Ren Ning didn't care much about the cooperation method.
In the next few days, Ren Ning made a batch of shoes, raincoats, tires and even buckets and water bags, preparing for Li Hezhu to take them to the imperial capital to discuss cooperation with Uncle Zhongyong and Yingpan.
After the cooperation is negotiated, he will teach them the collection, purification, washing and most important vulcanization of natural rubber.
If the negotiation is not successful, then of course nothing will happen.
"Girl, you want to go north to the imperial capital?" Wutong was surprised, "What should we do in the mansion?"
"I haven't been to the north in my life, so I want to go see it and talk about the cooperation at hand." Li Hezhu smiled gently: "As for the house, there will be nothing after the autumn harvest is over until the New Year. Besides, there is no housekeeper. Are you there?"
Wutong muttered, "What's good about the imperial capital is that it has strict rules. I heard that unmarried girls are not allowed to go out casually. It's better for us to go out in Nanshu City."
"Besides, it's not like there are no other people in the house, so why do we need you to discuss cooperation, girl? Maybe you want to see that Yingpan Kailun."
"What did you say?" Li Hezhu didn't hear clearly.
"It's nothing." Wutong was startled, "I'm going to pack my luggage now."
Ren Ning didn't know Li Hezhu's plan.
He walked around the city and finally heard news about the Starfall Legion.
Lei Er was gearing up.
"Old Ren, the legion is currently parked outside Caopu County. They probably discovered the code we left. Do you want to go back and teach the garrison there a lesson?"
"Go back, go back!" Xiao Gang whirred, waving his silver gun, "You are a dog-breed. We were rescuing people that night, and they actually came to kill us."
"If it hadn't been for your alertness, Brother Ren, we would have been reduced to nothing. It's unbearable. It's the right thing to get rid of the resident pests in this place as soon as possible."
Ren Ning flipped through the calendar in his hand and made an immediate decision: "Let's go!"
There are time requirements for the legion's defense change, so it might be fine if you arrive a day or two late. If you arrive too late, the Ministry of War or the Emperor will definitely hold you accountable, and then the legion leader will be left with nothing to eat.
He said: "There is not much time now, the legion may have already set off south. Be mentally prepared for a wasted trip."
Lei Er didn't care: "Anyway, if you are idle, you are idle. If you run in vain, you will run in vain."
The three of them packed their luggage, informed Li Hezhu, and drove their horses north quickly.
The post road was difficult to walk, and it was already the afternoon of the second day when we arrived in Caopu County.
Ahead was a long line of cars, with the familiar Xingluo military flag flying high.
The three of them looked at each other in disbelief.
Because of the traces they left, the entire legion stayed still for two days.
"Who is it?" A soldier came up to meet him.
"Xingluo forward generals' personal guards Ren Ning and Lei Er have returned to the team."
Soon the three of them saw Guan Luping, who was covered in stubble.
"Ren Ning and Lei Er see the general." Ren Ning stepped forward and handed back the military flag.
"Good boy, it's good to come back, it's good to come back!" Guan Luping unfurled the scarlet flag to confirm, and then punched each of them in laughter, "General Ben has heard about the matter of sending the soul back home. You all have heard about it. Well done, he deserves to be a member of the Legion. He has the guts!"
He praised Ren Ning and Lei Er thoroughly before his eyes fell on Xiao Gang who was restless next to him, "This young master is..."
Xiao Gang quickly handed over his hand and said, "Xiao Gang from Zhongyong's residence is here to see General Guan."
He took out a letter of introduction from the Ministry of War and said, "I am honored to be a member of the Starfall Army. In the future, Xiao Gang will abide by military regulations and disciplines, obey subordinate orders, be not afraid of hardship and sacrifice, and add glory to the Starfall Army flag..."
The pipeline is flat and noncommittal.
Once you hear someone from the Duke's house, it's likely that he's here to get gold plating.
He took the letter of introduction and glanced at it indifferently: "It turns out you are the second young master of Uncle Zhongyong's mansion. Who are you, Uncle Xiao Zheng?"
"General Guan knows my father." Xiao Gang was very happy.
"I don't know," Guan Luping said, not giving face to Uncle Zhongyong, "but I heard that Uncle Xiao has been practicing martial arts continuously in these years to strive for strength. I wonder how much the second master has learned the Xiao family's marksmanship?"
If Xiao Gang still has some skills, Guan Luping has no intention of making things difficult for him. If Xiao Gang was an aristocratic son who only knew how to eat, drink and have fun, don't blame Guan Luping for sending him to rear horses.
"Please judge, General."
Xiao Gang regained his energy, took a few steps back, walked Tiangang and Bagua, and used the Xiao family's marksmanship like a dragon and a stick.
After a while, the marksmanship was finished.
He put away his weapon, not even daring to wipe his sweat off, and looked at Guan Luping anxiously.
Before leaving the imperial capital, Ren Ning and Lei Er had told Xiao Gang that his martial arts and character would be reviewed during their first meeting, which would largely determine his whereabouts in the legion.
The Starfall Legion would not give preferential treatment to a mere young master from the Zhongyong Prefecture.
Xiao Gang did not dare to be disrespectful and practiced diligently every day.
"It's not bad. It looks like you've put a lot of effort into it." Guan Luping was a little surprised, "He's full of murderous intent. Have you seen blood before?"
"Back to the general, Xiao Gang did fight several battles with us. He killed Xiao Xiao and also killed Nanfeng people." Ren Ning gave a rough summary of what happened on the road.
Guan Luping nodded, "So the secret code on the road was left by you?"
"Go back to General, we kept him." Ren Ning told the story of that night in detail.
Hold!
The anger in Guan Luping's eyes could not be concealed, but his tone was surprisingly calm: "What evidence do you have to prove that they are the local garrison?"
"Go back to the general. What happened that night happened in the small mountain nest in front. At that time, the garrison fired three cloud-piercing arrows to ask for help, so we came to support. The villagers in Zhuangzi and the people in Nanfeng could see it clearly. Ask them and you will understand.”
Guan Luping waved his hand and sent other guards to look for him.
Not long after, the guard came back on horseback.
He glanced at Ren Ning and the others with strange expressions on their faces.
"General, the village has been completely burned down. Passers-by are saying that people from Nanfeng broke in in the middle of the night to kill people and set fire to it. By the time the defenders arrived, all the villagers were dead."
"General," Ren Ning was not surprised at all, "My subordinates are also good at killing people and silencing them. Fortunately, I kept the evidence."
He left for a while and dragged back a body that exuded a strong stench. The body was covered in mud, and it was unknown where Ren Ning dug it out.
"Nan Fengjun's clothes." Guan Luping looked at it silently.
Ren Ning turned over the body expressionlessly, and then pulled out two military arrows from the body.
The arrows were extremely smelly and had words engraved on them. One of them is engraved with "loyalty and bravery", and the other is engraved with "hundred flowers".
Privately manufacturing weapons is tantamount to rebellion, and ordinary people dare not disrupt it at will.
The arrow engraved with the words Zhongyong was taken by Ren Ning at the school grounds of Zhongyong Bofu. The arrows engraved with the words "Hundred Flowers" naturally belong to the local garrison.
"Good boy. It's not in vain that we stayed here for two days." Guan Luping smiled coldly, "Go and invite the county captain of Caopu County to this general."
"Please" Guan Luping emphasized his tone.
"General, the defense change deadline seems to be coming soon." Ren Ning reminded.
"There's no rush," Guan Luping disagreed, "The deadline hasn't come yet. And the baggage hasn't been caught up yet, so we'll be fine if we go slower. Besides, I have to figure it out no matter what when I see the warning signal you left."
"I can't let you suffer in vain."
The county captain arrived very quickly, with messy hair, disheveled clothes and even one shoe missing.
Bang.
Before he could say anything, Guan Luping threw two arrows in front of the county captain. "Those who dare to attack the Starfall Legion are really desperate. You'd better tell the truth. If you don't tell or tell nonsense, you will die, or you will be executed."
"General," Ren Ning handed over, "three of my subordinates have just returned from Guangxin County. They are very hungry. Why don't you go get something to eat first?"
The local garrison was acting recklessly, and there were imperial mansions everywhere nearby, which was too involved. They are just soldiers, so don't listen to them yet.
"Go ahead." Guan Luping nodded with satisfaction.
The next morning, there were more than a dozen piles of blood on the ground.
Ren Ning saw the body of the county captain at a glance, but his head was missing. It was probably sent to the county captain's mansion.
He ignored it.
The legions set off, heading south!
