"The items in your store are too expensive!" Jin Chongwen spat as he looked at the dazzling array of murderous tools.
"Why did Mr. Jin say this?" The shopkeeper's old face wrinkled and he said: "In the past, in Chang'an, no matter how expensive it was, people would rush to buy it."
"You..." Jin Chongwen laughed angrily: "Comparing Lingzhou with Chang'an?"
"There is not as much money as in Chang'an, but life is not too bad." The shopkeeper sighed: "In Chang'an, apart from the generals, military officers, officials, wealthy merchants and their families, how can the life of ordinary people be so good? That is, outsiders.
The traveling scholars and small businessmen and hawkers living in the Overseas Chinese Residence in Zhen also have a very tight life. The wind blows in Chang'an, and the narrow alleys cover the two doors. It's nothing more than this, nothing more than this."
After the shopkeeper finished speaking, he stopped talking and seemed to be reminiscing about the past.
Jin Chongwen looked at the two carts full of murderous paraphernalia: coffins, shrouds, utensils and other items, and was too lazy to bargain. He directly asked another envoy Wang Wu to come forward to discuss the account, and he followed the carriage and headed there.
Another place.
The military-affiliated farms paid for it, so he didn't bother to fight.
After delivering the murder weapon to the master's house, he found that many soldiers were here, and some even went to the cemetery to pay their respects.
Jin Chongwen saw that it was still early, so he planned to go to the cemetery to take a look. This time, the tomb would be re-opened for joint burial, and the expenses would be drawn from the profits of the military farms. He had to have a rough estimate so that he could report back.
The cemetery is at the foot of the mountain to the west, and we walked for half an hour.
Some sergeants from Silver Spear City were saying something in Uighur language, and when they saw the shogunate coming, they all saluted.
Jin Chongwen was flattered and immediately returned the favor.
He knew that the sergeant respected not him, but the shogunate he represented.
There are two stone tombstones in front of the tomb, and a tombstone that has just been wiped clean.
Jin Chongwen recently recognized some characters, but it was still difficult to read them. He only knew that it said "Xuanjie Xiaowei", "Pi Gong" and other words on it.
"Pi Gong" is Bijia, a Uighur from Ganzhou and the deputy general of Yinqiangdu. He died in Yunzhou last year and was buried in Lingzhou.
This year, the shogunate sent people to inspect the tomb and found that the tombstone was too crude and unsuitable for General Pi's status as a deputy general. So he asked Huaiyuan County for advice, and a scholar from Chang'an helped write the epitaph.
After receiving the writing fee paid by the military-affiliated farm, the man was very careful and wrote a risqué article directly: "Who is not greedy for glory in this world? How can the sky and the earth be equal when he returns to the spring... The children are weeping and crying to the sky.
Knock on the ground, gold and jade are buried in the dust, and they will forever be on the border."
At this time, the north wind blew, and there seemed to be a whimpering sound. Jin Chongwen asked for silence.
The commander is really nice to the warriors!
The families of sergeants who died in battle, died of illness, or were disabled can receive a ten-year pension from the military farm. For deputy generals and above, the funeral expenses are also paid by the farm. The tomb is also beautifully repaired, and someone has written an epitaph, and there are tomb animals to accompany them.
There is no shortage of murderous tools, pottery figurines, etc.
There are 500 soldiers in a battalion of a deputy general. How many deputy generals are there in the whole army? At least 300! If each person spends an average of 300 yuan on funeral expenses, the total will be 90,000 yuan. Of course, if 300 yuan are buried collectively in a year,
With a deputy general, Shuofang Town is doomed.
The sergeants of Silver Spear City also stopped talking.
Everyone who came back said that General Pi died at the hands of Li Siyuan. Jin Chongwen thought to himself, if he faced the Hedong Army again, these people wouldn't want to surround and kill Li Siyuan, right?
There are no swords or guns in the battle formation. As long as he is willing to fight tooth and nail to surround him, even Li Cunxiao, who is now famous, will suffer.
The commander-in-chief gave honors to the soldiers after their death, which also encouraged them to fight the enemy bravely.
This year, you won’t face the Hedong Army, right?
Jin Chongwen walked around the cemetery. On the auspicious day, the tomb still had to be dug up. General Pi's wife had just died of illness, and the couple wanted to be buried together, and the shogunate had to pay for it.
At noon, Jin Chongwen left the cemetery. Passing a village on the way, there were people doing some errands.
The population in the village is relatively mixed, including people from Henan, family members of the sergeants who have recently moved from Xingyuan Prefecture, and Uighurs, Tubos, Tatars, Long family members, and Sogdians, who are also family members of the sergeants.
The person who died was an old Sogdian man.
Their family moved from Suzhou, and some of their children served as soldiers in the Flying Bear Army. The funeral ceremony seemed to follow the ceremonial system of the imperial dynasty.
This is very good!
Some Sogdians still use stone coffins, and their rituals are still the same, which is very disturbing.
But it doesn’t matter. In another twenty years, even among the Sogdians, there will probably be fewer and fewer people who know their way. Their customs will quietly mutate and mix, and eventually they will become incompatible with those around them.
No different.
First change hair accessories, then change clothes, change name, change farming and animal husbandry, change living habits, change funeral rituals...
Birth, old age, illness and death, gradually and gradually become the same, as it should be.
"It's not bad to have a coffin after death. This old man is quite decent." Jin Chongwen sighed and left.
The war-torn land of Guandong may not be so blessed. He heard from people from the east that it would be nice to have a straw mat after death. Many families even had to take back their straw mats after their family members were buried.
The people are so poor! But the warriors are still attacking and killing day and night. Are they still human?
After returning to Huaiyuan New City with his colleague Wang Wu, Jin Chongwen felt the long-lost popularity again.
The general has returned from his duties, and the sergeants are being given leave in batches.
These days, there are many soldiers everywhere who are eager to return home. After a while, the tailors are expected to have a big income again, and they will probably have to stay up late to make children's clothing, shoes and hats.
After arriving at the shogunate to deliver the errands, it was almost dark, so Jin Chongwen went straight home.
Since you are making a living in the shogunate, you naturally have to follow the commander-in-chief. The commander-in-chief moved from Xiazhou to Lingzhou. What can you do?
The sons in the family were all average in their studies, and Jin Chongwen had lost confidence in them.
Especially my youngest son, who can’t read quickly enough, alas!
"Husband, the price of rice and noodles has increased again today." His wife Zhou brought the food up and said worriedly.
"Didn't some grain from Yanzhou come over? The governor Cheng did a good job in Yanzhou and actually transported grain to Lingzhou. The commander-in-chief and the prime minister personally commended him when he was not at war. How could the price increase?" Jin Chongwen asked curiously: "
I’ll ask someone tomorrow.”
"You are still working in the shogunate, and the information is not as well-informed as the merchants." Zhou said angrily: "Someone in the grain store said that the shogunate is hoarding rice and noodles, and plans to ship it to Shengzhou and then transfer it to Yunshuo."
"I gave Helianduo 200,000 tons of rice and noodles last year, do you want to give him more this year?" Jin Chongwen's heart moved, and he felt that he was going to have more work again.
Datong's army was repeatedly invaded by Hedong. Farming was abandoned and food was often in short supply.
Last year, we exchanged cattle, sheep and horses for grain, and got 200,000 dendrobium, which was stationed in Yunzhou. In the autumn and winter, the Datong-Youzhou coalition army of 30,000 was defeated by the Hedong Army again, and most of them had no time to prepare winter fodder for the livestock. This year, spring is about to start.
When times are tough, what else can he give in exchange for food?
In military matters, most of the time what is fought is actually money and food.
Jin Chongwen is not ignorant. In fact, when everyone is free, they will also chat about the situation.
This is the ethos of the country.
Although there are always people who ridicule them for taking the envoy's monthly salary, but caring about the Jiedushi envoy, there are many people who like to talk about war and the situation of the war, especially after drinking two ounces of wine.
It has been several years since Zhu Quanzhong attacked Shipu. The people of Xuzhou were unable to farm, and there were floods every year. Sixty-seven out of ten people died. At this time, no matter how fierce the Xuzhou soldiers were, they would definitely be defeated.
Insufficient food, incomplete armor, low morale, and internal changes can all be deduced along the lines of events.
Xuzhou soldiers are also human beings. When they see the situation in the town, they will naturally have a lot of thoughts. Once they have more thoughts, they don't want to fight, which gives Zhu Quanzhong the opportunity to surrender.
Unless Shi Pu could win over the soldiers like the Prince of Lingwu, Li Keyong, Zhu Quanzhong and others, but he himself rebelled and rose to power, would he have this prestige?
Were Helianduo's soldiers in Yunzhou really incapable of fighting? It seems true now, but that was not the case before. Back then, when they were encircling and suppressing Li Guochang and his son, they were still very capable. They besieged Yunzhou, defeated Li Keyong's reinforcements, and made an emergency landing on Gao Wenda.
But now that Li Keyong had repeatedly raided the town, the soldiers also had eyes to see the increasingly deteriorating situation in the town, so morale was naturally low.
Once morale is low, 100% of the combat power will not be used at 50%!
"Helianduo has tricked people!" Jin Chongwen drank the wine in one gulp and cursed: "In recent years, most of the expeditions have been done outside, and the rewards have also been taken from outside. The sergeants can still take advantage of the wealth after returning to the division.
Bringing the sheep back will make the town very happy. If we go to Datong, a bunch of poor and poor people will not be able to grab anything even if they want to."
The money brought back by the army commanders a few days ago directly caused the prices of some commodities in the town to skyrocket. The sergeants spent money happily, the merchants selling things were smiling, and the farmers, shepherds, and craftsmen behind them also benefited.
Everyone benefits.
This is the only way to fight!
"I'll go straight tomorrow and I'll go find someone to inquire. Don't worry about the increase in the price of millet and wheat. Next month, there will be ships from Huining Pass to transport grain northward. By then, it will have fallen again." Jin Chongwen said: "
The commander hasn't come back yet, so it's hard to say anything about it yet."
"Aren't all the sergeants back? Why hasn't the commander returned yet?" Zhou asked curiously.
"The commander-in-chief has been at Liziyuan Station for several days."
Liziyuanyi is located south of Huaiyuan and north of Baojing, only a day's journey away. There are many fertile fields nearby, with crisscrossing roads, and large orchards and pastures. It is the heart of Lingzhou.
"Why don't you come back? Could it be that you found a wild woman outside?" Zhou joked.
"How is that possible? The commander-in-chief must be worried about state affairs." Jin Chongwen scolded: "What do you know, a woman? The situation in the town is all managed by the commander-in-chief. He must be very busy every day.
Night."
After saying that, he sighed, as if he was feeling pity.