At dawn, Shao Ling assembled his troops outside the city. Wang Xiaolie brought Xie Linong and Cao Zhiyan to see him off.
Baofeng went sixty miles to Mount Lu. It is scheduled to march all day today, with a night's rest in between, and arrive at Lushan tomorrow morning. There are spies ahead to explore the road, and there are no obstacles along the way.
At this moment, a fast horse came from the south. He arrived nearby like a meteor and was stopped by Shao Ling's cavalry. Not long after, a junior high school student came to Shao Ling, folded his hands and said, "Report! Lushan Niugao is coming soon, saying that he will go to Baofeng today to see Zhizhou!"
Shao Ling was taken aback and was stunned for a moment. After a while, he ordered the principal to go back and arrived in front of Wang Xiaolie.
After hearing what Shao Ling reported, Wang Xiaolie didn't know what to say. What a coincidence, he was about to send troops, and Niu Gao came.
After thinking about it, Wang Xiaolie said: "In that case, there is no need to send troops. You three hundred people will camp outside the city and wait for Niu Gao to come. If everything goes well, Lushan will be pacified and the passage between Wanluo will be guaranteed to be safe."
After saying that, Wang Xiaolie couldn't help but shake his head. Things in this world are really amazingly coincidental. He took Xie Linong and Cao Zhiyan back to Baofeng County.
In the afternoon, Niu Gao arrived at Baofeng with more than fifty soldiers and horses. The soldiers and horses stayed outside the city and went into the city to see Wang Xiaolie.
Wang Xiaolie greeted him outside the county government office early. Seeing Niu Gao arriving, he quickly stepped forward and said, "I am ashamed to be here for the inspection of Lao Niu!"
Niu Gao hurriedly dismounted, crossed his hands and sang a promise. He said in a loud voice: "I should have come to see the governor long ago when he took office. But there have been many things going on recently, so it has been delayed for many days. It is already rare for the governor to be satisfied!"
As he spoke, he saluted solemnly.
Wang Xiaolie returned the gift and led Niugao into the county government office.
The guests and hosts were seated, and Wang Xiaolian said: "Liu Taiwei was ordered to guard Xijing, and he is most worried about the safety of the road to Dengzhou. I was specially ordered to come to Ruzhou, and Baolu Mountain Pass is safe. It's fine if you come, as long as Lushan County is guarded. , it’s a smooth journey to Dengzhou.”
Niu Gao said: "Zhizhou fought in Yong'an and then defended Gong County. Who wouldn't know that he was a hero! With Zhizhou here, he can ensure peace."
Wang Xiaolie smiled and said a few polite words. Tea was served, invited tea, and chatted with Niu Gao.
After a long time, Wang Xiaoxue said: "Our army is different from other places. It cannot work independently and must be reorganized before joining the army. It is best for all your troops to be transferred to Baofeng within five days and integrated into the army." You, like Shao Ling and others, become a leader. How about that?"
After hearing this, Niu Gao hesitated for a while. I just knew that it couldn't be changed, so I had to cross my hands and say: "Everything will be at Zhizhou's disposal!"
Wang Xiaolie nodded: "This is the best. Boyuan, you will understand in the future that we must do this. Only by gathering a strong army can we fight to the death with the Jin. If we divide our troops, how can we be the opponent of the Jin army?" Don’t worry, everything is fair in our army, don’t worry.”
Niu Gao hurriedly said he didn't dare.
Looking at the sky, Wang Xiaolie said: "Prepare some wine and meat tonight to wash your hands. If you can come, things in Ruzhou will be mostly settled, and there will be no more difficulties. After a while, Wang Jun will be accepted and we will make a good plan. place."
Niu Gao said: "There are tens of thousands of people in Wang Jun, but the surrounding forces don't take him seriously. How can they obey orders?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "Since you are under my rule, you should obey my orders. If not, how will I govern the place? Although Wang Jun has many soldiers, there is no need to worry about it. I will take care of him after the reorganization of my army is completed."
Niu Gao said yes. He just murmured in his heart that Wang Xiaolie's words were too loud.
Wang Xiaolie was not talking big words. These days, Wang Jun's true identity has been discovered. The tens of thousands of troops were just entangled with thousands of fleeing civilians, and there were more than 200 deserters from the Song army. I wonder if there are even a thousand people who are truly capable of fighting. Wang Jun is not well-known in history, so he dealt with it early.
After these days, Wang Xiaolie discovered a pattern. Most of those who like to falsely report the number of people are not good people. Most of the people whose names are left in history don't like to make false reports. Although this rule is not very accurate, it can be used as a reference.
The sun was setting in the west. In the backyard of Baofeng County Yamen, Wang Xiaolie held a banquet to catch the wind and wash away the dust for Niu Gao.
When the food and wine were served, Wang Xiaoxian said: "Everything is difficult at this time, so don't be too shabby. Today I slaughtered a sheep and a pig, and prepared some village wine. When we return to Ruzhou and everything is ready, we can invite you again." you."
Niu Gao said hurriedly: "Zhizhou is careful. How can you dare to do it if you haven't made any achievements at the end?"
Instructing the soldiers to pour the wine, Wang Xiaolie said: "When the Jin people came south and everyone else fled, how could it be easy for you to gather the villagers to protect themselves? At this time, the country is in a difficult situation, and we need those of us who care about the country to work together. Let’s protect the country and the people together!”
After saying that, he raised the wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp.
Niu Gao drank the wine. Putting the bowl down, he said to Wang Xiaolie: "This is the last bad thing about me. I love wine most in my life. I drank too much later. If there is any violation of etiquette, I hope you won't blame me."
Wang Xiaolie nodded: "There are so many rules when drinking! Just have fun and don't think too much."
Drinking in official circles at this time was different from that in later generations. No matter whether they are monarchs or ministers, or superiors and subordinates, they do not follow the rules when they are drunk. During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong and Renzong, he held banquets with ministers in the rear garden. There were often all kinds of banquets, and there was no etiquette between monarchs and ministers. Kou Zhun liked to drink. Whenever he had a drink with his subordinates, he would surround it with a large curtain and light candles inside, so that no one could know whether it was day or night. When did you drink everyone down and when did you remove the curtain?
Wang Xiaolie drank, but the amount of alcohol was not large and he drank in moderation. But he doesn't restrict his men from drinking, he just lets them do whatever they want. However, when there is a mission in the military, drinking is strictly prohibited. Although the conditions are limited and the enforcement is not very strict, there are rules after all. Compared with most armies at this time, Wang Xiaolie's command was relatively strict in prohibiting alcohol.
Niu Gao was addicted to alcohol and Dong Xian was fond of wealth. These two generals who rose up around Luoyang and left their names for future generations each had their own shortcomings. Who has no shortcomings? How many perfect people are there in the world? The key is to limit its shortcomings and leverage its strengths so that great things can be accomplished.
Wang Xiaolie does not require his subordinates to have no shortcomings, but he requires them not to delay business due to shortcomings. Once you receive a task, you must complete it wholeheartedly and never slack off. Once it is found that you are not paying attention to the task, you will be penalized.
After drinking wine and eating meat for a while, the soldier served a plate of fish.
Wang Xiaolie said to Niu Gao: "This is a big carp caught from the nearby river. I asked them to braise it. You can have a taste."
After saying that, he took the serving chopsticks and placed a large piece in the bowl in front of Niu Gao.
Niu Gao was already drunk at this time and ate the fish. He praised: "This fish is sweet and sour, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. It is really delicious. To be honest, I have never tasted this kind of fish before. I didn't expect that there are good cooks in Zhizhou's army."
Wang Xiaolie said: "This fish is called braised carp. It is fried first and then poured with the prepared sauce to get this taste. To be honest, I am the only one in the world who can make it here, but not other places."
Niu Gao praised him repeatedly and kept picking up fish to eat.
Braised carp is a famous dish in Shandong cuisine in later generations. The fish is fried first and then poured with sweet and sour sauce. In this era, there was no sugar, so it was impossible to make a real sweet and sour sauce. But this new flavor, even if imperfect, is still loved by people at this time.
Many things in the world are just like cooking. It was simple in the early days, but over time, it will naturally become more and more exquisite. The most important thing is that the overall approach cannot be wrong. In this world, the most important thing for Wang Xiaolie is to build a big framework and slowly improve it.
