Chapter 104

After Sui Lianzhu left, Pang Jun began to deal with all the political affairs of Songzhou, big and small. Since Guo Youtang had already started working on the affairs of the trading field, Pang Jun only needed to check it occasionally and make some supplements. He did not need to put in too much energy, so he put the rest of his energy into farming and sericulture.

　　Since Songzhou is located at the junction of many countries, although it has a large population, most of them are hunters, herdsmen or merchants, and there are countless ethnic groups. As a result, a large amount of land is uncultivated, and there is very little grain in the granaries. The amount of grain turned over to the national treasury each year is not even as much as that turned over by a county in Jiangnan Province.

　　Pang Jun and Cheng Chaolun discussed that since Songzhou was a lawless place, the cavalry of the Northern Hu would come here from time to time to extort money, causing most people here to be unwilling to farm. After working hard for several months, they would be looted by the Northern Hu overnight, and they might even lose their lives if they were not careful. Who would be willing to do this? Pang Jun had no choice but to wait for the Jiangnan fleet to transport food for replenishment.

　　But it was not a long-term solution. We had to have our own grain-producing land, so Pang Jun found Xu Zhishan, the agricultural administration officer of Songzhou. Xu Zhishan said, "Your Excellency, the land in Songzhou is very high-quality and fertile. As long as the weather is good, any crop can thrive on it. If you can find more people to open up wasteland here, I believe that Songzhou will become a major grain-producing land in our Great Jin."

　　After going around in circles, we still come back to the issue of population. Just as Xu Zhishan said, the land in Songzhou is dark black and extremely fertile. The crops grown here not only grow well but also have superior quality. The rice produced here alone is the most delicious rice Pang Jun has ever eaten. However, due to the small number of people growing crops, grain production has not been able to increase.

　　Pang Jun sighed secretly and asked Xu Zhishan to leave. Cheng Chaolun, who was standing aside, said to Pang Jun, "Actually, there is a way, but the timing is not right. We need to wait until the timing is right before we can use this method. However, you can prepare for this matter now."

　　Pang Jun's eyes lit up, and he quickly asked, "Please give me some advice, old man. Liu Jun will be very grateful."

　　Cheng Chaolun smiled mysteriously and said, "This method came from my mouth, and it will only reach your ears. Once it goes out of this door, I will not admit it, hahahaha." After saying that, he leaned close to Pang Jun's ear and spoke in detail.

　　The more Pang Jun listened to Cheng Chaolun's story, the brighter his eyes became. After Cheng Chaolun finished speaking, he bowed to Cheng Chaolun and said, "Thank you for your advice, old sir. Your method really opened my eyes. I am grateful for your advice."

　　Cheng Chaolun stroked his long beard and said, "Sir, although this method is effective, it violates the ancestral teachings and slightly damages the harmony of nature. If the officials of the court knew about it, I'm afraid your future would be difficult."

　　Pang Jun shook his hand and said, "It's okay, it's okay. Indeed, this matter needs an opportunity, and now is not the best time. At the end of this year, when I return to Beijing to report on my work, I will have my own way. Moreover, I will modify this method for Mr. Cheng, which will not harm Tianhe."

　　"It seems that Lord Liu has found a solution. Lord Liu is indeed a great talent. I admire him very much."

　　"Thank you for the compliment, old sir. I have only added icing on the cake and made some minor repairs. The most important core was proposed by you, old sir, hahahaha." The two of them had a pleasant conversation until the end of the official business for the day.

　　In addition, Pang Jun's assistant in secret, Lu Tao, finally arrived in Songzhou. He smiled and said to Pang Jun, "You are restless wherever you go. You caused such a big incident on the first day of arriving in Songzhou. Alas, I am also unlucky. I was sent by the leader to this remote place to be your deputy and be responsible for connecting with you. I say, why do you want to establish an intelligence system? Are you going to do something bad?"

　　Pang Jun did not answer Lu Tao's question directly, but asked in return: "Lu Tao, I want to ask you something, do you know the organization "Tianyi Shenjiao"? " The name "Tianyi Shenjiao" is the name of a mysterious organization based on the investigation feedback from Wang Fangmei. After returning from Xichuan, Pang Jun went to Jiangnan and asked Wang Fangmei to investigate. A few days ago, Wang Fangmei sent someone to deliver him a letter, which roughly wrote the results of the investigation.

　　The letter stated that the Tianyi Divine Religion was a mysterious organization that had emerged ten years ago. They believed in the Wuliang Immortal Lord, and they claimed that the Wuliang Immortal Lord was a true mortal who had achieved the right result through cultivation, shattered the void, and became an immortal. Furthermore, the Wuliang Immortal Lord's messenger on earth was named Xuanzhen Daohuang, and under Daohuang were the Divine Concubine and the Heavenly King. In the past few years, they had been appearing and disappearing mysteriously, preaching in various places, but they had not been seen to make money. They had only been preaching and helping the people, so the government had ignored them, and they had quite a reputation among the people in various places.

　　"Tianyi Sect? I seem to have heard of it somewhere. I only know that they are very low-key and mysterious. I only hear some villagers talk about them occasionally in the countryside, but they haven't caused any trouble. Is there something wrong with them?" Lu Tao asked puzzled.

　　"I have a suspicion that the Tianyishen sect is doing the same things as the White Lotus sect and the Taiping Dao. Before in Zhejiang province, I had a fight with masters from their sect, and I could only say that I escaped by luck, as I was almost killed. Some time ago, Qi Tiansheng's rebellion in Xichuan seemed to be influenced by them. I believe that in the near future, they will cause bigger troubles, so I must prepare for it." Pang Jun explained.

　　"What? You said that the world will be in chaos in the future?" Lu Tao's face changed and asked, "And you almost died fighting with the people of Tianyi Sect?"

　　"Yes, I lost to a woman who was supposed to be a high-ranking member of their team. Now, I can only be confident that I can retreat safely, so I contacted the leader and made this decision. After all, chaos in the world will also affect the martial arts world. Every sect and organization will re-select the people they support, so they will also make corresponding changes to support their spokespersons, and we are no exception."

　　"Well, have you chosen the person?" Lu Tao asked.

　　"Not yet. What we have to do now is to prepare for a rainy day and screen the right people." Pang Jun did not tell the truth to Lu Tao. Only Pang Jun and Gong Qinxue knew the inside story of the reorganization of the Exiled Immortal Sect. The rest of the people should know as little as possible. After all, this is a matter of life and death.

　　Lu Tao thought for a while and said, "If that's the case, I understand. I will try my best to cooperate with you. What do you want me to do?"

　　Pang Jun said: "First of all, the first thing is to find a way to secretly visit Liaodong Province to see if there is a branch of Tianyi Sect. If you find one, record it all and try to send people to infiltrate it. Second, try to send people to secretly obtain information about the war between Dongying and Dajin in Chaoguo. Third, find out about the situation of the Beihu tribe near Songzhou. That's all. As for the activity funds, in addition to the normal mission funds, if there is valuable information, I will reward you with an extra amount of money."

　　"Then, what should we do with the Tianyi Sect?"

　　"These people are not only hiding in the darkness, but also have such powerful martial arts. You should first send someone to secretly keep a close eye on those you have found out, and then see if any of them have sneaked in. I'm afraid we will have to deal with them in the future, so we must know ourselves and the enemy." Pang Jun replied.

　　"Okay, I got it. Wait for my news." After Lu Tao finished speaking, he patted his chest and made a promise, then left the governor's mansion.

　　While dealing with internal affairs, Pang Jun also took the time to inspect the training of the Songzhou garrison. At that time, most of the local garrisons were private soldiers of powerful people. In order to weaken the local powerful people, Yang Shao drastically reduced the number of local garrisons after pacifying the world. The permanent troops in large states were 10,000 people, the permanent troops in medium states were 7,000 people, and the permanent troops in small states were 5,000 people. Border states were automatically upgraded one level. For example, Songzhou belonged to a small state, and the garrison should be 5,000 people. However, as it was a border state, the garrison should actually be 7,000 people. However, because it was located in a bitter and cold place, the court did not pay attention to it, so there were actually only more than 5,000 people. Therefore, the Zu family had a thousand people to cause chaos, which was a considerable number for Songzhou.

　　The Imperial Guard is responsible for defending the imperial palace. It has about 20,000 people and is led by the emperor himself. Daily affairs are handled by the deputy commander Cao Tianlin. The Royal Guard is responsible for defending the capital. It has about 50,000 people and is led by Qin Wanjun, Marquis of Beiting. The remaining three legions are stationed in three large camps near the capital, responsible for defending the capital and going into battle in times of war. Each legion has a total of 150,000 people. In addition, there are permanent border troops in each border province, which cooperate with the permanent troops in each border state to guard the border. Of course, the border garrison in Liaodong is all stationed in Yanzhou.

　　Songzhou has a small area and a sparse population. In the past, the quota of more than a thousand people was divided up by the major wealthy families in Songzhou to collect empty salaries. The demise of the Zu family made these wealthy families silent. Except for the largest share of the empty salaries taken by the Zu family, the other wealthy families handed over most of the quotas, leaving only a small portion, and Pang Jun turned a blind eye to it.

　　At the same time, due to the small number of people, even if Pang Jun took back the empty salary quotas, he would not be able to recruit enough soldiers. So he planned to find another way and train all the existing troops into elite soldiers. Wu Xiang and Zu Chengshou were both wealthy families in Liaodong. They had a set of unique training methods suitable for Liaodong, but they had neglected training due to the long time and the struggle for power. Now that Pang Jun brought up the issue of training again, Wu Xiang certainly could not fool around anymore. He could only start to supervise the training of the troops every day. Everything went on in an orderly manner, and Songzhou entered a period of peace.

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