The main force of the new army was not marching very fast.
In any case, if you want to annihilate Guo Yunbiao's tribe, you will need a water war.
This is an area that the New Army has never set foot in, and it must be fully prepared.
When he arrived at Dongchang Mansion, Huang Daozhou led local officials and gentry to welcome him with great enthusiasm.
Zuo Mengeng knew why this was so.
"Zhong Heng, this is Commander Ren and Commander Deng. You are both generals, so please stay close to them."
The five major families in Dongchang are Ren, Deng, Zhu, Fu and Geng.
Geng is the Geng Ruchi family, one of the nine prominent families in Linqing and one of the five major families in Dongchang Prefecture.
The Ren family is the hereditary commander of the Pingshan Guards, and the current head of the family is Ren Huaimao. The head of the Deng family, Deng Zhirong, is the commander of the Dongchang Guard.
Although it is a family of military commanders, the Wei system has long since collapsed. Whether it is Dongchang Guard or Pingshan Guard, they are all empty frames now.
The Ren and Deng families had long since turned to civil affairs, and their descendants had numerous famous ministers.
Ren Huaimao and Deng Zhirong looked at Zuo Mengeng with complicated eyes, full of envy.
They are already old and have been doing nothing all their lives. For the sake of family continuation, they have to give up their hereditary positions. But the young man in front of him was famous all over the world for killing slave chiefs at a young age.
Looking at the army of dragons, tigers and clouds behind him, they are completely different from the old, weak, sick and disabled in the guardhouse.
Zuo Mengeng did not look down on the idea of these declining families. After all, they were all wealthy families in Dongchang Mansion and would be used in many places in the future.
"The two seniors are veteran generals in the army. The juniors will rarely ask for help in the future."
This is a polite statement, no one will believe it. But the attitude expressed still made Ren Huaimao and Deng Zhirong very happy.
Geng Zhangguang also introduced Zuo Mengeng.
"Zhongheng, this is my cousin Fu Jianyue Gong."
Geng Ruqi's successor was the daughter of the Fu family in Dongchang. The Fu family had no heirs and treated Geng Zhangguang as if they were her own. Therefore, the relationship between Geng Zhangguang and the Fu family was very good.
Fu Jianyue's father, Fu Guangzhai, is the master of the Fu family.
The most famous story is that Qi Jiguang recommended that Qi Jiguang return home for retirement, which made Wanli furious and was driven back home.
"This is Duke Lu Guangxi, after Duke Quezhai."
Duke Quezhai was Lu Zhongli, the boss of Donglin, one of the founders of Donglin Academy, and Geng Ruqi's teacher.
Lu Zhongli has been dead for many years, and the current head of the family is Lu Guangxi. He has no official career and makes a living by doing business.
This time to welcome Zuo Menggeng, the five families of Ren, Deng, Zhu, Fu and Geng of Dongchang Prefecture and the five small families of Xu, Lu, Shao, Luo and Tang all came.
Dongchang Mansion and Linqing are adjacent to each other, and everyone here can see the changes in Linqing. If you say you don’t have any ideas, no one will believe it.
"Last winter, I ate fresh vegetables for the first time. I asked about it and found out that it was General Zuo's skill. It is a great kindness to have fresh vegetables to eat when everything is withered. Unfortunately, Linqing is too far away and it is cold in the season. It is not easy to preserve vegetables, and the people of Dongchang are so disappointed!"
After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, Fu Jianyue expressed his thoughts on behalf of everyone.
Last winter, Zuozhuang's off-season dishes were put on the market for the first time, and they immediately caused a sensation in the area around Linqing.
Especially the families in Dongchang Mansion understand the key points and are really jealous.
When Fu Jianyue said it, all the major families looked nervous.
Many people think that no matter who controls this kind of business that generates countless profits, it is impossible to share the profits with others.
All parties have already discussed it and are ready to offer sufficient benefits in exchange.
Although Zuo Mengeng is not a business expert, he also knows the value of off-season vegetables. It’s not that we can’t get more people to participate, but we can’t give it easily.
If it's too easy, these people won't cherish him and won't be able to stand firmly in his camp.
This is a matter of both interests and humanity.
"Thank you for your peace of mind. This winter, all our businesses in Linqing have expanded the scale of their greenhouses again. The vegetable output has doubled compared to last year. I believe it will be able to satisfy everyone's appetite."
Zuo Mengeng's response was half truthful and half false.
With the boom last year, it is imperative to expand the planting scale of off-season vegetables this winter.
Even if Zuo Mengeng objects, it will not work.
However, the entire Dongchang Mansion is so big that Zuozhuang’s own output alone will never be able to satisfy all markets.
Moreover, Dongchang Mansion has an advantage that Linqing does not have.
That is, it is close to Jinan Prefecture.
If an off-season vegetable base is built here, it can be marketed to Jinan Prefecture.
Even if the stores in Dongchang Prefecture don't ask for help, Zuo Mengeng will still find ways to expand the market.
Since every family in Dongchang Mansion is asking for help from him, of course he will not let go of this opportunity.
Now Huang Daozhou is the prefect of Dongchang, and he is the associate general of Dongchang. The size of the new army has reached more than 20,000 people, and it is time to bring the entire Dongchang Prefecture into the sphere of influence.
Originally, I had to worry about some of the court's eyes and ears, fearing that officials from Dongchang Mansion would inform me.
But after Huang Daozhou took office, he found that there was a huge vacancy of officials in Dongchang Mansion. Even when he is in office, he is too busy and confused.
For example, Wang Huaixiu, a fellow intellectual, was a Jinshi in the 35th year of Wanli...
Among this generation of Jinshi, there are not many who have served or dismissed from office after entering the cabinet. He is still a fellow intellectual.
At first glance, it seems that he has no connections or connections and is just waiting to survive until he retires.
Such people are not even troublesome.
Relying on his status as a warrior, Deng Zhirong said: "It is more than a hundred miles from Linqing to Dongchang, and when the weather is freezing, even the freshest vegetables transported here will be lost." It has a refreshing taste. How about building a shed locally in Dongchang? I will wait for each company to provide capital and land, follow the example of Linqing and set up a company, so that everyone in Linqing will not suffer losses."
"That's it. General Zuo, for the sake of everyone's solidarity, please give me some condolences to my father in Dongchang."
In the face of huge interests, Lu Zhongli's descendants could not hold back and agreed with what Deng Zhirong said.
Others followed suit and even revealed how much they contributed. With this attitude, it would be impossible not to allow them to take shares.
Zuo Mengeng still did not let go easily, he just said: "Thanks to the kindness of all seniors, I am very grateful. However, this matter cannot be decided by me alone, and I need to obtain the consent of all shareholders. How about this, I will write to Linqing immediately to let you know. How about all shareholders send someone over and let’s discuss it in detail?”
His words seemed to be prevaricating, but everyone here was a smart person, how could they not understand the deeper meaning?
Zuo Mengeng asked the Linqing families to come over and talk, but the relationship between the Linqing families and the Dongchang families kept getting cut and messed up, which basically meant that the matter was done.
But everyone also understood that he had bargaining intentions.
Winter is coming soon. In order to catch up with the off-season vegetable planting this winter, every family in Dongchang is preparing to provide sufficient benefits.
"I heard that the Dongchang Xie soldiers and horses are strong. With this strong army here, my Dongchang father and mother no longer have to worry about harassment by thieves. General Zuo has protected the country and the people, and the villagers are very grateful. It happens that the Fu family still has a piece of free land near the military camp. If you can't grow any crops, how about giving this to General Zuo?"
The new army's military camp in Dongchang Mansion is on the wasteland beside the Tuhai River in the southwest of the city.
This is a piece of land that Huang Daozhou finally found, but the area is small, only enough for one regiment to be stationed, and not even a school ground can be built.
Because Zuo Menggeng agreed to each company's investment in the vegetable company, each company gave back the benefits and took out several miles of land nearby.
This is indeed a good thing for the new army.
After completing the exchange of interests, the relationship between the two parties immediately became closer, and the topic began to deepen.
The Fu family and the Lu family want to obtain the sales rights of Fuyao Glass in Dongchang Mansion. Although there is no problem with the Geng family, they still need Zuo Mengeng's consent.
Zuo Mengeng was very considerate to Geng Zhangguang and decided on the matter on the spot.
After Geng Zhangguang joined Zuo Mengeng's camp, he has not made any achievements yet. But Zuo Mengeng saved Geng Ruqi's life, and it was so satisfying that Geng Zhangguang felt that he must repay the favor no matter what.
After the banquet, Geng Zhangguang took two young scholars to find Zuo Mengeng.
"Zhongheng, this is Fu Yupan and this is Zhu Yuanfu. They are both leaders in the young area of Dongchang. I have brought these two here and they will be of great use in the future."
The man named Fu Yupan was wearing a simple cloth robe. He was short and fat, but had sharp features and a dignified appearance.
When he looked at Zuo Mengeng, his eyes were full of curiosity and admiration.
"Student Fu Yijian pays homage to General Zuo."
Zuo Mengeng was stunned and looked at the fat man curiously.
Isn’t this the first number one scholar in the Qing Dynasty?
She is still Kang Mazi’s teacher.
At this point, it only takes one strike, and my first number one scholar in the Qing Dynasty will be gone.
No, as long as Zuo Mengeng is here, there will be no more Qing Dynasty.
Thinking about it this way, he is really a good talent.
Zuo Mengeng looked at Fu Yijian funnyly, cursing in his heart.
No. 1 pick, do you know that meeting me will prevent you from being scolded by your own descendants.
I am your great benefactor!
