More than 200 miles away from Cangzhou, Pinglu (Ziqing) Jiedu is in Laizhou Jimo County.

In a large prison covering an extensive area, the former Fujian tycoon who is once again in prison, and now the Cantonese special business representative Suo Luomeng; In the midst of the constant cries and pleas for mercy in all directions, he calmly devoured the coarse food that was served in limited quantities in prison.

At least compared to the fact that he didn't touch the food of those rancid pigs and dogs, his treatment and situation have gradually improved a lot. For example, the cushion on which he sat was no longer a blackened and rotten straw, but a half-old leather mattress; The raft can also shine on the sun for two hours.

compared to the prisoners around him who were arrested and imprisoned or even tortured because they could not pay the money for the army, miscellaneous donations, and assessments; The reason why he is here is the result of some kind of unfavorable years.

You must know that he originally led a fleet of ships, and was active in the southeast and along the coast of Lianghuai; It even took more than a year to develop and establish a simple port city and settlement area at an estuary on the Ryukyu Island on the other side of Fujian, so as to provide transit berthing for passing ships, as well as limited means of maintenance and repair.

Then, on the one hand, he traded deer skins and other local products with the island's raw barbarians, and on the other hand, he successively recruited thousands of landless people from Fujian and the coastal areas of Zhejiang and Zhejiang Province by virtue of the origins of his family and past related households, and cut down trees nearby to open up more than a dozen large and small villages, and planted crops such as Japanese rice and sugarcane to supplement them.

It wasn't until the end of last year that he received a new assignment from Guangfu Liusi; With a human ship, he began to explore the trade route that bypassed the Tengnae Peninsula and headed further north to the Wa Kingdom and Silla.

To this end, he recruited the right number of men everywhere, selected and purchased suitable ships, and prepared for half a year before the trip was completed. Then, under the guidance of monks and experienced Jianghuai boatmen who had been to the Wa Kingdom, they arrived at the Xiaoliuqiu Islands in the open sea along the southeast tide along the coast of Suzhou;

In the end, guided by the Xiaoliuqiu Islands, it took more than a month to reach the port city of Iki Island under the rule of Dazaifu in Kyushu. As a result, it has aroused considerable repercussions and popularity among the local Japanese people.

There was also a special summoning of Iki Mamoru Sugawara Michizane (one of the four ancient evil spirits of Japan) to exchange official matters. It is also known that the Wa Kingdom is in the eighth year of Yuanqing, and the seventeen-year-old lord Yang Cheng Wang is in power, and the best things in the Tang Dynasty are fashionable.

However, due to the continuous wars and rebellions in Middle-earth, the ships that traveled to the Wa Kingdom along the coast became increasingly scarce. Due to its limited ability to manufacture seagoing ships, the Japanese state itself has repeatedly overturned its shipping routes, so even the last time it sent an envoy to the Tang Dynasty was more than ten years ago.

Therefore, the people of Dazaifu in Kyushu attached great importance to the arrival of the Canton ships this time, and they also drove the slaves and maids to think of labor, and they stayed and stopped in the local area for several months, so that they could return along another trade wind channel after the autumn wind rose full of local products.

As a result, when he was about to arrive off the coast of Chuzhou, Huainan on the way back, he had an accident. A sudden storm and torrential rain separated the boat and the group of boats, damaged the sail cables and drifted to the shore of Laizhou.

Then he was reported to the government by the local people, and even the people and the boat became prisoners of the local Pinglu Army's subordinate forces. Therefore Soromon could see it now; The loss of those cargoes on board is still secondary, and the key is that his basic task has been completed.

As long as you can find a way to get back alive, you can still do a lot on this route. After all, those Pinglu local troops arrested people just for ransom, as long as the problem can be solved with money, he doesn't have to worry much at all.

Therefore, he also took this opportunity to inquire about local news; For example, Wang Jingwu, who is now in power in Pinglu Town, was the one who expelled the former generation of Jiedu envoy An Shiru and took it upon himself to stay behind. Then, before the imperial court could posthumously recognize and grant the festival, the Huangchao army had already invaded Chang'an.

As a result, Wang Jingwu's position as the marshal disappeared all of a sudden, and some of them were not justified; As a result, there have been many local uprisings against him. In addition, Wei Bo's army from Hebei captured most of the neighboring Tianping army.

Therefore, in the name of copying spies, the arrest of the rich families and merchants of the people was also to expand the military resources needed for men and horses and the cost of preparing for war. The boat where Sauromon was was only bumped into by mistake.

When he had carefully drunk the second bowl of porridge, he saw that the door at the end of the prison was opened again, and in the midst of a movement of stretching out his hand to ask for mercy and pleading, the prison steward led several people straight to his ragged room, and said in a low and respectful tone through the wooden fence.

"Master Suo is okay. This time, it's the festival to come down and someone will pick you up. ”

Then Solomon, who was refreshed and sat in the ox cart, got a little unexpected new news from the mouth of the little school who was released.

"Our Wang Jieshuai has already paid tribute to Chang'an, and in the future, Qingzhou and Guangfu will be under the same banner, and more contacts are needed."

- I'm the dividing line -

And in Gangneung City, everything in winter is still moving forward step by step. Occasionally, there are not so tedious vignettes.

"The sinner Yang Shihou visited the Metropolitan Governor, and since he was forgiven, he was willing to serve the Metropolitan Governor with dogs and horses."

He was born lean and tall, with a sharp and angular face and a vicissitudes of life, and his hands and feet were rough cracks and thick calluses, like a hard-working worker, but his eyes were still clear and energetic.

It's hard to imagine that this is the brave general of the officer and army who once fought to the death under the city of Tanzhou, and insisted on resisting to the end in many places, only because he stepped on the pit and fell down because of his exhaustion.

"But I don't know,What do you think about this.。。 Invite yourself to come out and do things.。。 ”

Zhou Huai'an asked.

"Back to the capital governor, sinners did not know the righteousness of the world in their early years, and did a lot of wrong things against the people; Nowadays, it has been repeatedly seen that the people under the rule of the Taiping Army are safe, but they have not heard of hunger, cold, and frost for a long time; Shi Po has remorse, and is only willing to repay it with a meager ability. ”

His answer was quite decent, and although there were no bright spots, he was frank and straightforward.

It's just that Zhou Huai'an couldn't help but complain in his heart after a few words of resignation: As one of the chain reactions after the amnesty of Li Zhan, is this an accidental trigger of persuasion and boarding?

As the highest-ranking general in the Hunan official army who was captured in the Battle of Tanzhou in the early days, Yang Shihou's related transformation experience is also quite representative.

He was first reformed in a labor camp in the miscanthus (sodium sulfate compound) mine in Hengzhou; Then, on the premise of acceptable performance and emotional stability, he was transferred to a slightly less intensive management area, and the Jiepai (kaolin) soil mine was supervised labor.

Because they are more active here, and they are willing to learn new things; There is also a corresponding clerical foundation; Therefore, they were successively requisitioned to the porcelain kiln field in Hengyang and the (cement) raw material field in Hengshui; As a result, because he learned faster than others and was willing to work hard, he went from the most basic foreman and group leader to the middle-level district chief.

Then, the year before last and this year, it was reported to the list of officers and soldiers who were in good condition for the rehabilitation of prisoners and soldiers. So when Li Zan accepted the amnesty and began to seek more auxiliary personnel, he was naturally included in the candidacy.

Of course, Zhou Huai'an, as a little prophet of the traverser, soon discovered that this Yang Shihou was not an idle character. As one of the founding heroes of the Later Liang, he has been evaluated as pure and sensitive, brave and good at riding and shooting in the history of the five dynasties; The silver spear under his command is also a strong soldier in the world who is dominant.

But Zhou Huai'an will pay attention to his deeds because of various film and television works related to the famous "Yang Jiajiang" in later generations. That's right, it is the Yang family who is known as the Yang family of the Manmen Loyal Martyr Tianbo Mansion, and the ancestor of Yang Ye's father and son, who is posthumously recognized by the ancestors and grandchildren, is the silver spear general Yang Shihou of the fifth generation, who is known as the contemporary Zilong.

It's a pity that I didn't know until after the Battle of Tanzhou, because he stayed behind and dragged on, so his direct Shangguan Li Hanzhi, who was later known as the "Fifth Generation Lu Bu", ran away. Otherwise, how interesting it would be for the two to get together in a labor camp.

However, according to the signs of his daily performance, it is not so much that he truly accepted the concept of the Taiping Army in its entirety, but that this person has a strong desire to adapt to the environment; It's also very hard working and self-motivated.

Of course, this is also a more or less normal state for many people under the rule of the Taiping Army today; On him, a reformed prisoner of the official army, it can be regarded as having some typical significance and exemplary role, so after thinking about and weighing, Zhou Huai'an still doesn't mind giving him such a chance;

For the time being, let him participate in the training program for recruits and reserves. In this way, the corresponding surplus value can be brought into play as much as possible under the existing system and legal framework; And he is not afraid that he will have the opportunity to cause loss and destruction.

You must know that the war criminals from West Point and Lu Shi in the Gongdelin have also taught the PLA a lesson. This is not only a winner's mind for his defeated, but also a long-term vision to learn from each other's strengths.

And in the following days, a series of news came one after another, which made this winter particularly lively:

First of all, with the initial completion of the negotiations between Shaanxi, the secret envoy who turned back had only left for more than half a month, and new news came from Yangzhou; It was another major change in Shannan West Road, but this time it happened in the territory of Xingyuanfu/Lizhou.

The remnants of the Jingnan Army, who were living in the local area in the name of assisting the guard, suddenly attacked, and the Jiedu envoy Song Hao led the rush into the Hanzhong City of Lizhou/Xingyuan Mansion, hijacked and controlled the Shannan Xidao Jiedu envoy Niu Xuan, and called himself Shanxi Liuhou on the spot, and sent an envoy to the small court in Chengdu to ask for a seal.