In the study outside the Sheng family, Wang Zhong and Changbai, who was no more than thirteen years old, bowed their hands to each other.

"Wang Zhong has met Yanei!"

"Brother Zihou, why do you need to be so open-minded? The younger brother's cursive character means sincerity. Brother Zihou can just call me the younger brother's cousin."

Although there are many similarities between Changbai in the TV series and Changbai in the original novel, their temperaments are also slightly different in subtle ways.

"Brother Zihou, please!" Although Changbai is young, his style is very impressive and he looks quite mature.

The two men were kneeling on either side of the long table. They were in their late teens, fourteen or five years old, and were only qualified by other people. They watched the rather honest female envoy serve fragrant tea to the two of them.

After a few polite words, Wang Zhong went straight to the topic: "Su Wen Zicheng is talented and intelligent, has a strong memory of extensive knowledge, has a photographic memory, and has learned a lot before even tying up his hair. He has the ambition to become a successful person!"

Chang Bai smiled slightly, with a bit of pride flashing in his eyes, but when he looked at Wang Zhong, he couldn't help but be curious: "I heard from my father that Brother Zi Hou is the real scholar who has learned from ancient and modern times, and has learned a lot from others. If it weren't for the child born in the family,

Something unexpected happened, I’m afraid I’ve passed the exam now!”

It's just that in addition to curiosity, there is also some passion and unwillingness to be outdone that are unique to young people.

Yes, no matter how old and stable he is, his age is there, and his body is only thirteen years old. The handsome young man who has grown up in fine clothes and fine food since childhood, what he sees and hears is only the things in the inner house.

How much experience can you have?

"Passed the exam!" Wang Zhong shook his head and said with emotion: "How can it be that easy! In ancient times, many people who have learned a lot have been stuck before the examination. If they want to be a high school scholar, in addition to talent and learning, their luck,

Mentality is indispensable!”

Seeing that Wang Zhong's expression didn't seem to be hypocritical, and seeing that he was so humble, I remembered that my father had talked with him at night, kneeling with candles in his hands, and also recalled Wang Zhong's performance at the Louzhou Wenhui that day, and my evaluation of Wang Zhong couldn't help but be higher.

points, and my goodwill has also improved a lot.

"Zi Hou's words are absolutely true!" It is precisely because of entering the imperial examination that we can understand how correct Wang Zhong's words are.

Throughout history, there are many people who have learned a lot and left countless famous articles, and their names have been passed down through the ages, but they have repeatedly failed in the imperial examination.

Let’s not talk about it from afar, let’s just say that Yang Wuduan of our dynasty wrote, “I will bear with the false reputation and sing in a low voice instead of singing!” His talent and learning are recognized by scholars all over the world, and few people in the world can match him, but precisely because of this

This sentence angered the officials, and Yang Wuduan said: "Let's go and sing quietly, why should we be famous."

Later, he wrote a comment on Yang Wuduan's test paper: "Go and write in the lyrics!".

He also said that Yang Wuduan should not take the scientific examination until he is fifty years old.

People are rare since ancient times. If you take the scientific examination at the age of fifty, even if you succeed, how many years can you float in the officialdom? Besides, if you take the scientific examination after the age of fifty, can you really win?

Those examiners, if they see Yang Wutuan's paper again, will they ask him to go to high school? They are afraid that he will be rejected when he takes the exam.

After chatting for a while, Chang Bai suddenly remembered what his uncle Sheng Wei had said to his father when he came to his home a few days ago before going north. He couldn't help but curiously asked: "I heard from my uncle that Zihou was not only talented in martial arts, but also very proficient in martial arts."

?”

"It's just some exercises to strengthen the body. It's not proficient at all. It's just Uncle Sheng's love." Wang Zhong was still modest.

Changbai is not so easy to deal with: "Although my uncle is only a businessman, he has traveled all over the country for many years. Although he is not proficient in martial arts, he still has good eyesight."

Wang Zhongdao: "It's just for physical fitness, so that I can protect myself in critical moments!"

Chang Bai obviously did not expect that the reason Wang Zhong gave for practicing martial arts would be like this.

"Did Zihou practice martial arts in order to attack the Khitan in the north and regain the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun?"

"If you want to regain the sixteen states of Yanyun, how can you rely solely on your own bravery!" Wang Zhong said.

Changbai felt a chill in his heart, and he couldn't wait to ask: "What is Zihou's advice?"

"The war between the two countries is a contest of comprehensive national strength between the two major powers, rather than the result of a single battle."

"The Khitan is strong and tyrannical and dominates the desert north. The national power is not weaker than that of our country, and the soldiers and armor are strong, so they can still win. If you want to regain the sixteen states of Yanyun, you need to train strong soldiers and increase the national power. The government and the public must work together, civil and military." All ministers, please work together, otherwise, recovering Yanyun will be just empty talk."

"Let's not talk about strengthening the army. I wonder how Zihou thinks we should strengthen our national strength now?" Teenagers are in their prime of life.

"What is Zecheng's advice?" Wang Zhong did not answer, but asked Chang Bai with a smile.

Changbai thought for a while, shook his head and said: "I have never thought about it, but when I think about it, the so-called national power is nothing more than wealth. If the people want to increase their wealth, it is nothing more than increasing revenue and reducing expenditure, and then doing less corvee and less wealth to absorb the mountain people. , run away from home, encourage people to have more children..."

The meaning of Changbai is very simple. National strength refers to two aspects, one is money and the other is population. The source of money for the national treasury is nothing more than various taxes, and population is the basis of national strength. Only when the population increases can taxes be collected. Increase.

Wang Zhong nodded with a smile and said: "What Zicheng said is true of two people. The so-called national strength is nothing more than the amount of national wealth and the size of the population."

"If you want to build a strong army, you must first have sufficient logistical support. If the soldiers don't even have enough to eat, how will they have the strength to fight the enemy during the war? The champion once said that leading troops in war is nothing more than The rewards and punishments are clear, regardless of the punishment, the rewards are nothing more than money and official positions. As the saying goes, under heavy rewards, there must be brave men."

"So war cannot be separated from money!" Changbai concluded: "It cannot be separated from population."

"That's right!" Wang Zhongdao said, "Zecai Zecheng said just now that if you want to increase wealth, there is nothing more than increasing revenue and reducing expenditure."

"Have you ever thought about how to increase revenue and reduce expenditure?"

"Can you please enlighten me?" Changbai cupped his hands and said.

"Today's officials are benevolent, practice benevolent policies, and are deeply loved by their subjects. This is the king's way. However, in addition to gentlemen, there are villains in the world. For gentlemen, they practice the king's way, but for villains, only domineering can control them."

………

The two of them discussed like this. In today's imperial court, officials are kind and generous and will not be punished for their words. In Bianliang, Tokyo, even if they are fighting against the common people, they often discuss national affairs.

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! At first, the two of them spoke in a very unclear manner. They just said whatever came to mind. But as they chatted, their ideas gradually became clearer, and they talked about the current situation of the court.

, Wang Zhong’s three-redundant point of view aroused Changbai’s interest.

The so-called three redundancies are "redundant officials", "redundant soldiers" and "redundant expenses".

Although this Zhao and Song dynasty was slightly different from the one in history that Wang Zhong knew, the problems it faced were generally similar.

In addition to the covetous foreign races, internal problems within the country are also increasingly piling up.

At first, Chang Bai just thought it was a casual discussion with Wang Zhong, but as he spoke, Chang Bai's face gradually changed, and his expression showed a bit of solemnity.

It's just that this discussion is destined to have no results, unless the current official family is replaced by the beggar emperor who started with a bowl and finally conquered the entire world and became the ninth emperor.

From that day on, Changbai often sent people to invite Wang Zhong to visit him. Unfortunately, Changbai had a heavy workload, and reading and practicing calligraphy took up most of his time, so he didn't have much free time.

Time passed quietly unknowingly, and Sheng Wei also returned to Yangzhou. In addition to the cargo of the two large ships, he also brought back a large amount of northern specialties, as well as gold and silver.

Sheng Wei did not stay in Yangzhou longer, only staying for one day. He handed the things to Wang Zhong and sent them to the Sheng family. Then he hurried south to prepare to sell the goods brought back from the north by the two ships before the end of the year.

The third batch of frosting was taken away from Wang Zhong's frosting workshop.

(The second batch has been shipped to Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other places by Sheng Wei’s managers.)

When Sheng Wei came back to Yangzhou, he also completely settled the payment for the frosting, all in cash.

The Wang family's small treasury was finally full, and Wang Zhong signed many orders for soybeans and rapeseeds with Sheng Wei.

My sister-in-law, Ms. Li, has been hiding in her house all day long these days, refusing to even leave the door and not letting anyone in, for fear that the money hidden in her home will be stolen.

That was a large amount of gold and silver that Li had never seen in her life. Wang Zhongcai felt it, and Li was afraid that he could not sleep on the silver.

Although Sheng Wei was not in Yangzhou, the people under him were not idle and sent the soybeans and rapeseed needed by Wang Zhong to Yangzhou one after another.

With Shengwei's supply and sales, Wang Zhong's oil pressing workshop and breeding farm can finally break through the bottleneck and expand in scale.

As the scale expands, the number of workers will increase accordingly, but many villagers still have land to look after at home and crops to plant, so it is impossible to focus all their attention on work.

Problems also arise.

Wang Zhong once again found the three elders of Baishui Village and persuaded them. With just a few words, they got the job done.

Land is indeed the lifeblood of the villagers, but if you can earn more money by working than farming, who wouldn’t want to work? As for your own land, you can rent it to neighboring villages, relatives and friends, and the left and right land is still your own, every year

You can also get a lot of food, and you can also earn money by working in oil mills and breeding farms.

By comparison, life is actually much better than when I was just farming, because those who work in oil mills and breeding farms receive benefits during holidays, either from the oil produced by the oil mills themselves, or from the farms.

Side portion of meat.

It was almost the New Year's Eve, so Wang Zhong prepared a lot of gifts and went to Sheng's house in person to pay homage to Sheng Hong.

Wang Zhong and Sheng Wei's business is in full swing. To be honest, if Sheng Hong hadn't been shining in the officialdom, he would have been targeted long ago.

After all, Sheng Hong was the Tongpan of Yangzhou. Although his rank was not as good as that of Zhizhou, he was still a lower official of Zhizhou. But Tongpan was different from other state officials. If we talk about it in detail, Tongpan was the emperor's local official. The ears and eyes supervise local officials for the imperial court and have the power to report directly.

Even the governor of Yangzhou had to give Sheng Hong some face. Although the local gentry and wealthy families were powerful, they would not openly oppose Sheng Hong.

Now, in the eyes of outsiders, Wang Zhong and the Wang family's properties have long been labeled as the Sheng family.

As the new year is approaching, it is natural for Wang Zhong to visit the Sheng family with gifts.

There were a lot of things going on in the Yamen years ago. Sheng Hong was the second in command and held great power, so naturally it was hard to be away. The person who received Wang Zhong naturally became Changbai.

When Wang Zhong was led by Khan Niu to the outer study room where Chang Bai was, he happened to see a girl wearing a goose-yellow armor, leading several female envoys, disappearing at the corner of the corridor.

"Young Master, please come this way!" Khan Niu smiled and held his hand sideways, bowing slightly.

Wang Zhong didn't ask any questions and just followed Khan Niu away.

After Wang Zhong left, the girl in the goose-yellow armor showed her figure again.

"Is that the Prince Hou that my father talks about every day?"

This girl is none other than Hua Lan, the eldest daughter of the Sheng family. She is fourteen years old and will be in her prime next year.

The first-class female envoy beside Hua Lan is called Cai Hairpin, which was given to Hua Lan by Hua Lan's mother, Wang.

Caihan said: "He looks gentle and gentle, but his figure is too burly. He looks like a baby in front of him."
To be continued...