stubborn thief

Chapter 371

Shajinger Mayi on the north bank of the Yellow River is full of voices.

Zhao Shikui put his Shu brocade robe on his belt, and carried the boots that got wet while crossing the Yellow River on a cowhide raft, and stepped barefoot on the north bank of the Yellow River, where the gravel on the bank was a bit harsh.

Before he could look around at the mountain of food bags piled up in the water and drought wharf, the two hired guards and weapons behind him were taken away, and a group of three were pushed forward by the soldiers of the marshal's mansion.

The leader who escorted them forward was Song Shouzhen, the leader of the hungry people who had rebellion qualifications earlier than Liu Chengzong. He had been studying in the academy since he arrived in Xining, and he has no serious official position until now.

But Song Shouzhen never panicked, because he knew that the Marshal's Mansion had a huge shortage of knowledgeable talents, as long as he studied hard, he would be remembered by the Marshal one day.

Just like this time, the carrier thought of Song Shouzhen when it needed to employ people. When the landmines at the Henan Ferry were cleared, Song Shouzhen was appointed as the Henan grain transport officer, responsible for recording the money and grain sent back by each team, counting the number, loading it on board and sending it to the ship. to the North Shore.

The carrier receives the money and grain at the Shajingyi City on the north bank, checks the quality of the silver and the quality of the rice and grain, and then packs the most important money and grain to the west.

These tasks are repetitive and boring, and the carrier is as busy as a foaming little donkey, but he enjoys it and takes the trouble to check the carts of grain and silver.

Although he is only a young man, he has handled more money and food than anyone in the world in his lifetime. He can tell the quality of silver and gold at a glance, and he can tell the storage years of different types of grain just by smelling them.

To manage the luggage all the year round, the complex mathematics related to the military is simple and clear for the carrier. How many people, how much food, how to transport, and how much to consume have all become instincts.

Chengyun was inspecting rice in the temporary grain shed piled up like a mountain, when he saw Song Shouzhen bringing someone over, he wondered, "Brother Song, didn't I tell you that I have enough craftsmen here?"

Prior to this, Chengyun had asked Song Shouzhen to tell the grain moving team in the south to recruit some craftsmen from the people of Xiguping City, firstly to build a fort in the river mouth, and secondly to build new grain transport vehicles.

Since the Marshal’s Mansion was still the Lion’s Camp, the vehicles they used to transport their luggage were two-wheeled carts carrying grain for four to five stones. This kind of cart carries less grain but does not have to worry about getting stuck on the road. The most important thing is to run fast and be able to keep up with the team. travel speed.

But now that they occupy Hehuang, the [-]-mile road from Hekou to Naval Office will be very safe in the future, and there is no need to worry about the delivery time, so the carrier needs to build larger vehicles to transport materials with less manpower and road consumption .

He had three kinds of new carts used by the imperial court to transport grain, all of which had higher loads. Among them, the four-wheeled cart could carry thirty shi of rice, the two-wheeled cart could carry fifteen shi, and the small cart could carry five shi. , the three vehicles can meet the needs of thirty miles a day.

But if you want to run faster, you can only use a small car.

Song Shouzhen shook his head and said with a smile: "Three generals, they are not craftsmen, but merchants. He said he was a merchant from the Shuaifu, so I brought him here."

"A merchant from the handsome mansion?"

The contractor turned around and wrote down a line in the account, put his portable gun on the grain bag after inspection, then turned around, looked at the merchant and the two guards behind him and said, "Which handsome mansion are you merchants from?"

Zhao Shikui saw Chengyun's identity from Song Shouzhen's address, quickly put down his boots, and saluted respectfully: "Master Hui, the villain Zhao Shikui, a Shaanxi businessman, has an appointment with Master Cai at Dajianlu, and the commander contributed 200 taels Partnered with the villain and established the Tianyingde Company."

Chengyun turned his face and looked at Song Shouzhen, meaning: Is there such a thing?
Song Shouzhen nodded and said: "Yes, I have sent a letter to the general, it is true, but the general forgot about it when he came back from Nangqian, so he asked me to bring him here, and the three generals talked to him. "

After being confirmed, Chengyun raised his eyebrows, and the second brother opened a business while fighting in the south?

He nodded and smiled, and said to Song Shouzhen, "Okay, I understand."

Chengyun first asked the guards to introduce Zhao Shikui to the post city, and the second brother asked Chengyun to build a fort here, and Liu Chengyun took a fancy to this post city.

The post city is located at the eastern end of the Hehuang Valley, on the big mountain platform on the north bank of the Huangshui River. It is composed of three mountain platforms, one big, two small, two high and one low. It can completely build an invincible city according to the mountain situation. .

Chengyun's painstakingly designed plan is to build half of the big city on the high platform, sit on the city on the low platform, the two cities are superimposed on top of each other, and adopt the structure of sharp-angled enemy towers, and place the entrance on a separate enemy tower.

On the day it was sent to the front line, Liu Shizi changed his mind and sent back two designs. One was to change the overlapping mountain cities into enemy towers, and simply build several connected enemy towers with sharp angles to cover each other according to the mountain situation; The big city was completed, and an acute-angled enemy tower was also built in the west.

The reason is very simple, the carrier's design is very good, but the project volume is relatively large, and it will take about three years to complete the construction of Diecheng. Liu Shizi thinks that after three years, they will no longer need to fight against the government in Hehuang.

If such a city must be built, it is better to build it bigger, as a western barrier for acquiring Lanzhou City in the future.

However, the small enemy towers in Chengyili can be repaired in two months, and eight or nine small enemy towers facing the east have been built in Hehuang according to the mountain hydrology. Even with the addition of the city moat and the anti-battery slope, it can be completed within half a year.

Without even thinking about it, the carrier chose the latter.

After finishing his work, Cheng Yun boarded Shajing Post City, and invited Zhao Shikui, who was resting in the official room, to the Post Office's Yamen, and each sat down. Then he said with a smile: "There are so many things to do now, I hope shopkeeper Zhao will not be offended."

Zhao Shikui smiled apologetically, "The villain dare not."

"I just heard from shopkeeper Zhao that you are partnering with Dashuai in Dajianlu." Cheng Yun asked, "Why didn't you come from Nangqian?"

"To be honest, the villain originally wanted to go to Xikang Road, but last year there was a rebellion in the Kangning Mansion, and it happened that the company also had a business in Hanzhong, so I came along the commercial road, but I didn't expect to go to the north, and there was a war again."

Zhao Shikui said with lingering fear in his heart: "Thanks to the villain for not entering Lanzhou City, otherwise I am afraid that he is still locked up in the city."

Chengyun smiled when he heard the words, and immediately asked: "The shopkeeper Zhao met the soldiers, did you not make things difficult for you?"

"no!"

Hearing Chengyun ask this point, Zhao Shikui immediately shook his head and said in admiration: "The elite under the commander's command are really the masters of the king, and they have done nothing against the common people."

Chengyun didn't take Zhao Shikui's compliments to the army seriously, and his family knew about his own affairs. Under the current reward and punishment regulations of the Marshal's Mansion, it is normal for the officers and soldiers of each team to do nothing to the common people.

You don’t even need to be a veteran, even a new soldier, as long as he knows the regulations on rewards and punishments, he will complete the looting mission arranged by the officer with great enthusiasm, do whatever he asks them to do, and won’t do whatever they don’t. They will never go to loot the people privately.

Because looting is the easiest and most rewarding task among all the combat missions of the Marshal's Mansion's army, looting high-value targets, each team's goods will be distributed to individuals in proportion after the war.

As far as the carrier understands the current results of the battle, Lanzhou, which has not been affected by the drought, is much richer than northern Shaanxi, and the hundred headquarters with the least achievements have brought back more than [-] shi rice grains and more than [-] taels of goods.

Based on this amount, rice grains and goods have been converted into war merits, and each soldier of this hundred corps who participated in the looting can get a reward of more than 12 taels of silver.

The other teams will only gain more. Which ordinary people would carry a catty of silver on their bodies and let the soldiers risk losing their rewards or even being killed to plunder?Even if they meet rich people, as long as they are not in combat missions, they don't bother to talk to them.

Cheng Yunxin said that it is not all because of high discipline that he has not committed any crimes this autumn, as long as he has a not too low level of intelligence, he will know what to do.

He smiled, and then asked Zhao Shikui: "The shopkeeper Zhao came to Lanzhou, did he have something to discuss with the general?"

"I dare not discuss it." Zhao Shikui shook his head quickly, and said: "The villain is here to report to the commander-in-chief. The shops in the middle of the two ends of Shuan have been completed. I would like to ask the commander-in-chief how to give the company bonus in the future. Lanzhou will send it to Xining and Chengdu. Send the furnaces, or send them all to one place? In addition, please ask the commander to send me a few secretaries to keep the books."

The carrier has already made a profit?It's going pretty fast.

He asked: "Shopkeeper Zhao, wait a moment, what does this Tianyingde firm do? How do you and the commander-in-chief calculate the share capital?"

"The share capital is 200 taels from the big guy, 800 taels from the villain, [-]% of the account, and [-]% for the business."

Just as Zhao Shikui finished speaking, Cheng Yun frowned. This ratio is a bit unfair. People need to make money by doing things. He asked, "Isn't it too little?"

Unexpectedly, Zhao Shikui shook his head like a rattle: "A lot, a lot, to be honest, the villain not only got his money back, but also made 800 taels... that's enough. You can share more."

The carrier was immediately dumbfounded. He looked at Zhao Shikui with extremely hot eyes, and blurted out: "I earned 8000 taels in two years?"

"Thanks to the commander in chief, the villain has fulfilled his mission."

Zhao Shikui really didn't feel any pride in his heart. Anyone can do his business, just like stealing money.

He said: "Tianyingde operates Sichuan salt, Sichuan tea, and Sichuan brocade. These are the things that the villain was originally proficient in. Later, he added Western herbs, leather goods, and agricultural tools. In the future, he plans to make Lanzhou leather goods, tobacco and wine. The profit is not high. few."

His profit is all fool's money with little profit. Anyone can do it as long as he can enter the Kangning Mansion, but no one can enter the Kangning Mansion.

To buy agricultural tools from Yazhou, one thousand iron shovels are 48 taels, and two thousand copper tea spoons are nine taels. The processed Fritillaria and Cordyceps came out.

The carrier asked, "No one stopped your shipment?"

"Yes, but it disappeared later." Zhao Shikui turned around and pointed to the two guards standing outside the yamen, and introduced to Cheng Yun: "General, one of them is called Desheng and the other is called Huihui. , they killed thousands of households in the south."

It used to be the Songpan Guard Banner Army.

The year before last, the eunuch Zhang Yuanheng returned to the guard in fine clothes, and his entourage revealed the news that a Han army was in command in the southwest and recruited military households to fight Jianlu to Tian. With more than a month's rations, he left Songpanwei, who had stayed all his life.

Passing through the barbarian territory where the war had just subsided, they arrived in Luhuo County as they wished. They each received a cow, six sheep, and [-] acres of land. They also received rations from the chieftain of Changhe West.

It’s just that before the beginning of spring, the Generalissimo led the northern expedition, followed by the unknown Mongols rushing from the north. They were recruited by Cai Zhongpan as civilians, and the army was prepared for war. The fields could only be hired to cultivate.

In the end, no battle was fought. The leader of those Mongolian soldiers was called Xiao Lazun by General Cai, and he even helped the Kangning Mansion put down the rebellion. After the battle, he went straight to Changdu.

On the contrary, the two of them ate military rations for five months and maintained their bodies quite well.

Originally, they should go home to farm after the battle, but Cai Zhongpan handed them two guns, saying that a thousand households in Yazhou stopped their goods, and asked them to kill Qianhu. Find the generalissimo to seek a background.

The two of them originally wanted to find the Generalissimo, and after thinking about it all night, they didn't say anything at dawn, and went after receiving the guns.

Cai Zhongpan chose the two of them to be killers, not because of their high skills or any other reason. The banner troops of Songpanwei all have the same skills. They are good at using weapons and farm tools.

The key lies in their looks. The two brothers look like flag soldiers who are being bullied. They don't need to mess around in rags, and they look like one with the guard.

The two of them didn't even need to change their clothes, they carried a dirty little bag to pass through the border defense, and the soldiers of the chieftain at the cold side didn't stop them.

No one even stopped them from entering the Yazhou Thousand Households Office. The brothers threw the purple flower cloth bag in the field, talked to the Banner Army and entered the guard office.

Just in time for the team of bannermen to work slowly, they were caught by Lord Qianhu, who ordered an unprofessional Baihu to whip the whole team twice.

He was so angry when he came back from victory, he didn't even know if he was fighting his own soldiers or not.

In a rage, the two brothers slipped into the warehouse and ran into a bannerman who was stealing ordnance to resell. Relying on the bannerman to point out the storage location, they stole a few catties of gunpowder, made a mine and buried it in the toilet.

That night, Lord Qianhu was sent to the sky with feces and urine amidst the groans of relieved hands, and reported to Emperor Taizu on his work.

The two brothers ran to the yamen and yelled that Lord Qianhu had been bombed to death. During the day, they whipped their Baihu Wenxun and ran out. Seeing that they looked familiar, they asked them to put on armor, and when they were finished, they made them wear armor. With a knife and a spear, he went out of the city to hunt down the murderer.

The lead prepared for Lord Qianhu naturally hit Lord Zhenfu in the wild.

Chengyun was delighted to hear the experience of the two brothers, the assassination of Qianhu was such a serious matter, he just let the two of them play it like a joke, they look really good, the good thing about these two brothers is that they look crooked Jujube has no spirit.

These two blasting ghosts shouldn't be called returning from victory, they should be called dejected.

He just thought in his heart, if his elder brother and second brother looked like this, maybe their family hadn't rebelled until now, and killed Zhang Qianhu without saying a word.

He said: "My name is Liu Chengyun, would you two follow me?"

Returning from victory, he hurriedly prostrated himself, then Liu Cheng turned his head to look at Zhao Shikui, and said, "Since shopkeeper Zhao is here to do business, it's easy to handle, you put your family in Xining, and Hehuang's business will be done for you."

Zhao Shikui took a deep breath and nodded slowly twice.

Chengyun was very happy, and said: "I have a war profit worth 13 taels of silver. Since shopkeeper Zhao has shops in Hanzhong and Chengdu, let's sell it."

Zhao Shikui asked uncertainly, "13 taels?"

"Yes, I don't know the price of many calligraphy and painting antiques. Calculate your profit, and you can calculate 13 taels. You can exchange steel and copper ingots for steel and copper ingots. The handsome mansion is not short of silver. If you can't exchange them, you can exchange them for gold. How about it? "

Zhao Shikui nodded at first, and then made a face of embarrassment: "It's no problem to sell, but in this situation, how can we transport it to Xining?"

"That's your business. If you can't transport it... I will come to you after victory." After Chengyun said, he smiled: "Just kidding, as long as you can transport it to Lanzhou, my second brother can let the goods cross the Yellow River .”

　good afternoon!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)