That morning, He Fei, the acting commander of the 133rd Regiment of the Jin Army who was stationed in the barracks outside Zhongyang County, received a report from the sentry. He said that a colonel named Zhou, who claimed to be the director of the Provincial Party Headquarters Security Division, asked for help at the gate of the camp. Meet the leader.
He Fei was a little puzzled. Isn't this Captain Li's enemy? Now after killing everyone, they come looking for me. Are you still not giving up? What else is going on?
I wanted to think about it, but I couldn't leave the dignified provincial party officials outside the door, so I led the guards to the camp gate to greet them. From a distance, I saw a young colonel and several second lieutenants standing at the door of the barracks with their horses. He Fei dared to bet with anyone that the colonel named Zhou was definitely not older than his 25-year-old son.
To become a colonel at such a young age, I'm afraid there's someone in the court. He didn't dare to neglect at that moment, and went out with a smile on his face. When Zhou Wen saw a middle-aged Jin Army colonel coming out, he took a few steps forward and saluted. He Fei quickly returned the salute and said, "Director Zhou, you are so polite. Although you and I have the same military rank, you represent the provincial party headquarters." , I should be the one saluting you."
Zhou Wen also smiled and said: "Although we are of the same rank, Captain He is a senior in the army. As a junior, I should show respect to my senior."
One sentence made He Fei feel very comfortable. Well, not bad, he doesn't look like a domineering person. I also had a good impression of Zhou Wen, so I laughed and said, "Director Zhou is too modest. Come on, come on, please come to our regiment headquarters if you don't mind the vulgarity of the military camp."
It turns out that if Zhou Wen wants to build the road from Lishi to Zhongyang County, he cannot have the final say or pay for it. That is something that benefits both counties, and naturally requires the two counties to work together.
Lishi County Magistrate Wang Chenghao and Lin Yun, who represents the Chamber of Commerce, have already visited the Magistrate of Zhongyang County, but Zhou Wen also wants to bring in the local garrison. Zhongyang County is not as wealthy as Lishi County. It probably does not have enough funds to hire migrant workers, but it does have an army. Anyway, idle time is idle. When Marshal Yan was building roads in the past, he used a lot of troops to participate in the construction. One regiment is equivalent to more than a thousand migrant workers, and there is no need to pay wages, and the necessary labor for road construction is in vain.
What's more, Zhou Wen also learned through the Chamber of Commerce that the deputy captain surnamed He was not the same person as the former captain Li. The He family is also considered a big family in Zhongyang County, and they also have several mines. But after the Li family stepped in, they ended up fighting against their competitors, and naturally the relationship between the two parties was not very harmonious.
The last time the Li family's mining workers rioted, the He family also did a lot of unscrupulous things inside.
After Zhou Wen had an exchange with Captain He, He Fei also knew that the road construction would bring huge benefits to the army and the He family, so he naturally had no objections and was immediately ready to report to his superiors. He also promised to make all preparations before the year after getting permission from his boss, and strive to start construction after the Spring Festival.
No one should take advantage of Zhou Wen's plan. There are 20 kilometers of roads in total, and one county will contract for 10 kilometers. It will be open to traffic next year.
As for whether the upper echelons of the Jin army agreed or not, Zhou Wen basically had nothing to worry about. You must know that although Marshal Yan is out of office now, he is still controlling the Jin army behind the scenes. The current chairman of Shanxi Province is his close subordinate Chief Xu. So things like road construction will definitely be reported to him.
How could Marshal Yan disagree with building roads, a good thing that benefits the province and the people? He has been advocating and presiding over highway construction in Shanxi before. What's more, they are not outsiders. Although Zhou Wen is a party official, he is also a son of Shanxi, right? There is no such thing as buying people's hearts. When the people of Shanxi want to build roads, Marshal Yan doesn’t have to pay for it. Where can he find such a good thing?
At noon, after a hearty feast of wine and meat, Zhou Wen declined He Fei's repeated warm invitations to stay, and left the military camp with a few brothers on horseback.
After walking less than three miles, a figure holding a gun and covered in weeds and leaves appeared beside the mountain road. He smiled and said: "Senior brother, you guys have had a good meal of wine and meat, but we are still freezing next to each other."
Then a few more disguised team members walked out on the side of the road. It was Zhang Xiaoping who led Ergazi and several other team members. It turns out that Zhou Wen came to the military camp alone and was not at all wary. In case there were close friends of the Li family in the military camp who wanted revenge, the support and cover outside the camp gate would be very important.
The color of wine on Zhou Wen's face had not faded yet. Hearing this, he laughed loudly and said, "I owe you a meal. I'll make up for it at night when I get home. My father also hid a few bottles of aged Fen wine, so I went to steal them and drink them at night. "
The team members were overjoyed, and Ergazi shouted: "Scholar, as you said, you can't blame us for being beaten by your father."
Everyone laughed together...
Suddenly, with a gesture from Zhou Wen, the team members dispersed with a swoosh. Zhou Wen, however, sat firmly on the horse without taking out his gun. He said to a forest in front of him: "Come out, there are three of us in total. Don't play tricks and come out slowly. Otherwise, you won't be polite."
I saw three people slowly walking out of the woods not far away. They were all young men in their twenties. They were all in rags. The current one was holding a worn-out old sleeve, and the other two were holding spears. Although his mouth was blue and his face was purple from the freezing cold in the winter snow, he still looked at Zhou Wen warily.
The man holding the gun asked cautiously: "Excuse me, is the person opposite you Master Zhou from the Zhou family in Lishi?"
Zhou Wen didn't pay attention to the vigilance of these people. He looked at the man with the gun and said, "I don't talk to strangers who hold guns. Either you put the gun down or you leave."
The man with the gun hesitated for a moment, and the team members nearby were amused by him. It's just a crappy gun like yours. It's really hard for us to put you down. You're so precious that you can't bear to part with it. Will you give birth to cubs if you hold it in your hand?
The man also felt the mocking expressions of the team members. His face turned red and he threw his gun on the ground. The two people behind him also put their spears at their feet.
Zhou Wen then smiled and said: "Tell me, what's the matter? I am the young master of the Zhou family you mentioned."
The man didn't say anything after hearing this. He turned his head and glanced at the two people behind him. The three of them knelt on the ground with a bang. Then the man said: "We are from the Li family mine. Thank you, Master Zhou, for helping us register." Qiu, kill this bunch of ruthless people from the Li family. We were all forced to become bandits. Master Zhou can go and find out. We didn’t do anything harmful to nature. We never robbed the villagers, we just robbed them. I visited the Li family’s caravan several times.”
It turned out that this young man was called Wang Guozhu and he was a mine worker of the Li family. However, since the Li family stopped working in September, not only the wages for September were gone, but the wages that had been owed for the previous two months were also missing. Originally, the wages offered by the Li family were not high, but as a result, wages were not paid for three months, making the workers' already difficult lives even more difficult.
