"Huh! The younger brother knows that Brother Chai has been to the capital many times, and knows that this Lu Zhaolin is a fellow villager of the Sun Divine Doctor, and the younger brother has also been a disciple of the Divine Doctor in the capital, of course, he knows Lu Zhaolin and his people even better. This person is very good at business, so he was recommended by my teacher to enter the Jin Palace. He first made and sold wine for the King of Jin, and in a short period of time occupied the high-end wine market in the capital, and in one fell swoop defeated the Wufeng wine that only rich officials could afford to drink at that time. ”

"Hmmm! It is true that these two kinds of wine and firewood have been drunk in the capital, and it is true that as soon as the Wuliang spring wine came out, the Wufeng wine disappeared from then on. ”

Within a few days, Lu Zhaolin presided over the sale of my teacher's "Rejuvenation Hall" stock warrants, presumably Brother Chai is also clear. This move collected a large amount of gold and silver for Yang Guang, the king of Jin, and many of them were invested by high-ranking princelings to obtain stock certificates, so that the princelings could not completely suppress the Jin king's party. It is estimated that there are not a few Jinyang officials who hold "Huichuntang" stock certificates! As soon as Li Jing said this, he saw that some of the officials hid behind them, and Dou Wei, Dou Kang and others all bowed their heads and remained silent. As the two major banner figures of the Jinyang Dou family, how can they not have the stock warrants of the life-saving Rejuvenation Hall business?

"Brother Medicine Master, even if Lu Zhaolin is very good at business, what does it have to do with my Jinyang fur in exchange for food?" Chai Shao still asked puzzled, and the hundred officials in the hall also had many questions, so they couldn't help nodding.

"It is precisely because of this skill that Lu Zhaolin gave up the post of Yin of Zezhou Mansion and sat at the mercy of Luzhou to exchange my Jinyang fur for food! Haven't you woken up yet? Li Jing asked sharply and looked at everyone.

"Li Jing, are you saying that the Turkic merchants exchanged for my Jinyang grain was originally Lu Zhaolinbu's bureau? This, is this possible? Li Yuan also said in surprise.

"If it was only Lu Zhaolin, it would be impossible to do it, but should Tang Gong know Zheng Fengchi, the biggest merchant in Hedong County?"

"Huh? How can the Zheng family not know that his family has been doing business for generations, and he has traveled back and forth to the northern Turks all the year round through my Jinyang---, you mean, this Turkic fur price drop is the Zheng family's ghost? Li Yuan suddenly woke up and asked in shock, as if he couldn't believe it.

"The three brothers of the Zheng family have their own strengths in business, the Zheng family's business covers the Great Sui, and the family has a huge amount of money, and it is easy to manipulate the fur market, not only to operate the Dingxiang market is the Central Plains market. It's just that I, the hundreds of officials in Jinyang, are motivated by interests, and I am unintentionally calculated and unintentionally, and I am easily caught in the trap. After Li Jing finished speaking, the audience was silent.

"Actually, King Jin is the mastermind behind all this, and Lu Zhaolin is just commanding in front of the scene with his own experience! The ultimate goal of the King of Jin is to ask me Jinyang to spit out the land of the Hetao that has been eaten, so as to solve the danger of the hanging sword hanging on the head of the royal family in the capital! ”

"No wonder Pei Shiju doesn't sell my Jinyang grain, it turns out that this is what he meant!" Chai Shao muttered in a low voice, as if he understood everything.

"It turned out that its 100,000 soldiers and Ji County were also urging me to exchange land for grain in Jinyang, so I almost said it directly. Alas! Li Yuan said with a sigh, as if he had already admitted defeat.

"Yang Guang, the king of Jin, has already calculated, as soon as the Yongji Canal is opened, the Central Plains will be chaotic, and my fur cart battle in Jinyang into the Central Plains is a sheep into the tiger's mouth, and there is no grain to return. But he will be a good person to the end, so that my Jinyang grain team will be as safe as arriving at home when they enter Hedong. In such a loop, fairy-like operation, my Jinyang has less reason to use troops against Hedong, and the soldiers will forcibly take the land of my Hetao without blood. Once the Tang army of our Hetao withdraws, the 100,000 Jin troops of Yuwen Chengdu in Jixian County will inevitably cross the river to seize the empty land of the Hetao. ”

Li Jing revealed all the mysteries, whether it was the Chinese courtiers or the military generals, all of them suddenly realized that they were speechless. Liu Hongji and other generals were even more annoyed, stomping their feet again and again, gritting their teeth.

"Then my Hetao troops will never withdraw, so that they will be empty, what can he do to me?" Wen Daya and other civil officials shouted loudly, causing a number of civil officials and military generals to respond loudly. Only Li Jing kept shaking his head when he heard it.

"Alright, that's all for today's discussion. Ben Gong is really tired. After Li Yuan finished speaking, he got up and turned around and walked towards the harem with the support of the attendants. The officials in the palace had to return hand in hand.

Coming out of the hall, watching a little snowflake fall from the gray sky, Chai Shao looked at the railing, and asked Li Jing on the side in a low voice: "Brother Xian, is there no other way than to return the land for grain?" ”

"If there is a shortage of dozens or a million stone of winter food, you can directly ask the Turkic Shabalu Khan, or you can solve it. However, the official treasury and private grain shops in Jinyang are all short of grain, with a shortage of no less than 2.5 million stones, and there are not a few homes where the people have run out of food. If they do not see food within 20 days, they will not even have food in the DPRK and the army. Li Jing accompanied Chai Shao, looked at the back of the departing hundred officials, and whispered.

"Brother Xian, what do you think of the situation in this world?" Chai Shao asked again, this time no longer entangled with food.

"As far as Jinyang is concerned, getting food first to tide over the difficulties is the most priority, and don't care about the gains and losses of one city and one place. Alleviate the suffering for a while, accumulate strength and wait for the chaos in the world, and take over the world with one blow. ”

"Hmmm! Yes, what the virtuous brother said is very true, Chai will go and talk to his father-in-law. After Li Jing's little push, Chai Shao had an epiphany. After that, Li Jing hurriedly went to the harem.

Red Peach Hill Gathering Hall.

Today, guests came to the Red Peach Mountain, and they were also old acquaintances. Hou Junda saw that he killed pigs and cattle in front of Wang Shichong, the king of Luoyang, and set up a banquet to receive the people who went up the mountain.

"Brother Yang, you're invited!" Hou Junda raised his glass to invite the guests to drink, this guest on the mountain was none other than Yang Xuangan, who had not been seen for a long time, this time Yang Xuangan suddenly went up the mountain with his righteous son Zhu Deng and his staff Li Mi.

"Brother Hou, please!" Yang Xuangan, Zhu Deng, and Li Mi raised their glasses together and drank a cup together.

After putting down the wine glass, Yang Xuangan said: "Brother Hou, the younger brother suddenly went up the mountain this time, first, I haven't seen my brother for a long time, I miss it very much, and I have already seen each other; In addition, it is also entrusted by the king of Luoyang to help you here, and send 20,000 stones of wintering grain by the way. Brother Hou knows that now the prince of Luoyang is expanding his military warfare, and is ready to take advantage of the opportunity of Yang Guang, the king of Jin, to open a canal and deal with the northern expedition of Tangbi, the king of Jinan, to Weicheng to recover the Luokou City occupied by the Jin army. Once Luokou City was recovered, it formed a corner with Red Peach Mountain to prevent the Jin army from attacking. Yang Xuangan said.

"Oh! I see. This king has a close relationship with the prince of Luoyang, and it is also appropriate to help him guard Luokou. It's just that I don't have many copycat soldiers, so I'm afraid that I have more than enough strength but not enough power! Hou Junda didn't think much about it, because Wang Shichong's expansion of the army had already been angry with Hou Junda, and with the help of Hou Junda's cottage soldiers, he plundered the Jinyang Li Yuan's grain team several times, and almost looted the grain that Li Yuan bought back from Qi County, and all the looted grain was escorted back to Luoyang City for Wang Shichong's expansion and army support. Hou Junda was righteous and upright, and he regarded this incident of sending troops to rob grain as a reward for Wang Shichong's support for himself, and he never sent a grain of food to the mountain for his own use. This time, seeing Yang Xuangan taking the initiative to escort 20,000 stone of grain up the mountain, he also solved his need for the cottage for the winter, and he was also a little grateful in his heart. did not shirk Wang Shichong's request for his own cottage to help guard Luokou.

"Huh! Brother Hou went up the mountain this time to tell his brother a good thing. With that, he put down the wine glass and took out a letter from his bosom, and asked the attendant to hand it to Hou Junda.

Hou Junda opened the letter and looked at it, and couldn't help laughing and saying, "It turns out that the prince has already made arrangements, so it's okay!" Hou accepted it, but it was disrespectful. Brother Yang Xian will rest for a night tonight, and return to Luoyang with his brother tomorrow to select soldiers. ”

"Brother Hou, this time the prince asked Brother Tai to select elite soldiers in his new army, forming an army of 5,000, it is up to you and me to choose when the selection will be completed, and we must bring a few more henchmen to the army to select soldiers."

"Huh! That's natural, I have 6 small leaders under my command, Hou only left 2 people to guard the village, and then took 100 old soldiers to go with him to select soldiers, and he should be able to choose within two days. With these 5,000 elite soldiers here, it is enough to resist the Jin army. Come, come, you and my brother have another bowl. ”

After three rounds of drinking, the two saw that they had almost drunk, and because they had to go down the mountain to Luoyang early in the morning, they accepted the banquet and rested in peace.

Yang Xuangan returned to his guest room, and as soon as he sat down, Li Mi stepped into the room with a smile.

"Brother Xuangan, everything goes well, tomorrow you and Hou Junda will go to Luoyang, two days later, the little master Zhu Deng will ambush under Tsushima Mountain, if this Hou Junda is sensible and willing to give up this top spot, if not, brother and Zhu Deng can kill this person under Tsushima Mountain. In coercing a few little leaders to return to the mountain, the younger brother is free to open the mountain gate for his brother in the cottage, and this mountain is you and me, hehe! Li Mi whispered, looking ugly as a villain.

"Hmmm! That's a great plan! It is best to be a copycat brother, and not to start in Luoyang, so as not to ruin Wang Shibo's reputation. ”

"It's only to blame this Hou Junda for not knowing current affairs."

After the two spoke a few more words, Li Mi went back to his room to rest.

Early the next morning, after breakfast, Hou Junda ordered 4 henchmen and 100 relatives to go down the mountain path to Luoyang City with Yang Xuangan, talking and laughing all the way. A young boy and a scholar who stayed on the mountain couldn't attract the attention of Hou Junda and other cottage leaders at all, so they only arranged for the two little leaders who stayed in the mountain to be treated carefully.

The selection of troops is true, and it was decided after discussion between Yang Xuangan and Wang Shichong. It turned out that Wang Shichong lacked generals to expand the army, and sent people to Red Peach Mountain several times to recruit Hou Junda to go down the mountain to Luoyang Wangfu as a general. But Hou Junda never had the idea of recruiting peace, he only wanted to occupy the mountain and be happy. If you want him to go down the mountain to help do things, Hou Junda is a person who knows how to repay his kindness and will not shirk it, but he is unwilling to go down the mountain and enter the house as a general. This made Wang Shichong very annoyed, Hou Junda was originally a famous hero on the green forest road, and the location of Red Peach Mountain was extremely sensitive, and Wang Shichong's reluctance to submit made Wang Shichong have to guard against this force from time to time. Yang Xuangan suddenly visited and took refuge in himself, Wang Shichong was not suspicious, he had a very personal relationship with his father Yang Su, the king of Yue, and the two families were like a family, Yang Xuangan also intended to marry his sister-in-law, but because Yang Guang, the king of Jin, had left a cruel word, Wang Shichong did not agree to Yang Xuangan's invitation for the time being. This time, his own expansion of the army to take advantage of the chaos to recover Luokou City can be said to be a complete break with the relationship between the King of Jin, and the marriage between the sister and Yang Xuangan, there is no obstacle to the marriage of the two families. Being able to climb to the in-laws with Prince Yue, Wang Shichong was happy from the bottom of his heart.

The plan to calculate the Hou Junda of the Red Peach Mountain was proposed by Yang Xuangan, Wang Shichong only thought about it and nodded and agreed, this plan can completely remove Wang Shichong's worries about the green forest force of the Red Peach Mountain, and he also agreed with Yang Xuangan as the general to lead his 5,000 people to garrison the mountain immediately.

Two days later, Hou Junda and his group ended the selection of soldiers from the mountain in the camp of the Chinese army in Luoyang. These 5,000 people are all elites carefully selected by Hou Junda and others, and Hou Junda is very happy about this. When bidding farewell to Wang Shichong, Wang Shichong sent 10 more generals to him and led the troops back to the mountain together. Hou Junda was grateful, thanked again and again, and led the troops back with Yang Xuangan after the fact.

A day later, the two led their troops to the foot of Tsushima Mountain, and after crossing the valley, they could enter the border of the Red Heart Mountain. Just when Hou Junda and the others were relaxed, suddenly, a team of soldiers and horses came out of the Tsushima Valley. Hou Junda was stunned for a moment, looked up, and saw that there were not many people on the opposite side, about 500 people, but the young general with a helmet and armor on a white horse was particularly eye-catching. Although this person has a dark complexion, his eyes are extremely bright, he is not angry and arrogant, he is holding a big gun in his hand, and he rushes out on a horse, which is very majestic. Seeing that it was close, Hou Junda saw that this young general was familiar, took a few steps before putting the horse, and looked at it fixedly, it turned out to be the boy who followed the mountain with Yang Xuangan. never thought that he would still be a military general in his later life, and Hou Junda was not surprised.

Just as he was about to speak, the young general opened his mouth first and shouted: "Master Hou Zhai, I am Zhu Deng, the son of Zhu Can, and I came to Red Peach Mountain this time just to take your cottage to avenge the King of Jin for killing his father." Now that the cottage of Ru has been owned by this general, if you are willing to serve me, you will dismount and surrender. If you don't comply, you can go forward and fight. ”

"Ahh Hou Junda was startled, and hurriedly turned his horse to look back at Yang Xuangan, who was a few steps away behind him.

At this time, Yang Xuangan no longer had a smile on his face, but a sneering expression, shook the spear in his hand and said: "Brother Hou, if it is not the younger brother, I only hope that you will not obey the prince's appeasement, the prince wants to do great things, how can he leave you behind his back, so arrange this plan, if it is not too late to descend now, the younger brother will speak for you at the prince's place." ”

"Ahh What a thief, use this three indiscriminate schemes to try my copycat. Anyway, I'll fight with you. After Hou Junda finished speaking, when he went to see his 4 generals again, the 4 small leaders had already been forced by the 10 partial generals given by Wang Shichong, and they didn't dare to move at all, and their 100 henchmen and old soldiers were also surrounded in the army and couldn't move.

"Since you don't know how to lift, let you try a certain marksmanship." Zhu Deng said, and stepped forward with a gun and stabbed it. Hou Junda couldn't care much more, and hurriedly raised his gun to return it. The two immediately fought as a group.

Yang Xuangan did not step forward to help in the battle, Zhu Deng knew that Hou Junda was not an opponent at all, and he did not need him to step forward. just turned around and said to Hou Junda's 4 cottage leaders: "The prince of Luoyang has always been kind to the cottage, and the prince has been interested in soliciting several times, but Hou Junda has repeatedly rejected the prince's kindness because of his righteous path in the green forest. Today, he was appointed by the prince to replace Hou Junda as the master of the cottage. If you are acquainted, you will vote for the prince of Luoyang and get rid of the reputation of the green forest. If you don't obey, you will be beheaded according to the king's order. ”