Zhang Gou was wearing half a coat, squatting in the yard and stroking chicken feathers with boiling water...
The house is not big, it is a four-bay wing facing the street south. When you push the door, you will find the atrium. Behind the wing is a small garden of one-third of an acre. A piece of land has been laid out, and some stone locks are piled up for practice.
There is a small vegetable garden surrounded by a bamboo fence in the corner, and there is also a stone well.
The two servants in the house took leave and went back to the countryside to celebrate the New Year. Today, Zhang Gou did not have to go to Dongya on duty, but he had to kill chickens and geese for the envoy. He squatted by the well to kill chickens and scald the feathers.
The well platform was dripping with chicken blood and chicken feathers were everywhere.
Outside the courtyard wall, there was a roar of people and the sound of gongs and drums. Regardless of the endless wars and chaos in other counties and the devastation of people's livelihood, although there was not much luxury in Chongzhou City, it was a rare peaceful scene.
Zhang Gou joined the army as a commander and had eight taels of silver.
There are four children in the family, two wives and concubines, plus the father, mother and brother-in-law who came to seek refuge with the family. The concubine’s mother and younger brother, plus the two servants hired as helpers, need eight taels of silver per month to support them.
A family of eighteen is also a little embarrassed.
Fortunately, the military department provides the families of civil servants and military attachés with rice, grains, oil, salt, cloth, fruits, vegetables, fish and other materials at a fixed price per capita every month, so they can cope with it. Otherwise, they can go to the market and eat rice and noodles for 12 yuan a pound.
I'm afraid it will be difficult for my family to buy new clothes by the end of the year.
"Ouch, how come you let your brother-in-law do such a lowly job? Where did Mrs. Azhu die?"
Zhang Gou looked up and saw his brother-in-law coming in through the door. He was standing there making sarcastic remarks, but he didn't come to help or pay attention to him. He picked up the boning knife, sharpened it twice on the well stone, then cut open the chicken's belly and took it out.
Start cleaning the intestines.
"Supposedly, my brother-in-law is a general, but this dilapidated building is too shabby for a general's residence. It's because Huaidong doesn't pay attention to you, brother-in-law. I remember when I was looking for work in Jiangning City, let alone general, I was a general.
The gatekeeper’s house in front of his house is even more luxurious than this!”
"What nonsense!" Zhang Gou raised his head and stared at his brother-in-law, and said coldly, "Which general in Huaidong dares to drink the blood of his soldiers? First think about whether his own head can be saved! There are three of you who are eating and drinking freely in the house.
It’s been months, for your sister’s sake, I’ll treat you well. After the New Year, get out of here, my house is spacious enough!”
Knowing that Zhang Gou was a man with bloody hands, his brother-in-law's face froze and he did not dare to speak back.
Zhang Gou, Chen Zhi and others all have similar experiences to other generals of the Huaidong Army. Most of them came up from the bottom of the society fighting and fighting hard. They all have a kind of arrogance, and they can't bear to be incompetent and can only pat their beards.
They are people who often gossip behind their backs. This is why people like them often cannot fight against villains. They know the shortcomings of the traditional Zhenfu army, not to mention that Zhang Gou has not yet mastered the military power.
It is said that the logistics management of the Huaidong Army is much stricter than that of the traditional Zhenfu Army. Even if he had the opportunity to ask Zhang Gou to drink the soldiers' blood and deduct the money of his troops, he would not be able to pass his own test.
Besides, Zhang Gou was used to living a hard life. He only wished for a bowl of braised pork on the table every day. If he had replaced it with other delicacies from the mountains and seas, he would have thought the taste was as light as dry grass. He wished he could wear armor all day long, but he was not used to wearing silk and brocade.
?
Zhang Gou felt that his brother-in-law was in the way, so he waved his hand to keep him away. At this moment, the front door was banging loudly. Zhang Gou just thought there was something going on at the Yamen and called him over, and wiped it with a cloth.
I wiped and walked towards the vestibule, only to see Chen Zhi walking in like a trespassing.
Since September, they have taken turns to harass and attack the coastal areas of southern Zhejiang and eastern Fujian. Frequent battles, whether in water camps or infantry camps, will cause casualties. Chen Zhi led his troops to fight in southern Zhejiang for more than two months.
, this time he returned to Chongzhou for rest and recuperation, and Zhang Gou wanted Chen Zhi to have New Year's Eve dinner at home.
"It's still early in the day, why did you return to the city so early?" Zhang Gou asked.
"Master Gan is about to be escorted to Chongcheng," Chen Zhi said with a gloomy face, "I'm afraid my head will not be saved this time!"
Zhang Gou's expression changed with shock, and he was full of doubts. He could not bear to ask any questions. He drove all the family members in the yard back to the house with a sullen face, and then asked Chen Zhi: "Master Gan is doing well as a commander in Suining, how can he give this to me?"
Take me to Chongcheng?"
"Master Gan lost Suining..." Chen Zhi said.
"What!" Zhang Gou didn't expect that what Chen Zhi came to say was this news. He was stunned for a moment and couldn't say a word. He said bitterly, "Sui Ning just lost it. He
Why do you come to Chongcheng to die?"
"Do you know that it was the eldest lady who captured the city?" Chen Zhi asked, "Not only Suining, but also Su Yu was also lost!"
Zhang Gou stamped his feet anxiously and said: "What's so hard to guess? If it wasn't for the eldest lady to seize the city, how could Suining and Suyu be lost so easily, and how could Chongzhou not notice it at all? It wasn't the first day for Mr. Gan either.
Lead the troops!" Zhang Gou said, "Since Mr. Gan easily gave the two cities to the eldest lady and ruined the situation in Huaidong and Huaibei, he went to Chongzhou to plead guilty. What kind of thing is that?"
"Master Gan went to Siyang to be imprisoned because he was afraid of harming us. Xu Daozi came to me quickly and begged me to save Mr. Gan's life. What can I do? I can only come to you to discuss it.
"Chen Zhi said anxiously, "Master Gan is on his way to Chongcheng. I'm afraid he won't enter the city until tomorrow. What do you think we should do now?"
Zhang Gou touched the stubble on his chin. He didn't care about why Xu Daozi went to find Chen Zhi instead of coming to him. He thought in his heart: An Shuai was killed in Xuzhou for Chen Hansan's scheme. After all, Huaidong is still
The trap set by colluding with Yue Lengqiu, the eldest lady has always had a grudge against Huaidong - the two cities of Suining and Suyu are as important to Huaidong on the northern line as Shengsi on the southern line.
Dong spread out his two wings, Sun Zhuang slapped his butt and cut off one of Huaidong's wings. How could Huaidong get away with him?
Zhang Gou was so anxious that he stamped his feet. He couldn't guess how Lin Fu would react to this matter. He asked his family to quickly get his military attaché uniform and asked Chen Zhi to leave his sword at home and go with him to Dongya first to plead guilty.
****************
Entering the front yard, I heard someone complaining loudly inside: "Rebellious ministers and traitors, rebellious ministers and traitors! It's in vain that you trust him so much and order him to guard Suining and Suyu! How is his behavior different from opening up the city to welcome thieves? One night
Suddenly, the situation in Huaisi suddenly collapsed. I don’t know how many villagers will leave their hometowns and die in the war! Suining City was lost from my hands twice. I have no shame to see the county chief again. I just hope to see it with my own eyes.
Until this traitor is punished and dies..."
Seeing Chen Enze guarding outside the official hall, Zhang Gou asked: "Who is inside?"
Before Chen Enze could answer, he heard Lin Fu's voice coming from inside: "Master Li, please be patient. It is not your fault that we lost the city twice. Lord Yue and the County Secretary will understand. Bandits and bandits are here, and they are rebelling."
It is normal for you to rebel because you have no faith. Mr. Li, please don’t get so angry about this - of course I will give you an explanation when Sun Zhuang comes to escort you."
Zhang Gou remembered that the old voice from before was Li Wei, the magistrate of Suining County. It turned out that Sun Zhuang was still in custody, so Li Wei rushed over first. He thought that Sun Zhuang would leave Suining and Suyu to the eldest lady, for fear of angering Huai
In the east, no officials from Suining and Suyu were left in trouble.
Thinking that it would be fine as long as there was room for things to happen, Zhang Gou pulled Chen Zhi's sleeve and asked him to stay outside first.
Chen Zhi was puzzled. He was eager to excuse Sun Zhuang, so he rushed into the official hall.
When Lin Fu saw Chen Zhi stepping in through the door without informing him, his face darkened and he shouted: "Get out! Without informing or getting permission, who let you in?"
Chen Zhi was also a hot-tempered person, so he gave Lin Fu a heads-up and suddenly became panicked. When he saw the unkind look in Lin Fu's eyes, he felt weak and forcefully withdrew his foot from the threshold.
Zhang Gou said outside the threshold: "Zhang Gou, the commander of the Military Intelligence Staff Department and the commander of the First Battalion of the Chongcheng Infantry Battalion, Chen Zette, came here to apologize to the Lord!"
"Come in!" Lin Fu said.
Zhang Gou and Chen Zhi walked into the official hall. Lin Mengde, Qin Chengzu and others were there; Li Wei sat under Lin Fu and looked at them as if he were an enemy...
Zhang Gou didn't know what to say. He wanted to plead guilty, but he didn't know what to plead guilty to. He wanted to plead for mercy, and he didn't know how to plead for Sun Zhuang. Ordinarily, he and Chen Zhi probably didn't know the news at this time.
Zhang Gou and Chen Zhi knelt down in front of the hall, kowtowed and said: "Sun Zhuang is foolish in his old loyalty, and he really has no bad intentions..."
"That's nice to say," Lin Fu said coldly, "Four to five million hungry people are like swarms of locusts, crossing the border eastward without a blade of grass left. His grandson Ganzi has no bad intentions and is still loyal to his old master. It's really good
Ah, he threw the two cities out with a slap on the butt, but the hundreds of people in Suining, Suyu, Muyang, Haizhou, Shandong and other prefectures and counties are guilty, and they must be implicated by him to suffer another catastrophe?
"
Zhang Gou looked depressed. He came from the refugee army and knew what people would do when they were about to starve to death. Chen Zhihu had been trapped in Huaiyang City for several months, drowning four to five million hungry people.
, once it goes eastward, the flood will be released and the hungry tiger will come down the mountain. The eldest lady cannot control it at all.
If the red-coated army generals destroyed Suining, Suyu and the counties east of Surabaya, what reason did Lin Fu have to spare the life of Sun Zhuang, who had caused trouble to the east?
At this moment, Zhou Pu, who was fully armored and holding a sword on his waist, walked in. When he saw Zhang Gou and Chen Zhi kneeling on the ground, he cursed: "You two turtles are too late to know the news. Do you think this is the case?"
Isn’t it lively enough?”
Zhang Gou and Chen Zhi didn't dare to reply.
Lin Fu asked Zhou Pu: "We are all ready to fight together..."
"The first battalion and the second battalion have their turn to stay overnight and can leave at any time. The other two battalions have to wait until tomorrow morning at the earliest!" Zhou Pu said, "Those who are celebrating the New Year will not be able to live in peace! They chopped Sun Ganzi's turtle son into pieces.
Let’s relieve everyone’s anger first!”
Lin Fu said weakly: "You can lead two battalions to follow me northward." He looked at Zhang Gou and Chen Zhi who were kneeling on the ground and said, "Prepare two horses for them and a carriage for Mr. Li... No."
I know what kind of temper Liu Tingzhou and Jiang Ning will lose!"