On a rough and greasy cedar table, in the center was a large pot of steaming lamb grab, two large coarse porcelain bowls side by side, Gao Pu held a huge black pottery wine urn in both hands, and with a tilt of his right hand, the pale yellow water wine was poured into the two large bowls. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

"Li Xiao, it's done!"

"!"

Gao Pu and Li Xiao raised the wine bowl, touched it lightly, and as soon as they raised their necks, they drank all the water and wine in the coarse porcelain bowl.

Li Xiao grabbed the black pottery wine urn and refilled the two large bowls.

"Full, full, I'm really happy today, I must have a good drink!" Gao Pu smiled and wiped the wine from his mouth and beard.

After the two of them made three bowls in a row, Fang began to eat the mutton with his hands, Gao Pu ate it vigorously, without any official appearance, he drank wine with one bowl, and sucked his greasy fingers clean while opening his mouth, sucking soundly.

Gao Pu's familiar behavior made Li Xiao feel an indescribable relaxation. After drinking a few more bowls with Gao Pu, Li Xiao asked in a casual tone: "Mr. General, but I don't know how many people will be recruited by Zhongtun this time?" ”

Gao Pu's purple face was already a little red, and his oily right index finger pointed at Li Xiao obliquely and said, "Li Xiao, why do you ask about this?" Okay, let me tell you, the total number of sentry cavalry given above is 30 people, each sentry rider is 2 taels of silver 2 taels and 5 dollars, and it has been recruited for 2 days, damn it, there are a lot of people who come, but there are not many people who have the ability, and I have only picked 10 people so far. ”

Li Xiao sighed, and then asked: "When I came just now, Bi Ji said to me, let us wear our own armor and horses to enter the school field to take the exam, could it be that we don't accept the exam this night, and we must bring our own armor and horses?" ”

Gao Pu sneered, drank all the residual wine in the bowl, and then said, "Li Xiao, I can see it, you are quite thoughtful. Let me tell you the truth, now I am very short of food and salary, and I can't afford to supply horses and armor at all. Damn, I don't even have a horse, so why don't you take it at night. Hehe, that's why, when I see you, dressed in Tartar white armor and riding such a good horse, I'm so curious in my heart. ”

Li Xiao laughed, and said casually: "But I didn't expect that we would have to fight against the Tartars when we were stationed in Liaoxi, and the responsibility was so heavy, but it was difficult to supply horses and armor in this Zhongtun Station." ”

Gao Pu snorted, grabbed a large piece of mutton with his hand, chewed it in his mouth for a while, swallowed it vigorously, and then said: "No, I heard that this amount of money has never been sufficient." But Li Xiao, don't worry, in the entire western Liaoning, our sentry cavalry does not collect at night, after all, they are the elite of the Ming Dynasty's official army, and they are still much better than ordinary battalion soldiers, although there are also arrears in food and salary, but they will be made up in two or three months late. Pity those big-headed battalion soldiers over there, for more than half a year, they haven't received a penny of monthly money, and their food is poor, so it's still difficult for them to make ends meet, let alone support their families. Alas, I don't know how many times this trouble has been made, and the poor ones who make trouble refuse to close their eyes when they are cut and killed by us。。。。。。 ”

When Gao Pu said this, he paused for a moment, and when he saw that Li Xiao was listening intently to what he was saying, he sighed again, drank all the remaining wine in the bowl, and then continued: "Li Xiao, I'm not afraid to tell you that when recruiting soldiers in the past, there were still some local military households who came to vote, but now, basically only some homeless people have joined the army in order to survive. These people can be used as a façade, but if they really want to fight, they can be of great use! It's a sigh, my Zhongtun Office, Guangning, an important town in western Liaoning, has become a place called Huazi Custody. ”

When Li Xiao heard this, his heart suddenly became quite sad. He who has read history books knows that in fact, in the army at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the biggest problem was the shortage of food, if the problem of food and salary can be completely solved, the Ming army will not be so demoralized and unbearable. The victory of the so-called Wanli Three Great Expeditions was obtained when the food was sufficient.

On the other hand, in order to obtain enough food and salary for the army, the imperial court had to constantly urge the ordinary people to pay grain and taxes, and forced the common people to rebel in order to survive.

This never-ending vicious circle finally caused the Ming Dynasty to collapse completely.

Li Xiao thought for a while, and then asked: "Zhongtun Institute is recruiting troops now, but is it to send troops to fight the Tartars?" ”

Gao Pu smiled bitterly, shook his head, and said with a long sigh: "Alas, it's just a move to deal with the imperial court." This year, my Liaodong Metropolitan Division lost southern Liaoning, Dongjiang Town's general soldier Huanglong died in battle, and the imperial court was extremely dissatisfied with the lack of reinforcements from the battalions in western Liaoning. I heard that in order to maintain the status of Liaozhen in the imperial court and keep the Liao salary sent on time every year, the governor Fang Daren (Fang Yizao), the forward general soldier Zu Da (Zu Dashou), the Ningyuan general soldier Wu Daren (Wu Xiang), the Shanhaiguan general You Daren (You Shiwei) and other high-ranking officials and generals, after discussion, decided to expand the recruitment of soldiers and horses in all battalions and cantonments in the entire western Liaoning, and purge the army, so as to show the imperial court that the soldiers and horses in western Liaoning are available and the soldiers can be used. It is said that after a while, the military department will send senior officers to Liaoxi to inspect the scene. ”

Li Xiao sighed, and sighed in his heart: Now the Tartars are so rampant, but here they are acting like this just to deal with the imperial court, it is a pity that the imperial court can be fooled, but this Tartar cannot be fooled. The end of the land of western Liaoning, sooner or later, will follow in the footsteps of Liaozhong and southern Liaoning.

Li Xiao suddenly remembered something, and asked Gao Pudao: "Who is the highest official of this Zhongtun Institute?" ”

Gao Pu saw Li Xiao asking like this, and replied in shock: "Li Xiao, don't you know? ”

Li Xiao hurriedly shook his head: "I really don't know." ”

Gao Pu sighed, lowered his voice and said, "Li Xiao, you just came from Jinzhou, it's not surprising that you don't know. Let me tell you, the highest official of my Guangning Zhongtun Institute is Wang Daoqi Wang Garrison, this person bribed Zu Dashou, the chief soldier of the forward, to obtain the post of garrison officer of Guangning Zhongtun Station, and this matter is known to the Jinzhou soldiers, which is really a big scandal. ”

Li Xiao was taken aback and asked Gao Pu to elaborate, and Gao Pu said the following things intermittently.

It turned out that the current supreme commander of the Guangning Zhongtun Station, surnamed Wang, and whose name was Daoqi, was from a local wealthy family in Jinzhou, and was promoted to the garrison of the Liaodong Forward Battalion last year, and was arranged by Zu Dashou, the chief soldier of the Forward Battalion, to be stationed in this Guangning Zhongtun Station, thus becoming the supreme commander of the Zhongtun Station.

In order to ensure that the family is still powerful in Jinzhou, the Wang family has promoted many of its children to the imperial examination or joined the army, so as to consolidate the interests of the family forever.

This practice, in the late Ming Dynasty, was an extremely common thing. Having reaped the enormous commercial profits, it was natural for businessmen to want to cultivate their own agents in political and military circles. The Wang family is only training their own children to join the army and politics, while the famous eight big businessmen in Shanxi have a unique vision to sponsor promising scholars in various provinces and provinces, and after these scholars have entered the official career, it is natural to seek benefits for them from the central to the local.

Wang Daoqi, in a kind of environment, bribed the chief soldier Zu Dashou and his relatives, so as to enter the army and get a position of 100 generals.

With this step of advancement, Wang Daoqi's shrewdness and speculation as a businessman were more like a fish in water and fully displayed in the corrupt environment of the Ming army. Although this person has never been on the battlefield, let alone the slightest martial arts, he was able to quickly climb to the garrison position in just two years through a series of carefully planned means of wooing, bribery and other means.

Supposedly, a large border town military fort and a strategic point such as the Quang Ninh Zhongtun Station generally had to send a guerrilla garrison, or at least a capital division. But what no one expected was that Wang Daoqi was able to bribe the chief soldier Zu Dashou with a lot of money, and was actually arranged in this Guangning Zhongtun Station as a garrison, although it was nominally temporarily managed, but after all, he became the highest garrison officer of the Guangning Zhongtun Station.

"Li Xiao, you said, now that Liaodong has lost its division and lost its territory, the situation is so difficult, it is precisely when it is necessary to make great use of good generals and elite soldiers, and it is still possible to let such mediocre rats steal high positions, this group of high-ranking officials and generals of the Ming Dynasty, is it true that no one cares about national affairs? It's a pity that I am a proud martial artist, and I want to succumb to the hands of such a villain, what a fucking grievance! ”

After Gao Pu finished speaking, his face was full of hatred, his two bull's eyes were burned red by alcohol, he drank all the water and wine in the bowl in one gulp, and then slammed the coarse porcelain bowl on the wooden table.

Li Xiao was silent.

He knew that by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the corruption of the Ming army had penetrated deep into the bone marrow, and there was almost no cure. Don't say that Liaodong is like this, and other border towns, where are not the greedy soldiers and corrupt. In a sense, the Ming Dynasty at this time was actually an old tree with all its roots and branches, and it was overgrown with large and small moths, which could fall down at any time.

When Li Xiao and Gao Puzheng were drinking and chatting, they suddenly heard a shrill voice outside the door: "Mr. Gao, why don't you go to the school for the examination and ride at night, and eat and drink happily in this room." ”

Li Xiao clearly saw that Gao Pu's face changed suddenly, he put down the wine bowl, and quickly said to Li Xiao: "It's really fucking Cao Cao, Cao Cao is here, it's Wang Daoqi who is here, Li Xiao, you quickly follow me to pay homage to this person." ”

The two of them walked out of the door, and Li Xiao saw that an official wearing a cyan five-rank military attache uniform and a huge bear pattern patch embroidered on his chest, accompanied by an officer who looked like a captain Ding, walked slowly towards his side.

Gao Pu's voice sounded quickly and low in Li Xiao's ears: "Li Xiao, the person who came is Wang Daoqi, and next to him is Ren Xingyuan, the captain of his family." ”

Li Xiao saw this Wang Shoubei who was walking slowly, short and fat, with a fat belly like a pregnant woman in May, a well-maintained gourd-shaped face, with two sparse beards, but a pair of slender slitted eyes, there was a cold light flickering from time to time.

Li Xiao suddenly felt happy in his heart, this general Wang does not look like a military general at all, if he does not wear this military attache uniform, he looks like a standard profiteer.

"See the Garrison." Gao Pu bowed to Wang Daoqi.

Wang Daoqi snorted, he didn't look at Gao Pu much, but he was quite curious about Li Xiao, who was standing tall and wearing a tartar armor, and looked him up and down.

Gao Pu hurriedly said: "Lord Wang, this is Li Xiao, a lowly subordinate, who is now appointed by me as the deputy captain of the sentry cavalry. ”

Li Xiao took a step forward, half-knelt on the ground, and said calmly: "Li Xiao see the garrison." ”

Wang Daoqi laughed and helped Li Xiao for a while, and Li Xiao took advantage of the situation to get up.

"It turns out that you are the same Li Xiao, well, if you are really a strong man, it is not bad." Wang Daoqi laughed, his eyes narrowed into a slit: "It has been spread all over the school field, saying that there is a test-taking sergeant named Li Xiao, who can hit the bull's-eye with a hard bow and heavy arrow seventy steps away, and a certain family is also very surprised." ”

"Some micro-skills, how dare you accept the false praise of the guard." Li Xiao looked humble.

Wang Daoqi looked at Li Xiao more and more pleasing to the eye, he nodded, and said with a smile on his face: "Li Xiao, you have such martial arts, you are a rare talent in my Zhongtun, according to this official, you don't have to succumb to this sentry cavalry, why don't you be the official's family, the official will not wronged you, but you can be the vice captain of my family." ”

After Wang Daoqi said this, Gao Pu's face suddenly changed greatly, and the face of Ren Xingyuan, the captain of the family, was full of complicated colors.

"I am grateful to the king for his love and support. It's just that under the subordinate has been the general of the high level, and has become the deputy team of this sentry cavalry. Wang Shoubei's favor, Li Xiao can only have it, but he is gracious. Li Xiao smiled and replied to Wang Daoqi.

Wang Daoqi was stunned, he thought that if Li Xiao was the vice captain of his own team, Li Xiao would definitely be happy to agree, but he didn't expect Li Xiao to give him face so much, so he touched a soft nail. He had to pretend to cough twice, and his face showed a faint look of displeasure.

On the scene, there was an awkward silence.

Ren Xingyuan said on the side: "Lord Garrison, Li Xiao is willing to stay in the sentry cavalry, and it doesn't hurt to look at it as a humble position. Li Xiao stayed in the Sentinel Cavalry for a while, and he happened to be familiar with the rules of the army, and it was okay to choose him as a family member after a while. ”

After hearing this, Wang Daoqi coughed lightly twice, then glanced at Ren Xingyuan meaningfully, nodded and said, "Okay, then let Li Xiao stay in the sentry cavalry for a while." ”

After Wang Daoqi finished speaking, he turned his head to Gao Pu and said: "Mr. Gao, it has been nearly three days since the recruitment the day before yesterday, why is the number of selected members of the Sentinel Cavalry still so small?" You see, the difference between the ordinary battalion soldiers recruited by the officer himself is so large, but all of them have been made up today. Mr. Gao, it's not the official who said you, you need to know that time is pressing, but you can't delay it any longer. ”

Wang Daoqi's tone was obviously reproachful, but as soon as he finished speaking, Gao Pu replied angrily: "Wang Shoubei, all the people that my sentry cavalry wants to recruit at night are all brave people who can fight with the Tartars, how can they recruit people at will?" If the people recruited are only to fill up the number of people, but they are unable to shoot bows or fight, will it not be in vain to recruit these people to come in? ”

"You 。。。。。。"

Gao Pu's snatching made Wang Daoqi's face suddenly feverish, he knew that Gao Pu was satirizing him for recruiting people indiscriminately in order to quickly expand the army, so that the battalion soldiers were ****, in vain, although they looked neat, but they were just the surface of horse manure.

Wang Daoqi was extremely angry in his heart, he tried his best to suppress the anger in his heart, and said slowly: "Senior General, this official just wants to remind you, don't miss the imperial court's review of major events, this responsibility, I'm afraid you can't afford it." ”

"There are not many soldiers in the army, if we only recruit people to cope with the review, it will only tarnish the reputation of our Zhongtun post sentry cavalry, and it is also ashamed to not accept the brothers who died in the battle of the Daling River the year before last。。。。。。 In short, don't do this fame and reputation bird thing! Gao Pu was unmoved and replied coldly.

Wang Daoqi's face showed obvious anger, his throat trembled, and his right hand trembled and pointed at Gao Pu's face, it could be seen that he wanted to scold Gao Pu very much, but in the end he just flicked his official sleeves and turned around and left.

Ren Guangyuan, the captain of the family, glanced at Gao Pu meaningfully, and hurriedly left with Wang Daoqi.

"Congratulations to the garrison." Gao Pu said calmly behind them.

Wang Daoqi didn't look back, and when he was far away, he suddenly stopped, looked back at Gao Pu's residence very angrily, and scolded hatefully: "The surname is Gao! Don't think that because you have the protection of the general soldier You Shiwei, I can't kill you, one day, Lao Tzu will let you know Wang's methods! ”