Gentlemen, listen to the sword chant

Chapter 31

Regarding the tobacco leaf business, Chen Ci knows in his heart that this thing can make a fortune, and sooner or later it will be controlled by the government, and it will be in the same position as Yantie. Now that he is killing King Wu for a fortune, Chen Ci is in a good mood.

In the next few days, Chen Ci used the gold given by the King of Wu to hire young people in the town at high prices, and ordered his followers to accompany him to Suzhou, Jinling, Hailing, Runzhou and other places to buy food, grass and horses.Still the same sentence, Chen Ci knows that troubled times are coming, and when wars come, money and wealth are things outside the body, and soldiers and horses are the last word.

However, due to the "Great Liang Military Law" and "Wu Nan Law", it is forbidden to privately own an army. If a wealthy family can raise some followers and servants, it can barely be classified as a private armed force.According to the laws of the empire, all formal military establishments need to have a gold seal conferred by the Great Liang court personally, conferring military ranks.With the establishment, there will be military pay. Of course, this has also led to the situation that many local troops in the Fourteen Prefectures of Daliang have no salary. For example, the one-banner army has a thousand soldiers in theory, but in fact many local troops are not even a thousand. , and most of those salaries flowed into the pockets of local prefects and generals.

That is to say, Chen Ci cannot form an army, cannot recruit soldiers openly, and can only raise some followers and servants secretly.

At the beginning of November, almost all the tobacco leaves in Taoyuan Town were picked and dried in a tobacco house built of loess. Three qualities were selected, mashed and shredded, and sold out.

Coupled with the sales of Monkey Wine, after paying taxes, it is another wave of blood.

This month, Chen Ci insisted on exercising his body every day to strengthen his body. It was because the body of the original owner was too weak. He couldn't help but wonder whether this sickly body could handle the horses.

On this day, a farmer came to report that there was always a cavalry of soldiers on the official road outside Taoyuan Town, and sometimes wounded soldiers retreated and passed the town to ask for some water and food.

"War?"

This is the first thought of the statement.

But thinking about it, it's impossible.

The farmer said honestly: "We sent dry food and water sources, and asked around. It is said that they are suppressing bandits. Oh, by the way, the son-in-law, those soldiers are all from the Ganshan Military Station."

"Suppress bandits? What kind of bandits should be suppressed? There are bandits in Guangling?" Chen Ci was even more curious.

The farmer shook his head and said he didn't know.

That night, Chen Ci ordered a retinue to go out at night to inquire.

The fierce soldier came back the next day to report that the autumn harvest was over, and the king of Wu began to collect taxes from all cities, counties, and counties in the southern Wu area. None of the officers and soldiers of the first battalion of grain and grass survived. The king of Wu was furious, and immediately ordered [-] troops to investigate the matter thoroughly.

"Who did it? You are so brave, you dare to rob King Wu's food and grass." Chen Ci couldn't help laughing.

Wu Wanggang was slaughtered by him, and the palace was short of money. After the autumn harvest, he finally collected a tax to make up for the financial situation. Who knew he was cut off halfway?

The subordinate respectfully said: "I don't know the details, but the people at the Ganshan Military Station confirmed that it was the grass on Babao Mountain. From November [-]rd to the present, the Ganshan Military Station has dispatched soldiers of the Five Banners and entered the mountain three times. See As far as the battle goes, there were casualties on both sides."

"Tsk, this group of bandits is so powerful?" Chen Ci was taken aback. Five thousand elite soldiers failed to capture a single stronghold?
Retinue is silent.

"map."

As soon as Chen Ci waved his hand, Fan Chu fetched the military and topographic map of Guangling, unfolded the scroll, and found the location of Babaoshan, thoughtfully.

Babaoshan is located on the tributary of Qujiang River 55 miles east of Guangling City. The terrain is dangerous and vulnerable to attack.Babaoshan is very close to the location where the grain and grass were robbed, so it's no wonder that the Ganshan Military Station recognized this recklessness.

"Damn it, this group of talented people are so bold that even the King of Wu dared to rob me, will they also dare to rob me? Immediately write to them on the [-]th or [-]th, and take a detour when they come back, don't get robbed .” Chen Ci ordered.

He earns hard money. If he managed to buy food and horses and was robbed by bandits halfway, he would be a damned dog.

Fan Chu nodded.

In the evening, Chen Ci and the princess slept together, saying that he planned to go to Guangling someday.

The princess asked: "Go to Guangling? We are doing well in Taoyuan Town. What are you doing in Guangling?"

Ever since I learned that bandits dared to rob government food during the day, I felt a sense of urgency in the statement. Taoyuan Town is located in a low valley, surrounded by highlands and full of peach trees. If there is a reckless attack, there is really no place to run Run, now who doesn't know that Taoyuan Town is so rich?

If you are targeted by those self-proclaimed heroes, just thousands of households in Taoyuan Township, wouldn't they wash their necks and let them rob them?

At that time, the wealth accumulated with great difficulty will be looted like this, and there will be nowhere to cry.

Therefore, when there are not enough soldiers and horses now, Chen Ci decided to move his position and make the city more stable.

Of course, he would not tell the princess about these worries, so he pretended to be relaxed and said: "Of course it is for business. The town is small, and it will be tiring after staying for a long time. Let's go to the city, open a tavern, open an inn, and then open another one." Wouldn't life be beautiful if you could go to a gambling house to listen to music or watch a play at night?"

After staying in Taoyuan Town for a long time, it is not interesting to live in a pool of stagnant water.

Upon hearing this, the princess readily agreed.

Chen Ci has already conceived a blueprint, and has long planned to flex his muscles in Guangling City. He is going to specialize in the money of the Dongying people.

What can make money these days?

Of course, it is tobacco and alcohol gambling, opening a gambling house, and then putting a usury loan, that is really compound interest.

Alcohol and cigarettes have already been dabbled in, and after tasting the sweetness, it is just a gambling house. Those Dongying people are rich and fat, and if they can make Dongying people addicted to gambling, one can blow the arrogance of Dongying people, and the other is It can also amass a lot of money.

For several days in succession, Chen Ci ordered his subordinates to go to Guangling, and rent some decent shops, restaurants and mansions with the gold and silver.

At the same time, Chen Ci was also inquiring about the grassroots bandits in Babaoshan. According to Fan Chu’s report, Zhang Mang commanded the troops of two banners to station at the foot of Babaoshan, and issued a military order with King Wu. The food and grass were regained, but because of the underestimation of the enemy a few days ago, the loss of soldiers and generals made the two sides fall into anxiety.King Wu was sympathetic to the soldiers, and knew that such things should not be rushed, lest there would be too many casualties and would have to pay out of pocket to appease the soldiers' families, so he waved his hand and told Zhang Mang to be careful, and let him take it before the end of the year without any mistakes.

"Zhang Mang, hum, a guy with a simple mind and well-developed limbs, with so many elite soldiers, he can't even take down a reckless man." Chen Ci sneered, recalling that day when Zhang Mang despised him and rejected him, he was angry.

Fan Chu was silent for a while, and then said: "My lord, I have inquired carefully. This group of reckless people is not simple. There are a lot of people, and they have a size of less than 1000 people. The leader's nickname is Xiaobawang, and he has a red-tasseled spear in one hand. , surnamed Zhang Mingshun, martial arts is very good."

"Oh?"

The statement came with interest, and the scale of 1000 people is quite a number.

If they are all bandits in full armor and occupying a favorable location, then no wonder Zhang Mang has been busy for seven or eight days without achieving an inch.

"It doesn't matter, suppressing bandits is a matter for the government and has nothing to do with us. Clean it up. We will move to Guangling in two days."

"As ordered."

(End of this chapter)