Three thousand miles in exile

The weather on Qiyun Mountain is getting cooler.

The construction in Wild Pine Ridge is in full swing, and Liu Zhan officially named the new city in Wild Pine Ridge Cangyun Town.

At this time, Cangyun Town, which was under construction, gathered skilled craftsmen from all over Cenzhou, and the Liu Mansion had already taken shape.

From the frame set up, we can see that there are eight courtyards in the Liu Mansion, and the layout drawn by Liu Zhan himself is exactly the layout of the courtyard that Liu Zhan was familiar with in his previous life.

Liu Zhan didn't want to be extravagant and wasteful on the house. The construction requirements of Liu's mansion were simplicity, with blue bricks as the walls and black tiles as the roof and no pendants. Those exaggerated carved beams and painted columns were all rejected by him.

Therefore, the Liu Mansion was built very quickly, and the wall foundation and frame were all set up in just one month. According to this progress, the construction could be completed before the heavy snow closed the mountain.

"What? You want to live apart from me?!" Liu Zhan's loud voice almost knocked off the roof.

Compared with Liu Zhan's fierce reaction, Song Fenglin sat at the desk and still reviewed the documents in a leisurely manner.

"Our father and son can't live in Liu's house all the time. It's not suitable for us." Song Fenglin kept writing.

Liu Zhan snapped the letter under his pen. "Why is it inappropriate! You are my daughter-in-law, if you don't live with me, who will you live with!"

"Don't talk nonsense, how can men get married." Song Fenglin looked up helplessly.

"As long as you want, I can say yes!" Liu Zhan said without doubt.

Of course General Qi Yun has this ability, Song Fenglin can only comfort him with gentle words.

"This is also what my father meant. We, father and son, have been taken care of by your family. Now that the big event has been settled, it is time to leave. If we say we are leaving, I will just live next door."

"Could it be that I want to sleep and you still want to go in?" Liu Zhan's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot.

Song Fenglin almost choked, this problem is really a problem.

Liu Zhan is like a big lion that has been robbed of food and can explode at any time. It is easy to say that he cannot sleep with his wife at night, which is absolutely unreasonable.

"There is another reason." Song Fenglin pulled Liu Zhan to signal him to sit down and talk.

There was still a chair beside the desk, Liu Zhan insisted on being crowded with him if he didn't sit, his whole body was full of displeasure.

The chair is so big that one person can't fit Liu Zhan, who is so big, Song Fenglin was angry and funny, and finally sat on Liu Zhan's lap according to Liu Zhan's wish.

"My mother wrote a letter hoping to come to Northern Xinjiang for a family reunion. In fact, my mother mentioned that she would come to Northern Xinjiang as early as last year. At that time, my father and I thought that the conditions in the mountains were limited and the winter weather was harsh, and we were afraid that she and my sister would not be able to adapt."

Song Fenglin had hope in his eyes. "Now that we are moving down the mountain, my dad and I agreed."

Speaking of Song Fenglin's mother and sister, Liu Zhan's tense expression relaxed a little. He knew that Song Fenglin had been looking forward to the family reunion.

In fact, Liu Zhan had mentioned sending someone to pick him up two years earlier, but Song Fenglin declined considering that the Liu family is such a big family with so many people, and the mother and younger sister may not live comfortably.

If Song Fenglin's mother and sister were reunited in northern Xinjiang, it would be inappropriate for the family of four to live under the fence of the Liu family.

Liu Zhan is not an unreasonable person, but it is absolutely impossible to separate him from Song Fenglin.

"Where is your house built?" Liu Zhan asked stiffly

Song Fenglin took out a copy from the file on the desk and spread it out, which contained the layout map of Cangyun Town.

The Song Mansion was built on the east side of the Liu Mansion, and the two houses were indeed next to each other. When Song Fenglin was thinking about how to coax Liu Zhan to compromise, Liu Zhan picked up a brush and began to make changes.

"Your house is moved to the west side, and your yard will be next to mine." Liu Zhan announced domineeringly.

Song Fenglin couldn't laugh or cry. "The west side of Liu's mansion is the main street, how can it be changed?"

Liu Zhan stared at him intently. "I don't want that street, change it!"

Song Fenglin pointed to another place. "There are wing rooms for servants living outside Liu's residence."

"The west wing was canceled and moved to the back." Liu Zhan said immediately.

Song Fenglin knew what Liu Zhan was up to. As long as the yards of the two were next to each other, they could open a small door to freely enter and exit. This was indeed a good idea, and Song Fenglin also knew that this was Liu Zhan's biggest concession.

There is no doubt about Liu Zhan. "I'll let the craftsmen rebuild it now, and give me the drawings of your house, and I'll let the people below supervise the construction."

The issue of the house has been settled, let's get down to business, and the two continue the topic before they separated.

"The six counties of Cenzhou want to develop, and the population is a big problem." Song Fenglin wanted to stand up, but the iron arm around his waist didn't move.

Liu Zhan rested his chin on Song Fenglin's shoulder and listened to his detailed analysis.

"Since the Yan army went south to the north to recruit soldiers every year, the strong laborers of the military households have gone to the battlefield. There are only old and weak women and children in the family. It is not easy to cultivate the military fields. How can we talk about developing and becoming rich?"

There is no shortage of land on Qiyun Mountain, as long as there are people who can open up wasteland, taxes can be collected in the next year, but the population is insufficient.

"The prosperity of the people can make the country strong. In the same way, the six counties of Cenzhou under your rule are also the same." Song Fenglin had a trace of sadness in his eyes.

Liu Zhan's eyes were deep and empty. He was very glad that he did not stay in Jinyang to fight with Zhou Chan. The six counties of Cenzhou looked prosperous on the surface, but in fact there were many problems inside.

"There is also the issue of taxes. In the past six months, I have read the tax records recorded in various places in Cenzhou. In addition to the taxes levied by the imperial court, there are also different types of exorbitant taxes from various places." Song Fenglin frowned and said in a deep voice.

"These extra taxes are mostly made up by local tyrants and dirty officials for their own selfish interests."

These cleverly named tax revenues eventually flowed into the pockets of the powerful.

The existence of exorbitant taxes has become the consensus of the world, and it has been acquiesced in all dynasties. If Liu Zhan and Song Fenglin want to use exorbitant taxes, they will probably make countless enemies.

But Liu Zhan made up his mind without hesitation.

"Excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes must be exempted. We can't work hard while those people follow behind to reap the common people." Murderous look flashed across Liu Zhan's eyes.

"Under my rule, these moths can't be allowed to do evil. Sooner or later, these people will be moved. It's better to cut the mess quickly, so as to save future troubles."

The local officials of Dachu have great power. For example, Liu Zhan, as General Qiyun and Cenzhou Lieutenant, the six counties of Cenzhou are his vassals, and he is the heaven of these people in the six counties of Cenzhou.

Liu Zhan's management is undoubtedly strong and domineering. It is a nightmare for the powerful, but for ordinary people, the future is bright.

After the tax issue was settled, Song Fenglin asked the next question.

"It is feasible to select exiles from the prison to open up wasteland. The new village opened on Guanmao Peak has already taken shape. I visited it a few days ago, and no family is willing to do something if they are lazy."

Liu Zhan hugged the person in his arms tightly. "This is easy to handle. Later, I will go around and make arrangements so that all exiles that other state capitals do not want to accept can be sent to us."

"It's not enough. Population is a long-term solution." Song Fenglin said.

Liu Zhan understood Song Fenglin's meaning almost instantly. There were many widows and widows in military households, and there were countless boys from poor families who could not marry a wife.

What Song Fenglin was worried about was the birth rate. If there are fewer births, the population will naturally decrease.

This is easy to handle Liu Zhan proudly said: "Tomorrow I will issue a decree. Under the rule of this general, singles are prohibited. All men and women of childbearing age will be married within a limited period. Pregnant and laying eggs."

Song Fenglin almost burst out laughing, and he endured it for a long time before he lost his composure.

"You can hold back a laugh if you want to." Liu Zhan deliberately pinched the itchy flesh on his waist, and finally made Song Fenglin laugh and fall into his arms.

Although Liu Zhan's words are vulgar, it is a very simple and effective method.

Three days later, the six counties of Cenzhou announced new policies. One was to cancel the exorbitant and miscellaneous taxes imposed by the local government, and the other was to cancel the marriage order.

As soon as the new policy was promulgated, it immediately caused an uproar in the six counties of Cenzhou.

You must know that the proportion of local exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes is almost the same as that of the imperial court. This time, the common people will pay half of the tax, and the autumn harvest will be harvested immediately. In the eyes of the common people, it is as unreal as if money fell from the sky.

But the New Deal looks like a bolt from the blue to those with powerful vested interests in the local area.

How many powerful and small families in many places count on this little income to maintain their family's wealth, and for a while there are undercurrents surging in the six counties of Cenzhou.

To the surprise of both Liu Zhan and Song Fenglin, the first person to stand up and resist was Liu Ruqin, the magistrate of Zhangtai County.

He wrote a thousand-character article stating the rationality and necessity of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, as well as the serious consequences of canceling them. As soon as this article came out, it immediately received strong support from all over the country.

In Liu Zhan's impression, Liu Ruqin is a bookworm.

He was not as unpopular as the county magistrate dealt with by Liu Zhan in the past. On the contrary, Liu Ruqin was regarded as a good official by the standards of the people of Dachu, and he handled cases relatively fairly, and he still had some status among literati.

People like Liu Ruqin jumped out to oppose the New Deal, so Liu Zhan could no longer be treated as roughly as before, otherwise Liu Zhan's reputation would be damaged.

This matter caused Song Fenglin to feel quite a headache, he could write an article to directly refute Liu Ruqin, but that wouldn't make much sense.

Because most of the common people are illiterate, and most of the literati are children of powerful and small clans, they will not read articles that refute them, let alone pay attention to them.

If it's hard or soft, it can only be sloppy. Liu Zhan doesn't believe that he can live without braids.

A few days later, rumors spread in Zhangtai County that Liu Ruqin liked to paint erotic pictures. It was rumored that there was a dark room in his study, in which his paintings for many years were preserved, all of which were erotic pictures and obscene songs.

Rumors reached Liu Ruqin that day, and he was stunned on the spot.

Only he and a few concubines knew this secret, and it hadn't been leaked for so many years. Why did such a rumor suddenly spread at this pass?

Liu Ruqin was not stupid, he hurried into the study and opened the darkroom, only to find that all the paintings in the darkroom were empty!

Liu Ruqin felt dizzy and dizzy for a while.

"Tsk tsk, this sanctimonious hypocrite." Liu Zhan looked at it with relish and disliked it.

"The ancients do not deceive me. These tricks have opened my eyes. Fenglin, look at this. There are annotations for each posture. Let me go! This old guy is also a man and woman, I can't see it, I can't see it .”

The original intention of Liu Zhan to send someone to search Liu Ruqin's study was to find some poems that could be easily fabricated, but he did not expect such a pleasant surprise.

"I have to say that Liu Ruqin's painting skills are really good. Look at the details of the key parts, the hairs are clearly defined." Liu Zhan shook his head and commented.

"You can see what you want to say!" Song Fenglin couldn't help but speak after all, Danfeng's eyes were rounded, and her fair face was also stained pink.

Liu Zhan said itchyly: "It's not that you don't want to look at me so I have to explain it to you. You are all adults, so why are you embarrassed?"

Song Fenglin gritted his teeth and said word by word: "I, no, want to, listen!"

"Okay, don't talk, don't talk." Liu Zhan threw the album back into the box, and went over to ask a flattering question.

"Fenglin, did you read books by yourself or was someone teach you when you were enlightened?"

Song Fenglin's face became more rosy, and he turned his eyes away from Liu Zhan.

Liu Zhan smiled and went upstairs to his shoulder, resisting the itch like a cat's paw scratching in his heart, and leaned closer to kiss his temple. "Let me guess, your first teacher is me, right?"

The embarrassment in his eyes couldn't be hidden, and he was very angry.

Song Fenglin became somewhat angry from embarrassment. "So what if it is, so what if it's not?"

The Song family has a strict family style, and Song Fenglin was 15 years old when he was sent to prison. How could the elders arrange enlightenment for him.

It's just that he knew a little bit from what he had seen and heard when he was studying in the academy, but what Liu Zhan said was correct, Song Fenglin's first teacher was indeed him.

Knowing that he was thin-skinned, Liu Zhan didn't tease him too much, so as not to tease him so anxiously that he wouldn't let him go to the kang at night.

"What do you want to do next?" Song Fenglin asked.

Liu Zhan had two choices. One was to threaten Liu Ruqin to write another article in support of the New Deal, or the other was to spread these sex palaces to ruin Liu Ruqin's reputation.

"It's a pity not to share such a good product with everyone?" Liu Zhan laughed.

With his character of vengeance, how could he just let Liu Ruqin go like this?

On the same day, Liu Ruqin came from Zhangtai County to ask for an interview, but Liu Zhan avoided seeing him. Liu Ruqin went to ask Pei Wanshan, but Pei Wanshan only said one word to let him do his own thing before seeing off behind closed doors.

Pei Wanshan has been cooperating with Liu Ji Firm for a long time and has already made a lot of money. How can he think of such a small profit from exorbitant taxes? How can Pei Wanshan plead for him when Liu Ruqin is looking for a dead end like this, even if he has no time to hide.

Another ten days later, Liu Ruqin's excellent works began to circulate in major brothels in the six counties of Cenzhou through the replicas of Liu Ji Firm.

Each of these masterpieces has Liu Ruqin's seal and poems. In order to prevent Liu Ruqin from having room for sophistry, Liu Zhan ordered Liu Cheng to release some of the original works.

This incident quickly caused an uproar in Cenzhou and even the entire northern Xinjiang.

The common people are attacking Liu Ruqin, a gentle scum and a hypocrite, but they are mad at privately, and some even pay a lot of money for the authenticity.

The ghostwriters hired by Liu Ji Trading Company worked overtime to catch up, and every batch of reprints was sold out immediately.

At this time, Liu Ruqin, who was dismissed by Liu Zhan and investigated, had already packed up his family and left Beijiang in despair.

After Liu Ruqin fell from power, Liu Zhan dismissed all officials in Zhangtai County.

Then Liu Xueyuan and Song Yijun personally assessed and selected three scholars from Yunzhong Academy to serve as officials in Zhangtai County. As for the position of the county magistrate, another arrangement will be made.

At the same time, the county magistrate of Shanyang County was also dealt with. The county magistrate of Shanyang County was Yan's nephew. Liu Zhan had long wanted to clean it up, and he just took advantage of the New Deal turmoil to clear it up in one fell swoop.

After a month of turmoil in the six counties of Cenzhou, it returned to calm. Qi Yunshan finally ushered in the annual autumn harvest, and it was also on this day that Liu Zhan finally announced the promotion of his subordinates.

In the Wuyuan County Yamen, all the officers and men under the command of the Qi Army gathered together.

Liu Zhan was wearing a navy blue official uniform and sat in the main seat. Song Fenglin was wearing a crescent white round-neck gown and was sitting at the lower left of Liu Zhan. Then Cao Zhuang, Li Xiaolian and other military officers were ranked around according to their positions.

Liu Zhan was holding a knife in one hand and resting on the back of the chair with the other. It was just an ordinary posture, but it seemed to have a thousand catties of coercion.

All the people in the hall held their breaths and focused on Liu Zhan from the bottom of their hearts, and no one disrespected him.

In the lobby where needles can be heard, Liu Zhan said in a deep voice: "The basis for this promotion is firstly military exploits, secondly ability, and thirdly strength. The seal on the top of the official uniform has been prepared a long time ago, and it is only now that it is issued." Receive your hearts."

Everyone looked serious and did not dare to show it.

"Yan Jun is still watching from the foot of the mountain and comes to attack at any time. The greater the official position, the greater the responsibility on you." Liu Zhan glanced at them, and finally snorted coldly.

"Anyone who gets promoted will forget about it. If I can lift you up, I can push you down. Many people want to wear this official uniform. There is no shortage of capable people in our camp. You know it well."

For a moment, everyone immediately tensed up, and they all secretly warned themselves that everything in their bodies was hard won.

Seeing that it was almost time, Liu Zhan raised his hand towards the outside of the hall. Immediately, personal guards came in one by one with neatly arranged official uniforms and seals on top.

Song Fenglin opened the Chinese document in his hand and announced one by one.

"Cao Zhuang, Li Xiaolian, will be promoted to rank six deputy generals from now on. Cao Zhuang leads the left army camp as the left deputy general, and Li Xiaolian leads the right army camp as the right deputy general."

After the war, Liu Zhan reorganized the barracks, split and reorganized the newly merged Daizhou Camp and Cenzhou Camp, which are now called the Left Army Camp and the Right Army Camp.

The two suppressed their excitement and came forward to thank Liu Zhan.

"Thank you, General Liu, for your appreciation, and Mr. Song for your appreciation." Cao Zhuang said loudly.

Song Fenglin was a little surprised, and wanted to say no thanks, but Liu Zhan took the conversation away. "Well, take your seal."

Cao Zhuang took the tray with trembling hands, looking at the navy blue military officer's uniform and the majestic crown, his heart was full of emotion.

"Thank you brother, no, thank you General Liu for your appreciation, thank you Mr. Song for your appreciation!" Li Xiaolian was not much better than Cao Zhuang, and he was so excited that he couldn't speak well.

"Go ahead." Liu Zhan signaled.

The eyes of the rest of the people were full of tension and anticipation.

Song Fenglin continued: "Wei Chenggui and Jiang Changlin are the captains of the left camp, and Cao Ming and Huang Wushi are the captains of the right camp."

The four of them went out to thank Liu Zhan at the same time, and at the same time they reproduced Cao Zhuang's words and also thanked Song Fenglin.

"In the battle of Tongtian Pass, Cao Ming performed very well, and this general is very satisfied." Liu Zhan commented.

"Thank you, boss, no, thank you general!" Cao Ming almost cried with excitement.

The above six are considered to be the core generals of Liu Zhan's team, each with their own specialties, but without exception, they all have comprehensive abilities.

Liu Zhan and Song Fenglin discussed many times, and both of them agreed that generals don't need to be particularly strong in personal ability, but should be stable enough to keep the morale of the army in times of crisis.

Basically, the first brothers who followed Liu Zhan were all appointed officials. Even Wen Qingshan had a county magistrate waiting for him. Zhang Xiaoman, who had never heard his name, rubbed his hands nervously.

He felt that he should not be awarded a serious official position above the seventh rank, and he was both regretful and not surprised.

"Zhang Xiaoman is a military counselor." At this time Song Fenglin read.

Zhang Xiaoman was stunned, he walked out of the line with hands and feet in a daze, and asked cautiously. "May I ask Mr. Song, what kind of official is the counselor?"

"The counselor is in charge of the entry and distribution of various military supplies in the army, and is a seventh-rank official position."

Simply put, it is an official position in charge of logistics.

The personal guards on the side handed over the official uniform of the counselor, which was the same as the official uniform of the school lieutenant. Only then did Zhang Xiaoman believe that he was really an official!

He has always been self-aware, he is not strong in martial arts and has no ability to lead soldiers, so he can only run errands with Liu Zhan on weekdays, but he also has an official position as a runner.

Zhang Xiaoman cried out and was out of breath. As Liu Zhan's earliest brother, everyone is so good, he has always felt a great sense of loss in his heart, and at this moment he feels that everything is worth it.

"Okay, okay, why are you so ashamed." Cao Zhuang angrily carried him back to his seat, Zhang Xiaoman was still hiccupping from crying.

The judge continued.

Song Fenglin read it again. "Li Futian and Zhou Ziming are deputy lieutenants of the Zuojun camp, Guo Donghu and Zheng Fengtian are deputy lieutenants of the Youjun camp, Hu Xuling is a lieutenant of Wuyuan County, Sun Zhifu is a lieutenant of Zhangtai County, Jiang Changfu is a lieutenant of Shanyin County, Zhang Yuan is a lieutenant of Yongning County, Wang Shucai He is Dingbian County Captain, and Zhu Qing is Shanyang County Captain."

As for the thousand households under the county lieutenant, I will not list them one by one.

Almost all the officers promoted this time were from Liu Zhan's personal guards. They were all brothers who accompanied Liu Zhan to lay the foundation from the very beginning, and only a few were selected by Liu Zhan to be promoted later.

Liu Zhan ordered Li Xiaolian to lead the right camp to station in Cenzhou, and Cao Zhuang to lead the left camp to station in Tongtianguan. So far, all the official positions of Liu Zhan's team have been fulfilled, and the next day the new officials will take office.