"But is the Deposed Dragon Gang financially wealthy enough?" Ma Wei asked with a drunken tone. "Although the Deposed Dragon Gang has been in power for more than two years, except for Dongjun and Jiyin, the other five counties and one state in the east, plus the three counties in Hebei, have only experienced one spring plowing, and Hebei has not even experienced an autumn harvest. Once, the soldiers couldn't see the benefits from the land transfer, so they had to replace it with something they could see. But if this is the case, they must be short of money, right?"
"Not only did Hebei have no autumn harvest, the other five counties and one state in the east also had a rush-harvest autumn harvest last year, and the sergeants did not see any benefits." Wang Wulang still understands military morale and so on. "In addition, the food control within the gang is extremely strict, and everyone is still very nervous... But at the beginning, everyone just thought about surviving, thinking about being stronger than the previous rebels, and then kept fighting. , so it didn’t happen.”
"That's the truth." Xie Minghe nodded at Wang Shuyong, and then pointed at Ma Wei proudly. "But Ma Jiu Sheng still didn't understand... It should be noted that our Deposed Dragon Gang is not the rebel army before. We can easily mobilize tens or hundreds of thousands of soldiers in one county. Instead, we divide the soldiers and horses into combat soldiers, government servants, county soldiers, and field soldiers. There are three major categories, and this time the rewards are for soldiers with military merits. There are ten counties and one state, and the number of soldiers in the north and south together is only 89,000 registered sergeants. It is also limited to rewards based on military merits."
"That's it." Ma Wei tried to calculate, but gave up immediately. "So, the reward this time is that the plate has been set, and there is no extra food?"
"More than that, you can still cook with rice." Xie Minghe continued to talk proudly. "What I just said, there is another key thing, it is the word real thing...cloth, gold and silver are real things, lacquer furniture is also real things, iron pots are real things, fur swords are also real things, even good armaments are also real things, you must have these Things can only be called real objects.”
"What if you are a wanderer with no family and no family, and you think that survival is the first priority in battle, so you spend all your military exploits to buy a set of armor, but instead buy armaments for your own family?" Ma Wei sneered. "And if someone wants to exchange it all for money and silk, he doesn't have so much? Can he only buy a few more Zhangqiu iron pots?"
"Absolutely." Xie Minghe replied proudly. "But we can't let them suffer, so we have to draw boundaries. For example, the soldiers in Hebei can use up to half of their money to withdraw their property, and the other half must go through the road of granting land. Many people here in the East have been granted If you have a field, you can relax it to only leave one-third or one-fifth of your military merit to grant additional fields... But if you have a family background, you can only use one-third of your military merit to replace it unconditionally. This is both protection and further restricting the rewards
upper limit. "
"Boss Xie is really thoughtful." Ma Wei rolled his eyes and went straight to get another glass of warm wine to drink.
"This is actually the result of everyone's efforts. Jiang Ling's clerk is by no means mediocre." Xie Minghe accepted the praise frankly and did not forget his colleagues.
Obviously, Ma Zhou's performance seemed to make Zhang Xing's staff team, which was also under siege before, look a bit out of place, so Xie Minghe couldn't wait to say something. However, despite the same confusion, Chiping Jiu Sheng still maintained his sharp thinking, and then quickly realized this, and started to use the opportunity to pay unnecessary compliments after obtaining valid information, while Jiangdong Liuhe was obviously a little dazed and confused. Not aware of it.
Zhang Xing was too lazy to say anything about this, he just warmed the wine, poured the wine, and was an honest tool.
Wang Wulang and Wang Xiongdan were more down-to-earth and just listened with open ears.
Just when Zhang Xing was having a rare feast, Li Shu and Li Longtou were rarely drunk in Weicheng County, Dongjun, which was not too far away... There was nothing he could do, he was in too much trouble, and the pressure was too great. After having a few more drinks, I was so drunk that I really didn't want to use my true energy to drink. Instead, I took advantage of the situation and acted wildly.
"The golden wind is blowing in the early season, and the jade dew is withering in the late forest.
This evening the poor scholar is depressed and his heart is broken.
The fields are flat with wild grasses and reeds, and the villages are deserted and covered with quinoa.
Looking and listening to many feelings, I rely on my lap alone. "
After reciting a poem, Li Dalongtou couldn't help himself. He leaned on the pillar, looked at the sky and cried bitterly.
Huang Junhan was already stunned. Although he was born as a county official, but things like poetry and culture... I can only say that he can probably write it down. What does it mean? It doesn't mean that you can't try to understand it, but it will be embarrassing if you interpret it wrong. .
And why are you crying like this? Didn't he just ask Cui Silang to help analyze the situation within Bo Tianxia and the Deposed Dragon Gang?
The blame lies with Cui Silang. Not only did he say that Zhang Sanlang "cannot compete with him."
What kind of literary talent are you selling?
After thinking about this, the yellow leader looked at Cui Shilang with a slight complaint of course.
Unexpectedly, Cui Xuanchen felt a little enlightened at this time, but he was not looking at Huang Junhan, but at Li Shu's poem: "This evening is a poor scholar, and I am depressed and sad... This dragon head should be an old poem, right?"
"Not bad." Li Shu wiped his face, turned around, and suddenly smiled with tears in his eyes. He came to the table, poured himself a glass, and then raised his glass. "The Hunjun of the Wei Dynasty suddenly marched three times. I did not dare to stay in Dongyi anymore, so I returned in a hurry and alone. As a result, no one was there on the wild road, and the villages along the way were left in ruins because they had escaped from the three expeditions, or the three expeditions had already caught up with the corvee in front of their homes. It was dilapidated and miserable, and I felt it on the road, so I wrote this poem."
"At that time, the leader had no one to rely on, and he felt sad, so it was natural to write a poem like this." Huang Junhan had already figured out the taste, but in his heart he felt that Li Shu was a bit hypocritical, and the matter was so important that he could not let it go. in spite of. "But now that we have reached this position, we are more or less inferior to one person and more than ten thousand people. We are about to sit on the land of three counties and display our grand ambitions. Why should we get involved again?"
Li Shu laughed more and more and burst into tears, but then he looked at the other person: "Does Cui Silang mean this too?"
Cui Xuanchen sighed and finally smiled: "I know that Li Gong probably has great ambitions and is unwilling to be easily removed from his position and placed below others... But now, how can one person reverse the situation? Mr. Li, you can ask this question ten thousand times, but the current situation is that Zhang Sanlang is in the north, supporting Dengzhou on the left, and controlling thirty battalions of sharp soldiers on the right. You cannot compete with them!"
"That's right." Huang Junhan tried his best to persuade. "Longtou, the land of the three counties is the foundation, don't put the cart before the horse!"
Li Shu smiled awkwardly.
However, Cui Xuanchen said seriously to Huang Junhan at this time: "Huang Tou leads the situation to the situation. He only talks about the return of the land of these three counties, but you don't understand what Mr. Li means at all."
Huang Junhan couldn't bear the pressure and asked seriously: "Does Cui Silang understand what Mr. Li means about this matter?"
"Mr. Li's meaning is very simple. First of all, he is worried that this is a delaying tactic, and secondly, he is worried that this is a tactic to kill the enemy." Cui Silang blurted out. "Dare I ask Mr. Li?"
Li Shu nodded immediately.
When Huang Junhan heard this, he simply became impatient: "How could it be a delaying tactic, and how could it be a killing tactic? If it was a delaying tactic, it should be agreed immediately so that the other party could not take advantage of it. If it was a killing tactic, how could there be three reasons? A waste of time in the county? With all due respect, Dragon Head, you are doing nothing here now, which is even more of a waste."
Li Shu remained silent.
Huang Junhan seemed to realize that he was a little embarrassed and a little embarrassed, so he quickly lowered his head.
At this time, Cui Silang sighed again: "Mr. Li, although Huang Tou Ling's words are straightforward, there is some truth in them. There are two key points in this."
"Please give me some advice from Cui Silang." Li Shu cupped his hands in response.
"First, if you don't want the land of these three counties, do the rest of the Henan leaders who are still dependent on you want it? Don't lose the hearts of the people because of this. That is one of the fundamentals." Cui Xuanchen advised sternly. "Secondly, it doesn't matter whether he spends his time or not. The key is whether Guild Li will lose his ambition because of this? His own true intention is the second fundamental."
Li Shu was startled for a moment, then stood up, picked up a glass of wine and offered a toast to the other party: "Cui Silang shocked the drunk man with his words! Please accept a glass of wine from me!"
"Don't dare!" Cui Xuanchen immediately stood up and raised a glass of wine. "After all, Mr. Li's ambition has not fallen."
Huang Junhan realized what was going on and couldn't help but feel happy. He also picked up his wine glass and prepared to stand up and speak.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, Li Shu finished his drink, turned around, came back to the pillars, pointed at the stars and recited, actually continuing along with the old poem. , and the tone became obviously increasingly passionate, before turning decadent:
"What did Zhan Jin do? I feel regretful and nostalgic for the past.
The customs of the Tang Dynasty are still not peaceful, so what hope does the Zhou Dao general have?
A disciple of Shenwu City, Qian Yi is an official with swords and pens.
Once the fortune is determined, the name and posthumous title will be passed down through the ages.
It is a shame to say that all heroes in the world live in vain. "
Huang Junhan held the wine and listened for a long time. Seeing Cui Xuanchen shaking his head the whole time, he sneered in his heart. However, at the end of the recitation, he immediately put down the wine glass, raised his hands and praised:
"Mr. Li is so ambitious!"
Li Shu also took a long breath of alcohol.
Of course, Zhang Xing didn't know that someone had decided to accept a political compromise. After Xie Minghe and Ma Wei lay drunk, he wrote down Ma Wei's opinions and his approval in a document, and then gave it to Wang Xiongdan, who passed it on.
People like Chen Bin, Dou Lide, Yan Qing, and Cui Suchen should do a good job for him.
The next morning, Ma Wei woke up and thought about what happened last night. He found it interesting. He opened the door and came out, only to see Xie Minghe and Wang Shuyong following Zhang Xing sitting and standing in the courtyard waiting for him. He couldn't help but feel a little panicked. "Ma Jiu Sheng, although you have a good capacity for drinking, your cultivation level is not good enough. You don't wake up as quickly as I do." Xie Minghe was the first to laugh. "Better drink less."
At the end of the drinking party, Ma Wei was not as perfunctory as yesterday, and slightly raised his hand to signal.
"You must not drink alcohol for the time being today, and have some breakfast." Zhang Xing also spoke immediately. "Then come with us."
Of course, Ma Wei had nothing to say. Since he had been to someone else's table yesterday and drank their wine, it was time to go with him today, so he did as he was told, had breakfast, got on a horse, and then OK. To be honest, Ma Wei unexpectedly felt the effect of the ice energy at this time. Following Zhang Longtou, not only did he have someone to help warm the wine at any time, but he was also not afraid of the heat when traveling in summer.
In this way, the group of people galloped north and arrived between the two counties of Kuangcheng and Weicheng in East County. They stopped at an official road intersection at the junction of the two counties, and then quietly dismounted and waited under the shade of a tree beside the road.
Around noon, another group of dozens of riders came from the northeast, but it was Wang Xiongdan who had disappeared. He was leading the group. After he dismounted, he did not rush forward. Instead, he stood still and looked at a young man behind him.
Not only that, but Wang Shuyong and Xie Minghe were also keeping an eye on this person.
The man lowered his head, turned over and dismounted, stepped forward and cupped his hands, speaking in a low voice: "Third brother."
"Xu Dalang." Zhang Xing sat still under the tree. "I understand. In this matter, only you and your son, the chief culprits, will be dealt with. Your family assets will be confiscated. The rest are limited to private soldiers. As long as they hand over more than 200 organized private soldiers, they will be forgotten...including the caravan business. Whatever, as long as the tax payment is serious, I will support it with both hands... You are still the big boss, where will you go with this?"
Only then did Ma Wei realize that this person was actually Xu Dalang.
This actually shocked him a little, because Zhang Longtou had such control over leader Xu Da. Of course, if you think about it the other way around, this faucet is not just for warming wine. From a short faucet to the current situation, it would be strange if you can't handle a few people.
"I agree too." Xu Dalang replied in a low voice, indeed respectful.
"That's okay..." Zhang Xing pursed his lips in response. "I called you here today because I have something to do... Before I officially make a decision on your leadership, I can't let you go to Hebei to replace Shan Tonghai, but I can't let you be idle. The inspection work will continue, especially because of your I’ve added a new job because of it, and you have to do it with me.”
"Yes." Xu Dalang raised his head slightly. "Please give me your instructions, Third Brother."
"You hid three thousand private soldiers. We made a promise the first night at Sikou Pass. As you said, I will turn all the private soldiers into regular members for you." Zhang Xingsi spoke slowly and logically. "But three thousand people are too many, and the pressure of one extra battalion is too great, so we have to remove three thousand soldiers from your original five thousand soldiers, Guo Jingke's troops, the navy of Dalu and Dalu, and the soldiers of Dongjun. Thousands of people... The list has been made before. When you turn into this village from here, there are 17 people who want to be evacuated. It's one thing to make it clear from the army over there. Let's go together and make it clear to their families first. By the way It's one thing to see if there are any difficulties at home... I won't do anything else before making a decision, but I will go with you to visit these six counties and villages."
Xu Shiying was stunned when he heard it halfway. After hearing it, his face turned red and he turned his head and said nothing.
"You are hot
Blushing, or feeling humiliated? Or maybe it's a rare sense of shame? Zhang Xing finally stood up and asked seriously, but then he asked and answered by himself. "You are the best among the Nei Ning Dan masters. Even I dare not say that you are definitely better than you. Naturally, you are not hot. As for humiliation, don't say that I didn't mean to humiliate you deliberately. It is really humiliating according to your habits. You will not take it seriously and accept it calmly... So, do you really feel sorry for those subordinates?"
"It's good if you can understand your shame." Zhang Xing nodded when he saw this. "This little bit of shame is the rarest thing, and it also makes me think it's worth saving your life... Let's go."
With that said, Wu got on the yellow gelding, turned around and walked towards the fork in the official road.
But at this time, smoke and dust billowed in the distance, and more than ten riders came from south to north along the official road. Zhang Xing stopped and was surprised to see that this was Dongjun, the earliest core territory of the Deposed Dragon Gang. Naturally, Wang Shuyong had nothing to do with it. As he said, he directly reined up his horse to meet him, and after a moment, he brought the people back, and the leader among them turned out to be Yanlang, the back room of Jiyinliu.
Like Xu Shiying before, his face turned red, but he didn't know whether it was from heat or shock.
"Why is the leader here?" Zhang Xing was obviously puzzled.
"Go pick up Li Longtou." Fang Yanlang glanced at Xu Shiying and answered bravely. He didn't dare to lie at this time. If he covered it up without authorization and the other party misunderstood what Li Shu was going to do, that would be called being smart.
"Where is Li Longtou?" Zhang Xing became more and more surprised.
"We should drink in Weicheng County... Huangtou Lingzhuang." Fang Yanlang was still honest.
"Oh?" Zhang Xing seemed slightly surprised. "So, are you in a hurry? You left the county behind and came to find Li Longtou?"
"It's nothing serious." Although Fang Yanlang didn't want to be smart, he was somewhat angry and answered simply. "It's just that Li Longtou has been mentally depressed recently. I'm afraid that something unexpected might happen to him...Who knows if he might be harmed in Dongjun?"
"The leader of the house thinks too much." Zhang Xing disagreed. "How could such a kind person as Huang Tou Ling harm Li Long Tou? If you are really fine, why not come with us... We are busy here, and we are probably going to do this in Jiyin, so you can just take a look .”
Fang Yanlang was puzzled for a moment, but he glanced at the many people around Zhang Xing and nodded.
"Dragon head." At this moment, Xie Minghe suddenly reminded him. "Since Mr. Li is in front of Huangtou Zhuangzi, why not get together in person and explain the matter clearly in person? We can do this later."
Zhang Xing thought for a moment but then shook his head at Huang Piao's horse: "It's rare for Mr. Li to have fun, so why should we bother him? Besides, the reason why we returned to the East this time is to inspect the place. Things here are the most important. Don't put the cart before the horse."
Everyone was speechless, and Fang Yanlang had mixed feelings, but he still set off together.
However, as soon as they left the official road and passed through a forest, with Zhuangzi appearing in the field of vision, the group realized that this visit might encounter a huge difficulty.
Because at noon, as far as the eye can see, farmers are everywhere in the fields of already high millet seedlings, hiding in groups to rest in the shade of trees, and there are many strong laborers, including some healthy women, even in front of At noon, the sun was still hoeing and digging ditches in the fields.
When they saw a group of tall people appearing on the field ridge, they were cautious, cowered and dodged... This is the instinct of farmers and women and children without men at home.
Everyone had mixed emotions, but at this moment, Xie Minghe suddenly recited a poem loudly:
"It's noon on the day of hoeing, and the sweat is dripping on the soil. Who knows that every grain of food on the plate is hard work?"
After reciting the poem, the person looked around, and finally smiled at Fang Yanlang: "After Fang stays, will this poem be passed down to future generations?"
Fang Yanlang ignored it, and everyone else was silent. They just looked carefully at Zhang Xing, who was obviously reacting, because the ice energy suddenly spread, causing everyone to shiver.
Zhang Dalongtou was silent for a while, gradually condensing his energy. He just spoke, but he didn't bother to pay attention to Xie Minghe. He just spoke in a rare low tone and said nonsense amidst the surprise of Ma Wei and Fang Yanlang:
"They're avoiding us."
PS: Thanks to the resurrected master, Zongyue
Mr. Qianli, Mr. Wang Rui’an’s New Year’s League reward! May you all make a fortune in the New Year! Everyone gets rich!
