Chapter 243 Imminent
In the end, Hai Ruyue left with deep melancholy.
In the swaying carriage, one hand is holding a mirror for comparison, while the other is stroking his own cheek, looking for the blemishes on his face carefully?
Are you old? Not old! From the hidden eyes of the men around her looking at her, she can confirm that she is very familiar with that look, knowing what those men want to do to her, it is the desire to take off her clothes.
However, whether it was the sneering Yuan Gang or the frivolous Niu Youdao, they couldn't find the look she wanted to see in their eyes, which made her feel very insecure.
That's right! There is no desire to violate her, but it makes her feel insecure.
Putting down the mirror in his hand and looking out of the car window, he felt restless when he came, but he still hadn't calmed down. Niu Youdao refused to admit that he did it.
Now she is no longer the girl who loved Shang Jianbo so much. She doesn't believe that there is such a great help in this world who doesn't ask for anything in return. There is no definite answer. She always feels that there is a huge black hole behind her, as if it will swallow her at any time...
After seeing off the guests, Niu Youdao came back and saw Gongsun Bu standing outside the thatched cottage.
"What's the matter?" Niu Youdao asked with a smile.
Gongsun Bu asked, "Is there no news about Lu Shengzhong?"
Niu Youdao: "Either he was killed by Shao Pingbo, or he surrendered to Shao Pingbo. In short, it is impossible for Shao Pingbo to let him come back."
Speaking of this, his expression was a little dark, and after thinking about it, maybe one of his decisions missed the last chance to save Lu Shengzhong.
People from the three factions should not be terminated from going to the Song Kingdom to meet with Lu Shengzhong. If Shao Pingbo doesn't see the people who meet, he will know that he has been exposed.
Gongsun Bu said: "It is best to die."
Niu Youdao smiled slightly, noncommittal...
It's another midsummer, and it's been a year in the blink of an eye.
The waterfall poured down from the cliff, and on the stone under the waterfall, a figure was immersed in the water curtain and remained motionless.
Black Peony flew over and shouted, "Master Dao!"
The figure in the water curtain suddenly flickered, shooting up along the pouring water.
Going upstream, the speed is very fast, without causing any abnormal splashes.
The man drew his sword in the water curtain, bang! The spray above the waterfall exploded, and a figure pointed his sword at the sky, rushing out of the water.
Turning over in the air, the long sword returned to its sheath, and the person turned and slid down again, landing beside Hei Mudan.
Black Peony was stunned, how could it feel like there was no resistance to this huge water pouring down.
With steam rising from his body, Niu Youdao asked with his sword, "What's the matter?"
Hei Mudan replied: "I asked about what you said. It's not a spies, but the population of Qingshan County has increased rapidly, and merchants gather here. It's not too far from the county town. It's normal for people to come here by mistake from time to time. The prince learned that he disturbed Daoist Qingxiu, and ordered people to rush to make some inscriptions prohibiting traffic. Turning around, people will stand around."
I see! Niu Youdao nodded. He heard Yuan Gang mention it before, saying that there were always people trying to break in here, so he asked about it.
"From what you said, is Qingshan County very prosperous today?" Niu Youdao asked.
"Prosperous!" Black Peony nodded and said, "It's simply too prosperous. The difference between the previous year and the previous year is like nothing else."
"After the prince implemented the New Deal, refugees from all over the world came to hear the news, and the population of the two counties increased by seven or eight times. Most of the cultivated land abandoned in Qingshan County in the early years has been reclaimed. In order to keep the refugees and let the refugees settle in the two counties, the prince not only divided the fields, but also specially allocated 100,000 gold coins, called a large number of scholars to be teachers, and set up private schools for free in the two counties, so that all the refugees have land and all the children of the refugees can go to school. Where the school is located, villages are rapidly taking shape, and in Lan Ruoting's words, as long as the family business is here, these refugees will not easily leave the two counties unless they are forced to do so."
"And the gathering of a large population, coupled with business tax reductions, has attracted merchants from all over the world, and the merchants in turn employ a large number of refugees to do things. Today's Qingshan County is really different from what it used to be. The city is too lively, but there are also troubles. There are too many people, there are not enough shops, and those merchants have needs. Mr. Lan is negotiating with those merchants."
"Negotiation?" Niu Youdao was stunned for a moment, "What are you talking about?"
Black Peony: "My lord is going to use the current county town as the inner city, and with the inner city as the center, expand five miles to the surrounding area, and build an outer city on the periphery."
Expand five miles around? Niu Youdao was slightly surprised, "Where does he get such a large amount of money?"
Black Peony: "That's why Mr. Lan is negotiating with those merchants, and is going to provide free land in the outer city for those merchants to build shops, but the premise is that those merchants must pay for the construction of the outer city wall, and measure the amount of free land in the city according to the length of the construction wall. This will also help those refugees who cannot be resettled in a short period of time to find something to support their families. It is said that the negotiation is almost done, and there are still some conflicts of interest that are being negotiated."
Niu Youdao asked: "Is this Lan Ruoting's political opinion?"
Hei Mudan nodded: "It seems to be true. In terms of internal affairs, the prince seems to have delegated power to Lan Ruoting, and the prince mainly focuses on military affairs."
"This Lan Ruoting is indeed a talent, a big deal!" Niu Youdao sighed with emotion, but his thoughts flew to Beizhou.
He is here to practice meditation, and he hardly asks about the affairs of the two counties. On the contrary, he pays more attention to the affairs of Beizhou.
According to news reports, Shao Pingbo's handwriting is even bigger, wantonly attracting learned people and skilled craftsmen, and in this troubled world, he actually wants to open up the water conservancy system of the entire Beizhou. It is said that in just over a year, the results have been extraordinary, and the population has also exploded.
It seems that Shao Dengyun gave Shao Pingbo more power, which made Shao Pingbo less constrained.
Today, Shao Pingbo is in charge of military affairs and in charge of internal affairs. He has extraordinary abilities. With his superb skills and governance ability, he has almost changed the entire Beizhou in just over a year.
Niu Youdao himself had to admit that his ability in this area was far inferior to that of Shao Pingbo.
Because of this, the changes in Beizhou made Niu Youdao faintly worried. The stronger the strength of Beizhou, the greater the power in the cultivation world that Shao Pingbo could use.
The news from Beizhou said that Shao Pingbo's ability made Dachan Mountain attach great importance to it, and sent more experts to protect Shao Pingbo.
When he came back to his senses, he glanced at the radiant Hei Mudan who was speaking, Niu Youdao smiled, and found that this woman was different, and gradually cared about these things, otherwise he couldn't speak clearly and logically.
"Where's Yuan Gang?" Niu Youdao asked.
Black Mudan: "It seems that he went to the craftsman's workshop. He has been walking to Gongsun Tieniu's side more frequently recently."
Niu Youdao was silent for a while, then waved his hand and said: "I haven't been out of the mountain for a long time, let's go to the county town to have a look."
Hei Mudan immediately went to the three sects and invited some experts to guard them.
As soon as he approached the city of Qingshan County, Niu Youdao, who hadn't left the mountain for a long time, immediately felt a different atmosphere.
There is an endless stream of people coming and going on the official roads, carts and horses are everywhere, and there are petty officials who are surveying, marking lines, and setting stakes outside the city. It seems that the expansion of the city is imminent.
As soon as he entered the city, he walked casually, the streets were bustling with noise, and compared with the deserted streets at the beginning, Niu Youdao almost thought that he had gone to the wrong place.
Although many people wore tattered and unseemly clothes, and there were even many people begging with bowls in their hands, it was really different from before.
There were people everywhere, so Niu Youdao, who had been practicing for a long time, was not used to it, and he lost the interest in walking around and looking around, so he went directly to the Sheriff's Mansion.
The personal guards of Shang Chaozong knew him, so they asked the guards who stopped him to retreat, and led Niu Youdao in.
Coming outside the meeting hall, I heard the voices of Shang Chaozong and Lan Ruoting discussing inside.
Niu Youdao reached out his hand to stop it, and told the guards to suspend the notification and listen outside.
Lan Ruoting's voice sounded inside, "Look at this, my lord. The south seaport is our advantage. In the face of the surrounding blockade, importing and exporting materials by sea is a shortcut, which is also a great convenience for merchants. It is recommended to synchronize the expansion of the city with the seaport here, and build another city near the seaport to facilitate the transfer and storage of merchants' materials..."
"Cough cough." The guard on the side coughed suddenly. He really felt that it was inappropriate for people to eavesdrop on the prince's conversation, so he ignored Niu Youdao's obstruction, and reported, "My lord, the Taoist master is here."
Niu Youdao stared at him and smiled, then walked into the house.
Shang Chaozong and Lan Ruoting also came out, both a little surprised, this one hadn't seen her face all year round.
"Master Dao, why are you here?" Shang Chaozong cupped his hands and asked, "But what's the matter?"
Niu Youdao followed them into the meeting hall, and saw the map hanging in the house at a glance, walked to the map and looked at it, "It's nothing, I just listened to a few words outside, why, are the surrounding areas blocking us?"
Lan Ruoting: "It hasn't reached that intensity yet, but the progress here has already aroused the vigilance of the surrounding area. It will be a matter of time before the commercial roads here are blocked. No one will want to see this side become big. Plan ahead, and quickly build up the sea road here. The sea is boundless and there are roads everywhere. The forces in the surrounding area can only cut off the land road. It is not so easy to cut off the sea road. Another point, once the surrounding area is strengthened, I am afraid that it will be more difficult for war horses to come in. Taking the sea road can be regarded as a way."
Niu Youdao nodded, "Mr. Lan has a great idea, and thinks long-term!"
Shang Chaozong frowned and said, "Three sects and those who went to Qi from Tianyumen have not given an answer for a long time."
Lan Ruoting explained: "My lord, what the lord means is that our progress is not slow. Once the surrounding people feel a huge threat, it may not only be a blockade, so we must have a strong force to deter us. We urgently need war horses here, otherwise the speed of troop mobilization cannot keep up, and we can only wait to be beaten! The less force here, the more likely it will arouse the desire of foreign enemies to invade!"
Niu Youdao: "We can't blindly rely on the Qi State side, have we thought of another way?"
Shang Chaozong: "Instead, we have purchased some horses from the surrounding area. There are thousands of them. However, there is still a big gap between war horses and ordinary heavy-duty horses. The proportion that can run fast and fight in battle is very small. The original war horses here are also gradually aging. There is a gap of tens of thousands of war horses here. It is impossible to search from the surrounding areas in the short term. There are countless good horses on the Qi State Ranch."
Niu Youdao was silent...