With Chang Wu, as well as Chen Sheng and Zhou Zun, the group headed straight into southern Shu.
Today's two counties in southern Sichuan are no longer the same as they were in the past. Especially Nanzhong County, as a major business county. In the past two years, restaurants, inns, gambling houses and pawnshops have sprung up one after another. Listen.
He said that even the Qing Museum has opened four, each with its own style.
There are many vendors on the streets, selling their own handicrafts or snacks. Merchants from all over the country will buy in large quantities, then return to Bailu County and ship them to all parts of the world on merchant ships.
Among them, most of them are Sichuan brocade and medicinal materials, followed by Southwest Maju and cooked charcoal. In southern Shu, the land is sparse and mountainous, so medicinal materials, charcoal and the like are not in short supply.
Previously, because of Sima Xiu's poisonous sericulture plan, Xu Mu had to issue an order to designate southern Shu as an important area for sericulture. Therefore, southern Shu is now also a big weaving town.
"Lord!"
While Xu Mu was watching, he suddenly heard shouts. When he turned around, he saw a general on horseback running over alone.
"Dou Zhong pays homage to the lord!"
"Dou Zhong, long time no see." Seeing the visitor, Xu Mu smiled.
Dou Zhong is Dou Tong's younger brother. Although he is not a talented person, he is loyal and loyal as his name suggests. He has always been Dou Tong's good helper. When Sima Xiu was besieged in Shu, he was stationed in Banan City when he was in danger, blocking the way.
He found the way for Sima Xiu to escape from Shuzhou.
"Dou Zhong, you already have a goat's beard. In two years, you will look like a Confucian general."
"My lord, I am laughing." Dou Zhong was extremely happy, turned around, and saluted the others. He must have known Zhou Zun well, and he punched his chest twice unceremoniously.
"My lord, bring General Tiger here someday, and I will personally cook mutton soup for him."
"Brother Tiger...he's hiding in the roof of the house again and driving piles."
Several people paused and laughed instantly.
"Knowing that your lord is coming, I have prepared a banquet. My lord invites you, generals please——"
"Dou Zhong, you are determined."
Looking at the entire Shu state, the people who love Xu Mu the most are none other than the people in southern Shu. When he first entered Shu, it was these southern Shu people who supported him in attacking the center of Shu and seizing the entire state so that he could have a place to live.
land.
Along the way, the people gave way one after another, the vendors stopped soliciting business, and the flower ladies stopped playing around, bowing and bowing seriously, welcoming Xu Mu into Shunan.
"My lord, I also want to participate in the war next year." Dou Zhong hesitated, "Brother, they always say that I am ineffective and cannot lead an army."
"Dou Zhong, don't you want to be a literary general?"
"I don't want to." Dou Zhong shook his head, "Although I am a little clumsy, I still have the will to die in horse leather. If the lord doesn't mind, it doesn't matter if I join the army as a personal guard."
"Every time my lord goes to war, I watch eagerly and feel envious. When I really get military honors, my brother will praise me."
"If you ask your brother, I will naturally agree to your joining the army. However... fighting is not a child's play. Many of my loyal bones in Xishu are buried in the seventy-mile cemetery outside Chengdu."
"Don't worry, my lord, if I, Dou Zhong, die unfortunately, I will only wait eighteen years to become a Shuzhou hero again."
"Okay." Xu Mu felt pleased.
In Shuzhou, there are many people like Dou Zhong who hold up the entire political power of Western Shu.
"If there is a war next year, you will come to Chengdu immediately and accompany my army to conquer the enemy bandits!"
"Your Majesty's order!" Dou Zhong's voice was filled with excitement, and he knelt down to the ground hurriedly.
A good man is willing to die on the battlefield, and a dog in the wall is willing to die in a gentle country.
"Get up." Xu Mu stretched out his hand and helped Dou Zhong up. "You must not relax and stay here until a general is transferred from southern Shu. By the way, is there any trouble in the two nearest counties in southern Shu?"
"Nothing." Dou Zhong shook his head, "It's just that some unscrupulous merchants were cheating and bargaining. I caught them and threw them all into prison. In addition, starting from the middle of this year, many merchants in Jiangnan like to sell Nanzhong County,
Serves as a transit point.”
Xu Mu nodded. Since there was a lot of waste to be done, the tariffs in the two counties of southern Sichuan were not high. In order to attract businessmen, the tariffs were at least half lower than those in Kezhou.
This is also the reason why those merchants are willing to come to southern Shu. Of course, the world-famous Shu Brocade also played a role in it.
"Where's Bai Dietian?"
The cotton fields behind Shunan Mountain are one of the most important reasons for Xu Mu's visit this time. In two or three years, he intends to build a group of light cotton-armored troops as a mobile force that can attack and defend.
"After spring, new planting will begin. As the Lord ordered, I have sent an additional 3,000 people to Baidietian, making a total of 5,000 people to guard Baidietian."
Zhou Zun was a mining man and could not keep an eye on cotton. Xu Mu simply left this matter to Dou Zhong. With five thousand people guarding Bai Dietian, there was almost no problem.
It's a pity that although many mineral veins have been discovered intermittently in Zhou Zun's area, there is no saltpeter mine among them.
"My lord, why don't you enter the banquet first?"
"That's easy to say."
Dou Zhong laughed and said, "To be honest with my lord, the people in southern Sichuan knew that my lord was coming, so they donated many wild animals. Even the rarest forest sheep was given away. This time, my lord is in good hands."
"Those common people said that they don't care who is the emperor in this world, but as long as the lord is the king of Shu, they will always support the lord."
"My king's wish is that our people in Western Shu can live and work in peace and contentment."
The generals all had expressions of emotion as they listened. A good bird chooses a good tree to roost in, and this fine wood in Western Shu is clearly the right one to choose.
"By the way, Dou Zhong, have there been grain sellers here in Nanzhong County recently?"
"Grain seller?" Dou Zhong thought for a while, "Master, it seems there is no one."
Xu Mu frowned silently.
Logically speaking, the food shortage in Western Shu should be the best opportunity for the Food King's influence to infiltrate. But now, nothing has been seen.
Could it be that the old guys from the Grain King gang have become spiritual masters and have not been fooled?
If there is no other way, we can only find out some clues from the name Chen Anshi. I hope what Chen Sheng just said is not just a coincidence.
"Dou Zhong, in the past few days, you have been in southern Shu and spread the word to the foreign merchants. You said that Shuzhou has begun to collect grain. For each cart, two taels of silver will be added to the original price."
Dou Zhong did not ask further questions and accepted the order.
…
Yuzhou City, an ordinary mansion in the south of the city.
Two wealthy men were sitting under a bare willow tree, each playing chess.
"Do you want to do something about the food shortage in Xishu?"
"I'm worried... it's a trap. When Cangzhou was besieged, I suddenly figured it out. Xu Buyi from Xishu is not a simple person. If I had insisted on helping Empress Dowager Su, I'm afraid that all the others would have been killed.
To be dragged into the mire."
"Wait a while, I will send Chen Anshi to continue to investigate. If it is true, it is the best time to go all out and kill the majesty of Xishu."
Snapped.
After the chess was placed, the two people on the left and right of the chessboard gradually showed a faint smile.