The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 72

When Guan Tieshi returned to the courtyard, Shi Kuangwei had already cut two large plates of fresh mutton and brought them to the table.

"Come on, Shitou, don't be polite, let's eat!" Lao Shi invited him enthusiastically.

Kicking Guan Tieshi out to deal with Xue's family just now made Lao Shi feel a little ashamed.

"Thank you, handsome man!"

Lao Shi diligently helped add dipping sauces and add meat. After seeing Guan Tieshi take a few bites, he said eagerly: "What do the Xue family say?"

Guan Tieshi smiled and said: "According to what the handsome master and Zhu Shaolang said, they can barely cope with it. Of course they won't believe that what happened yesterday was just a coincidence, but there is no evidence. They can only admit that they are unlucky this time."

Shi Kuangwei shook his head and said: "Xue Xiuming's city is quite deep. The more calm he is, the more it shows that he has a conspiracy in his heart."

Zhu Xiu's belly was round after eating, and she leaned to the side to catch her breath. She picked her teeth and said, "The Xue family also knows that it's not the time to fall out, but we are enduring it, so why aren't they? The power of this three-thirds of an acre of land belongs to them. After all, it cannot be left to two families to have the final say.”

Shi Kuangwei helped Shi Xiangwen fill a large bowl of rice, and he was very happy to see his son eating happily.

"The freight, grain seeds, agricultural machinery, and treasuries of various states and counties in Changyi Town are almost all in the hands of the Xue family. This is the Xue family's biggest advantage. If the financial rights cannot be recovered and new sources of food and salary can be opened up for the Changyi Army, The Xue family cannot be brought down, nor can it be brought down. Therefore, the salt in your hand is very important."

Shi Converse said with a dark face.

Zhu Xiu burped: "From now on, Yang Jinchuan will be loosened on the outside and tight on the inside, and we will be more alert in a war-like state. In a few days, when Bi Zhenhai's injury is better, I will talk to him in person."

~~~
Three days later, Zhu Xiu received a report from the military doctor that Bi Zhenhai's injury had improved and he could get out of bed and walk around.

In a heavily guarded courtyard, Zhu Xiu asked the guards about the past two days and learned that everything was normal before entering the courtyard with his hands behind his back.

Lao Shi, a thin man, was supporting Bi Zhenhai and walking slowly in the courtyard.

"Haha, brother, I'm fine. Congratulations!" Zhu Xiu stepped forward and saluted.

Bi Zhenhai's face was sallow, his eye circles were blue, and his eyes were bloodshot. He must have not slept well in the past few days.

Lao Shi hurriedly bowed and saluted, with a bit of vigilance in his nervous expression.

"It's you?!" Bi Zhenhai was slightly surprised when he saw Zhu Xiu, but he quickly calmed down.

"You seem to have guessed that I am the one behind this?" Zhu Xiu asked with a curious smile.

Bi Zhenhai shook his head: "When we first met that day, I felt that your two identities were suspicious. You and that lump-faced man seem to be uncles and nephews, but in fact, you are the one who makes the decision."

Zhu Xiu nodded: "Good eyesight! You are injured, let's sit down and talk."

Sitting down at a stone table, Zhu Xiu cupped his hands and said, "I am Zhu Xiu, the secretary-general of the Zhangyi Army."

Bi Zhenhai clasped his fists, with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

This big house is the Jiedu Mansion, so the person who rescued him is naturally a member of the government.

What Bi Zhenhai didn't expect was that the handsome and childish young man in front of him was an official himself.

I originally thought that Zhu Xiu was a son of an official in the Changyi Army.

Bi Zhenhai didn't know what the secretary did or how much power he had, but it was extraordinary to be able to mobilize troops.

"Why do you want to save me, Young Master?"

Zhu Xiu smiled slightly and did not answer. Instead, he asked: "You were trapped in a tight siege in Yancang this time. There were more than forty people and only two of you escaped. Have you ever thought about why?"

Bi Zhenhai's eyes were red, and he punched the stone table hard, causing wounds. The severe pain made his face distorted.

The old man next to him also looked sad.

"Why else? It's all my fault for being careless and mistakenly trusting a villain. I was harmed by Lao Liu, a bastard who killed a thousand times, and I hurt my brothers for nothing!" Bi Zhenhai blamed himself painfully, feeling regretful in his heart.

Zhu Xiu said lightly: "Not understanding people is only one aspect. The most important thing is that you don't understand what your brothers want."

Bi Zhenhai was startled and murmured: "Most of the salt we get is given to the neighbors. Occasionally, we sell it at low prices to exchange for money. It can also feed a group of brothers. Everyone has food and clothing, and the mother-in-law and children at home have a way to live. Isn’t this enough? What else do you want?”

Zhu Xiu shook his head and said: "Everyone thinks this way when they are poor and have no way to survive. But once they have spare money and surplus food, their thoughts will change. Everyone knows about the huge profits from selling salt. The Xue family can be where they are today. He has been monopolizing the salt market for many years, selling salt at high prices and exploiting the people."

Bi Zhenhai said: "The Xue family is the Xue family. Our brothers do not sell salt for personal gain, as long as they have a stutter. We just don't want to be scorned by the Xue family anymore!"

Zhu Xiu chuckled, his eyes full of ridicule.

Lao Shi looked at Bi Zhenhai, opened his mouth to say something, but held back.

"There's another thing you probably don't know. It's not just Lao Liu who betrayed you, there were four or five people who had secretly conspired with him. When Xue Xiuliang led his troops to kill, there were nearly ten more people in the cave who defected. In other words, Half of the nearly twenty people you stayed in the cave to take care of died from fighting among themselves," Zhu Xiu said.

Bi Zhenhai trembled all over and became excited: "Impossible!"

Lao Shi whispered bitterly: "Brother, it's true! You fell into a coma after you got off Loess Rock Mountain. I saw with my own eyes that Lao San and Lao Ba were not dead. They were tied up and knelt in front of the Xue family and kowtowed to beg for mercy. ."

A flush of blood appeared on Bi Zhenhai's face, and his fingertips dug deeply into his flesh.

"But it's a pity that Xue Xiuliang couldn't find out your whereabouts from them, so he killed them." Zhu Xiu said softly.

Bi Zhenhai sighed dejectedly: "We are a group of people who have been oppressed by the Xue family at home. Some of us bought the high-priced salt sold by the Xue family, but ended up eating poisonous salt and killed people. We went to the Xue family to argue, but they beat us alive." die.

Some families originally had hundreds of acres of fertile land, but because they refused to allow the Xue family to buy the land at a low price, they were retaliated by the Xue family and their families were destroyed.

Some of the children in the family were forcibly recruited as soldiers by the Xue family, and they did not receive due compensation when they died.

When we got together, we swore an oath to fight against the Xue family for the rest of our lives and to help the people no longer be bullied by the Xue family. Why did they break their oath and surrender?I would rather they fight to the death with the Xue family." Bi Zhenhai closed his eyes in pain, his tall body seemed to be drained of all strength in an instant, and he leaned against the stone table in despair, his whole body trembling slightly.

He thought that the only traitor was Lao Liu, and that the other brothers fought bravely until the last moment before dying.

Unfortunately, the reality is quite different.

Lao Liu is not the only traitor, and the brothers are far less united and fearless than he imagined.

Zhu Xiu said calmly: "I guess the previous operations of your group were too smooth. You have never encountered difficulties or troubles at all, let alone experienced a real life-and-death crisis!"

Bi Zhenhai opened a pair of red eyes and said confusedly: "How did you know?"

Zhu Xiu sneered, shook his head and said nothing.

It was difficult for him to sympathize with a leader who only knew how to lead his team with an idealistic spirit.

Bi Zhenhai is indeed a manly hero, but he is not a qualified leader.

He naively believed that as long as he set an example, the brothers around him would be like him and would not be attracted by the Xue family's temptations and stick to the vows they made when they gathered together.

Such people are only suitable to be benchmarks and flags, not leaders.

This group of people gathered together based on passion and temporary anger. They lacked a strong organizational system behind them, let alone a long-term plan.

They had previously robbed the Xue family's salt transport team and stolen salt from the salt warehouse. They were lucky to be able to accomplish these two important tasks.

Even if they can get away with it this time, sooner or later they will break up.

Zhu Xiu did not intend to be a hindsight and analyze the reasons for Bi Zhenhai's team's failure and heartbreak. He said bluntly: "If you still want to go against the Xue family and avenge those brothers who are willing to fight with you, you only have to do it now. One choice, hang out with me!”

Zhu Xiu pointed his thumb at himself.

Bi Zhenhai was stunned and asked doubtfully: "You came to the door originally because you wanted me to help you transport the salt out of Jingzhou to sell it. What does it have to do with the Xue family?"

Zhu Xiu patiently explained to him the conflicts and struggles between the Jiedu Mansion and the Xue family.

Bi Zhenhai fell silent after hearing this, and said with a wry smile: "You only have more than 3 kilograms of salt in your hand. At the current market price, it is worth two thousand kilograms in money. If you use it all to buy grain, you can buy one hundred thousand kilograms. Jin, how long can this amount of food be used to support the army? How can we compete with the wealthy Xue family?"

Zhu Xiu smiled lightly and said: "What if the salt in my hand is not just [-] catties, but one hundred thousand catties or one million catties?"

Bi Zhenhai and Lao Shi looked at each other in horror, extremely shocked.

"You mean, you can make salt?" Bi Zhenhai reacted.

"Not bad!" Zhu Xiu smiled, "Do you know Yang Jinchuan? That is the current salt production area of ​​our Zhangyi Army!"

Lao Shi whispered: "There are a large area of ​​salt brine stones in Yangjinchuan. They are all poisonous salt. If you eat them, you will die! I heard that only the old craftsmen in the salt pond supervisor of the imperial court know how to detoxify the salt brine stones!"

Bi Zhenhai nodded and looked at Zhu Xiu suspiciously.

Everyone in Jingzhou knows that there is a brine salt mine in Yangjinchuan, but the brine salt is poisonous and cannot be eaten. How to make table salt from the brine salt stone is a secret in the hands of the salt officer. How can anyone else know about it?
Zhu Xiudao: "The mining workshop and salt workshop in Yangjinchuan have been operating for many days, with a daily output of about 5 kilograms of high-quality refined salt. The current output is still steadily increasing, and more than [-] kilograms of salt have been stockpiled. When your injury is better, we can prepare it at any time. Go and see."

Bi Zhenhai took a deep breath. Zhu Xiu dared to say this, and he already believed it in his heart.

After being silent for a while, Bi Zhenhai said: "You saved me because you wanted me to sell salt in exchange for money?"

Zhu Xiu smiled and said, "Frankly speaking, this is your greatest use right now."

Bi Zhenhai smiled bitterly, struggled and knelt down on the ground, kowtowed heavily, and said in a low voice: "I am not a ungrateful person. Young Master saved my life. I will remember Young Master's kindness for the rest of my life!"

Zhu Xiu sat still and accepted his courtesy calmly.

"Can I understand that you accept my proposal and are willing to surrender to me in the future?"

Bi Zhenhai clasped his fists and said, "Young Master, don't be surprised. I still want to visit Yangjinchuan first before talking about anything else."

Zhu Xiu pouted: "Okay."

Lao Shi sat aside and remained silent most of the time.

Zhu Xiu glanced at him and said enthusiastically: "What plans does this brother have? If you want, you can become a tooth soldier, or you can continue to follow your elder brother and do things for me."

Lao Shi seemed to be unaccustomed to someone being so enthusiastic towards him. He lowered his head and mumbled speechlessly. His dirty short hair covered his face, which was hot and red.

Bi Zhenhai smiled bitterly, hesitated for a while, clasped his fists and said, "I beg you, Young Master, to take Lao Shi by your side and serve as your personal attendant."

Zhu Xiu laughed and said: "How can this be done! Your brother is also a hero who dares to fight with the Xue family with a knife. Wouldn't it be overqualified to be a long-term follower?"

Lao Shi raised his head and glanced at Bi Zhenhai, then quickly lowered his head and whispered: "I don't want to be a servant! I can't do anything to serve others!"

Zhu Xiu smiled and said, "Then continue to sell salt with your elder brother."

Lao Shi lowered his head and said nothing.

Bi Zhenhai said helplessly: "I don't dare to hide it from you, Young Master. In fact, Lao Shi is actually a girl."

Zhu Xiu was dumbfounded, and her jaw dropped to the ground.

Lao Shi clenched the corners of his tattered clothes and buried his head lower.

PS: The weights and measures need to be corrected. According to the Song system, one catty is 633 grams, and one stone is 75960 grams, which is 120 catties

(End of this chapter)