The drunk Mr. Ma had a comfortable sleep, and the fatigue caused by the rush was wiped away.
At this time, it was already his second day in Xinpingbao.
The people below brought him water to wash him, and brought him breakfast.
General Ma, who had eaten and drank enough, said to the servants who were picking up the leftovers: "Where are you, Mr. Liu? Are you still drunk?"
Before getting drunk yesterday, he and Liu Heng both drank less. He was drunk and thought Liu Heng was also drunk like him.
"To return to the Commander-in-Chief, my lord has just woken up and is having breakfast." The servant said respectfully, then picked up the tray with bowls and chopsticks and walked out.
General Ma stood up and said to the soldiers beside him: "Let's go with me to see Liu Heng."
There are soldiers on guard at every gate in the general's mansion.
As soon as General Ma came out, someone immediately came over to lead him, and there were also soldiers who delivered messages to Liu Heng.
Along the way, General Ma was taken to the side hall.
The servants served him hot tea.
Not long after, Liu Heng walked in from outside the house. At the same time, he cupped his fists towards Mr. Ma and said, "I have kept you waiting for a long time."
"I have just arrived. Besides, brother, you drank a lot yesterday. I heard from my subordinates that you just sobered up." General Ma put down the tureen in his hand and said to Liu Heng with a smile.
Liu Heng shook his head and sighed: "I'm really ashamed to say that I still own a wine shop. I didn't expect that after a few drinks, I got drunk first and disturbed the adults' drinking pleasure."
He walked to the empty seat beside him and sat down.
"Haha, I'm just like you. I'm drunk and unconscious. I don't even know how I got back to the room." Mr. Ma laughed loudly.
Liu Heng said with a smile: "If you like the sorghum wine you drank yesterday, I will ask you to prepare a few more jars and send them to your house."
The sorghum wine at the banquet was distilled twice more than ordinary sorghum wine. It had a higher alcohol content and tasted stronger.
"Don't worry about the wine. You can drink it anytime. Let's get down to business first. I wonder, brother, how are you thinking about it?" Ma Zongbing asked Liu Heng.
Liu Heng knew that he was talking about building the fort on the grassland, so he said: "Even if the official doesn't build the fort, I'm afraid King Shunyi will not give up."
Those Taijis in Tumut want the business roads of Tiger Character Banner and force Tiger Character Banner to withdraw from the grassland.
"It's definitely not enough to just stop building forts." Ma Zongbing said, "The tiger-character flag has offended King Shunyi by building forts on the grassland, so it is best to give some benefits to King Shunyi to make amends, and use the tiger-character flag to You are so rich, I believe I won’t care about such a little thing.”
As he spoke, he looked at Liu Heng.
Whether the matter can be accomplished or not depends on Liu Heng to decide. Although he is the commander-in-chief of Datong, Liu Heng is just a guerrilla general under his control. However, this guerrilla general is more powerful than him, the commander-in-chief, and cannot control him at all.
Liu Heng shook his head with a smile on his face and said: "Sir, it's not that I am refuting your face, but I have no way out." China
"Brother, you are now a guerrilla general on Datong East Road. There is no need to fall out with King Shunyi. Once King Shunyi sends the matter of building forts on the grassland to the capital, the matter will be serious." Hello, General Ma. Persuasion.
Liu Heng shook his head again and said: "Let's not talk about how much money was spent on those forts on the grassland. Just the fact that King Shunyi wants the Tiger Flag to withdraw from the grassland is unacceptable to me. Once it really withdraws from the grassland, what's going on here? The loss is not just the fault of Xiaguan alone."
He vaguely reminded General Ma.
Many Datong officials were involved in the smuggling business between the Tiger-Character Banner and various grassland ministries. Even if they did not receive direct dividends, they still received an extra piece of respect because of the Tiger-Character Banner smuggling business.
General Ma frowned.
Killing someone's money is like killing one's parents. Even if he can give up the benefits brought to him by the Tiger Flag, others may not be willing to give up this benefit.
And he knew in his heart that not only the officials here in Datong accepted the tiger-character flag's respect, but there were also officials in Xuanfu who accepted the benefits of the tiger-character flag. Otherwise, the Fan family would not have cut off their business in the various states and returned to the Zhangjiakou.
Although he is the commander-in-chief of Datong, he has always had some connections after serving as an official for so many years. He is fully aware of the suppression of the Fan family by the Tiger Character Banner in the Xuan Mansion.
"King Shunyi wouldn't do this, right? Is there any misunderstanding?" Ma Zongbing looked at Liu Heng and said.
Liu Heng smiled and then asked: "Do you know that the Mongolian army invaded the border a few months ago?"
"I've heard of it, but at that time I was still in Yulin, and Datong's Commander-in-Chief was still Mr. Zhang." Commander-in-Chief Ma nodded, with confusion on his face, not understanding that Liu Heng suddenly mentioned this matter.
Liu Heng said: "The commander-in-chief of the Mongolian army at that time was Su Nang. He was the child of Buhe Rubu and Bahan Biji. His grandmother was the third wife, and she was also a powerful lord in Tumut."
"This official Su Nang knows that when Sanniang was still alive, he almost became Tumote's Khan." Ma Zongbing said.
As a son of a general, the elders in his family have always been military generals in Jiubian, which makes him very clear about the battle between Bushitu and Su Nang for the right-wing Mongol Khan.
Liu Heng continued: "In order to force the Tiger Character Banner to withdraw from the grassland, this Su Nang led a large army to appear in the Xinpingbao area and forced Governor Liu and the then General Zhang to hand over Xiaguan and the Tiger Character Banner, otherwise they would attack Datong. "
"King Shunyi is different from Su Nang Taiji, so he will not force the Tiger Flag to withdraw from the grassland." Ma Zongbing said hesitantly.
Liu Heng said with a sneer: "What difference can there be between the Mongolians? They are just as greedy. When they see the Tiger Flag making some money, they want to grab the money."
"This..." Mr. Ma choked.
The general has been dealing with the Mongols for generations, and he knows the greed of the Mongols better than the ministers in the court.
Liu Heng looked at General Ma in front of him and said, "My lord, do you think I can give in? Even if I am willing to give in, will those people related to smuggling agree to give in?"
Mr. Ma held the tureen in his hand and said nothing.
As Liu Heng said, he knew that Tiger Flag could not give in because there were too many interests involved. Even if he, the commander-in-chief, was in Liu Heng's position, he would have no chance of giving in.
"Is there really no possibility of giving in at all?" General Ma asked again, unwilling to give up.
Liu Heng pursed his lips and said: "To be honest with you, your Majesty, the lower official accepted the conditions put forward by King Shunyi not long ago. One of the conditions was that the goods of the Tiger Character Flag could only be sold to Han merchants on the grassland, and it must be at two Sold at horse market prices years ago.”
As soon as General Ma heard this, he knew that there was no room for negotiation. The price of grain alone was nearly twice as high as two years ago. This was still the price here in Datong. If you sell grain to Tiger Flag at the horse market price, you will not only make no profit, but you will also have to pay for it.
