Chapter 130 Wang Zuo’s Talent
After starting from Zhongli, continue westward along the Huai River, and after passing Xiacai you will reach Shouchun.

Li Yuanhui led his men to disembark in Shouchun, preparing to rest for a few days, and also to discuss some military affairs with Zheng Shandao, the prefect of Huainan.

Shouchun, Huainan prefectural government office.

In the back hall, the governor Zheng Shandao and the general of Pingnan Li Yuanhui sat opposite each other. On the table in front of them was a charcoal copper pot, several plates of chopped mutton and beef, fruits, and seasonal vegetables such as cabbage.

"Silang, there's no need to be polite between you and me. Today is a family dinner, and I didn't invite anyone to join us. It's just the two of us, brothers, so let's do it ourselves."

Zheng Shandao picked up the plate and put the meat and vegetables on it while greeting the guest Li Si.

Li Si smiled and said, "Since you said that, brother, I will naturally not be polite when I come to your place." As he spoke, he was still preparing the dipping sauce with his hands.

Zheng Shandao's father was the Left General Zheng Guo, and his uncle was the Dali Temple Minister Zheng Yan.

Zheng Yan is the father-in-law of Li Si's eldest brother. The two families are very close relatives. Zheng Shandao has naturally known the Li family's sons for a long time, and he has an even closer relationship with the eldest brother Li Xiaoyan.

"Brother, this glass of wine is for you."

"Okay, Shiro, let's drink together."

The two of them raised their glasses and drank together, then put them down at the same time. Zheng Shandao picked up the wine pot and filled it up. Then he said, "Silang, tell me the truth, how long are you going to stay in Jianghuai?"

Li Yuanhui took out a few thin slices of mutton, coated them with the dipping sauce and put them into his mouth. The satisfaction of eating shabu-shabu meat was like a dream back to 2023.

"Brother, I am not happy with what you said. The Saint told me before that he wanted me to hone myself in Jianghuai, which would take at least three to five years."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Shandao drank a glass of wine himself, then raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "Three to five years? Sanlang, you are not being honest enough."

Li Yuanhui shook his head and smiled, then said: "Brother Zheng, you asked me how long I would stay in Jianghuai. This is my truest thought. I never wanted to live in Jianghuai for a long time."

Zheng Shandao frowned when he heard this: "Really?"

Li Yuanhui continued to shake his head, "These matters are not something I can decide."

According to his plan, how long he can stay in Jianghuai depends entirely on how fast his father and second brother conquer the world.

If the second brother continues to be a god, three to five years will be enough to accomplish it.

When Zheng Shandao asked him whether he would live there for a long time, he was actually asking him whether he would use Jianghuai as his base for business.

But Li Yuanhui felt that there were some things that he couldn't tell even to his old friends and relatives. He had to be more tactful when speaking.

However, Zheng Shandao heard the hidden meaning of Li Yuanhui's words, which was to wait for an opportunity to act. This was almost the same as his idea.
He studied classics, history, military tactics and numerology since he was young, and when he grew up, he was both civil and military. He once served as a staff member of the General's Mansion of the Eastern Expedition of Prince Wei Murong Ding, and was called "a talent who can assist the king" by Murong Ding.

In the eleventh year of Tiansheng, he followed Prince Wei to lift the siege of Liang County. For his merits as an advisor, he was recommended by Prince Wei as the magistrate of Chenliu County.

In the 12th year of Tiansheng, he followed General Zhao Yi, the Left Commander, to lead the army to lift the siege of Guangwu, and provided advice in the Battle of Gang County.

After Shouchun was recovered, Murong Ying remembered this talented man from the Zheng family and appointed him as the prefect of Huainan.

This speed of promotion is extremely rare among peers.

Of course, compared to an outlier like Li Yuanhui, he is still a bit inferior.
Zheng Shandao nodded after thinking it through: "I understand, Silang, you and I are both old friends and in-laws. We will be in Jianghuai together in the future, so we need to take care of each other."

Li Si smiled and said, "Brother, you are right. I have another matter that I would like to ask for your help."

Zheng Shandao heard this: "Silang, just speak up. As long as it is within my brother's authority, I will do it within my power." "Okay, then I won't be polite to you, brother. I want to cultivate the land in Jianghuai."

Li Si's words were like slowly unfolding a scroll, but at the end of the scroll was a dagger.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Shandao looked at him solemnly at first, then laughed out loud, "Hahaha, Silang, you still can't hide it?"

"Brother, I have never hidden anything. I always speak my mind."

As Li Si said this, he picked up the wine pot and filled Zheng Shandao's glass, then filled his own glass. He raised the wine, gestured to the other party, and then drank it first as a sign of respect.

Zheng Shandao also picked up the wine and drank it all, then said, "Do you think that the world is about to fall into chaos?"

Li Si smiled and said, "Brother, there's no point in testing you like this, right? I just said everything I should have said."

Zheng Shan said, "The Murong kings each command their troops in important places. Even with the Saint, there are people like Murong Xu and Murong Anguo who intend to rebel. If there is no Saint to suppress the Murong kings, the world will surely be in chaos, with dragons and snakes rising up. Silang wants to occupy Jianghuai to protect himself? Waiting for an opportunity to act?"

"To be honest, brother, this is exactly what I meant."

Zheng Shandao began to speak frankly, and Li Silang also began to reveal some of his true feelings, half true and half false.

After all, if you don't tell the truth to such a wise man, there will be no way for you to communicate.

This Zheng Shixiong was the key figure in Li Yuanhui's plan to develop military farming in Jianghuai, after all, he was the prefect of Huainan.

In the Jianghuai area, the most suitable place for military farming is Huainan, and this place also has historical experience.

Zheng Shandao pondered for a moment and said, "The Huainan area, or the area between Yangzhou and Yuzhou, is well-connected with rivers and fertile land. At the end of the Han Dynasty, when Wei and Wu were confronting each other in the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers, Sima Yi proposed to implement military farming here, so he ordered Shangshu Lang Deng Ai to conduct preliminary investigations here.

Deng Ai made a speech after his inspection, saying that in the past, when the army went out to fight, "more than half of the troops were transported, and the cost was huge. "If 20,000 troops were stationed in Huaibei and 30,000 troops were stationed in Huainan, and '10% of the troops were rested', and the canal was opened at the same time, 'to increase irrigation and facilitate transportation. "After calculation, excluding the cost, 5 million hu of grain could be stored every year, and 30 million hu in six or seven years, which could feed 100,000 people for five years. "With this, we can defeat Wu. "Since that year, we have opened the canal and opened the Huainan military farm. Since then, every time there is trouble in the southeast, we have mobilized a large number of troops, sailed down the river, reached the Yangtze River and the Huai River, and stored food without water damage. . Silang, you want to cultivate the land here, are you trying to imitate Deng Ai's old deeds?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanhui clapped his hands immediately and said, "Brother, you are well-versed in history and the present, and you have great talent. I admire you. This glass of wine is a toast to your extensive knowledge and strong memory."

After that, Li Si raised his cup and drank. Then he said solemnly: "Jianghuai is a battleground. I have no other intentions. I only want to protect the territory and the people. However, refugees are everywhere and the labor service is too heavy. To avoid labor service and taxes, farmers have abandoned their land and fled with their families. The taxes on the people's land are too heavy, and there is labor service. The people are unwilling to farm. Only by using it as a military settlement can the situation be improved."

Thanks to my father-in-law, there are too many abandoned lands in various places in Dayan, including Huainan. There will definitely be no problem in making reasonable use of them as military settlements.

Of course, you can't farm north of the Huai River, but Huainan is so big that it's completely sufficient.

If we just want to set up military settlements, it will not work without Zheng Shandao's cooperation, as spring plowing will be soon.

So he had to trick Zheng Shandao into helping him. Because his Pingnan General's Office couldn't just enclose the land for military settlement, it had to have the cooperation of the Huainan County, otherwise it would take who knows how long the court would argue.

Zheng Shandao thought to himself, you are quite good at making excuses, civilians have to pay land tax, but military settlements don't have to hand over grain?

But he had to help. The plan Li Yuanhui revealed was obviously not inconsistent with his ideas.

"Since Shiro said so, I will certainly lend you a helping hand, but..."

"Don't worry, brother. You will have 30% of the food."

"Hahaha, quick talk, so it's a deal then?"

"make a deal."

(End of this chapter)