Perhaps because he was too tired in the past few days, Zhao Hongrun slept until noon on the tenth day of February.
Unexpectedly, after waking up, Zongwei Chief Shen Yu told him that Wuma Jiao had led 4,000 merchant navy troops to come to rescue him. At the moment, the 4,000 merchant navy troops were stationed outside Yuxian County, and Wuma Jiao himself , then arrived at the county government office with several guards.
Hearing this, Zhao Hongrun was very determined.
He immediately got up and changed his clothes, went to the front office of the county government office, and met with the long-awaited general Wuma Jiao.
When Zhao Hongrun arrived at Qianya, Huang Yu, the magistrate of Yuxian County, and He Zhirong were entertaining Wuma Jiao.
After all, Huang Yu was just a county magistrate, and He Zhirong was just the postmaster of a post station. Wuma Jiao was a general with military power. Although he was a Chu native who defected to Wei, he was a direct descendant of King Su. The army merchant navy was enough to make many Wei people who despised the Chu people put away their arrogance.
On the other hand, Wuma Jiao, the 2,000-man general who cowered when he surrendered to Zhao Hongrun, is now extremely valuable. The armor on his body is fresh and bright, and he is sitting astride a chair, showing off his general airs.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun took the lead in greeting him and said: "Hey, Wuma, you came so fast."
Suddenly hearing the familiar voice, Wu Majiao's somewhat smug expression suddenly froze. He turned around to look at Zhao Hongrun, and then immediately stood up with a serious look on his face. He knelt on the ground and clasped his fists, saluted Zhao Hongrun and said, "Wuma Jiao , pay a visit to His Highness Prince Su."
That expression was completely different from when he was talking to Huang Yu and He Zhirong just now.
Zhao Hongrun was very satisfied with this, after all, it showed that Wu Majiao still knew who he was and was not dazzled by his current status.
"Get up." Zhao Hongrun stepped forward, gave Wuma a hand with one hand, and said with a smile: "Wuma, you are now a general. You don't have to pay such a courtesy in front of me."
"How does this happen?" Wu Majiao said sincerely: "The general is just a middle-aged man. His current status depends entirely on the love of His Highness King Su."
Not to mention, in fact, Wu Majiao and Gu Liangwei are not particularly talented generals. Not to mention that they cannot compare with Qu Cheng and Yan Mo. Even the rising stars of the Shang Navy, Wu Ji and other generals cannot compare. It is no exaggeration to say that the reason why Gu Liangwei and Wuma Jiao are now the top leaders of the Shangshui Army is that they not only control the Shangshui Army for Zhao Hongrun, but also look after Shangshui County.
loyalty!
Gu Liangwei and Wu Majiao knew very well that even though they were currently in charge of the Shang Shui Army, even Wu Ji, the general in charge of the Shang Shui Army who was responsible for training the soldiers and leading the troops in battle, was shorter than them, but the fact was that At best, their abilities are at the level of two thousand generals. It would be a blessing to be able to become three thousand generals.
If they had voted for others, they would not have been able to obtain the power and status they have now. Therefore, whether for their own sake or out of gratitude to Zhao Hongrun, they would remain loyal to Zhao Hongrun.
Because without Zhao Hongrun's support, both the Shang Shui Army and them might be beaten back to their original form.
And this is also the reason why Wu Ma Jiao came non-stop to protect His Highness Prince Su.
Of course, in fact, what Zhao Hongrun liked about them was loyalty. After all, Wu Ji was gradually able to take charge of his own business. Gu Liangwei and Wuma Jiao were not needed to lead the troops in the war. The latter only needed to protect the business for Zhao Hongrun. It is enough to sound the alarm for Qu Cheng from time to time.
As the saying goes, a thousand gold buys horse bones. Gu Liangwei and Wuma Jiao were the first generals to defect to Zhao Hongrun. Even if they were idiots, Zhao Hongrun would make them prosperous and wealthy for the rest of their lives according to his original promise.
What's more, Gu Liangwei and Wuma Jiao still have some abilities.
"A rush march was ordered?"
After gesturing for Wu Majiao to sit back on the chair, Zhao Hongrun asked curiously.
Because he felt that Wu Majiao's speed was a bit too fast. After all, the Shang Shui Army was all infantry, and Yanling was still about two days' journey from Yuxian County. If he didn't order an urgent move, it would be impossible to reach Yuxian from Yanling in one day and night.
county.
After listening to Zhao Hongrun's question, Wu Majiao said with a smile: "His Royal Highness King Su summons you, how dare you delay? Even if there are thousands of mountains and rivers, the day will come and the night will come!"
"Heh." Zhao Hongrun laughed when he heard this: "We haven't seen each other for nearly a year, and his mouth has become smoother... If you have time to learn flattery, read more books. Do you remember my Da Wei's writings?
how's it going?"
Hearing the word "wen", Wu Majiao couldn't help but feel a little ashamed, and said: "Still learning, still learning..."
Zhao Hongrun shook his head speechlessly.
Zhao Hongrun ordered the generals of the Yanling Army and the Shangshui Army to learn the script of the Wei State. After all, since these Chu people had defected to Wei and became generals with military power, they naturally had to learn the script.
Character.
Zhao Hongrun does not require them to have too much education, but at least you have to be able to read official documents, right? Otherwise, it would be too sad for a high-ranking general to not know a few Chinese characters.
"Hurry up!...Next time you write a reply to me, you have to write it yourself!"
"Yes, yes..." Wu Ma nodded anxiously. During this period, he secretly glanced at Zhao Hongrun and saw the latter turning around to pour tea. Knowing that this embarrassing topic for him was finally over, he quickly changed the topic and said
"His Royal Highness King Su, at the end of the day, I heard from Mr. Zou Liang, the military commander of this county, that His Highness King Su was assassinated on the way. I don't know who the person was? So audacious?"
"It's a hidden thief in Yangxia County." Zhao Hongrun said casually, lowered his head and took a sip of tea.
Seeing this, the Zongwei Chief Shen Yu beside him understood and gave a brief explanation to Wuma Jiao. Wuma Jiao only heard a look of horror and disbelief on his face.
After staying for a while, Wu Majiao said angrily: "Don't worry, Your Highness Prince Su. The general will lead troops to Yangxia immediately. He will definitely kill all the thieves and avenge His Highness Prince Su!"
"It can be so simple. Those hidden thieves in Yangxia have been eradicated by the imperial court a long time ago, and it's your turn to make a contribution?" Zhao Hongrun glanced at Wu Majiao unhappily, and then said thoughtfully: "Don't worry. I want to do it first.
Go to Yangxia and see what’s going on there!”
Hearing this, Huang Yu, the magistrate of Yuxian County, was shocked and asked in astonishment: "His Royal Highness, King Su, wants to go to Yangxia? You can't go!"
"It doesn't matter!" Zhao Hongrun waved his hand and said: "This time I will bring enough people with me. County Magistrate Huang and Postmaster He, can you get some civilian clothes for me?"
He Zhirong heard this and asked curiously: "Does His Highness King Su want Shang Shuijun to disguise himself and go with His Highness?"
"Well... I will not let myself step into dangerous territory again, you two can rest assured."
Seeing this, Huang Yu and He Zhirong looked at each other and asked, "Your Highness, Prince Su, how many bodies do you want?"
"Hmm...at least five hundred bodies, right? Is there any problem?"
Five hundred pieces, that is, five hundred complete sets of civilian clothing. Huang Yu took a breath of embarrassment, but He Zhirong nodded after thinking deeply and said: "I will try to find a way to get it for Your Highness."
"It's time to work."
"How dare you? How dare you."
In the afternoon of that day, He Zhirong talked with the wealthy squires in Yuxian County and collected more than 700 clothes for Zhao Hongrun. After all, the shabby clothes worn by common people were nothing. At most, they could pay to buy them from the residents of Yuxian County.
.
Although the nobles and gentry in Yuxian County were not very wealthy when looking at the entire Wei State, they could still afford this little money.
Why not spend a little money to please Zhao Hongrun, Prince Su?
Without further delay, after the more than 700 Shangshui soldiers had changed into civilian clothes, Zhao Hongrun and the sect guards took them to Yangxia County.
However, the girls, Zhao Hongrun, were still placed in the county government office in Yu County, with Mi Jiang and Mi Rui taking care of them on their behalf.
Just in case, the remaining 3,300 Shang Shui soldiers also stationed themselves in Yuxian County. I believe that with Wumajiao in charge of Yuxian County, nothing will happen to Yuxian County.
Yangxia County is located in Gedi.
Gedi, as the name suggests, is a place where wars frequently occur. If you think about it carefully, Yangxia County was once the border county of Wei and Song Dynasty, and it is not too far from Pingyu County of Chu State. It takes about two miles to walk south from Yangxia.
Three days' journey away is Chen County. It's not surprising that people nearby would name this land after Ge Di. Note: Place names like Ge Di were common in ancient times, and generally referred to the so-called
A battleground for military strategists.
When they approached Yangxia County, Zhao Hongrun and the Zongwei entered the city first, and ordered the more than 700 Shangshui soldiers to divide into more than ten batches and slowly enter the city.
To be fair, this kind of concealment method does not actually have much effect. After all, Zhao Hongrun felt that those Yangxia thieves were probably still watching him in some hidden places. The reason why he asked the Shang navy troops to enter Yangxia in batches.
Xia County, I just want to send a message to the hidden thieves in the city: these Shangshui soldiers are not here to fight with you, they are just here to protect the king.
Yes, even though he had already been simmering with anger in his heart, Zhao Hongrun did not plan to attack the Yangxia Hidden Thieves at the moment, because he was really curious about this lawless place and wanted to see with his own eyes what the situation in the city was like.
But what surprised Zhao Hongrun was that in his eyes, Yangxia County was really ordinary. It was not like what he imagined. Several groups of people killed me and I killed you, killing corpses all over the city. Ordinary people
It’s almost the same as when I was in Yuxian County.
Even when you enter the city, you still have to pay the city gate tax and give it to the soldiers wearing military uniforms.
Strange, the local government is still functioning?
Zhao Hongrun was stunned for a while and asked a soldier: "Brother Soldier, where do you pay the taxes you collect?"
"Ah?" The soldier frowned, glanced at Zhao Hongrun, and blurted out: "Of course it will be handed over to the county government. Needless to say?"
…
Zhao Hongrun was stunned and said with a strange expression: "Didn't you say... Yangxia is in chaos? It is said that the county magistrate has been gone for several years."
"..." The soldier looked Zhao Hongrun up and down with a strange expression, and then lowered his voice and said: "I don't know where you heard this from, and I don't want to know. After you enter the city, you will be safe and sound.
Don't cause trouble, eat something, stay overnight, and leave tomorrow, no one will do anything bad to you... But don't cause trouble."
Zhao Hongrun entered the city doubtfully.
Standing at the city gate and looking into the city, he was even more surprised.
Because he found that the public security situation in Yangxia County was indeed many times better than he imagined.
What's going on?
Zhao Hongrun is a bit unable to turn around. (To be continued.) 8