Han Xiufeng said that he left, and he led Chen Hu and others to Qijiang with Wu Junxiang and Wu Kuixiang brothers early the next morning.

Qian Houde, who had been acting for a year in Jiangbei Tongzhi, got up early in the morning and only saw one side, only said a few words by the dock, and saw that the boat of Han Xiufeng and others was far away, so he could only go to the Huguang Hall accompanied by Jiang Zonghai, looking at the list of items that Han Xiufeng left that needed to be prepared, and said with a frown: "Chaozong, do you think that so many items can be done within twenty days?" ”

Jiang Zonghai hurriedly found a copy of Qijiang Zhi, turned to the page of the map, pointed to the two places on the map, and said with a wry smile: "Master Qian, Master Han said that not only must it be done within 20 days, but also the money and grain must be transferred to the Dongxi Water King Temple in Qijiang and the stable Sheep's Horn Sitou. ”

The full name of Jiangbei Tongzhi is called "Chongqing Prefecture Jiangbei Department Limin Supervision and Arrest Tongzhi", which is not an ordinary second official, but the official of Jiangbei Hall. Before Qian Houde acted as the governor of Jiangbei Tongzhi, he also acted as the governor of Bishan and other counties, and even took care of the Chongqing prefect for half a month before Du Xingyuan took office, and he was a well-known capable official in eastern Sichuan.

He stared at the map for a while, then raised his head and asked, "Chaozong, so Master Han plans to transfer grain and food into Guizhou by water?" ”

Jiang Zonghai went to the back of the "Fengzhengdi" last night to send a silver ticket to buy guns and gunpowder lead, knowing Han Xiufeng's overall plan, he confirmed with a smile: "Master Han plans to send 3,000 brave men to garrison Songkan, and these 3,000 brave men and women will be transferred by water. ”

"Although the Songkan River is navigable, it is not called the Songkan River in my Chongqing Prefecture."

"It doesn't matter what it's called, the important thing is that it can be navigable."

"Brother Chaozong, it seems that you have never been to Qijiang," Qian Houde pointed to Yutu and said: "The section of the Songkan River that flows into my Chongqing Prefecture is called 'Xiangma River' by the locals, which means that this section of the waterway is not easy to walk. ”

"Master Qian, you are worried about thieves and robbers, and you are worried about being robbed."

"Can you not worry, this section of my Chongqing Mansion is not easy to walk, and the section from Tongzi to Songkan is even more difficult to walk, if the food is really robbed during transit, how can you and I explain to your adults?"

"Master Qian, Master Han mentioned the matter of waterway transfer."

"What did he say?"

"Master Han said that the Songkan River is not only a waterway for us to transfer grain and wages, but also a waterway for Sichuan salt to enter Guizhou and Guizhou tea to Sichuan. It is said that we will send personnel to Dongxi Shuiwang Temple to discuss the transfer of salt and tea merchants, and we can even ask Qijiang County to send Qingzhuang to escort it. ”

"What has become of chaos in Guizhou, is there still a deal to do?"

"No matter how chaotic Guizhou is, there is no salt, and the locals have to exchange tea or other specialties for salt if they want to eat salt, and there is still a need to do business, but it is not as easy to do as before." Jiang Zonghai helped make a cup of tea, put down the kettle and said with a smile: "The two old men Wu also said that as long as the boat money and foot money are reasonable, those salt merchants and tea merchants must be willing." ”

Thinking that most of the food and salaries were donated by merchants from the eight provinces, or the money drawn from the merchants of the eight provinces, Qian Houde didn't say anything about the official transportation of the salt farm, but asked puzzledly: "Since Master Han plans to lead a heavy army to garrison Songkan, why do you want to camp at the junction of Sichuan and Guizhou?" ”

Jiang Zonghai has been a friend of Duan Dazhang for several years, how can he not know that Qian Houde thinks that since he can transfer food and salary by water, why should he transfer a batch of sheep horns by land, after all, compared with water transfer, land transfer is much more troublesome, so he can only patiently explain: "Master Han said that Tongzi is troublesome, and the people of Qijiang are panicked, and dispatching hundreds of brave men can make the gentry and people of Qijiang feel at ease." And then there'...... And then there'......"

"And what?"

"Then Master Han has made the worst plan."

"Worst?" Qian Houde was confused.

Jiang Zonghai carefully recalled what Han Xiufeng said last night, pointed to the map and said: "Master Han said that if you are not afraid of 10,000, you are afraid of what happens, in case the bandits in Guizhou become more and more intense, and there are more and more thieves like snowballs, and only 3,000 brave soldiers must not be able to hold Songkan, if you really go to that step, you can only fight and retreat, and retreat to the hotel that is connected to Hongguan, Climb Grab Creek, Yaolong Mountain and Jiupanzi and other natural dangers to fortify and intercept it, and then the hundreds of brave men stationed at the head of the sheep's horn can come in handy." ”

"It can be used as a reinforcement, but also to prevent a small group of bandits from rushing out of the deep mountains and old forests to copy the back road of the army?"

"Zong Hai has never been in battle and doesn't understand this, but Zong Hai thinks that Master Han should plan to do so."

"Master Han is really cautious," Qian Houde nodded slightly, and then changed his words: "Brother Chaozong, otherwise, you are familiar with those merchants, and you are responsible for Zhang Luo for these waist knives, spears, rattan cards, hemp ropes, iron nails, drums, gongs and grains on the list, and I am responsible for recruiting young people, and discussing transfer matters with Ba County and Qijiang Zhengtang." ”

"Chaozong will summon the guest governors of the eight provinces to do it together."

"Wait, you have to say hello to the Baojia Bureau first, and let the Baojia Bureau send a hundred tea warriors to help me recruit young people at the docks."

"Yes!"

……

The war drums actually cost a hundred, and the gongs are a hundred.

The gong can be made by those coppersmiths who hit the copper street quickly, where to get the drum for a while and a half, Jiang Zonghai and other businessmen from the eight provinces really have no choice but to go to the county master.

Xiangqing knew very well that preparing for military supplies was the first priority at hand, not only ordered the officials to go to the various armor to spread the word, as long as they wanted to be the supervisors of the new regiment and the regiment, they had to bring gongs and drums, and even sent the yamen to collect the gongs and drums of various opera troupes and temples in the city, and finally found that there were still a few drums, so he simply donated the drums of the county government. And asked the master to write a notice and post it at the gate of the county government, and if the military and civilians come to complain in the future, they can directly hand over the notice, and there is no need to beat the drum again.

The city's blacksmiths, large and small, were all making knives, spears, and nails, and the clanging of iron was around the clock; On weekdays, the rattan craftsmen and rattan craftsmen who weave baskets, bamboo mats and rattan chairs have never had such a good business, and they are all busy weaving rattan signs; Almost all the hemp rope and oilcloth from the grocery stores in the city were bought by the Huguang Guild Hall, and the rice was transported to the Qijiang River one after another.

The easiest thing is to recruit young people, there are too many porters, slender men and Huguang homeless people who have no work to do and no food, if you want to recruit them all in a day.

But Qian Houde was not in a hurry, but waited for the civil and military supervisors who wanted to make contributions to the scattered departments of various states and counties to arrive, and when they donated enough money that they had not donated when they donated to prisons before, they became "ten percent of the civil supervisors" or "ten percent of the military supervisors", and then let them take the official documents of the prefect and yamen to the wharves to recruit themselves.

Pan Er's fox friends and dog friends all came, and even Xu Yunshan's nephew Xu Jinjun and Wang Shanshi, the second eldest of Wang Jingcheng's family, all came with the banner of the Ciyun Tuan and six village disciples.

As soon as Xu Jinjun came out with the official document after handing over enough money from the government office, he pestered Pan Er and asked with a bitter face: "Master Pan, Mr. Zhang from the military room asked us to take this official document to recruit troops outside the Qianguo Gate, but only let us Ciyun Group recruit forty, saying that there are only forty people's weapons and food, and the yamen doesn't care." ”

"Then go and recruit forty."

"But we, Ciyun, have already come eight!"

Pan Er looked back at the heads of the regiments who were waiting in line to hand over the money and receive the official documents, and saw that those regiment leaders not only brought people from home, but some even came with guns and earthen cannons, and couldn't help but smile: "Don't worry, you go and inquire first to inquire how many people are going to recruit." ”

"Okay, I'll ask first."

As he was talking, Liu Yishan, the supervisor of the Cili Liujia Shizhu Regiment, and Li Guangxiao, the head of the regiment, came out with the official document, and when they saw Pan Er, they said happily: "Second brother, with the official document, the yamen asked our Shizhu Regiment to go to Nanji to recruit troops and horses, and the people were recruited to go to Wumiao to receive weapons, travel expenses, and dry food, and after receiving weapons, road expenses, and dry food, we can go to Qijiang!" ”

Pan Er took the official document and looked at it, then looked up at the dozen brothers they brought from their hometown, and asked with a smile: "Yishan, Guangxiao, you already have more than a dozen people, but the yamen only gives weapons and money and food to forty people, how many more do you plan to recruit?" ”

Liu Yishan knew about this earlier, and said without thinking: "Second brother, we are going to suppress thieves and quell chaos, the more people the better, and if you don't bring a few more of your own people, why should we bring this soldier?" As for these brothers, weapons, money and food brought from our hometown, we will find our own way, and we will not worry about Master Han. ”

"You're on your own?"

"Isn't it just a dozen mouths, what a big deal!"

Thinking that the two of them are indeed not short of silver, Pan Er smiled and said: "You can go out by yourself, but I have to say it in front, the fourth master not only loves soldiers like a son but also follows his words, if anyone dares to deduct the soldiers' salaries in the future, it will be useless for anyone to help intercede at that time." ”

"Second brother, you put a hundred hearts on this, we are going to work for Master Han, why would we cause trouble for Master Han."

"It's good to know, hurry up and recruit people, I'll wait for the Ciyun group and the horse group, and when they get everything done, then we will set off together, and we can take care of them along the way."

"Okay, then let's go recruit people first."

……

Let the civil and military supervisors in the scattered departments of various states and counties who want to make meritorious contributions recruit young and strong people by themselves, and after the recruitment is full, they will go to the martial temple to register and make a register, and then give weapons, travel expenses and dry food, and let the civil and military supervisors lead the young people to report to the sheep horn quadrupole camp in Anwen Town, Qijiang County.

As the supervisors and regiments of each regiment, those civil and military supervisors have to control the young men under their respective subordinates, and if those young men dare to make trouble on the way, they will have to ask the supervisors and regiments when the time comes. If the extension is not due or the person runs away halfway, the same will be asked by the supervisor and the regiment.

Standing at Chaotianmen Wharf, watching one group after another of people hiring boats to drive off under the banner, Pan Er couldn't help but sigh with Wang Zaishan and Guan Bantou, who came to see them off: "Uncle Wang, Uncle Guan, our old man Qian is not simple, this errand is really beautiful, it can be called busy but not chaotic." ”

"How many years has Master Qian been an official, what haven't you experienced?" Wang Zaishan looked back behind him, and said in Pan Er's ear: "In terms of ability, the sum of ten Du Futai is not as good as one Qian master, but Qian Lao is an honest official, although his surname is Qian, he has no money, so he can only act over the years, no matter how many things he does in office, no matter how good the official reputation is, don't expect to be actually taught." ”

"The fourth brother likes an official like Master Qian, and if the rich master handles the grain platform, the fourth brother doesn't have to worry about food and military supplies."

"This is natural, not only your fourth brother likes it, but Master Cao likes it as much as Du Futai, after all, there must be someone who can do things." Wang Zaishan smiled, looked back at the Huguang Guild Hall and said: "This time, the businessmen of the eight provinces are also doing their best, just now I heard that Guan Yunzhong almost shouted to Cha Yong to pull Liu Dazhui to see the official because the waist knife built by Liu Ji was not good." ”

"Didn't use fine iron, or didn't you fight well?"

"That knife seems to have been hit by Liu Dazhui's apprentice who had just received, Liu Dazhui knew that this was not a trivial matter, and he kowtowed vigorously and begged for mercy, and swore that such a thing would never happen again."

"That's good," Pan Er nodded slightly, and then arched his hand: "Uncle Wang, Uncle Guan, I'll go first, the affairs of the family, especially my eldest brother's shop, I have to take care of the two of you." ”

"Don't talk about the trouble, we are at home, you can go with confidence."

As he was talking, Zhang Xiaowu, a family member brought back by Pan Er from Hai'an, came to report: "Master Pan, the brothers of the Walking Horse Regiment, the Ciyun Regiment and the Shizhu Regiment are all on the boat, and Master Liu and Master Wang are waiting for you." ”

"Okay, let's go." Pan Er bowed to Wang Zaishan and Guan Bantou again, and then followed Zhang Xiaowu downhill and walked up the boat along the gangplank.