from time to time. The intention is unknown, and it deserves our attention. Now the city walls of the prefecture have almost been demolished. If you encounter an attack, it can be said that you have no defense capability, so Chongxin and I have discussed it, temporarily put aside the task of suppressing bandits, first strengthen the defense of the prefecture, and make plans when the adults come back." After all, when Wufeng left, he handed over the task of city defense Given it to the two, the two did not dare to take it lightly, and first consolidated the foundation before talking about other things.

"The police station and court of justice have begun to perform their duties, and the social order in the city has improved significantly. Both the Intelligence Bureau and the Security Bureau have not yet fully functioned, mainly due to the lack of professional staff. Now they are trying to solve this problem. I hope it can really play a role in the near future. The investigation of Pamela's case is nearing completion, and all the circumstances have been basically clear. He himself expressed his willingness to work for us in order to make meritorious service and atonement, but this will have to wait for the adults to come back to do the final work. Decision. The Supervision Bureau has started work, and no violations of the supervision regulations have been found so far.” Mo Lun spoke cautiously.

Su Minshun's report is more optimistic: "Currently, the situation in our Qingyang Prefecture is quite good. Due to the good publicity effect, there are now hundreds of immigrants pouring into our Qingyang territory almost every day, most of them originally escaped from the war. Some of the original Qingyang people are landless farmers in the surrounding prefectures and counties, and there are also a small number of handicraftsmen and workers, and the proportion of the latter two types of people is gradually increasing. Infrastructure construction is progressing smoothly, but there is still a large labor gap. But I think that this phenomenon will be alleviated later. However, the restoration of the irrigation system in the countryside has just started, and there is still a lot of work to be done. The work of repairing the roads and bridges connecting various places has not yet started, mainly due to the lack of labor , this has become the main problem restricting our economic development in Qingyang~IndoMTL.com~ Also, according to the current progress of immigration, the contradiction of shortage of funds will appear soon. If this problem is not resolved, all work will be lost It will fall short. I don’t know how your lord is progressing in the imperial capital?” After speaking, he couldn’t help but sighed.

Lu Man also continued to speak: "Entrusted by my lord before leaving, I am temporarily in charge of our Qingyang Mansion's combat readiness and military logistics. Due to years of war, Qingyang Mansion has a serious shortage of young and middle-aged men. The army is very difficult, and now it is under construction everywhere, so this work has not progressed much. In addition, there are some problems with the logistics of the army. The original logistics materials brought less armor and weapons, and they are consumed in the war. It is very large and needs to be supplemented, especially the formation of cavalry units requires some special equipment.”

Xiao Tang also felt that so many problems popped up at once. It turned out that when Wufeng was there, although there were many difficulties, as long as we went to Wufeng and discussed it with everyone, we could always come up with a solution. Now Wufeng Without it, everyone seems to be without a backbone, and seems to have no clue. It seems that this boss who usually looks very leisurely is really indispensable, otherwise all work will feel at a standstill. "Everyone has expressed their views. Now we are indeed facing many difficulties. There are many things that can only be resolved and decided after the adults come back, but we can't just wait passively like this. I guess the time for the adults to come back is only a few days. My God, I am the same as everyone else in terms of manpower, but we must carry forward the current work, and we must not stop. The adult also explained to us when he left. Those who can make decisions on their own don’t have to wait until he comes back. So I think everyone can carry out the work according to their own ideas, and if there are any problems, we can wait until the adults come back."