At the Tianding Restaurant in Luoyang, Jiang Min, the leader of the Luoyang Intelligence Station of the Jinwei Mansion, set up a banquet here to entertain an old man in his fifties.
The old man's name is Zhang Gui. He is from Yusi County, Jingzhao Prefecture. He is the second steward of General Zhang Guangsheng. Although his surname is Zhang, he has no blood relationship with Zhang Guangsheng. He came from his hometown to join Zhang Guangsheng ten years ago. Zhang Guangsheng saw that he was pitiful, so he
I made him the second housekeeper.
Jiang Min put a land deed and a stack of banknotes on the table and pushed them to Zhang Gui, "This is the land deed for 20 hectares of land in your hometown, Yusun County, and the three thousand yuan issued by Baoji Cabinet."
Two silver notes, with these thirty silver notes, you can withdraw them at any Baoji counter shop in the world at any time. You can go to Luoyang Baoji counter shop later to confirm."
Zhang Gui picked up the land deed and the banknote with trembling hands, put them into his arms, swallowed again and asked, "My master will not be beheaded for this, right?"
"I promised you that he will not be beheaded, he will just live in peace and quiet as before."
After a pause, Jiang Min said again: "You know what you should do next!"
Zhang Gui nodded, "I will write to my son immediately!"
Jiang Min smiled and said: "After this matter is over, you and your son can go back to your hometown to be landlords, and you no longer have to be slaves for others. This is your only chance in your life, so you must seize it."
"I'll hold on tight."
Zhang Gui drank a few glasses of wine and then got up and left. Although Zhang Gui had been Zhang Guangsheng's butler for ten years, he was not doing well. He was only the second butler, and there was a senior butler above him. Zhang Guangsheng only gave him three guans of money every month.
It was Zhu Si's new money, but it was not much if he exchanged it for Chang'an's old money. He wanted to save some money to return to his hometown for retirement, but he had been a housekeeper for ten years, and the money he saved could not even sell ten acres of farmland. In fact,
It made him a little frustrated.
At this moment, Jiang Min found Zhang Gui and gave him an offer that was difficult to refuse. The huge temptation finally made him betray his conscience and betray his master. Of course, he kept comforting himself that this was to be loyal to the court.
An act of justice.
Zhang Gui first went to Baoji Cabinet to confirm that the three thousand taels of silver could be withdrawn at any time. Then he returned to Zhang's house, wrote another letter, and asked someone to rush to Xiaoguan and give the letter to his son.
.........
Xiaoguan can be divided into broad and narrow senses. In the broad sense, Xiaoguan refers to the Xiaohan Passage, which starts from Xiaoshan in the east and ends at Tongjin in the west. This hundred-mile-long passage is the natural and dangerous road from Guanzhong to Luoyang, and is bordered by the towering Qinling Mountains in the south.
, adjacent to the Yellow River in the north, with a widest point of more than ten miles and a narrowest point of only one mile, it has always been a strategic military location.
70% of this section of the Weihan Pass has been occupied by the Jin army, and the remaining 30% is Weishan and Hangu Pass. In order to defend against the Jin army's eastward advance, Zhu Si resumed Cao Wei's attack ten miles north of Hangu Pass.
The Dawei Pass built at that time formed the defense system of Hangu Pass and Xiaoguan. This is Xiaoguan in the narrow sense. It has a garrison of 20,000 people and is led by the experienced veteran Zhang Guangsheng.
According to Zhu Si's practice of dispatching troops, although the Koguan army is under the full command of Zhang Guangsheng, there are also a thousand Plum Blossom Guards stationed, led by Zhonglang General Wang Linhai. The public duty of the Plum Blossom Guards is to supervise military appearance and discipline, but there is another one that has not been made public.
His duty is to monitor the general.
There were two consecutive heavy snowfalls in December, and the Xiaohan Passage was also covered with heavy snow. That morning, a caravan came from the west, consisting of nearly thirty mules, carrying goods on their backs, and arrived at Hangu Pass.
Previously, Guo Song and Zhu Si had already reached an agreement, whereby both parties would reduce inspections and allow normal businessmen or tourists to pass through customs.
There are only five people in this caravan, a middle-aged businessman, who must be the owner of the goods, and four clerks. They are very small and belong to a normal caravan. They paid a customs clearance fee of 500 coins, and the soldiers guarding the customs did not embarrass them.
, letting them pass Hangu Pass, the caravan walked another ten miles and arrived at Dawei Pass. It was actually a military city. In addition to the garrison, there were various commercial facilities inside, including inns, restaurants, shops and brothels.
There are dozens of them, mainly doing business for soldiers and traveling traders, and the business is quite prosperous.
The middle-aged businessman is named Li Ping. He is from Yusi County, Jingzhao Prefecture, and is from the same hometown as Zhang Guangsheng. However, Li Ping is not a businessman. He is a member of the Jinwei Prefecture and came to Weiguan to perform a special mission.
Li Ping stayed at the Ping'an Inn in Xiaoguan City, and immediately sent people to find Zhang Guangsheng's servant Zhang Shan. Zhang Shan was the son of Zhang Gui, the second steward, and had been following Zhang Guangsheng.
Zhang Guangsheng was the general who guarded the Kogu Pass for a long time, rather than the general appointed during the war. The authorities and responsibilities of the two were different.
Because he was a long-term general, Zhang Guangsheng needed to live a normal life in Xiaoguan. He had an official residence in the military city of Xiaoguan. In addition to several domestic servants, there was even a concubine in the house.
Not long after, Zhang Shan arrived at Ping'an Inn. He had received a letter from his father a few days ago and knew that he had something to do.
Zhang Shan was excited and a little worried at the same time. He was excited because he was finally going to be prosperous, but he was worried because he was afraid that he might not do well and end up in vain.
But one thing is unquestionable, that is, like father, like son, even better than old. For twenty hectares of land and three thousand taels of silver, not to mention betraying the master, even if it is his biological father, he will
It will still be betrayed.
Zhang Shan met Li Ping at the inn, and Li Ping said to him: "I will go to the Zhang Mansion later to deliver some local products. After Zhang Guangsheng returns to the manor, you can go to Meihua Guard to find the lieutenant general Wang Linhai...
..”
Li Ping gave Zhang Shan some instructions and gave him a gift list. Zhang Shan nodded repeatedly and hurried away with the gift list.
Not long after, Li Ping led his men and mules to Zhang Guangsheng's official residence, and was greeted by a housekeeper.
"What do you want?"
Li Ping cupped his fists and said with a smile: "I came from Yusi County, Jingzhao Prefecture. I was entrusted by Mr. Zhang to give the general some local specialties from his hometown. Isn't it the Chinese New Year? The old man hopes that the general can return to his hometown to offer sacrifices.
Ancestor."
Mr. Zhang is Zhang Guangsheng's eldest brother and the patriarch of the Zhang clan. The steward glanced at the boxes and baskets at the back and asked, "What is it? Let me make it clear first. The general will not accept anything valuable!"
"It's not anything valuable, it's just walnuts, dried persimmons, dried pears and other dried fruits. They're all specialties from my hometown. They're a little tribute from the folks in my hometown to the general."
Since it was the wishes of the elders in my hometown, the housekeeper had no choice but to accept it, otherwise it would ruin the reputation of the general.
He then said to Li Ping: "The general is in the military camp and will come back at night. You put your things here. I will report to the general when he comes back. Maybe the general will meet you."
"No, we have to rush to Luoyang to deliver the goods. We will visit the general when we come back."
Li Ping cupped his fists and saluted, then led his men away.
The housekeeper didn't take it seriously and ordered people to move more than a dozen boxes and cages into the lobby, waiting for the master to come back to deal with them.
As soon as it got dark, Zhang Guangsheng returned to his hometown. In the early years, he regretted rebelling against Zhu Si, but as time went by, Zhu Si's throne was firmly established, and he gradually followed Zhu Si with peace of mind and no longer had any dissent.
As for Guo Song writing several letters to him, asking him to go to Chang'an as an official, he declined them all. Since he had already chosen Zhu Si, if he betrayed him again, he would really be ridiculed by the world.
Besides, he is already sixty years old, what future does he have? Zhang Guangsheng is also a bit frustrated and doesn't want to think about his future and reputation anymore.
This year, he was appointed by Zhu Si to guard the pass. Zhang Guangsheng also knew that he had a heavy responsibility on his shoulders, so he worked hard at the pass. He stayed in the military camp or on the pass during the day, and only went back to his hometown to rest at night. If there was an emergency, he would even stay there
In the military camp.
Walking into the courtyard, Zhang Guangsheng saw a lot of boxes and cages piled up in the lobby at a glance. He asked strangely: "What are those?"
The housekeeper said quickly: "There are people coming from my hometown today, and I have sent some local specialties."
Zhang Guangsheng frowned. His eldest brother had ignored him for many years. Even the clan sacrifices did not have his name. Why did he send something now?
"What are they? Have you opened them and looked at them?"
"Replying to the Master, I have opened them all and looked at them. They are all walnuts, dates, dried apricots, dried persimmons, pears, and some smoked lamb legs. There is nothing valuable, otherwise I would not dare to accept them."
Sure enough, they were just some local products, but the boxes containing the local products were a bit too strong, and they looked like they were valuable items.
At this moment, a family member came to report, "General Plum Blossom Guard King is here!"
Zhang Guangsheng's expression changed. What was Wang Linhai doing?
Wang Linhai had always had a cold relationship with him and would not even go to his official residence. Why did he come to his residence today?
He thought about it, could it be these boxes? He immediately guessed the reason. If someone gave him a gift, someone must have reported it.
"Master, let's put the boxes away!" the housekeeper said nervously.
"Don't move, just leave it here!"
Zhang Guangsheng quickly walked out of the mansion and saw Wang Linhai wearing the uniform of the Plum Blossom Guard and more than twenty of his men standing outside the gate.
"General Wang, what's the matter?" Zhang Guangsheng asked coldly.
Wang Linhai was only a lieutenant general, while Zhang Guangsheng was a general. Even during the reign of Emperor Daizong, he was the governor of Daizhou. He had extremely deep qualifications, but in the eyes of the Meihua Guard, seniority and rank were of no use.
Wang Linhai spoke without pretense and asked sternly: "Someone came to report, Chang'an sent a generous gift to the general, please explain!"
"What a bullshit gift. My brother sent some local specialties from my hometown. They are in the lobby. If General Wang doesn't believe it, go and see for yourself!"
Wang Linhai waved his hand and led more than twenty of his men directly into Zhang Guangsheng's house and walked quickly to the lobby.
Zhang Guangsheng was extremely angry, how dare this thief be so rude, but the other party was the Plum Blossom Guard, so he forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart.