After figuring out this section, Li Mao said: "I know that Su Xiaodu's place, except that it is close to Yanzhou, it is actually not suitable for building a city, not to mention anything else, there are only 800 households in Su Xiaodu Township, and 4,000 military horses are stationed there, and it is a problem to eat and wear." ”

Zhang Ye smiled when he heard this, and said: "It's not a question of whether it is suitable for building a city, the distance from Yanzhou is the key, one wants to go, the other is suspicious but doesn't let go, you say what the result will be in the end - hang you in the wilderness, give you freedom, but you want to go, there is no door." ”

Li Mao said: "This is also true, but there are two lines of military and government, and he went to Chengwu County to build a city and has nothing to do with me." Zhang Yao shook his hand and said: "Otherwise, the army pays attention to mountains and factions, he is building a city in Chengwu County, how can he succeed without local assistance, according to the usual practice, a person who is familiar with the local situation, has connections, and can do things will be transferred from the local government to be an envoy." This person never wants to have anything to do with Yunzhou, he must be a clean person, preferably a newcomer like Brother Maohua, so I said Brother Maohua, your opportunity has come. ”

After a pause, Zhang Ye said again: "A person like him thinks very highly of himself, his eyes are on the top of his head, if he doesn't mean anything to you, how can he talk to you?" You forgot that when he was leaving, he also took the initiative to raise his hand to send you here, Hugh should underestimate this move, and no one in the entire Caozhou except Hu Yuanjun could bear his lift. With this foreshadowing, as long as you show a little closeness to him, in the blink of an eye, it is a robe and a body, and the envoy is the envoy of the military government, and he has always been filled by the shogunate, if he wants to pull you to be the envoy, you must first ask Yunzhou to set you up as the shogunate, and the officials enter the curtain, and the lord of the mansion is to invite you to be an official according to the rules. Brother Maohua, you say, isn't such a good thing worth congratulating? ”

People often associate the words "official" and "official" together and mix them together, but the fact is that the identity and status of officials are very different, officials are in charge of government affairs and have the right to make decisions on things, and officials only have the right to execute specific affairs.

Take the gold catcher he is now serving as an example, on the surface, the scenery is infinite, but in fact, he has to report to Xue Rong in every detail, and he can't be any master, but Xue Rong is more trustworthy to him, so he is given a certain decision-making power, otherwise he is also a small role in running errands.

Li Mao knew that he had no knowledge, no military merits, and no family background, no matter how much Xue Rong reused him, he was just an official, and it was really difficult to cross the gap between officials and officials!

Now the opportunity to inadvertently change the fate of his life has come, which made Li Mao a little trance for a while, and he repeatedly told himself in his heart: God-given opportunity, but you have to seize it tightly, and if you seize it, you will not come to this world in vain.

Early in the morning of the second day, he rushed to Chengnan Pass, seven miles south of the city, to pick up Yu Hualong.

After hitting a wall several times, Yu Hualong also recognized the reality and fought with Li Shigu, he was not strong enough. Now is not the time to turn around, you have to reach a compromise with Yunzhou to build the city, and with this city, you have the capital to bargain with Yunzhou. Yu Hualong wore casual clothes and rode a sturdy Hexi horse, the horse's fur was smooth and shiny, and it was like satin. The two officers who traveled with him, one named Yin Mu, is currently the deputy envoy of the Qing Navy, because the envoy is Li Shigu's person, and has been set aside, Yin Mu is the actual head of the Qing Navy. The other is the "Sang Little Ghost" Sang Rong who forced Li Mao to drink vinegar yesterday, he is Yu Hualong's entourage, and his status is similar to that of the guard captain in later generations.

There was also an elegant civil official, surnamed Wen Shucheng, who was the envoy of the city bureau and the judge of grain in Zhennanguan, and was also the most trusted advisor around Yu Hualong. In addition to this, there are six elite guards accompanying the guards. Everyone was dressed as civilians, but the fierce and brave aura still completely exposed their identities.

Ten people brought twelve military horses, two extra horses, one is Yu Hualong's reserve horse, the other is for Li Mao to ride, to Chengwu County in these three months Li Mao has learned to ride a horse, although the riding skills are average, but riding a horse to fight in different battlefields, Li Mao can still deal with it.

After separating from Zhang Ye yesterday, Li Mao told Qingmo and Zhang Xuan to go back to Chengwu County first to report to Xue Rong the news that Yu Hualong was about to arrive in Chengwu, and left Zhao Tongren to distribute the remaining gifts in Caozhou City.

Chengwu County is about a hundred miles away from Caozhou, Su Xiaodu is sixty miles northeast of the county, Yu Hualong and his party went around the city directly to Su Xiaodu Township, one hundred and sixty miles down, Li Mao's lips bit and saw blood, and the bones all over his body were like falling apart.

Walking three miles north from Su Xiaoduzhuang is the grass lake, and five miles to the northwest is a low hill, the hill is lush and overgrown with miscellaneous trees and shrubs, Yu Hualong looked at the low hill and asked the clerk: "How is this place?" The clerk put three locks of beard in his hand, squinted his eyes and looked at the surrounding terrain, and said: "This place is surrounded by mountains and water, with a wide field of vision, Puzhou in the northwest, Yanzhou in the northeast, Xuzhou and Songzhou in the southeast, and Jiyin in Caozhou in the west. It is very appropriate to build a garrison, but ...... Merely...... The geography here is remote, and it is not easy to recruit people. ”

Everyone laughed together, and everyone knew what the clerk was not satisfied with. Su Xiaodu is good at everything, but he is too close to Yanzhou and can't get rid of Li Shigu's clamps.

Yu Hualong carefully inquired about the situation in Su Xiaodu Township, and was particularly interested in how many residents there were and how many people could be recruited. Li Mao had already done his homework, and he answered with confidence, and after briefly introducing the summary of Su Xiaodu Township, he replied: "Su Xiaodu Township has 823 households, with a population of 4,300 people, 940 adult Ding Fu, and 1,200 half-men and healthy women. Within a radius of 50 miles, there are about 1,300 households, with a population of 6,000, about 1,200 men, and about 1,700 half-male women. ”

Yu Hualong was very satisfied with Li Maoneng answering such an accurate figure, and he said to Yin Mu and Sang Rong: "Instead of hitting a wall everywhere like a headless fly, it is better to choose this, open up the joints within the year, and start construction at the beginning of spring." Yin Mu muttered: "If the city is built according to the strategy approved by the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Industry, I am afraid that it will take 5,000 people to work for a year to complete, even if all the people within a radius of 50 miles are gathered, there is still a shortage of nearly 4,000 people, how to solve it?" ”

Sang Rong squinted at Li Mao, and said with bad intentions: "How to solve the problem of the people is something that the magistrate has to worry about, let's just build the city." Capture the gold envoy, you say. Li Mao said: "If the new city is set here, the local government will help each other." The clerk applauded exaggeratedly, and Yin Mu also praised it. Yu Hualong thought for a while, then made up his mind, and he looked at Li Mao with blazing eyes: "You are responsible for recruiting a thousand men and women from the locality, and we will come by ourselves if there is a shortage of manpower." ”

Li Mao's cheeks were hot, his heart jumped, and he hurriedly said: "The general is raised, I don't dare to refuse, but Li Mao is just a small official, is the general discussing the matter of recruiting the people's husband?" Yu Hualong said: "No need, when I return to Yunzhou, I will petition the prime minister to appoint you as an envoy, collude with the military and government, and contribute to the construction of a new city for me." Sang Rong said: "Ha, go to the envoy, this is an errand, at least a nine-rank official." ”

Li Mao ignored him, gave Yu Hualong a deep salute, and said, "Thank you for the general's cultivation, and I will not disgrace my mission." Yu Hualong hummed with satisfaction and turned over on the horse. Li Mao was taken aback, and hurriedly climbed on the horse's back, his legs were stiff like a log, and when he climbed on the horse's back, the group had already walked out for half a mile.

Li Mao rushed left and right, and finally caught up with the brigade outside Chengwu County, he panted and said: "Please enter the city and rest the horse, Chengwu County will fulfill the friendship of the landlord." ”

Yu Hualong said: "In recent years, there are still many joints to be opened, so I can't enter the city to visit Xue Mingfu, and in the spring of the next year, I will come to the door again to thank you." The clerk told Li Mao: "The matter of building the city is still confidential, and I ask Maohua to keep his mouth shut, so as not to cause complications." Sang Rong leaned towards Li Mao and whispered: "That land is not a borderless land, you can raise some money to buy this land, and resell it to Yunzhou in the future. After speaking, he winked at Li Mao narrowly, and left with a laugh.