"The power of our company is still too thin, if you don't cooperate with Jingdong, I'm afraid it will be ......."

Chen Dong was worried. In the past, he had the illusion of giving up his own people, but under the banner of "respecting the Son of Heaven and not obeying orders", various forces surfaced one after another. Especially when the state and county schools elected officials, the people in the council seemed to be inadequate. Cai Jing, Zhao Zhifu and other dynasties were in power, and the Qing discussion of scholars seemed to have some influence. But for the state and county Haoqiang, the scholars' discussion seems to be scratching the boot, or in other words, the Haoqiang of these states and counties themselves are the mainstream of the gentry, connected by various in-laws and old friends. Now it seems to be very powerful, but in fact it is weak. The Qingliu gentry wanted to lead the election of state and county schools, but it was much more difficult than Hou Huanyin to control Jingdong and Jingdong with officialdom. Even in those places where people in the council have the upper hand, the advantages are not consolidated enough.

"It's not that there is no way," Zhao Xingde muttered, "Now there are about 30 states and counties, all of which are colleagues in our society. If our society can win about ten more county schools, there will be more than forty, so as long as there are a few other county schools to support the promotion of Shaoyang fake prime ministers. It is much easier to win over those who are confined to one state and one county than to win over the powerful Hou Huanyin. ”

"However, it is not easy to win ten more county schools." Chen Dongdao, "Some of the county schools where our colleagues originally had an advantage were also bought by some people, so that the county order and the county school sacrificial wine were left behind. He regretted that he had approved the bad example of the county school donating students in order to raise military salaries. The heroes and leaders of some prefectures and counties did not hesitate to break the bank to send some people who did not learn and did not know how to enter the county school, which not only made the county school a miasma, but even squeezed out the Qingliushi people, who originally occupied the mainstream in the county school.

Zhao Xingde hesitated for a moment and said softly: "Others can donate lives, and we can also donate." ”

"This," Chen Dong looked at him in surprise, "...... It's insulting. ”

In the eyes of Qingliu people, donating life is the same as donating officials, and they are despised. Taixue supervisors like Chen Dong are even more scoffing. He even planned to block the way of donating his life and donating officials in the future when he had more money, so as to clear the source.

"This is forced by the situation, and I have to do it." Zhao Xingde said in a low voice, "Compared with giving away the name of righteousness, what is donating a life?" He calculated, "Everyone has the heart of conformity, if more than 40 states and counties fully support you when you are elected prime minister, other states and counties may follow suit." Hou Huanyin is an old and sophisticated person, in this situation, he will not break the game with you on the spot, just give a little benefit, and the support of Jingdong and the two states and counties can be obtained. Compared with your exchange for the prime minister's position and Hou Huanyin, this price is much smaller. Maybe by the time the election is announced, you can get the support of eight or nine out of ten states and counties, and this fake prime minister is what everyone expects, and after the name is justified, the implementation of various matters in the future will be much smoother. ”

Chen Dong listened to him calmly, but still hesitated: "But if you donate your life to compete for the county school, as soon as this example opens, the heroes and powerhouses of the state and county will also donate their lives to fight each other, the road is one foot high, and the magic is one foot high, isn't this a competition for who is rich and powerful?" He frowned and said, "A donor has to donate 500 yuan of silver every year, and every state and county are competing for it, and we can't hold it with all our family property." ”

Zhao Xingde shook his head and said: "The state and county schools have already elected the magistrates, and after the prime minister, in the next three years, the county schools will only be a place for the Qing Dynasty to supervise. Now the power spans the southeast, and there is only one company. Ambition in the world and ambition in a corner, the size of the interests are different, and the heroes of one state and one county cannot afford to go bankrupt and compete with the society. He smiled slightly and said to Chen Dong, "Besides, the money donated is used for food and relief and other official affairs." The more you donate, the more money you have. With Shaoyang as a person, for the sake of national affairs, if you don't have enough money and food, you have to make up for it yourself even if you are bankrupt. Now it is just a matter of digging out with the left hand and turning it out with the right hand, which is always beneficial to the great affairs of the world. The more donations, the more abundant the Ezhou treasury will be. However, the gentry of the state and county have to donate one more life, but they have to pay an extra amount of money and grain. This account, no matter how you calculate it, is your bargain. ”

Chen Dong was dumbfounded when he heard this, and only sighed after a while: "It should be like this!" ..... Unthinkable, unthinkable! Looking at Zhao Xingde incredulously, he followed his train of thought and said, "There are some poor scholars in the society in all states and counties, because they can't befriend the magistrates, or their families are poor and poor, so they can't go to the county school, so let's donate our lives for these people." He paused, his face was a little ruddy, and added, "In addition to donating your own money, you can also raise money in the society to subsidize the shy fellow believers in the pocket to study in the county school!" ”

Zhao Xingde said: "First figure out the situation in each state and county, and reverse the county school where the power of the society is not much different from the local power. He can comfort himself that when the overall situation is stabilized, the world will be at peace, the system of county school elections should also be improved, and various forces will not need to donate their lives to compete for the prime minister. He had mixed feelings in his heart, with some guilt in his uneasiness, and said in a somewhat illustrative manner: "This method of donating his life is to be in a hurry." Shaoyang still has to do things with sincerity, and in the future, he will still win the hearts of the people and win the world. I know that Shaoyang bears the world with one body, and he is not greedy for the power of the fake prime minister. ”

Chen Dong nodded and said with emotion: "The parents of those who gave birth to me, and the one who knows me, Yuan Zhiye." ”

The camp of the Zhenguo Army is not far from the Ezhou Governor's Mansion, therefore, Chen Dong and Zhao Xingde did not ride a horse and sit in a sedan chair, the two of them talked while walking, suddenly, a person hurriedly walked in front, he looked around, suddenly saw Chen Dong, his face was happy, and he hurriedly strode forward and said: "Lord Chen, I can be regarded as looking for you." He bowed to Zhao Xingde again and said, "Zhao Junshi." ”

"Guodong, what's the alarm?" Chen Dong asked. The person who came to report was not an ordinary Ezhou scribe, but a bachelor from Bianliang who was exiled, surnamed Xu Guodong, and was also a member of the Li Society. Chen Dong has always regarded the people in the council who came to defect as like-minded friends, even to his staff, and he did not regard himself as an official.

"Fangzhou is in a hurry!" Xu Guodong said, "Five thousand Liao army cavalry coerced tens of thousands of troops to attack Fangzhou. Zhizhou Gao Zhen's urgent documents have just been delivered to the state capital. "Fangzhou is a nail in the west, and in recent days, when Zhao Xingde was considering the battle defense of the Liao army, he paid a lot of attention to this place.

"Fangzhou?" Chen Dong's face was worried, and he turned to Zhao Xingde and said, "This Gao Zhen is also a member of our society, and he was born in Xuanhe for eleven years. It has quite an official reputation on Jinghu North Road. He beheaded the messenger of the Liao thief to persuade him to surrender some time ago. He looked back at the camp of the Zhenguo Army, and said with some hesitation, "Yuan Zhi, this Fangzhou can't help it, what do you think ......?" ”

The eleventh year of Xuanhe was the year when Zhao You died and Zhao Ke succeeded to the throne. Therefore, "Xuanhe's eleventh year of birth" is also a symbol of seniority for the Society. He couldn't see death and not save Fangzhou, but Chen Dong was still angry, and he didn't want to ask Yue Fei to send troops, so he turned to Zhao Xingde.

Seeing this, Zhao Xingde nodded and said: "Raise troops for a thousand days, use it for a while, and leave this matter to the Baoyi Army." ”

"Straight and righteous," Chen Dong arched his hand, "Chen has thanked the father of Fangzhou first." Because the Baoyi Army had just been established and the food was insufficient, I thought that Zhao Xingde would hesitate, but I didn't expect him to agree so readily. After Chen Dong thanked him, he said: "For the rescue of Fangzhou, if the Baoyi Army lacks military supplies, it can go straight to the treasury to get it." ”

A part of the Zhenguo army has entered the Jianghuai in the east, and some of the men and horses are scattered in various prefectures and counties to support the Lishe scholars, and the elite soldiers of the Zhenguo army who stayed in Ezhou are only more than 4,000 people, and they want to go north against the Han River to open up the Xiangyang grain road, and they want to send aid to Fangzhou, Ezhou has become very empty.

Zhao Xingde sighed secretly, this battle can be won and not defeated, and it must be resolved quickly. There are two roads to aid Fangzhou, one is to go up the Han River, to Xiangyang and then to the west, this area is full of Liao troops, and it is still unknown whether the Zhenguo Army can open this waterway. The other road is to go up the river, go ashore in the Guizhou area, and use the Bayan Ancient Road to go north to Fangzhou, there are no Liao soldiers on this road, but the road commonly used by salt merchants from Guizhou to Fangzhou is narrow and rugged, and it is not easy to walk. The Baoyi Army itself did not have much baggage, and Zhao Xingde decided to take this road after a little thought. It coincides with spring, and the east wind blows on the Yangtze River, which can slightly make up for some of the troubles of sailing against the current.

Back at the Baoyi Army camp, Zhao Xingde summoned Shi Jingkui, Lu Mingyu and Luo Xian to tell the generals about the entry into Fangzhou, and then told them their own considerations, and asked the generals for their opinions.

Lu Mingyu said: "There is a Qingfeng village in Fangzhou, the owner of the village is surnamed Liu, and there is a Taiping village, the owner of the village is surnamed Qin, there are about two or three thousand people in total, and they have all sent people to say that they are willing to act on the orders of the military division, and now it is time to use them." ”

Since the formation of the Baoyi Army, the covenant negotiated by the group of heroes has spread in all directions, and the heroes who defected to it have been endless, in just over a month, the Baoyi Army has expanded to more than 6,000 soldiers and horses, and in addition, there are countless green forests and water robbers in Jingxiang under the banner of the Baoyi Army. As long as these people don't do things that hurt nature and reason, Zhao Xingde also acquiesced to them, and even discussed with Yue Fei to allocate a part of the money and grain from the Ezhou Mansion Treasury to these Jingxiang heroes. In this regard, Yue Fei coincided with him, and even proposed to withdraw another sum of money and grain, and while the Liao thief was not firmly established, he contacted Henan and Hebei Haojie as an internal response. Ezhou has to support two armies, and it has to support the money and food of these liaison heroes, and the emptiness of the treasury can also be imagined, if it were not for this, Chen Dong would not be forced to the point of agreeing to the state and county students to donate students to collect money.

Now, raising soldiers for a thousand days and using them for a while, it doesn't matter whether they open up the Han River waterway or rescue Fangzhou, they can all use these reckless heroes like local snakes. "Counting up, this group of people and horses have to be in the local area because of their food, and they also save the heavy food and salary for transporting them on the road." Zhao Xingde thought secretly. Ezhou is short of food and salary everywhere, and since he was in charge of the Baoyi Army, he has unconsciously contracted this problem of careful calculation.