In a remote village near the river below Linying County, Feng Hui and his men rested here temporarily. There were three families in this village, but after the war, only an old couple remained. They had been killed by Feng Hui and others and thrown outside the courtyard.
There was a fire in the courtyard, and the flames were blazing. Feng Hui and several leaders were sitting in the middle, while his subordinates were standing or sitting around.
The bowl was filled with wine. Feng Hui picked it up and said to Luan Qingshan: "This transaction is all thanks to Brother Feng! Please drink this bowl full!"
Luan Qingshan picked up the wine in front of him and drank it down with Feng Hui. Said: "Since I have taken refuge with my brother, I naturally have to do my best. This time, Xie Ji from Meishan was too greedy and hired a female prostitute. In the end, he didn't want to give money and attracted us. If he had given money happily, where would there be What’s going on behind the scenes? Even if you’re a robber, you can’t break the rules!”
Feng Hui nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, that's what my brother said! It's your great merit this time. Here are ten taels of gold. Just accept it. When the cloth is sold, I will give you a reward of five hundred guan! We are robbers, too. Keep your word!"
Luan Qingshan crossed his hands: "Thank you, brother, for the reward!"
Why couldn't Feng Hui hear it? Luan Qingshan said that the people in Meishan got into trouble all because they didn't want to give money to Yu Nu, so Yu Nu came to find him and others. If he gave the money to Yu Nu happily, where would these things come from? These words were obviously talking about Meishan people, but secretly they were talking about themselves. These thousands of pieces of cloth are all due to Luan Qingshan, who has made the greatest contribution, and he wants to be rewarded. If I were like Xie Ji and refused to give money, I don't know what would happen next.
As night fell, the lamb on the fire was roasting, giving off a fragrant aroma. Feng Hui tore a leg of lamb and gave it to Luan Qingshan. Everyone ate the meat, drank wine, and chatted about trivial matters.
After drinking for three rounds, Feng Hui said: "We have many brothers now, but we just don't have a place to settle down. To the west of the Ru River, there are Feng Changning in Chenzhou, Peng Jinyuan in Xihua, and Dong Ping in Beiwu Town. Then to the There is also Xie Ji in the north. In the Songshan area, there is also Ding Jin who occupies the three counties of Mi County, Dengfeng and Yingyang. Logically speaking, Feng Changning has the weakest power and occupies the state capital, so he should be snatched away Territory. However, Feng Changning has no backbone at all and is entangled with the Jin people. And I heard that the Jin people want to support Liu Yu of Jinan Prefecture to become emperor, and Feng Changning surrendered early. If he goes to fight Feng Changning, I'm afraid Attracting the Jin people to conquer."
The surrounding men all said yes. Everyone fled from the army because they wanted to be left alone, not to hunt for gold.
Feng Hui said: "Most of Peng Jinyuan's men are from the same army as ours, and there are so many people that they are difficult to deal with. After much deliberation, only Dong Ping from Wuyang is the best to deal with. Merge Dong Ping, occupy Beiwu Town, and then Taking over nearby Linying County is enough for us to be happy!"
Speaking of this, Feng Hui looked at Luan Qingshan and said: "Brother Luan showed bravery and scheming in this robbery of cloth. He is a rare good general. I will trouble you again and go to Beiwu Town in advance to find out what Dong Ping is doing." What’s the details?”
Luan Qingshan crossed his hands: "But it depends on my brother's orders!"
"Okay!" Feng Hui picked up the wine bowl. "After drinking this bowl of wine, let's go to Zhanbeiwu Town! We'll occupy the place and sell the cloth. We want territory and money. Who dares to look down on us!"
Everyone cheered together. Drinking from bowls and eating meat with open stomachs, the scene was lively until late at night.
In Fangcheng, Wang Xiaolie stayed temporarily in the county government office. After dinner, I dealt with some urgent documents in the study. Finally, he picked up an official document, which was a robbery and murder case in Linying County.
After reading the case, Wang Xiaolie couldn't help but feel chilled. In broad daylight, a cotton vendor was killed and the cotton was robbed. More than a hundred corpses were left at the scene, including nearly twenty porters among the dead.
Putting down the official documents, Wang Xiaolie ordered his soldiers to find Xie Linong, the magistrate of Tangzhou.
Not long after, Xie Linong arrived at the study and saluted Wang Xiaolie.
Wang Xiaolie said: "Sit down. We have known each other for many years, so there is no need to be restrained in front of me."
Xie Linong thanked him and sat down opposite Wang Xiaolie.
Wang Xiaolie handed over the official document and said, "You must have heard about this case, right?"
Xie Linong looked at it hurriedly and said, "I heard about it. This cotton merchant was originally in Xiangcheng County, waiting for the north to settle down and cross the river. For some unknown reason, he suddenly crossed the Ru River to the south, as if he was going to take another road. "
Wang Xiaolie said: "The other road is for smuggling goods from the north and the south. To the east is Dong Ping's power, and to the west is Peng Jinyuan. Many goods that are not allowed to be traded between the north and the south go from there. Collecting tolls is a big income for Dong Ping and Peng Jinyuan. . North-South border trade must have rules. Not only the court has rules, we also have our own rules. However, rules are rules, and there are many goods that are officially prohibited, but sometimes, or in certain quantities, they can be traded . These are under our control. Merchants who want to traffic these goods use this road."
Xie Linong smiled sheepishly and said, "I've heard about this too. I thought Observation didn't know about it."
"How could I not know?" Wang Xiaolie shook his head. "I don't know, whoever dares to engage in North-South trade by himself, I'll chop his head off!"
Having said this, Wang Xiaolie thought for a while and said: "The forces on this road are Dong Ping and Peng Jinyuan. I thought everything should be safe, but how could I have imagined that there would be such a big case! And the place where the crime occurred is not far from the Ruhe River. Right under our noses!”
Xie Linong said: "After crossing the Ru River, we don't care about all matters. This has always been the case. The robbers know what they are doing, so they do everything possible to let the cargo owners cross the Ru River. What can we do if they start there?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "I originally thought that the other side of the Ru River is a guerrilla zone. We will not occupy it, and we will not let the Jin people occupy it. If the Jin army comes to attack, there is such an area, and they can cut off their food routes and harass their retreat at any time. . Now it seems that leaving other forces alone in the guerrilla zone is not an option."
Xie Linong knew about this matter, but Wang Ruohai was in charge of the matter and did not dare to say more.
Standing up, Wang Xiaolie walked around the study several times. Asked Xie Linong: "I heard that Zhang Jun doesn't listen to Wang Ruohai's orders very much. Your place is close to Caizhou, do you have any news?"
Xie Linong pondered for a while and then said carefully: "Zhang Jun is a courageous man and has never liked restraint. Now that he is leading troops outside, he naturally doesn't like others to dictate. Moreover, Counselor Wang is cautious by nature, so Zhang Jun is not allowed to say anything and is not allowed to do anything. Something happened. The two of them had some disagreements."
Wang Xiaolie nodded. Said: "Wang Ruohai is not from our Qin Wang Army, and he is always constrained in doing things. It is strange that we can talk about it together when we encounter Zhang Jun's bold temperament. This will not work. Those who lead troops in the guerrilla zone must not only be brave Big, you have to obey orders. You must obey orders absolutely! It is not easy for Zhang Jun to make him obey."
Having said this, Wang Xiaolie looked at Xie Linong and said in a deep voice: "How about you replace Wang Ruohai?"
Xie Linong was startled. He said hurriedly: "Caizhou is not only in charge of one state, but also in charge of many things in several surrounding states. I am a soldier leader, how can I do such a thing?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "I don't know how to study. In our army, you are the only one who can make Zhang Jun obedient. After thinking about it, there is really no one more suitable than Zhang Jun to lead troops in the guerrilla zone. No way. If we replace Zhang Jun, then we can only replace Wang Ruohai."
