The Commander's Office analyzed the current situation, the plague has begun to weaken, the number of deaths has dropped significantly, the most important thing is the problem of food and spring ploughing, the people of Fengzhou are starving, which causes people's resistance to the plague to weaken, it is difficult to say whether there will be another round of more fierce epidemics, and the seeds and farm tools needed for spring ploughing are also a big problem, everyone invariably set their eyes on the Ming Kingdom, the Ming Kingdom is still blocking the border wall, and Fengzhou will be trapped to death in the long run, Li Yu decided to go to Datong in person to find the governor for help, Li Huai also said that he wanted to go to Yanghe to find Song Tongyin, Li Fugui was still not worried about the spring ploughing in various places, and insisted on going down, Yunrong also thought that a large number of Chahar people had just arrived in Fengzhou, and he was really not at ease if he didn't go down to see it, so the two of them patrolled Fengzhou together, and Ortai led others to stay in the Great Commander's Mansion to control the overall situation.

Li Fugui's lame Mongolian wife heard that her husband was going out of the Barbarian Mountain, and said with a handful of snot and tears that their family was rich and wealthy for everyone's life, and she also wanted to accompany her life and death, and rode a donkey and followed on the road.

Datong, the news of the epidemic plague outside the Saiwai came, and the reaction of Zhang Zongheng, the governor of Datong, was to close the various passes, block the border walls along the line, and resolutely prevent the plague from entering the pass - Zhang Yiming and Qu Jiazhen, two unlucky guys, had been beheaded in Beijing last month and abandoned the city, and the former Liaodong Jingluo Yang Hao was beheaded together, this guy was convicted of a capital crime and was imprisoned for almost ten years, this time it finally came to an end, and Zhang Xiao, the former governor of Xuanda, did not run away and was condemned, the little emperor was ruthless enough, at this time the accident was to hit the knife edge, Under the supervision of Zhang Zongheng, this order was carried out quickly and at an unprecedented speed, and the Ming army guarding the border and the young people from all over the country consciously and voluntarily went up to the border wall without paying any remuneration, and did not allow people to enter and outside the border wall, and even the Ming soldiers who came back as deserters were resolutely blocked out of the border wall, causing these guys to wander around under the border wall, leaning on the people on the side wall to beg for a living. Li Yu was also blocked out of the pass when he arrived at the victory pass, he took out the seal letter of the general Jingyu and tried his best to speak, and finally the victory guard put him in the pass for the sake of the face of the old relationship.

When Zhang Zongheng learned that Li Yu had come to find him, he immediately guessed what Li Yu was looking for him for, and asked his family to tell Li Yu that their master was busy with official business and didn't care about seeing him, so he could find his immediate boss Datong General Soldier if there was anything. Li Yu went to the General Military Mansion to find Man Gui again, Man Gui met him very politely, Li Yu just started to complain, Man Gui shook his head and said sympathetically, he also knew the situation in Fengzhou, it was indeed more difficult, but he could not do anything, the food and salary of each military town were taken care of by the local governor, and his own military salary was not paid, how could you have the spare strength to help, you should still find the governor to go.

Man Gui said the words to death as soon as he opened his mouth, Li Yu had to leave in frustration, Man Gui suggested to him with great concern when he was leaving, this mess in Fengzhou can't be saved at all, you might as well go back to the customs as soon as possible to find an errand again, with the Du family to support you, he Man Gui will make some more efforts, and it is not difficult to change an errand, and there is no need to die.

Li Yu left Mangui, and suddenly thought of Wang Mumin, the general soldier of Datong Fuyi, this is an old brother, and he immediately found Wang Mumin again. Wang Mumin's official room is near the governor's yamen, there is only an old man guarding the door at the door, when Li Yu saw this old brother, this guy was sleeping on the table, he was the easiest in Datong, the people were all managed by Li Yu, it was not his turn to care, he also figured it out, anyway, he was just a decoration, it was better to eat if he had nothing to do.

Li Yu woke up Wang Mumin, Wang Mumin was very happy, and finally looked forward to someone chatting with him, but as soon as he heard Li Yu's intention, he immediately shook his head vigorously, little brother, you can't find anyone to find me, I just have the title of a general soldier, I have no real power in my hands, I can't transfer a soldier, I can't transfer a liter of food, I can't help you. Wang Mumin complained that Li Yu had robbed him of his job, and Wang Shizhong in Xuanfu still had Chahar people who often caused trouble, and Wang Shizhong needed to caress him from time to time.

After talking for a while with the bored Wang Mumin, Li Yu said goodbye when he had something in his heart, walked aimlessly on the streets of Datong for a while, and when he looked up and saw the prefect's yamen, Li Yu's heart moved, this Datong prefect Ma Shiying was kind and very capable, maybe he could help himself think of some way, so he went to the prefect's yamen again.

Ma Shiying is still the same, seeing people smile, Li Yu was pulled into the study by him as soon as he arrived, the old horse is better than Zhang Zongheng can be a man, Li Yu's heart is hot and poured out a stomach of bitter water, the old horse couldn't help but sigh when he heard it, and expressed his sympathy for the suffering of the people of Fengzhou from the bottom of his heart.

Li Yu said with red eyes: "Now more than 6,000 people have died, and there have been fewer people who have died in the past few days, but there must be thirty or forty people every day, if it is not for the lack of food, so many people will definitely not die, this year's spring ploughing has begun, we can tighten our stomachs and endure with less rations, the lack of farm tools and seeds is a big deal, the governor does not see me, and the general soldier can't help me, so I have to come to beg the adult." ”

"Han Min, this official can't help you," Ma Shiying shook his head, Li Yu's head hung down again, Ma Shiying pondered for a while and then said, "There are people from the Jingshi Taifu Temple, they want to see you, the official knows that you have a deep grudge with the Taifu Temple, and you can't hide the matter of selling livestock to the Guannei without permission, if you talk to them well, maybe they can help you." ”

Li Yu was confused, Fengzhou and Datong Taifu Temple branch from last year to now, no one is willing to bow their heads first, Fengzhou has already thrown off the Taifu Temple, and started the smuggling and trafficking business, although Li Yu has always shirked and has nothing to do with him, but the discerning person knows at a glance that Li Yu is the black hand behind the scenes, Li Yu estimates that the people of the Taifu Temple have the intention of killing themselves.

Ma Shiying smiled slightly and said: "Hermes-Epitek, don't think that the officials of the Ming Dynasty are all dead-eyed, in fact, everyone has their own little abacus, everyone talks about harmony and wealth, if you cut off their financial route, they will naturally hate you, but if you can bring them wealth, they will immediately run behind your ass." You cut off the trade with them, and the court asked them for horses, but they couldn't hand them over, but you were outside the fortress and had soldiers in your hands, and they couldn't help you, so they had to make peace with you, and if you gave them some benefits, it was possible for these people to help you. ”

"It's up to you." Li Yu said helplessly.

"Okay, let's have a meal together in the evening, from now on to understand the grievances, in the future, we will serve the court together, this time you can't run, you have to eat this meal for diarrhea." Ma Shiying was overjoyed, and immediately asked the servants to inform the people of the Taifu Temple to go to the banquet in the evening, Li Yu was really a little strange, this guy hooked up with people from all sides, it should be a constant meal, why is he still so thin?

Night is approaching, Ma Shiying changed into civilian clothes and went to the banquet with Li Yu, along the way Ma Shiying has been warning Li Yu, you must pay attention to the appearance of eating, you must not eat hard, let alone lick the plate, today the other party came forward is a director of the Jingshi Taifu Temple, don't look at this guy is not a big official, but he is also a Jinshi in the early years of the Apocalypse, he has been in charge of the horse market in Shanxi and Datong for a long time, he is bold and shrewd and capable, he is a well-known figure in the horse market in the two towns, and the people in the rivers and lakes are called "the big old king", this is not a person who is easy to deal with.

Datong is a border town and has always been a gathering of businessmen, at night the restaurants are more lively than the daytime, a restaurant a few streets away from the prefect's yamen is full of traffic at this time, the guests are full of people, some women with heavy makeup are laughing and welcoming the guests into the door. Ma Shiying seems to be a frequent visitor here, as soon as he appeared, a few bewitching women surrounded him with a pungent aroma, and the old horse was not polite, and these women hugged and hugged and entered the restaurant, Li Yu, who was wearing a shabby uniform, and several personal soldiers behind him, such as Mo Rige, Chen Erzhu, Liu Shishi, etc., were ignored.

Li Yu sneezed all the way to the richly decorated private room upstairs with Ma Shiying, the people of Taifu Temple are magnificent, and the restaurant on the first floor is all covered, Li Yu followed Ma Shiying into the private room, and their own personal soldiers and entourage stayed outside the door to wait. There were already a few people in civilian clothes waiting in the private room, and there was a tall fat man with a big beard and about fifty sitting at the main table of the wine table, Ma Shiying called "Lord Wang" and bowed to this person, and pointed to Li Yu and introduced that this was General Li, and the fat man also hurriedly returned the salute to Ma Shiying, but ignored Li Yuli, and then the two sat down hand in hand, and the people in the private room also sat down separately, and everyone talked with laughter.

Li Yu was left to the side and ignored him, and he quietly found a place to sit down, before his ass could sit firmly, the fat man's entourage glared at him and shouted, "You are so rude, who told you to sit down", "My lord is here, why don't you hurry up and report your name and surname to meet you"......

"He is an official and does not understand etiquette, so don't be surprised." Ma Shiying hurriedly said.

"I'm not a Yiren, I'm a Han Chinese, and my hometown is in Yulin," Li Yu was enraged, slapped the table and roared, "I'm a third-grade general of the imperial court, and you are a few rank officials, so you should report your name and surname to meet me." ”

The fat man's entourage is even more popular, this guy is a vulgar martial artist who dares to contradict Wenchen, it's almost overturned, not to mention that this guy also robbed them of their jobs, three or four kittens pounced on each other with their teeth and claws, pointing at Li Yu and scolding, Li Yu couldn't help it, stood up and grabbed the collar of the guy who made the most trouble, Li Yu was too tall, and this one led the guy from the ground with his feet off the ground.

"If you dare to scold me again, believe it or not, Lao Tzu tied you up outside the gate and fed the wolves." After Li Yu finished speaking, he threw it away, and the guy rolled to the corner of the wall and gasped for breath, and the others were so frightened that they retreated a few steps and didn't dare to speak, Li Yu pointed at the fat man and shouted: "You are the master of the Jingshi Taifu Temple, just say it if you want to talk about anything, I don't have so much effort to accompany you." ”

Ma Shiying's face changed, no matter how high your military attache grade is, it is a rough goods, it is natural to worship Wenchen, this guy is still confused, he hurriedly scolded Li Yu to sit down, and explained to the king in a low voice, this guy's brain is broken, and he doesn't need to be as knowledgeable as him, the king was angry in advance, but soon smiled and waved his hand, indicating that he didn't care.

On the one hand, the horse market is responsible for the task of purchasing war horses and cattle, camels and other important livestock for the imperial court, on the other hand, the horse market is also the main source of income for the Taifu Temple, the Taifu Temple buys livestock from outside the border at a low price and then sells it to the traders in the Guannai at a high price, the profit in the middle is very large, and the imperial court also takes money to the Taifu Temple as a "city capital", which is used to purchase mink, cloth and silk and other goods to the south and sell them to the border, which is a considerable income. The imperial court now wants to fight in western Liaoning, the northwest wants to calm the chaos, and everywhere asks for money and horses, but the Taifu Temple can't take it out, so the imperial court is anxious to force the Taifu Temple to find a way, and the Taifu Temple will force the directors of the divisions to find a way, and the two towns of Shanxi and Datong in charge of the Wang are in charge of the horse market has always provided livestock and income for the Taifu Temple, and his pressure is also the greatest, but since the end of last year, he has hardly received a horse and made a sale, and now he can't sit still, and he ran to Datong in one breath to know, Datong, The Jingyu staff general and the people of the Taifu Temple branch outside the border of the two towns in Shanxi turned their faces, and the people of the Taifu Temple branch were also anxious like ants on a hot pot, accusing Li Yu of smuggling and selling smuggling, they didn't dare, there were too many people involved in the trade here, including officials from Datong and Shanxi, and even more nobles and eunuchs from the Beijing division were involved. The king has been working in the horse market for many years, and understands that these Yi people can't be suppressed at all with the royal order of the court, so after thinking about it again and again, he decided to talk to Li Yu, so he found the local snake Ma Shiying, and secretly promised the benefits, and asked him to help match the bridge.

Ma Shiying saw that the atmosphere was too embarrassing, and immediately asked someone to serve wine and food, and also found a group of fans to accompany the wine, but this meal was very awkward, Li Yu didn't have a good impression of these people, he didn't care what others did, even a fan sent to him was driven away by him, and everyone only cared about eating his own stuffy head in front of everyone's eyes, Ma Shiying glanced at him a few times, and secretly kicked him a few times, but Li Yu ignored it, so angry that the old horse ignored him, but the king watched him eat and drink with interest.

Everyone was still laughing and noisy at the wine table, Li Yu stood up and said that he was full, turned his head and walked out, Ma Shiying was about to have a seizure, but Director Wang stood up and said: "General Li is really a bold person, this official still has some things to discuss with General Li Shen, can you go to the tearoom next door to talk about it?" ”

"Yes, yes, Counselor Li is also asking Lord Wang for advice." Ma Shiying didn't wait for Li Yu to speak, twisted him and left.

The three of them arrived at a quiet tea room, and Director Wang took a sip of tea, suddenly replaced his official dialect in Beijing with a mouthful of northern Shaanxi dialect, and asked softly: "General Li's hometown is Yulin?" Then we are fellow villagers, and our official is from Suide. ”

"My second brother said that my hometown is in Yulin, but I just can't remember what my hometown looks like." Li Yu's heart moved, and he also replied in a northern Shaanxi accent, Li Yu's current accent is very mixed, both Liaodong accent and Shanxi accent, and after staying with Li Huai for a while, it seems that he remembers some northern Shaanxi dialect.

"General Li has been away from home for a long time, and his accent has changed a little," Director Wang heard some things about Li Yu in Datong, sighed and said, "We are poor in Yansui, the common people can't afford to eat, and those of us who came out to be officials are also having a hard time!" ”

Ma Shiying scolded in his heart, this old guy will also pretend to be poor, as far as he knows, this Wang Chief's family is not ordinary rich, but he immediately said in his mouth: "This official also knows that Lord Wang is a clean official, Han Min, Lord Wang is also a bold person, you are fellow villagers, it is fate to meet together today, you must talk about it well." ”

"This official is older than you, let's call you Hermes, Hermes, you have something to do, you control Fengzhou River to guard the border for the imperial court, this is also the glory of our Yulin Town, how can you play a child's temper and not trade with Taifu Temple? I need horses and livestock, and the people of Fengzhou need food and cloth, which is the best of both worlds, why do you interfere? ”

"Lord Wang, Han Min is young and vigorous, and there are some things that he lacks consideration, but he is loyal to the Ming Dynasty after he is loyal and good, and he will definitely change it, don't you say? Hermes-Epitek. ”

Ma Shiying and the big old king struck left and right and knocked Li Yu's head unconscious, but although he ate soft and not hard, he was not stupid enough that a few soft words from others could make him sell Fengzhou, Li Yu knew that Lao Ma and Da Lao Wang must have more eyes than him, so he simply stuffed his head and didn't speak.

"General Li, aren't you in trouble? Lord Wang is here to help you. Ma Shiying saw that it was useless to talk for a long time, he was a little anxious, and Li Yu raised his head and asked: "The horse market is not open, how can I go to the horse market to trade?" ”

"This is easy to do, the epidemic situation in Fengzhou is almost the same, the two towns of Datong and Shanxi should open the horse market soon, and the official can also ask the governor of the two towns to help in the name of Taifu Temple." The king said indifferently.

Li Yu still shook his head: "I don't have so many livestock to sell to the imperial court, Fengzhou is too poor and plagued, everyone is starving, the price of horses given by the imperial court is too low, and the price of grain in the horse market is too high, I can't force the people to sell livestock." ”

"Stupid, you won't go out to rob if you don't have livestock, the tribe outside the gate doesn't rely on looting to get a good life, and people like you deserve to starve." Ma Shiying was also a little unbearable.

"General Li, don't think that I don't know what you do, you must hand over the horses and livestock to the imperial court," the king saw that Li Yu was about to get angry again, and then said, "This official will not take care of your little fellow countryman, and the branch of Taifu Temple and your business will continue to do it, but this official will not embarrass you again, the price is absolutely fair and reasonable, and the child is not bullied, if you want, this official just has a batch of grain and iron tools in his hand that can be credited to you first." ”

"General Li, everyone should have a share in the business of Fengzhou, you can't just let Ma Qi swallow it alone, Taifu Temple also has to do the business of Fengzhou." Ma Shiying finally made it clear, the imperial court had long stopped issuing "city books", but the people of Taifu Temple had money, and they got together to do it themselves, and the livestock that the imperial court wanted could be fooled, but their own business must not be sloppy, and the goods that were given to Li Yu on credit first were also smashed in their hands and could not be sold.

Li Yu continued to shake his head, and handed over the horse at the price given by the imperial court, Fengzhou suffered too much, and the king was so angry that he stomped his foot and said, "What do you have to lose?" My eldest king ignores you, you just pick up private salt and saltpeter to pass the test, I think who dares to care about you? ”