Outside Haizhou City, a burst of rapid horse hooves suddenly sounded. There were quite a few people listening to the movement, and the entire ground began to shake faintly.
When many people in the city heard about the people outside the city, they all ran to the city gate and stood in an orderly manner.
Not far in front of them, with no end in sight, soldiers of various military services gathered urgently. They looked so impressive that many people in the city did not dare to approach.
The officials on the city tower had solemn expressions, feeling the momentum of the soldiers in front of them. These troops were none other than the Dongshan and Split Mountain armies under Su Qi'an and Xie Cang.
Seeing the flags flying in front of the army, they knew that today was the day when the supervisory envoy and Lingdong Marquis returned to Beijing to resume their duties.
In the Dongzhou War, the Dongshan and Splitshan armies contributed the most and suffered more than half of the casualties. In this military reform, most of the new recruits were recruited by Dongshan and Splitshan.
No one is dissatisfied with this preferential selection of troops. The strength of the Dongshan and Split Mountain armies is obvious to all, and it is an honor for them to be selected.
In just two months, everyone admired the army in front of them with its strict discipline and amazing momentum.
To be able to become an elite fighting force under the Supervisory Envoy and Lingdong Marquis, the level of training is really extraordinary.
As the army gathered, under Xie Cang's order, the 20,000-strong army gathered and set off in a mighty manner.
The entire ground was filled with dust trampled by the horses' hooves. At the same time, countless people gathered at the city gate shouted in unison.
"People of Dongzhou, I would like to send you the supervisory envoy and the Marquis of Lingdong. Have a safe journey and take care!"
"Dongzhou's great kindness will never be forgotten by us. Please take care of yourself, Supervisory Envoy and Lingdong Marquis!"
The outbursts of the common people resounded throughout the world, and it was very moving to hear. The 20,000 leaving army heard the sounds of farewell in their ears, and they all raised their weapons in unison and shouted in response.
Then, I saw that both the people at the city gate and the officials on the city tower knelt down to see him off.
This is not only due to the status of both parties, but more from the respect from the heart.
In this battle of Dongzhou, without the command of Su Qi'an and Xie Cang, how could they have enjoyed the long-lost peace? Not only that, internally, they had repeatedly taken action against corrupt officials and aristocratic families.
The changes in the past two months are obvious to all. Not to mention that he has completely changed for the better, but he is completely different from before Su Qian came here.
To them, Su Qi'an was not only an inspector, but also the Qingtian Master who upheld justice for them. If possible, they wished that Su Qi'an could stay in Dongzhou forever.
It's a pity that there is no such thing as a banquet that lasts forever. All they can do is live a good life and live up to Su Qi'an's expectations.
The mighty 20,000-strong army, amid the sound of farewell that echoed throughout the sky, moved away until no trace could be seen, and what was left was just dust in the sky.
Even so, the people and officials who gathered at the city gates and towers stayed away for a long time, just watching.
At the same time, behind Haizhou City, about a dozen miles away, a huge ship was docked at a military dock.
This ship is not a warship, but it is not a civilian ship either. Its appearance is very unusual. There are four dragon heads carved on the bow and the ship's position. The surface of the hull is covered with yellow paint. On the plywood, there are figures standing wearing silver armor. The soldiers looked very majestic.
This ship is a royal ship, specially used to transport royal people. There are many people at the dock under this royal ship.
Looking at their clothes, you can tell that they are real high-level figures. Looking closer, in the middle, Su Qi'an, Wu Dingguo, Fang Jingzhi, Chu Xiong, and Shen Wanfu all appear.
If the people in the city saw this, they would definitely be shocked. There were so many big figures suddenly appearing in this small area.
Not only was he shocked, but he was also confused. It was clear that outside the city, Lingdong Hou led an army of 20,000 people and had already left. Although Su Qi'an did not show up, he must be among them.
But unexpectedly, the inspector they had longed for appeared alone at the military dock more than ten miles away from Haizhou City.
It's not surprising that Su Qi'an made such an arrangement. In fact, this arrangement was based on Su Xuanyong's order.
The imperial court will send a royal ship to escort Su Qi'an back to the capital by water.
This is very simple. For Su Qi'an's safety, taking the waterway back to Beijing will save one-third of the time compared to the land route, and the whereabouts will be hidden.
We took the special royal waterway, and were escorted by soldiers arranged by local officials along the way. If there were any water thieves who didn't open their eyes, just kill them as long as they came.
Although there is a huge insurance, you are not afraid of ten thousand, just in case. Therefore, while arranging for Su Qi'an to escort by water, on the land, the 20,000 people led by Xie Cang will attract attention in front of everyone. , left in an upright and fair manner.
This move was indeed very effective. Basically all the eyes in Haizhou City were attracted by Xie Cang. Even if there were some savvy people who could guess something, they would never have imagined that Su Qi'an would be at this military dock.
Within a radius of more than ten miles, the elites brought by Wu Dingguo have been fortified for a long time. Anyone who wants to get close will not be able to escape the eyes of the elites.
The cautiousness of the imperial court and Wu Dingguo really surprised Su Qi'an. He knew his current importance to Great Liang, but there was no need for such turmoil.
Although it was a bit unaccustomed, it was His Majesty's kindness after all. Su Qi'an would not be stupid enough to object at this time, so he agreed.
However, before leaving, Su Qi'an still wanted to meet with Dongzhou's senior officials and hand over some of the political arrangements he had drafted in the past few days to Wu Dingguo and Chu Xiong.
Su Qi'an said nothing, and solemnly clasped his fists at the two of them and bowed to salute. Seeing this, the two elders wanted to help, but Su Qi'an stopped them.
"Mr. Chu, Grand Governor, Dongzhou is entrusted to you two. Thank you, my dear."
Su Qi'an didn't say much, but Chu Xiong and Wu Dingguo could feel that Su Qi'an was speaking from the bottom of his heart, and they also knew the trust implicit in his words.
The two nodded slightly and accepted Su Qi'an's bow.
Although Su Qi'an usually laughs and laughs a little bit out of tune, he is still very calm before serious matters.
Su Qi'an stood up and looked at the two elders solemnly. Everyone felt that Su Qi'an made the most contribution in the battle of Dongzhou and stole the limelight.
But only Su Qi'an himself knew that compared with fighting, the management of Dongzhou after the war was the most difficult. If Wu Dingguo and Chu Xiong had not stabilized Dongzhou for him, the post-war Dongzhou would not have followed Su Qi'an's instructions just because of the King of Yue's eagerness. Anticipated development.
With these two elders here, there will be no chaos in Dongzhou, and Su Qi'an can leave with peace of mind.
His eyes left Chu Xiong and Wu Dingguo and landed on Fang Jingzhi and Shen Wanfu.
The other party Jingzhi Su Qi'an didn't have much to ask for. He himself was talented, but he had been suppressed for many years and had no chance to display it.
Now that he has become the Prime Minister of Daizhou, with his strength, it will not take long before he will become a qualified Prime Minister of the State.
As for Shen Wanfu and Su Qi'an, they didn't say much, but the glances between the two revealed a tacit understanding.
Everyone thought that Shen Wanfu's surrender was due to Su Qi's release of Shenyang Yima to take advantage of Shen Wanfu.
Even Zhou Zibin thought so until his death, but this was only part of the reason. They didn't understand Shen Wanfu at all. Even Su Qi'an thought that they could control him by taking advantage of his children before asking him for an interview.
Su Qi'an always remembered what Shen Wanfu said on the night he summoned Shen Wanfu, "Even if the supervisor executes all Shen's children, Shen will not compromise and be manipulated."
This sentence alone is enough to show that Shen Wanfu is not only not weak in character, but also very strong.
He is willing to cooperate with Su Qi'an. Not only is Shenyang in his hands, he values Su Qi'an more.
He wanted to invest in Su Qi'an, betting that Su Qi'an would succeed in the future and get a greater return. This return was not money or power.
It is a reputation that will last forever. This reputation is like that of his ancestors, who saved the late Emperor of Great Liang and Shui Huo. From now on, even if the Shen family is a merchant, it cannot be despised by any aristocratic family.
Over the years, as the Great Liang gradually declined, although the Shen family was not short of money, its prestige and reputation continued to decline. In his generation, even Jiang Kun and Wu Xian dared to climb over him and be regarded as their grandsons. Same, shouting and drinking.
Shen Wanfu has always had an ambition hidden in his heart, which is to revive the golden brand of his ancestors' first merchant family.
Su Qi'an could understand Shen Wanfu's plot. Throughout the dynasties, no matter how rich the merchants were, they would always have no status in front of scholars, farmers, industry and commerce.
Unless someone like the ancestors of the Shen family had that opportunity and gained the favor of the late emperor, the Shen family's status was created.
Even though the Shen family is famous in Dongzhou now and no one is afraid of it, back then, among the many aristocratic families in the entire Great Liang, the Shen family was able to send people to the top.
Comparing it with now, you can know the decline of the Shen family's status. Su Qi'an also asked Shen Wanfu why he chose him.
Shen Wanfu's answer was very straightforward, "From the perspective of Shen who has read countless people, the supervisor is not an ordinary person. He is destined to have a prominent role in the history of Great Liang."
Naturally, Su Qi'an wouldn't take such words as a magic stick to heart, but the cooperation that Shen Wanfu brought to his door was something Su Qi'an couldn't ask for.
Under this kind of cooperation, Shen Wanfu's Shen Family Trading Company contributed a lot to the entire Dongzhou, whether it was internal rectification or external war.
To put it bluntly, Shen Wanfu is Su Qi'an's bank in Dongzhou.
Su Qi'an kept this kindness in mind, and when their eyes met, he conveyed some new instructions, and Shen Wanfu nodded in understanding.
At this time, behind Su Qi'an, the urging voice of Han Qing, the commander of the imperial army, came. Su Qi'an cupped his fists and raised his hands to everyone, and then, under the eyes of everyone, got on the boat.
"Take care! Inspector, see you later!"
After a while, the boat started slowly and gradually disappeared on the river.
