Two days later, several officials sent by the Health Department to assist also arrived in Duanzhou. These people are all capable officials who Lu Ji temporarily gathered from the various departments and yamen of the Wei Mu Mansion, all of them are familiar with the procedures of case transactions and have actual experience in governance, two of them are Si Cao, who was just transferred from Duanzhou to Yanzhou the year before last, and is familiar with the local personnel context, with the guidance of the two of them, the people from the Health Department quickly helped Meng Ying to clean up the messy local official affairs out of a clue, divided the priorities to formulate a plan, and then began to implement it step by step.

After the people from the Health Department came, Shang Cheng stayed in Duanzhou for two more days, and seeing that several major events were on the right track, he was ready to inspect the Yanshan Transshipment Division Yi County Daku, commonly known as the Yixian Nanguan Daying, according to the original plan.

However, before he leaves, he has one more thing to do. He wanted to have a good talk with Li Shen.

He first found Meng Ying and asked Meng Ying to take out a sum of money from the treasury to pay the "wages" of the right army. Although the money is not much, Meng Ying is reluctant. The short and chubby Meng Tongju was very grateful for Shang Cheng's appreciation, but when it came to money, he immediately frowned. He first said a lot of bad things about Li Shen, and then he had no money in both hands. In the end, Shang Cheng made an IOU in the name of Wei Fu and repeatedly promised that the money would be made up soon, and Meng Yingcai agreed to this matter very unhappily. On the one hand, he wrote a pass to the Yamen, the commander of the Right Army, according to Shang Cheng's intentions, and said sour words: "The adults are so good to Li Shen, I think there is a taste of meat buns beating dogs." I don't believe that Li Shoude will spend all his money on the soldiers! Through the contact in the past few days, although he still has some opinions on this fake admiral, he already knows that Shang Cheng is a serious and easy-going person, so now he is not as restrained in front of Shang Cheng as he was at the beginning; And after this period of observation, he found that many of the evaluations of Shang Cheng that he had heard before were inaccurate. He realized that it was not for nothing that Shang Cheng became a member of the party at a young age, and the biggest advantage of this person was that he was broad-minded and could tolerate people one by one, which was particularly commendable, so he also dared to say something truthful in front of Shang Cheng. "This man's hands are long. He was belittled the year before last because he took advantage of the chaos to get money from his family. If it weren't for the protection of General Li Wei and General Li in front, he would have been imprisoned a long time ago. I don't know what the court is planning, but it actually sent him back to Yanshan. I heard that ......" Speaking of this, he raised his eyebrows and glanced at Shang Cheng, seeing Shang Cheng caressing the scar on his face and looking at the courtyard in front of the house, as if he was not listening, and the boring words behind him were not spoken.

After getting the pass opened by Meng Ying, Shang Chengcheng went to find Li Shen. When he rushed to the right army to command the yamen, it happened that Li Shen was about to send someone to find him.

He saw that there were people coming in and out of the yamen everywhere, and he didn't bother to tell Li Shen about the money, and asked first, "What's wrong?" ”

"I've found the old nest of the bald man!"

"Really?" Shang Cheng was also overjoyed.

"Can't be wrong!" Li Shen said very firmly.

"Where did you find it?" The overjoyed Shang Cheng hurriedly asked. Qi Bald is the big boss of a group of bandits in Yandong, and his subordinates are claimed to have thousands of people. This guy relied on the strength of the crowd, not only intercepted the roads everywhere to rob the passing large merchants, robbed the government rations for the poor grain rationed to the homeless people, and even dared to move the government's money, grain, carts and horses. Other bandits robbed the road, and generally did not harm people's lives until they had to, and after robbing money, they generally left a way for people to live, so as not to form a sea of blood and enmity against others to take revenge; But this guy doesn't seem to understand this truth, cruel and brutal and extremely vicious, not only killing merchants, killing people, but also killing officers and soldiers who protect food, no matter who it is, as long as it falls into his hands, he will shed his skin if he does not die. For these reasons, when the Yanshan Health Department issued a proclamation to suppress bandits, it listed him as the first of the thirteen habitual bandits who would "never be pardoned." However, although this guy is cruel, he is not short of thoughts, and as soon as the government's proclamation was posted, he drilled into the ravine and hid until now......

Li Shen pointed to a map spread on several cases and said, "It's here!" Black Tiger Valley! "Just because Qi Bald is rampant on his territory and the guards are helpless, I don't know how many people poke him in the back. When Shang Cheng first arrived in Duanzhou a few days ago, as soon as he saw his face, he immediately asked about it, although the words were not serious, but the dissatisfaction and suspicion revealed in Shang Cheng's words still deeply stung him One by one, when is it the turn of Shang Blind to teach himself? But Shang Cheng's words poked at his sore spot, and he couldn't fight back at all. Coincidentally, when he was dozing, someone sent a pillow, and he was worried that he was not effective in suppressing the bandits and was grabbed by the opponent, and the bald man showed his form! Now, his eyes lit up with excitement, and he walked around the room with his hands pinched, smacking his lips and saying, "The emperor lives up to his wishes!" It's kind of catching his fox tail! ”

Shang Cheng leaned over to look at the map that had been marked, carefully examined the several marching routes around the bandits' lair, and asked, "How did you find out?" ”

"Qian Laosan, that bastard, is bold, and he secretly released twenty or thirty bandits in one go, and they all promised a heavy reward, as long as they find out the nest of the bald man Qi, all the things committed in front of him are not to blame, and there are other benefits." He scolded Qian Laosan for being bold and bold, but his face was full of laugh lines, and even his tone was beaming. "He asked these people to lead the way, and sent more than a dozen spies in a row to pretend to be outlaws who had fled in the wilderness, and went everywhere to inquire about the news, and finally found the door of Qi Bald's house."

Shang Cheng was a little surprised. He knew that Qian Laosan and Li Shen were not on the right path, so he said: "This dog thing is a bit capable, but the old soldier is also very good-natured, and his temper is stubborn and disobedient." He didn't cause you any trouble here in Duanzhou, did he? ”

"What's the trouble is not troublesome. Zida, your life in the guard is shallow, and you don't know the temperament of these people at the bottom, and all the veterans are like this. Li Shen smiled, "It seems that Zida doesn't know much about Qian Lushuai...... person."

Shang Cheng's eyes didn't blink and stared at the several marching routes outlined on the map, his brows were tightly knit and he fell into deep thought, not paying attention to what Li Shen was saying at all, but just casually responded: "I still know a little, after all, you have been with me for so long......"

Li Shen was silent for a moment, and said hesitantly: "Zida, there is something I want to discuss with you." ”

"Well, you say." Shang Cheng buried his head and said. But after a while, he didn't hear Li Shen's words, so he raised his head strangely. He was surprised to find that Li Shen's expression was actually a little cramped. He saw Li Shen frowning and standing beside several cases, rubbing his hands together with a look of confusion, as if he had encountered something difficult, so he asked, "What's the matter?" Do you want to intercede on behalf of Qian Laosan? ”

Li Shen shook his head and said, "It's not this. However, I think that Qian Lushuai is also a right and a plan, although it is a little flawed, but it is not too much. This should be considered a credit. ”

Shang Cheng nodded as if he agreed with Li Shen's opinion, but the words he said were noncommittal: "Whether it is merit or fault, we have to wait for the Wei Mansion to judge." ”

Li Shen laughed dryly in embarrassment, and then said, "Of course. That's what Zhang Shao of the Wei Mansion did. It's like this," he swallowed his spit and said embarrassedly, "Zida, look, can you do it one by one, I mean, is it possible to transfer Qian Laosan's brigade to the right army?" After speaking, he looked at Shang Cheng with blank eyes.

Shang Chengleng froze. Li Shen's proposal was even more surprising to him than he had heard about Qi Bald. But if you think about it carefully, Li Shen's suggestion is not unreasonable. The seven brigades and the other six battalions stationed in the Yandong area are from the left, center, and right armies and the Weifu respectively, although they are all nominally under Li Shen's control, but no matter what happens, the officers and generals who lead the troops are the first thing they think of is to find their old superiors. The problem of Yandong's unification of orders has always plagued him. The suppression of bandits is only the beginning, and there will be even greater actions to follow, and if the chaotic situation cannot be resolved by then, the trouble will be great...... During this period of time, he had been considering transferring the two brigades of Qian Laosan and Fan Quan, as well as a brigade of the Left Army, to Li Shen. The benefits of this are obvious. Of course, there are many disadvantages of this, not to mention anything else, just the relationship between Qian Laosan and Fan Quan and Li Shen is not good, and there are many contradictions between them......

Now, Li Shen's proposal made him carefully consider the pros and cons of doing so once again.

He frankly told Li Shen about his concerns, and then asked: "It seems that the relationship between you and Qian Lushuai is not very pleasant, after he comes, can you get a good relationship?" ”

Li Shen also said frankly: "Yes." I had some estrangement with Qian Lvshuai before, but neither I nor him could be blamed for this. He was your soldier before, and I can't treat him like my own. Don't worry, when he comes over, I will definitely pay attention to this aspect, it is definitely a bowl of water that others have, and he will not be less! ”

Shang Cheng nodded. Li Shen was very honest in his words. That's just the way it is. Although he can't take care of his Chinese army at any time because of his busy official duties, he always can't forget the people under him what benefits he has, not only openly and secretly fighting for the benefits of several brigades for himself, but sometimes even taking advantage of his position to suppress Zhang Shao and the Wei Mansion, forcing them to open the door to his subordinates......

He said to Li Shen: "I have an idea, I want to incorporate several brigades of Yandong into your right army, what do you think?" ”

Li Shen couldn't restrain his excitement and excitement, and said humbly while rubbing his hands: "It's good that the military orders can be smoothed one by one, but I'm afraid that I don't have that much ability......" He couldn't continue. This is so hypocritical, even he can't listen to himself, who in Yanshan doesn't know that he wants to be a commander now?

Shang Cheng didn't seem to notice his embarrassment, and muttered, "I think this is feasible." But I will have to wait until I return to Yanzhou to discuss it with someone before I can decide. I don't think it's too much of a problem, and Wei Fu can agree. You can also start making some preparations," he stared at Li Shen and said, "Gong Li, there are some things...... It's still better to be cautious. "He took out the Guan Mu written by Meng Ying and handed it to Li Shen." This is the official document of the Duanzhou government office, and the money and grain listed on it are some allowances and subsidies provided by the local government for the right army to build roads some time ago. ”

Li Shen picked up the official document and read it, and said with a smile: "These civil officials are like this, wages are wages, I have to say what kind of ......subsidy it is," he put the letterhead covered with a bright red seal on the table, and said, "I will rush to Beizheng tomorrow to meet Qian Laosan, and strive to bring the Qi bald son to the nest." How about you, are you going with me? ”

"I'm not going. I will rush to Yixian early tomorrow morning, so I wish Li Gongqi a victory. ”

Li Shen laughed hesitantly: "Little thief, isn't it a matter of being caught?" ”

The city gate had just opened early the next morning, and Shang Chengcheng, escorted by a group of personal soldiers, left Duanzhou with Huo Shiqi.