The capital city of Jinan.

A few days later, news came from all the armies that at this time all the armies had been stationed at the designated places and began to reorganize the battalions stationed in the surrounding areas.

At the same time, all the ministries of the shogunate were stationed in the offices around the General Military Office and began normal operations.

Zhang Baigui, director of the Military Department's Armament Department, also sent news that the first batch of iron ingots had been sent to Datong Town, and the Lishan Military Bureau and the Changshan Military War Bureau, which were under construction, had also been fully rolled out, and the recruitment and mobilization of personnel was also in full swing, and it was expected that it would be fully operational in the summer of next year.

Liu Juntao was very satisfied with this, and informed the Treasury Department of the Ministry of Commerce that he would fully cooperate with the work of the Military Department's Armament Department.

During this period, Gu Yi, the political envoy of Shandong, Li Chengming, the governor of Shandong, Zhu Qiaozuo, the envoy of Shandong, and Xiang Qun, the commander of Shandong, all sent people to send a message of worship, and several of them wanted to have a good relationship with Liu Juntao, which was nothing more than a banquet and a play.

However, Gu Yi, the political envoy of Shandong, Li Chengming, the governor of Shandong, and Zhu Qiaozuo, the envoy of Shandong, all sent invitations one after another, and the time of the banquet was the same, and the location was all the swift building in the city of Jinan, which was a newly opened industry under the Ministry of Commerce, and more than 20 were also opened in Shandong and Jiangnan, and it seemed that the three of them were preparing to feast Liu Juntao together.

The Shandong Commander Xiang Qun sent an invitation alone, and the banquet was not a big restaurant, but at his own home.

Liu Juntao looked at the several invitations on the table, and said to Lan Siqi, the central department who came to report the affairs: "Take a look! We've just relaxed a little bit here, and this thing has come to the door! ”

Lan Siqi looked at a few invitations and said: "General Town, I see that Gu Yi, the political envoy of Shandong, Li Chengming, the governor of Shandong, and Zhu Qiaozuo, the envoy of Shandong, don't want to have a relationship with us, I guess they just want to explore the bottom of the general town, these three people are all people of civilian power, and they may not be able to get along with us in the future, in my opinion, this banquet will not go!" ”

"As for the banquet of the commander of the Shandong capital to the Lord Xiang Qun, the head town can go to see it, we are new to Jinan Mansion, at least we can pull in Lord Xiang as a backup, and we can also have a help when we encounter anything!"

Liu Juntao groaned for a while when he heard this, and then said: "I think it's better to go and have a look, at least let's find out what those civil officials think!" ”

After speaking, Liu Juntao instructed: "In this way, you send a reply letter to Gu Yi, the political envoy of Shandong, Li Chengming, the governor of Shandong, and Zhu Qiaozuo, the envoy of Shandong, saying that the time of the banquet will be changed to the day after tomorrow, and I will go to the lord's mansion tomorrow." ”

"Good!"

In the evening of the next day, Liu Juntao brought more than a dozen iron horsemen to Xiang Qun's mansion, which is a courtyard in the south of the city, which looks very delicate and clean, but it does not occupy a large area, at least it does not match Xiang Qun's identity as a commander.

Liu Juntao came to the door with his men and horses, and several iron cavalry soldiers guarded the door, Liu Juntao knocked on the door with the remaining soldiers, but he didn't expect Xiang Qun to come to open the courtyard door in person.

"It's time to work to your lord!"

Liu Juntao also hurriedly clenched his fists and said.

Xiang Qun said with a smile: "There are only two maidservants in the family to take care of the family, there are no subordinates, nothing serious." ”

Saying that, Xiang Qun invited Liu Juntao and others into the house, and at this time, Xiang Qun's wife had already prepared wine and food with two maidservants, all of which were commonplace, but the meat and vegetables were matched and the workmanship was exquisite, and it looked very appetizing.

"The home is simple and the food is vulgar, which makes Mr. Liu smile!"

Liu Juntao said a few polite words, and then sat down with Xiang Qun, Xiang Qun's wife retreated to the backyard, and the iron cavalry soldiers waited in the outer courtyard.

"Lord Xiang is too simple on weekdays, and there is no soldier to serve at home?"

"Those soldiers under my command have had enough hard life themselves, what are they tossing about?"

Liu Juntao thinks about it, since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the guards in various places have already gone downhill, and even the guards in many places are in vain, the local soldiers are poor, and many of the fields at home are forcibly occupied by Shangguan and the local gentry, and many of the guards have fled to other places, resulting in a serious shortage of soldiers in various places.

Presumably, the same is true for Xiang Qun's subordinates!

Really!

As soon as Liu Juntao asked a little, Xiang Qun seemed to have found a bosom friend, and began to pour bitter water: "General Liu doesn't know anything, now I have a lot of soldiers and horses on the books, there are 1,120 troops in a thousand households in various places, and 5,600 troops in a guard station. ”

"But now most of the military tun fields of the guards are occupied by the gentry, officials, and generals from all over the country, and a large number of soldiers have fled with their families.

"So, I'm a commander who doesn't have any skills, since I can't take care of the soldiers under my command, I don't have the face to call people anymore!"

Hearing this, Liu Juntao felt very uncomfortable, so he said: "It seems that adults are very uncomfortable!" ”

Xiang Qun smiled bitterly, drank all the spirits in the cup, and said, "What's more! Sometimes I really want to be like General Liu, to be able to lead the army to fight and make achievements! But now, in this Jinan Mansion City, it is even more difficult for me to even want to rectify the soldiers and horses, not only the local battalions and our guards are competing for supplies, the civil officials and the adults of Jinan Mansion are also criticizing in many ways, and the gentry from all over the country are also rushing up to scramble when they see the cheapness. ”

Hearing this, Liu Juntao also frowned, and said: "It seems that those civil and official forces in the city of Jinan Mansion are very powerful, and their attitude towards us martial artists is very bad!" ”

Xiang Qun also nodded yes.

Then, Xiang Qun reminded: "Mr. Liu, I invited you here today to remind you that you must be careful of those civil officials, they can't do big things, but stabbing knives in the back, secretly stumbling up, and dragging their feet, these are what those civil officials are good at!" ”

Liu Juntao also has a deep understanding of this, at least at the end of the Ming Dynasty, those Donglin parties were "open their mouths must speak of righteousness, and they must defect in the face of difficulties", and the party is also good at fighting for power and profit.

Of course, most of the civil servants are loyal to the country, but once these civil officials are committed to the regime, the destructive power is also very amazing!

Speaking of this, the commander of the capital said, "There is one thing I still want to remind General Liu of something. ”

"What?"

"I heard the rumors that those people in Jinan Mansion were very interested in the business under Liu Zongbing, and wanted to take advantage of the shares. In addition, I also heard that these civilian officials are collecting the situation of General Liu Bing, and I don't know what to do! ”

Liu Juntao groaned for a moment when he heard this, and then hugged his fists and said, "Thank you for reminding the adults, I will pay more attention!" Those civil officials want to take advantage of me, it's just wishful thinking, if anyone dares to stretch out their hands, this town will be chopped off! ”

Xiang Qunyan was taken aback at first, then laughed out loud and said, "Haha! Mr. Liu is mighty! If I had such a heroic spirit as Mr. Liu, I wouldn't be mixed up like this! ”

After that, Liu Juntao and Xiang Qun drank bitterly for half the night, and did not return to the General Military Mansion until the second half of the night.

When Liu Juntao left, Xiang Qun returned to the room drunk, laughed at his wife and said, "Haha! Now that General Liu is here, the nemesis of those civil officials is here! The resentment that has accumulated in my heart over the years is also about to be dispersed! Ha ha! ”

Early the next morning, Liu Juntao called Liu Zi'an, the minister of intelligence, and Liu Zhong, the secretary of the court, and said: "I received news that some civil officials in Jinan Mansion are making some small moves, and the Ministry of Intelligence immediately launched an investigation, and it is necessary to find out this matter in the shortest possible time, and the shogunate must take measures to deal with it as soon as possible!" ”

Liu Zi'an and Liu Zhong were taken aback when they heard this, and the two immediately received the order, and immediately launched an investigation after leaving the General Military Mansion.

In the evening, Liu Juntao took a team of iron cavalry soldiers and set off to the Swift Tower located in the area of the bell tower in the city, ready to go to the banquet.