On the tenth day of the fifth month, the peonies in Dongjun were finally in full bloom, and Li Gou obtained Qin Qiong's consent and left the camp with ten forbidden troops including Xiao Xiaowei and went to the county seat.

The big families in the county are happy to show off the beautiful scenery in the courtyard, open the side door, and welcome every guest with a little status.

Zhang Xutuo's garrison was outside the city, protecting the safety of the county, and the people and wealthy people in the city were undoubtedly grateful to Zhang Xutuo. So Li Xuanba entered the county seat and was warmly invited.

In his previous life, he was busy with his studies, and although he had heard of the name of peony, Li Xuanba had never really seen it.

Since the construction of Wagangzhai in Dongjun, the prosperity has not been as good as before, Rao is like this, Li Xuanba is still stunned by the luxury of the Zhu family for a long time.

The Zhu family can only be regarded as an ordinary big family in Dongjun, I heard that Li Xuanba came to the county seat, and the head of the Zhu family personally went out to invite him, and the reason why Li Xuanba chose the Zhu family was because the old lady of the Zhu family was very old and couldn't bear to refuse.

In order to show respect, the Zhu family opened the main door and invited Li Xuanba in.

The courtyard of the Zhu family occupies a huge area, the woods, the lake, and the mountains and rocks are arranged just right, and the pavilions and pavilions that can be seen everywhere are also built very elegantly.

"Mr. Zhu, thank you for your hospitality." Li Xuanba and Mrs. Zhu sat on the boat, using good snacks, drifting with the tide in the lake, so uncomfortable.

"Gongzi is a loyal and brave guard personally appointed by His Majesty, and he is willing to come to my Zhu family as a guest, and he is grateful, it should be me!" Zhu Zhe said sincerely: "Now that the Wagang thieves are trapped in the thieves' den by General Zhang, if the son is willing, he might as well stay in the Zhu Mansion for a few days." ”

The so-called Shinong businessmen, merchants in ancient times, even if they were rich, they were still looked down upon.

The Zhu family has been in business for several generations, although they are extremely wealthy and build the Zhu Mansion like a palace, but the Zhu family still has to wear the prescribed service when they go out.

"The military regulations in the camp are very strict, and Xuanba doesn't dare to stay for half a day." Li Xuanba smiled and said politely: "It's enough to be able to see such a beautiful scenery." ”

Around the lake, peonies of various colors and varieties are planted. Some are bright in color, jade smile and fragrant; Some of them are chic and magnificent, but they really deserve the reputation of "the king of flowers".

"If Gongzi likes it, I will send some people to the Tang State Mansion tomorrow, and when Gongzi returns to Luoyang with General Zhang to exterminate the rebels, maybe he can continue to enjoy the beautiful scenery of peonies in full bloom." Zhu Zhe said with a smile, his face was full of wrinkles, more than the waves in the lake.

"The Mansion of Tang Guo is simple, but it can't compare to Mr. Zhu's mansion." Li Xuanba shook his head and said with a smile: "The old gentleman's mind, Xuanba has received it." ”

The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and there were birds and flowers all around, Li Xuanba only felt that he was in a paradise, and couldn't help but close his eyes and enjoy this moment of silence.

Xiao Xiaowei and others have not been interested in such things as enjoying flowers and the moon, and with the permission of Li Xuanba, Xiao Xiaowei and others found a quiet place to drink wine and enjoy the food prepared by Zhu Mansion.

Therefore, there were only two people on the ship, Li Xuanba and Zhu Zhe.

With soft hands and short hands, Li Xuanba lay down comfortably for a while, opened his eyes, looked at the blue sky, and said calmly: "Old lady Zhu, it's not early." ”

"I have heard that Lord Zhongyongwei is wise, and now it seems that this is indeed the case." Zhu Zhe complimented a few words, and then said: "Now that Dongjun is not very peaceful, my Zhu family has no power to protect itself, and I hope that Lord Zhongyongwei can save the old family and let us move to Luoyang." ”

Since getting on the boat, Zhu Zhe has been wanting to talk and stopping, how can Li Xuanba not see that he has something to ask for?

"There are many empty mansions in Luoyang, if Mr. Zhu is willing to give up here, he can bring his family to go at any time, with the money of the Zhu family, he is naturally not worried about not being able to afford a house, so why ask me for help?" Li Xuanba didn't expect Zhu Zhe to make such a request, and wondered: "Could it be that Mr. Zhu is worried about meeting Wagang thieves on the road?" ”

"Since the Wagang thieves occupied Dongjun, the people in the county were panicked, many wealthy and large families, those who could move away have moved away, and there are not a few people who have been stopped and robbed on the road. If thieves only rob property, it is fine, but they often seek wealth and harm people's lives, which is really cruel! Zhu Zhe looked worried, and said slowly: "Although the Wagang thieves claim not to harm the people of Dongjun, they often pretend to be thieves and commit murder and robbery. ”

In troubled times, in order to survive, who cares about your identity?

"What does Mr. Zhu mean?" Li Xuanba vaguely guessed the meaning of Zhu Zhe's words, but he was a little unsure, and asked, "You won't let me send someone to protect you, right?" ”

"If the adults are willing to send someone to protect them, the old man is naturally grateful, but how dare the old man have such a luxury?" Zhu Zhe shook his head and arched his hand and said, "The old man wants to borrow a few official ships." ”

The Yongji Canal leads directly from Xingyang to Luoyang, and Dongjun is not far from the Yongji Canal, so it is the safest and most convenient way to go to Luoyang by boat.

But ordinary merchant ships are easy to encounter thieves, and official ships are different.

First of all, there are generally no valuable things on official ships, and thieves will not target official ships, and secondly, if they rob official ships, they will anger the imperial court, and they may be wiped out by the imperial army at any time. Who wants to make such a loss-making deal?

"It is true that there are some ships in the army, but with all due respect, I do not have the authority to call these ships." Li Xuanba apologized and said: "Xuanba can't help, please forgive Mr. Zhu." ”

"You are a celebrity in front of Your Majesty, as long as you go and ask General Zhang, General Zhang will definitely not refuse." Zhu Zhe pleaded: "I hope that my lord will have mercy on the lives of hundreds of people in my Zhu family and help my Zhu family." ”

Zhu Zhe was right, Zhang Xutuo's army was stationed outside the city, and he led the army to fight the Wagang thieves everywhere, and the warships parked by the river were in case of emergency, if Li Xuanba really asked for a few, Zhang Xutuo would not necessarily refuse.

"But using the imperial court's warships without permission is not a light crime!" Li Xuanba said alarmistly: "Although Xuanba has seen all the beautiful scenery here, he doesn't have to bear the charge of killing his head because of this, right?" ”

"Since the old man has spoken, he will naturally not treat the adult badly." Zhu Zhe saw that Li Xuanba showed signs of relenting, and the nature of a businessman was revealed, and said: "In this troubled world, it is a great fortune to be able to save your life, what is the use of having a lot of money?" As long as the adults are willing to help, the old man is willing to take out 20% of the family property and give it to the army. ”

Although Li Xuanba has no concept of money, it can be seen from the Zhu family's mansion that the Zhu family's money is definitely beyond his imagination. If you can come up with two percent, it must be very helpful for Zhang Xutuo to recruit troops.

Zhang Xutuo was reluctant to recruit too many soldiers, in addition to not wanting to harass the people, the lack of money was also an important reason.

The military salaries allocated by the imperial court were far from sufficient.

Zhu Zhe saw Li Xuanba frowning and thinking, and hurriedly said: "My lord, when the old man arrives in Luoyang safely, he will take out half of the family property and send it to the Tang State Mansion, what do you think?" ”

Li Xuanba was ready to agree, he was just fantasizing about how to use the money, such as building a more competent weapon for Luo Shixin?

"Xuanba is not a greedy person." When Li Xuanba heard this, he said: "But Xuanba has the courage to call the shots, after all, he has taken some risks, so I also ask Mr. Zhu to remember what he said, Xuanba doesn't need Mr. Zhu to pay so much, Mr. Zhu only sent a trip to the Tang State Mansion." ”

Zhu Zhe's bottom line is to abandon half of the family property, and now he has saved 20%, he is naturally happy, and the two are more happy when they chat, and they can't wait to be called brothers.

While chatting with Zhu Zhe, Li Xuanba imagined that more people would send silver to the Tang State Mansion, and he couldn't stop smiling.