Guo Yao'er was stunned for a moment, then thought about it again, and then he finally realized: "Oh, yes, yes."
Since becoming the governor of Mizhou, Guo Yao'er, who had led 200 troops at that time, has greatly expanded his authority, and his status seems to have been elevated, becoming a big shot. But he really felt that he was more comfortable then. Although his authority now is great, things are also complicated, and each of them has never been thought of before, which often makes him focus on one thing and lose sight of another.
Since Yang An'er occupied most of Shandong, he immediately assigned his generals to various places, and the generals tried their best to expand their troops to strengthen their power. And the training of taking charge of one place and one army gradually made the generals understand that serious rebellion was different from the small fights that occupied the mountain stronghold before.
In addition to soldiers, an army also needs countless supplies such as food, salt, medicine, clothing, flags, tents, weapons, armor, mules, horses, and vehicles. Where do these supplies come from?
Yang An'er's Marshal's Mansion does not have the ability to mobilize supplies. When Yang An'er served as the commander of the Tiewa Ganzhan Army, he made great efforts to recruit several capable literati. But after he raised his troops and swept across Shandong, his close literati were scattered across the huge Shandong, as if two or three sesame seeds were thrown into a big pot of soup, and everything was unprepared.
In this case, all the generals can only show their special abilities. But their knowledge and talents will only be worse than Yang An'er's; and the available manpower around them will only be fewer than Yang An'er's. In the end, all they can do is rob wealthy households and wipe out the land.
Guo Yao'er was one of the few generals under Yang An'er who was unwilling to act like this.
If he doesn't do this, his money will always be tight; if his money is tight, he won't be able to win over the soldiers. Ji Qi and Jixian, who were also stationed in Mizhou, could not benefit from Guo Yao'er, so they had no choice but to do their own thing. As a result, they were still reduced to bandit soldiers, and even dared to kill people at will in front of Guo Yao'er's eyes.
In the end, the people continued to suffer and the rebels became increasingly unstoppable. This became an unsolvable situation.
Today, a maritime businessman, relying on his connections with local heroes, sent a post to the Guozhaoer Army, saying that he wanted to do some business. From this, Guo Yao'er thought of a way to solve the problem, so he came out to greet him in person.
The Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties was famous for its wealth. As long as you are willing to pay, maritime merchants have everything and can raise anything. However, Guo Yao'er had been rebelling for several months and had nothing else but accumulated some extravagant wealth.
It would be great if we could exchange those gold and silver for the needs of the army!
At that moment, Guo Yao'er welcomed the merchants and his entourage back to their home camp.
After a few chats on the road, Guo Yao'er found out that this group of maritime merchants came from Mingzhou in the Song Dynasty. The young master's surname was Zhang, a native of Mingzhou in the Song Dynasty, and the leader of the caravan. The tall and thin scholar's surname was Zhou. He came from the private port of Fushan Island in Laizhou and was a partner of Mr. Na Zhang. And the old pawn, Zhao Bin, was the guard leader invited by the caravan.
This caravan had just acquired a unique business in swim bladder glue and arrow shafts in Laizhou. They passed through Mizhou on their way back. Because they had some old friendship with the military academy under Guo Yaoer, they used this friendship to land in Zhucheng to see if there was any additional business.
"Yes! There is business!"
After everyone sat down in the account, Guo Yao'er cheered up and said with a smile: "We lack everything here, but we have a lot of money. But I don't know, what can you provide?"
Zhang Kai smiled slightly and took out a thin silk book from his sleeve: "Commander, please take a look. This is the material I can raise from the Song Dynasty."
Guo Yao'er didn't know much about literacy, so he waved a clerk to come up, open the books, select the important ones and tell them.
Although Zhang Kai is young, he is indeed a veteran in business. In his silk book, he introduced various goods in detail, including some cloths or medicines, and even drew bright pictures to explain the origin and characteristics of the goods.
The scribe was reading and explaining to Guo Yao'er. From time to time, he would also give a few words of praise, admiring Zhang Kai's carefulness.
Precisely because the book has detailed descriptions, there are actually not many types of goods, and the three or five pages can be flipped through quickly. The scribe bowed to Guo Yao'er and returned to the lower level.
Guo Yao'er pondered in silence for a moment, then said in a deep voice: "We need food and medicinal materials. We can negotiate a price now. According to what is written in the book, I will take them all. Others, such as tea and silk , spices, ivory, pearls, corals, lychees, longans, kumquats, olives...forget it!"
He patted the table and laughed to himself: "You guys should know that we are rebels! The heads of rebels are not their own anymore, so why do you want these enjoyments?"
Zhang Kai also laughed: "The commander-in-chief, the reason for starting the rebellion is for glory and wealth, how can there be no reason not to enjoy it? Even if the commander-in-chief himself is not good at this, he will use it to reward the soldiers, or give it to other generals, or even donate it to Marshal Yang An'er. It’s also good!”
Guozhaoer snorted heavily.
Nonsense, of course that's good.
Guo Yao'er lives in a tent in the military camp, and his daily life is no different from the past. But these days, many of the other generals and commanders under Yang An'er's command are living as good as gods! If Guo Yaer takes these things as gifts, who wouldn't smile?
It would of course be better if it were presented to Marshal Yang. Marshal Yang had recently been busy arranging the founding of the country and proclaiming himself emperor, and he probably would not refuse to bring some rare southern things to support the occasion.
Guo Yao'er heard that since ancient times, when emperors ascended the throne, auspicious signs appeared. If you donate something good at this time, it might be auspicious and you can get promoted to a higher position.
Thinking of this, he continued to shake his head: "No need."
He pressed his elbow on the desk, looked deeply at Zhang Kai, and said in a serious tone: "We are rebels, not officials of the imperial court, so we don't need these."
Once a veteran like him became serious, he would have power and power, and Zhang Kai couldn't help but shrink back.
Guo Yao'er then heard a chuckle from the tent, with a hint of mockery in the laughter.
Guozhaoer frowned.
In any case, these are maritime merchants who can bring a lot of good things. Guo Yaoer also hopes to start with them and slowly attract more maritime merchants to Mizhou. What's so funny about maritime merchants being afraid of the power of warriors? It seems that the control of subordinates has been relaxed these days. There are also people in the Chinese army's tent who are so frivolous!
He glanced at his subordinates to see who was so rude, but he saw that all of his subordinates had serious faces, and the one who laughed mockingly was the scholar Zhou Keshan.
Guo Yao'er asked curiously: "Mr. Zhou, why are you laughing?"
Zhou Keshan leaned back and sighed: "What I laugh at is that there are too few people like Dutong among Marshal Yang's subordinates."
"What's the meaning?"
"We came from the Jiaoxi and Gaomi areas, and we have met several generals from your department before. With all due respect, few of Marshal Yang's subordinates think that they are rebels. Some people think that they are rich men, and some think that they are rich men. Think of yourself as an official with a decent background, but some people, hey, just think of yourself as a thief."
These words are simply pointing at the nose, saying that Yang An'er's subordinates are in trouble.
Guo Jie'er couldn't help but feel angry.
Just as he was waiting for a response, Zhou Keshan reached into his sleeve and took out another silk book: "Du Tong, the list you just looked at is the materials we can mobilize and traffic from Mingzhou in the Song Dynasty. Now, please take a look at this list. List.”
Guo Jiaoer suppressed his anger and asked the officials to come up and take it. The official glanced twice and said in a trembling voice: "Du Tong, this... this..."
"What's up here?"
"There are swords and guns, armor, and arrows!" The officer looked over and over twice: "Five hundred swords and guns each! Fifty armored collars! Ten thousand arrows... That is enough to meet the needs of our army!"
Guozhao'er was startled, grabbed the silk book, and flipped through it. Although he may not recognize every word, those patterns are actually very familiar to Guo Yao'er.
With the silk book still in his hand, Guo Yao'er suddenly stood up. Because the movement was too big, he almost brought down the people in front of him: "You are not ordinary maritime merchants! You are from..."
He noticed Zhao Bin again, and remembered the familiar feeling from before.
Damn it, I was negligent. Now in Shandong, there is only one family that can command such experienced soldiers!
"...You are from Laizhou!"
