"This...!" Xue Yong's question was difficult to answer, so Jin Xiong hesitated. If he said he couldn't master it, then what value would Liu Guoneng and Jin Xiong have in the Runing Army? It can be said that if they mastered everything, there would still be some.
Those who have taken refuge are old gangsters, who may not be willing to accept recruitment.
Seeing Jin Xiong's embarrassment, Xue Yong waved his hand and said: "I have no other meaning in asking. I just want to tell you: Our Runing Army's fleet will arrive in Yangzhou in three days. Let Chuangtangtian capture those disobedient people."
They will be arranged by the water, and our Runing Army will help you clean it up, so that it will be easier for you to control it in the future."
"Then where are we going next?" Jin Xiong repeated the old talk.
"Of course we are going back. Do you still want to capture the city of Beijing?" Xue Yong laughed and scolded, "The wives and children of your leaders are staying in Runing, while the wives and children of your subordinates are still in the Dabie Mountains. Do you want to take them?
Abandon them all? You have to pick them up! We, the Runing Army, have always done things honestly, and we must make arrangements for these women and children."
Xue Yong's answer immediately put Jin Xiong's heart at ease, and he also smiled and said: "Then I'll leave right away and let my eldest brother get ready."
"Don't leave in a hurry! Let me finish." Xue Yong said again, "After we arrive in Yangzhou, you don't want to leave for the time being. I will tell you when to leave. Do you understand? I understand.
Just go!”
On the second day of September, by the Yangzhou Canal.
"Big cabinet! This time I voted for the king, and I made the right decision. During the war, his people rushed to the front, but when we were dividing things, we brothers were in charge. From now on, we brothers will live a good life."
The areas close to the Grand Canal have always been relatively rich, but this time, Liu Guoneng, the leader of the Clan, gave these areas to the new people who took refuge, so these people were quite satisfied.
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Ma Liu scolded with a smile. He was leading hundreds of bandits to Liu Guoneng in the Dabie Mountains. "What is yours and mine? They are all the king's people. Brothers, please search carefully. What are they?
Don't pull it down either. Also, prepare two copies later to send to the King and the Eighth Master."
"Dagui! What should we do if we are separated and the officers and soldiers in the city rush out?" Another bandit asked.
"They don't dare! Even if we walk naked under the city, those official dogs don't dare to leave the city. Don't waste words, hurry up!"
"Big cabinet! Look!" suddenly a bandit shouted.
Ma Liu took a look and saw several ships appearing in the distance of the canal. Although they seemed far away, the speed of those ships was quite fast, and after a while, the outlines of the ships were clearly visible.
"Hurry up and gather together! Go back to the king!" Ma Liu shouted. And the bandits were running around like headless flies.
"Boom boom boom——!" Although it seemed far away, it was already within the range of the artillery. The Runing Army's naval guns roared one after another. The shells hit the houses, causing the bricks and stones to fly everywhere.
.The bandits became even more confused, and they fled the canal in a desperate manner.
Ma Liu was also running desperately until he was far away from the canal. He stopped and took a breath. Only then did he realize that the weapon in his hand had been thrown away without knowing where. But his left hand was
He firmly grabbed a piece of floral cloth from somewhere.
No matter what, he finally escaped. But at this moment, the sound of galloping horses suddenly came from the distance. Ma Liu turned around and was horrified to find a group of army cavalry appearing in the south...
.
After Xue Yong made an agreement with Jin Xiong, they arrived at a place thirty miles away from Yangzhou on the night of the first day of September. The fleet of Runing Army docked. He put more than a thousand of his cavalry ashore first, and then marched near Yangzhou at night.
.
On the second day, the eight gunboats of the Runing Army first fired across the shore, and then the cavalry covered them up. They killed all the peasant soldiers who Liu Guoneng thought were unreliable. After that, the Runing Army set up camp in the city.
, and confronted Liu Guoneng's peasant army.
Then the acting time began, and Xue Yong and Liu Guoneng's troops had a series of "big battles". Anyway, the thunder was loud and the raindrops were light, but it helped Liu Guoneng get rid of some "thorns". The soldiers and civilians in Yangzhou City were
My heart is surging and my soul is filled with anger!
"General! We have been fighting hard for days and the soldiers have worked hard. Today, I am here to thank the general on behalf of the old people in the city and the countryside. Come! General! I will give you a drink first!" The head of the Lin family in Yangzhou raised his wine glass.
No one is a fool. After fighting for so many days, people in Yangzhou City also realized that the Runing Army and Liu Guoneng's Peasant Army were not on the same level at all. The reason for the stalemate for so many days is that there is collusion between the two armies? There is no evidence.
.But at least it shows that the Runing Army retains its strength. Why should it retain its strength? People in Yangzhou City can also imagine that it is just to increase money.
Problems that can be solved with money are not problems. Yangzhou City wants to send away the god of plague as soon as possible and let Yangzhou return to its former prosperity as soon as possible. Therefore, the team that went out of the city to reward Runing's army this time was basically composed of salt merchants.
The Qi family, the number one salt merchant in Yangzhou, would definitely not show up, so the leader of the team was the head of the Lin family, who was ranked second in line. Unexpectedly, after arriving at the Runing Army camp, Xue Yong was very polite and served a banquet.
, having a private banquet with the head of the Lin family in person.
Seeing the toast from the head of the Lin family, Xue Yong also raised his glass. After the two drank a toast, the formal conversation began.
"General Xue, people in the Ming Dynasty don't tell secrets. I know that your army has worked hard for days and has suffered a lot of losses. I just patted my chest here and asked General Xue to report the number. I immediately joined forces with my colleagues to make up for it.
That’s a shortfall.”
Xue Yong laughed "haha" and said: "Maybe Mr. Lin has noticed that our Runing army is quite war-weary and the soldiers are unwilling to contribute, so we haven't driven away the rebel army yet!"
The head of the Lin family did not expect Xue Yong to be so outspoken. He was surprised and asked: "What do you mean by the general's words?"
Xue Yong sighed and said: "Although I am reckless, I know how to keep my word. I have reached an agreement with Mr. Guo and Mr. Lu and only received 80,000 taels, so I will not accept a penny more. Unless I am
It's just a show, but I can't control the soldiers!"
"Why is this so?" The head of the Lin family was even more surprised. "I have heard for a long time that Marshal Wu is good at running the army. How could such a situation happen?"
"They are so angry!" Xue Yong's expression became even more helpless, "My general soldier loves his soldiers as much as his sons, and the soldiers are also very loyal. I can command like an arm even when I'm down, but when the soldiers heard about it, they came to help Yangzhou.
, they can’t even lift their spirits!”
As soon as he said this, the head of the Lin family fell silent. As long as he thought about it for a moment, he knew that it was related to the salt industry. Could it be that General Xue was a drunkard who didn't care about drinking? He didn't want money at all, but salt goods that would benefit more. Share? So the head of the Lin family followed the principle that a hundred words are worse than a silence and kept his mouth shut, waiting quietly for Xue Yong's next words.
But then, Xue Yong seemed to be fine, frequently toasting to the head of the Lin family, chatting and laughing, as if he had never discussed this topic before.
In the end, it was the head of the Lin family who couldn't bear it any longer. He carefully said: "In the past, we in Yangzhou had some misunderstandings with Marshal Wu, but over the years, our colleagues in the salt industry have abided by Marshal Wu's rules and never dared to go beyond the limits.
, we have been friends for nearly ten years. So what do you mean, General?"
Xue Yong immediately became impatient: "I told the old gentleman. I'm not asking for money, let alone salt." Then Xue Yong leaned over and whispered: "Qijia!"
At that time, the Qi family had a bloody feud with Wu Shigong. For the salt business, the Qi family sent people to assassinate Wu Shigong, and Wu Shigong also sent people to assassinate the father of the current head of the Qi family. Later, the Qi family also gave Wu Shigong officialdom.
There was a stumbling block, but it was just because the distance between the two parties was too far and they couldn't do anything to each other, so they were living in peace until now.
Originally, during Xue Yong's expedition, he did not have the task of removing the Qi family. But since he arrived in Yangzhou by accident, Xue Yong must of course find a way to remove this thorn in Wu Shigong's side.
Although he had been through many storms, the head of the Lin family was still trembling. He did not expect that Wu Runing was so ruthless and blatantly wanted to use the bandit army to avenge himself.
But after calming down for a moment, the head of the Lin family suddenly felt hot all over. If the Qi family ranked first was wiped out, wouldn't he become the boss? Moreover, the four major families in Yangzhou became three major families, so each family's salt industry
The share will increase significantly!
Then the head of the Lin family's eyes immediately lit up. He leaned over and asked Xue Yong in a low voice: "What do you want to do with the Qi family?"
"Destroy the whole family!"
Xue Yong will not be merciful, he will cut the grass and root out the situation if he wants to strike.
This made the head of the Lin family frown. It would be easy to get rid of the current head of the Qi family, Qi Chun'an, but it would be a bit troublesome to destroy the entire Qi family. After all, the Qi family is deeply rooted in Yangzhou and has a huge network of connections in the officialdom.
, it is very difficult to do nothing.
Seeing that the head of the Lin family was hesitating, Xue Yong started to be a good person: "Mr. Lin, do you want to send some people into the city and then claim that there is a banditry in the city?"
"No!" The head of the Lin family flatly refused, "General, please wait for three days. I will give the general an explanation at that time!" Of course, the head of the Lin family did not dare to put Runing's army into the city. It would be easier to invite gods than to send them away.
Do you know what kind of chaos the Runing Army will cause in Yangzhou City?
After the head of the Lin family returned to the city, he immediately secretly met with the heads of the other two families. After their discussions and activities, the government officials in Yangzhou City suddenly dispatched and arrested the entire Qi family on the charge of "selling illegal salt."
The head of the Qi family, Qi Chun'an, seemed to have been well prepared, and committed suicide by taking poison before being arrested by the Yamen. Almost all the men of the Qi family committed suicide in prison out of fear of crime. The Qi family, a wealthy family that has been prominent in Yangzhou City for hundreds of years,
, died in one fell swoop.
Xue Yong was also very trustworthy. When he received the heads of all the men of the Qi family and 100,000 taels of silver from the salt merchants in the city (the Lin family and others sent an additional 20,000 taels), he immediately gave an order to Liu Guoneng: let him go west
Return to Dabie Mountain.
The crisis in Yangzhou was relieved. Afterwards, when the salt merchants settled their accounts, they found that they could still make a small profit, and the officials and even the government officials in Yangzhou City made a huge fortune because the Qi family's property was too large.