Different from the tense atmosphere in other towns in the north, the lives of the people in Rongcheng were able to recover quickly except that the prices of daily necessities in the city did not increase.
In addition, County Magistrate Zheng arranged for yamen runners to patrol the city and the market twelve hours a day. This practice gave the people a great sense of security.
After the confidence of the people in the city was restored, the business of the restaurants and food stalls that had originally had little business started to pick up.
Among them, Li Yan’s soy sauce shop’s business was also bleak for a while after all the merchants left.
Li Yan originally thought that because of this war, the supply of soy sauce and fermented bean curd would be stagnant for a while. After all, these things are not necessities of life, and most people would prefer to buy more food if they have the spare money.
Unexpectedly, the people of Rongcheng quickly came out of their panic, and they continued to live the same way as before, eating and drinking as usual.
In addition, because it is Mid-Autumn Festival, many people want to give gifts, so they simply choose Li Ji soy sauce and fermented bean curd, which are the most famous in their city. Some even bring a pound of noodles.
This seems to have become the standard for gift giving!
When the daughters returned with gifts, the old ladies complained about their daughters spending money recklessly, but they were actually very happy in their hearts.
After their daughter left, the old ladies praised their daughter to everyone in the village about how filial she was. They even bought her Li Ji's fermented bean curd because she had bad teeth.
After such publicity for Li Ji, the soy sauce and fermented bean curd business of Li Ji is even better than usual!
Seeing this, Mr. Li breathed a sigh of relief!
Originally, I was worried that once the customers left, the business of the fermented bean curd workshop would plummet, and I was thinking of asking my granddaughter to close the fermented bean curd workshop for a while.
No one knows when this war will end. There are no merchants coming to the city to buy goods, and the accumulated goods cannot be sold!
Calculating this way, it costs money to purchase raw materials, and it also costs a lot of wages to open a fermented bean curd workshop for a day. When Mr. Li thinks about spending so much money every day when he opens his eyes, his heart bleeds.
Fortunately, he was just overthinking it!
On the other hand, the war at the border has been in a tense state. The order Qin Bin received was not to expand the war, but to garrison the city and repel the enemy.
It’s not that Qin Bin is unwilling to lead his troops to pursue the enemy, but that the imperial court has always been unwilling to expand the war!
Qin Bin had no choice but to guard the border and defeat the enemy time and time again.
After successfully repelling three large-scale attacks by the Hu people and more than ten small attacks, the Hu tribe still refused to retreat.
Just when the two sides were at a stalemate.
Urgent news also came from the northeast that the Hu people and the Beirong people had begun to harass the northeastern border.
Everyone in the court and the country was shocked. With the current national strength of the Jin Dynasty, it was naturally unable to cope with multi-front warfare, not to mention that the old emperor still owed military pay to the soldiers in the northeast.
Once the defense in the northeast is defeated, a large number of people will inevitably flee. At that time, the people will not be properly resettled, and it is possible that a civil uprising will develop!
Just when the officials in the court were extremely anxious about this, the Hu people sent envoys with a letter asking for peace!
General Qin packed the envoy and the letter and sent them to the capital, leaving it to the emperor to decide!
In fact, Qin Bin really wanted to have a good fight, but as the commander of the Northwest, he naturally could not be willful.
The dynasty is now surrounded by powerful enemies who are eyeing it covetously, so he dare not act rashly!
He might have the confidence to defeat the Hu people, but he did not dare to take the risk and drag the entire dynasty into the vortex of war!
General Qin, who had been feeling aggrieved for most of his life, had to endure it for the sake of the overall situation!
The haze that had been hanging over the ministers' heads these days dissipated because of General Qin's official document and the arrival of the Hu envoys!
After reading the Hu people's memorial requesting peace, the emperor handed it to the eunuch beside him and signaled him to show it to the ministers below him.
The emperor's deep voice echoed from above, "The Hu people have submitted a petition for peace, requesting the opening of border trade and the permission for their people to trade in the north. What are your thoughts, my dear ministers? Should this be approved or not?"
"Your Majesty, General Qin has repeatedly thwarted the attacks of the Hu people. Why don't we just wipe them out immediately? Why are we giving them the face to negotiate with us?"
"What nonsense! Have you ever calculated how much money and food are needed to fight a war? Your Majesty, I think it is not appropriate to continue the war! The Central Plains region has just suffered from floods this year. It is not appropriate to start a war when it is time to live in peace with the people!" The Minister of Revenue replied.
"Your Majesty, I would like to reconsider. The current situation is difficult. The Ministry of Revenue is still in arrears with the soldiers' salaries. Fighting on multiple fronts will inevitably require the collection of food and fodder, which will increase the burden on the people. This is indeed not a good idea!" said the Minister of War.
The Emperor glanced at the Grand Tutor, "Grand Tutor, is there anything you would like to say?"
The Taifu, who was called upon, stepped forward and said, "I have heard that there has been a severe drought on the grasslands this year. Many undercurrents have dried up, and the grass has died. It is clear that they have no way to survive. If we do not open up trade, we must be prepared to fight the Hu people to the death and prepare for a multi-front war!"
The Grand Tutor did not persuade the emperor to agree to this matter. He just analyzed the whole story and told the emperor that if you don’t want to fight the other party head-on, then you have no choice but to open a mutual market and allow them to trade!
This is the reality.
If you refuse to give me a way to live, I will fight you to the death.
The old emperor rubbed his forehead with a headache. The purpose of his order to ban trade was to trap these barbarians to death.
But now the national treasury is empty, and there was a flood in the Central Plains this year. The food and grass should not be able to cope with two wars at the same time.
The old emperor knew that even if he wanted to fight these barbarians, now was not a good time.
He has to wait until high-yield crops are planted.
By then, supplying food and fodder to the soldiers for battle will no longer be a problem.
He only needs to wait another two years, and he will definitely slaughter all these hateful barbarians!
After reviewing the current situation, the old emperor said leisurely, "The Hu people are suffering from natural disasters and are in great distress. I, in consideration of their sincere pleas, will temporarily allow us to open up trade to facilitate commerce and alleviate their immediate needs. I hope you will take strict precautions and refrain from causing any trouble!"
After hearing the emperor's words, a group of ministers, led by the Minister of Revenue, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief!
Finally, we don’t have to fight this battle!
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