Great Han Empire

Chapter 267 The situation changes suddenly
Wang Fen took Xu You, Zhou Jing, Tao Gao and other cronies from the governor's office out of the city to welcome Li Hong.Everyone stood in the bitter cold wind, waiting patiently while chatting.

"My lord, after the emperor's amnesty decree was promulgated, some rich family members from Wei County and Bohai County who were arrested and imprisoned ran up and down Jizhou, asking us to release them immediately. How do you think about this matter?" Zhou Jing asked, "If we keep Procrastinate, over time, I'm afraid something will go wrong."

Zhou Jing is a scholar from Peiguo, Yuzhou, in his 40s, short and fat.In the past, he taught books at the official school in his hometown county, so that he could report injustices for others, and he was quite famous as a chivalrous man.

"It can't be released." Wang Fen said, "It is good for us to keep these rich people in prison. As long as these rich people are still alive, their clan children will not dare to mess around and will be very considerate. Once released, they What will you do?" Wang Fen looked at them and sneered, "They will find ways to retaliate against us and bring us unexpected dangers, so don't let any of them go. As for the reason why you can't let go, you can just make up one and prevaricate temporarily one time."

"My lord, some bureaucrats in the Governor's Mansion and the states and counties are very dissatisfied with our arbitrary tax increase, and they are quite critical. You see..." Tao Gao hesitated a little, and then said, "These people have different political views from us and want to pull It’s also very difficult to come here, it’s hard to do.”

"I know." Wang Fen shook his head and said with a smile, "There are many such people, such as Yuan Hong, who is in charge of the prefectural government, and the trial and distribution, and others secretly wrote to the court, intending to impeach me. Fortunately, the bus Sima in the capital and the Shangshutai all There are our people, otherwise things will be troublesome."

(The bus Sima is subordinate to Wei Wei, a bureaucrat of the Southern Army in the capital, and in charge of the Nanque Gate of the Imperial Palace. The so-called bus Sima refers to the official office where the bus Sima works. The bureaucrats of all states and counties in the world report the situation to the emperor, and the documents for expressing matters are sent to the bus first government office, and then they passed it on to Shangshutai and other government offices. The bus Sima was also specifically responsible for the imperial court’s recruitment of celebrities.)
"These people don't distinguish between right and wrong, they confuse right and wrong, and their books are wasted. It's best to kill them at once." Xu You said disdainfully, "It's a disaster to keep them."

"That's for the future." Wang Fen said with a smile, "In the future, they may change their minds and support a new emperor."

"Then how do we solve it now?" Zhou Jing asked, "My lord, don't underestimate these people. If they find any clues about our affairs and are reported by them, then the matter will be out of hand. My lord still remembers when Tang Zhou reported the Yellow Turban rebellion. matter?"

At that time, a Sima Tang Zhou in the Yellow Turban Army reported to the court that Zhang Jiao was planning to rebel.As a result, Zhang Jiao was wanted, Ma Yuanyi, the Yellow Turban Marshal in charge of the Luoyang area, was arrested, and more than 1000 senior Yellow Turban disciples were arrested and killed inside and outside the palace, which completely failed the Yellow Turban army's plan to occupy Luoyang.Without Tang Zhou's betrayal, Luoyang might have been occupied overnight by the Yellow Turban army led by Ma Yuanyi, then the world today would not be like this.

Wang Fen sighed softly, and said in a low voice: "I have also considered this matter, and plan to take advantage of the opportunity of spring plowing to send these people to various villages to supervise spring plowing, so that they will not get in the way of the government office."

A few people were talking, when they saw a few attendants who were going to inquire about the situation near the Zhangshui River galloping on horseback.

"My lord, Master Li has gone to the barracks."

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The military camp is located on Xiangyu Mountain, five miles away from Yecheng, at the foot of the mountain is the Zhangshui River.

In charge of the barracks is Wu Meng of the governor's office, who is in charge of Zhang Xiao.When he heard that Li Hong had directly led his troops to the barracks, he was startled, and hurriedly led the army commanders Ma Linxun, Liao Lei, Ding Bo, and Pan Ta out of the camp to meet them.Li Hong was very polite to them, dismounting early to exchange greetings.We introduced each other and exchanged pleasantries.

Zhang Xiao is very young, in his 20s, he looks handsome and elegant, he treats people neither humble nor overbearing, courteous, appears very stable, his nickname is Bochou, he is from Xuzhou.

The Sima of the four armies is even younger.Lin Xun's name is Jiezhi, he is tall and strong, he doesn't talk much, and looks calm and resolute.Hearing that he was from Jiangzhou, Yizhou, Li Hong hurriedly called Tang Yun over.Li Hong introduced that the two of you are fellow villagers, so you should have a good chat.Liao Lei, whose name is Yulong, is tall and heroic, full of arrogance, and there is a strong murderous look in his brows. He is very indifferent to Li Hong, just bows slightly, and then stands behind Zhang Xiao all the time, looking at him coldly from time to time. Li Hong.Yan Liang and Zhao Yun noticed his abnormality one after another, and they were secretly vigilant.Ding Bo, whose name is Longyou, is fair and clean, with a round face, he speaks slowly, and he smiles before speaking, giving people a very friendly impression.Pan Ta, whose name is Zhenshan, is very thick and strong, but his voice is very soft and slightly high-pitched. If you don't see him in person and just listen to his voice, it's hard to imagine that he is a mighty man.

Li Hong deliberately took Pan Ta's hand and asked about the recruitment and training, then he smiled at Zhang Xiao: "Bochou, I want to go to the camp to see the soldiers now, what do you think?"

Zhang Xiao's face was flustered, he hesitated a little, and said: "Your Excellency has been exhausted all the way, why don't you take a rest first?"

"No, let's go and have a look." Li Hong said, "Your Majesty's safety in Jizhou depends entirely on these 2 people. Let's go."

Li Hong walked around the camp and was very angry.The soldiers were incompletely armored, and their clothes were ragged, and many of them were still wearing shabby thin linen robes, not even cotton clothes for the winter.He saw a veteran in his 40s standing on the ground with bare feet.Without saying a word, Li Hong took off his combat boots and handed them to the veteran.The old soldier was dark and thin, with an agitated expression, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing repeatedly, how could he dare to answer.Li Hong shook his head, squatted beside him, and asked with a pleasant face, "What's your name?"

"The villain's name is Dahei." The veteran replied fearfully.

Li Hong smiled, patted him on the shoulder and said, "My name is Li Hong, and these boots are for you." Then he pulled Dahei to stand up, pointed to the combat boots on the ground and said, "If you want Shall I put it on for you?"

Dahei was startled, and was about to kneel down again, but was grabbed by Li Hong.

"Either you put it on yourself, or I'll put it on for you." Li Hong said with a smile, "You don't have shoes to wear, it's our fault, and of course we are the ones who are punished."

Dahei and the soldiers in the military tent had never seen such a thing before, they had never even heard of it, everyone stood in panic, their faces turned pale with fright, they didn't know what to do, but the eyes in their eyes The gratitude is palpable.Apart from relatives, who would care so much about those whose lives are worth nothing?

Zhang Xiao, Lin Xun and others looked at each other in panic, and were at a loss for a while, not knowing how to deal with it.

Li Hong squatted down again, lifted Dahei's dirty leg with one hand, and put his boots on his feet with the other.Dahei didn't dare to refuse too much, so he could only let Li Hong put on his combat boots. He was so excited that tears filled his eyes, and he couldn't say a word.

Li Wei looked at Li Hong with admiration, then took off his thick robe and handed it to Li Hong who had just stood up.In his opinion, if Li Hong was not wearing heavy armor, which was inconvenient to take off, he would even take off his own clothes and give them to the ordinary soldier in front of him.Li Hong didn't even thank him, grabbed the long robe, put it on Dahei's shoulders, and said with a smile: "Dahei, you can wear this clothes too, you can only fight when you are warm."

He then said to the other soldiers in the army tent: "Don't worry, everyone. This time I brought [-] million yuan in military funds. Your military salary, clothes, and equipment will all be distributed immediately. Please wait patiently for two more days." , the situation will change soon.”

"Thank you, my lord." The soldiers all knelt down and shouted incessantly.

Li Hong glared at Zhang Xiao, Lin Xun and others who were standing nearby, and said loudly, "Take me to see what the soldiers are eating."

With bare feet, he turned around and strode out of the military tent.

As soon as a large group of officers walked out of the military tent, Dahei was surrounded by surprised soldiers.They surrounded Dahei, talking non-stop, and everyone was very excited.

"Who is he?" Dahei asked, "Who is Li Hong?"

"He is the leopard." A soldier laughed, "He is the leopard you shouted every day to avenge Marshal Zhang."

Dahei hugged his robe and was stunned.

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Wang Fen looked at Li Hong's black bare feet, and cried inwardly.This barbarian is not only good at fighting, but also very scheming.Walking around the barracks with bare feet, he would buy the hearts of many ordinary soldiers.Wang Fen regretted it very much. If he had known what had happened, he would have run to the Zhangshui River to take him directly into the city no matter what.

Li Hong scolded Wang Fen.

"The military funds for recruiting soldiers have been allocated to the Jizhou government years ago. Why don't the soldiers have winter clothes yet? Are they still drinking gruel every day?" Li Hong calmed down a little and asked, "My lord, what are you doing?" There should be an explanation, right? Where did the money go? It won’t be embezzled by you, right?”

Wang Fen and the accompanying bureaucrats of the governor's office had ghosts in their hearts, and they were all terrified when they heard the words.Li Hong's bloody campaign against corruption in Xiliang last year was too frightening. It would be a lie to say that he was not afraid at all.Now that the barbarian is backed by the emperor, he is afraid that he will be more courageous and act even more lawlessly.

Wang Fen immediately explained to Li Hong that in order to save time, all the money had been embezzled to repair the emperor's ancestral temple and build a temporary palace.Then he invited Li Hong to enter the city to welcome Li Hong and his party.Li Hong smiled and said, "Master Wang should accept the imperial decree first."

The meaning of the emperor was very simple. He ordered Wang Fen to hand over the new army in Jizhou to Li Hong, and to handle the army and the protection of the emperor's safety. Wang Fen only had to do his best to do other things.Li Hong wanted to control the army, and Wang Fen was already mentally prepared, so he didn't care, but what Li Hong said next shocked him unceasingly.

"I plan to give part of the military salary to the soldiers first." Li Hong said with a smile, "What do you think, Mr. Wang?"

"My lord, my [-] troops are at your disposal, but this army is from Jizhou, so it's better for the Jizhou government to handle the payment of the army." Wang Fen thought for a while, and said tactfully, "What about the Jizhou army?" When to pay the military salary, when to pay the military salary, should be allocated and controlled by the Jizhou government, it seems that it should not be done by adults..."

He didn't continue, but the meaning was still obvious. You, Li Hong, are the generals protecting the Qiang, and have nothing to do with my Jizhou Mansion. Why are you here to point fingers and do things that exceed your authority?
Of course Li Hong understood what Wang Fen meant. He frowned slightly and said coldly, "Your Majesty wrote that the remnants of the Yellow Turban Army stationed in Montenegro kept going down the mountain to harass counties and counties. Jizhou is not safe, but now you hand over such an army Give me, tell me how to ensure the safety of the emperor?"

Wang Fen smiled slightly, and said: "My lord is just joking. The ant thief Zhang Niujiao's hundreds of thousands of troops have all been wiped out by my lord. How could the tens of thousands of little thieves in Montenegro make it difficult for my lord?" Then he straightened his face and said solemnly , "Your Excellency loves soldiers like sons, and this officer admires them very much. A few days ago, because of being too busy with official duties, this officer ignored these things. This officer promises that as long as the military funds are available, he will immediately solve all the problems of the army, and he will definitely take care of all the troops." A well-organized army with strong morale will be handed over to your lord, and you will never delay your big business."

Li Hong glanced at him and said with a smile, "Since Mr. Wang said so, then it's up to you."

Wang Fen secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and then invited Li Hong to the city to rest again, but Li Hong refused.Yuan Shu on the side spoke, he didn't want to stay in the barracks, he tried his best to encourage Li Hong to enter the city.Li Hong had no choice but to reluctantly agree.

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Kuyi is not tall, black and thin, with big and energetic eyes.His real name is Ma Kuo. He turned out to be a rich man in the country. He was obsessed with Taiping Dao and was a loyal believer of Zhang Jiao.Bitter Chief is his dharma name in Taipingdao.After the failure of the Yellow Turban Army, he led the remnants and fled into Montenegro to become bandits. While accumulating strength, he waited for the opportunity to make a comeback.This time, at Xiangkai's invitation, he personally went down to preside over the plan to kidnap the emperor.

After hearing Xiangkai's intention, he smiled and said, "Master, you are too worried. Although I intend to take revenge, I also know that there are priorities. I will not spoil the important event of changing the world for the sake of the Yellow Turban Army's family. It's just that We have been in Yecheng for almost a month, and we haven’t seen the military pay and equipment that the master promised us.” He glanced at Xiangkai and asked seriously: “Master, does it mean that Lord Wang doesn’t trust us? If we don’t give With our equipment, with our current strength, we can't even defeat the Leopard's Three Thousand Black Panthers."

Xiang Kai smiled and said: "Kuai, how could we not trust you? You brought your troops to Yecheng, and we all took a huge risk. At this time, the most important thing for us is to trust each other, otherwise, what will happen to the great cause?" Finish?"

The bitter chief shook his head and smiled wryly: "The leopard's troops have already entered the camp. Once they see the flaws, our entire army will be wiped out. At this time, you are still talking to me about mutual trust nonsense, master, what are you doing?" You're kidding about my [-] soldiers."

Xiang Kai said indifferently: "I have my own sense of propriety, don't worry. Leopard's schedule is in a hurry, and he will leave Weijun to go to Anping Kingdom in two days. Don't worry about the safety of the troops. Also, I have sent you the money. People have been sent to Montenegro."

"Thank you, Master." Bitter Chief said, "Are the troops of Bai Shuai and Yu Shuai ready?"

"Everything is ready. You can go down the mountain to attack Hanoi County and threaten Luoyang at any time." Xiang Kai said, "The troops of Marshal Zhang Yan and Marshal Yang Feng are also ready to attack Jinyang. The more troublesome thing is that Marshal Anding side."

"Is the matter in Youzhou very troublesome?"

"Shuai An Ding is very thoughtful." Xiang Kai sighed, "He still wants to follow the path of Zhang Jiao, his great and virtuous teacher. He sent someone to ask me for money, and he still talked nonsense in the letter, saying that I support the King of Hefei Being emperor is actually digging his own grave. He said that after I am done, I can count how many days I have left to live. This bastard is getting more and more outrageous. I think he wants to be emperor himself. "

The Chief Ku said: "Master is right, Shuai Anding thinks so. I remember Shuai Anding said that when he came to Montenegro last year. He said that the Great Han Kingdom is finished. He wants to rebuild the world and establish another Mingjun. Said that he would fulfill this last wish for the late teacher. I think he has a good idea."

"His master Zhang Jiao has already tried this method. It's not like you don't know how powerful the Yellow Turban Army was back then, but what about the result? Can the 400-year-old foundation of the Han Dynasty be overthrown overnight? If you want to save the world The common people are born in the midst of water and fire, and they still have to rely on the big tree of the Han Kingdom to eradicate the treacherous and evil first, and then re-implement the way of Huang Lao in the Han Kingdom, to govern the country with peace and inaction, and to rule the country according to the law. This is the right way."

Xiang Kai stroked his long beard with his hands, and said with emotion: "The violent and bloody methods of the great virtuous and good teacher caused millions of innocent people to die in war, what else did he bring to the people of the world? I hope Shuai Anding can wake up One point, don’t go astray again, harm others, yourself, and the world.”

The chieftain bowed and said, "Master is merciful. All he thinks in his heart is the safety and suffering of the people in the world. It is admirable. The chieftain is willing to follow the master's urging and follow the master's lead."

"Okay, okay." Xiang Kai smiled, "You must firmly control your subordinates, and don't rush to take revenge, so as not to startle the snake and ruin the big event. Think about it, if we kidnap the emperor, the emperor will take revenge for himself and his mother. Life, can he not listen to us? The emperor has listened to us, so what else can Li Hong do? Isn’t he just a sick cat. At that time, he will die how you want him to die. How can there be room for resistance? Car crack, Ling Chi, it's up to you."

The bitter chief was overjoyed.

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(End of this chapter)