Chapter 58: The greedy hand that keeps cutting off
Officials have a common characteristic, that is, they can utilize a person to the extreme and will not stop until the last remaining value is squeezed out. How can Zhonge be an exception?
Kongtong Mountain is the fortress where the ancient Silk Road left Guanzhong in the west. It borders Liupan Mountain to the west, Qinchuan 800 miles to the east, Guan Mountain to the south, Xiaoguan to the north, and is surrounded by Jing River and Rouge River from north to south, intersecting at Wangjia River. In front of the mountain, with its towering peaks, steep cliffs, criss-crossing ravines, culverts, rugged rocks, and lush ridges, it is both majestic in the north and beautiful in the south, and is known as the No. 1 mountain in the east of Longdong. .It is also said to be the place where the immortal Guangchengzi cultivated and attained Taoism. Emperor Xuanyuan, the founder of humanities, once personally visited and asked Guangchengzi on this mountain, so it is revered by Taoism as the "No. 1 Taoist Mountain in the World".
It's very troublesome. There are more holes in the mountains, so there are more thieves. Thieves are a specialty of the Song Dynasty. Because the government is relatively weak, one person can dominate the mountain and become king, and he can eat large pieces of meat with a broken knife. , and ruined the merchants with a big bowl of wine, which made Yun Zheng want to be a bandit himself. It was too easy. There were only twelve archers in a county. Those government officials were good at squeezing the people. If they wanted to capture the bandits, there was no hope. Not on.
Ten people will produce a hero, a hundred people will produce a hero, a thousand people will produce a hero, and a hero will emerge from ten thousand people. This is a common practice among the crowd. As long as there is a crowd, the rules of raising Gu are suitable for the crowd. There must always be a king. Kongtong Mountain It's very big, and the most terrible thing is that it can still be connected to Taibai Mountain. Once it enters Taibai Mountain, it's over, and the Qinling Mountains, which are thousands of miles away, will be at their mercy.
The king of Kongtong Mountain is called King Gaitian, and the people also call him meat buns. This nickname is not funny at all. What he likes to do most is to catch people who are unwilling to pay for the road, make them into meat buns, and let them be handed over. The merchants who paid for the passage ate it and called it "frightened". No one wanted to eat human flesh, so the merchants passing by would rather take a detour to Qingyang Prefecture than pass through Yizhou (Pingliang).
Speaking of which, Yizhou belongs to the defense area of the Deshun Army. The Western Army has always been a strong army, but there is no way to deal with King Gaitian. I don’t know why. As long as the army of Jingzhao Mansion is dispatched, this guy will know immediately and take him with him. A large group of bandits hid far away in the mountains. Kongtong Mountain has twelve large peaks and countless small peaks. The poor Deshun Army could only search all over the mountains and plains. Every time when men and horses were exhausted, they would suffer backlash and end up like this. As a result of the defeat, no fewer than six of the Deshun Army's governors were beheaded for their crimes, four of whom were beheaded by Han Qi, so Kongtong Mountain became a sad place for the Deshun Army.
Zhonge pointed to the topographic map of Kongtong Mountain and said to Yun Zheng: "There are actually only a thousand bandits on the mountain. As long as we send out all the best soldiers and generals, and the number is not too large, seven hundred people will be enough to defeat King Gaitian on the plain."
In the past, I couldn't come up with anything that was enough to seduce King Gaitian, so King Gaitian could not be tempted. He knew that I was not someone to be trifled with. But it's different now. You have more than two thousand war horses in your hands. This is such a huge deal, as long as King Gaitian knows about it, he will definitely not be able to help but take action. When the time comes, we will wait for work and defeat him in one fell swoop!"
"A very good strategy." Yun Zheng high-fived and praised.
"I have five hundred personal guards, and Ma Jinhu is also a strong general. Together with the two hundred generals from your Jiazi camp, I will have no problem defeating King Gaitian."
"There's a problem!" Yun Zheng couldn't help but interject when he saw Zhong'e talking nonstop.
"What's the problem?" Zhonge asked strangely.
"My subordinates are mine, not yours. We didn't lose a single person in the battle in Xixia. We obviously went home, but we had to fight to the death with the bandits in Kongtong Mountain. After the fight, we didn't get much benefit, because you We plan to use the seized money to pay horses. Tell me, what are we working so hard for?
Don't use righteousness to convince me. My brothers are precious. Do you know how much money it will cost to bury a brother who was killed in the battle of Jiazi Camp? Fifteen guan! Therefore, the lives of Jiazi Camp are valuable, so you'd better not make any decisions."
Yun Zheng rejected Zhong E's idea without any courtesy. He knew what Zhong E had in mind. From his conversation just now, he knew that whether it was the Huanzhou Military Camp or the Jingzhaofu Military Camp, there were spies from King Gaitian, so he and Only these seven hundred people will fight to the death for King Gaitian. The robbers who steal money and steal are not weak in fighting ability. No one can guarantee that one person can capture King Gaitian without dying.
Moreover, Zhong E didn’t know the strength of King Gaitian. If there were thousands of people in his family, wouldn’t he be like a meat bun and beat a dog with no return? He was already a victor, and everyone was anxiously preparing to return. Family, this is not a good time to fight.
Zhong E was silent for a moment and clenched his fists and said: "A real man should uphold the law for heaven, wipe out the demons and monsters in the world, and restore the original color of heaven and earth. The heart of a scholar is the same as the heart of heaven, and the heart of the earth breathes the same breath. Only when he hates evil as an enemy can he be a real man."
Yun Zheng shook his head and said: "I am a scholar. You can ask me to kill the enemy with a knife. If you die in battle, you will be rewarded by the court. Your descendants will have no worries. They are not the same. If one person dies, the sky will fall in the house, so as long as If I can prevent them from dying, I will try my best to avoid it. To be honest, I regret taking them to Xixia this time. It was my idea to make contributions, not theirs.
King Gaitian's strength will definitely not only be the thousand men you mentioned. The Deshun Army is also a member of the forbidden army, but it has been defeated repeatedly. There are definitely not a few generals captured alive by King Gaitian over the years. Man, as long as you get it on your hands once It's difficult to clean off the blood. Those officers who surrendered to save their lives are the most ferocious among the bandits. Your five hundred men will be defeated."
Zhong'e raised his head and looked out the window, lightly pressed the window door and said, "Do you mean to let King Gaitian go unpunished?"
Yun Zheng curled his lips and smiled bitterly: "What we just said seems to be that we beat the bandits in order to get their money. Why are you kidnapping Wang Fa again? Can't you impress me by dividing the stolen goods? I said so More means telling you that Jiaziying will not fight for fame, but it is absolutely fine for money. You have more people and I have fewer people. I will take 30%, okay?
If the war horse is damaged, you need to compensate. This is my bottom line. Five hundred people will never do it. Ma Jinhu and I can be used as bait together, but there is a prerequisite. You must first find the spies in your army. If you can't find them, Come out, haha, I'll take a detour back to Jingzhao Mansion, but think about it, can you use spies to lure the thieves out of Kongtong Mountain? I don't mean to lure them down the mountain, but completely to the plains."
Zhong E looked at Yun Zheng with a strange look and said, "Can only money touch your heart?"
Yun Zheng bared his big white teeth and said with a smile: "It is bad luck for a teacher to be unknown, and profit is the eternal excuse."
Zhong E took a deep look at Yun Zheng and turned away. He walked into the yard and said, "I identified a few people and sent them over. The spies should be among these people. You can find them by yourself and plan them yourself. I am only responsible for sending troops."
Two thousand five hundred war horses are now a hot potato. Everyone wants it. From the government to the bandits, they all have the same idea. Zhang Fangping is not here now, otherwise he will definitely occupy part of it.
Yun Zheng believes that these war horses belong to every subordinate who goes to Xixia. Life and death hang on a hair's breadth. Only he knows what he has gone through. Sometimes making money is not too difficult, but how to keep the money is difficult. When making money You only need to think about how to make money, and after you make money, there will be many people reaching out to you, and the methods to deal with the enemy do not apply to them. At this time, it is the time to test a person's wisdom.
Zhong E was not satisfied with getting 500 war horses. He wanted to get more. The task of annihilating King Gaitian was not something Yun Zheng could refuse. A magistrate who held the military and political power around the state spoke in a consultative tone, which had already given Yun Zheng enough. Face-saving.
Seeing Yun Zheng, Wugou clenched his fists and said to one side: "Before the World-Honored One became a Buddha, hundreds of billions of evil ghosts bit him. The World-Honored One, who has supreme power, suffered miserably. His flesh and blood turned into blood food to feed the evil ghosts. It takes seven years to become a Buddha."
"Evil ghosts can be fed, but the greed in people's hearts cannot be fed. Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva has sworn that hell will never be empty and he will never become a Buddha. This great wish may be very difficult to realize. Some people will have greed, and there will be Disputes are something that is imprinted on the soul and cannot be removed. Even Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva did not do his job well in hell.
I don’t care what the World Honored Buddha does. If anyone reaches out to me, I will cut off the hand, stretch out the foot and stamp the foot. It is also a good way to use Gai Tianwang to establish his power. I would rather teach people to be afraid than to bully them!"
After thinking of a way, Yun Zheng got up and walked outside. When he saw Liang Ji, Peng Jiu and the others, they were still stupidly happy. He was not going to affect their good mood. If they agreed to be happy today, then they would be completely happy.
When Liang Ji saw Yun Zheng coming out, he shouted to start the banquet. Jars of wine were poured into large bowls, and large pieces of fat meat were brought up. Although the appearance of the dried vegetables was a bit poor, they were poured with broth. , are equally delicious.
No one needs to persuade others. The soldiers who have returned from victory have their own way of celebrating. There are no rules in Jiazi Camp today, but only boundless joy.
After staying in Qingtang and Xixia for a long time, I also learned their rough dance. If I drank too much, I would dance involuntarily. Wei Ming laughed the loudest, wearing a colorful skirt and flying like a butterfly in the crowd.
When the wine bowl in Yun Zheng's hand was empty, someone would immediately fill it up. When he drank until the glass was dry, other people's faces became redder and redder as they drank, but the more he drank, the whiter he became, and his two eyeballs turned red.
Han Lin stood in front of the window and saw this scene. He smiled silently and handed a sealed folder to a person standing in the dark. He patted the person on the shoulder and said, "Send it to the capital as soon as possible."
Then I sat in front of the window, twirling the fried soybeans in the bowl, eating a bean, and drinking a sip of wine. This trip to Xixia was not the most dangerous mission in my life, but it was definitely the most rewarding action. .(To be continued)