The Reborn Duke of Ming Dynasty

"Hurry up, hurry up, I told you to count the money, and I didn't send you to the battlefield to fight, why are you all so slow," Liang Chao now resumed his status as a hundred households of Jinyiwei, and was directing loudly there.

That's right, he was just supervising his subordinates to count the silver that had already been loaded on the ship and was about to be transported back to the capital. Speaking of which, many people had doubts, that is, Zhang Fan actually Let your own subordinates do it. People who know about this matter are somewhat puzzled by Zhang Fan's decision. Those who have a good relationship with Zhang Fan will worry that Zhang Fan's subordinates will guard against themselves; and those who have nothing to do with Zhang Fan , or some people who are unhappy with Zhang Fan will discuss it in private. This is what Zhang Fan did on purpose, and what he did was just money.

But no, Zhang Fanren is standing on the pier now, and Qi Jiguang is standing beside him, so he is very worried that there will be a situation of self-defense.

"I said, Mr. Zhang, I'm not saying that your subordinates will do some unsightly things." Qi Jiguang said with a frown, looking at the people who were passing in and out of several boats, "It's just that you must know the people's hearts. Unpredictable, besides so many people, who can guarantee that nothing will go wrong, and, if something goes wrong, although I understand that it cannot be your cause, other people will not think so, when the time comes, attack you The remarks will inevitably appear, although I can also see that you are not a person who will favor your subordinates, but now that there are many people with mixed hands, it will be very difficult to find out by then, "

Qi Jiguang can be said to be kind. He has been training and fighting for more than 20 years. He has never encountered anything like this. Of course, similar things have happened. However, Qi Jiguang has not found a very effective solution for such a long time. , So far, what he has thought of, a more effective way to solve the problem is, if anyone makes a similar mistake and refuses to admit it, then the team that that person is in will be punished together, this kind of continuous punishment Although the method has been criticized since the Qin Dynasty, it is undeniable that it is indeed a more effective method, and the most important thing is that Qi Jiguang has no better way than this method.

"Master Qi, don't worry, Zhang Fan has already thought about it here," Zhang Fan said with a smile, "Although the silver was cast into different silver ingots by different people with different bank standards, in the final analysis, the three There are not many banks in the province that can make those officials look up to them. Besides, all the money was weighed before it boarded the ship. Now, it's just a matter of asking someone to go up and count it.

"It's not that I haven't thought about what Mr. Qi said just now. After much deliberation, I have thought of a way. Although it is not very precise, I can still deal with it for the time being."

"Oh, what method did you think of, let's hear it," Qi Jiguang immediately became interested when he heard Zhang Fan said there was a solution, and hurriedly asked.

"Actually, the matter is very simple. There are only two people on each boat," Zhang Fan said. "Before boarding the boat, these two people must give their names, and they must write them down personally. When counting, just order them to leave. When they arrive in the capital, the money will go into the treasury after all, and someone will come to count it. If something happens, just find out which ship it is on. , find the two people who are in charge of counting at this time, and do a little research, and you will know who it is."

"Well, this method is not bad," Qi Jiguang nodded after listening to Zhang Fan's words.

"Well, actually, this method is not a good one." Zhang Fan suddenly frowned again, "If the missing silver is less noticed, no one will come to ask about it, but if the difference is too big by then, That would be troublesome. After all, the money is to be submitted to the national treasury. If there is a big mistake, the court and His Majesty will pursue it. How can a small subordinate be able to bear it? Black pot, "

"Well, that's true," Qi Jiguang said, "but now it seems that this is what you can do now, don't ask too much, it's much easier than leading troops," Qi Jiguang joked.

"By the way, Lord Qi, I'm going to board the ship and set sail back to Beijing later, when will Lord Qi leave?" Zhang Fan asked suddenly.

"I reckon in my heart that it should be tomorrow," Qi Jiguang said, "the remaining 1000 troops have been prepared, and they will be led by a thousand households under me to supervise the repairs of those Fusang people. There are a lot of things to pack up before we can go on the road, and tomorrow morning will be around."

"So, Zhang Fan is going to return to Beijing one step before Mr. Qi," Zhang Fan said with a smile.

The day before yesterday, Zhang Fan received the decree from Long Qing, the meaning was very simple, it showed that Zhang Fan and Qi Jiguang were praised, and then Long Qing also agreed to Zhang Fan's plan to let those Fusang prisoners of war do hard labor and repair the city , the decree asked him to finish his work and return to Beijing as soon as possible.

Speaking of which, this decree is very ordinary, and there is nothing unusual about it. However, Qi Jiguang is somewhat unusual later on. Originally, it was understandable for these Fusang prisoners of war to repair the city. However, since they are prisoners of war, then Someone has to watch them. If you want to say this, there is no problem at first, but this time, for some reason, Long Qing clearly stated in the imperial decree that Qi Jiguang should stay in Jizhou while he was in Jizhou. A thousand soldiers of the Qi family army were responsible for guarding the work of the prisoners of war. When it was completed, these soldiers of the Qi family army would return to Jizhou.

When they first saw this decree, both Zhang Fan and Qi Jiguang were a little baffled. They didn't know why Long Qing had such an idea. Moreover, both of them didn't agree with this matter too much in their hearts. After all, it was so obvious. Besides, today's emperor doesn't trust the generals and soldiers in the south of the Yangtze River. Now, even guarding the captives to work, they have to trouble the Qi family army stationed thousands of miles away to do it for them. After all, people have dignity, and Long Qing Doing so is like slapping the entire Jiangnan military force in front of the entire world.

At first, the two thought it was Long Qing's idea that came from a feverish head, but then they felt that it was not the case. Long Qing did it for another reason, and it was true. The reason why Long Qing did it was mainly Or because the military power in Jiangnan is really bad. In the past, Qi Jiguang was stationed here. Although he only relied on his Qi family army, it still made sense. Now that Qi Jiguang has left, it seems that there are people who have returned to the past. The situation that people can be deceived, this time the Jiangnan War is very illustrative. A whole army of 5000 people died outside the Songjiang Mansion because of the unwise behavior of the leading generals. The soldiers in Jiangnan even paid the same price to annihilate them. After Qi Jiguang arrived, facing a place with a similar number of regular troops from Fusang, he paid less than a hundred casualties. How could Long Qing not be angry when the enemy army was completely wiped out.

In the final analysis, Long Qing made this decision not so much because he did not give face to the soldiers in the south of the Yangtze River, but because he wanted to make them feel ashamed and motivate them, but both Zhang Fan and Qi Jiguang felt that Long Qing's actions were a bit Going too far, especially Zhang Fan, he was afraid that this would bring some trouble to Qi Jiguang in the future, Qi Jiguang knew it in his heart, but he never disdained such things, and would never say anything about them.

"My lord, all the counting on the ship has been completed." At this time, Liang Chao came over to report to Zhang Fan, and said, "It's just...just..." Liang Chao seemed to be speechless, and looked at Zhang Fan from time to time. Qi Jiguang beside Fan.

"Say it straight, Mr. Qi is not an outsider," Zhang Fan ordered before Qi Jiguang could say what he wanted to avoid.

"Yes," Liang Chao responded, and said, "This time, the count is less than the last time when we moved onto the ship."

"Less, how much less?" Zhang Fan was naturally very concerned when he heard that there was less, and immediately asked.

"It's less... about 1000 taels less," Liang Chao said.

"Phew..." Zhang Fan let out a sigh of relief when he heard this. More than 1000 taels is definitely a huge amount of wealth for ordinary people, but compared to the few he wants to escort back to Beijing now, In terms of tens of millions of taels, it is really not even superficial. Suddenly, Zhang Fan had the urge to slap Liang Chao. He was surprised by such a small amount of money just now, so he really deserved it.

"My lord, do you want me to send someone to investigate?" Liang Chao saw that Zhang Fan didn't have an attack, but looked at him viciously. He didn't know the reason, he said hastily.

"Check, check who," Zhang Fan asked rhetorically, "how many days ago, and now the matter is entangled, the emperor urged me to go back quickly, not to mention the delay of the trip because of the more than 1000 taels. Looking it up, there are many delays, and it’s not worth the 1000 taels.”

"That humble job, let's prepare for departure." Although Zhang Fan scolded Liang Chao, he didn't show any displeasure on his face, and hurriedly prepared.

Seeing Qi Jiguang smiling at the side, Zhang Fan said helplessly: "It seems that this kind of thing cannot be avoided anyway."

"There is no way to do this," Qi Jiguang said, "In that case, I will bid farewell to you, and see you in the capital."

"Goodbye," Zhang Fan said to Qi Jiguang, cupping his fists.

After leaving the capital for nearly three months, when he was about to board the ship, Zhang Fan once again looked back at the Jiangnan where many things had happened. He turned around with some reluctance, and boarded the ship.