Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 2269
The next day, Yi Haoran met Song Ming at Longmu Temple.This young general no longer looked radiant and heroic a few months ago, but looked old and unrefined.Standing under the steps of the Dragon Mother Temple, there is no difference between many living beings who come to pilgrimage for comfort because of the hardships of the world.

Song Ming and Yi Haoran had a lifelong friendship because of their relationship with Bangshan back then.After the meeting, there was no falsehood, Yi Haoran went straight to the point and told him his intentions.

"...This matter is of great importance, and it will take a great risk. If the general is unwilling to participate, the students will not be reluctant..."

Song Ming waved his hand, and said in a low voice: "Sir, why did you say that! We wait for the salary of the king, and fight the enemy with all our strength. It is a matter of course for us to shroud the corpse in horse leather."

Yi Haoran felt hot in his heart: tough and honest ministers.The ancients do not deceive me!
Song Ming told him that he and the remaining dozens of people were hiding in a ruined temple in a mountain depression at the eastern foot of Baiyun Mountain, less than ten miles away from Wuzhou.

There are 47 soldiers under him.Not too many, but they were all elite soldiers—both his own personal soldiers and the "new army" servants commanded by Jiang Suo who had gathered.Weapons and armor are complete, and there are some firearms.

As far as the time is concerned, nearly half a hundred well-equipped personal soldiers and family members are elite combat forces, enough to charge and defeat the enemy.

"...Although it's close to Wuzhou, it's a secluded place in the mountains. It's quiet for us to stay here for a while."

"What about the food and wages? I heard from Zhang Yong that it all depends on the 'help' of rich households. I'm afraid it won't be a long-term solution."

Since ancient times, the army has been uneasy without food and salary. Although Song Ming's subordinates are small, they also receive a lot of food and salary every month.Only relying on the rich households nearby will inevitably become a burden after a long time-the rich people can do anything to get rid of the burden.

"That's what I'm worried about." Song Ming nodded and said, "There is an old saying that rabbits don't eat grass by the side of their nests. This is because all the heroes of the world understand the truth. Therefore, I don't dare to ask too much in the surrounding area now, so as not to change things, so I can only send someone Hunting for food from afar."

The so-called grain hunting is robbery.This was considered normal among the various armies in the late Ming Dynasty, and there was nothing unusual about it.Yi Haoran didn't think it was strange, but said worryingly: "You have few people, and you have to travel far away to harvest food. If you have a big harvest, it's fine, but if the harvest is small, it can't make up for the dry food on the road! If you lose a few more brothers, it will be a loss. big."

"Mr. is right, but it's the only way to do it right now." Song Ming sighed, "If I can have a meritorious service, I won't be so embarrassing."

In fact, he had long thought about packing up the remnants and retreating to Hunan.However, the officialdom in Guangdong and Guangxi has collapsed, and the whereabouts of Xiong Wencan and other big bosses are unknown. He still has nowhere to settle down when he retreats to Hunan—or he might be expelled and wiped out by the local townspeople.This is also the main reason why Song Ming is willing to take risks with Yi Haoran.

Yi Haoran understood, and the two made an appointment on how to contact each other, and then they dispersed.

Yi Haoran is different from the bureaucrats, he will not hesitate to discuss for a long time, and he will not look forward and backward - if so, he would have died on the way to escape in Liaodong.After leaving the Dragon Mother Temple, he went to the city non-stop to inquire about the latest news about the Kun thief.

The bandits erected a newspaper reading board in front of the Wuzhou City Government, posting "Lingao Times", "Yangcheng Express" and a local newspaper "Wuzhou Important News".Except for Wuzhou News, the other two newspapers come only once every few days, so the newspapers are not updated every day, but only every seven days.

Yi Haoran reads the newspaper regularly, the purpose is nothing more than to grasp the movements of the Kun thief.For him trapped in Wuzhou, these three newspapers are currently his only source of news.It is very convenient to have all the news from the eighteen provinces in the world to the whole of Guangdong and even the whole of Wuzhou.

In fact, he didn't understand why the Kun thieves issued these things to the masses: they were neither officials nor businessmen, and the furthest place they had traveled in their lives was probably the county capital. What's the use?

No matter what the intentions of the Australians are, Yi Haoran has to admit that the news from the Kun bandits is accurate and fast—compared to the official news sources of Ming Dynasty such as the Di Bao and Tang Bao in the past, it can be said to be extremely fast.And the "news" reported in all directions in the newspaper gave him a rare perspective to grasp the overall situation.

As far as the moment is concerned, although the kun thieves have occupied Guangdong and are eyeing Guangxi, but the place they occupy is unstable and they are calling the police everywhere.The situation was not peaceful. Judging from the continuous fleet of ships coming and going on the Xijiang River, Guijiang River and other places, the Kun bandits were using the waterways to mobilize people and horses to suppress them, and they felt exhausted.At present, the Kun bandits' troops in Wuzhou are empty, so this is a good opportunity to strike!

He looked at the news of the riots in the newspaper leisurely and contentedly, secretly delighted in his heart.Suddenly a voice came from my ear: "Mr. Yi!"

The voice was very familiar, Yi Haoran was taken aback, but when he turned his head to see Ah Chun, he couldn't help but feel relieved, and said, "Why aren't you in the shop?"

"My wife asked me to run errands." Ah Chun said, "Mr. Hao, didn't you go out to collect the bill? Why did you come to the city?"

Yi Haoran originally said that he went to a certain town to collect bills as an excuse—he recently went out to collect bills almost every day, and everyone didn’t take it seriously, after all, there was no work in the shop, and once he went out, he could more or less get back some money , is always a good thing for the store.

"I haven't received the bill. I think it's still early. After returning to the city, I'll take a walk to relax." Yi Haoran responded calmly.

"Master is very interested. Now that there is a lot of chaos, my wife told us not to go out on the streets if we have nothing to do. Master, you should be more careful when you go out of the city to collect bills. I heard that there are often floating corpses floating by the river these days - they are said to have been robbed and killed by bandits and thieves."

"I know that." Yi Haoran smiled, "What are you going to do for your wife?"

"What can I do? Why don't you ask the master to go back quickly." Ah Chun said with a meaningless face, "The master is not at home all day long, and no one cares about the business in the store. No, a merchant finally came to the store to talk about it." Business, but the shopkeeper is out again, and only his wife and Aunt Wen are at home..."

Luo Yangming basically goes out at dawn and doesn't come back until dark.Not to mention Li Wensheng, even Ding Atao was full of complaints towards him.Yi Haoran didn't take it seriously, and said: "Since that's the case, you go to deliver the letter, and I'll go back to receive the guests first."

"Okay, master, go back quickly. My wife must be in a hurry!"

Yi Haoran couldn't care less about reading the newspaper, and hurried back to the shop.I saw Wen Yun looking around at the door. Seeing him coming back, he quickly patted his chest and said, "Thank God, someone finally came back! There is no man in the house, yet another guest came."

Yi Haoran smiled and said, "Ah Chun is not a man?"

"What kind of man is Ah Chun? He is a few years younger than me," Wen Yun said with disdain on his face, "If my wife didn't allow me to go out, I would rather go to the master myself..."

"Where is the guest? Wait for me to chat with him for a while." Yi Haoran put down the umbrella ledger and asked.

"It's in the living room behind the cashier." Wen Yun said, "He was sitting alone, and my wife didn't allow me to greet him, so I only brought a cup of tea, and I couldn't tell him to sit like this, so I called the cook. Old Confucian Mama is waiting outside..."

"Go back to your wife and say that I will help greet you for a while, and the master will be back soon."

"This is great!" Wen Yun patted his chest, "Otherwise, my wife will scold me again!"

Yi Haoran wondered: "The master is not at home, why is the wife scolding you?"

Wen Yun said: "My wife said that I am useless, I can't keep the master's heart..."

Yi Haoran said with a smile: "You have died unjustly. The master went out to deal with serious business, not for the sake of his children's personal relationship."

"If you die wronged, you will be scolded!" Wen Yun walked in with his nose up and his mouth pouted.

Yi Haoran entered the living room—it was said to be a living room, but it was actually just a small side room for receiving customers.Furnishing is very simple.A middle-aged man sat on the official hat chair.

Judging by his elegant and understated attire, he is a successful businessman.Yi Haoran didn't dare to neglect, cupped his hands and said: "This master..."

The visitor waited in the living room for a long time, not to mention seeing Luo Yangming, there was no one who came out to greet him, but the responsibility on him couldn't just go away.Just feeling irritable, I suddenly saw a middle-aged scribe come out to greet me, and got up to return the courtesy:
"Don't dare, my surname is Zhu, my first name is Fuyuan, and I'm the running street of Dachang Rice Co., Ltd..."

"Oh, it's Dachang Rice Shop in Guangzhou?" Yi Haoran said.

Zhu Fuyuan blinked his eyes and said, "Mister, do you know my name?"

Yi Haoran secretly scolded himself for talking too much, wouldn't he admit that he had stayed in Guangzhou?He quickly covered it up and said: "The name of your name is famous, I have heard of it, I have heard of it..."

"Oh……"

Yi Haoran was afraid that he would continue to question him, so he hurriedly introduced himself: "My surname is Hao, and my name is Ran. I am the accountant of our store. Now the master and the shopkeeper are out. Someone has been sent to deliver the letter. Please wait a moment, Master Zhu."

"It's easy to say, easy to say," Zhu Fuyuan took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped the sweat from his brow, "I came here specifically to meet Master Luo, so it's okay to wait a little longer."

This aroused Yi Haoran's interest.Because Luo Yangming knew a little about Luo Yangming's details from the chats with Li Wensheng and others. He was not a big merchant in Wuzhou City, but a medium-sized merchant in the local rice and grain business.

The rice shops in Wuzhou buy goods from Guangxi and sell them to Guangdong.However, Yuxin's business in Guangdong is only as far as Sanshui.I have never heard of Li Wensheng or Ding Atao talking about his dealings with rice merchants in Guangzhou.Furthermore, Dachang has a great reputation in Guangzhou. Although it is not known whether it has the capital of the thieves, it is no secret in Guangzhou that the thieves and Dachang have a deep collusion.

A street runner from Guangzhou Mihang, which has connections with the thieves, specially went to Wuzhou to meet Luo Yangming, who had never had any business dealings with him before. What was his intention?
He wanted to set the other party's words, so he entertained him warmly. Seeing the sweat beading on his forehead, he told the old Kong Mama to bring herbal tea, and specially sent him melons and fruits to cool off the heat.Another gossip about local customs in Wuzhou

(End of this chapter)