In the general army, a personal guard came quickly to the study and said, "Sir, General Li of the East Road wants to see you."
"Li Huaixin?" Zhang Huai, the commander-in-chief who was sitting in the front seat, frowned, "Why don't you come to Datong if you don't stay well in Xinpingbao?"
Wang Qingyuan, an aide on the side, said: "Will Li Shen come here for the matter of Lingqiu? My subordinates heard that he is deeply involved with the Tiger Character Flag in Lingqiu, and they are worried that he will be implicated in the matter of the Tiger Character Flag." he."
Zhang Huai snorted coldly and said: "At this time, he can't even protect himself. He still wants to meddle in other people's affairs. He's gone."
"Yes." The guard agreed, turned around and left.
"Wait a minute." Wang Qingyuan called to the guard, then looked at Zhang Huai and said, "Sir, let's meet him, just in case General Li Shen has something important to do."
"If there is something important, I will not punish him for leaving the house without permission. It is already extremely merciful." Zhang Huai picked up the blue and white porcelain bowl and took a sip of tea.
Wang Qingyuan on the side smiled and said: "The incident in Lingqiu cannot be entirely blamed on Li Shenjiang. Now that man is in a hurry and is thinking about squeezing the adults out of Datong. Li Shenjiang can be regarded as clinging to the tiger-character flag. Bag."
Zhang Huai's face sank and he said: "If you want to drive this general out of Datong, it depends on whether he has the ability. As long as this general sits in the position of the general of Datong, he can only be a deputy general."
Wang Qingyuan said: "What happened in Lingqiu this time is to catch General Li's leg. If you don't come forward, I'm afraid I won't be able to retain the position of General East Road."
Zhang Huai glanced sideways at Wang Qingyuan and said, "Forget it, let him come in and see what he has to say!"
Wang Qingyuan turned around and said to the guard: "Go and invite General Li Shen in. The Commander-in-Chief agreed to see him."
The guard cupped his fists and saluted, turned around and retreated.
Not long after, Li Huaixin walked in from outside the house, lifted his hem, knelt on one knee, and said: "The last general, Li Huaixin, has met the commander-in-chief."
"Okay, get up!" Zhang Huai put down the blue and white porcelain bowl in his hand.
"Thank you, sir." Li Huaixin stood up from the ground.
Wang Qingyuan on the side smiled and said to Li Huaixin: "General Li, you are not stationed on the east road, but you came to Datong to meet the commander-in-chief. Is there something important?"
Li Huaixin knew that Wang Qingyuan was the most trusted staff member around the General Soldier. He did not dare to look down upon this person's question and said politely: "There is indeed something. This is the gift list. I would like to ask the General Soldier to take a look at it."
Zhang Huai did not go to accept the gift list. Although he was a second-rank general, like most generals, he could not read a single Chinese character.
Wang Qingyuan walked over and picked up the gift list, flipped through it, and when he saw the contents, his expression changed and he said: "What a big deal, it costs five thousand taels of silver."
"Five thousand taels!" Zhang Huai, who was sitting at the top, moved, stretched out his hand to Wang Qingyuan, and said, "Bring it over and let me have a look."
Wang Qingyuan walked closer and handed it over with both hands.
Zhang Huai picked up the gift list and took a look at it. Unfortunately, he couldn't read and couldn't see what was written on it, but he still took a second look at it, and then said to Li Huaixin who was standing in the room: "It seems like you are such a thing." General Lu Shen did a good job, he got five thousand taels in just half a year."
"The general dare not lie." Li Huaixin said, "This money was entrusted by Liu Heng, the proprietor of the Tiger Flag, to give to the general. He just wanted to see him. At this time, he was waiting outside the general's mansion. .”
Zhang Huai looked at Wang Qingyuan on the side.
Wang Qingyuan nodded slightly and said, "It was indeed sent by a man named Liu Heng."
There was a signature under the gift list, which Zhang Huai didn't recognize, but Wang Qingyuan noticed the name on the signature at the first sight.
Zhang Huai closed the gift list, put it aside, and said, "No wonder our deputy commander focused on the tiger-character flag in Lingqiu. It seems that the tiger-character flag did make a lot of money. He gave it to the general ten thousand yuan before. Two grains of silver, and now I have sent another five thousand taels, even the Fan family in Zhangjiakou is not so generous."
Wang Qingyuan said with a smile: "It seems that Liu Heng was forced by our deputy commander, and he asked you for money."
"Do you think I saw you or not?" Zhang Huai asked Wang Qingyuan who was standing beside him.
Wang Qingyuan glanced at Zhang Huai's fingers on the gift list and said, "It doesn't matter if you meet him once, because even a businessman wouldn't dare to say anything random."
"Then let's meet." Zhang Huai nodded slightly and said immediately, "Bring people in!"
Hearing this, Li Huaixin, who was standing below, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Wang Qingyuan said to the guards on the side: "Go outside the house and bring Liu Heng, the proprietor of the Tiger Flag, in."
The guards in the house exited the room.
It didn't take long before Liu Heng followed the general's personal guards and came to the study.
As soon as he entered the room, he glanced around the room and noticed the man sitting at the top. He guessed that the person should be the General Soldier of Datong. He hurriedly knelt down on the ground and shouted: "Liu Heng, a common man, pay my respects to the General. Lord Bing.”
After saying that, he kowtowed his head to the ground.
"Are you Liu Heng, the owner of the Tiger Flag?" Zhang Huai looked at the young man kneeling below and frowned slightly. The other person was very different from what he had imagined.
In his mind, the owner of the Tiger Flag should be a middle-aged man with a business-like look on his face, not the sturdy young man in front of him.
Liu Heng knelt down and said, "The common man is Liu Heng, the owner of the Tiger Flag."
"Since you are Liu Heng, I will ask you, do you know your guilt?" Zhang Huai asked.
"The common people don't know what crime they have committed. Please tell me clearly." Liu Heng's answer was neither humble nor arrogant, and he was not as panicked as ordinary civilians would be when they saw the commander-in-chief.
Zhang Huai's face sank and he said: "Someone accused you of first killing Chen Dafu, the owner of Lingqiu Iron Works, and then plotting against the Xu family's property and killing Xu Youcai. Now the evidence is conclusive and there is no room for your quibbles!"
"The common people dare not agree with what your Excellency said." Liu Heng said, "The common people don't know who Chen Dafu is, so how can he kill him? As for the Xu family's property, it was all because Xu Shunqing was a gambler and sold the Xu family's property. It happened to be bought by the common people. If it is said that because the common people bought the Xu family's property, they became the ones who murdered the Xu family, the common people would not accept it."
Li Huaixin on the side said: "Sir, this matter will eventually be proven."
Zhang Huai stared at Liu Heng and said: "Even if the Xu family's affairs have nothing to do with you, how do you explain the bandits on Hutou Village? Who is the bandit leader Liu Heng who was wiped out by the Tiancheng Guard? "
Li Huai's confidence trembled, and he regretted in his heart that he agreed to take Liu Heng to see the Commander-in-Chief.
"The bandits on Hutoushai Mountain were wiped out by Mr. Li's troops. Mr. Li knows this best." Liu Heng looked at Li Huaixin who was standing aside.
Li Huaixin couldn't nod or shake his head at this time. He could only smile bitterly in his heart.
Liu Heng continued: "As for the bandit leader Liu Heng, the grassroots people have also heard about it, but they heard that he had been beheaded. A notice was posted in the Lingqiu County government office. At that time, Mr. Li, the commander of Ren Tiancheng Guards, was promoted by the imperial court. As deputy commander-in-chief."
"What a sharp-tongued person." Wang Qingyuan, standing next to the general soldier, stared at Liu Heng.
