When Wei Ba left the Wei family manor early in the morning, there were twenty burly men standing at the door of the manor. Each of them carried a package on their backs, with a ring knife and a bow and arrow on their waists, holding a step spear, and his waist was as straight as the spear in his hand. Dunwu stood in front of them, looking happy. As soon as he saw Wei Ba coming out of the manor, he came up and whispered: "Young Master, those are the twenty martial soldiers arranged for you by the wife."

Wei Ba glanced at the martial arts soldiers and knew that these were the most elite warriors of the Wei family. When he set out from Mianyang, his father gave him twenty personal guards, and they all grew up from these martial arts strokes. Now Mrs. Zhang arranged twenty more for him, the same number as the father gave him. It was not only a care for him, but also a faint expression of her status at home that was the same as that of her father.

Wei Ba walked over, glanced over the faces of the twenty martial soldiers one by one, and nodded with satisfaction. He could see that these twenty martial soldiers must have been on the battlefield, and the iron-blooded smell on his face was very strong.

“What are you going to go out of the line!”

The two martial soldiers took a step forward and responded loudly: "She Chang Tang Qianyu and Zhu Yi, pay homage to the young master."

"Very good, you will follow me from now on, Dunwu will be your Shangguan."

Tang Qianyu and Zhu Yi looked at each other and saluted Dunwu again: "Greetings to the Marquis of Dunjun."

Although Dunwu was young, he was not frightened and returned the courtesy calmly. Wei Ba asked the names of the martial soldiers one by one, and then ordered him to set off. He, his father Wei Yan and his master learned the method of leading troops. They all mentioned that they were as familiar with their soldiers as possible. They could not only win people's hearts, but more importantly, they could know the length of each person when they were used in the future and give them the responsibilities according to their talents. Now that time is tight, he can only ask for the name. With time, he also had to contact them more and understand their abilities.

Mrs. Zhang not only gave Wei Ba twenty martial arts soldiers, but also fifty sets of armor newly created by the Wei family. These armors were all made using modified steelmaking techniques, 20% lighter than ordinary armor, but doubled in strength. Among them, forty sets were naturally for these forty martial arts soldiers. One set of exquisite crafts was for Wei Ba himself, and the remaining sets were kept for him and could be given as gifts in the future. For generals who licked blood on their blades, there was a good set of armor, which was a life-saving equipment.

Before this, Mrs. Zhang had sent fifty sets to the camp, but Wei Yan and Wei Feng were not good at socializing. So far, they only gave out two sets, Fu Xing's one set, which was to repay him for saving Wei Ba and Zhao Yun's one set, which was part of Wei Ba's apprenticeship ceremony, and even Zhao Guang did not get it.

Wei Ba, his mother Deng, and Lan'er, the little girl who got up early in the morning, waved goodbye to him, and took forty martial arts soldiers and a large cart of gifts to the pier by the river.

On the small building in the backyard of Weijia Manor, Mrs. Zhang stood by the window and looked at Wei Ba who was leaving without saying a word. She looked a little tired, as if she hadn't had a good sleep last night. The maid Huan'er stood beside her, sticking her red lips, feeling sulky. Last night, Mrs. Zhang thought about her thoughts in the middle of the night, but she, the most caring person, didn't know at all. This was the first time she had ever remembered. No matter how important Mrs. Zhang was, she would tell her some, and even discuss it with her. Only this time, Mrs. Zhang didn't even reveal a word to her.

So far, all she could guess was one thing. This matter was related to Wei Ba, and it was very important and she knew nothing about the others.

...

At noon, Wei Ba waited for Zhuge Qiao's army at the riverside pier in Nanzheng, got on his own ship, and after he placed the martial arts soldiers, Wei Ba brought Tang Qianyu and a set of armor to Zhuge Qiao's handsome ship for a visit. Zhuge Qiao was having lunch, not wearing armor, but wearing a regular dress. He did not wear a crown on his head, tied with a plain ribbon, and paired with a plain silk dress, which was simple and elegant.

"The commander is really like a god, and it makes people disappear in one look." Wei Ba bowed his hand and said half-true and half-false.

Zhuge Qiao laughed "sneer" and spit out half a mouthful of millet porridge. While wiping his mouth with a cloth towel, he glanced at Wei Ba sideways and said with a smile: "The gods are not in the world, but I am eating. Are you deliberately spending my time?"

"How dare you?" Wei Ba said seriously: "Even the commander is different from others even when eating porridge, and has a unique spirit."

"Bah!" Zhuge Qiao took him a bite and greeted: "Have you eaten? Come and sit together."

Wei Ba took his seat and a personal guard served lunch. Wei Ba did not rush to move his chopsticks and signaled Tang Qianyu to bring the armor. Zhuge Qiao glanced at the armor, then looked at Tang Qianyu again. "Who is this? Have you never seen it before?"

Wei Ba knew that Zhuge Qiao had a strong memory. Zhuge Qiao knew all the people around him. Although they might not be able to call them, they were not the first time they met. He could tell at a glance. Today, he specially asked Tang Qianyu to follow him, which meant that Zhuge Qiao knew that there were more people around him. These people were his troops and were considered private soldiers. Zhuge Qiao was not easy to call, but the food had to be allocated by Zhuge Qiao as planned, and it would not work without notifying him.

"This is because my mother is afraid that I will make any mistakes, so she sent me twenty more personal guards. Tang Qianyu, why don't she pay homage to the captain?"

Tang Qianyu stepped forward to salute and presented new armor with both hands.

Wei Badao: "This is the armor prepared by my mother for me. It is a new product made by my Wei family. It is a small gift, and it is not worthy of respect."

Zhuge Qiao stroked the new armor, picked up the helmet, looked inside and outside, and praised: "Ziyu, your mistress is so nice to you. She is willing to take out the priceless armor to give it to others. I am really ashamed of it."

Wei Ba smiled. Although this armor is not as priceless as an exaggerated person, it is indeed a rare good thing. But Zhuge Qiao didn't know the truth. If he had let him know that each of the forty martial arts soldiers around him had a new armor, although the style was not so gorgeous, it was not bad at all. I wonder what he would think.

"Thank you." Zhuge Qiao asked his guard to put away his armor, turned to Wei Ba and said, "Why are you so anxious to come back? Aren't you going to the prefect's office to arrange food and grass?"

"I have arranged for Zhao Su, the chief clerk of the prefect's office, to prepare for this matter, and it will be free in half a month." Wei Ba explained: "The Chief Commander..."

Zhuge Qiao interrupted Wei Ba: "Ziyu, there are no outsiders here, so you don't want the Duwei lieutenant. Do you want to remind me that your position is higher than mine?"

Wei Ba was a little embarrassed. If he really talked about his position, he would be a little taller than Zhuge Qiao's army. "Then... would I be arrogant?"

"Hehe, when are you not being presumptuous?" Zhuge Qiao smiled and waved his hand: "Okay, talk about serious business."

"That... I have estimated it in advance. There are about 20,000 households in Hanzhong now, with few people and more land, so the land is distributed a lot. After several years of reclaiming, almost every household in the sky has 100 mu. Four stones are collected by a mu, and one tax of 30. Hanzhong's land lease this year is about 270,000 stones. Apart from the salaries of officials, there are still 150,000 stones left. The five thousand army will require 60,000 stones in half a year. It was not a problem, but..."

Zhuge Qiao's eyes flashed: "How many stones are the plans of the Prime Minister's camp?"

"Thirteen thousand stones."

Zhuge Qiao frowned: "So, I must not be enough here?"

Wei Ba nodded. The most fundamental reason why war is difficult is money and food. If this is not restricted, it can be levied in large quantities and use the tactics of the sea of ​​people to kill the opponent. But reality is reality after all. For every extra soldier, you have to be responsible for the food, clothing, and weapons of a soldier. Which one is worth it? In fact, you can save a little, but the food cannot be saved no matter what. A soldier is six liters a day, and one stone a month is one stone a month, and twenty-one stone a year is required. The land rent in Hanzhong is normal to only be enough to support 10,000 soldiers under normal circumstances. This is the limit. There is still no war in normal times, and 20% of them can go home to eat. If you are in service all year round, you can't afford to support this 10,000 people.

Now Prime Minister Zhuge is stationed in Hanzhong, and the food consumed is nearly 10,000 stones every day. It only depends on Hanzhong's food for up to half a month. It is precisely because of this that Zhuge Liang sent Zhuge Qiao to Chengdu to transport grain. The journey is too long and the consumption is amazing, and the labor burden of the people along the way is even more heavy. If you stay for a long time, there is no need to fight, and the economy of Shu Han will collapse.

In fact, Zhuge Liang returned several times without success because his food was not continued. His several northern expeditions also dragged the economy of Shu Han into the quagmire. He did not fight any major battles at the hands of Jiang Wan and Fei Yi, and the economy eased. However, later Jiang Wei was in power and launched wars for years. The economy of Shu Han was almost collapsed. The Shu people represented by Qiao Zhou were willing to surrender because they could not support it.

Of course, the current economic situation is far from that bad. There is still food, but the legally rated rental and tax standards are definitely not enough. People still have surplus grains, it depends on how you collect them, whether you increase the tax or buy them with money.

"There is more than 10,000 stones left in the granary of the Hanzhong Prefect's Mansion, which is definitely not enough. Do you think it will be collected on the spot or will it be uniformly allocated by the Prime Minister?"

"How much can I receive when I collect it on site? What's the approximate price?"

Wei Ba breathed a sigh of relief. Since Zhuge Qiao mentioned the price, it would not be forced to increase the tax. His work would be much easier. "Originally, after the Prime Minister's army arrived in Hanzhong, the price of grain rose a lot. However, restoring the Han Dynasty was a serious matter, and I think the people would support it. With the previous market price, 80 coins per stone and purchasing 100,000 stones should not be a problem."

Zhuge Qiao thought for a while and nodded in agreement. "Okay, I will go to Prime Minister's Mansion and ask the Prime Minister to allocate eight million yuan to the Hanzhong Prefect's Mansion. Thank you for your hard work in negotiations with each company."

Wei Ba smiled and said, "This is my duty, so why should I work hard? I have agreed with Zhao Su that he can send food first to ensure that the army's food is safe."

Zhuge Qiao tilted his lips and smiled: "It seems that my father asked you to be my army and be responsible for food and grass. It's really the right person."

Wei Ba did not laugh. He pondered for a moment and said quietly: "Bo Song, it's not that I'm exaggerating. This kind of thing can be done again and again. If it's a fight, then it's gone. Now everyone has food in their hands and is full of confidence in the Prime Minister's Northern Expedition to the Central Plains, so they are willing to sell the food to us. When the food is tight, they will not be so generous." ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Chapter completed!