The Yuchi Sect God was playing chess, which surprised Xu Qilin. What's going on? Didn't you hear that the old Sect God can play chess?

"It's hard to learn, and the way of Go is really mysterious." The old door god waved his hand, which was a response to the younger generation's greetings. He turned around and said his experience, "I invited a master and learned it in half a day. But it was ridiculously naive. After careful study, I realized the complexity of it. I dare not say it all in my life."

That's nothing nonsense! Go has been developing for thousands of years, but it still changes endlessly. In the end, it was not Alfago who defeated humans.

Xu Qilin glanced at him and saw that there was "Thirteen Chess Sutra" on the table, and he couldn't help but smile. This is good, there is a way to relieve the problem of recreation and remedy.

Furthermore, Go trains people's nature. When playing chess, you must concentrate, calm your mind, and calm your energy. A old door god suffers from impetuousness, pride, and always look at other people's shortcomings. Can't you get along well with other ministers?

"Playing chess is either for entertainment or for evaluating the situation, and both are suitable for the Duke of the State." Xu Qilin said: "As for victory or defeat, it doesn't matter."

Yuchi's Sect God nodded in agreement and smiled, "If you fight, you will be unwilling to play others; if you play chess, you won't compete with others." As he said that, he sighed and said with emotion: "It is useless and harmful to fight over and over again."

This is the best, it can be seen that the old door god has really realized something and can keep his life safe.

"By the way, your theater is good." Yuchi's door god touched his beard and said, "I want to build one at home, it doesn't need to be too big, it can accommodate dozens of people to watch. When the spring is built, come and give me some advice."

"The Duke ordered, I dare not obey orders." Xu Qilin bowed and said with a smile: "However, the theater is easy to be accused, but it is difficult to find a good opera troupe."

Yuchi Gong smiled and said, "It's not just about acting, singing, dancing, and enjoying it together with his family, which is also a joy."

Xu Qilin knew that Yuchi Gong meant this, so he stopped persuading each other. He had money and spent money on building pavilions in a small theater. The whole family enjoyed the performance of the genius, and there was nothing wrong with it.

After sitting in the Duke's Mansion for a while, Xu Qilin stood up and said goodbye. While it was not too late, he wanted to go to the Mada Secret House to pay New Year's greetings, and then he could go out of the city to return home. This is not good in the city, and he could still think about the curfew.

When Yuchi Huan and Cheng Chubi saw that Xu Qilin had something to do, they sent him out of the house and agreed with him to have a party and have a banquet in the third year of the junior high school to have fun with their friends.

Xu Qilin and two servants came to Ma Zhou's mansion with him, and after a short while, they came to Ma Zhou's mansion. After the notice, the mansion's supervisor welcomed Xu Qilin in.

When he arrived at the hall, Xu Qilin discovered that it was not only Ma Dami, but also the Secretariat Secretariat Cen Wenben.

Cen Wenben and Ma Zhou were both confidential officials, and Cen Wenben served as the Minister of the Secretariat in the first year of Zhenguan, and was considered to be Ma Zhou's former predecessor.

The two of them have one thing in common, that is, they are both very literary and advice in accordance with the times, and are quite valued by His Majesty Li Er.

Xu Qilin came forward to pay New Year's greetings with a respectful attitude. Both of them were future prime ministers, and they were calm and modest, and they were very considerate of Xu Qilin's temper.

"Xu Cheng has become a new county in the Great Wall. He is already in harmony with someone. The younger generation is terrifying!" Cen Wenben returned a tribute and said with a smile: "I still feel unfair at first, but I have to accept it when I see the achievements of the reform of the canal transportation."

Ma Zhou smiled and said, "Since ancient times, those who are famous for their financial management have Guanzi in front and Sang Hongyang in the back. Someone who believes in Qi Lin will also be the minister of prosperity in the Tang Dynasty."

"I'm sorry, I'm too proud, I don't dare to take it." Xu Qilin was proud and still very modest.

"In the canal transportation, recruitment instead of levying, and giving benefits to the people, I am very grateful." Cen Wenben said: "Qi Lin thought, can this last for a long time?"

Xu Qilin thought for a while and said, "If the people do not increase their taxes, they can only make up for it by industry and commerce."

"This is similar to what Sang Hongyang said, "The rich country is not the same as, why should the rich country be used to use native farmers?" Ku Wenbeng said in a pondering manner: "Does Qi Lin also agree with Sang Hongyang's official salt and iron camp?"

The official salt and iron camp has always been criticized by Confucianism, which is called "competing for profit with the people."

But it is undeniable that the large-scale production of the official salt and iron industry, regardless of its capital, equipment, personnel, or cost reduction, has an incomparable advantage over the small-scale private salt and iron industry.

Although there are some serious problems in the salt and iron official business due to the inevitable disadvantages of the feudal bureaucratic system, this is not impossible to improve, and the superiority of large-scale production is undeniable.

However, this involves complex factors in all aspects, and Xu Qilin dared not propose them casually. What he actually did was to give full play to the advantages of large-scale production and use market laws to survive the fittest.

Think about it, the quality of fine salt, the cost and quality of iron smelting plants will inevitably cause many small workshops to fall in competition, thus becoming an official business that does not require policies.

Without compulsory official policies, it is not like killing all small workshops with one blow. Keeping them can help curb the shortcomings of the bureaucratic system.

For example, in order to complete the prescribed tasks, the official salt and iron camp only pays attention to output, ignores quality, and does not consider the specific needs of the people. It is even not allowed to choose, force buying and selling, etc.

More importantly, once the official salt and iron policy is released, it may cause expensive prices, making many people unable to afford it or use it.

Therefore, Xu Qilin agreed to a certain degree of monopoly, but did not agree to implement it with compulsory policies. It is still necessary to give private salt and iron industries a chance to survive.

After listening to Xu Qilin's story, Cen Wenben breathed a little relieved. There was no need to worry about Xu Qilin's memorial and the implementation of the official salt and iron operation.

In fact, Cen Wenben still had a contradictory mentality about the official business of salt and iron. As for the economic situation of the Han Dynasty at that time, if the government did not implement the official business policy, it would have to increase the taxes of farmers, which would have increased the burden on farmers.

However, the official business of salt and iron is indeed suspected of competing for profit with the people, and the sharp rise in salt prices is a clear example. The court has money, but the people have no benefits.

After hearing Xu Qilin's ideas, Cen Wenben and Ma Zhou both thought it was good, although they were not good at economics.

As for the establishment and development of Dayingku, Cen and Ma were happy to see it. As long as they were managed properly, it would be good to make money for the royal family, saving His Majesty the money from the treasury, and it would be inseparable from public and private.

From now on, Dayingku not only made money, but also did not forget to benefit the people. The transformation of the requisition to recruitment in the grain government reform has reduced the burden on the people.

Moreover, the smooth flow of the canal roads and the reduction of the cost of canal transportation have led to a large amount of grain transported into Guanzhong. This is also a good thing for the prefectures and counties in Guanzhong. If you conquer Gaochang, you don’t have to increase taxes, and you don’t have to worry about shortage of food if you have famines.

As for industry and commerce, Cen and Ma did not know much, but as long as they did not hinder the strength of the country and did not add burden to the people, they did not have much opinion.

"The successful reform of the canal transport is not only very beneficial to the conquest of Gaochang, but also the date of Li Simo's reunion north will be advanced." Ma Zhou picked up the teacup and took a sip, saying, "In this way, your Majesty's grand strategy can be fully implemented."

"There are immigrants." Cen Wenben said with a smile: "We must also use the residence set up by Dayingku to arrange food and accommodation on the road."

Xu Qilin smiled and said, "Li Simo led his troops north to return. Can the court decide on the development of the Hetao area?"

Hetao refers to the Han area where the Yellow River flows through east of Helan Mountain and south of Langshan and Daqing Mountain in Inner Mongolia and Ningxia. It is named because the Yellow River flows through this to form a large bend.

Because the Yellow River is blocked on three sides around the Hetao, the soil is rich and can be cultivated. Therefore, there is a folk proverb that "The Yellow River has many harms, but only one is rich."

After self-defense, the two kings of Loufan and Aries who defeated the Huns in Qingtuyun, occupied Hetao, Emperor Wu of Han established Shuofang County, Wuyuan County, Xihe County, and the previous Yunzhong County and Dingxiang County as bases for defense and attacking the Huns.

At that time, many Han people farmed here and irrigated the Yellow River, which led to the rapid development of local agriculture and prosperity. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Huns who surrendered to the Han Dynasty were placed in Hetao and lived with the Han people. Later, during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Hetao area became a major place for the struggle for many northern regimes, and the war was greatly damaged.

During the Northern Zhou, Sui and Tang Dynasties, the place was reclaimed, but it did not return to its historical prosperity. During the Zhenguan period, His Majesty Li Er placed the surrendered Turks here, and the development of agricultural reclamation fell to a standstill again.

Since Li Simo wanted to lead the people back north and since he wanted to immigrate, Xu Qilin fell in love with this rich and fertile land. For nothing else, he just wanted to build Gaochang and carry out cotton ****.

Cotton is a good thing, but to promote planting, the court naturally had to worry about the contradiction between competing for land with grain. The Hetao area lacked this concern, after all, it was not fully developed land.

Cen Wenben and Ma Zhou looked at each other in surprise, not quite understanding what Xu Qilin meant.

Ma Zhou slowly spoke, "The Hetao area is a key military location in the south of the desert and a northern barrier in the capital area. It is a matter of garrisoning heavy troops."

Cen Wenben nodded and asked Xu Qilin: "Why did Xu Cheng ask about this place? Do you have any other ideas?"

Xu Qilin smiled and said, "There are old famous things in the north and south of the Yangtze River. If you don't develop them well, I'm really sorry for the sweetness given by the Yellow River."

Ma Zhou laughed and said, "Qi Lin is interested, he can submit it to the court. It is more appropriate to connect it with immigration."

Cen Wenben also laughed, knowing that Xu Qilin did not express his true thoughts, but he didn't care. Whether it was development and construction, or whatever, it was always beneficial to the Tang Dynasty.

Of course, the development of the Hetao area is not as simple as saying. To make the northern and southern subways worthy of the name, opening canals and irrigation is fundamental, and the investment is not small.

However, the investment can be carried out in stages, but the initial profit of cotton is very large, and the input-output ratio is exactly in line with Xu Qilin's expectations.

Xu Qilin sat for a while and talked about something else. Seeing that it was getting late, he said goodbye and left, leaving directly out of the city and went home.

…………….

The state banquets of the Tang Dynasty were set up according to the times and events, and they all came from the emperor's whim.

After the grand ceremony on the first day of the Lunar New Year, His Majesty Li Er stayed up all night and had another morning, probably because he was tired. This slowed down and he held a banquet on the second day of the Lunar New Year to entertain all civil and military officials above the fifth rank in the court.

But Xu Qilin never expected that he would also participate.

To be honest, Xu Qilin is not interested in such large-scale group activities. It would be better to get together with the guys, eat, drink and play, find a few geeks to accompany you, or go to brothels to make a trip. That would be so refreshing.

It is estimated that His Majesty Li Er also wanted to praise Xu Qilin. After all, he made a contribution and was a fifth-rank official, Great Wall County, and was qualified to participate.

But who knew that Xu Qilin didn't like this, but he still had to bite the bullet. It was really painful.

In fact, His Majesty Li Er's arrangement is quite humane. Those ministers who accompanied him to celebrate New Year's Eve and stayed up all night were struggling at the dynasty meeting. The only thing they wanted to do was to go home and sleep and have some banquets?

After resting for a long time, have you all recovered? Then let’s continue to have fun!

Xu Qilin was so unhappy that he entered the city and came to Liangyi Hall. This is where His Majesty Li Er often feasted for ministers and tribute envoys. As for the Daming Palace, it was still rotten!

The palace servants came forward to entertain Xu Qilin and led him to the front of the case. Although he already had high-foot tables and chairs, he was still idle at home. In this formal occasion, he was still a small table and a bed on the ground.

Since there is no large table, the separate meal system is usually implemented. Each person has a small table, and each eats its own food.

There were many people attending the imperial banquet. Although they were not as good as those who invited civil and military officials and envoys from all directions after the dynasty meeting, the banquets were held for several miles, but they were also old men in line.

Xu Qilin looked at it and his small seats were lined up very far behind. He had just been qualified to attend the imperial banquet of the fifth grade or above. He was only as good as the face of his face. He would not punch someone like the Yuchi Sect God.

The key is that he was young and looked around. Among the officials who attended the banquet, either young people or old men, there were no peers.

It was so boring to attend this banquet. Xu Qilin sat there, and soon he felt sleepy and yawned with his mouth.

"Why is Xu Cheng sitting alone?" A word came, and Xu Qilin hurriedly looked up.

After seeing the visitor, Xu Qilin stood up and bowed, "The emperor has met His Highness the King of Wei."

Li Sipang smiled and reached out to help him, saying, "This is the first time Xu Cheng has participated in the imperial banquet in the palace, but there is no need to be too restrictive. There must be some familiarity in the court officials, so you can have a conversation!"

Xu Qilin smiled and said, "The senior officials have little experience, so they sit here honestly, but don't want to cause trouble for others."

Li Sipang nodded and said, "Okay, as long as you feel comfortable, you don't have to force yourself." After pausing, he said, "I will hold a banquet in the palace tomorrow. If Xu Cheng has nothing to do, what if he comes to attend?"

Xu Qilin thought for a moment and bowed, "I am invited by the prince, but I dare not obey the order."

Li Sipang showed a sincere smile. Suddenly, he saw Prince Li Chengqian walking into the palace, so he bowed to Xu Qilin and turned to meet him.

Xu Qilin looked at Li Sipang greeting Li Chengqian, smiled and bowed, showing so close and passionate, and couldn't help but pursed the corners of his lips.
Chapter completed!