It is obviously much easier to communicate with these people than with the orthodox nobles, and Wufeng also knows most of them through Gu Ji's information, so the topics are much richer.
The dance started soon, but Wu Feng didn't seem to have much interest in dancing. He put aside the noble ladies and ladies who frequently flirted with him and joined the businessmen on the right. Because he was amiable and humorous, he was completely different from the pretentious nobles. He quickly became mingled with the businessmen, chatting and laughing.
When the merchants asked about the situation of the Qingyang Defense Battle, Wu Feng also took the opportunity to introduce to them the new policies currently being implemented by the Qingyang Mansion, and hinted that His Majesty the Emperor was also very interested in this plan to revive Qingyang and even the northwest region. The merchants themselves I had heard about this plan. After listening to Wu Feng's introduction, I heard that His Majesty the Emperor was also very interested. This immediately attracted the attention of some businessmen and asked for details.
While Wu Feng was having a heated conversation with the businessmen, Duke Marco came over. "Master Li, the dance has already begun. Why don't you invite any lady to dance?"
"Oh, Duke Marco, I'm talking about some interesting things with your friends, and I'm not very interested in dancing. I think I'd better stay here and chat with my friends." Wu Feng obviously didn't want to let go. Use this opportunity to promote your plans to businessmen.
"How can that be done? It's very impolite for you to do this. You need a bowl of water to treat your friends. You have been here for a while, so you should go over there and deal with it. They are all here. There are famous people in the imperial capital. Offending them will have a great influence on your career. This is not a wise move." The old and cunning Duke Marco is very good at reading people's thoughts. "Besides, there are many opportunities, so don't rush it for a while."
Wu Feng thought about it for a moment, and what Duke Marco said made sense. These nobles had little success and more than enough failure, so it was best not to offend them. Anyway, there was still time, and he could take the time to do the work of these businessmen. Thinking of this, an elegant smile appeared on Wu Feng's face. He picked up a glass of cocktail brought by the servant and walked comfortably into the crowd of nobles.
The musicians played the cheerful dance music "Blue Ram River", and Wu Feng also politely invited a lady next to him to dance with him. The lady was flattered and happily accepted the invitation. As a nobleman, Wu Feng had also dabbled in these court dances that were popular in the upper class society of the empire, and he had also studied and lived in the Western Continent, so he was quite comfortable with this type of dance. Everyone danced in this cheerful dance music, and Wu Feng's graceful and skillful dance was particularly eye-catching among the crowd. The young ladies on and off the court were all attracted, and they all stared at the noble lady dancing with Wu Feng with jealous eyes that could turn metal into metal.
After the song ended, Wu Feng politely greeted everyone present and drifted away.
Many years later, the "Emperor's Style Record" recorded this: "His Majesty the Emperor surpassed all the other ladies with his superb dancing skills, defeating the men present and making the ladies beat their chests and feet with regret, because they lost a very rare opportunity. Everyone had the opportunity to dance with His Majesty the Emperor, except of course Mrs. Apollo. It is said that after dancing with His Majesty the Emperor, Mrs. Apollo never danced with anyone again in memory of that unforgettable scene."
In the following days, Wu Feng met with several people who had sent invitations and had secret discussions. Of course, the topic was inseparable from Wu Feng's development plan. In particular, Miao Yao and Wan Renming both expressed a strong interest in Wu Feng's plan. Wu Feng also strongly invited the two to develop in Qingyang and promised to provide extremely favorable conditions. Both of them also agreed in principle. He agreed to open a branch in Qingyang, but also raised questions about the current security situation in Qingyang, saying that he would observe the situation. Wufeng said that all horse thieves and bandits in Qingyang would be eliminated within three months.
Wu Feng was also very enthusiastic about the representatives of the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce and the Nanyang Alliance. Since Jiangnan County was the county of the richest man in the empire, with a large population and dense water network, it was known as a land of plenty and wealth. The merchants in Jiangnan are quite powerful. They continuously transport silk, porcelain, grain, tea, paper, handicrafts and other specialties produced in Jiangnan to various parts of the mainland through sea and land routes. They also transport specialties from various parts of the mainland back to Jiangnan, earning high profits. profit. Therefore, the people of Jiangnan and even the nobles of the imperial capital looked down upon him. The small city-states of the Nanyang Alliance are also founded on business. The local climate is warm and humid, and they are close to the fertile Southern Ocean. They are rich in salt, fish, agate, pearls, corals, shells, fruits, etc., and the shipbuilding industry is also quite developed. Wu Feng tried his best to publicize the new opportunities that Qingyang was facing to representatives from these two areas, hoping that they could pass this information back and encourage local businessmen to develop in the northwest. The two were also very satisfied with Wu Feng's warm reception and said they would try their best to promote economic and trade cooperation between the two places.
While Wu Feng was working hard to promote his plan, a gratifying situation began to appear in Qingyang, thousands of miles away. Liang Chongxin and Cui Wenxiu did not dare to slack off at all after Wu Feng left. On the one hand, they vigorously trained the army, and on the other hand, Duan sent intelligence personnel to collect intelligence on horse thieves and bandits in Qingyang Mansion. After preparations were made, Liang The two Cui men fully demonstrated their respective military talents. They successively adopted strategies such as luring snakes out of their holes and knocking mountains to shock tigers. They eliminated many groups of small-scale horse thieves and bandits. Not only did they seize a large amount of property, they also successfully recruited nearly 2,000 bandits and expanded their ranks. the size of the force.
There are also encouraging developments regarding immigration. Due to effective publicity measures and the fact that it was the slack season in winter, many poor and landless farmers from around came in droves. Most of them were old Qingyang people who had fled their hometown due to the war. When they heard that the Luobei people had been driven away, they With such good preferential conditions, everyone moved their children and their families back. On one day, nearly 300 people moved back, and the number was gradually increasing.
The government agencies headed by Xiao Tang also began to operate normally, each agency performed its duties, and the reconstruction project of city defense and municipal facilities also began. The city walls in many areas were completely demolished, and the moats were re-planned. The entire Qingyang City was in accordance with Wufeng's idea was redesigned and its scale would be expanded to three to four times the original area of Fucheng. The entire Qingyang became a huge construction site, showing a bustling scene.
However, Xiao Tang, Liang and Cui also have hidden worries. With the large-scale influx of immigrants, more and more urban defense and municipal facilities have been started, and irrigation systems in various rural areas have also begun to be dredged and repaired in preparation for spring plowing and production in the coming year. , more and more funds will be needed, and there has been no news about Wu Feng's progress in the imperial capital; several of the largest horse thieves and bandits in Qingyang Mansion suddenly disappeared, and intelligence personnel did not find any more It is still unclear whether the valuable intelligence has fled elsewhere or is temporarily hiding to avoid the limelight. In addition, the army of Yinchuan Prefecture in the north has been somewhat ready to move recently. Whether they want to provoke a war or test their own strength, It's also unsettling.
On January 20, 692 in the Continental Calendar, Xiao Tang held the first military-political liaison meeting in the Qingyang City Guards House after Wu Feng left. The people present at the meeting were still the same people who attended the meeting last time, with only one less person, Wu Feng. The meeting was chaired by Xiao Tang.
"Today we convened a situation exchange meeting. Your Excellency has been away for almost a month, and there is still no news. We still don't know how things are going. When exactly Your Excellency will come back is still unknown, but No matter what, our current work must be carried out and cannot be stopped. Therefore, the purpose of this people's meeting today is to communicate with each other and come up with our next work plan. If you have any questions, you can also ask them here. , let’s discuss it and solve it together.” Xiao Tang made a simple opening statement.
Liang Chongxin and Cui Wenxiu exchanged glances with each other, and then Liang Chongxin spoke: "Then let me come down and talk about it. According to the deployment of the Lord when he left, Wenxiu and I on the one hand strengthened the training of the troops, and on the other hand we also looked for opportunities to destroy The forces of horse thieves and bandits in Qingyang have made some gains during this period. Several gangs have been eliminated and the strength of the troops has been strengthened. However, there is suddenly no news from the most active organizations in the past, and our intelligence personnel have also not heard from them. After obtaining intelligence about them, it is estimated that they have taken precautions and are now hiding. We are still searching further."
Cui Wenxiu also added: "In addition, a small group of Sun Yuanliang's troops from Yinchuan Prefecture in the north have been appearing in our border area from time to time recently. Their intentions are unknown, which is worthy of our attention. Now the walls of the city have been almost demolished. If they are attacked , it can be said that it has no defense capabilities, so Chongxin and I have discussed it, temporarily put down the task of suppressing bandits, strengthen the defense of the city first, and wait until the master comes back to make plans." After all, Wu Feng handed over the city defense task to Er when he left. People, the two of them didn't dare to take it lightly. They consolidated the fundamentals first before talking about anything else.
"The police station and the court have begun to perform their duties, and the social security in the city has improved significantly. The Intelligence Bureau and the Security Bureau have not yet fully functioned, mainly due to the lack of professional staff. They are now trying to solve this problem. I hope they can be solved in the future. It will really play a role in the near future. The investigation of Pamela's case is nearing completion, and all the circumstances have been basically clear. He himself expressed his willingness to work for us in order to make atonement, but this will have to wait until the Lord comes back to make the final decision. Supervision The bureau has started working, and so far no violations of supervision regulations have been found." Molun spoke cautiously.
Su Minshun's report was more optimistic: "The current situation in our Qingyang Prefecture is quite good. Due to the good publicity effect, hundreds of immigrants are pouring into our Qingyang territory almost every day. Most of them are people from Qingyang who originally escaped from the war. There are also some landless farmers from surrounding prefectures, as well as a small number of handicraftsmen and workers, and the proportion of the latter two types of people is gradually increasing. Infrastructure construction is progressing smoothly, but the labor gap is still large, but I think This phenomenon will be alleviated later on. However, the repair of irrigation systems in rural areas has just started, and there is still a lot of work to be done. The work of repairing roads and bridges connecting various places has not yet started. The main reason is the lack of labor. This has already It has become the main problem restricting our economic development in Qingyang. According to the current pace of immigration, the shortage of funds will soon appear. If this problem is not solved, all the work will be in vain. I don’t know, sir. How is the progress in the imperial capital?" After saying that, he couldn't help but sigh.
Lu Man also continued to speak: "As entrusted by your Excellency before leaving, I am temporarily responsible for the combat preparations of our Qingyang Prefecture and the logistics work of the army. Due to years of war, Qingyang Prefecture has a serious shortage of young and middle-aged men, and it is very difficult to form a reserve force. Large, and construction is going on everywhere now, so there is not much progress in this work. In addition, there are also some problems with the logistics of the army. The original logistics materials brought less armor and weapons, and they were also consumed a lot in the war. It also needs to be supplemented, especially the formation of cavalry units requires some special equipment.”
Xiao Tang also felt that there were so many problems popping up at once. It turned out that when Wu Feng was there, although there were many difficulties, as long as we went to Wu Feng's place and discussed it, we could always come up with a solution. Now that Wu Feng is not here, everyone It's like there is no backbone, and it seems that there is no clue. It seems that this boss who usually seems very laid-back is really indispensable, otherwise all the work will feel like it is at a standstill. "Everyone has expressed their opinions. Now we are indeed facing a lot of difficulties. There are many things that can only be solved and decided after the adults come back. But we can't just wait passively. I estimate that the time when the adults will come back is within these days. God, like everyone else, I am short of manpower, but we must carry out the current work without stopping. Your Excellency also told us when he left that if you can make the decision yourself, you do not have to wait until he comes back. So I think everyone can start the work according to their own ideas, and leave any questions until the adults come back."