It was only because everyone was unfamiliar with Shen Ao that they focused on Marquis Zhongcheng, thinking that as long as they found this person, they would be able to win the war horse.
It is a pity that these generals came with full confidence, but left with disappointment. Marquis Zhongcheng actually offered a price of two hundred taels for a horse, which scared off these generals.
This time it was not that Shen Ao wanted to make money. In fact, when he entered the palace the night he came back, he had already reached a consensus with Emperor Qianwen. With ten thousand strong horses, according to the previous agreement, the court would get 20% of the benefits. There were two thousand horses. Emperor Qianwen asked for another three thousand horses, and said that he would buy them at the normal price, which was three hundred taels per horse. How could Shen Ao refuse?
This is five thousand horses. Previously, Shen Ao asked his uncle Zhongchenghou to send fifty to one hundred war horses to each general. In this way, another fifteen hundred horses were sent. After removing Shen Ao kept 1,500 horses for himself, but now only 2,000 are left.
Just for these two thousand horses, many wealthy families and officials have come to the door and expressed their intention to buy them. Even if they just take them back to pull the carts, it would be good. They are not short of money anyway, right?
Under such circumstances, Shen Ao could still agree to sell the horse to the general at a minimum price of two hundred taels, which was already a big concession. But no one accepted the offer. Not only that, not long after, the general There are also rumors that Marquis Zhongcheng only recognizes money and not people, and only knows how to help his nephew make money, completely ignoring the friendship between the generals for more than ten or even decades.
As soon as the incident came out, Shen Ao got the news. Shen Ao, who was managing accounts at Daqian Bank, took the initiative to come to Zhongcheng Hou Mansion and met his uncle.
Regarding Shen Ao's arrival, Marquis Zhongcheng was obviously stunned, and then said with a wry smile: "Oh, I didn't expect that something happened that alarmed Ao'er."
"Uncle, what's going on?" Looking at the bitter look on Marquis Zhongcheng's face, Shen Ao asked with concern. He had a feeling that there should be another story behind this matter.
Sure enough, Shen Yunyi said something that Shen Ao didn't know about. The source of the rumor came from the mouth of Wu Yonghou Qiu Chun.
Marquis Wuyong had just returned from his inspection tour in the south not long ago, and he had a bad relationship with Marquis Zhongcheng before. More importantly, this person was the son and daughter of Marquis Baisheng.
At first, Leng Qianwu, the second son of Bai Shenghou, fell in love with Bai Qiutong and kidnapped him. This angered Shen Ao, which also angered Hou Zhongcheng, so he dealt with him and turned a good man into a The eunuch didn't say anything, but also left a five-inch long gash on the face of his eldest brother, Leng Qianwu, the eldest son of Bai Shenghou.
The incident was later brought to the attention of the emperor, causing Bai Shenghou to be kicked out of Daliang City and sent to the south. This incident indeed greatly increased the Shen family's influence in the general family, but at the same time it also created hidden dangers and offended some people. .
Knowing the relationship between Wu Yonghou and Bai Shenghou, when Shen Ao returned victorious this time and asked Shen Yunyi to arrange the horse delivery, he deliberately jumped over Wu Yonghou and did not give him a strong horse. This was tantamount to making their relationship public, which made Wu Yong Hou Qiu Chun extremely angry.
This time, he used Shen Yunyi's refusal to sell his horse to spread rumors, which made Marquis Zhongcheng the target of public criticism.
"Marquis Wu Yong?" Shen Ao muttered the name silently and remembered them. Then he looked at Shen Yunyi and asked with a smile on his face, "Uncle, is there anything difficult?"
"No. It's just a trivial matter. Marquis Wu Yong cannot represent the entire generals. Besides, there are many generals who have received our kindness this time. There is no need to be afraid of them." Marquis Zhongcheng said with a smile.
Seeing his uncle's confident look, Shen Ao felt relieved. "Okay, if you need anything from your nephew, please ask your uncle."
"That's natural, we are a family, hahaha." Shen Yunyi opened his mouth and laughed boldly, dispelling Shen Ao's worries. But no one knew that Shen Yunyi was just trying to force his appearance. It was just a joke. This time Wu Yonghou was coming in a menacing manner, which really gave him a headache. But he did not tell Shen Ao the real situation. In his opinion, although his nephew was young, he was a person who did big things, and he was the best among the sect. It's better for him to solve the matter.
Naturally, Shen Ao didn't know what his uncle was really thinking. From childhood to adulthood, Shen Yunyi seemed to be omnipotent in his eyes, because he had made the emperor unhappy several times, but he never saw him What kind of punishment is received.
But Shen Ao didn't know. The reason why Shen Yunyi was not afraid of the emperor was precisely because of himself, because Shen Yunyi was entrusted by Aoxue. With this relationship, Emperor Qianwen would not do anything to him. But The other general disciples won't care about this.
They didn't know about Aoxue's existence, so naturally they were not afraid of offending Zhongcheng Hou Shen Yunyi.
Besides, Shen Ao does have important things to be busy with now. On behalf of his father, Prince Zhong's son Tang Yi invited Shen Ao to go to Liaozhou to discuss opening Daqian Bank there. This required Shen Ao to make such a trip. After all, When it comes to bank matters, no one knows and understands them better than him.
Furthermore, considering the reason why Shen Ao helped Tang Yi get back on his feet, King Zhong owed him a favor, so naturally there was no one more suitable than him to go to Liaozhou.
For this matter, Shen Ao had already reported to Emperor Qianwen and got his approval. This time he came to say goodbye to his uncle temporarily.
When Shen Ao talked about this matter in front of Shen Yunyi, Shen Yunyi said with worry on his face, "Ao'er, if you must go, remember to be careful."
Seeing that Shen Yunyi's words were so formal, Shen Ao asked curiously, "Uncle's intention, will King Zhong be detrimental to his nephew?"
"It's hard to say. My uncle doesn't have much contact with Prince Zhong. He only knows that his mind is unpredictable. Even if such a person does something, it won't surprise anyone." Shen Yunyi shook his head. He started to speak with a tone full of uncertainty.
With Shen Yunyi's protective feelings for Shen Ao, since he said that his feelings are unpredictable, he must really not understand, otherwise there is no need to hide it from himself. After hearing this, Shen Ao laughed. , waved his hand generously, and said confidently: "Uncle, don't worry, no matter what kind of person King Zhong is, what he needs this time is his nephew's help, otherwise the Daqian Bank will not be established. As long as he is smart, If there are a few, nothing will happen. Besides, with Fei'er and the others accompanying them, nothing will happen."
"Fei'er, hehe, Ao'er, have you made any progress?" Shen Yunyi changed his original serious look and said with a gossipy face.
"Oh, not yet." Although Shen Ao gave people a very mature feeling at the age of seventeen, when talking about men and women, he still couldn't help but blush. Especially Xue Fei, who was so far away They were ten steps away, and Shen Ao was even more worried that he would say something wrong, causing her displeasure and increasing her worries.
"Haha, hahaha, Ao'er is too shy." Shen Yunyi laughed as if he had discovered a new world.
It's just that this smile quickly faded away, not because of anything else, but because Xuefei, who was not far away, glanced here. Although because of the distance, she didn't know that uncle Shen Ao and nephew were chatting here. What, but Shen Yunyi couldn't help but had something in his heart, so he didn't dare to laugh out loud.
...
The Hall of Nourishing Heart.
It was rare that Emperor Qianwen did not go to review the memorial. Instead, he sat on the golden dragon chair with his eyes closed and meditated. From a distance, it looked like he was taking a nap.
Yan Fu, who was the only one standing aside, knew very well that the emperor was not resting, but thinking about something on his mind. This could be seen from the constant twitching between his eyebrows.
Emperor Qianwen was like this after he came back from the Tomb of the Heroes. Before eating, he closed his eyes and thought. After eating, he entered a state like this, as if he was thinking about very important things.
Yan Fu had changed his position countless times. Every movement was very gentle, for fear of disturbing the emperor's thinking, which would be equivalent to making a big mistake.
I don't know how much time passed, but when Yan Fu felt his legs were a little sore, Emperor Qianwen finally opened his eyes and said, "Yan Fu, what do you think I want to do with a cavalry team?"
Apparently, the sight of five hundred cavalrymen marching out in order and mighty force during the day shocked Emperor Qianwen and gave him the idea of building a cavalry force.
In ancient times, without thermal weapons, the advantages of cavalry on the battlefield were still quite fierce. For example, they had fast maneuverability, strong impact, and strong joint strike capabilities. But to feed a cavalry, it required The cost is also not low.
Especially for Dagan, which is located in the Central Plains, without the abundant water and grass on the grassland, the cost of feeding a cavalry will undoubtedly be several times more. To put it bluntly, feeding a cavalry is equivalent to To support five infantrymen would put considerable pressure on finances. This is also the reason why Daqian had no cavalry before.
It is not easy to say that it is not easy to be Emperor Wen. When he took over Daqian, it is not an exaggeration to say that it was a mess. At that time, there were less than three million taels of silver in the national treasury. Emperor Qianjing increased his corvee for the so-called prosperous age and actually received three Years later, the monthly salary of hundreds of officials has not been paid for a year.
Faced with this situation, Emperor Qianwen tried his best to turn the tide, cut back on expenditures, and made friends with others. He watched helplessly as the vassal kings separated their kingdoms, but he didn't even have the intention to stop it. It was precisely because of his tolerance and caution that he avoided troublesome people. happened, then we had a chance to take a breath and the economy could develop.
It has to be said that Emperor Qianwen was a man who could bend and stretch. In the seventeen years of his reign, he never initiated a war. In the face of various provocations, he tolerated it as long as he could. Even the last time the king of Jin and the prince rebelled, he Finally, I endured it.