Wu Shigong secretly received a surrender guest in the Qianhusuo Fortress. This guest was Lei Ying, one of the two most powerful bandit leaders in the Runing Prefecture mountainous area.
It should be said that Thunder Eagle is the smaller of the two most powerful bandit leaders. Because the Holy Spirit will cause rebellion, the number of caravans passing through the mountainous areas is also getting smaller and smaller. Coupled with the drought, these bandits
Life is actually not easy.
It was also because they had to spend the winter and the days were difficult. After learning about Wu Shigong's recruitment, Lei Ying sent an envoy to Wu Shigong to find out more about him and express his willingness to recruit him.
Wu Shigong learned from the envoy that in addition to his own village, Thunder Eagle also controlled five or six nearby small villages. The total population of these villages was less than 2,000. Now Wu Shigong was in some trouble.
If Wu Shigong agrees to Lei Ying's recruitment, his financial capacity will definitely be beyond his ability. But if he doesn't agree, not to mention offending Lei Ying, Wu Shigong's most important trade route for transporting salt goods also passes through Lei Ying.
of the territory.
So Wu Shigong said to the envoy: "I am a military attache in Guide Mansion. It is always inconvenient to come to Runing Mansion to recruit people. Should you ask your chief to come and discuss with me face to face to find a better solution?
What’s the solution? Don’t worry! No matter what the outcome is, I guarantee the safety of Mr. Lei’s family.”
Wu Shigong thought: If Lei Ying is suspicious and doesn't dare to meet him, then he will be spared such a trouble.
Unexpectedly, the Thunder Eagle was so courageous that he immediately sent someone to arrange a meeting. Now Wu Shigong had no choice but to secretly connect the Thunder Eagle to the Qianhusuo Fortress.
As soon as he saw Wu Shigong, Lei Ying quickly kowtowed and saluted. Wu Shigong quickly helped Lei Yingxu up. He hadn't even finished the horoscope yet, so it's better not to rush into the drama of meeting his lord.
After the two of them sat down, Thunder Eagle was very cheerful and told him all the problems he was facing now: due to the reduction of caravans, bandits like Thunder Eagle had fewer and fewer objects to rob. Moreover, bandits like Thunder Eagle are now the most vulnerable.
What is lacking is food.
Even if they robbed the goods, they did not rob the food. Moreover, it is difficult to sell these goods now, and basically they cannot exchange them for food. In addition, the route taken by the Holy Spirit Society rioters passed near the villages of Thunder Eagle.
, so there are no farmers cultivating the nearby farmland. This causes the Thunder Eagle to go down the mountain to grab food, but there is no food to grab.
Therefore, this time Lei Ying wants to come to Wu Shigong. Prepare for the worst, even if Wu Shigong cannot accept Lei Ying's recruitment, it is best to help Lei Ying with some food so that the people in Lei Ying's village can survive.
this winter.
Since Lei Ying was so candid, Wu Shigong also told the truth. Wu Shigong also told Lei Ying about his difficulties. But Wu Shigong did not say anything to death. He said to Lei Ying: "In the future, as long as I can find financial resources,
I will definitely organize the people of Mr. Lei’s family into the army. Now I will go to the Jianghu to help the emergency. How about giving Mr. Lei two hundred shi of food first?”
After listening to Wu Shigong's words, Lei Ying became a little anxious. Although two hundred shi of food sounds like a lot, it is not enough for two thousand people. Besides, I don't know what the future will be like next year.
.If there is another drought, then Thunder Eagle may not come to Wu Shigong again to beg for food!
In addition, as the leader of the bandits, Thunder Eagle and some of the bandit leaders have actually made enough money over the years. They don't really want to do this frightening banditry job. Now that they have such a recruitment
Thunder Eagle was reluctant to let go of the opportunity.
Therefore, Lei Ying begged Wu Shigong again, hoping that Wu Shigong could change his mind. This made Wu Shigong even more embarrassed. But it was not good to refuse directly, and the scene at this time became a bit embarrassing.
Wu Shigong suddenly had an idea. He thought of the bad check Lu Jianchen wrote to him. So he asked: "Master Lei, where do you buy the salt here?"
The Thunder Eagle was stunned by Wu Shigong's erroneous question, but he still replied: "Sir, the salt goods in our stockade are usually made by salesmen who deliver goods to the stockade.
They found a way to send it to the village."
"Then what price do you charge for your salt?"
"About five taels of silver per stone."
"So how much salt do you need every month?"
"The people in our village, plus the people in the mountains, need about 40 to 50 dan per month."
After hearing Lei Ying's words, Wu Shigong immediately had an idea. He said to Lei Ying: "Master Lei also knows about my difficulties. But now there is a way to go."
"I have a way to get cheap salt, so I send it to Master Lei's village for four taels of silver per stone. I don't care what price Master Lei sells it for."
"As long as Master Lei agrees to this business, I will agree to you and accept your recruitment first. However, because my quota of soldiers is already full. At first, I can only make Master Lei feel aggrieved. For the time being, I will
Stay in your own village and wait until the conditions are mature in the future, then turn Lei Da's family into a formal official army."
Then, after some bargaining, Wu Shigong and Lei Ying finally reached an agreement like this:
Wu Shigong accepted the recruitment of bandits from Leiying's villages. Moreover, Wu Shigong will select two hundred young and strong bandits from the bandits in Leiying's villages and organize them into two squadrons of soldiers. Leiying will become the two squadrons.
The overall leader of a squadron of soldiers. Other small and medium-sized leaders will also be arranged by Thunder Eagle himself.
The soldiers of these two squadrons will still be arranged in the original village for the time being, and Wu Shigong will also send some officers to give these soldiers basic training. If Wu Shigong has any military operations, the soldiers of the two squadrons of Thunder Eagle will cooperate
Action. In normal times, Wu Shigong would not interfere with the actions of these soldiers.
As for the military pay of these soldiers, Wu Shigong will give them food stamps of one stone per month for each of them. With these food stamps, these soldiers can go to Wu Shigong's Qianhusuo fortress to buy preferential grain for five coins and one stone.
And Lei Ying promised that in the territory he controlled, only Wu Shigong's family would supply salt.
In this agreement, Wu Shigong basically did not have any additional burdens. He also had 200 more soldiers. Although Wu Shigong only controlled these soldiers in name, to mobilize and command them, he still needed the cooperation of bandit leaders such as Lei Ying. But
At least for now, bandits like Thunder Eagle have become Wu Shigong's nominal subordinates, and at least they will not openly oppose Wu Shigong.
In addition to providing the most needed food in the village, Lei Ying was also nominally recruited by Wu Shigong. As long as Wu Shigong rose to prominence, Lei Ying and the others would sooner or later infiltrate the official army and get a half-officer named Lai Guangzong Yaozu.
.
Moreover, Thunder Eagle and the others are quite independent, and the actual command power of these soldiers is still in the hands of bandit leaders like Thunder Eagle.
For Lei Ying himself, there is another advantage: the salt Wu Shigong gave to Lei Ying was four taels of silver per stone. And Lei Ying could sell the salt at a price of five taels of silver per stone. For such a
Of course, Thunder Eagle would not refuse the windfall.
After the agreement was reached, Lei Ying escorted the 200 shi of grain given to him by Wu Shigong and returned happily. Wu Shigong also discovered with great interest that the food stamps he had issued on his own initiative were unexpected.
The wonderful use of.
But not long after sending off Thunder Eagle, Wu Shigong suddenly received news: he had suffered a setback for the first time in escorting the caravan.
The escort this time was Lu Yunhuan's salt cargo, which was intercepted halfway by the most powerful bandit leader in the Runing Prefecture mountainous area - Li Yaozi and his group of bandits. As a last resort, the soldiers escorted by Wu Shigong and Lu Yunhuan's salt merchant
The team returned to Qianhusuo Fortress.
Faced with such a provocation, Wu Shigong immediately issued a mobilization order and decided to completely wipe out Li Yaozi's group of bandits. In this way, he would deter all bandits who dared to challenge Wu Shigong's authority, and kill the chicken to show the monkeys, so that other bandits would recognize him.
Given the situation, don't do such stupid things again.