Chapter 0134 Not Going
Today's Zhenbei Army is no longer penniless, and they can come up with 200,000 gold.
But Xiao Rong would only offer so much money for a bounty if he had nothing better to do. Governing the country doesn't cost money? Raising an army and raising horses doesn't cost money? Even though they are well-off now, if they were to share it all, there would be nothing left.
This is the difference in concepts. The Qingfeng Sect tacitly assumes that all assets belong to the leader. The Zhenbei Army has a similar idea, but as the Situ who is now in charge of financial power, Xiao Rong clearly separates public and private property. Qu Yunmie only owns a small part of it. Like other generals, he also receives money according to his military merits, and the rest is all collected into the national treasury. Even as the King of Zhenbei, he cannot use a single cent at will.
It sounds shabby, but Qu Yunmie's personal assets currently amount to tens of thousands of gold, and silver cakes, copper coins, and treasures are countless. However, Qu Yunmie himself does not care. Every time the spoils are counted, he will be the first to rush over, but his eyes are only on those peerless weapons. After picking out the best weapons, if he is still asked to choose, he will listlessly select a few glittering treasures.
Qu Yunmie didn't know what was valuable, so he only took what he was familiar with. ...
Xiao Rong was in charge of the national treasury while also having to manage Qu Yunmie's personal treasury. He did not discuss this with Qu Yunmie, and there was no need to discuss it because Qu Yunmie still did not know that he had a private treasury.
He seemed to have no concept of money in his mind. When he asked for money, it was for the army. He had no need to spend money himself. He only liked to collect weapons, but he didn't like to spend money on them. In his opinion, there was no need to spend money on things that could be robbed. ...
Knowing his character, Xiao Rong naturally did not mention anything to him. After handling official business, Xiao Rong used his private treasury as a pastime, investing a little here and buying a little there. Qu Yunmie probably didn't know that Xiao Rong also bought him an entire street of real estate. This street was not Baibao Street, but a small alley less than two miles long between Baibao Street and the wharf. Due to the wide road surface and good geographical location, Xiao Rong simply changed its name to Jixiang Lane.
This area was originally residential, but there were not many families. After Chenliu became lively, people naturally tried their best to go to the main city. The advantages of the wharf would not be revealed for a while, and those particularly discerning businessmen had not yet poured into Chenliu in large numbers. This gave Xiao Rong an opportunity. He asked Ashu to take the money to buy the land of those scattered households, and then find the new secretary Lang to discuss how to buy the remaining land. This man inherited the fine tradition of his predecessor. Even though it was Xiao Situ who bought the land, he would not lower the price even if the king came!
Xiao Rong was rich now, and he was drawing money from Qu Yunmie, so he didn't mind a little loss. He spent a huge sum of money to buy the whole alley. Xiao Rong continued to send Ashu out to hire craftsmen to demolish and build houses. He also bought some cheap servants from the pawnshop, two for each household. During the day, these servants were responsible for cleaning the houses and checking for any damage. At night, they went to the government office to study and learn to recognize the characters of the Central Plains and the more popular Western dialect.
Xiao Rong's move was to make Jixiang Lane the first choice for merchants to settle down in the future.
The prices of residential houses in the city have skyrocketed to this extent, and the inns on Baibao Street are even more priced at a sky-high price overnight. The rich families who come here to travel don't care, and are willing to stay in the inn for a year, but the merchants can't do that. What's more, a caravan must have at least ten people in it. Otherwise, if they encounter bandits on the road, let alone save the goods, they may not even be able to save their own lives.
With so many people, even living in a large room is too expensive. What's more, when they come out to discuss business, the thugs can live in a large room, but the shopkeeper can't also live in a large room. It would be inconvenient to discuss business.
It's okay if they come once, but after coming twice or three times, they will look for cheaper or more convenient accommodation. Xiao Rong bought this alley with this idea in mind. Not only do they rent rooms, but they rent an entire house. The longer the rental period, the cheaper the rent. They are also equipped with servants who can communicate with them and are familiar with the local area. Whether they are asked to help fetch water, clean the house, or find people from other places, they can do it.
In the era of information blockage, no matter what people want to do when they travel far away, the first thing they do when they arrive at the local place is to find acquaintances, because it is easier to get things done with acquaintances, otherwise, they will be cheated to death without knowing it. In Jixiang Lane, everyone is treated equally, and the boss behind them is the King of Zhenbei. You have to know that anyone can cheat them, only the King of Zhenbei will not. After all, in the eyes of these people, the King of Zhenbei has a big picture. He wants to develop Chenliu, so how can he look down on their simple porridge and side dishes. …
Living in a place full of businessmen also makes it easier for them to get to know each other. You have to know that people who are willing to rent here for a long time must be big businessmen. Being neighbors with such people, even if you can't use each other for the time being, having more friends means having more paths.
For Xiao Rong, this is another benefit. These servants can not only make these merchants feel at home, but also inform him of the information of strangers at the first time. If there are good things, Xiao Rong can be the first to know, and if someone wants to do something bad, Xiao Rong will not become passive.
A place like Wanguo Post Station naturally cannot make a lot of money. Anyway, it is definitely not as profitable as Baibao Street, so there is no need to let the government preside over it. It doesn't matter if it becomes a private transaction. Xiao Rong hesitated for a while between buying it himself and letting Qu Yunmie buy it, and finally chose to let Qu Yunmie buy it.
After all, if nothing unexpected happens, Qu Yunmie will be nailed to Chenliu and will never move again, but what about Xiao Rong himself... He feels that he still has many choices.
In Xiao Rong's mind, buying a property was equivalent to announcing that he would live in one place for a long time, but Xiao Rong thought that he was not at that stage yet. *
The Qingfeng Sect's 200,000 gold bounty caused a great uproar within the sect, and it was not much better outside the sect. This time, Xiao Rong was not the only one who was shocked. Almost everyone felt it was incredible. Wasn't the Qingfeng Sect too rich? ...
Chen Jiancheng's move was to let Han Qing know that he valued Han Qing very much and that he would spend all his wealth for Han Qing. However, Han Qing was lying there peacefully, and when he heard that the leader had offered such a reward, his temples began to throb as if he was going to explode.
The Qingfeng Sect was already in danger right now, and Xiao Rong even posted his portrait, which meant he was determined to fight them to the death. Even though the Zhenbei Army was in a mess at this time, Yuan Baifu's rebellion was just a small matter. As long as Yuan Baifu was killed, the Zhenbei Army would recover immediately. Without this extremely annoying obstacle, their next target would naturally be this group of Qingfeng Sect members who could only hide from place to place.
At such a critical moment, Chen Jiancheng actually used money as bait and made his wealth public. Money has always been a motivating factor for people. In the past, only the Zhenbei Army wanted to kill them, but this time, even the second-rate guys on the street might want to take a piece of their flesh!
But Han Qing is not a person who likes to get angry. When faced with a difficult situation, his first reaction is how to solve the situation, and then he will settle accounts with those who have caused him trouble. So when Qu Yunmie and the others were still staying in Zitong, Han Qing had already done a lot of things.
First, he tried to calm Chen Jiancheng down. Words spoken were like water spilled. Since the reward had been offered, there was no point in thinking about taking it back. It was impossible to achieve anyway. After all, the Zhenbei Army and the King of Zhenbei were not pushovers. If someone could really break through the heavy cavalry and take Xiao Rong's head, Han Qing would not give the money to that person. He would immediately order that person to be killed.
He couldn't tolerate Qu Yunmie living in the world, let alone someone who could defeat Qu Yunmie. ...
Second, he spread the news that the reason why the Zhenbei Army wanted to wipe out the Qingfeng Sect was because the Qingfeng Sect was rich in financial resources. The Zhenbei Army was about to attack Jinling, and they needed funds to support the army's actions, so they targeted the Qingfeng Sect. What revenge for the King of Zhenbei, that was all a gimmick they made up. The Xianbei and the Central Plains were mortal enemies, how could they listen to a Central Plains person? The leader was a man of heaven and understood justice, how could he use all his property for a bounty for someone? The real reason was that this was not a bounty, but a way for the leader to protect the Qingfeng Sect and all the believers. Only by killing Xiao Rong, who came up with the idea, could the Qingfeng Sect survive.
Actually, Han Qing still wanted to target Qu Yunmie, but Chen Jiancheng was talking about offering a bounty to Xiao Rong, so Han Qing had to direct all his words at Xiao Rong. He also used the teachings of the Qingfeng Sect. The existence of the Qingfeng Sect was to rectify the atmosphere, and everyone who obstructed them was a demon with turbid air. Obviously, this Xiao Rong was the worst of the worst.
After a series of distortions of right and wrong, the frightened believers turned into angry believers. It took time for public opinion to ferment, and no one noticed it at first. When people noticed it, they found that these people from the Qingfeng Sect seemed to be crazy, assassinating the officials they considered to be corrupt officials in broad daylight. Regardless of whether they succeeded or not, they would shout the teachings of the Qingfeng Sect, and then bring up Xiao Rong's name, saying that the world would be in chaos, Xiao Rong would die, the Zhenbei Army would be defeated, and the people would be destroyed in fire, and be reborn in the ruins of the mountains and rivers.
These words were fermenting in Nanyong and could not spread to the north of the Huai River in a short time. In the entire Central Plains, the most fearful people lived in Nanyong. They were afraid in the first place, and it was hard not to be shocked when they saw their compatriots who looked similar to them saying these prophetic words without fear of death.
People are superstitious and can turn anything into something mysterious. For example, if a person is born blind, in the eyes of the public, this is a manifestation of his psychic ability. They were clearly poor people struggling for a living together the day before, but because his temperament changed drastically the next day, others would think that he was enlightened by the gods and had supernatural powers.
Seeing how Han Qing had mobilized all the emotions of the believers and made every citizen who heard these words fall into a state of suspicion, Chen Jiancheng was full of admiration. This was why he could not do without Han Qing. As they both made their fortunes by deceiving people, Chen Jiancheng would never be able to reach Han Qing's level. It was a great bargain for him that such a person was willing to be loyal to him.
As the days passed, the people became more and more uneasy. They were extremely fragile at this time and could not withstand the slightest disturbance. As long as there was one person willing to take the lead, Nanyong would be in chaos. A new rebel army would emerge, and the already precarious peace would be broken in an instant.
Chen Jiancheng thought that Han Qing's next step would be to guide the peasants to revolt. The same thing had happened many times in history, and the Qingfeng Sect was already very familiar with this approach. Although it had failed every time in the past, he was still very confident this time with Han Qing here.
But what he didn't know was that Han Qing had never thought about leading an uprising, nor had he thought about staying in the Qingfeng Sect.
When no one knew him, Qingfeng Sect was his biggest helper, and Chen Jiancheng, a relatively obedient puppet, also helped him a lot, but now his identity has been exposed, and staying in Qingfeng Sect would just mean dying with them. It is true that he can use his words to incite a large number of rebels, but in the face of life and death, words are nothing.
When real swords and guns are pointed at their necks, even the most confused people will wake up instantly, kneel down and beg for mercy in tears. Farmers are not soldiers, and there are no generals among them who can lead troops and fight. No one is responsible for transforming these people's identities. No matter how large the rebel army is, it is nothing more than a group of rabble, and they cannot even defeat the small force of the Zhenbei Army.
Therefore, it is impossible for Han Qing to do these things. He mobilized the emotions of the believers and wanted to use the last bit of value of this group of people to make them make a fuss. The more violent the fuss, the better. The muddier the water, the more opportunities he would have to find to escape.
Where to escape to is also a problem. Neither the Zhenbei Army nor Nanyong is a place he likes. One is too strong and the other is too weak. His original plan was disrupted, and it is no longer possible to take it step by step. Qu Yunmie is an impatient person. If he really waits until he takes down Nanyong, it will be too late to say anything.
Therefore, he had to find someone who could make up for his shortcomings as soon as possible and cooperate with him. No matter what, he could not let the King of Zhenbei really pacify the world.
Han Qing has few shortcomings, but they are also fatal, that is - he has no soldiers of his own.
Looking at the whole world, who has his own troops, who is far away from the two heavily guarded places of Chenliu and Jinling, and more importantly, who would not care about his former identity as the chief protector of the Qingfeng Sect, and only care about whether he can help him compete for the Central Plains?
Gradually, a name appeared in Han Qing's mind. He got the answer, but he did not get excited immediately. Instead, he leaned back and continued to think carefully about this person's character and how far he could develop in the world. *
Only Han Qing himself knew what he was thinking. Even Chen Jiancheng was immersed in the fantasy that Han Qing would help him conquer the world, and those middle and lower-level believers were even less aware of it.
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