Zhu Jiu is a person who has done great things in the end, and has the experience of gathering displaced people to preside over the construction of the grange, he has his own set of ideas on how to gain a foothold in Liaodong: first study the geographical customs of Liaodong, the Pinglu Army was stationed in the Liaodong region earlier, and only moved south to Ziqing after the Anshi Rebellion, after 40 years, some veterans are still alive, they miss their homeland, and they still remember the situation in Liaodong.

Zhu Jiu put down the shelf, restrained his temper, humbly asked them for advice, and had a good understanding of the local customs of Liaodong. In the next step, he found Guo Liang, took the medicine according to the prescription, and recruited partners who were sincerely willing to go to Liaodong for adventure.

Guo Liang has not been very happy these days, and he has already been looking for an opportunity to transfer, and when he heard that Zhu Jiu was going to Liaodong, he felt that there was a lot to be done, and he was also very concerned.

After the first batch of 60 people of the advance team was recruited, Mao Taigong rushed over from Yunzhou. Zhu Jiu has the potential to be the boss, but the means of training military horses are very ordinary, which can be seen from the battle of Ye Shuodu, Mao Taigong is different, he has spent most of his life in the military camp, and has specifically presided over the training of recruits, and it is much more efficient for him to preside over the training than Zhu Jiu.

This old man has nothing to do these days in Yunzhou, often holding a lollipop to coax ignorant girls on the street, climbing the wall at night to take care of other people's lives, and spending a lot of time to appease those lonely young women whose husbands are away all the year round. Later, he got into a lawsuit, and he was scared out of a cold sweat, and since then he has reined in a little, going out early and returning late every day, drinking, visiting kilns, sleeping in flowers and willows, playing ball at the corner, and living a leisurely life.

After receiving a message from Li Mao calling him to come to Chengwu County to train military horses, Lao Er shouted refreshed, drank a bucket of wine, and resisted the three girls at night. Early in the morning on the second day, I cleaned up my head, rode a skinny horse, and ran over.

I wish Jiutian is used to being wild, and he has a rough temperament, but he is only convinced by Mao Taigong, he dares to say a word, and Lao Er will definitely not let him get up. As soon as Mao Taigong arrived in Chengwu County, he "took the initiative" to let Xian and "willingly" became his assistant.

There is Mao Taigong training soldiers, Li Mao is very relieved, this old man has a stinky problem, only he is an expert in fighting, he has rolled on the battlefield for half his life, experienced countless battles, seen a lot of killings, knows the cruelty of the battlefield, but the training of the soldiers is very rigorous and serious, and there is no sloppiness.

……

Li Mao stayed in the Zhuangzi for a few days, and saw that everything was on the right track, so he left with confidence. He went to the county government before the Li Literature Network, and he wanted to say hello to the local county magistrate in advance, after all, it is not a trivial matter to engage a group of people to practice in the village, and it is not a joke to be put on a hat of gathering people to rebel.

Li Mao is very famous in Chengwu County, and the county commander Liu Le heard that Li Mao was coming, so he hurriedly invited Feng Bu, who was at home from Ding Wei, to come over as a buffer. The matter of Li Mao's trip to Chang'an was only conveyed to the military state level, and the county order was not yet known, and Liu Le thought that Li Mao was here to find trouble, and he didn't think about the nervous tea and dinner.

Knowing that Li Mao was training a few nursing home guards, he was afraid of local misunderstandings, so he specially came over to inform him, and Liu Lechang breathed a long sigh of relief. drank his life and put on the banquet and accompanied Li Mao to get drunk.

Feng Bu died of illness because of his father, Ding was worried in the township, and the county magistrate knew his relationship with Li Mao and always valued it. After Li Mao left, Liu Le secretly asked Feng Bu about Li Mao's true intention of training soldiers.

Feng Budao: "I heard that he founded the Donghai Trading Company in Dengzhou to run a business with Liaodong, that place is not very peaceful, it is expected that it must be for the sake of safety and training manpower, the Ming government does not need to worry." ”

The county commander breathed a sigh of relief, and thought straight to Amitabha Buddha in his heart, there are huge profits in Liaodong trade, and he can't get involved unless he has a strong background, Li Mao has the ability to run Liaodong trade, this background is through the sky, train a few guards, who dares to ask?

Liu Le laughed and echoed: "Nowadays, there are so many homeless people who eat white rice that they can't catch it, although the government tries its best to catch it, it is still beyond its strength. It is reasonable and legal for the squire to train his troops in order to defend himself, and the county will never interfere much? ”

The words were passed on to Li Mao by Feng Bu, Li Mao smiled faintly, there was a local government to cover him up, he at least let go of half of his heart, as for the other half, there was a copper tiger head, and it was expected that ordinary people would not dare to ask more.

After a long talk with Feng Bu, early in the morning of the second day, Feng Bu was sent away, and Li Mao said to Xiaoru: "You and Guo Ren go to Su Nuxiang to pick up her mother and son, and I won't go." Su Rong has always suspected that Wang Xun's death is related to Li Mao, and she always has a pimple in her heart that is difficult to let go.

Xiaoru understands this, so she doesn't persuade much. She just felt aggrieved in her heart, ** couldn't talk to Li Mao, it was easy to have a chance at this time, but Li Mao didn't say a word of comfort, saying that she was going to leave.

She was feeling aggrieved, and when she heard this, tears fell unconsciously.

Li Mao laughed, hugged Xiaoru in his arms and comforted: "The mountains are high and the road is long, it's too hard." I can't bear you to suffer this, she is about to give birth, she needs someone to take care of her, Aunt Meng is old, her energy is inevitably a little weak, you have to worry more in the future. Su Qing has big things to do in the future, you have to pay more attention to the affairs of the family, Mrs. Ge's side, you have to leave the school as soon as possible, my family lacks a housekeeper, and there is no shortage of girls. Xiao Ru's heart was full of joy when she said this.

She wiped away her tears, sat up straight, and asked, "What about Miss Wan'er, how are you going to place her?" ”

Li Mao said: "She is a smart and intelligent girl, and I am responsible for making her what she is today." Take care of her on my behalf. Just let her be your helper. Xiaoru said: "How dare I, people make good dishes." ”

Li Mao said with a smile: "Okay, let her be in charge of the kitchen, you take care of the money, food, and affairs, and solve problems for the third lady." Xiaoru sighed and said: "It's enough for you to have this heart, there are thousands of people in the family, the male protagonist is outside, and the female protagonist is inside, I can tell this clearly." I don't fight with her, I don't embarrass you. ”

Li Mao smiled: "Xiaoru has grown up and is sensible, I am very relieved." Xiaoru said: "You don't worry about me, I don't worry about you, I'm going to Chang'an for 2,000 miles, how hard it is on the way, you have no one to take care of, how can I rest assured?" I'm afraid that you will be dazzled in Chang'an, and you will not be happy. ”

Li Mao smiled and said, "I'll hand over all the inventory to you today, won't you rest assured?" ”

Knocked down Xiaoru and warmed it for a while.

……

Xiaoru cleaned up herself, turned around and wanted to say goodbye to Li Mao, but when she saw him sleeping on ** groggy, she didn't wake him up, stood on the side of ** and stroked Li Mao's face, and muttered: "Don't be discouraged, let you go to Chang'an to find Zhang Ji, or just want you to go out to avoid the limelight, I still want to reuse you in the future." ”

Li Mao was stunned and heard someone saying this in his ear, and thought to himself that Su Qing is Su Qing, in the end, he is knowledgeable, I have such a wife sitting in the rear, what else is there to worry about.

Because I was relieved, I slept very deeply. Xiaoru was silent for a while in front of **, and walked away without saying a word.

At noon, Li Mao woke up, full of physical strength, only felt thirsty, called the teahouse to prepare tea, and went to call Qingmo and Mo Qi Shentong, prepared the suits, used tea and rice, took advantage of the warm afternoon sun, went out of the city gate, all the way to the west.

……

From Yunzhou to Chang'an, take the Yellow River waterway to Luoyang, and then go west by Hangu Road is the most convenient, Li Mao has something to turn and go to Chengwu County, the waterway can't go, so he has to turn around and take the land route.

Chengwu County to the west is Caozhou, Li Mao did not want to disturb the local government, quietly entered the city, found a building to settle down, was sitting and drinking tea, suddenly a housekeeper with a name post to visit, the name of the post is Caozhou Loulan Pavilion steward Qu Rentong.

Qu Rentong and Li Mao are familiar, with a high nose and deep eyes, and a bit of Hu blood. In the past, he used to run Loulan Pavilion in Gushan Town, and he dealt with him because of the matter of taking land to build houses, and after Li Mao got married, he also took Su Qing to Loulan Pavilion to praise him, and they had a good impression of each other.

Li Mao summoned the housekeeper and asked, "You are well-informed, how do you know that I have arrived in Caozhou." The housekeeper said: "Coincidentally, today the shopkeeper Qu saw Li Shiyu riding into the city on the street, and he didn't dare to see him for fear of disturbing him, so he sent me a post to ask for a meeting." ”

Qu Rentong is delicate and cautious, which is very much Li Mao's appetite, he smashed Qu Rentong's name card in his hand, and said with a smile: "When you meet an old man in a foreign country, it is a beautiful thing." You go back to the shopkeeper, I will set up a table here tonight, and invite him to come over and have two drinks. The housekeeper said: "How dare you, we have prepared a banquet and are waiting for the royal master." ”

After the housekeeper left, Qingmo asked Li Mao: "What does the surname Qu mean?" Li Mao said: "What's the point, it's nothing more than to see us on the road alone, I'm afraid of being lonely for a long night, and I want to arrange it." Qingmo laughed and looked at Mo Qi's magical power with ill will. The latter's face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and he glared back at Qingmo in disgust.

The size of Caozhou Loulan Pavilion is similar to that of Gushan Town, but the business seems to be much more deserted. For several years in a row, Caozhou is either flooded or drought, or there is a locust plague, the people are rich and thin, and the poor are dragged to death, coupled with the diversion of Gushan Town, Caozhou's industries are withering, and there are fewer and fewer people who have spare money and spare energy to come to this fireworks land.

Qu Rentong waited at the front door, and led Li Mao to a secluded courtyard surrounded by flowers and trees. There are six women waiting on the side of the road in the small courtyard, although the posture is not considered a national color, and the fragrance is also one in a million. After all, Caozhou is a small place, and it has been unlucky in the past two years, and the local tyrants and old wealth are not able to consume the national color and natural fragrance, which can be regarded as doing their best.

Qingmo "licked" the six beauties one by one with his eyes, which made the six veterans of the flower field bow their heads unconsciously. Qingmo was very proud, raised his eyebrows, and knocked on Mo Mao's supernatural power, which snorted and stood behind Li Mao with a righteous face.

After a few words of greeting, Qu Rentong led Li Mao to sit down. The six oirans were divided into two shifts, four of whom served and drank, and two of whom led the singing and dancing. Qu Rentong didn't mention anything, and Li Mao also pretended to be confused, just drinking and listening to songs and dancing, and never mentioned anything else. (Dissertation College)