In fact, among the officials of the left-behind envoys, as the object of Zhou Huai'an's attention and chatter, Meng Xin, the pro-battalion commander under the command of the Left Army Envoy who was in charge of sitting in the hall, fell into a certain hesitant predicament and contradiction.

He was not tall and even slightly rickety, and was born with a horizontal eyebrow and rough hands; And the exposed hands and feet are also full of cripples from the wind and rain and calluses that have been painstakingly polished. Therefore, even if you put on a soft robe with a good guiguan cloth, it is still difficult to hide the hardships and hardships of the past, leaving behind new and old wounds and other profound traces.

He was a fellow villager and clansman of Meng Kai, and the so-called "river thieves and friends" who joined the righteous army together in Shannan Dongdao were born in poverty.

Because of the Jianghuai area, near the river and the mountains, the river valley is deep and there are many wilderness hides. Since ancient times, the coastal residents have been fierce and bold by nature, and they like to fight wars, and when they are poor, they even raise villages to rob them; Even the prosperous periods such as Zhenguan and Kaiyuan cannot be exempted, but can only be forbidden.

The famous poet Du Mu mentioned in the "Book of River Thieves": There are natives in the south of the Yangtze River who check each other's surface and how many ten and a half of them, and cover the land of relying on the Huaijie River soldiers. There are soldiers in the villages and villages, openly thieves, and nine relatives in ten families.

Under the tyranny and high pressure of the government and the officials, the people who ruled the land were thieves, and many people joined the ranks of the river thieves nearby, so as to escape the recourse and labor of the government.

In addition, the imperial court implemented a monopoly policy of salt tax tea and strictly banned smuggling, which exacerbated this trend; As the so-called "patrol pawns, all over the state and county", "salt is estimated to be expensive, merchants take advantage of the time to shoot profits, the poor in distant towns are poor and have high prices, and there are people who eat lightly and are swollen like elephants." ”； It was these tea and salt smugglers who came into being that began to merge with local residents and river thieves, forming an intricately intertwined relationship.

The Meng clan is one of the wanderers/river thieves who live on the river all year round; Every year, when the water rises, it is risky to put the row and sell wood for the industry, and when the water is dry, it will drift on the river and rob the traveling brigade and the eunuchs, and also take the smuggler of salt and tea to sneak through the pass and cross the card for its profit. Among the wealthy families living in grass markets and small cities along the river, it is also the famous "Paitou Meng".

Therefore, he also got in touch with the Huang Township Party, which started selling salt in Henan, very early. After Huang Chao, the head of the Huang family, raised troops in the township and went south, the upstream households and river thieves led by Meng Kai responded to the killing of officials and the burning of the patrol courtyard and the city, and gathered the crowd to defect to him, so he became a very valued cronie and confidant under the account of the Yellow King with his courage to fight and use his life.

But the current situation is a little bad for Meng Xin himself, because many mistakes and omissions and deficits were suddenly discovered under his hands; Some of them came from his ideas and instructions, and some of them were made up by his subordinates.

Originally, I thought that it was just some inevitable waste and small mistakes in the process of expropriation, as long as I waited until the next expropriation and grain ripening period, I could find a way to fill in and deal with the past; But I didn't expect that the people under him were even more timid and fat-hearted these days, and they turned him into a big hole that couldn't be cleaned up.

There is also a stupid boy he is optimistic about who he didn't know who he instigated, because the accounts were not clear and he was afraid of the involvement, he actually led someone to privately put the routine calculation of the person who was done with a stick, and bagged it to help plant lotus (Shenjiang), and thought that it would be over. And he later found out that it was not the first time he had done such a thing in the days when the Void Monk was not there.

That virtual monk is a figure who does not rub sand in his eyes, and the rules and regulations of the various financial transactions left behind by his subordinates are created by him; If you want to fool him with these stupid tricks and tricks in the army, it is better to hope to drown the fish in the water.

You must know that since the establishment of the Left-behind Division, there have been dozens of leaders and soldiers who have not acted very well for a while because of this, and have violated military law and planted in his hands; Once he is allowed to be ruthless in the big truth, even if it is his own Meng general, he will have to concede three points.

Now even if these unscrupulous dogs are slaughtered on the spot, it is not of much use. These things implicated many of his subordinates, and once they were exposed, he could not escape the joint involvement of a prison leader who was incompetent and harmed the public and private interests; Even if there was Meng Jun who could excuse him for intercession afterwards, then he would no longer be able to stay in this prosperous and luxurious Guangfu City.

At this time, someone came to the door and gave him a suggestion, which could provide him with a handle about the virtual monk; As long as he is indifferent to certain people and things in the city at the moment, he will be able to watch from the sidelines;

He sighed heavily, there was nothing more embarrassing than choosing between Brother Meng's duties and ethics, and his own inseparable vital interests.

"I just want to give them a chance."

After thinking about it and hesitating again and again, in the end he could only comfort and convince himself like this, and then he heard a subordinate from outside.

"Captain Bingdu, the letters that were routinely sent to the front of the army have been collected."

"Don't send it out in a hurry, bring it to me and show it to me."

Meng Xin couldn't help but command in his heart.

。。。。。。

Outside the small north gate of Guangzhou, the former site of the old camp of the angry wind in Zengguang City; Cheng Da, who had just completed his daily routine swords, shields, bows and spears for those new pawns, and was drenched in the cool river, also met an old acquaintance who came to visit.

It's just that the other party, who has a good relationship and origin, and who once shared a piece of chaff cake in the most difficult period, is dressed as an ordinary soldier in a cloth shirt, and the situation of pretending to be a messenger soldier comes to him, which makes him can't help but notice a trace of unusual meaning.

"Biter, someone asked me to ask you a question."

After retiring the redundant guards on the left and right, the people who came uncovered their burdens and sat on the river bank to get straight to the point.

"If someone wants to sell everyone, they will exchange their righteous military career and the current situation for their own future."

"Are you going to stand on that side, or are you going to go on to help each other?"

"It's impossible, I'm going to do my best to stop it."

Cheng Da bit and stood up shirtless, regardless of the words.

"Even if it costs my life and everything else..."

。。。。。。。。。。

In Lin Yan's farewell house, in the half-moon hall under the wind and lotus moonlight, Zhou Huai'an once again accepted the private hospitality of the master Lin Yan; It's just that compared with the politeness and prudence of the previous time, the corresponding atmosphere this time is much more relaxed and leisurely; The people who sat with them were no longer those wealthy businessmen, generals, and Qing guests, but just a few important subordinates under the name of the left-behind division.

So he was more open in terms of speech, and Lin Yan, who seemed to have gone to a good mood, even called out his favorite Ka Sanniang, toasted in court and felt a poem to sing and sing:

"In the autumn and half of the year, when the sky is in the sky, I am far away and I am envious of Yu Gong.

The rainbow shadow is divided into silver men, and the rabbit is full of jade feasts.

The sheng song is sent to welcome the cold leak, and the ice and snow sing to eliminate the eternal night wind.

Although Xiang Dongtang first folded the laurels, it was not as good as the guest seat at this time. ”

However, among the people present, only Zhou Huai'an brought a number of companions, except for the Jiangnan native Shui Wang Hanying and a song "Sleeping Lotus", the others were all chickens listening to ducks and had no ability to appreciate it, but they just pretended to be vassals and applauded indiscriminately because of the face of Lin Yan's woman.

For the parties concerned, this is undoubtedly a kind of wordless sadness and sorrow.

"Seeing the little lotus leaf under the Juntang, I was shocked that the spring was empty.

Take a nap in the Xitang Pavilion, and enjoy the spring breeze in a leisurely spring dream. ”

In the singing and accompanying music, there are dozens of colorful dancing girls in the hall, and the skirt sleeves are flying like flowers.

"These are my new concubines. Some were given by others.,Some were copied and didn't come.。。 But they're all carefully selected colors,"

Lin Yan, who was half-drunk, approached Zhou Huai'an

"If you have your eye on that, even if you say ... Even if you take it all away after the feast, it doesn't matter. ”

"Brother Lin, you're drunk...

Zhou Huai'an sighed in his heart, the other party has reached this point naturally in the face of the corruption and depravity of the rich life; If you want to covet something, in fact, there is the entire Guangzhou former teaching workshop for you to take and want.

"Our brother may not be able to live a better life in the future, and there is a chance to take in more. What's the matter?"

Lin Yan squinted his eyes and said.

"Don't shirk,"

"You may have some truth in what you say."

Zhou Huai'an dealt with it half-truthfully.

"However, I have some plans in the near future, and I need Brother Lin's assistance."

"You and I are one and the same. What is there, though, it's okay to say. ”

Lin Yan waved his hand inarticulate when he heard this.

"I'm going to sell all the gardens and mansions that were confiscated by my subordinates to auction them one by one."

Zhou Huai'an pretended to be serious.

"Then, what you and I can use as our capital is not."

"Okay, it's worthy of being a virtual brother, it's really thoughtful,"

Lin Yan seemed to have misunderstood something, and he said more and more.

"When we become officials with the government in the future, we really need some gifts to send and deal with those officials and subordinates in the name."

After chatting about some related things, Zhou Huaizhongyu felt bloated and was led to the back end of the Half Moon Hall.

"The slave and maid are waiting for the guest to go to the toilet."

There was a voice in the dim light in front of him, but standing behind the fluttering hanging curtain, a maid in a bun in a green dress and a plain skirt saluted him Yingying with a hundred stacks of silk scarves.

Okay, Zhou Huai'an sighed again, this Lin Yan can't do anything else, this kind of arrogant and lascivious upper-class people and other tricks and rules have been fully learned, and even the cleaning afterwards uses silk yarn.

"You go out first, it's uncomfortable for someone to look at me."

Zhou Huai'an naturally hasn't developed the habit of being booed by onlookers, and in a few words, he invited her to the outside room to standby.

Just as he was facing the furrow of the camphor wood. When he began to brew emotions and prepare to pour thousands of miles, his attention involuntarily turned to the bun-tied maid who was still waiting outside through the pane of Yinghua.

Although she was born with a mediocre appearance, she was also an inconspicuous existence among the slaves and maids; But if you look closely, your posture is graceful and light, and the more you look at it like a lotus wind and a willow, the more you look at it, the more it tastes. Could it be that I didn't toss at home enough last night, how can I be dominated by hormonal instincts, and even this kind of goods can be hard.

Then Zhou Huai'an habitually opened the scanning range of biological features; Well, at least there is nothing more left in the vicinity of this house except for the retinues and slaves and maids who have brought their markings.

He even scanned the side house not far away, two living features closely superimposed at an oblique angle; Well, it looks like there are still people who can't wait to roll over like conjoined babies by taking advantage of the opportunity to go to the toilet; Zhou Huai'an suddenly felt a little embarrassed, he suddenly remembered that the ancient place of respect seemed to be a place where romance often occurred.

is like the Empress Wei Zifu of Emperor Liu Che of the Han Dynasty, who was sent to serve Liu Che who came out to play when he was a housekeeper in the palace of Princess Guantao, and was fortunate to be in the clean house; After all, in a private environment, as a strong man, there is a certain probability that he will go off the spot when he takes out his private guy and shushes him in front of a good-looking girl.

Then, suddenly, his hairs stood up a little, and he choked back his urine.

(End of chapter)