After the shooting range, Zhao Dangshi began to carry out another work.

"Lord, Liu Shijun, Niu Youyong and Pan Dujiao are already waiting outside the hall."

"Pan Dujiao?" Zhao Dangshi, who was practicing calligraphy, was stunned for a moment, "It's Pan Duao." ”

Zhou Wenhe looked at the roster in his hand carefully, and his face turned red. He served as Zhao Dangshi's personal attendant for a long time, and Zhao Dangshi felt that it was necessary for him to learn to read and write to deal with some unexpected situations in the future, so he specially transferred a Confucian student from He Kewei to teach Zhou Wenhe.

As soon as Zhao Dangshi's golden mouth opened, Zhou Wenhe was a cow and studied hard. So far, half a year has passed, and I have also learned a lot of words, but the foundation is still weak after all, and sometimes when I encounter similar words, I still make jokes like this.

"Let them in." Zhao Dangshi smiled disappreciatively.

Zhou Wenhe blushed and bowed his head and bowed his hand to agree, and after a while, he brought the three of them to Zhao Dangshi's case.

Among Liu, Niu, and Pan, Liu Shijun is now the coach of the Coach and Envoy Division, responsible for training soldiers in the training camp, while Niu Youyong and Pan Duao are prisoners of the Hui Camp and the West Camp respectively. At the moment when they got together, you looked at me, I looked at you, and they all felt that the boss was uncomfortable, so they turned their eyes to Zhao Dangshi.

There is a fate to meet thousands of miles away, but there is no chance to meet on the other side. Zhao Dangshi recruited these three seemingly unrelated people at the same time, but it was because they were bonded for one thing.

The fiasco of the water battle in Makou Town made Zhao Dangshi remember deeply, and Chu paid equal attention to land and water, and even the waterways around Wuchang Mansion were heavier than land. Zhao Dangshi is ambitious, and will never be satisfied with only occupying a small corner of northern Chu, if you want to enter and control the two lakes, the navy is an indispensable and important link. Moreover, as long as you can master the waterways of Chudi, then in the long run, it will be more convenient and beneficial to go up to Sichuan and go down to the south.

It was not too late to make amends, and Zhao Dangshi was thinking about the establishment of the naval army all the way back from Wuchang Mansion to Xiangyang Mansion. Yesterday, after he returned from the shooting range of the artillery exercise, he had a deep talk with Gu Junen, and decided to set up a battalion as a pioneer and observe the results. The naval battalion temporarily has a strength of 2,000 people, with Liu Shijun as the commander of the battalion, Niu Youyong as the officer in the command of the battle, and Pan Duao as the counselor and supervising the army.

When the three of them heard the news, they were all surprised.

Liu Shijun was originally Liu Xiyao's general. Liu Xiyao killed He Jin, Lin Yangcheng and others for Luo Rucai, and was finally presented to Zhao Ying by Wang Guangen's brothers as a "vote for name", and Liu Shijun took his remnants to Zhao Ying. Although Zhao Dangshi accepted his surrender, because he was Liu Xiyao's old general and the two were related by blood, he was not reused, and only let him be assigned to the coach to help the Tuntian army train soldiers.

I don't want Liu Shijun to have some ability, and he teamed up with Luo Wei to train the originally inconspicuous training camp well, and then showed excellent military command ability in a series of battles such as the training camp galloping to Suizhou and defending Qizhou, which was appreciated by Zhao Dangshi. When Zhao Dangshi asked Gu Junen and Wang Laixing about the suitable candidates for the command of the water barracks, Gu Junen and Wang Laixing coincidentally said the words "Shijun is available", which was in his arms, and Liu Shijun's appointment was decided.

"Real gold is not afraid of fire", Liu Shijun often recited this sentence in his heart. He knew that his background was unfavorable, and he tried his best in everything since he returned to Zhao Yinglai, and he never slacked off. After the Commander-in-Chief issued the "Hengyan of the Present World", because he was illiterate, as an officer, like many ordinary soldiers, he went to the school to listen to the content of the "Contemporary Hengyan" taught by the Commander-in-Chief Envoy to the Ministry of Command, and took advantage of the convenience of being in Fanhe City to look for the guidance and help of the readers, and the results were remarkable. If Zhao Yingzhong ranked the speed of reciting "Hengyan of the World" to all the officers, Liu Shijun would definitely be in the forefront. He did this in the hope that one day he could really regain the qualification to lead troops by hard work, but he never expected that the opportunity would come unexpectedly.

"The subordinates will not fail in their mission!" Liu Shijun, who is in his forties, is like a child who has been praised at the moment, his eyes are ruddy, and he can't bear his emotions and not lose his temper in front of others.

Zhao Dangshi smiled at him: "This is what you deserve." ”

When Liu Shijun heard this, he lowered his head to thank him, but secretly scraped away a few tears that couldn't help but flow out of his eyes with the tip of his thumb.

Niu Youyong, who was beside him, immediately knelt on the ground and said: "The villain has received great grace from the lord, and it is difficult to repay death!" ”

Zhao Dangshi pretended to be angry and said: "You lead the navy, if you don't show the strength to beat me that night, see how Lao Tzu cleans you up!" ”

"The villain remembers!" Niu Youyong "dong dong dong" kowtowed three times in a row.

Zhao Ying and Hui Ying have a lot of grudges, to be honest, Niu Youyong has always thought that Zhao Dangshi brought the Hui Ying captives to Xiangyang City, in order to personally execute them with his hands to avenge the old revenge. On the night of the water battle in Makou Town, he commanded the Huiying Navy to kill hundreds of soldiers and dozens of officers in the Zhao camp, and even once forced Zhao Dangshi himself into a desperate situation. If Zhao Dangshi was replaced by Ma Shouying, Niu Youyong thought to himself that he might have been killed four or five times, so he was ready to be tortured and killed.

But strange things come and go, from hell to heaven, just a few breaths away. He was shocked, the six gods had no master, and kneeling and kowtowing was completely instinctive. It wasn't until he had a conversation with Zhao Dangshi that he realized that he wasn't dreaming, so he cried "wow" regardless of the surprised eyes around him.

Compared with Liu and Niu, Pan Duao is much calmer.

"Xiaosheng thanked the lord for arranging." Pan Duao was dressed in white clothes, and Shi Shiran thanked him.

Zhao Dangshi said: "Mr. is well-versed in literature and ink, and he can know how to get lost and be good." He knew very well that the white and thin middle-aged Confucian in front of him was far from being as weak as he looked.

Pan Duao is a native of Yingcheng County, De'an Prefecture, Huguang, and was originally a member of the county. In the ninth year of Chongzhen, because of the discord with the magistrate, he took the initiative to take refuge in the nearby West Camp with his hand, and Zhang Xianzhong was reused by Zhang Xianzhong with his rhetoric, becoming one of the "four gentlemen" in the camp. In terms of courage and means, they are better than Liu Shijun and Niu Youyong, who seem to be high-spirited. This person is fickle and will drill camps, and he used various methods to sell talents to Zhao Dangshi in the government prison, but Zhao Dangshi always ignored him in order to sharpen his mind, and it was not until this time that he had to be used, and he was not proposed in time.

It is best to have both civil and military skills as a counselor and supervisor in the army, and Pan Duao has the experience of commanding the naval army, which is justified. Moreover, the counselor and the superintendent are in the army and their positions are under the jurisdiction of the Unified Inspection Yuan, so they are not afraid of him interfering in military affairs.

Through Pan Duao, Zhao Dangshi also surrendered Xu Yixian, one of the "Four Gentlemen" of Xiying, who was also a prisoner. Xu Yixian is also a member of Huguangsheng, living in Gucheng County, Zhang Xianzhong returned during his entrenchment in Gucheng, and he is good at military strategy. He didn't come today, he was asked by Gu Junen to be his deputy, and he was communicating with Gu Junen elsewhere.

Scholars can be flexible, and Pan and Xu are busy when they get the opportunity, but military attachés such as Zhang Kewang and Zhang Dingguo—who have changed their original names to "Sun Kewang" and "Li Dingguo" on the official roster, are still willing to die and still hope that their father-in-law "Eight Kings" will lead troops to rescue them from prison. Zhao Dangshi did not rush to deal with them, and continued to detain them without mentioning them.

"Mr. Pan, the water camp is supported by you for a while, you have literary talent, think of a name." Zhao Dangshidao.

Pan Duao thought for a moment, and then replied: "'Five teeth' can also." Yang Su, the Duke of Chu of Sui, once built a big ship for the country, named 'Five Teeth', breaking the waves and breaking the enemy, it is not a problem, presumably this is also the expectation of the lord of the water military camp. ”

Zhao Dangshi pondered for a moment, nodded and said, "Very good, it's called 'Wuya Camp'." He added, "The soldiers of the left, right, and rear three battalions of the Tuntian Army are mostly skilled in Huguang and water, and I have informed the king of the system, and the three of you will cooperate with him first to select the 2,000 battalions." As for the various warships, a table was drawn up, and I asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs to be responsible for the purchase. ”

The arrangements were made, and the three of them were ordered to go. Zhao Dangshi leaned back on the chair and rested for a while, and Zhou Wenhe immediately came to report: "My lord, the brothers of the Ma family are back." ”

Early this morning, Ma Guangchun and Ma Guangning, who set off from Xiangyang Mansion, arrived in Fanhe City, and Zhao Dangshi did not meet them first, and directly sent them to Ma Shouying.

"Okay." Zhao Dangshi straightened his posture. He didn't go to Ma Shouying with him, because it was impossible for the story between Ma Shouying and the Ma brothers to be repeated, and he came to the Ma brothers just to give them a result.

The brothers with similar bodies clasped their fists left and right in salute, Ma Guangning's eyes were slightly red and swollen, and Ma Guangchun was as cold as ever.

"Have you seen it?" Zhao Dangshi asked.

As soon as a sentence came out, the Ma family brothers suddenly knelt on the ground at the same time, supported themselves and thanked him: "The lord avenges my brother, my brother serves the lord, and then he dies!" ”

Ma Guangning was young, couldn't hold back his sadness, threw himself on the ground and whimpered and cried. Ma Guangchun stood up and said, "My brother confronted Ma Shouying and the Lu family face to face, and they have already confessed all the secret things about my eldest brother's death. It is no different from the original conjecture of the lord. Speaking of this, he sighed, "The subordinates are stupid and use them as knives for others." ”

"Second brother, it's not your fault......" Ma Guangning choked up, tears and even his voice was muffled.

Zhao Dangshi also said: "What A-Ning said is, Lao Ma, your eldest brother's death was all planned by Ma Shouying and the adulterer and adulteress of the Lu family, and they just took advantage of you." The authorities are fascinated and the bystanders are clear, and it is your dearest relatives who are involved, and you are really one of the sufferers...... It's not your fault. ”

Ma Guangchun mourned: "It is precisely because he is a close relative that Ma is difficult to let go. Even if Ma Shouying and Lu Shi set up a treacherous plan, it was Ma Mou's hand after all. The crime of fratricide and brothericide, Ma will not escape. ”

Zhao Dangshi shook his head and said, "Why think so." After Ma Shouying and the Lu family are over, this matter will be turned over, let's look forward. ”

Ma Guangchun listened to this, nodded and said, "The lord is right, Ma has to look forward." The lord captured Ma Shouying and the Lu family for Ma, and avenged most of the revenge for killing his brother, but the remaining blood debt had nothing to do with others, and Ma had to pay for it himself. ”

"How are you going to pay it?" Zhao Dangshi frowned.

Ma Guangchun replied: "I haven't thought about it yet, but Ma was born in this world, and if there is revenge, he will repay his kindness." The lord's great kindness to my brother, Ma has to repay it first. Ma Moujie Wufu, nothing else, only full of blood and a despicable life, willing to dedicate all to the lord. Saying that, he kowtowed twice, glared and said loudly, "Ma's life, from now on, will be the lord's!" ”

Zhao Dangshi listened, smiled a little bitterly, and sighed: "Old Ma, your life is your own, you have to live for yourself." ”

Somehow, this sentence seemed to touch Ma Guangchun's heartstrings, but at this time, he was the same as his little brother, his eyes couldn't hold back tears like rain: "My subordinates don't live for themselves for a long time." ”

In half a month, Ma Shouying, who had been known as the "old return" of the giant Kou who had been called Chuang and Xian, together with his wife Lu, was beheaded in the city of Xiangyang Fuchengguan. Three days after the head was displayed, the fast horse was delivered to Beijing.

A few days later, the military report from the south showed that President Dumen was as fierce as a tiger and led an army of 10,000 people north.