Picturesque Rivers and Mountains in the Red Chamber

Chapter 320 5.2 The Princess Only Made Two Requests

Volume [-]

5.2 The princess only made two requests

The best way to send troops from Daye to Yangzhou is naturally by water, but it takes time to coordinate the Xue family's shipping fleet. What's more, this is a secret dispatch, and only a few hard-sailed cargo ships common in China's inland rivers can be mobilized. Even Zhou Yang himself only brought two girls and randomly arranged a small passenger ship as a "car".

In addition to personnel preparation, material transportation, Qianhu Station military arrangements and other miscellaneous matters, by the time the entire army arrived at its destination by the canal in the east of Yangzhou City, it was already May [-]th, and even with such complicated arrangements, Next, there are still other problems
"Dongfang Bing, this is what you call a 'fishing village'. Can we arrange for no more than 200 people to be stationed there?" Looking at this place in front of us, which can be called a model of "backcountry", there are no more than thirty houses of various types in total and a population of not more than 200 people. It was difficult to find a so-called "fishing village" in hundreds of places. Zhou Yang almost fainted from anger, "Let's not talk about how to arrange the personnel. How do you want me to arrange for these more than [-] brothers to eat and fish?"

"Actually, it's not difficult." Dongfang Qianhu, who had always been grand and cool, now had a rare red face and bowed his head with a shy look, "We came here by boat all the way, just let the brothers continue to live on the boat. Hmm. , half of the people can be arranged to go down, many yards have been cleared in the village, and accommodation and food can be arranged for everyone.

Less than two miles upstream along the canal, there is a estuary wharf, where Xuezihao has a warehouse. When the princess asked you for a store on the canal line, arrangements had already been made; all kinds of supplies that everyone needs, I We have prepared about a month’s worth of stock in advance, as long as it’s not too long.”

"Is this what you call 'accommodating no more than 200 people'?" Zhou Yang angrily pushed her down on his lap, and the crackling sound was a meal, "You are very good, you are so well prepared and so accommodating. I’m satisfied, no wonder you’ve been so talkative along the way, so you’re waiting for me here?”

"Hmph!" Zhao Yanling, who was watching nearby, gave a certain male and female an annoyed look. Along the way, they just had to worry about various unlocks, and they even made themselves "sparred" throughout the whole process. Although it didn't really matter, it still didn't matter. "Taste all" kinds.
"Ziyang, I can't help it!" Dongfang Bing said with a wry smile, "The princess has almost no substantive arrangements here, and a small number of people are mainly lurking. This fishing village is already the largest place. I have asked them in advance I deceived all the young fishermen and set off with the fleet to various places; more manpower needs to be allocated, but fortunately I have already arranged it.

It just so happens that the sky has darkened now. If we wait a little longer, we can take advantage of the night to arrange the manpower and supplies that need to be disembarked. As for the Lin Mansion, I have also said hello in advance. I will take a day off today and go to visit tomorrow, okay. , in the name of 'condolences', don't forget that you are a disciple of Rongguo Mansion, and it is natural to go to the son-in-law's home in Rongguo Mansion to express condolences. "

Zhou Yang, Zhao Yanling:.
"Sister Dongfang, if my brother-in-law comes directly to the door, wouldn't he be exposed?" Zhao Yanling asked worriedly, "What if those salt merchants are prepared?"

"Are you going to scare the snake and use my exposure to cover up the troops hiding here?" Zhou Yang understood Dongfang Bing's arrangement, "In this case, we will go to the Lin Mansion together tomorrow."

"It's you and sister Yanling." Dongfang Bing interrupted him calmly, "I've been with the princess for too long, it's hard to say if anyone here in Yangzhou can recognize her; Discovering it would be tantamount to exposing the princess’s intentions, so the price would be too high.”

"No wonder you stopped me from asking any of the five hundred households to come to me when we set off from Daye." Zhou Yang glanced at her speechlessly, "It turns out that you were preparing to stand by here to take action."

"And keep it secret." Dongfang Bing remained calm, "This is indeed the foothold arranged by the princess. There are not many people. There are only a dozen or so people from the surrounding areas. No more people can only come from the outside, but it is enough to ensure that any exposure is blocked. possibility; please remember to make arrangements tonight, and I will be in charge here from now on."

"Okay, you have the final say, Lord Qianhu!" Zhou Yang glared at her speechlessly, "Since I have arranged to pay my condolences tomorrow, I guess everything is ready?"

"Let's go, it's in a yard." Dongfang Bing took the lead to get off the boat and walked towards the fishing village; Zhou Yang winked at Zhao Yanling, indicating her to take over the placement of the personnel, and followed him to the village.

Fortunately, Dongfang Bing did not do anything unreliable this time. There were not many people left in the entire fishing village, and they were all old, weak, women and children. Many houses were vacant, which could be used to arrange for manpower to be stationed; the largest one It should be the real "foothold" in the village. On the surface, it looks the same except that it is larger than other houses.

"Forget it!" Zhou Yang looked at the condolence supplies that had been placed in the courtyard, such as wreaths, tents, tin foil, ingots, etc., "If I go over tomorrow, is there anything I need to explain?"

"No more!" Dongfang Bing blushed again and lowered his head.

"Gone?" Zhou Yang was slightly stunned, "What do you mean gone?"

"After repeated discussions with the princess, the plan can only go so far. What happens next depends on your adaptability." Dongfang Bing said sheepishly.

"." Zhou Yang almost recited it without a breath, "I said, you don't want me to have a thousand households, so you can solve the salt problem? It hasn't been solved for more than 200 years in the Ming Dynasty and hundreds of years in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Do you want me to solve the problem? Are you thinking too highly of me?" "The princess only made two requests." Dongfang Bing said seriously, "One is that the salt merchants behind must pay for their lives, and the other is that in the future The salt tax can only be higher than last year, no matter what you plan to do, these two items will never be discounted!"

"Huh..." Zhou Yang let out a long sigh of relief. It was not too exaggerated at last. In real history, the problem of salt merchants was not completely solved until the Republic of China. If he were to solve it now, it would not only be difficult for others, but also If you want him to die, "that's okay. The salt merchants have been operating here for many years. Although they claim to be as good as iron barrels, the more they are like this, the easier it is for them to leave flaws under their presumptuousness."

That's good. When I see Mr. Lin tomorrow, I will discuss it with him. We will see how much he can come up with first, and then we will talk about the specific implementation. But the general direction is still to "lead the snake out of the hole". If you want to open up the situation on other people's territory, you only need to You can take advantage of the time when they make mistakes, but it will definitely not work if you wait all the time, so give them the opportunity to make mistakes. "

"What opportunity?" Dongfang Bing asked hurriedly.

"They killed Mr. Lin's only son and his wife, but this was not enough to make Mr. Lin surrender. It can only be said that they showed their swords." Zhou Yang's tone was even colder because he remembered that in the original work, Lin Ruhai sent Lin Daiyu to the capital. Arrangement, "Next, as long as we seize Master Lin's only weakness, it will not be difficult to force him to submit."

"Miss Lin?" Dongfang Bing's face was frosty, "Yes, Mr. Lin has only one relative left, so naturally the biggest flaw is left; but, if you want to use Miss Lin as a bait, I don't know how to persuade you Lord Lin?"

"One sentence is enough." Zhou Yang said lightly, "Revenge!"

"That's right!" Dongfang Bing nodded calmly after thinking for a while, "If I were Lord Lin, I would fight to the end with those ignorant things at all costs, even if it means taking my own life!"

"Okay, if it doesn't work, I'll pretend to be a bandit and send them to the Palace of the King of Hades to repent." Zhou Yang actually had a general direction, and the details could only be adjusted accordingly. "You said at the beginning that you were willing to give me a suitable position. Is there anything to say?"

"What the princess means is that after you have done something in Yangzhou, you will be transferred to the Beijing camp to serve." Dongfang Bing said with a smile. Obviously, this is not only good for someone, but also good for her.

"As for the Beijing Camp -" Zhou Yang understood after thinking for a while, "Three Thousand Battalion and I are not on the same journey. We are not there to reward you but to do things. I guess there will be no arrangements; the chief soldier of the Shenji Battalion is my mentor, it is impossible If you arrange for me to go there, it can only be the fifth military camp. There are many people and there are many places, so the arrangement is very convenient!"

"Ziyang, sometimes I even think that it would be better if you were more stupid." Dongfang Bing let Ai Lang be held in his arms and smiled with relief.

"If I were stupid, would you let me bully you like this?" Zhou Yang smiled and hugged the girl tightly for a long kiss, "Besides, I'm actually not smart enough. Just like the current situation in Beijing, I can't figure it out. , what exactly went wrong!”

"Ziyang, please don't embarrass me." The smile on Dongfang Bing's face turned into a bitter smile, "These things are too far away for you, and there is no benefit in knowing about them; the princess specifically explained it before coming here, and she will never allow it. I’ll tell you what happened!”

"Okay, let me ask someone who can tell me." Zhou Yang didn't push him, smiled and changed the subject, "How did Wu Xun arrange this matter?"

"There is no arrangement. Except for the Imperial Forest Army and the Imperial Guard Army, all other armies are strictly guarding the gates of the camp. So far no one has expressed their views, even the [-] Battalion." Dongfang Bing did not hide this time.

"Oh?" Zhou Yang's expression was stuck again. It is said that the military is safest if it does not take sides in this kind of issue. Although it has lost the "Following the Dragon", there is no danger, "Forget it, anyway. When I return to Beijing, I will naturally find out; now, my Lord Qianhu, are you ready to face the wrath?"

"You again-" Dongfang Qianhu was about to refuse, but was already thrown to the ground.

after a long time
"Brother-in-law, everything has been arranged, isn't it—oh, do you have any shame, let me go."

(End of this chapter)