Huang An stood outside the gate of the mansion, watching the tiger-character flag team disappear from sight, and then turned around and returned to the mansion.
The Liu Mansion plaque outside the mansion gate has now been removed.
Liu Heng had already prepared a courtyard in Xinping Fort as a temporary residence.
The carriage heard outside the gate of the new yard, and the soldiers waiting here began to unload the carriage, unloading everything on the carriage one by one, and brought it into the room.
"I didn't expect Huang An to be so humble. When he left, my subordinates paid attention to him. He didn't return to the house until we were far away." Yang Yuan said following Liu Heng.
Liu Heng handed over the reins of the horse to someone else and went straight to the study.
The study was the first to be cleared out, and two maps of the grassland were already hung on the walls of the study.
After reaching the seat behind the table, Liu Heng reached out and grabbed the tea vat on the table.
As soon as I lifted it, I found it was empty, so I put it down again.
After Zhao Wu noticed it, he called someone and arranged for him to boil water.
"Why did Huang An come to Xinpingbao as an official?" Liu Heng looked at Yang Yuan seriously and asked.
Yang Yuan said hurriedly: "My subordinates have just received news that Huang An came to Xinpingbao and was appointed directly from the capital, without going through several yamen in Datong."
"So, this Huang An is not telling lies. It is really because of Pei Hong, the patrol censor, that he has a chance to escape from the prison guards." Liu Heng frowned.
If Huang An really had connections in the capital, he would not have been transferred from Lingqiu Guard to Zhenlu Guard.
Yang Yuan lowered his head and said, "My subordinates didn't keep an eye on Pei Hong, which gave him the opportunity to come into contact with Huang An."
"I can't blame you entirely." Liu Heng waved his hand and then added, "I was too careless. I thought that Huang An would be fine once he arrived at Zhenlu Guard. I never thought that Huang An would one day make a comeback again."
Huang An came to Xinpingbao to take up a post, which was indeed beyond his expectation.
Yang Yuan said in a deep voice: "If the proprietor is worried, my subordinates can arrange for someone to take over Huang An to ensure that outsiders cannot find out the cause of his death."
"No, there is no need." Liu Heng shook his head slightly and then said, "Through today's contact, I feel that Huang An intends to repair the tiger-character flag. It just so happens that I also want to see whether he intends to repair it or not. It was done on purpose.”
Yang Yuan said: "My subordinates arranged for people to keep an eye on him to ensure that none of his actions can escape our eyes."
"Okay, you can arrange this matter, but don't make too much noise. It's a pity that it's not Chen Youyi who comes to Xinping Fort, otherwise it wouldn't be so troublesome." Liu Heng said.
Tiger Character Banner also has its own preferred successor, and has established a good relationship with the governor of Datong and the General Soldier. It can be said that it is already a sure thing. However, Pei Hong never expected that Pei Hong would directly start from the capital. Everything Tiger Character Banner had done before was successful. Useless effort.
Yang Yuan retreated from the study room.
"What's going on with the personal division?" Liu Heng asked Zhao Wu in the room.
Zhao Wu said: "A group of troops from the Guards Division have already gone to the grassland. However, it will take more than ten days at the earliest to get all of them to the grassland, otherwise there will be too much movement."
"It seems we have to wait a little longer." Liu Heng muttered to himself.
Zhao Wu on the side said: "If the proprietor is in a hurry to go to the grassland, it is better to go first. Jia Shizheng believes that it will not take long to meet the proprietor on the grassland."
"No rush, Mr. Zhao hasn't come back yet. It won't be too late for us to leave when Mr. Zhao comes to Xinpingbao to take charge." Liu Heng shook his head gently.
Xinpingbao has become the most prosperous place in Datong Town.
Although the imperial court stopped the horse market, things on the grassland were still continuously sent to Xinpingbao, becoming a trading place similar to the horse market.
More importantly, coming to Xinpingbao is much safer than going to the grasslands to trade directly with herders, especially for small caravans.
The merchants who come and go to Xinping Fort every day bring a lot of profits to Tiger Character Banner. He dare not leave such an important place without someone who can control it.
What's more, Xinpingbao has a new guard, and there is already a deep conflict between this guard and the Tiger Flag.
Zhao Wu said: "Do you want me to go along the road to urge you, so that Mr. Zhao can rush back to Xinpingbao earlier, and the proprietor can go north to the grassland with peace of mind."
"I'm not in a hurry right now. I also want to see what the attitude of our new Xinpingbao general is." Liu Heng said softly.
Zhao Wu added: "Because of this, I feel that the proprietor should leave early. If he comes to deal with the proprietor and the Tiger Flag, it will only put you in danger."
"Xinping Fort has been operated by us for such a long time, so there is no danger." Liu Heng chuckled and said, "The officers and soldiers guarding the fort have been fed by us with money for a long time. Our new guard general is just a polished general. There’s nothing he can do anytime soon.”
When he was the guard of Xinping Fort, he supplemented the salary of the original officers and soldiers of Xinping Fort, and arranged these officers and soldiers into several teams to patrol the streets every day to ensure the safety of merchants who came to Xinping Fort to do business.
When Li Huaixin was the general of Xinpingbao, these officers and soldiers could not get enough pay at all, and it was difficult to support their families. Liu Heng gave them the opportunity to pay enough, which will naturally make these people grateful.
The important thing is that after Huang An takes office, he will no longer have enough salary.
It has become a normal thing to pay empty wages. He does not believe that after Huang An takes office, he will pay full wages to the officers and soldiers of Xinping Fort. Moreover, even if Huang An wants to pay this salary, he must have the money.
People outside boiled hot water and brought it in.
Zhao Wu filled the teapot on Liu Heng's table and then asked the kettle to be taken out.
The heat rising from the teapot curled up.
Liu Heng said: "Remember to inform the officers and soldiers that as long as they are willing to continue patrolling the streets, the tiger-character flag will guarantee their pay. However, in the future, the pay will be based on the number of patrols."
"This is a good method." Zhao Wu said with a smile, "If Huang An arranges the Xinpingbao officers and soldiers to do other things, it will definitely cause dissatisfaction from the people below. Not only will these officers and soldiers not work hard, but they will also scold them secretly. If Huang An wants to deal with the proprietor, these officers and soldiers will send the news over as soon as possible."
Cutting off someone's money is like killing one's parents.
The tiger-shaped flag gave Xinpingbao officers and soldiers a living with adequate pay. Once the officers and soldiers' pay was restored, they would only be able to get less than half of their pay as before, which would definitely cause dissatisfaction among the officers and soldiers.
Liu Heng said with a smile: "Don't Huang An want to repair the relationship with us? First of all, he must ensure that everything about the Tiger Flag here remains unchanged."
"What the proprietor said is absolutely true. Let's just test this to see if what Huang An said today is sincere." Zhao Wu nodded in agreement.
