In addition to the recent troubles and pirates in Haizhou, the canal and the Shuhe River, horse thieves and bandits are also a cause of headaches for salt merchants.

In the past, they repeatedly funded the local officials and troops to send troops to exterminate them, in order to protect the salt transportation, but the large amount of silver spent had no effect at all, and this time they finally made up their minds to invite the Shandong army, which was highly praised by Emperor Chongzhen, to give it a try.

Originally, when they heard that Wang Zheng personally led the 12th battalion of Lu to march towards Xiangyang, the salt merchants were a little puzzled in their hearts, could it be that the Shandong general army could not do anything after receiving the money, it would be too domineering.

But they were wrong, although Wang Zheng is now a little arrogant in his heart, he will not accept the money and do nothing, since the military order has been passed down, this Haizhou Shandong army will also pacify it anyway.

The salt merchants had a lot of channels, and soon found out that the commander of the Shandong army stationed in Linhong Town was called Lu Jingrong, and I heard that this person was also a role on the salt road in the past, and he climbed up step by step from the bottom, and he should be able to win over him well.

However, while they were anxiously waiting, seven days passed in a blink of an eye, and the Shandong army was still standing still in Linhong Town, and the salt merchants naturally didn't know the concerns in Lu Jingrong's heart, and they couldn't sit still anymore, but just sent people to urge them eagerly.

said that there was a large amount of silver in Haizhou City, and they could let them say this, so it must be to what extent Haizhou is now in danger.

On the morning of the eighth day, Lu Jingrong, who had made up his mind, finally ordered the camp to be pulled, and the three main barracks of the Shandong Army slowly marched southward, but the destination was not Haizhou City, and they were stationed still after arriving at Gaoqiao.

When they arrived at Gaoqiao, the Shandong army happened to encounter horse thieves attacking and harassing the people, and the number of these horse thieves was only about 200 people.

Lu Jingrong knew that this kind of escape and fighting was a common trick used by horse thieves, and he was in a hurry to chase them, so he just ordered to be stationed at Gaoqiao, and the Shandong army walked for a long time and stopped.

When the news reached Haizhou City, the salt merchants really couldn't sit still, and flocked to Gaoqiao under the protection of the hired guards, and sent over boxes of silver.

At first, Lu Jingrong didn't know the stakes, and it was the first time he was so loved in the local area, so he naturally accepted it all with a smile, and the salt merchants did what they liked, and even sent three plain girls from Jiangnan who were scantily dressed one night.

Not to mention, Lu Jingrong, a person who usually mixes at the bottom, saw a Jiangnan woman for the first time, and he swallowed a few saliva directly, and his eyes couldn't leave.

At that time, he was about to take the woman into his pocket with great wisdom and foolishness, and for a spring supper, the accompanying staff officer of the Military Council Department heard the news, but he came over and scolded him for splitting his head and covering his face.

Literati sometimes are driven by righteousness to do something that ordinary people can't, Lu Jingrong was scolded by his subordinates in front of several Jiangnan plain girls, his face naturally pulled down, and he had no thoughts.

"Commander Zhang, you have to think about it carefully! You took other people's gold and silver women, and even tonight, what is the difference between visiting the kiln during the Great War!? ”

The staff officer's face hated that iron was not steel, and he arched his hand in the direction of Licheng and said:

"The lower officer was ordered by Li Buzheng to follow the army, although he has no time to manage the affairs of the army except for the power of the staff officer, but the commander of the king, you are confused!!"

"Now that you are short of hands, can our Shandong army speak hard when you arrive in Haizhou? Even if you are thick-skinned and don't care about these, but what you did today, think about it carefully, which of Wang Dashuai's 12 gold medal iron laws has been violated! ”

"Besides, Wang Dashuai is not very human, you also know this, can't the commander think of what the lower officials want?"

Lu Jingrong heard that there was a little chill on his body, and he stretched out his hand to wipe his sweat, and at this time, the staff officer's face became more stern, and he said:

"Once the marshal knows, don't say it's you, I'm afraid that the army staff officer is also a big crime of violating military discipline, think about it carefully, how does the marshal deal with those who violate military discipline?"

Lu Jingrong was still a little angry about what this staff officer had done, how can we say that he is also a general now, how can he scold and scold without giving any face.

However, after listening to this slashing words, he gradually calmed down, and groaned and stretched out his hand to wave away a few women.

The staff officer was also a little relieved to see Lu Jingrong like this, the generals of the Shandong Army were so good, although they were sometimes confused, but they all had a definite direction when it came to the general righteousness.

If the ordinary imperial army will be insulted like this, he will have to shed his skin if he does not die, the staff officer sat down and drank tea, and said:

"Yesterday, I heard from a friend from the Military Council Department that in addition to mobilizing your regular soldiers from Qingzhou Mansion to go south, the Punishment of Wengzhou Mansion and Liu Xiong of Laizhou Mansion also made moves, and they all changed the state and county where they were stationed."

At this point, the staff officer's expression became a little exaggerated, and he said:

"Commander Lu, think about it carefully, since the commander of the army in Shandong has been appointed as the commander-in-chief, those places have always been peaceful, why do you want to mobilize the army to change the station at this time? In my opinion, it's just to guard against you and give you a warning on the surface! ”

As soon as he finished saying this, Lu Jingrong couldn't sit still anymore, and stood up from his chair with an "ah" sound, and looked around in a panic, obviously scared to the extreme.

It is said that a general like him is a good hand at leading troops to fight, and he has been the best in the army for so many years to be promoted, who would have thought that such a promotion is not entirely a happy event, and it contains such a killing intention.

The staff officer also seemed to feel that his words were serious, so he changed his tone and said leisurely:

"Commander Lu, Fang is the danger we see on the surface, but don't forget, this is all based on your violation of military discipline and disobeying the commander's orders, if we are in a proper way to quell the chaos, how can we have a danger of our lives, then the soldiers and horses who prevent you and me may become friendly troops to help quell the chaos, all in a thought!"

"Besides, how many of our Shandong troops have reached your current status, except for the cronies of the four marshals of Commander Huang, Commander Deng, Commander Dong and Commander Gao?"

Lu Jingrong gradually settled down, and after thinking about it carefully, it was the same thing, he had always obeyed orders, how could the handsome embarrass himself.

Then I heard the staff officer say:

"Not to mention the soldiers, there are only five generals of our Shandong Army stationed in Liufu besides you, such status and honors, if we listen to orders carefully, will we keep it?"

Seeing that Lu Jingrong was groaning and nodding, the staff officer said that his son could be taught, so he continued:

"The lower official will make it clear! As the general who led the troops to the battle, the merits and demerits were just a thought, and Li Buzheng faction came down to help, precisely considering that the Lu Commander was used by those treacherous salt merchants. ”

"You and I listen to the commander in everything in Huaibei, and report them one by one, as long as you stay away from those salt merchants, even if you try your best and don't succeed in quelling the chaos, it's not a big deal."

"Although the marshal is strict, he is not the kind of person who is cautious, and when the time comes, he will only send a knife and Liu Xiong to assist the general with the troops, and there is no reason to punish him."

After saying so much, the staff officer's throat was a little dry, and he poured a cup of tea and drank it, while Lu Jingrong walked through the two heavens of ice and fire, and finally put his mind at ease while his clothes were wet.

Early the next morning, Lu Jingrong, the general of the Shandong Army, returned the silver and soft things sent by the salt merchants to the original owners, saying that the three women were frightened in the barracks, and even gave an extra ten taels of silver when they were sent back.

Such a contrast between the front and back, when the salt merchants were surprised and wondered, they also found that there was nowhere to start.