Long Yutian was taken out of Zhongyi Hall and directly invited into a wing room about twenty meters away from Zhongyi Hall.
When he pushed the door open and went in, he discovered that Feng Tu, who had followed him, was also in the room at this time.
Feng Tu was anxious, but he sat at the table drinking tea with a calm expression on his face, looking like he had a pearl of wisdom in his hand.
Originally, everything was for the bandits waiting nearby to see. At this time, the door opened and Long Yutian was invited in.
Feng Tu put down his teacup, and without caring about pretense for a moment, he walked quickly to Long Yutian and asked impatiently: "Sir, how was the conversation?"
Long Yutian waved his hand and asked the bandits who sent him to leave first. After closing the door, he said: "I have conveyed the fifth master's intention to them. As for their choice, I don't know yet."
Feng Tu asked again worriedly: "Sir, what do you think the chances are that they will be successfully recruited by us?"
"I can't say for sure, but as far as I know, they were forced to go up the mountain to become bandits because they had no choice. Now the Fifth Master wants to recruit them. This is their great chance to be reborn. From now on, working for Prince Qian's Palace is also equivalent to serving.
In the imperial court, it is no longer just a dream to be granted the title of wife and son, to return home in rich clothes, and to return home with honor. If they do not seize this opportunity, they will be afraid that they will not have the opportunity to burn incense in front of their ancestors for the rest of their lives."
After Long Yutian finished speaking, he glanced outside the door, sighed inwardly, then sat down and poured himself a glass of water to moisten his throat.
Feng Tu followed his gaze and glanced at the closed door, took over the conversation, and said with emotion: "It would be a great regret in life if you can't comfort your ancestors in the ancestral hall while you are alive! I only hope that Sima Lu will be the master of the family.
Brothers can also make the right decisions."
One night passed, and the bandits who had gone boating out to explore the road came back.
Sima Lu, who was sitting in the lobby having breakfast with his brothers, looked up at him and asked, "How is it outside?"
The spy reported back: "Brother, the Fifth Master's 10,000 troops are stationed in place. There is no special action. From the outside, it is a normal station. There are no traps, defenses and other facilities found outside the camp."
Ma Qilin put down his bowls and chopsticks and checked again, "Have you checked out the surrounding areas? Are there any ambushes in the more dangerous places? Are there any reinforcements on the outside?"
The spy shook his head and said, "Everything is normal. No abnormalities were found."
After listening to their conversation, Sima Lu swallowed the last mouthful of food, wiped his mouth and said: "Since the fifth master is determined to send Zhuge to persuade him to surrender, he will not do the dirty trick of ambush halfway, otherwise he will lose two people."
General."
As far as he knew, the current Long Yutian was the Fifth Master's adviser, and the other one had been with him since the team was first established, and he was very fond of a strong general.
If they were ambushed on the way back, he would definitely kill the two envoys who came to persuade them to surrender!
Ma Qilin thought for a moment and nodded, "Maybe this time he is sincerely recruiting people. After all, the Fifth Master has recruited many bandits during his suppression of bandits, and some of them are big bosses."
Of course, except for the criminal leader.
He and his eldest brother are considered righteous bandits and have not committed many evil deeds. I believe that the Fifth Master can treat them kindly, right?——
Li Chengmu had been thinking about it since he sent off Long Yutian and Feng Tu, and sent people to keep an eye on the boats entering and exiting the river.
No news came until the afternoon.
"Fifth Master, Fifth Master, here they come, they're coming out!"
Ye Buzuo rushed over and reported to Li Chengmu: "The river went down the river, and ten wooden boats were rowed out. Mr. Long and Feng Canjun came out with Sima Lu and other bandit leaders in the boats."
Li Chengmu was overjoyed: "Really, how many ships are there behind?"
Ye Buhuan said: "Sima Lu's troops only have ten boats for transportation in and out. Mr. Long led the bandit leaders out first, and the bandits behind him will come out one after another by boat. According to Mr. Long's account, the bandits behind him are cleaning up the village and preparing to
It will take some time to move all the property and food out of the village."
"Okay, okay!" Li Chengmu couldn't help but grinned and laughed: "Haha, Mr. Zhuge's reputation is well-deserved. He successfully surrendered Sima's troops as soon as he rode out. This really solved Lingnan's major problem.
You should be the first to contribute to this operation!"
He turned around and ordered the gang leader to prepare a few banquet tables. He would entertain distinguished guests tonight.
From a distance, Sima Lu saw a group of people waiting eagerly outside the camp. When he got closer, he saw clearly that it was a group of people headed by the young master who came out to meet them.
No need to guess, the young man in silver armor standing at the front is Li Chengmu, the fifth master of the palace.
Long Yutian saw Li Chengmu greeting them outside the camp. He walked a few steps quickly and came to Li Chengmu. He cupped his fists and saluted: "Fortunately, I have fulfilled my duty and completed my mission. I led Sima Lu and his brothers back. This mission
Mr. Lao Wu is worried."
Li Chengmu smiled and nodded, looking past Long Yutian and landing on the strangers, "Welcome to join our team. From now on, we will be brothers who share life and death."
Sima Lu was shocked. He led his brothers forward and said with cupped hands: "I am Sima Lu. I am fortunate to be appreciated by the Fifth Master. I am willing to give you and my brothers a chance. Sima is grateful. In the future, the Fifth Master can dispatch you as much as you like.
"
Li Chengmu made an invitation gesture, "Brothers, you can join our team because you think highly of me. Please, I've already prepared the food and wine, and I'm just waiting for the brothers to come and have a few drinks."
All the way into the camp, whether it was Li Chengmu personally welcoming them or preparing a dust-cleansing banquet, every detail showed how much Li Chengmu valued their surrender.
This made the brothers who surrendered breathe a sigh of relief, and their anxiety all the way came to an end.
If you can have a good future, the bandits don't want to live a life of licking blood.
The recruitment of the Sima Department went very smoothly, and all the supplies on the mountain were shipped out in five days.
Knowing the supplies under Sima's command, Li Chengmu never closed his mouth and even slept with a smile.
It can't be blamed on him. It was because the unexpected surprise came so suddenly that he was caught off guard and gained a team of more than 10,000 people and a large amount of money.
According to the current increase of more than 10,000 people, Li Chengmu will not have to worry about the team's food and grass for at least half a year.
The news of recruiting Sima, the largest group of bandits in Luofu Mountain, could not be spread quickly.
The teams scattered throughout Luofu Mountain to suppress bandits didn't even know that Sima's headquarters had been recruited by Li Chengmu.
Otherwise, they would not be complacent about raiding a small bandit's den.
The news of recruiting more than 10,000 people could not reach the city immediately. Xia Jing did not know the news about Luofu Mountain at this time.
At this time, her properties in the north of the city have been sold out, and she has been busy these days to strengthen the army.
The iron workshop is busy making armors and flintlock guns. It can be said that they are so busy that they wish they could fly.
Besides, snowflake salt was sold through the initial caravan, and more and more caravans have gotten the news.
Recently, the number of caravans entering Lingnan has been increasing. In addition, both the government and the private sector in Lingnan have vigorously suppressed bandits, resulting in Lingnan's public security being unprecedentedly good.
I believe that this time the caravan returned from selling salt without being robbed by bandits. Next time more caravans will come to Lingnan to bring various materials needed to Lingnan.
Among these supplies, what Xia Jing wanted most was food.
It's just that food is in short supply all over the world, and it is impossible for caravans and merchants to be allowed by the local government to transport food out of the country.
For example, the same reason applies to Prince Qian's palace not long after arriving in Lingnan, which ordered a ban on the export of grain.
Fortunately, a bumper harvest is in sight, and the crops in the fields are growing vigorously. If nothing else happens, Lingnan will have a bumper harvest this year.
Everything is moving in a good direction, but don't forget that nine out of ten things in life will not go as you wish.
There is enemy intrusion on the border line of Lingnan near Annan.
Urgent military information was sent to Prince Qian's palace, and Prince Qian was shocked.
"What's going on? What happened that made Annan dare to cross the border and harass Dayu?"
Princes can set up their own small courts in their fiefdoms, but King Qian never paid much attention to it before.
Now as his control over Lingnan becomes stronger and stronger, he can feel that there are too few available people around him.
After reading the contents of the memorial clearly, King Qian clapped his hands on the table and stood up, "It's unreasonable. Two thousand troops from Annan District are harassing the border. The officers and soldiers at the border guard station are afraid of the enemy. They don't dare to organize troops to fight back. They just watch the Annan troops.
He wreaked havoc on the border, robbed supplies and women, and then returned to Annan in a brazen manner."
Not daring to defend the enemy and running away upon hearing the news is a true reflection of the border guard.
Not only that, but he was so brave that he dared to write a memorial and ask him for money and food under such circumstances.
What the hell kind of operation is this?
Mr. Zhang took the memorial and read it ten lines at a time. He was dumbfounded by the other party's shameless behavior.
It took him a while before he came back to his senses and said: "The border guard was crying for poverty, saying that they had no money or food and could not defend themselves against the invading enemies."
The lack of money and food in the army can easily affect the morale of the soldiers and cause the army to lose morale. However, during the last rectification of the family, King Qian allocated a sum of cash to the border departments responsible for military defense.
It just seems that many things are the wishful thinking of King Qian. The money has been allocated, but they don't care about guarding the border. They escape from the battle and dare to ask King Qian for money and food. It is simply unreasonable!
The underlying meaning of this memorial is that there is no money and no food. Don't blame them for the fall of the border. They have tried their best. It is your palace that did not send food on time.
"You actually dare to threaten me. Sir, do you think you should teach him a lesson?"
Mr. Zhang stroked his beard and said, "This border guard commander, I think he has the heart of a bear and the courage of a leopard to dare to threaten you. When Xiang Rongrang comes back with his team to suppress the bandits, let him lead the troops to the border."
Meet him."
It was already approaching evening when Xia Jing learned the news.
Hongmei asked worriedly: "Princess, the enemy army won't march straight in like Beidi and occupy our territory on the southwest border of Lingnan, right?"
Xia Jing shook her head, "They should be testing it. They should not have any plans to invade for the time being. If Prince Qian's Palace does not make a counterattack, then Annan may make bolder moves."
"Then what should we do now? All the troops belonging to the royal palace have gone out to suppress the bandits. Even if they send a message quickly, it will take several days for them to come back. In addition, it will take several days to march to the border. By the time the soldiers and horses arrive at the border, the border has already
I don’t know what kind of disaster they have caused.”
Hongmei became extremely anxious when she thought that the territory belonging to the palace had been invaded by thieves.
Xia Jing shook her head. Doing things according to formal procedures is not as easy as this girl said.
To do things according to the rules, King Qian had to inform the court in a memorial. Only after the emperor approved the memorial and received the decree did King Qian know what to do.
Of course, now that Lingnan has become the fiefdom of King Qian, he still has the power to make his own decisions in some urgent matters.
It's just that the memorial still has to be sent to the court, and by the way, the court can ask for food and money.
Prince Qian's palace rode a fast horse out of the city from the north gate.
As Kuai Ma left, Xia Jing also left the house with her maids and guards.
It didn't take long for the group to arrive at the door of the blacksmith workshop. Blacksmith Shan heard the news and came out.
Looking at the smile on his face, you can tell that there must be progress in the matter he was told.
As expected, he greeted Xia Jing as soon as she got off the carriage, with a smile that could not be concealed on her face, "Princess, the flintlock gun has been mass-produced. I believe it won't be long before the fifth master's team will be fully equipped."
"Oh." Xia Jing's eyes lit up and she became interested: "Can you already do assembly line operations?"
Blacksmith Shan looked at the servant behind Xia Jing and nodded with a smile: "Due to the creation of boring machines, those suitable for assembly line production have been mass-produced. However, some parts still have to be forged by hand, but a little extra manpower for these parts will not affect it.
big."
There was finally good news today. Xia Jing's mood recovered a little, "Let's go and see together."
The staff in the iron workshop are now basically proficient in it, and the production speed should be able to increase in the future.
Xia Jing created this good item, but she had no intention of giving it to Li Chengmu only with the few soldiers and horses.
Her goal is to produce enough firearms to form an invincible army with the ability to sweep the world.
Of course, the dreams are lofty and the reality is full of difficulties, many of which require them to find ways to overcome, so it is difficult for them to develop.
After inspecting the various components of the assembly line, Xia Jing was taken to the warehouse by Blacksmith Shan.
Stored here are manufactured and processed flintlock guns and paper shells, neatly stacked on the shelves.
Xia Jing looked at the warehousing registration form and knew that there were already thousands of pieces in stock.
"It's very good. Let's keep up the good work and strive to build 20,000 guns in the new year. If there are not enough people, you can recruit more."
Blacksmith Shan took out a flintlock gun from the shelf and handed it to Xia Jing: "Our department is in a special situation and the review is strict. We don't dare to invite people with unqualified character, so it is a bit difficult to recruit suitable personnel.
."
Xia Jing took the flintlock gun and a few rounds of paper shells, and asked everyone to go outside.
She was about to test the gun, and casually said to Blacksmith Shan: "You can take your time with this matter. You can't relax in personnel inspection. It's a very important matter. I don't want to have to fix it when something goes wrong."
When ordnance is manufactured, there is a fear of the appearance of cheaters. If there are such people, it will be a fatal blow to the iron workshop.
Xia Jing didn't want to go out and worry about others using flintlock guns to deal with her.
Blacksmith Shan agreed with a smile, "I will screen people carefully, Princess, please rest assured about this."