Tongcheng is a small county, with a circumference of only five miles. The county leaders led more than thirty government officials and hundreds of civilians and rushed to Baima Temple to greet them.
The Hu family at Gudukou sent more than 20 armed servants and guards. Adding the original number of people in the team, it turned out to be a mighty and spectacular event.
Fortunately, when we arrived at the county town, it was already lantern lighting time and there were not many pedestrians, otherwise it would have been a bit scary.
Under the light of dozens of torches, the team was welcomed into the city and sent straight to a large house. According to Dutou, the owner's surname was Zuo, a common surname in Hengbu, and he was a farmer and a scholar. After purchasing the house, he seldom lived in it. Because the county government office was small and dilapidated, it was specially borrowed for use.
The magistrate had already greeted them outside the house. After announcing his official position and name, he personally led the way and invited the group to enter the main house and sit down. Only then did he prostrate himself and kowtow.
King Ding was very satisfied when he saw that he knew what he was doing, so he helped him up and gave him a few words of encouragement. He also introduced Li Dan to meet him.
Li Dan asked Wang Jia to rest and sent the county magistrate out himself, telling him that there were rebels stalking behind him and that the city would be tightly guarded in the near future. The magistrate was surprised, and then he realized that there was a reason why he sent someone to greet him.
Li Dan also discussed with him to leave some yamen and policemen to guard the house outside. He gave the magistrate a hundred taels of tickets from the "Zhifengtang" in Lujiang to reward his men, and asked him to recruit 60 brave men from the city. Tomorrow we will escort the prince to Lujiang.
"No matter what, please work hard tonight, everyone in your county. As long as the car reaches Lujiang safely, it will be a credit to you!" Li Dan finally said when the two parted.
Money can make the world go round. Although Tongcheng is a place of great culture, this dynasty started with martial arts and did not prevent Confucian scholars from practicing martial arts. Therefore, the magistrate visited several wealthy families that night, and the matter of bravery was immediately solved.
I heard that it was a retinue of the Prince's chariot, and young people from the Zhang and Wen families signed up to participate. That night, more than a dozen young students gathered with swords and bows and arrows and rushed outside the house where Prince Ding was staying to assist in the defense.
Li Dan felt relieved after learning about it, but he guessed that the group had not left. He hoped that Zhang Nao would be accepted by the other party and send useful information as soon as possible.
The next day, the county magistrate introduced Li Dan and others to them: "Li Sanlang and Zhou Yiwei are traveling with everyone. Zhou Yiwei is responsible for the close protection of the king, and Li Sanlang is responsible for the generals."
As soon as he finished speaking, several young students obviously frowned.
Li Dan smiled and clasped his fists when he saw it: "Li Dan, I pay my respects to Xiaoqiwei. This time Jiangxi Qiuwei was lucky enough to know Yuan, so he had the chance to travel with Chitose on the way to Beijing.
Chitose trusts me and I should be responsible for it. Everyone volunteered to protect Chitose's car. Li Dan was fortunate to be with all his colleagues. However, a flock of wild geese has a leader. Since I am the leader, I will follow the military laws and you will try your best to abide by them. "
After speaking, he agreed with everyone on three disciplines: not to plunder and disturb the people, to obey orders in all matters, and to return captured items to the public.
"Brothers will settle accounts clearly. As long as everyone does not break the rules, after arriving at Lujiang, I will pay one tael and six cents of silver for each person and three taels of silver for each person above the corps commander. If there are any rewards, casualty pensions, and seizure bonuses, Calculate separately..."
Seeing that there were smiles on everyone's faces and the students were much more relaxed, they asked everyone to divide into teams. Li Tiedao, Huang Qin, Lai Wubao, and Gao Can each led more than ten people, and each team had two captains.
He called several young people from the Zhang and Wen families over and thanked them. The two of them quickly returned the courtesy, their attitude was much more respectful than before. "Actually, even if the young master doesn't come, we will be on our way in a few days." Zhang Wenhe from the Zhang family said with a smile.
"Oh? Is Brother Jinfu also going to take the provincial examination?" Li Dan asked in surprise.
"It's not just me, but also Wen Zishan and Yao Xuanping." Zhang Wenhe said.
"My brother Wen Zhou from the lower clan is also accompanying me this time. His in-laws' family is from Lujiang. I just want to visit him this time and discuss some business."
Wen He (named Zishan) of the Wen family is indeed a gentle man. He speaks in an unhurried and slow manner, has a sword hanging on his waist, and is dressed in a white outfit. He has a somewhat chivalrous demeanor.
"Great!" Li Dan said, "You four don't want to split up, just follow me! We can talk and write poems on the way, wouldn't it be great?" They were naturally happy.
Fortunately, these are all children from rich families who have prepared their own horses. Among them, Yao Huang, named Yao Xuanping, is said to be able to shoot arrows!
King Ding originally wanted to ride a horse, but yesterday he ran so fast that the inner thighs really hurt.
A chamberlain quietly applied some plaster to him and he felt much better. When he asked, it was actually Li Dan who had secretly left it. I felt a little more fond of this young but understanding guy. I thought: No wonder His Majesty treats Li Sanlang all the time. What about talking about it?
But today he didn't dare to ride a horse again, so he took a servant into the carriage on the grounds that he was afraid of being lonely on Miyun Road.
As soon as this car appeared, all the elders in Tongcheng were all wide-eyed. The two carriages in front were decorated with a royal and aristocratic atmosphere. Everyone thought they were carrying noble people, but they were actually empty carriages.
No one had ever seen this four-wheel sedan, and it immediately attracted attention. Zhang Wenhe couldn't help but said: "This car is so weird, I have never seen it before!" He looked at the fat rickshaw driver (Lu Jiu) arrogantly waving his whip:
"It is not as luxurious as the previous car, but it looks like a mobile house. This car should be very comfortable to ride in. It is truly something only noble people can enjoy!"
"It's more than just comfortable." Mao Zaidi, who was riding behind them, laughed and said, "The carriage has iron plates embedded in it on both sides, making it impenetrable for bows and crossbows! As you will see on the road, this carriage has many benefits. Woolen cloth!"
"Hey, little brother actually knows so clearly?" Yao Huang said deliberately, he was only two years older than Mao Zaidi.
As expected, Mao Zaidi pouted: "Don't underestimate me, we are sergeants in the Raozhou regiment training, and we have never failed in any battle. I know better than any of you how my young master built this carriage!"
"Your young master made it? Brother Amao, is this true?" The businessman Wen Zhou remained silent and observed carefully. When he heard this, he quickly turned around and asked.
"No, this is the product of Yugan No. 1 Vehicle Factory. We also have the Second Vehicle Factory in Yangbu, which specializes in making postal carriages and freight carriages. They are big guys with six horses. One carriage can pull Three or forty stones...!"
Mao Zaidi couldn't help but feel proud when he saw that everyone was stunned.
"Here comes the deal!" Wen Zhou said to himself. His hand holding the reins trembled slightly, making the horse that sat down feel uneasy.
In the morning, Wen He went to the carriage house in the city and hired twelve carriages. These carriages were enough for the volunteers to board, and two of the carriages were filled with beans, alfalfa and grain.
The purpose of hiring carriages is to allow them to form car formations, and at the same time, the speed of the entire team will not be hindered by the walking volunteers.
On the other side of the Longmian River, watching the convoy leave the city and cross the Zilai Bridge, Coach Hou had a sneer on his lips: "Hoho, they really are going to Lujiang. It seems that the fat man didn't lie."
"Sir, are you suspicious of the person named Lu? We thought..." The attendant next to him was surprised when he heard this.
"Hmph, how can you know the dangers of being away from the world for a long time? We must win over and use those who have the ability, but we must not lose the slightest sense of precaution.
Especially since Lu Jiu came from among them, of course I can't just take it for granted. Necessary testing should still be done! "Jiaotou Hou said, twirling his beard.
"Oh, is it a chess move for your Excellency to let them take the first step to Lujiang?"
"Of course, if he is one of ours, as I said, he can go to Lujiang first and pay attention to the movements of the convoy after it arrives.
If he is not one of ours, we don’t have to worry about him hindering us along the way, and Ah Xuan can get rid of him at any time! " Coach Hou waved his hand and made a sharp motion.
"So Ah Xuan is also your arrangement by his side?"
"It will be easier to gain his trust by sending Ah Xuan. In addition, this is also an opportunity for Ah Xuan to learn. If he brings back an enemy and lets him eliminate it himself, he will be able to remember this lesson and remember it deeply! "
"Then... is this arrangement also a test for Ah Xuan?"
Coach Hou smiled and did not answer the question, turning his horse's head: "Let's go, we'd better follow from a distance, just don't let them notice!"
In Lujiang City, Qianzhai.
The head of the family, Qian Shi, was named Mr. Wu Zhai. He sounds like a Confucian scholar, but in fact he is the president of the Lujiang Chamber of Commerce and one of the top three businessmen in this city and even in the entire Luzhou Prefecture.
The Qian family caravan once went north to the grassland
, south to the Indochina Peninsula, east to Japan, and west to Yeerjiang Egu. However, due to changes in the geographical situation and the internal political situation of the empire, the Qian family suffered considerable losses and had to shrink their trade routes.
At present, almost all business in the east has stopped, and the most in the west is Suzhou (Jiuquan). There are frequent wars among the Egu tribes in the north, and it is difficult for caravans to go deep into the grasslands. Some caravans have changed their routes to Liaodong and Jianzhou, and dare not go any further. Venture out of the border and head north;
From the south, there were frequent reports of merchant ships being robbed by Thai and Western bandits.
All this affected Qian's enthusiasm for trade and made their money pockets worse than before. These are very troublesome problems for Qian Shi.
He has two sons and two daughters.
The eldest son Qian Min took the path of studying, but after being elected, he never passed the exam and was unwilling to take over the business.
Now that his old playmates have become prefects, he still hangs around all day collecting books, annotating ancient texts, and opening a school to teach is just a side job.
The second son, Qian Bu, was exactly the opposite of his elder brother. After being admitted as a scholar, he announced that he did not want to take the imperial examination again, and plunged into the caravan, relying on his own ability to become a big shopkeeper. At least in the entire Lujiang Mansion, black and white people heard that Mr. Qian's name must be given some face.
It turned out that Lao Qian was still good at chess, so he entrusted his two concubine daughters to his son-in-law Li Mu, hoping that they would rise step by step and become a towering tree that the Qian family could rely on.
Unexpectedly, Li Mu died in office ten years ago, which cut off his thoughts. Now, Lao Qian has safely handed over the entire family business to his second son. He is writing and painting at home every day, which is quite leisurely.
That day, Qian Shi had his newly completed painting framed and hung on the wall. He was admiring it with his gray head tilted when he suddenly heard rapid footsteps.
Qian Bu came in and bowed to his father. He didn't care to look at his masterpiece and asked hurriedly: "Who has father offended recently?"
"Huh? Where did you start talking about this?" Qian Shi looked at his son and was a little confused. He felt that this boy had never been so abrupt before. What happened today?
"Then what else could it be that you have offended a certain official in the court before?"
Qian Shi was even more stunned: "Son, what's wrong with you? Why did my father have any dealings with any high-ranking officials in the imperial court? He's a very noble man, and it's too late to hide from us businessmen!"
"That's weird!" Qian Bu looked outside the door, leaned closer and whispered, "Just now a man came to Zhi Feng Tang's silver counter and asked for shopkeeper Li with one of our meeting tickets.
The three shopkeepers of the silver cabinet didn't dare to make up their mind, so they sent someone to deliver the message to me. When I looked at the back of the ticket, I saw it was a handwritten letter from my second sister. "As he spoke, he took out Zhang Erliang's meeting ticket from his pocket and handed it to his father.
Old Qian took the ticket and turned it over to look at it carefully: "Well, this is indeed your sister's signature." He looked up at his son: "So this person was sent by your sister to find your Uncle Li?"
Qian Bu shook his head: "I find it strange that the second sister has never taken the initiative to send someone across the river to find Shopkeeper Li. I also know that people from Fengtang said that the man was very powerful. He had a standard Yanling sword in his hand. Although he spoke kindly, But he was very majestic, and looked very much like someone from the government.
My son felt something was wrong, so he went there himself. "
"Hmm." Qian Shi stared at his son: "What's the result?"
"The man saw his son, asked for his identity, and showed him his badge without saying a word."
"Sure enough, he is from the government? What does it say on the waistband?"
Qian Bu licked his lips and said with some effort: "Walking in front of the emperor, the pterodactyl guards Qianhu."
Lao Qian almost sat on the ground. As soon as his legs softened, Qian Bu quickly caught him with quick eyes and hands. He slowly backed away and fell into the chair with his support.
"No, no!" Qian Shi suddenly understood, "He's not here for our family."
"How does father know?"
"Back then, your brother-in-law once said that the Winged Dragon Guard has branches in every government, and the person in charge is Baihu. The Winged Dragon Guard at the Chief Envoy level is the one who tests Qianhu or Qianhu.
And you just said that this person still has the status of walking in front of the emperor, so he is the person in front of the emperor, not the head of the branch of the Chief Envoy Department. "ap.
"But... our family has never fought with the palace.
Dealing with each other? "
The more they thought about it, the more confused they became. Finally Qian Shi asked, "Where is he?"
"I've invited you to the West Flower Hall."
"Ahem, can we still let him wait? Stop guessing and leave quickly. You are not making him wait, but I am going to pay him a visit!" Qian Shi stood up and walked out.
When his son saw that he was busy, he whispered from behind: "Father, please slow down. The son arranged for people to prepare drinks and meals for him. He said that he had only eaten three pieces of dry biscuits after traveling for two days. He seemed to be starving. Got it!
My son came here to tell you the news while he was eating and drinking. Please wait a little slower and be careful not to fall...! "
His words didn't make the old man stop or slow down at all, but instead prompted him to walk faster.
This Winged Dragon Guard Qianhu who came to visit with Er Yatou's pledged meeting ticket was rushing away hungry because of some important matter? What did he want to say when he was so anxious to see himself? Qian Shi desperately wanted to know the answer.
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