In the early morning, Chang Yu ordered the camp to be broken up. Li Muxian and Ji Jike led five hundred people from the Eagle Battalion to Wuchang, a hundred miles to the northwest. The rest followed Chang Yu straight to the west and crossed the border dozens of miles south of Wuchang City to the riverside.
At noon, he arrived at a village outside Jiangxia County and inquired with the villagers. This place was nearly 40 miles away from Wuchang City in the north and less than 30 miles away from the northwest river bank. Chang Yu ordered to rest on the spot. The soldiers dismounted and made fires to boil water and drink water to feed the horses.
Damn it, Chang Yuyi was taking a nap next to an apricot tree at the entrance of the village. Qingyi came over and peeled an egg for him. Chang Yu took it and ate it without being polite. Wu Zhong and Tu Yuan came over: "That Niubi should be here too.
Bar".
Chang Yu said with a smile: "Huarong Town is less than a hundred miles away from Wuchang. It can be reached in half a day by a normal emergency march. We broke camp in the early morning and Li Muchian was anxious about the money. By now he should have been a guest."
The guest here? Wu Zhong curled his lips: "Is it possible that Zuo Liangyu also treated him to good food and drinks?"
"He can't beat you in a fight, but when it comes to using words to deceive people, you're better than him. I guess Zuo Liangyu is tearing out his heart and lungs right now." Chang Yu smiled bitterly and shook his head: "In this regard, our family all
I consider myself inferior to him."
What Chang Yu said is indeed correct.
At half noon, Zuo Liangyu was drinking tea with a group of civil and military officials to discuss the current situation. Someone came to report that 500 soldiers and horses of the Dongchang Guards were crossing the border to ask for an audience.
The Dongchang Guards were a new bodyguard of the emperor established by the emperor. In fact, they were just to support the appearance of Dongchang and arrange jobs for its employees. To put it bluntly, they were all people from the Dongchang Yamen, which was already a headache.
Okay, and with the blessing of being the emperor's personal guard, it would be even more awesome.
So Zuo Liangyu and others were shocked when they first heard about it. They didn't know why the Dongchang guard came here. If he was really crossing the border, why did he come to the door? Where was he going when he was crossing the border?
Things are definitely not simple!
A few months ago, the young eunuch threatened him and asked his son Zuo Mengeng to go to Jiujiang to meet him to fully demonstrate his power. Then Zuo Liangyu discovered that the people of Wuchang Yamen had a blood change. In addition, there were a large number of Jin Yiwei and Fanzi.
Enter the city.
He knew that he was being targeted.
The young eunuch doesn't trust him so much. Now he has to keep a low profile no matter whether he rebels or not.
These days, he has kept a much lower profile and almost never leaves home!
But what is the purpose of the Dongchang guard suddenly coming to the door openly and openly? Could it be that the little eunuch came to question him because he failed to attack Jingzhou?
Then he is so bold. He just sends spies to keep an eye on him. He sends five hundred soldiers and horses directly into the city to catch him. Doesn't he underestimate me, Zuo Liangyu?
The people who came to the door were a Taoist priest and the commander of the Black Eagle Battalion of the East Factory Guards.
I only heard that Dongchang had four battalions under his command. In addition to the Gongzi camp, there were also tigers, leopards, and wolves. When did they get an eagle? Zuo Liangyu murmured in his heart, but the other party's waist card was indeed correct, but this Taoist priest was..."
Pindao is a military advisor under the command of the governor. This time he was ordered to go to Sichuan and pass through this place to meet General Zuo. There is a lot of trouble!"
The great eunuch's strategist! Zuo Liangyu immediately became energetic. It was rumored that there was a Taoist priest next to the eunuch, and Zuo Mengeng had seen it last time. This was someone close to the eunuch, so he had to talk to him carefully.
, and Zuo Liangyu didn't believe that this Taoist priest was just passing through here for a visit, and he definitely came to beat him or test him. By the way, they couldn't really enter Sichuan. Why did they enter Sichuan at this time? What can a person like this do?
what?
But there are not many people in the world who can try to trick Li Muxian, just as there are not many people who can avoid being deceived by him. Moreover, this time Li Muxian is rare and does not mince words but goes straight to the point, causing a lot of pain at the banquet.
After drinking, he said: "Five hundred horses traveled two hundred miles a day from the capital to here. The people were tired and the horses were exhausted, not to mention that they had run out of food and grass, so they came to see General Zuo to beat the autumn wind."
Uh... is it so straightforward? Zuo Liangyu is not used to it, but it is most common for soldiers and horses passing through to ask for food and grass from the place they pass by. Of course, you also have the right to give it or not, and not everyone dares to do so.
You can ask for it casually. For example, a few people passing by Xuzhou dared to ask Gao Jie for it, and they asked Liu Zeqing for help passing by Jinan. If they don't resist the robbery, you will be burned with incense. Zuo Liangyu is also almost virtuous.
If anyone else came to ask for it, he wouldn't give it a try, but he had to weigh it up for the East Factory Guard. Although he wasn't afraid of the little eunuch, he was still at the point of breaking out, and who knew if he was deliberately testing this time, so he casually said, "A little bit."
Food and grass are not allowed to be mentioned. Baojun is satisfied, but I just want to ask more, are you going to Sichuan?"
"The imperial court was furious when the traitors were offered to establish a puppet state. The Lord Governor ordered us to go to Sichuan to contain the traitors. Once the thieves are defeated, we will send troops to conquer." Ji Jike interrupted, Zuo Liangyu frowned: "With just five hundred cavalry?
"
Ji Jike sneered and said: "The soldiers are good but not many. We are ordered to contain but not to quell the chaos. Five hundred cavalry are enough!"
"That's good." Zuo Liangyu struck the case and chuckled: "I've heard for a long time that all the governor's men are brave and good at fighting. Today, the general's aura is extraordinary." Then the conversation changed: "You guys are
Let’s go to Shidui.”
Ji Ji laughed and said nothing, and Li Muchian chuckled and said: "General Zuo, let's talk about food and grass. The military situation is urgent and I will wait for a while. If General Zuo doesn't have time, it's fine!"
Zuo Liangyu was startled, then secretly rejoiced and asked for a bribe!
Li Muxian was feasting and drinking in Wuchang City, while Chang Yu and the others were eating dry food in the wilderness in the cold wind. After traveling for hundreds of miles from early morning to noon, everyone was very tired, and some fell asleep while eating.
, Chang Yu was also in a daze, and was suddenly shaken awake by Wang Zhengnan. He raised his hand and pointed in the distance. Chang Yu stood up and looked around and saw several riders coming over there. Kuang Ren had already led his men to greet them.
Chang Yu frowned. He just learned from the villagers that this place is only ten miles away from Jiangxia County. Jiangxia is Wuchang's Fuguo County and is only forty miles away. Zuo Liangyu also has troops stationed here, and there should be many people and horses.
The cavalry should be on patrol and came to investigate when they saw them.
Suddenly there are more than a thousand riders passing through the territory, and the other party must inquire. No matter who they are, the other party will report them quickly. If Zuo Liangyu is clever, he may guess something. In fact, according to Li Muxian's original plan, Chang Yu and the others can completely go around.
He would at least rest somewhere far away from Jiangxia County, but now that Li Muxian and Ji Jike were targets in the city, he didn't care.
After a while, Kuang Ren returned, and Chang Yu asked, "What did you say?"
"It is said that Mr. Huang's people entered Sichuan through this!" Kuang Ren's words made Chang Yu laugh: "Okay, let Zuo Liangyu think about it, but we should have crossed the river early."
Chang Yu then ordered to leave the camp and set off for the Yangtze River. He arrived at the river bank in less than half an hour and found a ferry to find a boat to cross the river. Although there were many people and horses, luckily there was not much luggage. After a lot of trouble crossing the river, it was evening, and he rode for several miles in front of the army.
We rested at the foot of the mountain. At dusk, our subordinates who were on the riverside came quickly to report that Ji Jike's men were crossing the river.
After a while, Li Muxian and Ji Jike ran over with red faces and grins. Wu Zhong and others came forward and shouted: "Look at De Xing, he is making a lot of money, tell me how much he has eaten?"
Li Muxian ignored him and ran straight to Chang Yu, jumped down and waved his fist vigorously: "We are stingy."
Chang Yu couldn't help but laugh when he heard this: "It seems that the Taoist Master has made a lot of money." Li Muxian looked regretful: "I regret it so much. I think I will give him double the amount."
When Zuo Liangyu asked Li Muxian in Wuchang City how much silver he could give in cash, he said that almost 60,000 was enough. Zuo Liangyu was so generous that he gave him 80,000 taels of silver and specifically told Li Muxian that 50,000 was for Chang Yu and the remaining 30,000 was for Chang Yu.
Military pay for five hundred cavalry. The price Chang Yu had previously set for Li Muchian was fifty thousand, and anything more was his.
But Li Muxian regretted it and went crazy. He felt that even if he wanted one hundred thousand or two hundred thousand, Zuo Liangyu would give it!
Everyone except Chang Yu was dumbfounded. Why did they increase the price without negotiating? Why was Zuo Liangyu so generous!
The reason is actually very simple. If Chang Yu asked for 500,000 yuan, Zuo Liangyu would happily give it to him. Zuo Liangyu was in a situation where he could not wait for Chang Yu to ask him for a bribe directly. As long as the little eunuch was willing to ask for it, everything would be fine.
If you take the money, you have to protect it and at least you won't cause trouble again. Even if you don't do anything with the money, you will be caught. I will immediately involve you in accepting bribes. Isn't the Dongchang Yamen shouting about anti-corruption and promoting integrity every day? I will slap you in the face directly.
Eunuch, let me discredit you and slap the court in the face and the emperor in the face!
So Zuo Liangyu is not afraid of how much you want, but what he is afraid of is that you don’t want anything if you don’t have enough oil and salt.
He didn't believe that there were people these days who didn't love silver. What about the governor of the East Factory? The chief minister of the cabinet was also a piss-poor. When Zhou Yanru went to Beijing to report on his duties and passed through Shandong, Liu Zeqing went to the river to give him gold, and Zhou Yanru accepted it.
Correct.
Although the young eunuch didn't ask for it this time, he was close to his subordinates. Without his instructions, they would dare to talk like this? The so-called discounted salary is just a test by the young eunuch! Zuo Liangyu thought so.
.
"The old thief said that when the governor comes to Wuchang in the future, he will express his gratitude." Li Muchian chuckled, but Chang Yu had a cold look on his face: "Why is he thanking me for this? He also wants to take advantage of me to show that I am a little too young."
As he spoke, he smiled at Li Muchian and said, "I have never known about this matter, and I have never seen this silver!"
"That's natural, you've never seen it before!" Li Muchian said with a serious face: "Besides, it is necessary for me to call out the good name for Old Thief Zuo first so that we will not be passive."
Chang Yu smiled: "Okay, okay! You are really bad, but I like it!"
If Zuo Liangyu might borrow these 80,000 taels of silver to make a fuss in the future, then he should first shout for him and let everyone in the government and the public know that when the Dongchang Guards passed by Wuchang, Zuo Liangyu donated 80,000 taels of silver in food and salary.
It's donated!
Donated!
Donate proactively!
It’s food and wages!
Food and wages!
Chang Yu didn't want it, and it didn't come into Chang Yu's hands. He donated the food and salary!
How to distribute the 80,000 taels? According to the previous agreement between Chang Yu and Li Muxian, 50,000 taels were used as food and salary funds for the three battalions and one guard to go out to Beijing this time. The remaining 30,000 taels were divided into 10,000 taels at most by Li Muxian. Ji Jike
Ten thousand taels were divided among the five hundred soldiers under his command, and the remaining five thousand taels were generously distributed to the remaining two battalions and one guard. Anyway, everyone was happy to have a share.
Eighty thousand taels was not a small amount, and there were no carts to pull it. It was divided into small bags in Wuchang City and handed over to Ji Jike's soldiers and horses to carry separately. Everyone divided the silver again at the foot of the mountain. It was already late at night.
, Wang Fuchen and Wu Mu, who went to explore the road ahead, also came back. Yes, Chang Yu took these two guys with him again.
"Reporting to the Governor, ten miles to the west there is the Maying River, a Tongshun River. The river is frozen and you can ride horses. Cross the river and go a hundred miles to the west to Mianyang Prefecture (today's Xiantao). Then to the west across Qianjiang River is Jingzhou. There are about three hundred miles left.
"Duolidi" Wang Fuchen and others really carefully explored the road.
But Chang Yu's brows furrowed.
Going due west to Jingzhou was the only way to enter Sichuan, but there was a war there, and he did not intend to go through Sichuan to Yunnan, so the road had to be adjusted.
But how to adjust? In future generations, you can go straight to the southwest, enter Zhangjiajie, Hunan, and then pass through Guizhou. But now it is all virgin forest. Let alone now, in future generations, you can try it in a virgin forest!