There were several long queues in front of the military camp.
Hundreds of soldiers, fully armed, maintained order around the area.
Han Zhen sat behind a wooden table and ordered a thin young man: "Take off your shoes!"
"Why...why do you need to take off your shoes?"
A trace of panic flashed in the young man's eyes.
Before Han Zhen could speak, the soldier on the side shouted sharply: "Stop talking nonsense, hurry up!"
"I'll just take it off."
The young man muttered and reluctantly took off his shoes.
"Stand up straight!"
The soldier warned, then placed a straight wooden stick behind the young man.
Seeing that the wooden stick was a little higher, Han Zhen waved his hand: "Unqualified, next one!"
Don't think that the ancients were too short. The requirement of 1.7 meters is not very high.
Northerners are taller by nature.
At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin had a height standard when selecting the imperial troops. The four armies of Tianwu, Pengri, Shenwei and Longwei were the elite among the elite. Among them, the Tianwu army had the highest requirements, and the soldiers should not be less than 5.8 Song feet, which is 1.84 meters. The height requirement for Long Weijun is the lowest, which is 5.7 Song feet, or 1.805 meters.
The remaining Gongsheng Army is 1.79 meters, and the Shenrui Army is 1.74 meters...
Even third-rate troops such as the Guangjie Army, the Weisheng Army, the Krong Army, and the Flying Cavalry Army are required to be 5.4 feet tall, which is over 1.72 meters tall.
After the thin young man left with an unwilling look on his face, a man in the queue stepped forward.
He seemed to be very confident in himself and took off his shoes without any reminder.
When the soldier measured him with a wooden stick, he was still one inch shorter.
However, although this person is not tall enough, he has a solid and strong build and can be trained as a shield bearer or a strongman.
Han Zhen picked up his pen and asked: "What's your name, how old are you, and where do you live?"
The man replied clearly: "My name is Niu Ba, I am 21 this year, and I live in Yangzhuang."
After recording the other party's information in the book, Han Zhen ordered: "Let's go back first and report to the army at 10:00 tomorrow!"
"Have I chosen this?"
Niu Ba was stunned and scratched his head.
Han Zhen nodded: "Yes, I chose it!"
"I chose it, I chose it!"
After reacting, Niu Ba was immediately overjoyed, arousing envy from the people in the back row.
That's right, it's just envy.
For them, once they choose, it means that they can have enough to eat and their families can live a good life.
Da da da!
Just as he was about to call the next one, the sound of horse hooves came.
I saw two fast horses coming from the direction of the county town, it was Luo Sha and Wang He.
After returning to the county town yesterday evening, Han Zhen had another drink with them. He thought that the two of them would sleep until three o'clock in the morning before getting up again, but they didn't expect to wake up so early.
"Liu Qi, come here."
After putting down his pen and calling Liu Qi, who was watching the excitement, to take his place, Han Zhen stood up and greeted him.
Han Zhen smiled and said, "Commander Luo, why don't you sleep a little longer?"
"Brother introduced me to the family, how can I still sleep?"
Luo Sha smiled and joked, then looked at the long queues in front of the military camp and asked curiously: "What are you doing?"
"Expand the army!"
Han Zhen didn't hide anything and admitted it openly.
Luo Sha was heartbroken and laughed: "Now that there is unrest everywhere, it is indeed time to expand the army."
While talking, the three of them entered the military camp.
Han Zhen pointed to the copper coins stacked outside the warehouse and said: "The ordnance was inspected yesterday. Except for 35 pieces that were seriously damaged, the rest are all fine. The money has been prepared, totaling 8,625 coins. , Commander Luo, just click a little bit."
Glancing at the pile of copper coins piled up like a hill, Luo Sha pretended to be displeased and said, "Brother, what are you saying? Brother, don't you believe it?"
The business of 100,000 guan has been negotiated, how can Han Zhen be short of more than 8,000 guan?
"Commander Luo is awesome!"
Han Zhen extended his thumb and praised.
"Go and call those Qiu Ba and put the copper coins into the car."
After Luo Sha gave the instructions, he turned around and asked, "Did the soldiers under my brother not cause any trouble to him?"
"No."
Han Zhen shook his head, feeling speechless.
Luo Sha was a completely hands-off shopkeeper, leaving five hundred soldiers in the barracks without even looking at them.
Last night, everyone was howling with hunger. Nie Dong had no choice but to ask the cook to give them each a bowl of gruel.
"That's good."
Luo Sha nodded.
When Wang He ordered the 500 soldiers and loaded the baskets of copper coins onto the wooden cart, Luo Sha cupped his hands and said, "Brother has gone back. If he comes to the county next time, he must let him know. When the time comes, brother will do Dong, please treat your brother to a drink."
"Then it's settled!"
Looking at Luo Sha's leaving figure, Han Zhen's lips curved into a smile.
…
…
It took a day and a night to transport more than thirty carts of ordnance.
It will naturally be much faster if we go back and travel lightly.
In the evening, Luo Sha rushed back to Yidu County.
Wang He was asked to lead the soldiers back to the military camp first, while Luo Sha himself took more than ten people and escorted more than 8,000 copper coins covered with oilcloth into the city.
All the way to the government office, Luo Sha got off his horse and commanded: "Move all the copper coins into the backyard."
After that, he walked straight towards the study.
After waiting in the study for a while, Zhao Ting arrived late.
Sitting behind the desk, Zhao Ting asked slowly: "How did it go?"
Luo Sha cupped his hands and said, "I have reported it to Mr. Zhao. It has been completed. A total of eight thousand six hundred and twenty-five thousand coins have been obtained. All the people with humble posts and official orders have moved into the backyard."
Zhao Ting asked again: "Has the finishing touches been taken care of?"
"Ms. Zhao is relieved. There was a fire in the military camp the night before. Unfortunately, the arsenal was burned down. All the ordnance was burned in the fire."
"Um!"
A trace of satisfaction flashed in Zhao Ting's eyes, and he nodded: "You did a good job on this matter. Just keep a small change of the money."
A small change?
Luo Sha sneered in his heart.
As he had thought before, he was reselling the ordnance from his navy, and in the end he only got a few hundred dollars.
Fortunately, he was alert and went to Linzi County in person to negotiate a big deal, otherwise he would have lost money to his grandma's family.
Seeing that he remained silent, Zhao Ting frowned slightly and said, "What's the matter? Too little?"
"Ms. Zhao has misunderstood. It is a humble honor to serve Mr. Zhao. How can I dare to ask for money?"
Having negotiated a big deal with Han Zhen, he no longer cares about the small money, so he might as well just do it as a favor.
Sure enough, after hearing what he said, Zhao Ting stroked his beard and said with a smile, "That's right. It's true that I value you."
Luo Sha said: "If Mr. Zhao has no instructions, he will resign first because of his humble position."
"Just step back."
Zhao Ting waved his hand.
"I resign from my humble position!"
After Luo Sha left, Zhao Ting got up and went to the backyard.
I saw baskets of bright yellow copper coins piled up in the backyard.
More than eight thousand strings are equivalent to picking up for nothing. Then Han Zhen is indeed a boy who gives away money!
The ordnance of the Zhenhai Army can earn so much. If they also sell the weapons of the Wuwei Army, I am afraid they can earn at least 40,000 to 50,000 yuan.
no!
Soon, Zhao Ting rejected this idea.
Although he is greedy for money, he also cares about his own life.
It is not peaceful at the moment. Zhang Wanxian has gathered a hundred thousand people and is eyeing Yidu County. The armed guards are still needed to guard the county, so the weapons of the armed guards cannot be moved for the time being.
But after tasting the sweetness of trading without capital, he became a little addicted, and all he could think about was how to make money.
Suddenly, he remembered the note he had received today from Zhuo Ben, the chief registrar of Qiancheng County.
He knew the contents and secrets of the book very clearly.
It was nothing more than Han Zhen calling himself the Qingzhou Army and rushing to the aid of Qiancheng County.
However, this reminded him of Chang Yukun's plan to kill three birds with one stone by partnering with Han Zhen when he was plotting against the Xu family.
For a moment, a bold idea came to Zhao Ting's mind.
There is a certain risk in this matter, but if it succeeds, he can gain at least 100,000 yuan.
Zhao Ting stood there, his eyes struggling, his expression uncertain.
After a moment, he seemed to have made up his mind and murmured to himself: "He Chang Yukun can do it, why can't I do it? However, this matter is not a trivial matter and needs to be considered in the long run."
…
…
"Chang Yukun, this shameless old thief, pretended to be crazy and stupid with me!"
In the backyard of the county government office, Xie Ding's face was full of anger, and he slapped the letter in his hand on the stone table.
The old servant on the side advised: "Alang, your anger will hurt your health."
"I thought that Chang Yukun was a capable official, but he didn't want to end up with Zhao Ting, who didn't even know Han Zhen. Don't think that I didn't know that Zhu Ji was his brother-in-law, Chang Yukun. If I don’t know, then Han Zhen will travel hundreds of miles to Qiancheng County to save his wife’s brother?”
The more Xie Ding talked, the angrier he became, his chest rising and falling.
Seeing this, the old servant hurriedly stretched out his hand to help him calm down, for fear that his Alang would become angry.
Taking a deep breath, suppressing the anger in his heart, Xie Ding sighed: "If Zhu'er has some shortcomings, how should I explain it to my sister and brother-in-law?"
The old servant comforted him: "Alang, Xiaoya Neiji has his own destiny, so he will be fine."
"Of course he'll be fine."
At this time, Xie Ding had calmed down and sneered: "How could I not know Han Zhen's thoughts? He just wants to drag the Xie and Liu families into trouble."
"Alang, what do you mean?" The old servant was surprised.
"Oh, take a look at what Zhu Ji purchased, and then think about the name of the Qingzhou Army!"
After being reminded by Xie Ding, the old servant recalled it carefully and was suddenly shocked.
Grain, pig iron, coarse salt, cowhide and horns!
The old servant looked horrified and lowered his voice: "Is this... is this a rebellion?"
Xie Ding said quietly: "Now our Song Dynasty is suffering from internal and external troubles, wars are raging everywhere, and some people can't sit still."
"In that case, why did Zhao Ting and Chang Yukun help cover it up? Could it be that they..."
"That's not true."
Xie Ding waved his hand and speculated: "These two are imperial officials after all, and they will never surrender to thieves. The reason why they help them cover up is nothing more than Han Zhen's inducement."
(End of chapter)
