In the early morning, Chang Yu ordered the camp to be broken up. Li Muxian and Ji Jike led the 500-horse Yingying Battalion to Wuchang, a hundred miles to the northwest. The rest followed Chang Yu straight to the west and crossed the border dozens of miles south of Wuchang City to the riverside.
At noon, he arrived at a village outside Jiangxia County and inquired with the villagers. This place was nearly 40 miles away from Wuchang City in the north and less than 30 miles away from the northwest river bank. Chang Yu ordered to rest on the spot. The soldiers dismounted and made fires to boil water and drink water to feed the horses. Damn it, Chang Yuyi was taking a nap next to an apricot tree at the entrance of the village. Qingyi came over and peeled an egg for him. Chang Yu took it and ate it without being polite. Wu Zhong and Tu Yuan came over: "That Niubi should be here too. Bar".
Chang Yu said with a smile: "Huarong Town is less than a hundred miles away from Wuchang. It can be reached in half a day by a normal emergency march. We broke camp in the early morning and Li Muchian was anxious about the money. By now, he should be a guest."
A guest? Wu Zhong curled his lips: "Could it be that Zuo Liangyu also treated him to good food and drinks?"
"He can't beat you in a fight, but when it comes to using words to deceive people, you're one hundred and eighty thousand behind him. I guess Zuo Liangyu is tearing out his heart and lungs right now." Chang Yu smiled bitterly and shook his head: "In this regard, our family all Consider yourself inferior to him.”
What Chang Yu said is indeed correct.
At half noon, Zuo Liangyu was drinking tea with a group of civil and military officials. Someone came to report that five hundred troops of the Dongchang Guards were crossing the border to ask for a meeting.
The Dongchang Guards were a new bodyguard of the Emperor established by the emperor. In fact, they were just to prop up the Dongchang and arrange jobs for its employees. To put it bluntly, they were all from the Dongchang Yamen, which was already a headache. , and with the blessing of the emperor's personal guard, it would be even more awesome.
So Zuo Liangyu and others were shocked when they first heard about it. They didn't know why the Dongchang guard came here. If he was really crossing the border, why did he come to the door? Where was he going when he was crossing the border?
Things are definitely not simple!
A few months ago, the young eunuch threatened him and asked his son Zuo Mengeng to go to Jiujiang to meet him to fully demonstrate his power. Then Zuo Liangyu discovered that there was a major blood change in the Wuchang Yamen. In addition, there were a large number of Jin Yiwei and Fanzi. Enter the city.
He knew that he was being targeted.
The little eunuch doesn't trust him that much. No matter whether he rebels or not, he has to keep a low profile and keep a low profile.
He has kept a much lower profile these days, almost never leaving home!
But what is he going to do when the guards from the East Factory suddenly come to the door openly and openly? Could it be that the young eunuch came to question the cause of the ineffective attack on Jingzhou?
Then he is so bold. He just sends spies to keep an eye on him. He sends five hundred soldiers and horses directly into the city to catch him. Doesn't he underestimate me, Zuo Liangyu?
The ones who came to the door were a Taoist priest and the commander of the Black Eagle Battalion of the East Factory Guards.
I only heard that Dongchang had four battalions under his command. In addition to the Gongzi battalion, there were also tigers, leopards, and wolves. When did they get an eagle? Zuo Liangyu murmured in his heart, but the other party's waist card was indeed correct, but this Taoist priest was..." Pindao is a military advisor under the command of the governor. This time he was ordered to go to Sichuan and pass through this place to meet General Zuo. There is a lot of trouble!"
The great eunuch's strategist! Zuo Liangyu immediately became energetic. It was rumored that there was a Taoist priest next to the eunuch, and Zuo Mengeng had seen it last time. This was someone close to the eunuch, so he had to chat with Zuo Liang. Yucai didn't believe that the Taoist priest was just passing through here for a visit. He definitely came to beat him or test him. By the way, they couldn't really enter Sichuan. Why did they enter Sichuan at this time? What can a person like this do?
But there are not many people in the world who can try to trick Li Muxian, just as there are not many who can avoid being deceived by him. Moreover, this time Li Muxian is rare and does not mince words but goes straight to the point, causing a great deal of pain at the banquet. After drinking, he said: "Five hundred horses traveled two hundred miles a day from the capital to here. The people were tired and the horses were exhausted, not to mention the food and grass were exhausted, so they came to see General Zuo to beat the autumn wind."
Uh... is it so straightforward? Zuo Liangyu is not used to it, but it is most common for soldiers and horses passing through to ask for food and grass from the place they pass by. Of course, you also have the right to give it or not, and not everyone dares to do so. Just open your mouth to ask for it. For example, a few people passing by Xuzhou dared to ask Gao Jie for it, and they asked Liu Zeqing for help passing by Jinan. If they don't resist the robbery, you will be burned with incense. Zuo Liangyu is almost as virtuous.
He wouldn't give anything to anyone else, but he had to weigh it up for the East Factory Guard. Although he wasn't afraid of the little eunuch, he was still at the point of breaking out, and who knew if he was deliberately testing this time, so he casually said, "A little bit." You are not allowed to talk about food and grass. I am satisfied with you, but I just want to ask, are you going to Sichuan?"
"The imperial court was furious by offering the thieves to establish a puppet state. The Lord Governor ordered us to go to Sichuan to contain the thieves. Once the thieves are defeated, we will send troops to conquer." Ji Jike interrupted, Zuo Liangyu frowned: "With just five hundred horses? "
Ji Jike sneered and said: "The soldiers are good but not many. We are ordered to contain but not to quell the chaos. Five hundred cavalry is enough!"
"That's good." Zuo Liangyu struck the case and chuckled: "I've heard for a long time that all the governor's men are brave and good at fighting. Today, the general's aura is extraordinary." Then the conversation changed: "You guys are Let's go to Shidong."
Ji Ji laughed and said nothing, and Li Muchian chuckled and said: "General Zuo, let's talk about food and grass. The military situation is urgent and I will wait for a while. If General Zuo doesn't have time, it's okay to prepare the silver!"
Zuo Liangyu was startled, then secretly rejoiced and asked for a bribe!
Li Muxian was feasting and drinking in Wuchang City, while Chang Yu and the others were eating dry food in the wilderness in the cold wind. After traveling for hundreds of miles from early morning to noon, everyone was very tired, and some fell asleep while eating. , Chang Yu was also in a daze, and was suddenly shaken awake by Wang Zhengnan. He raised his hand and pointed in the distance. Chang Yu stood up and looked around and saw several riders coming over there. Kuang Ren had already led his men to greet them.
Chang Yu frowned. He just learned from the villagers that this place is only ten miles away from Jiangxia County. Jiangxia is Wuchang's Fuguo County and is only forty miles away. Zuo Liangyu also has troops stationed here, and there should be a lot of people and horses. Those few The cavalry should be on patrol and came to investigate when they saw them.
Suddenly there are more than a thousand riders passing through the territory, and the other party must inquire. No matter who they are, the other party will report them quickly. If Zuo Liangyu is clever, he may guess something. In fact, according to Li Muxian's original plan, Chang Yu and the others can completely go around. He would at least rest somewhere far away from Jiangxia County, but now that Li Muxian and Ji Jike were targets in the city, he didn't care.
Kuang Ren returned after a while, and Chang Yu asked, as expected, the officers and soldiers in Jiangxia City were conducting an interrogation: "What did you say?"
"It is said that Mr. Huang's people entered Sichuan through this!" Kuang Ren's words made Chang Yu laugh: "Okay, let Zuo Liangyu think about it, but we should cross the river early."
Chang Yu then ordered to leave the camp and set off for the Yangtze River. He arrived at the river bank in less than half an hour and found a ferry to find a boat to cross the river. Although there were many people and horses, luckily there was not much luggage. After a lot of effort to cross the river, it was evening, and he rode for several miles in front of the army. Resting at the foot of the mountain, at dusk, the subordinates who were on the river bank came quickly to report that Ji Jike's men and horses were crossing the river.
After a while, Li Muxian and Ji Jike ran towards him with red faces and grins. Wu Zhong and others walked towards him and shouted, "Look at De Xing making a lot of money. Tell me how much he has eaten?"
Li Muxian ignored him and ran straight to Chang Yu, jumped down and waved his fist vigorously: "We are stingy."
Chang Yu couldn't help but laugh when he heard this: "It seems that the Taoist Master has made a lot of money." Li Muchian looked regretful: "I regret it to death. I estimate that he will pay double the amount."
When Zuo Liangyu asked Li Muxian in Wuchang City how much silver he would pay in cash, he said that almost 60,000 was enough. Zuo Liangyu was generous and gave 80,000 taels of silver, specifically telling Li Muxian that 50,000 was for Chang Yu and the remaining 30,000 was for Chang Yu. Military pay for five hundred cavalry. The price Chang Yu had previously set for Li Muchian was 50,000, and anything more was his.
But it made Li Muchian regret it and go crazy. He felt that Zuo Liangyu would give it even if it cost one hundred thousand or two hundred thousand!
Everyone except Chang Yu was dumbfounded. Why did they increase the price without negotiating? Why was Zuo Liangyu so generous!
The reason is actually very simple. If Chang Yu asked for 500,000 yuan, Zuo Liangyu would happily give it to him. Zuo Liangyu was in a situation where he could not wait for Chang Yu to ask him for a bribe directly. As long as the little eunuch was willing to ask for it, everything would be fine. Once you take the money, you have to protect yourself and at least you won't cause trouble again. Even if you don't do anything with the money, you will be caught. I will immediately involve you in accepting bribes. Isn't the Dongchang Yamen shouting about anti-corruption and promoting integrity every day? I will slap you in the face directly. Eunuch, let your reputation be disgraced, slap the court in the face and slap the emperor in the face!
So Zuo Liangyu is not afraid of how much you want, but what he is afraid of is that you don’t want anything if you don’t have enough food and salt.
He didn't believe that there were people these days who didn't love silver. What about the governor of the East Factory? Correct.
Although the young eunuch didn't ask for it this time, he was close to his subordinates. Without his instructions, would they dare to ask so innocently? The so-called discounted salary is nothing more than a test by the young eunuch! Zuo Liangyu thought so.
"The old thief said that when the governor comes to Wuchang in the future, he will express his gratitude." Li Muxian chuckled, but Chang Yu had a cold look on his face: "Why is he thanking me for this? He also wants to use this to show that I am a little too young." Then he smiled at Li Muchian and said, "I have never known about this matter, and I have never seen this silver!"
"That's natural, you've never seen it before!" Li Muchian said with a serious face, "Besides, it's necessary for me to call out old thief Zuo's good name first so that we won't be passive."
Chang Yu smiled: "Okay, okay! You are really bad, but I like it!"
Zuo Liangyu might borrow the 80,000 taels of silver to make a fuss in the future, so he should first shout for him and let everyone in the government and the public know that when the Dongchang Guards passed by Wuchang, Zuo Liangyu donated 80,000 taels of silver in food and salary.
It's donated!
Donated!
Donate proactively!
It’s food and wages!
Food and wages!
Chang Yu didn't want it, and it didn't come into Chang Yu's hands. He donated the food and salary!
How to distribute 80,000 taels? According to the previous agreement between Chang Yu and Li Muxian, 50,000 taels were used as food and salary funds for the three battalions and one guard to go out to Beijing this time. The remaining 30,000 taels were divided into 10,000 taels at most by Li Muxian. Ji Jike Ten thousand taels were distributed to each of his five hundred soldiers, and the remaining five thousand taels were generously distributed to the remaining two battalions and one guard. Anyway, everyone was happy to have a share.
Eighty thousand taels was not a small amount, and there were no carts to pull it. It had been divided into small bags in Wuchang City and handed over to Ji Jike's soldiers and horses to carry separately. Everyone divided the silver again at the foot of the mountain. It was already late at night. , Wang Fuchen and Wu Mu, who went to explore the road ahead, also came back. Yes, Chang Yu took these two guys with him again.
"Reporting to the Governor, ten miles to the west there is the Maying River. It is a Tongshun River. If the river is frozen, you can ride a horse. A hundred miles across the river to the west is Mianyang Prefecture (today's Xiantao). Then west across the Qianjiang River is Jingzhou. There are about three hundred miles left. "Duolidi" Wang Fuchen and others really carefully explored the road.
But Chang Yu's brows frowned.
Going due west to Jingzhou was the only way to enter Sichuan, but there was a war there, and he did not intend to go through Sichuan to Yunnan, so the road had to be adjusted.
But how to adjust it? In future generations, you can go straight to the southwest, enter Zhangjiajie, Hunan, and then pass through Guizhou. But now it is all virgin forest. Let alone now, in future generations, you can try it in a virgin forest!
