Zhu Renxia and his party walked out of the east gate of Liping City, holding torches and riding fast, and returned to the Chang'an Army camp an hour later.
It is midnight at night, which is roughly equivalent to around 12 o'clock in the evening in Zhu Changan's world.
The patrolling Minzhuang did not disappoint Zhu Renxia. When they saw the torches, they fired a few loud arrows from a distance as a warning, and shouted loudly: "Who is coming?"
Jin Zhu said loudly: "One of my own, the mayor of Chang'an Town Zhu Renxia, the Yangtze River Champion of the Minzhuang Group."
The platoon leader who led the team hurriedly apologized: "You little guy is blind and didn't see that the mayor was returning."
"here you go!"
Zhu Renxia praised loudly on the horse, "Are you from the Third Company?"
The platoon leader cupped his hands and said, "If I go back to the mayor, the villain is Han Tengfei, the platoon leader of the third company and one platoon."
Zhu Renxia nodded: "Very good, I will remember you and tell you, Captain Zhu Junjian, that your third company did a good job!"
Han Tengfei showed a proud expression: "Thank you mayor for the compliment. This is all our responsibility."
When Zhu Renxia returned to the camp, Pang Feihong, who was in charge of commanding the troops, was reading military books in the commander's tent. He was quite surprised to see Zhu Renxia and the other three returning overnight.
"I thought you were staying in Fucheng, but I didn't expect you to come back overnight." Pang Feihong put away the military book and said with admiration.
Zhu Renxia laughed: "Captain Pang, aren't you still awake? Since I, Zhu Renxia, promised to come back tonight, I won't break my promise."
After chatting for a while, everyone went back to their tents to sleep.
As the commander-in-chief of the three armies, Zhu Renxia had a separate tent and slept alone in the commander's tent.
Jiang Guanjun, the regiment leader, slept next door to him, but it was not in a separate tent, but in the same tent as Xu Le, the commander of the fourth company with whom he had a close relationship.
Jin Zhu, as the commander of the first battalion, and Pang Feihong, as the commander of the second battalion, needed to go back to their respective teams' quarters to rest. Their soldiers had already set up tents for them, so they didn't have to worry about having no place to rest.
Jin Zhu didn't sleep well last night, and stayed up most of the night tonight. She was very tired. After entering the tent, she fell asleep. After a while, she started snoring evenly.
Time passed quickly, and it was only two and a half hours from midnight to dawn, and the gorgeous morning glow rose again in the east.
After the nine hundred people had eaten and drank enough, the whole army broke out of camp and marched westward in neat rows.
Twenty miles ahead is Liping Mansion, where the prefect Li Yao will reward the strong people and cleanse the Chang'an army. Therefore, Zhu Renxia and Jiang Guanjun rode at the front, and the most elite Fourth Company was still the vanguard.
There is no other reason, just because there are more than half of the Qi family's troops in the fourth company. Their military appearance is neat and disciplined. They walk with their heads held high and their chests high, walking like a dragon and a tiger's stride, which best shows the style of a powerful army.
An hour and a half later, the Chang'an Army arrived outside Liping Mansion.
Looking from a distance, one could see hundreds of officials surrounding the magistrate Li Yao, who was wearing a crimson official robe. He was surrounded by fellow magistrates Liu Yangang, Tongpan Ding Kewang, Tongpan Xu Decai, Liping County Magistrate, Liping Prefecture Tuiguan, and Liping Prefecture officials. There are thirty or forty officials of various sizes, including the county magistrate and the chief minister.
It has to be said that the officials in Liping Prefecture are more powerful than those in Jinping County.
When he was in Jinping County, there was only Zhu Renxia, a seventh-rank official wearing a green official robe. The others, including the county magistrate and the chief minister, were all eighth- and ninth-rank officials wearing green official robes.
In Liping Prefecture, in addition to Li Yao, the prefect who wears a crimson official robe, Liu Yangang, the co-president, is an official of the fifth rank, and magistrates Ding Kewang and Xu Decai are of the sixth rank. The other Liping county magistrates and Liping Prefecture yamen officials are also officials of the seventh rank. Good officials.
In other words, in addition to one high-ranking official in scarlet official robes, there were five adults in blue official robes present. The momentum was really huge, making many people in Chang'an Town cautiously cheer up.
After all, it was the first time to see so many adults gathered together. This was a scene they had never seen before.
However, the hundreds of people who came from the Qi family army had a relaxed look on their faces. They walked, laughed and talked, walked with their heads held high, and their steps were uniform, which fully demonstrated the elite soldiers and generals.
"Okay, Chang'an Town's Minzhuang is indeed an elite army. Jiang Guangjun deserves to be the Qi Family Army's Commander-in-Chief, and he deserves to be praised by General Qi Jiguang!"
It is better to meet than to be famous.
When Li Yao saw the military formations in Chang'an Town with his own eyes, he was completely relieved. The only trace of worry left in his heart disappeared. He couldn't help stroking his beard and praising them while being happy.
Fellow acquaintance Liu Yangang felt sour in his heart. He touched his goatee and said angrily: "Chang'an Town actually has such an elite army. What is its purpose? It must be carefully considered and thoroughly investigated."
"Haha... Then check it out!"
Ding Kewang had completely turned to Li Yao and couldn't help but say something to Liu Yangang, "Jiang Futai's letter of appointment has been issued. Magistrate Zhu is ordered to rush to the aid of Guiyang to protect his family and country. Don't say it's useless." That's nonsense, if you suspect that Chang'an Town is up to something evil, you can go investigate on your own."
"I am thinking about the court."
Liu Yangang stroked his beard and snorted coldly, and couldn't help cursing the "coward" in his heart. A few days ago, he said that he would join forces to squeeze Li Yao out of Liping Mansion. How could he have betrayed his trust in just a few days? What a villain!
But in Ding Kewang's view, Li Yao has completely grasped the initiative in Liping Mansion.
After raising twenty-five thousand taels of silver, he had already won the support of most of the squires in Liping City. After all, everyone was still waiting for him to repay the money, so they naturally wanted to support the work of the prefect.
In just four or five days, Liping Mansion's Yamen recruited more than 400 officers and civilians, expanding the city's defense force to 800 people, greatly improving its defense capabilities.
With recruitment notices posted everywhere, there will definitely be an endless stream of people coming from various counties and towns to join the army. Maybe within a month, Liping City's Minzhuang team will exceed 2,000 people.
After all, everyone knows that the prefect is rich, which means that you can get paid as a soldier, which is very attractive to the people in a period of war and chaos.
Furthermore, with the promotion of Zhu Renxia, the prefect formed an alliance with the financially wealthy Chang'an Town. With Chang'an Town sending troops to support Guiyang, the governor of Jiangdong must also be deeply satisfied with Li Yao's employment methods.
It can be said that through a series of recent means, Li Yao has completely established a foothold in Liping. If I continue to dissent from Liu Yangang and Brother Liping, won't I be kicked in the head by a donkey?
Except for the eccentric Liu Yangang, the other officials almost all praised the Chang'an Army.
"This team is really neat and tidy. They look energetic and well-equipped. They are good soldiers!"
"Yes, yes, they feel more elite than Tian Zongren's Minzhuang. Look at the spears they carry in their hands, they are shining with silver."
"Look at that firegun, the barrel is so thick, one hit would probably kill you, right?"
"I heard that Governor Jiang ordered all governments to send troops to support Guiyang. We, Liping, can send such an elite force. Isn't it a gain in face?"
"That's natural. Jiang Futai will definitely take a high look at the prefect and Magistrate Zhu."
The officials present were full of praise and praised Li Yao one after another.
During this period of time, Li Yao reversed the unfavorable situation and gradually took control of the military and political power of Liping Mansion, which gradually convinced the officials in Liping City.
More importantly, there is money in the treasury now, and food in the granary. The adults have received the salary that was owed for two months, and the resistance against Li Yao in their hearts has gradually disappeared.
When the troops came to the front, Zhu Renxia raised his whip and loudly ordered: "The entire army halts its march!"
His order was quickly passed on: "The entire army halts its march!"
"The entire army halts its march!"
Within a moment, the two-mile-long team completely stopped moving, as if a giant python was crawling on the ground waiting for an opportunity.
Zhu Renxia turned over and dismounted, clasped his fists at Li Yao and his colleagues and said, "Jinping County Magistrate Zhu Renxia has met the magistrate and all of my colleagues!"
The officials present all clasped their fists and returned the salute: "I have met Magistrate Zhu."
"Haha... Magistrate Zhu, thank you for your hard work!"
Li Yao smiled and held up his hands, "Let me introduce you to our colleagues in Liping City. This is Lord Liu Yangang, the prefect's fellow magistrate."
"I've met Liu Tongzhi." Zhu Renxia clasped his fists and saluted.
Liu Yangang raised his nostrils to the sky and returned the courtesy perfunctorily: "That's polite!"
Li Yao continued to introduce the others: "This is the general judge Ding Kewang, this is the general judge Xu Decai, and this is the county magistrate Li Enguang..."
Zhu Renxia exchanged greetings with each other, and was relieved that Liu Yangang's arrogant behavior no longer ruined his mood.
