After Liu Yan and others returned to Dapanbao, they summoned several small flag officials to the general flag office to discuss matters. The three principals Wang Yunhe, Chen Jiangshi, and Tan Xiaoda were also invited.
Liu Yan first informed everyone about the situation of his trip to the ancient town, and then said: "From today on, strict vigilance will be placed in the salt field and the military camp to prevent the Song family from raiding. The flag officer Xu Ming is responsible for the security of each place. For communication, if the flag is not collected at night, manpower must be deployed in the military camp and salt drying field, and messages must be delivered to the fort at noon every day.”
"yes!"
Then Liu Yan said to Wang Yunhe and Chen Jiang: "During this period, the soap workshop must do its best to supply the management team. At the same time, 20% of each batch of soap produced must be left in the warehouse for storage."
"yes."
"As for the wine shop, first sell the Shaoguo wine produced to the surrounding Huolu Dun and Tunpu. You can also send people to contact the merchants at Qianhu Station in front of Xiahe Village. If you can't sell it for the time being, store it in the warehouse first. , there is no need to rush.”
Although Wang Yunhe usually likes to smile with Liu Yan, he is very serious in formal occasions such as discussions. After listening to Liu Yan's instructions, he stood up and gave a Wanfu gift and said: "Don't worry, Commander A, the wine shop will do a good job."
Liu Yan nodded and said to Tan Xiaoda: "Mr. Tan, this time I went to the inspection department of the ancient town. I purchased a large amount of iron and coal. The firearms manufacturing department must ensure the output of weapons and stockpile as much as possible. We should have as many guns, spears, armors, gunpowder and paper shells as possible. I believe it won’t be long before these reserves can be put to use.”
Tan Xiaoda was a little surprised and said: "Chief A, the output of the Firearms Manufacturing Department is already very high. One month's output includes hundreds of blunderbuss, thirty pairs of armor, two hundred spears, and the remaining gunpowder and There are more paper-cased bullets, so do we still need to increase production?”
Liu Yan thought for a while and said: "There are a lot of weapons stored in the arsenal now. The Firearms Supervision Department will first stabilize the current output and store all the weapons we can produce. I will be of great use."
"yes."
Then the flag officer Zhang Yi said: "To the commander, I have something to report."
"oh?"
Liu Yan asked: "What's the matter?"
Zhang Yi said: "Yesterday, my subordinates received a letter from the salt lord Chu Yunfei. This Chu Yunfei wants to be introduced by his subordinates. It seems that he wants to join the commander of the army and join our Dapanbao."
Liu Yan said with a smile: "Join the gang? This Chu Yunfei thinks that we are the kings of the mountain who dominate the mountain."
Everyone laughed.
Zhang Yi took out the letter and handed it to Liu Yan, and then said with a smile: "Please take a look at it, Chief A. From the opinion of my subordinates, Chu Yunfei probably can't work anymore, so he wants to join us."
Liu Yan took the letter and read it, and then understood the cause and effect of the matter.
It turns out that after Chu Yunfei rebuilt his own private salt team, he became prosperous for a while by selling sea salt from Dapanbao. However, now Lingshan Guard has begun to vigorously crack down on private salt dealers in various places, and guards everywhere are constantly attacking. , more than a dozen groups of private salt dealers have been surrounded and suppressed, and Chu Yunfei's situation has become very dangerous.
Therefore, Chu Yunfei thought about it and wanted to join Liu Yan. From then on, she would concentrate on helping Liu Yan sell salt. She did not want to live the hard life of today and no tomorrow again.
Liu Yan sighed. The reason why the Lingshan Guard is vigorously cracking down on illegal salt dealers in various places is because the generals of the local guards themselves are reselling illegal salt!
For example, the sea salt produced in Dapanbao was not directly distributed to ordinary military households after being sold by Chu Yunfei. Instead, most of it was resold to hundreds or thousands of households in various places, and then these officers then Resell it and get a profit from it.
Now these hundreds or thousands of households must no longer be satisfied with their status as middlemen, so they have begun to go into battle without any shirts, directly killing all the private salt dealers in Lingshanwei, and replacing them themselves, so that they can obtain greater benefits.
So Liu Yan said: "Our cooperation with Chu Yunfei was pretty good before. Let's help if we can. In this way, you send someone to contact Chu Yunfei and tell him that I want to see him and ask Chu Yunfei to come. Go to Dapanbao."
"yes."
Finally, Liu Yan told everyone to cheer up. The ancient town inspection department's trade route would not be interrupted for too long, and he would find a way to open it up as soon as possible.
Two days later, when Wang Yue, a small flag officer, led his troops to inspect the outside of Dapanbao, he intercepted a fast horse carrying a flag with the character "Song" on it. Then he found a letter from this person. After reading the envelope, Then he escorted the people to the general flag hall in a hurry.
"Captain A!"
Wang Yue shouted loudly as soon as he entered the door. Liu Yan frowned slightly in the main hall, greeted him and asked, "What happened?"
"War letter, the Song family has sent someone to issue a war letter!"
Liu Yan was stunned for a moment, then said with a dumbfounded smile: "How long has it been since this happened? The Song family is still doing this. Are they going to challenge the generals of the two armies in a one-on-one battle?"
Wang Yue handed the letter to Liu Yan and said, "Commander Jia, please don't take it lightly. The Song family must not be underestimated. Maybe they are planning some conspiracy!"
"It's not maybe, it's definitely!"
As Liu Yan spoke, he opened the letter and saw on the envelope: Personally signed by Liu Yan, Commander of the General Banner of Dapanbao. Below were two large letters of war.
After opening it, the content in his heart probably meant: Liu Yan refused the Song family's conditions without knowing what was right and injured a member of the Song family. This is a capital crime. However, the Song family read that Liu Yan was the commander-in-chief of the banner and had a certain status, so he disdained the use of assassination and other methods. So the Song family proposed to arrange a battle in three days, and the location was set to be outside Xizhuang Tun, under the jurisdiction of the Inspection Department of the ancient town.
If Liu Yan does not dare to lead his troops to go to the appointment, the Song family will make the matter public and disgrace Liu Yan. At the same time, they will send troops to intercept Dapanbao's cargo fleet and take revenge on those who dare to do business with Dapanbao. anyone!
After reading it, Liu Yan put the letter on the table with a sneer. Wang Yue on the side asked: "Chief A, do we need to report this to the team leader? After all, there are members of the team leader in our business. If such a big thing happens, the leader of the team can't stay out of it, at least he can deal with the Song family."
"deal with?"
Liu Yan said: "What is there to deal with? The Song family is clearly trying to lure out the men and horses from our Dapanbao, and then annihilate them in Xitunzhuang. If the men and horses are gone, then our soap workshop, salt drying field and winery will naturally It belongs to others.”
"As for the team leader, I think it's all in vain. He and Inspector Song are both officials from hundreds of households, and no one can do anything to the other. I don't think the team leader will fight to the death for us. Who knows, when we are really defeated, the team leader might even divide our property with Inspector Song!"
Wang Yue had an incredible expression on his face, as if Liu Yan was telling a joke.
Liu Yan said very seriously: "Remember: in the officialdom there are only interests, no friends. The leader of the team is good to us only because our Dapanbao can bring him money, nothing more. So don't do anything. They all want to rely on the team leader to handle it, and it’s better to ask for help than to ask for help yourself.”
"What do you mean, Commander A, to keep the appointment?"
Liu Yan sneered and said: "Of course! The reason why the Song family is so rampant is because of the hundreds of idlers and dozens of servants? I destroyed the Song family in one battle. Let's see what Song Long and Song Inspector have left. means!"
"But the location is Xitun Village under the jurisdiction of the Ancient Town Inspection Department. My subordinates are worried that there will be an ambush."
Liu Yan knew the location of Xitunzhuang. The terrain there was not complicated, with flat land in front and behind, and there were no rivers, woods or other terrain around it. It was impossible for the Song family's troops to set up an ambush.
The only advantage of Xitunzhuang for the Song family's horses is that it is very close to the ancient town inspection department, only a dozen miles away. If the Song family's horses and horses fail to fight, they can get supplementary men, horses and military equipment nearby.
However, Xitunzhuang is dozens of miles away from Dapanbao, and Liu Yan and others are fighting away from home. Once they are at a disadvantage, even retreat will be a problem.
"There shouldn't be any ambush or anything like that. This is probably a head-on battle."
Then Liu Yan asked Wang Yue to call all the small flag officers, and he wanted to deploy the battle strategy. At the same time, Liu Yan asked someone to notify Zhang Yi and bring Chu Yunfei with him to participate in the military meeting.
Nearly two hours later, all six small flag officers rushed to the main flag office. After receiving the news, Chu Yunfei also hurried over, and the last one arrived at the main flag office.
Liu Yan first handed the letter of challenge to everyone for circulation, and then said: "I have decided to keep the appointment. The messenger sent by the Song family has been sent back by me. Three days later, there will be a bloody battle in Xitun Village!"
As soon as these words came out, Chen Xun and others suddenly became more motivated to fight, and all six of them asked for a fight. Chu Yunfei also thought deeply, then clasped his fists and said: "Thanks to Mr. Liu for not giving up, if Mr. Liu is willing to take in Chu, then Chu and his more than seventy brothers will be driven by Mr. Liu, even if Even if I die, I won’t give a damn!”
Chen Xun and the other six were surprised when they heard this, while Liu Yan laughed and took Chu Yunfei's hand, saying, "With the help of Master Chu, I, Liu Yan, am even more powerful than a tiger!"
So Liu Yan pulled Chu Yunfei to sit down, and then said loudly: "Since Mr. Chu is willing to join our Dapanbao, I, Liu Yan, will agree today. From today on, Mr. Chu will be the director of the salt drying farm. Master Chu has the final say on all matters including production and sales!”
As soon as these words came out, everyone was shocked. Chu Yunfei was so excited that he stood up and thanked him immediately.
Then Liu Yan told everyone about attending the appointment and said: "This time I decided to dispatch the main force of our Dapanbao to attend the appointment. However, in order to prevent the Song family from sneak attack, we naturally cannot dispatch all of them. I thought about it and decided So deployed.”
"It's freezing now, and all the military households in the military camp have withdrawn into the fort. Therefore, there is no need for troops to be stationed in the military camp for the time being. Even if the Song family really sends people to destroy it, we can rush to complete the water conservancy facilities before next spring plowing. Repairs completed.”
"The only two places that need to be garrisoned now are the salt drying field and Dapanbao."
Liu Yan looked at the crowd and said: "The small flag officer Chen Xun will be stationed here at Dapan Fort, and the pier troops in the fort will be recruited to assist in the defense."
Chen Xun took the order with his fists clasped in some dejection.
Liu Yan then looked at Chu Yunfei and said, "As for the salt drying field, how about asking Brother Chu to lead his troops to garrison there?"
Chu Yunfei naturally understood the meaning of accepting the certificate, and immediately clasped his fists and said: "Please rest assured, Commander Jia, my subordinates and more than seventy brothers will definitely guard the salt drying field. Although my brothers are not as good as the soldiers of our Dapanbao Army, but They are all men who have seen blood. If the Song family really dares to attack us secretly, they will definitely regret it!"
"good!"
Liu Yan then said: "In addition, the small banner officers Wang Bo, Zhang Yi, Wang Yue, Xu Ming, and Miao Shao will all follow me to Xitunzhuang to attend the appointment. We will leave early tomorrow morning without any mistakes!"
On the same day, the officers and soldiers of the Dun Army of each department began intense preparation work. Zhao Min led the military households and civilians to replenish dry food and supplies for the officers of each department. Tan Xiaoda led the craftsmen from the Firearms Supervision Department to prepare weapons and equipment for the officers of each department. Dapanbao was divided into two groups. A busy scene.
At this moment, Wang Yunhe came to the headquarters of the general flag and found Liu Yan. His face was full of worry and his eyes were slightly red. He said: "General Liu is in danger this time. You must be careful. If something can be done, do it." In other words, once something becomes impossible, come back safely for the sake of later effects!"
Liu Yan was moved, nodded, and then took Wang Yunhe into his arms.
"I will come back safely, wait for me here!"
