"Remain true to our original aspirations" is not a slogan, but a real reminder of why we embarked on this path in the first place.

This question is very important. It means whether the path you have taken is worth it, whether you have deviated from the direction, and whether you have left any regrets.

The Anxi Army had its original intention when Gu Qing commanded them to fight the first battle.

At that time, the original intention of the soldiers was very simple. They only wanted to receive rewards for killing the enemy. Gu Qing was generous and received fifty coins for every enemy killed. After all the wars of all sizes over the years, Gu Qing did not remember how many rewards he had given out. In general,

Generally speaking, the unit should be measured in hundreds of thousands.

The soldiers were also generous with their reward money. The Anxi Army not only had strong and sufficient logistics, but was also known to be extremely wealthy. Over the past few years, the soldiers had basically become the middle class, and they no longer looked at the small reward money from the court.

If you retire and return home today, each of them can become a wealthy landowner in the village.

The original intention of ordinary soldiers is actually just out of self-interest, which is normal.

But what about Gu Qing’s original intention?

From the day he led the army, Gu Qing has never had the idea of ​​promotion and wealth. With his ability, he would not choose to lead the army in battle to realize his ambition of promotion and wealth. It would be too tiring.

On that cold night in Shiqiao Village, the government came and announced that the husbands of several women in the village had been killed in the battlefield, and left with a little pension, leaving the women widows.

Qingcheng County Government was slaughtered by dead men. Even though the heroes knew they would die, they still continued to fight, just to protect a county magistrate who made decisions for the people.

Outside Xiangzhou City, the old man pulled the reins of Gu Qing's horse and asked hard when the day of peace would come...

From the moment he came to this world, scenes of memories enriched Gu Qing's life and enriched his aspirations. Those flesh-and-blood people and things have made Gu Qing's current ideals possible and strengthened his original aspirations.

The young man from the mountain village who left Shiqiao Village, his original intention was to pave a broad road for the world. Now that he is in a high and powerful position, the young man's original intention has not changed.

"The large camp has temporarily allocated 3,000 dan of food to refugees outside the city. Starting from me, the soldiers will reduce one meal a day and do what they say." Gu Qing said decisively.

The generals stood up without hesitation and clasped their fists: "I obey the Lord's order."

"Everyone, please go back to the camp and explain to the soldiers carefully, including me. The soldiers can save tens of thousands of refugees by skipping one meal. This is a great merit."

"yes!"

Gu Qing looked at Duan Wuji again and said: "Go to my mansion in the city to find Miss Sisi, withdraw 10,000 guan, and send people down to the south of the Yangtze River. Whether it is land transportation or water transportation, 100,000 guan will urgently purchase grain from all the counties in the south of the Yangtze River.

Chang'an. By the way, Sisi has a business name under his name, which has various land and water transportation channels, as well as connections with major merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, so Sisi stopped trading and specifically contacted major merchants to speed up the purchase of grain."

Duan Wuji said solemnly: "Yes, students will do it immediately."

Gu Qing looked at Li Siye again and said with a smile: "There is something that is best suited for you to do..."

Li Siye said loudly: "Young Master, please give me the order, but if you can't do it right, I will bring it up to see you."

Gu Qing smiled and said: "'Come to see me with your head' is a bad sentence, and it's not that serious. You lead people to search for food in the various official warehouses in Chang'an City. I want all the food in the official warehouses, saying that it is the emperor's will.

The emperor has indeed issued a decree, asking me to handle the affairs of the refugees outside the city. If you act according to the decree, if anyone dares to stop you, you will beat him half to death."

Li Siye grinned widely and said: "My father-in-law has good vision. It is really appropriate to do this at the end of the day. Haha, I am here to steal food. If any bastard dares to stop me, I will beat him to death!"

"It's 'raising food', not 'grabbing food'..." Gu Qing sighed feebly: "Don't open your mouth. If an honest matter comes to your mouth, it will turn into a crime."

Gu Qing pondered for a long time and then said to Duan Wuji: "If you draft a memorial in my name and send it to the palace, you will say that the refugees are gathering and the emperor and his ministers share the suffering. Please reduce the salaries of officials in the capital to help the refugees..."

With a raised corner of his mouth, Gu Qing smiled and said: "The memorial is written in an exaggerated way to occupy the moral high ground. It probably means that cutting salary is a very moral thing. Using one's salary to help refugees is simply a great merit.

Anyone who is unwilling to reduce it is a sinner of the people and a traitor who will be reviled by history books for eternity."

Duan Wuji's eyes flashed and he smiled.

Chang Zhong chuckled and said, "My lord, this is a wonderful move. Officials cherish their reputation. No one wants to be infamous for a mere salary. Those officials have to hand over their salary honestly no matter how reluctant they are."

"

Gu Qing racked his brains to recall his experience in disaster relief in his previous life. He thought for a long time and then said: "Chang Zhong, send dozens of eloquent soldiers to make dozens of big boxes and distribute them in various buildings in Chang'an City, and print some

The leaflet tells the people of Chang'an City how miserable the refugees outside the city are and how they are only one step away from starving to death, and then calls on officials and people to put money into the box. This is called a 'charitable donation'."

Chang Zhong took the order.

In order to raise food, Gu Qing thought of these methods, but still felt that they were not enough.

The life and death of the refugees was indeed imminent, and Gu Qing wanted to do more for them.

"Actually, the real food is hidden among the people..." Gu Qing sighed: "But it is difficult to get the food from the people. They are all concentrated in the hands of the landlords. In places in the south that have not been affected by the war, the landlords' food reserves are definitely

Quite a bit, if we can borrow some of it, the refugees should be able to survive this disaster."

Li Siye said in a deep voice: "In extraordinary times, extraordinary things can be done. Sir, why don't we simply send troops to rob those landlords."

Gu Qing laughed, glared at him and said: "You have really let yourself go in the past few years. You are always fighting and killing, killing and robbing. How about you simply go up the mountain and become a king of the mountain?"

Li Siye said helplessly: "The general only knows how to use the simplest method to do the most effective thing. Isn't it simple to send troops to rob the landlords? Isn't it possible to rob food?"

"Yes, but there are too many consequences. You won't understand even if you explain it deeply. It's not possible anyway." Gu Qing said with a cold face.

The generals dispersed, and Gu Qing sat alone in the commander's tent, looking dejected.

There are still not enough talents under his command, and it is very difficult for the military generals to use them to handle these civilian affairs.

The task of relieving refugees is not a big one, but Gu Qing is still in a hurry. I don't know how difficult it will be to deal with all kinds of complicated things in the world in the future.

No wonder the founding emperors of the past dynasties used military generals when conquering the country, but when managing the country, they let civilian officials who had not made any achievements to manage the country. This was impossible because military generals could not do such detailed and tedious work.

Gu Qing has deeply realized it today.

"It's time for me to have a solid civil service system..." Gu Qing frowned and muttered to himself.

Returning to the house in the city, Huangfu Sisi swept in like a gust of wind, met Gu Qing face to face, passed by in a hurry without saying hello, and went straight to the door.

Gu Qing said in shock: "What do you mean? Am I no longer your little baby?"

Sisi stopped, turned around, walked over, pinched him hard, and said angrily: "What's the etiquette of saying private words in the boudoir in public!"

"Why are you so urgent? You just walked out without saying hello. Our store's septic tank exploded?"

Huangfu Sisi rolled his eyes at him and said: "It's not the job you're looking for. I'm busy contacting the major Jiangnan merchants in Chang'an City and asking them to quickly raise food and send it to Chang'an. Today I must get the approval from the major merchants.

Son, if anyone dares to violate the law, we will punish them with military law."

Gu Qing praised: "Yes, you should be so vigorous and resolute in doing things. Do you want me to send some personal guards to strengthen your momentum?"

"No, there are some clerks in the shop. Besides, I'm just chatting with them. If I act like I'm going to court, I'll scare them."

After Huangfu Sisi was about to go out, Gu Qing suddenly stopped her.

"After contacting the merchant, come back quickly. There is something you need to do."

"Sir, please tell me."

Gu Qing pondered for a moment and said: "You need to make a trip to Chang'an and visit the various cities in Huainan, Henan. I will issue an official letter from the court. Whenever you go to a place, you can summon local state officials and landowners to raise food from them.

We can temporarily lend it in the name of the landlord and give them a note. Those who are willing to lend the food can be rewarded as appropriate. For example, please write an inscription on the landlord's house today and send a plaque saying 'Good House' or something like that."

Sisi said in surprise: "Are they willing to inscribe something?"

Gu Qing smiled and said: "You don't know what people who have money and food but no official status really need. It shouldn't be difficult to do as I say. If there are landowners who are uncooperative, you can use some thunder

Kill one person as a warning to others."

Huangfu Sisi hesitated and said: "Doing this... wouldn't it be similar to a robbery?"

Gu Qing said sternly: "Don't put it so bluntly. Although it is essentially an open robbery, we have a fig leaf and a moral high ground. If we combine the two, it is not an open robbery, but an act of justice for heaven. Do you understand?"

Huangfu Sisi also came from a general background and knew all the tricks in the officialdom, so she gave him a hard look and said, "Officials are really dirty-minded!"

After saying that, Huangfu Sisi went out without looking back.

…………

The next day, Chang'an City fell into a tense atmosphere inexplicably.

Many officers and soldiers of the Anxi Army carried out empty boxes and stood them on the street. They also posted notices prominently on the street, attracting countless people to watch.

The content of the list only describes how miserable and helpless the refugees outside the city are. They struggle on the verge of starving to death every day. The list calls on officials and people in the city to donate money, materials and food for the refugees.

While the people were still watching, Li Siye, the Mo Dao general of the Anxi Army, led his troops into the city in a hurry and went straight to the official warehouse in the city. He looked like he was going to rob the official warehouse with murderous intent, which scared the people and gave way.

At the same time, a memorial written in the name of Gu Qing was sent to Taiji Palace, and the content of the memorial was quickly spread throughout Chang'an City by interested people.

Gu Qing petitioned to reduce the salaries of court officials to provide relief to refugees outside the city. The content of this memorial was circulated in its entirety. In short, it occupied the moral high ground. Anyone who is unwilling to reduce salaries is ignoring the refugees.

Life or death, whoever you are will be a sinner through the ages.

A memorial, using morality as a weapon, kidnapped the entire city's officials.

Many officials secretly hated it, but no one dared to oppose it openly.

Because morality is such a terrible weapon. While the people in the city are praising Mr. Gu for his understanding of righteousness and self-sacrifice for the people, who would be so reckless as to stand up and oppose Gu Qing's proposal?

Not only did they not dare to object, but they also expressed their agreement against their will, and took the initiative to petition for a reduction in salary.

In fact, most of the people who serve as officials in the court are relatively incorruptible. Integrity is not due to conscience and character, but because they do not have that much power and cannot use their power to make money. Most officials can only rely on the salary from the court to support their families.

Gu Qing's proposal did bring trouble to many officials, but Gu Qing also carefully weighed it. The officials were indeed in trouble, but they would not starve to death. Things had to be prioritized. There were nearly 10,000 officials, big and small, in Chang'an City. If these people's salaries were

Cutting off some of it, the total amount of food was considerable, so Gu Qing did it without hesitation, knowing that it would offend many people.

With both the treasury and official warehouses running out of money, it is actually not an easy task to feed more than 40,000 refugees outside the city.

Li Siye led his army back to camp from the official warehouse.
To be continued...