Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 232 Follow-up
After clearing out the rebels, Zhao Zhen sat down in the Zhujiazhuang hall. All the heroes came to offer their services. He captured hundreds of people alive, captured more than 30 good horses, and captured countless cattle and sheep alive. There was no money or food in the treasury. .

Zhao Zhen said: "It's a pity that Zhu Hu is gone, and Zhu Yongqing has gone to who knows where?"

Wu Yong said: "Sir, I asked someone to ask. Zhu Yongqing did not escape back to the village yesterday. Zhu Hu broke his arm, and there were horse troops patrolling outside the village. He will never go far. Either he is still hiding in the village, or The two villages where they fled are unknown. We will know after a search."

Just as he was talking, the sergeant came to report that Hu Cheng, the Flying Tiger from Hujiazhuang in the West Village, was leading sheep and carrying wine, so he came to pay a visit.

Zhao Zhen invited him in.

Hu Cheng came in, bowed, stood up and said, "General, it's hard to fight. Today we killed Qiu Yu. Hujiazhuang is here to help us."

Zhao Zhen said: "Brother Hu Cheng, please rise up. Although Zhujiazhuang was wiped out and Zhu Wanmao was killed, it is a pity that Zhu Yongqing left yesterday, and Zhu Hu is nowhere to be found today."

Wu Yong continued: "I'm afraid I have to go to Hujiazhuang to search. This can also prove that Hujiazhuang is honest."

Hu Cheng said slightly nervously: "General, Hujiazhuang will never dare to hide Zhu Hu, and Dulonggang is full of horse army patrols. Zhu Hu is probably still in the village. I have heard that there is a secret room in Zhujiazhuang, and I think he is hiding there. inside.”

Zhao Zhen said: "This is the case. I wonder, brother, do you know where the secret room is?"

Zhao Zhen nodded and said: "Pedant, since you want to occupy this place, the east and west neighbors may need to be appeased. Besides, who can come to host it?"

Zhao Zhen said: "This place belongs to Yanggu County. How can we expect to occupy this place for a long time?"

Wu Yong said: "Now that the governor of Dongping Mansion has been replaced by Mr. Lao, this matter can naturally be suppressed."

Wu Yong said something and made Zhao Zhen suddenly enlightened.

Seeing that Hu Cheng had left and all the heroes had gone down separately, Zhao Zhen asked: "Pedant, I think Zhu Hu is still in the village. How do you insist on searching Hu's village?"

"In Zhujiazhuang, please ask Brother Chao Gai to station here, with two infantry troops and one cavalry army. We will then recruit the two capitals in Zhuangzhuang to make up a battalion. After marrying with Hujiazhuang, it is not a worry to only have Lijiazhuang left."

"When Zhu Chaofeng chose this place, I'm afraid he had already thought about it. Not only is Dulonggang's terrain difficult, it is easy to defend but difficult to attack. It is necessary to cultivate fertile land and recruit households. This time, because of the incident involving Luan Tingfang's brothers, he had the intention of attacking and annexing Liangshan. He wanted to do it early. I have an idea. But I didn't expect that I was not a soft persimmon who could be rubbed by others. Instead, we destroyed his six thousand soldiers and broke the nest."

Hu Cheng had no choice but to accept, thanked and left.

Wu Yong said: "As a high official, after this experience, Hu Cheng in Hujiazhuang will naturally be respectful. Moreover, I heard brother Xiao Rang once said that Hu Cheng has a girl who is a good match for a high official."

Zhao Zhen said: "How come there is so much grain? Even though three years of farming can produce one year's worth of grain, and nine years of farming can produce three years' worth of grain. What's the point of storing so much grain here?"

"Official man, although the terrain of Zhujiazhuang is not as good as that of Shuibo Liangshan, it has one advantage. It is adjacent to the official road in front, which is the only way from Dongping Prefecture to Tokyo. There are many merchants coming and going. With this road, I don't know how much money I can make in a year. How much gold and silver have you saved?”

Wu Yongdao: "I asked the people in the village that Zhujiazhuang has been recruiting soldiers and horses over the years, and most of the villagers are new recruits. The three village walls are built high, and instructors are hired to build ordnance and armor. They have long been enterprising. It’s not surprising that there are so many grain reserves.”

Wu Yong greeted Shi Qian and whispered a few words. Shi Qian listened and left. Wu Yong then said: "Brother Hu Cheng will never lie. Even so, Hujiazhuang has to investigate. If not, it is not easy for me to go to Lijiazhuang to search. Brother, don't worry, I only pick some fine ones here. Let’s go through the motions.”

Hu Chengdao: "I really don't know. If there are villagers who are close to Zhujiazhuang, they may know."

"I don't know what the officials know, but I have taken a quick look at Zhujiazhuang's account books. If nothing else, the grain in the warehouse is enough for five years. In addition to the output of the land, I'm afraid it's also due to the convenience of trade."

Just as he was talking, Shi Qian returned to the hall, sang a promise, and said to Zhao Zhen: "Master, we have found the secret room of Zhujiazhuang. It is on the rockery in the back garden. Zhu Chaofeng has the key. I'm afraid to open the door. Zhu Hu was so shocked that he didn’t go down yet.”

Zhao Zhen heard this, called Jiao Ting and Bao Xu, opened the secret room, and found Zhu Hu as expected. Jiao Ting went down and suddenly brought Zhu Hu up.

"Your Majesty, there is a lot of gold and silver down here. This guy took a lot of food. I'm afraid he was thinking of staying up for a few days and waiting for me to leave before he came out." Zhao Zhen didn't ask anyone to go down to count it, but only asked him to seal it up. I plan to ship it back to Baishi Valley in a few days for inventory.

After Zhu Hu captured him, he asked about Zhu Yongqing's whereabouts, but Zhu Hu didn't know. Zhao Zhen ordered Zhu Hu's head to be beheaded. The corpses of Zhu Chaofeng, Zhu Long, Zhu Biao, and Zhu Wannian were gathered together and buried in the field.

Lin Chong and Sun An both rested for the night and returned to Heihumiao Town the next day. With the help of four soldiers led by Shi Jin, they sent over all the captured Zhujiazhuang and Hujiazhuang people.

After Zhujiazhuang farmers warned them, they were all released. However, the villagers in Hujiazhuang were escorted by Wu Yong to Hujiazhuang.

When they arrived at Hujiazhuang, Hu Taigong and Hu Cheng followed and first thanked Liangshan County for returning the villagers.

The guests and hosts sat down, and Wu Yong said: "Tai Gong Hu, when you come this time, you will be sent back to your village. Secondly, you will also be informed that Zhu Hu has been captured and beheaded."

Hu Taigong said: "This is the best, it will save you the trouble of raising troops and mobilizing people because of him."

Wu Yong said: "Finally, I want to inform you that Dulonggang Zhujiazhuang is now under the jurisdiction of Liangshan County, and is guarded by 500 troops."

The two people in Hujiazhuang looked at each other, and Hu Taigong said: "Sir, this is the jurisdiction of Yanggu County, Dongping Prefecture..."

Wu Yong interrupted: "Tai Gong, my lord's wife is the son-in-law of the current Dongping Mansion Yin Cheng. It is said that there are only a few villages. As long as the county is not occupied, no one will take care of the territory. From now on, The land tax in Hujiazhuang may be paid to Zhujiazhuang.”

Hu Cheng asked: "Sir, how much do you want to charge?"

Wu Yong said: "There are three dou for each mu of land. Of course, if there are corvees, villagers will be assigned to serve, and recruitment of soldiers cannot be blocked. After a while, the county will send people to clear the land. In this battle, many people died in Zhujiazhuang. Hero, Zhujiazhuang must recruit a group of bankers. If anyone from Hujiazhuang wants to go, you can't stop them. "

Hu Taigong said: "My lord, seeing that it's getting dark, I'd like to thank you for your respect. Let's talk about it after dinner."

At the banquet, Grand Duke Hu tried all kinds of things, but Wu Yong seemed to be unable to bear it, so he said, "I heard that there is a Sanniang Hu in Hu's family village. If she can get married to the county magistrate, some things will be easier to handle."

Hu Cheng said: "A high-ranking official is married, wouldn't my sister feel aggrieved?"

Wu Yong said: "Madam is the daughter of Dongping Mansion, so your sister is not humiliated by being a concubine. With this relationship, naturally no one will come to make noise in the future."

After hearing this, Grand Duke Hu enthusiastically inquired about Zhao Zhen's family affairs. After having a good meal and wine, he asked Hu Cheng and Wu Yong to take a look at Hu Sanniang from a distance.

Seeing how charming Hu Sanniang was, Wu Yong assured Hu Taigong that the high officials would be satisfied with Hu Sanniang.

After hearing this, Taigong Hu made up his mind and gave Hu Sanniang's character to Wu Yong, so that Wu Yong could worry more about it and welcomed Hu Sanniang into the family as soon as possible. From then on, the two villages became one family.

Not to mention how Wu Yong encouraged Taigong Hu to marry his daughter.

In the next two days, Zhao Zhen talked to Chao Gai, and Chao Gai agreed. Han Bolong, Shi Yong and Luan Tingyu, the first capital of the Ma Army, were stationed there. The Shanqian Hotel was taken over by Zhu Gui.

At Haoshanfeng Zuojunzhai, the garrison general will be replaced by Liu Tang, with Song Wan, Zou Run, and Zou Yuan as deputy capital leaders, and the garrison will increase to 1,000 people. Tao Zongwang and Shi Qian were transferred back to Baishi Manor to station.

In the Youjunzhai on Xueshan Mountain, the leader, Lu Zhishen, and his deputies, Xue Yong, Du Qian, and Bai Sheng, also increased their number to a thousand troops.

The newly arrived Shi Jin, together with Chen Da and Yang Chun, reorganized the Yidu Horse Army and stationed it in Nanda Camp. Zhu Wu was appointed as deputy military advisor and counselor of military affairs.

(End of this chapter)