In the middle of December of the fifth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, after a heavy snowfall, the side wall was white inside and outside, and a thick layer of ice was formed on the Yellow River. There was silence in the study of the governor Xingyuan on the three sides of Huamachi, and the burning charcoal fire was steaming, and Hong Chengchou leaned over the bookcase. Concentrate on splashing ink - according to the Ming military system, the trilateral governor stationed in the Jieguyuan, every autumn to prevent the robbery of the horse fat into the border, then moved to the Huamachi autumn defense, but since the northwest civil uprising, the autumn defense is often perfunctory, but this year is different, Hudun Rabbit Han wanders outside the northwest border, may plunder at any time, Hong Chengchou in Qingyang after the victory in the south, hurried to Huamachi to deploy the town officers and soldiers to take strict precautions, fortunately, Hudun Tuhan in addition to the death of the barbarian entanglement to ask for money and food, stay in NXGS two towns outside the border is honest, On the contrary, it was the people of Fengzhou who followed Hudun Tuhan into the edge of Yulin to cause trouble for him.

"If you think it's hot, take off your leather jacket, you don't have to be restrained here, the court didn't issue you an official uniform?" Hong Chengchou glanced at Li Yu who was standing on the side, this guy was wearing an old sheepskin jacket and wiping his sweat.

"Your Excellency the Governor came empty-handed except for a general guard, my lord, do you think the imperial court is bullying?" Li Yu took off his leather jacket indignantly, revealing a patched round-necked green cloth military uniform with three teeth and claws on his chest.

"Forget it, you better put on your leather jacket." Hong Chengchou waved his hand at Li Yu, this guy has short hair in winter, and he is wearing a rag coat with bells and whistles, how can he have the demeanor of the general soldier of the Ming Dynasty, and it is almost the same to say that he is a horse thief outside the border.

Hong Chengchou continued to bow his head and write, Li Yu put on a leather jacket and stood aside silently - Fengzhou has been on fire recently, and after Du Hongtai crossed the river, he panicked about lack of food and money, and he didn't care about raising people's face, and secretly trafficked illicit salt to Guannai. The Lingzhou Salt Division, who is in charge of the official salt monopoly in the northwest town, is not easy to mess with, they have a few salt ponds in Huamachi, and they can also call some Sichuan salt from SC, the salt source is not a problem, and the salt tax of the imperial court is also easy to perfunctory. As soon as the central enterprises of the Ming Dynasty became powerful, the salt dealers in Fengzhou were unlucky, and people continued to fall into the legal net, Du Hongtai temporarily made a cameo appearance as the boss of private salt, and he was helpless about it, so he had to stop fighting. When Li Yu arrived in Hexi, he scolded the Lingzhou Salt Division, and the bastard salt official fried the official salt to seven or eight hundred wen a catty, and let the people live, my salt is in good condition and low price, as long as someone buys me, I will sell it, and I am not polite if I dare to do it. Zhang Ding, 100,000 Ma Jinzhong took over the job of selling illicit salt, contacted relatives and friends in his hometown, apprentices and grandchildren to join the gang together, and sold illicit salt with knives. The angry salt officials found Zhang Fuzhen, the governor of Yansui, and asked to mobilize the officials and troops to retaliate, Zhang Fuzhen found out that the other party's backstage was the general soldier of Naturalization Town, and the people involved in the sale of illicit salt also included the officials and soldiers of Yulin Town. Hong Chengchou was taken aback, it was enough of a headache for the rogue and the Han, and then he went to provoke Fengzhou purely to ask for his own hardships, and immediately replied to Zhang Fuzhen not to act rashly, and at the same time called Li Yu to Huamachi.

Hong Chengchou finished writing, picked up the manuscript and read it carefully, Li Yu felt that he had a chance to speak, and opened his mouth to defend himself: "My lord, the last general has no clothes and no food outside the border, and he is lucky to have a little salt in his hand, whoever gives money will sell it to whom, and the money obtained is also used to guard the border food. ”

"Honest and untrustworthy, without your support and courage, the salt dealer dares to use knives and guns to fight against the government? Since you arrived outside the west side of the river, the arrogance of the ruffians and lawbreakers in the army has risen sharply, openly shouting that whoever dares to make their lives difficult will go out of the border wall to take refuge in your fellow countryman, what crime should you be guilty of selling illicit salt and disturbing the morale of the army? Think no one can control you? Hong Chengchou said angrily, to be honest, he doesn't care much about the sale of illicit salt, the Lingzhou Salt Division is subordinate to the Ministry of Households, and the local governor can't manage it, the mountain is high and the emperor is far away, and the fake public is full of private money, but it is more difficult to pay for the local government than to cut their flesh, that is, a lawless person like Li Yu can cure them, Hong Chengchou saw that the salt officials were unlucky and even a little gloating, but Li Yu's appearance made the Yulin people in the army feel that there was a way back, and things that collided and offended Shangguan happened from time to time, This is what Hong Chengchou is worried about.

"It's wronged, I can't take care of the affairs outside the border of the last general, how can the affairs inside the customs allow the last general to interfere, someone must be talking nonsense." Li Yu flatly denied it.

"It doesn't matter if you don't admit it, the official will let you go, and you can also say good things about you to the people, and then open the door and let them go to you Tuntian, and you, a good person, will do it to the end!" This official has killed a lot in the northwest, and he doesn't care about the notoriety of driving people out of the customs. Hong Chengchou said with a sneer.

Li Yu's face turned white, what he was afraid of was this hand, the day when the displaced people in the customs flocked out of the pass, it was definitely when he collapsed, and he was stunned for a while, before he blushed and said: "My lord, the last general will know that he is wrong, please advise!" ”

"Give you a month to settle all the things that have been caused, don't make trouble for this official, aren't you getting along well with Datong Town and Hedong Salt Transportation Envoy? This official hopes that you can do the same outside the edge of Yulin," Hong Chengchou waved a finger and continued to say seriously: "The matter of your stepping on two boats is known to the world, and this official knows that there is a reason for it, and he does not blame you, but you must understand that Da Ming is fundamental, if it is eroded in the pass, you don't want to have a way to live, guard the edge of Yulin, Hudun Tuhan is back, and you are never allowed to take a step back, do you understand?" ”

Li Yu didn't dare to stiffen his mouth anymore, nodded dejectedly, Hong Chengchou changed his face to a smile, picked up the manuscript on the table and said: "Hermes-Epitek defeated the Eastern Prisoners outside the border, beheaded thousands of people, and his martial arts shook the world, and the official was also happy, I couldn't help but write a poem when I saw you, it was still written in the vernacular, and Hermes-Epitek took it back and read it." ”

"The red flag is raised under the barbarian mountain, and my soldiers are mighty and strong; The general is gracious to the people, and his comrades are in good spirits; The desert smoke rises from the side wall, and the Jin Ge Iron Horse is in a hurry; The blood is heroic, the country is dead, and the captives have been extinguished. Li Yu couldn't help but get excited when he read it, and hurriedly shirked it, "My lord, I can't afford to take it back, please take it back!" ”

"How can you not afford it, you are the only one in the general town under the age of thirty who is under the rank of governor of the Ming Dynasty, this official did not misunderstand you, the first battle general of the Ming Dynasty is none other than you." Hong replied.

Li Yu said that Cao Wenzhao was also a first-class general of the Ming Dynasty, but Hong Chengchou smiled and shook his head - his relationship with Cao Wenzhao was a little delicate, Cao Wenzhao was promoted to the position of the general army of Lintao by himself, and his status was higher than that of Li Yu's Tuntian general army at that time, but this person was too good for fame and fortune, and he was obedient to the imperial court, but he was a little half-hearted to the old benefactor. Looks like I don't want to come back. In contrast, Hong Chengchou feels that Li Yu is much better, although he has a simple brain and loves to cause trouble, he will recognize whoever is good to him, and dare to stick a knife in his ribs regardless of Wang Fa, such a person is the most reliable.

Hong Chengchou pulled Li Yu to sit down, the two began to talk at length, Li Yu lamented that his life was hard, desperately struggling forward, but he always couldn't get to the end, Fengzhou finally got a little better, and the population pressure forced him to find a way out in the set, but it was too difficult to solve the tens of thousands of people in the set to eat and dress, and every day felt like walking on thin ice.

"My lord, it's not easy to farm, the land is easy to manage, but farm tools, seeds, livestock, as well as people's houses, clothes, and rations before the autumn harvest, everything costs money, you are worried that the officials and soldiers of Yulin Town will defect to me, in fact, I am more afraid, more people will open their mouths, if you let 20,000 or 30,000 people out of the customs, I can only pull my legs and escape." Li Yu said with a wry smile.

"Hermes-Epitek don't have to worry too much, the land of the Hetao is fertile for thousands of miles along the river, and if it is properly operated, it can feed more than 200,000 people, you have no way out, know the difficulty and do it, and the official will try his best to help you," Hong Chengchou is also very uncomfortable, SX is also short of food and cotton, and he wants to help but can't do anything, he said a little sadly, "Northern Shaanxi is poor, and there are natural and man-made disasters, the imperial court is unable to help the people, population losses are inevitable, meat eaters sit back and watch the people starve for thousands of miles, and the people in the northwest resent the officials for killing too much, but what can the officials do?" If you don't suppress the thieves, all the people in northern Shaanxi will starve to death, and maybe half of the thieves will survive, and the official will have no way out. ”

Hong Chengchou stood up and paced a few steps, looked back and said to Li Yu: "Hanmin, you can raise more than 200,000 people in Fengzhou, and you can also do it in Hetao, rebuild the Chahan Naoerwei, this official will open the Hongshan Horse Market outside Yulin City to you, and will try to support you with some money and grain, the land in Hetao is better than Yansui, and it will definitely become a climate after a few years of operation, so that the displaced people will have a place to live, and maybe the crisis in the northwest can be alleviated." ”

Li Yu shook his head vigorously and kept saying, "I can't do it, I can't do it!" ”

Hong Chengchou pressed Li Yu's shoulders and said loudly: "Hanmin, you can do it, you must do it, look at those dying northwesterners, give them some hope!" ”

Li Yu agreed dizzily, and in the next three days, Hong Chengchou always took Li Yu with him, taught him to be familiar with the customs, landforms and products of various parts of the Ming Dynasty, and also analyzed and explained the national and military systems of the Ming Dynasty. To Li Yu's surprise, Hong Chengchou did not conceal his criticism of the Ming Dynasty, thinking that the Ming Dynasty was full of hidden dangers at the beginning of the founding of the country, such as the side wall in front of him, building thousands of miles long, raising millions of soldiers, exhausting the national strength of the Ming Dynasty, but there were no soldiers available when the war was imminent, almost the laughing stock of the world, and this was from the Taizu Shoucheng family thought, Hong Chengchou instead praised Fengzhou's vigorous vitality, and it may not be possible to create a new way of governing the country over time. Li Yu was also impressed by Hong Chengchou's talent, and felt that Liu Zhilun's master was too angry, but Hong Chengchou thought that Liu Zhilun could go to Fengzhou was Li Yu's blessing, although this person was pedantic, but honest and upright, talented, almost perfect today, Fengzhou relied on Yi people, homeless people, horse thieves and fugitives to establish the foundation, but the next generation of people can not beg for a life like their parents, but need to know right from wrong, know honesty and shame, Liu Zhilun is a model to follow, Li Yu immediately understood, after going back, he will offer his master like a saint.

When Li Yu left, Hong Chengchou also gave him 500 stone grain and 500 horses of green cloth, which moved Li Yu almost to tears, and only left Huamachi after thanking him. Hong Chengchou looked at Li Yu's back and breathed a sigh of relief, Li Yu outside the edge of the Yulin Forest stabilized, the tiger and the rabbit were lonely and difficult to sing, and they were no longer able to set off the wind and waves, and the dying were not to be afraid.

At the end of December, the Fengzhou Senate Lao Wang, that is, the former head of the Taifu Temple, the current Ming wanted criminal Wang Dengdao swaggered to the Zhenbeitai near the Hongshan Horse Market, Zhenbeitai had done horse thieves with Zhang Ding before was his own person, respectfully invited the old Wang into the fort, just after noon, the director of the Lingzhou Salt Division led a group of officials and salt merchant accomplices also arrived. This negotiation was agreed in advance, although the principal looked down on the smuggler of salt, but the old king is different, he is a person who was born in the same Jinshi, and he has been a senior executive of the headquarters of a central enterprise, and he is just a person who is born in the seventh product, the head of the local branch of the central enterprise, this face can not be given, although someone has an accident and is wanted, but he can still get out of the whole body, which can not but be admired, report and expose it, forget it, everyone is a businessman, and the rules of the rivers and lakes are understood.

"Lord Wang, the lower officials have admired the name for a long time, and I will see you today, I am fortunate to meet, I am fortunate to meet!" The director of the Lingzhou Salt Division respectfully saluted the eldest king - as long as people have not been imprisoned, the rules of officialdom must be observed.

"Director Liu is exempt from courtesy, this official is now a counselor of the Naturalized General Military Office, and he is specially ordered by the General Soldier to discuss salt affairs with Er and others," the old Wang Guan did not fall, and reprimanded with a straight face, "You are not small, even my Fengzhou salt dare to ban, the Tiger Wei of the General Soldier will not allow Er and others to offend, and immediately release the arrested, and the seized salt will also be returned." ”

The eldest king was too arrogant, there was no one in his eyes, and when he came up, he let the other party bow down, and the face of the chief Liu immediately sank, and his accomplices jumped up angrily, they robbed the market but died, if they couldn't beat the other party, and the local government didn't make any efforts, they didn't want to sit down with the other party to talk at all, and it was a shame for the salt division of the imperial court to negotiate with the smuggler of salt.

"Hugh has to say wildly, the Ming Dynasty has its own laws, and selling illicit salt is a felony, do you want to die?"

"The surname Wang, don't think that we don't know your details, there is your name on the court fishing documents, and you dare to send this thing that has forgotten your ancestors, thinking that no one dares to arrest you."

The salt officials scolded loudly, the old king was furious, jumped over and slapped him, and the family around him immediately fought when he saw this, and a group of people from the Lingzhou Salt Division did not expect the other party to dare to hit people, and they screamed and pounced, and the two sides scuffled together, and the Ming army outside the door rushed in, and even pulled and pulled to separate the two sides.

"This person is a serious convict who is greedy in Beijing and wanted by the Criminal Department, arrest him, there is a heavy reward!" The salt officials pointed to the old king and shouted to the Ming army.

"This official was ordered to come to discuss a big matter, but someone picked quarrels and provoked trouble, and tied these two to me," the eldest king also pointed to the two most ferocious salt officials and shouted, the Ming army did not hesitate to drag these two guys out, the salt officials were stunned, the eldest king did not give up, and waved his hand to a strong man behind him, "Old Seven, show them your identity and show them the way, so as not to say that we are bullying people in the future." ”

The strong man took out a sign from his arms and waved it proudly to everyone: "See clearly, Daming Jinyi Wei General Banner, specifically check your gang of dog officials, I want to say who is a corrupt official is a corrupt official, I want to say who is a thief is a thief, which one has no shit on the ass to stand up and take a look, I have heard that dozens of officials and businessmen in Datong were beheaded and robbed of their homes, that is what we did, it is easier to clean you up than to step on an ant to death, and those who want to save their lives must be obedient." ”

The salt officials and salt merchants stood dumbfounded and helpless, and Director Liu settled down, and said with a smile on his face: "Lord Wang is angry, everyone is a businessman, and you can make money with harmony, you old man can just say it if you have something to say." ”

"Actually, the official doesn't want to be difficult for you, thousands of miles of officials are only for money, the big officials of the Beijing division have meat to eat, and it is reasonable for you sesame officials to find soup to drink, Director Liu, how many real and how many empty salt tickets issued by your Lingzhou Salt Division, you know that this official also knows that this official played a lot more tricks than you when he was in charge of Ma Zheng in Taifu Temple," the eldest king took a sip of tea and said unhurriedly, "There is a saying in Fengzhou" The overlord business can't be done', so we want free trade, where the salt of your Lingzhou Salt Division is sold, where the salt of my Fengzhou will also be sold, if there is a local government to stop it, you have to give me a salt guide and a salt ticket. What are you shivering about? I don't bully people, Liu is in charge, since the SX civil change, you have run a lot of stoves in Huamachi Salt Farm, I'm afraid the annual salt production is less than fifty percent of the past, and the salt from Hedong and SC must be powerless, I'm not wrong, you can enter salt from Fengzhou if you cooperate with us, and the goods in your hand are enough, and you will make more money, Liu is the director, do you want to do this kind of good thing? ”

"A good thing is a good thing, it's the ...... of the imperial court" Director Liu hesitated.

"The court is a fart, how many years can you be an official of the court? If you don't make a big profit, you have something wrong with your brain," the old king scolded, stood up and stuffed a few copies of the "Naturalization Oath" to everyone, and then said loudly, "Everyone, today is a troubled time, the brain has to live a little, whoever can save our net worth, we will do it with whomever we want, and there is a great news to tell you, there are many large and small salt ponds in the west of the Jacket Dusi, according to the laws and regulations of Fengzhou, private individuals can also mine salt for sale, the rich people in Shanxi are ready to do it, and the bold ones will invest money in shares, This is a golden job for future generations, if it weren't for the fact that you are too bitter in the northwest, I wouldn't bother to tell you. ”