Li Mao said: "I don't dare to hide it from my sister-in-law, I have an urgent matter to see, my brother set up a few other Zhuangzi behind our back to recruit the old Qing Navy to cultivate, I know that he is kind enough to take in those homeless people, but some people above don't see it that way, they frame me and say that my brother is going to gather a crowd to rebel." ”

Wu exclaimed: "Oh, this is completely a false accusation, how could Shucheng do such a thing, he just played tricks, if he really wanted him to take the lead in doing this, how could he have the guts?" He's an honest man. How good is this, how good is this......"

Wu Shi cried in fright as he spoke, and Li Mao hurriedly reassured: "Things haven't come to this point yet, didn't I come here to inform you in advance." ”

Wu wiped away his tears and said, "Then what to do now, what is the way to crack it?" ”

Li Mao said: "This, this ......"

When Wu saw him spitting and spitting, he wiped away his tears, called the housekeeper and asked, "Why hasn't Da Lang come back yet, Maohua is on official business, how can he delay for a long time?" ”

The housekeeper replied: "Dalang is in Xiaojiazhuang, eighty miles west of the city, as soon as the judge comes, the villain will send a fast horse to report, the person has been sent out for half an hour, and he will be back after a while." ”

Wu suppressed his spirit, barely squeezed out a smile, called someone for new tea, and talked with Li Mao, but after a while, he suddenly heard someone coughing outside, but saw Shucheng walking in with a horsewhip, and Li Mao hurriedly got up to greet him.

Wu Shi said angrily: "Maohua has been waiting for you for a long time, why did you come." Shucheng said: "Since I received the news, I have been flying back with a flying horse, hurrying slowly, but my riding skills are not perfect, and I am delayed." Wu glanced at her husband worriedly, and said to Li Mao, "You guys chat, I'll go prepare tea and dinner." ”

Shucheng returned to the city yesterday, and his wife stayed up all night**, when he got up in the morning, his body was soft and he couldn't walk, so he rested in the back hall, and overheard Li Mao's visit, which was expected to accommodate the Qing Navy scattered soldiers, so he asked Wu to come forward first to probe the mouth, he sat in the backyard, and the two clever little maids passed back and forth.

Li Mao knew that Shucheng was at home, but he refused to come out to see him, so he hardened his heart, scared Wu into crying with a few cruel words, and forced Shucheng to show up to see him.

There was no one in the house, neither of them mentioned what happened just now, Li Mao said a little about going to Dengzhou to meet Sang Rong on the sea, and he was not much surprised to see Shucheng, thinking that he knew the truth, so he said bluntly: "Yun Shuai has always been afraid of the Qing Navy, and the copper tiger head knows what you have done, thinking that there is a big chapter to do, and is mobilizing people to solve the problem." Some of them took my advantage and leaked it to me in advance, and I hastened to consult with you, and I don't know what your plans are. ”

Shu Cheng sighed and said, "I expected such a day. He shook his head again, "There's nothing I can do. ”

Li Mao said: "Either sell the Zhuang house, dismiss the Zhuang guests, or go to great lengths to move people to Liaodong." ”

Shu Cheng was silent for a while, and said: "How much does it cost to migrate thousands of people to Liaodong, is Yunzhou willing to agree?" Can your friend at Bronze Tiger Head help? ”

Li Mao said: "When we leave Ziqing, it will only be good for him, and Yun Shuai should be happy to see it." Shucheng said: "Liaodong has become a barbaric land, even if you cross the sea, how will thousands of old and weak be settled?" They don't even qualify as pirates! ”

Shu Cheng was not unaware of the danger of his situation, but he was unwilling to let him give up everything in front of him, so he complained and said something heavy. As soon as the words came out, he regretted it again, if he had really been targeted by the copper tiger, whether he left or not, could he still be left to him? The Qing Navy Admiral Shu Cheng recruited the old department in Qizhou with bad intentions, and anyone who committed it could start a big case in order to advance to the ranks.

As for the situation in Liaodong, Shucheng still knows a little. Since the Anshi Rebellion, the Pinglu army guarding the place went south to Ziqing, and this place was gradually eroded by the barbarians, and the Han people who were unwilling to move south and were unwilling to Huhua moved south to the sea, built a walled city for autonomy, and made a living by operating overseas trade.

They transported the mink, beads, and spices of Liaodong to Dengzhou, and then sold them to the interior, and then imported grain, cloth, iron and steel merchants from Dengzhou, and at the peak of the maritime trade, accounting for about one-tenth of Dengzhou's overseas trade, and then because the Qing navy moved to Caozhou, the pirates at sea rose, and the merchant ships without the escort of warships were repeatedly robbed, so the sea route was interrupted, and the current trade between the two places was reduced by about ninety percent compared with before, which was already very small.

Sang Rong, born as a pirate, has the talent of a general, is familiar with everything on the sea, and has a great prestige among pirates, it is naturally not a big problem for him to move the old headquarters of the Qing Navy to Liaodong, and on the way from Qingzhou to the harbor, there will be no big twists and turns with the escort of the copper tiger head.

Shu Cheng gritted his teeth and said: "I can go to Liaodong, but I can't mix with you, I want to go north along the Liaobei River, choose a place to build a fortress, set up camp, and then make progress in Xu Tu." The cost is huge, who will help you? ”

Li Mao said: "I'll raise the funds, and if you need anything to go to Liaodong, you can make a list, and I'll prepare." ”

When Wu heard that Shucheng was going to Liaodong, he was stunned, and after hearing the reason, he cried and said: "Where you go, where I go, no matter how hard and difficult it is, I will not be separated from you." ”

Shu Cheng said: "It's me who has burdened you, the barbaric land of Liaodong, how difficult it is to gain a foothold, you still go home and live for a while, and when I settle down there, you will go over." Wu put his arm around her husband's waist and said with tears in her eyes: "Hugh wants to take me away, I won't go anywhere, just follow you." The scholar who said the words burst into tears.

Shucheng promised to relocate the thousands of old Qing Navy troops raised to Liaodong, which made Zhao Jinglai overjoyed. He has a deep relationship with Li Mao, and Li Mao has a close relationship with Shucheng.

In order to send Shucheng off as soon as possible, Zhao Jinglai used the resources in his hands to purchase several farms and mansions under Li Mao's name at a high price, and supported him in disguise. Li Mao used the money to set up the Haidong Trading Company in Dengzhou, and with the help of Zhao Jinglai, he won the privilege of running Liaodong trade.

Trade with Liaodong had always been lucrative, and Li Mao borrowed 250,000 yuan from the silver cabinets in Yunzhou and Dengzhou, most of which was diverted to the cost of migration.

Shu Cheng persuaded a total of 2,200 old Qing Navy troops to agree to move to Liaodong with him, plus their families totaled 6,000 people, and these 6,000 people moved slowly to Dengzhou under the strict supervision of Tonghutou, according to Li Mao's planned migration route.

Along the way, the local government was responsible for supplying food and water, and guarding safety, so although the migration was hard, it was safe and sound.

There were already 40 sea-going ships waiting in Dengzhou Port, and the ships were hired by Li Mao in the name of Haidong Trading Company, and the first half of the sea crossing was guarded by the Dengzhou Zhenhai City Naval Army, and the second half was guarded by the Beisha Chengsha Boss.

Sha Boss is a pirate raised by the head of the copper tiger, crisscrossing the coast of eastern Liaodong, with few opponents. He had trade dealings with Tonghutou, and for the sake of Zhao Jinglai's face, he took a large benefit from Li Mao before agreeing to escort him.

It was the autumn of the twentieth year of Zhenyuan, Shucheng crossed the sea to Beisha City, and half a month, most of the old Qing Navy went ashore, on the way encountered wind and waves and capsized three ships, about 500 people died in the sea, and 36 people died of disease, a total of 5,876 people safely landed in Liaodong, and after resting in Beisha City for ten days, they took a small boat to the mouth of the Liaohe River.

Encountering bandits at Yanshanzhai at the mouth of the Liaohe River, Sang Rong was hit by eight wounds and repelled the bandits. Three hundred men were killed in this battle, and one hundred and twenty women and children were taken captive.

In mid-October of that year, Li Mao received a letter from Shu Cheng, saying that he had settled in Yingpankou in the middle and lower reaches of the Liao River, with a population of only 4,800 and a loss of three-fifths of his grain.

This is undoubtedly an extremely tragic migration, in addition to the loss of the migration team, Li Mao and Zhao Jinglai, who presided over this great migration, were also under pressure from all sides.

Rumors in Yunzhou that Li Mao had secretly colluded with the old Qing Navy and had been targeted by the copper tiger and that measures were about to be taken against him were rampant.

Practice has proved that the so-called rumors are often far ahead of the prophecy, Li Shigu has not summoned him for two months, what is he thinking?

After thinking about it, Li Mao decided to go to Gao Mu to explore the situation.

Gao Mu met Li Mao in the old duty room when he was a personal officer outside the middle hall.

After being promoted to judge, Gao Mu was still willing to stay here to work, although the space was small and poorly furnished, it was the closest place to the power core of Ziqing, and Gao Mu liked such a place.

Gao Mu's official case was facing the door, and when he looked up, he could see half of the courtyard, and he still maintained the habit of being a personal officer. At that time, his duty was to serve Li Shigu, and there was not much desk work, facing the door, so that he could be summoned at any time.

When Li Mao entered the door, Gao Mu was busy with desk work, and Shushi asked Li Mao to have tea in a room next to him, Gao Mu raised his head and beckoned, "Don't go, Maohua." Li Mao sat down across from him, and Shushi made tea and withdrew.

Gao Mu finished a work of urgency, called Shushi to take it away, raised his head and looked at Li Mao, only smiled and said nothing, Li Mao took the initiative to say: "I'm here to ask for sin." ”

"What is Maohua's crime?" Gao Mu still had a smiling attitude.

Li Mao told the rumors outside and said: "The reason why I helped Shucheng cross the sea was to relieve Ziqing's henchmen, and it was by no means as ill-intentioned as outsiders rumored. The marshal treats me like a mountain, how dare I have two hearts. ”

Gao Mu said with a smile: "Since your heart is open, why are you afraid of gossip, how can you be misled by rumors, you are too cautious." Li Mao said: "The three of them become tigers, and everyone is gold, how can I not worry." ”

Gao Mu smiled and said: "If you know today, why bother in the first place, you shouldn't have touched Shucheng's matter in the first place, he gathered people in the countryside, how could the prime minister not know, the reason why he didn't make a move for a long time was to wait for him to jump out by himself, you inserted a lever halfway, and put yourself on the cusp, did you say that your situation today was not caused by yourself?" ”

Li Mao said: "I regret not being at the beginning, if I had come to ask my brother at the beginning, I would not have the embarrassment I have today." ”

Gao Mu said: "What you said is still reasonable, you are in the same room, you should communicate with each other if you have something, you are good at making claims, intentions or good, but in the eyes of others, it is not like that." I already know about this, and when the time comes, I will explain it to you in front of the Prime Minister. (Dissertation College)