The next day, Yi Haoran met Song Ming at Longmu Temple. This young general no longer looked as energetic and heroic as he had a few months ago. He looked old and careless. Standing at the steps of Long Mu Temple, I feel no different from the many other people who come to offer incense and seek comfort because of the difficult times in the world.
Song Ming and Yi Haoran had a life-long friendship because of their relationship with Bangshan. After meeting, there was no falsehood. Yi Haoran went straight to the point and told him his intention.
"...This matter is of great importance and involves great risks. If the general is unwilling to participate, the students will not force it..."
Song Ming waved his hand and said in a low voice: "Sir, why do you say this! We eat the emperor's salary and kill the enemy with all our strength. It is natural for us to wrap our bodies in horse leather."
Yi Haoran's heart felt hot: I know Cheng Chen. The ancients never deceived me!
Song Ming told him that he and the remaining dozens of people were hiding in a ruined temple in a mountain col at the eastern foot of Baiyun Mountain, less than ten miles away from Wuzhou.
He has forty-seven soldiers. There weren't many, but they were all elite soldiers - both his own soldiers and the "new army" servants gathered under Jiang Suo's command. Weapons and armor are complete, as well as some firearms.
At that time, having nearly half a hundred well-armed soldiers and servants was an elite combat force, enough to charge into battle and defeat the enemy.
"...Although it is close to Wuzhou, it is a secluded place in the mountains. It is quite peaceful for us to stay here for the time being."
"Where's the food and salary? I heard from Zhang Yong that relying on the help of rich households is not a long-term solution."
Since ancient times, the army has been uneasy without food and salary. Although Song Ming had few subordinates, he also received a lot of food and salary every month. Relying solely on the wealthy households nearby will inevitably become a burden over time - rich people will do anything to get rid of the burden.
"That's what I'm worried about." Song Ming nodded and said, "As the saying goes, rabbits don't eat grass beside their nests. This is a truth that all heroes in the world understand. Therefore, I dare not ask too much in the surrounding area to avoid changes, so I can only send people Fetching food from afar."
The so-called raiding for food is robbery. This was considered normal among all armies in the late Ming Dynasty, and there was nothing unusual about it. Yi Haoran didn't think it was strange, but said worriedly: "You have a small number of people, and you have to go out to collect food from a long distance. If you have a big harvest, you can pay it back. If the harvest is small, it will not be able to offset the dry food on the road! If you lose a few more brothers, you will lose." Big.”
"Sir, it's true, but that's all it can do now." Song Ming sighed, "If I could have some merit, I wouldn't be so embarrassed."
In fact, he had long thought about packing up the remaining troops and retreating to Hunan. However, the officialdom of Guangdong and Guangxi has collapsed, and the whereabouts of Xiong Wencan and other big bosses are unknown. He still has nowhere to stay when he retreats to Hunan - he may even be expelled and eliminated by the local villagers. This is also the main reason why Song Ming is willing to follow Yi Haoran and take risks.
Yi Haoran understood, and the two made an appointment about how to contact each other, and then dispersed.
Unlike the bureaucrats, Yi Haoran would not remain undecided for a long time, let alone look forward and backward - if so, he would have died on the way to escape from Liaodong. After coming out of the Dragon Mother Temple, he went to the city without stopping to find out the latest news about the Kun thief.
The thieves erected a newspaper reading board in front of the Wuzhou City Hall, posting "Lingao Times", "Yangcheng Express" and a local newspaper "Wuzhou News". Except for Wuzhou News, the other two newspapers only come once every few days, so the newspapers are not updated every day, but only every seven days.
Yi Haoran reads newspapers regularly, just to keep track of Kun Thief's movements. For him, who is trapped in Wuzhou, these three newspapers are his only sources of information at present. News from the eighteen provinces in the world to Guangdong and even Wuzhou is all available and very convenient.
He actually didn't understand why the Kun thieves would issue these things to the common people: they were neither officials nor businessmen, and the furthest they had ever been was probably the county seat. Even if they were literate, they knew the news about the court and distant places. What's the use?
No matter what the Australians' intentions were, Yi Haoran had to admit that Kun Thief's information was accurate and fast - compared to the Ming Dynasty's official sources such as Di Bao and Tang Bao in the past, it was simply amazing. And the "news" reported in newspapers gave him a rare perspective of grasping the overall situation.
For now, although the Kun thieves have occupied Guangdong and are eyeing Guangxi, the place they occupy is unstable and they are warning everywhere. The situation is not peaceful. Judging from the constant flow of fleets on the Xijiang River, Guijiang River and other places, it seems that the bandits are using the waterways to mobilize people and horses everywhere to suppress them, and they feel quite exhausted. The Kun thief's troops in Wuzhou are currently empty, which is a good opportunity to take action!
He read the news about the riots in the newspapers leisurely and contentedly, and secretly rejoiced in his heart. Suddenly a voice came from my ears: "Mr. Yi!"
The voice was very familiar, and Yi Haoran was startled. He turned around and saw that it was Ah Chun. He couldn't help but felt relieved and said, "Why aren't you in the store?"
"My wife asked me to run errands." Ah Chun said, "Mr. Hao, didn't you go out to collect the bill? Why are you in the city?"
Yi Haoran's original excuse for going to a certain town to collect accounts - he has been out collecting accounts almost every day recently, and no one cares about it. After all, there is not much work in the store. If he goes out once, he can more or less collect some accounts. , always a good thing for the store.
"I haven't received the bill. I think it's still early. I'll take a walk to relax after returning to the city." Yi Haoran responded calmly.
"Master, I'm so excited. There's a lot of war going on right now. Madam, please make sure we don't go out on the streets. Master, you have to be more careful when you go out of the city to collect accounts. I heard that there are often floating corpses floating by the river these days - they say they were robbed and killed by bandits and thieves."
"I know this." Yi Haoran smiled, "What are you going to do for your wife?"
"What can we do? Why don't we ask the master to go back quickly?" Ah Chun said with a meaningless look, "The master is not at home all the time, and no one cares about the things in the store. No, a merchant finally came to the store to discuss. It’s business, but the shopkeeper has gone out again, and only my wife and Aunt Wen are at home..."
Luo Yangming basically goes out at dawn and doesn't come back until dark. Not to mention Li Wensheng, even Ding Atao was full of complaints about him. Yi Haoran didn't take it seriously and said: "In that case, you go and deliver the letter, and I will go back to receive the guests first."
"Okay, Master, please go back quickly. My wife must be anxious!"
Yi Haoran couldn't care less about reading the newspaper and hurried back to the store. I saw Wen Yun looking at the door. When he saw him coming back, he quickly patted his chest and said, "Thank God, someone is finally back! There is no man in the house, but there is another guest."
Yi Haoran smiled and said: "Isn't Ah Chun a man?"
"What kind of man is Ah Chun? He is a few years younger than me," Wen Yun said with disdain, "If my wife hadn't allowed me to go out, I would rather go find the master by myself..."
"Where is the guest? Let me go and chat with him for a while." Yi Haoran put down the umbrella ledger and asked.
"It's in the living room behind the accounting room." Wen Yun said, "He was sitting alone, and my wife didn't allow me to greet him. She only gave me a cup of tea. I couldn't ask him to sit like this, so I called the cook. Lao Kong’s mother is waiting outside…”
"You go back to your wife, and I'll help you greet her for a while, and I'll be back soon."
"This is great!" Wen Yun patted his chest, "Otherwise my wife will scold me again!"
Yi Haoran asked curiously: "The master is not at home, why is the wife scolding you?"
Wen Yun said: "My wife said that I am useless and can't keep the master's heart..."
Yi Haoran smiled and said: "This is an injustice for you. The master went out to do serious things, not for the sake of personal affairs with his children."
"You will be scolded even if you die unjustly!" Wen Yun went in with his nose turned up and his mouth pouting.
Yi Haoran entered the living room - it was said to be a living room, but in fact it was just a small side room used to receive customers. The furnishings are extremely simple. There was a middle-aged man sitting on the official hat chair.
Judging from his elegant and low-key dress, he is a successful businessman. Yi Haoran did not dare to neglect, and said with cupped hands: "This master..."
The visitor had been waiting in the living room for a long time. Not to mention seeing Luo Yangming, no one even came out to greet him. However, he couldn't just walk away from his responsibilities. Just when I was feeling irritable, I suddenly saw a middle-aged scribe coming out to say hello. I got up and returned the greeting:
"I don't dare. My surname is Zhu and my given name is Fuyuan. I am from Dachang Rice Shop..."
"Oh, is it Dachang Rice Shop in Guangzhou?" Yi Haoran said.
Zhu Fuyuan blinked and said, "Sir, do you know our name?"
Yi Haoran secretly scolded himself for talking too much. Wouldn't he admit that he had stayed in Guangzhou? He quickly covered it up: "Your brand has a great reputation, I've heard of it, I've heard of it..."
"oh……"
Yi Haoran was afraid that he would continue to ask questions, so he quickly introduced himself: "My surname is Hao, my name is Ran. I am the accountant of our store. Now both the master and the shopkeeper are out. Someone has been sent to deliver the letter. Please wait for a while, Master Zhu."
"Easy to say, easy to say," Zhu Fuyuan took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped the sweat on his head, "I came here specifically to see Mr. Luo, it doesn't hurt to wait a little longer."
This piqued Yi Haoran's interest. Because he knew a little bit about Luo Yangming from the chat with Li Wensheng and others. He was not a big merchant in Wuzhou City, but just a medium-sized merchant doing local rice and grain business.
Rice shops in Wuzhou all purchase goods from Guangxi and sell to Guangdong. But Yuxin’s business in Guangdong only goes as far as Sanshui. I have never heard anyone like Li Wensheng or Ding Atao talk about his dealings with rice merchants in Guangzhou. Furthermore, Dachang has a great reputation in Guangzhou. Although I don’t know if it has the capital of Kun Thief, it is not a secret in Guangzhou that Kun Thief and Dachang have a deep collusion.
A street runner from Guangzhou Mihang who has connections with the Kun thieves came all the way to Wuzhou to meet Luo Yangming, who had never done business in the past. What was his intention?
He wanted to trick the other person, so he entertained him enthusiastically. Seeing beads of sweat on his forehead, he asked Lao Kong's mother to bring herbal tea and specially brought melons and fruits to cool him down. Another round of gossip about Wuzhou’s local customs and customs
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