In the middle of October of the fifth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, it has entered the early winter season, the weather is getting colder and colder, the wind blows outside the Saiwai, several flying tiger flags and black eagle flags outside the victory mouth are blown to hunt sounds, and the cavalry of the Fengzhou Army wearing red tasseled hats and sheepskin jackets have been neatly lined up under the military flag. Li Yu stood in front of the queue, whispering to Wu Dayou, the new commander of Xuandewei, and Liu Qian, the garrison, from time to time, and glanced in the direction of Menbao from time to time, Jin Sheng, Liu Xingzuo, Bai Xianzhi, and Na Mu'er also stood not far away while rubbing their hands, and chatting without a word - the new governor Liu Zhilun has arrived in Datong and will leave the customs today, and the Grand Commander's Mansion specially appointed the four of them to accompany Li Yu to meet him in order to get closer to the new governor.

"Dashuai, Wang Yongqiang and I are also old men, we have never left the battalion, and we don't understand local affairs, why did you send us to the guard? I still can't figure it out. Liu Qian complained with a bitter face, this time the military system reform guard and the battalion exchanged some officers, Liu Qian and Wang Yongqiang were transferred from the sentry commander of the front battalion of the infantry army to Xuandewei and Xinghewei garrison, the original Xuandewei garrison Asari entered the Zanhua Military Affairs Office, and the original Xinghewei garrison Haishan was transferred to the left battalion of the infantry army, replacing the dead Ma Danian as the deputy battalion officer, and everyone else had no opinion, including Haishan, who was demoted by one level, was also happy to take office, but Liu Qian and Wang Dongqiang, who were promoted by leapfrogging, had some emotions.

"Just because you two are old people, so you were transferred to the guard, you have to recuperate in the next three or five years, there will be no big war, there are too few promotion opportunities in the battalion, you both have guerrilla ranks, you can't always occupy the position of the sentry commander and don't move," Li Yu explained to Liu Qian in a low voice, and pulled Wu Dayou over and said, "Brother Wu is an old guard, Liu Qian, if you don't understand something, just ask him for advice." ”

"I'm not boasting, I was a thousand households at the beginning of Fengzhou's business, and later became a garrison, and the things in the guard can't help me, Liu Shoubei, don't underestimate the errand of the garrison, the responsibility is great! Our Fengzhou battalion has too few soldiers, and the garrison must be ready to fight at any time, but we dare not be sloppy. Wu Da nodded and said, he had just been transferred to Xuandewei - Xuandewei's anti-Ming sentiment was too great, the Great Commander's Office changed the original head to the errand, Urden was transferred to the newly established Governor of the Department of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Zhang Mengcun was transferred to the Prime Minister's Office to participate in politics and take charge of civil affairs, and Cai Ruxun was retained as the secretary of the Prime Minister's Office to participate in politics. Today's Xuandewei upper echelons are mostly new faces, Wu Dayou is the commander, the garrison is Liu Qian, Tongzhi is reappointed from the former deputy garrison Li Wanqing, and Zhang Guoji and Xu Jingxian from Datong are respectively appointed as servants and deputy garrisons.

Li Yu was talking to Wu Dayou and Liu Qianzheng, and Li Quan, the general of the Victory Fort, came, this is also an old acquaintance of Fengzhou, he often dealt with Fengzhou when he was on the guard of the victory port, and learned that Li Yu had arrived at the side wall, and hurriedly invited him to the victory mouth: "Dashuai, you may have to wait for a while, it is better to go into the castle of the last general to drink a cup of hot tea." ”

"Forget it, I have a lot of people, so I won't trouble you." Li Yu smiled and waved his hand.

"It's very cold outside the gate, the commander's soldiers are already wearing winter clothes, we haven't issued cotton clothes for two years, and I don't know if we will reissue them this year," Li Quan glanced at the queue of Fengzhou soldiers and asked him the question he was most concerned about, "The commander, the governor has arrived at naturalization, are you still doing business?" ”

"Of course I did, the emperor has to give us a bowl of rice to eat when he comes, and the business will get bigger and bigger in the future." Li Yu replied affirmatively.

"That's it, we haven't paid military salaries for many years, and we also expect to rely on your business to earn some money to support our families," Li Quan breathed a sigh of relief and handed a stack of official documents to Li Yu, "This is the Tang newspaper I got from the guard Guan Yushi, the big marshal took it to pass the time, I went to the side wall to see if anyone came." ”

Li Yu flipped through the Tang newspaper, there is nothing new on it, since he became a naturalized soldier, Datong forwarded the latest Tang newspaper to him once a month, the news in the customs still knows some, the prospects of the Ming Dynasty are not optimistic - the situation of thieves in the northwest seems to be improving, the trilateral governor Hong Chengchou won a great victory in Qingyang at the beginning of the year, and then chased and killed the thieves like a bamboo, the thieves could not gain a foothold in the northwest, and fled east across the Yellow River, the situation in Shanxi was more critical, threatening Beizhili and Henan, and dozens of thieves of all sizes relied on Taihang Mountain to attack Liaozhou in the north. Shuozhou, south to Zezhou, Huaiqing, east of the Daimyo, Changhua, west invasion of Pingyang, Lu'an, Shanxi officers and troops are insufficient, unable to suppress thieves, the imperial court had to mobilize officials and troops everywhere to fill this bottomless pit, Cao Wenzhao, Zhang Yingchang, Li Bei, Ai Wannian in the northwest, Changping's Zuo Liangyu department, Sichuan's Deng Xi department entered Shanxi one after another, Henan governor Fan Shangxiao could not get reinforcements, simply recruited the folk of western Henan, strictly guarded the line of northern Henan, and beware of thieves being driven into Henan. The emperor unceremoniously dismissed him, and Zhang Fengyi, who replaced Xiong Mingyu, was like a pins and needles, and asked the imperial court to issue an edict ordering Zhang Zongheng, the governor of Xuanda, to move to Pingyang, and Xu Dingchen, the governor of Shanxi, to move to Fenzhou. The situation in Shandong seems to be improving, Zu Dashou sent Zu Kuan and Li Chongjin to lead 3,000 Liaoxi iron cavalry into Shandong, under the command of Zhu Dadian, the governor of Shandong, and Chen Hongfan, the general soldier, defeated Kong Youde's rebels in Shahe and Huangxian twice in August, and then besieged Dengzhou, Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming were trapped.

Lord Hong Chengchou could not kill all the thieves, the result of the thieves was to drive the thieves into Jin, and the governor of Xuanda and the governor of Shanxi were stationed in Pingyang and Fenzhou, which was equivalent to drawing the ground as a prison and waiting for the rabbits, and they could not deal with the thieves who were wandering around. Kong Youde is afraid that it will be finished, it would be good if his Dongjiang army could make up three thousand, the others are Shandong soldiers who followed the coaxing, and they are by no means the opponents of the elite of Liaoxi, this guy will not wait for death, when Lao Khan is alive, he will surrender Dongjiang Town, and force him to be in a hurry, he will definitely run to the Jin country, that is not a good thing for Da Ming - Li Yu pondered, and couldn't help but shake his head, if Da Ming really can't hold on, he will definitely drag Fengzhou into the water, and he won't be able to stay out of it at that time.

"Dashuai, Lord Liu has arrived at Fort Shengsheng and is rushing to the victory pass," Li Quan ran back to report, and casually pushed a middle-aged man in a green cloth cotton robe behind him forward, "Lao Ma ate the lawsuit and was sent to Fengzhou by the imperial court for crimes. ”

"Let the handsome man see and laugh!" Ma Shiying, whose face was flushed, bowed his head and bowed to Li Yu.

Li Yu couldn't help laughing, Ma Shiying was also an unlucky guy, he finally became the governor of Xuanfu, once he had the power in hand, he immediately used six thousand taels of treasury silver to send it to Beijing to express his gratitude, this was also the practice of Ming officialdom, and it was natural to give money to be promoted, but unfortunately he met a surveillance eunuch Wang Kun who had nothing to do - this guy was taught a hard lesson by the emperor because he concealed and did not report the matter of Shen Di, the governor of the former Xuanfu, and Dong Jishu, the chief soldier, who had paid his own money, and was trying to find a reason to cater to the master, and found the bad behavior of the old horse, and did not hesitate to write to expose it, Poor Lao Ma has no background in the court, no connections, no one to speak for him, and he was dismissed from his post after less than two months in the position of governor, Li Yu learned about this from the Tang newspaper, and sent people to Xuanhua to comfort Lao Ma, but he didn't expect the court to drive Lao Ma to him.

"Master Ma, let's call me Hermes-Epitek, don't look at your trouble, I still recognize you, what you want to do in Fengzhou, just say, I will never let the adults suffer." Li Yu pulled Ma Shiying and said.

"Don't call me an adult, it sounds harsh, call me an old horse. Li Hanmin, you are still embarrassed to laugh, I asked someone to go to the door, I could have been sent to Nanzhili Military Town, all because of you, the Criminal Department insisted that I am familiar with you, and I can help the imperial court educate Fengzhou, and kick me here, I am considered to have been hurt by you! Ma Shiying started a fire as he spoke, and the officials of Fengzhou came around with a smile to comfort Lao Ma's wounded heart.

Between talking and laughing, Liu Zhilun and his entourage went out of the customs, and the Fengzhou army immediately blew the military horn, and at the same time set fire to Tianming, Li Yu and Jin Sheng led the officials to greet and salute Liu Zhilun.

Liu Zhilun's trip dragged on for some time, the imperial court was busy with Shanxi and Shandong to quell the turmoil, and almost forgot about naturalization, and the officials did not issue an official document until the end of September, and also appointed some officials to Liu Zhilun to take up his post with naturalization. Liu Zhilun finally dragged his officials to Yanghe, Zhang Zongheng only said a few words to him, "Don't make trouble", and hurried to Pingyang, to Datong, Zhang Tinggong was already sick in bed, and pushed the matter to Wang Mumin, and didn't care about anything else - Wang Mumin's current identity is Fengzhou's trade ambassador, according to the agreement reached by Zhang Tinggong and Li Huai, stationed in Datong to handle Fengzhou and Datong negotiations, his actions were fast, and immediately arranged for Liu Zhilun and his party to go out of the customs, and personally accompanied him, However, the number of officials who followed Liu Zhilun dropped sharply from a dozen when he left Beijing to four or five, and the others either ran away on the road or refused to leave in Datong.

"Brother Yuan Cheng, it's been hard all the way." Jin Sheng held Liu Zhilun's hand and said, the two good friends finally met again.

"Zhengxi has also worked hard, the border is difficult, you look much thinner, and your face has darkened," Liu Zhilun replied with emotion, turned his face and looked at Li Yu and Na Mu'er who saluted him and said, "Hermes-Epitek and Xinsheng have also worked hard, you have made great contributions to the imperial court in naturalization and opening the town, are Hanmin still studying?" What kind of book are you reading? ”

"The disciple is not good, in the past few years, he has been busy with official affairs and has not taken care of studying, and he always can't remember it when he looks at it occasionally." Li Yu blushed, scratched his head and replied embarrassedly.

Liu Zhilun shook his head dissatisfiedly, and immediately shouted again: "Why didn't your hair grow up, did you read the Book of Filial Piety in vain?" And your clothes, which are unseemly and ugly, do you want to be a fool? ”

Li Yu was frightened, Na Mu'er also hurriedly covered his hat, the characteristics of Fengzhou's head is short hair or baldness, where will hair grow, Fengzhou's clothes do not use the style of Hanfu right, but round neck, straight open, narrow sleeves, long but knee-long, this is also to integrate Huayi ethnic groups, to avoid the dispute between the left and right of Huafu and Hufu, the original is the style of official uniforms and military uniforms, the people of Fengzhou have no culture, everything is practical, I feel that this kind of clothes save fabric, and it is convenient to work, and gradually became popular, and became a standard Fengzhou uniform, Liu Zhilun is a master of science, known as Liu Shengren, and of course he is angry when he sees his disciple dressed like this.

Liu Zhilun pointed at Li Yu and Namur and reprimanded, Liu Xingzuo and Bai Xianzhi had participated in the Gyeonggi War and had a good relationship with Liu Zhilun, so they wanted to go up to say hello, but when they saw Liu Zhilun's angry appearance, they also held their heads and shrank back, the sound of trumpets and guns stopped, and the soldiers looked at the master and scolded the apprentice in amazement. Li Quan was a little embarrassed, quietly said hello and went back, several officials who followed Liu Zhilun out of the customs immediately followed him to the customs - what Wang Mumin said on the road frightened them, Fengzhou officials are meager, and they have to farm their own fields, and what is even more terrible is that there is no sedan chair in Fengzhou, and they all rely on horseback riding to go out, and they don't have a body of riding and archery kung fu, maybe they will be bitten by wolves in the wilderness.

"Brother Yuan Cheng, the outside of the gate is not as good as the inside of the gate, you will know after a while, don't patronize and scold Hanmin and the new students, your people are going to run out." Jin Sheng grabbed Liu Zhilun and persuaded him, and pointed behind him casually.

"It's all you who spoiled the two of them," Liu Zhilun huffed, turned around and glanced at the few officials who ran towards the Guannei, and said contemptuously, "A group of useless things, it's better to run out, they won't cause less trouble along the way, and they won't be able to do their business when they get naturalized, Xue Yanshi, if you want to go back, you can do it." ”

"The last general is willing to stay with the lord," the young military general replied, and then walked up to Li Yu and said: "The last general, Xue Xianguang, a native of Qingzhou, Shandong, was born as a martial artist in Chongzhen's fourth year. ”

Liu Xingzuo laughed: "It turns out that you are going to Xinghewei, okay, I am short of people there, I can remind you first, Xinghewei is very hard, whether you can stay is up to you, if you can't stand it, get out of it as soon as possible." ”

"The last general has suffered hardship, what do you call it?"

"The general Liu Xingzuo, the deputy general of the imperial court, is also the current commander of Xinghewei, but this official position has not been given by the imperial court, you are the first official appointed by the imperial court of Xinghewei, if you make up your mind, you will return to Xinghewei with me in two days."

"The last general is willing to follow the Lord." Xue Xianguang replied firmly.

"It's getting late, let's get on our way." Jin Sheng waved his hand and said, Li Yu helped Liu Zhilun and Ma Shiying onto the horse, and said a few words to Wang Mumin, Wang Mumin went back to Datong with a smile, and the group immediately walked north.

The Manhan Mountain Commander's Mansion, the three giants of Fengzhou, Ortai, Li Huai, and Li Fugui are sitting in danger, and the servants Yunrong and Zhao Ji, and Du Wenhuan, Zhang Mengcun, and Cai Ruxun who participate in politics are sitting carefully on the side - after the reform of the official system in Fengzhou, the number of people who participate in politics has been reduced, and these people plus the general leader Li Yu, the deputy commander Liu Xingzuo, Batu, and the servant Namur, this is the central core of the current pre-import, and the other ministers and political participants will all be abolished, and some people are immediately dissatisfied, including the four people sitting opposite - Sun Tingyao, Li Jianji, Shen Tingyang and Fan Yongdou happened to be representatives of the Qin merchants, the Jin merchants, the Nanzhili merchants and the border merchants.

"Why do you withdraw my mission, how much effort I have contributed to Fengzhou, and others can't remove me." Sun Tingyao said angrily.

"And me, I'm from old Fengzhou, and my qualifications and merits are a little bit worse?" Fan Yongdou was also crying out.

"Lao Fan, you are the assistant director of the branch bureau, Lao Sun, Lao Li and Lao Shen are also the governors of the Silver Banknote Bureau, so they naturally have the identity of a political officer, and they have to handle government affairs in the Great Commander's Mansion all the year round, can you do it? Old Sun, aren't you planning to go back to your hometown to live for a while? Lao Fan, can you guarantee that you won't run for half a year to do business with a pat on the ass? Li Huai replied.

"I won't go back to Guannei, you have to give me a political rank, Lao Shen didn't come, but Ji Ming is his nephew, you have to arrange it, otherwise Lao Shen will be so chilling." Li Jianji said with a smile.

"The center is dealing with important military affairs, will you do it? Let's take care of your business with peace of mind. Yun Rong scoffed.

"Why wouldn't we do it!" Sun Tingyao and Li Jianji immediately shouted, one of them wanted to be a general since he was a child, and the other dreamed of being a bachelor who governed the world, and he thought he still had a set, Li Jianji boasted casually, "You don't know, the people of Fengzhou trust us the most, and they are scrambling to ask us to be hundreds of households, judges, and jurors, what you can do, we can also do it, Zhang Yanshi, I'm right, right?" ”

Zhang Mengcun bowed his head - the people of the Chamber of Commerce were particularly active during this time, claiming that they would share weal and woe with the common people when they became naturalized in Fengzhou, not only actively participating in the autumn exercises and public service, but also paying out steamed buns and buns out of their own pockets. Zhang Mengcun, Wang Fang and a gang of farmers and herds were the most unproductive, and they had no money to carry out activities, so they had the cheekiness to ask the Chamber of Commerce for sponsorship, and when they got the money, they also shouted for the Chamber of Commerce. Fengzhou Chamber of Commerce became famous for a while, and grabbed more than a dozen hundred official positions in one breath, and the two levels of law and law at the thousands of households and health offices also had their people, and the people also said that the businessmen had good eyes, and they were literate and insightful, compared to the original officials who were woody and woody, and did not know a single word, the Great Commander's Office was helpless about it, and people had the right to participate in the public examination after naturalization, and it was not good for you to say that their naturalization was fake, and almost all the guys who participated in the public examination were wanted criminals of the Ming Dynasty, and there was really nowhere to go except Fengzhou.

Li Jian stood up proudly, pointed his fingers and continued: "Yu Bucai, you also know a little bit about government affairs, aren't you not short of finance and taxes?" I'll help you out; Don't you have no money to rebuild the city of naturalization? I'll help you out; Aren't you lacking people to cultivate your professional and military fields? I'll help you out; Aren't you in a garrison short of weapons? I'll help you solve it, no, I should say that we, we are a family. ”