In mid-September, the weather has gradually entered late autumn, and most of the leaves of the trees outside the township mansion have withered and yellowed, and they have fallen one after another.

Early in the morning, Zhang Ying took Shi Jue, Niu Ji and several other young guards to sweep the fallen leaves outside the house.

To be exact, it was he who stood leaning against the stone lions on either side of the front of the mansion, verbally urging the young guards.

In view of the fact that they were familiar with each other, Niu Ji, Shi Jue and other young guards complained, and naturally, they were laughed and scolded by Zhang Yingyi as if they were selling old people.

Just as everyone was laughing, a carriage slowly drove in the distance.

Beside him, there was a man on horseback with a group of foot soldiers.

“……”

Zhang Ying, who was still laughing with the young guards, immediately showed alarm in his eyes, and while staring intently into the distance, he beckoned to the young guards from the side: "Don't sweep it, come here!" ”

Gradually, the team of people approached, and at this time, Zhang Ying's face was a little surprised.

He recognized it at a glance, that team of men and horses was stationed in Wancheng, Wang Shangde's army!

Because he used to be a soldier under Wang Shangde.

Just when Zhang Ying was puzzled, the man on a horse rode a horse to him, only to see that the man was about thirty years old, his eyes were like torches, and he had the momentum of a military general.

This person didn't get off the horse, and while looking around, he casually asked Zhang Yingdao: "Hey, that guard, this is the mansion of Zhao Jing, the Marquis of Luyang Township?" ”

『Luo Yong......』

Zhang Ying stared at the other party for a moment, and then recognized the person.

Luo Yong, one of Wang Shangde's henchmen and generals, when Zhang Ying and Zhang Chun were still in Nanyang's army, this Luo Yong followed Wang Shangde to Nanyang County to kill the rebels, at that time this Luo Yong was still very young, just in his early twenties, but he was extremely brave on the battlefield.

After stabilizing his mind, Zhang Ying hugged his fists and said hello: "General Luo." ”

"Huh?"

The general on the horse was stunned when he heard this, glanced down at Zhang Ying, and asked in surprise, "Do you recognize me?" ”

Zhang Yingzheng replied: "Yes." …… In Xia Zhang Ying, he was a guard in the area of Fancheng in Nanyang, and when the rebels invaded, he was fortunate to fight against the rebels with General Wang's army, but he was injured a little later, so he ...... Left the army. ”

"Oh?"

When Luo Yong heard this, he couldn't help but glance at Zhang Ying up and down a few times, then nodded slightly, and said bluntly: "Looking at your standing, I know that you are an old pawn, sorry, after a few years, Luo has no impression...... By the way, I see that you are in good health, but do you still want to return to the army? If you want, I can arrange for you, our army is currently lacking an old soldier like you. ”

Hearing this, Zhang Ying cautiously refused: "It has been seven or eight years since I left the army, and those skills in the army back then have long been almost wasted...... The general's kindness was well understood. ”

"Oh."

That Luo Yong nodded, and did not force it, nodded and asked Zhang Yingdao: "You are now serving as a guard in this mansion?" Exactly, let me ask you, is this the mansion of Zhao Jing, the Marquis of Luyang Township? ”

Seeing that the other party mentioned this problem twice, Zhang Ying had a bad premonition in his heart, and just when he hesitated, he suddenly heard someone laughing from the side: "General Luo doesn't need to ask again, this place is the mansion of Zhao Jing, the Marquis of Luyang Township!" ”

"Huh?"

Zhang Ying turned his head when he heard the sound, and then saw Kong Jian, who had visited a few days ago, getting out of the carriage.

Seeing this, he chuckled in his heart.

When Kong Jian came to visit, he didn't know the identity of the other party, and mistakenly thought that he was a distinguished guest of the Luyang Township Marquis, and afterwards he asked his brother Zhang Chun, only to know that this Kong Jian was not only not a guest, but also had a deep hatred with his hometown Hou.

There is certainly nothing good about this person who has gone and returned today.

At this time, that Kong Jian also noticed Zhang Ying's gaze, with a bit of villain-like triumph on his face, and said with a sneer: "That guard, since you know General Luo, why don't you quickly send someone to report and ask Zhao Jing to come out to greet him in person?" …… Hurry up! We have urgent matters on this trip, and we have no time to delay here. ”

Taking a deep look at Kong Jian, Zhang Yingzheng said: "The township marquis is not in the mansion at the moment, and he and Liu Chengcheng are inspecting the work sites in the county. ”

"Liu Gong?"

Kong Jian frowned, and then suddenly realized: "Oh, Liu Wei, Liu Gongqian, right? By the way, call him too! ”

“……”

As soon as he heard the tone, Zhang Ying knew that the other party was not good, so he beckoned to call the guard Niu Ji and ordered: "You ride a horse to see the townsman and tell the townsman about the things here." ”

Then he summoned Shi Jue. He whispered, "Go and tell Madame quickly." ”

"Yes!" The two of them answered.

After a while, Zhou learned of this, and in view of the inconvenience of her own woman's family, she asked the steward Cao Ju to come forward, and invited Luo Yong and Kong Jian to the main house in the front yard of the mansion, served tea, and entertained the good students, and waited until the Luyang townsman returned to the mansion.

At this time, as Zhang Ying said, Luyang Township Marquis, Liu Wei, and Zhao Yu were inspecting several work sites in the county, and suddenly received a notice from Niu Ji, and the three of them chuckled in their hearts.

"It seems that it is really unfortunate that the townsman is expected to be surprised." Liu Wei sighed.

The face of the Luyang townsman was also ugly, and he said with a calm face: "I know Kong Jian's temperament, and when he sees that he can't target me for the time being, he will definitely take my Luyang County, and instigate Wang Shangde to collect money and grain from my Luyang, so that my county will continue to work for relief without grain, which is most likely his purpose!" ”

Hearing this, Liu Jian also tightened his face: "Let's go and see the situation first." ”

So the group immediately returned to the Xianghou Mansion.

When they returned to the Xianghou Mansion, Zhang Ying immediately stepped forward and whispered: "Xianghou, Liu Gong, according to Madame's meaning, those two people are currently in the main house in the front yard, and they are being received by Steward Cao...... It seems that the comer is not good. ”

“……”

The Marquis of Luyang and Liu Jian glanced at each other, and then at the team of soldiers standing outside the mansion, and did not speak, but walked straight to the main house in the front yard.

Seeing this, Zhao Yu also took Jingnu, Cao An, Zhang Ji, and Ma Cheng to follow.

After a while, the Marquis of Luyang and Liu Jian came to the main house in the front yard, and sure enough, they saw Kong Jian and the other Luo Yong and General Luo—Luo Yong was sitting in the seat in the hall at that time, drinking tea by himself, while Kong Jian was turning around the room with his hands behind his back, pointing and pointing.

"Townsman, Liu Gong."

Seeing the Luyang Xianghou and others walking into the house, the chief steward Cao Ju hurriedly greeted him, and while giving the first two a look, he introduced: "Xianghou, Liu Gong, let me introduce on my behalf, this is Luo Yong and General Luo under General Wang." ”

"Partial general." Luo Yong stood up and corrected Cao Ju, and immediately hugged his fists and said hello: "Zhao Xianghou, Liu County Order." ”

"General Locke."

Liu Wei stepped forward with a smile and saluted, and then asked with a smile: "I heard that General Luo came to my Luyang, and I don't dare to slack off with the townspeople......

The Marquis of Luyang also stepped forward to greet him, and immediately asked, "I don't know what the general is doing this time?" ”

Seeing this, Luo Yong pointed at Kong Jian and said, "Listen to him." …… Kong Jian. ”

Hearing the greeting, Kong Jian immediately walked over, and after arching his hand towards Luo Yong, he turned to face Liu Jian and the Luyang townsman, with a little coldness in his smile: "That's the case, General Wang's army is short of grain and grass, and the military salary is also insufficient, I heard that you are rich in Luyang County, and you want to borrow a sum of money and grain......

"Borrow? I'm afraid there's a way to borrow and not repay, right?'

Glancing at the Luyang townsman, Liu Wei first signaled the former to be calm and asked, "General Wang, how much do you want to borrow?" ”

Kong Jian sneered and said, "200,000 stone of rice and grain, 200,000 yuan!" ”

As soon as they heard this, Liu Wei and the townsmen of Luyang immediately changed color.

Regardless of the money of 200,000 yuan, what is the amount of 200,000 stone of rice grain?

You must know that one stone of rice can make an adult eat for three months, in other words, 200,000 stone can make 200,000 people eat for three months!

Perhaps for Wang Shangde, 200,000 stone is not too big a amount, but for Luyang County, this is simply unacceptable - because the grain stock in Luyang County is not 200,000 stone at all now, and even 100,000 stone is barely enough.

The Marquis of Luyang was immediately furious, pointed at Kong Jian and said angrily: "Kong Jian, you have a hatred for Zhao, if you have any conspiracy, you will come at me, Hugh wants to involve Luyang, don't say that I Luyang does not have 200,000 stone of grain at all, even if there is, you take it all, tens of thousands of county people, villagers, and more than 10,000 refugees in Luyang County, how should I survive this winter?" ”

Seeing that the Marquis of Luyang was angry, Kong Jian smiled instead of being angry, his face was full of joy, only to see him shake his head contrivedly, and accused: "Xianghou Zhao, what you said is not right, without General Wang and his army guarding Wannan, can you Luyang be able to survive the offensive of the rebels?" Everything must focus on the overall situation, the front-line army is short of money and food, this is the top priority, how can you Luyang only care about yourself? ”

Hearing this, the Marquis of Luyang sneered: "You don't talk so high-soundingly, don't I know your intentions?" ”

Kong Jian laughed, took a step closer, suddenly retracted the smile on his face, and said in a low voice: "Even if you know, what can you do?" ”

After that, before the Luyang townsman was completely enraged, he immediately took two steps back, his face full of pride.

From the side, Zhao Yu saw it clearly, and when he saw that this Kong Jian was so rampant, he was also angry in his heart.

With a roll of his eyes, he gave Cao An a look, and then deliberately interrupted: "Cao An, I suddenly want to raise a domestic dog, but I don't want to waste food for it, you kid is smart, can you find a domestic dog that doesn't need to be fed?" ”

Cao An was clever, although he didn't know Zhao Yu's intentions, but he could roughly guess that it must be a sarcasm for Kong Jian, so he immediately said in embarrassment: "This ...... This is embarrassing, how can there be a domestic dog in this world that does not need to be fed by the owner's family? ”

Hearing this, Zhao Yu secretly praised Cao An's cleverness, and immediately pouted at Kong Jian, and said with a smile: "Well, isn't there one in front of you?" You don't need to be fed by the owner, and you can bring your own dry food for the benefit of the owner......"

Everyone on the sidelines was stunned when they heard this, and immediately laughed in unison.

Only Kong Jian was furious when he heard this, and scolded: "You, you dare to humiliate me? ”

"Am I wrong?"

Zhao Yu was not stunned at all, took a step forward with Kong Jian's angry gaze, and sneered: "General Wang's matter of requisitioning grain has nothing to do with you in the first place, but you are dignified in Nanyang County, you bring your own dry food, saddle your horse and follow General Luo to my Luyang County to talk about it...... I have seen a lot of domestic dogs, eating the food of the owner's house, and calling for the master, which is also my duty. But it seems that I haven't eaten the food of the owner's house, but I don't hesitate to pay out of my own pocket to call the house dog, it's the first time I've seen it! ”

Hearing this, everyone in the room looked at Kong Jian with strange eyes.

I saw Kong Jian's face flushed, pointing at Zhao Yu and speechless.