"Old Fan, you killed the thief Du San this time, do you think the court will give you a reward in the future."

Che Jibao returned to Ningsai from Jinding Mountain, and at first everyone thought that the big boss would come back after the siege was lifted. Unexpectedly, he received orders one after another to start a big war with the thieves. And the other left-behind leaders who missed these meritorious service opportunities were a little envious of the others who came back. Fan Shunjiang, who has made great contributions, is naturally the focus of envy.

Fan Shunjiang was an important contact person to contact the surrendered officers and troops of the Drill Sky Outpost, and later showed great courage after entering the old camp of thieves. Next, the Sky Sentry said that he was going to take the leader of the thieves, and he thought that there was a chance to pick up a bargain.

And the facts are exactly as he thought, the thief Du San, who drilled the sky and lost it, Fan Shunjiang did not lose it. He kept his eyes on the fleeing target, cut off the opponent's head with a knife in his hand, and built another big gift before the end of the battle of the West Trench.

"I don't know, it all depends on the court what we can reward, it's useless for us to think about it ourselves."

The reward given before was actually the reward for the exploits of the soldiers who repeatedly defeated the thieves near the West Road before, not the reward for Zhang Mengjin's exploits in Qingyang Mansion this time. The imperial court went through various procedures in order to check the merits of the war, and at the same time spent a lot of time in order to collect money. In this battle of the West Trench, Zhang Mengjin and his gang once again had a sense of existence. Therefore, the reward that had not been sent out for a long time was finally transferred.

"Be serious over there, don't be lazy. Say you, your skin is itchy and you want to be whipped, right? ”

Seeing that a degrader who was training was not very serious, Fan Shunjiang reprimanded him fiercely. The other party was afraid that Fan Shunjiang would really come over to whip him, so he hurriedly corrected his attitude and trained seriously.

Seeing that the other party was no longer lazy, Fan Shunjiang did not pursue further. Instead, he turned to look at Che Jibao and said, "This time I was also lucky, it happened to be my turn as the leader of the sentry team to follow the big boss to attack, and I happened to bump into the drill sentry with the same nickname as you." If you hadn't gone back to the village to deal with things, most of the credit would have been yours. By the way, what are you going to give back to the people at the top of Artemisia, do you need my help? ”

Suddenly talking about the matter of mugwort, Che Jibao was really a little worried about how to return the gift. Xiucai, who stayed in Jinding Mountain before, sent someone to send a message, saying that someone in the village had taken refuge, and the person who came claimed to be Che Jibao's lost relative.

So Che Jibao took a leave from the big boss, and missed the subsequent expedition. And Che Jibao, who quickly returned to Jinding Mountain to confirm, found that the person who came was indeed a brother of his clan who was quite close. So Che Jibao was very happy, and at the same time hurriedly asked about the situation of other family members who were separated.

The other party told Che Jibao that a large group of their relatives had fled from their hometown before. The group later ran to Ansai County, and the clan brother temporarily left the team alone in order to find some wild vegetables to satisfy his hunger.

But unexpectedly, he encountered the bandits, and then he was taken captive, and it took a long time to escape. When he returned to Ansai, he found that his other relatives had disappeared. He searched everywhere for news but was hungry, and finally had to take refuge in the mugwort peak forces on the edge of Ansai.

Later, it was also because of the close relationship between Artemisia and Jinding Mountain that he received the news that his clan brother was actually a leader of Jinding Mountain. So he immediately made it clear to the second master who was in charge of the mugwort peak, Cai Zhongde heard that one of his minions was a lost relative of the leader of Jinding Mountain, and he thought about it for a long time and reported it to Ning Sai's eldest brother.

After getting a reply from his eldest brother Cai Xiaozi, Cai Zhongde didn't make any trouble. Let Che Jibao's brother easily pass the ceremony of "pulling incense heads", and sent someone to escort him to Jinding Mountain. (Note 1)

Although I couldn't know the details of my family, I finally found a close relative, so Che Jibao was relatively happy. For Artemisia Peak, he can break his own rules and return his brother. Che Jibao understands that this is a big favor, so he has been thinking about how to reciprocate for a while.

"I have borrowed a sum of silver from Xiucai as a thank you gift, and I have sent it over myself. Although the mugwort family has a big business, there is no shortage of my money. But this intention still has to be passed on first, as for how to repay the favor in the future, I can't figure it out for a while, and I just talked to the big boss last night. ”

Che Jibao borrowed some silver from Zhang Mengcheng before, and then quickly returned a gift to Artemisia Peak. Wait until Zhang Mengjin leads the team back to Ningsai. He also reported the matter to the big boss of Jindingshan, so Che Jibao is now waiting for the follow-up reply of the big boss.

For Che Jibao to borrow money again, Fan Shunjiang is not surprised. He cares more about how the big boss will help him deal with the problem, because personal debts are the most difficult to repay. So Fan Shunjiang asked curiously: "It seems that Xiucai's IOU has been added to it, and his wife has lost a lot." Haha, by the way, what did the big boss tell you when he came back? ”

"I don't know exactly how to do it, but the big boss said that the friendship between the two families should indeed be deepened, so he simply advanced the family affairs that the two families had agreed on. When the time comes, the big boss will take my affairs and prepare to repay the past with gifts. Che Jibao knew that Fan Shunjiang would be curious, so he simply repeated what Zhang Mengjin meant.

"In other words, you will soon be able to drink Xiucai's happy wine! This is indeed good news, but Xiucai's wife is not enough, didn't you just borrow money from him before? ”

When Fan Shunjiang heard about the family affairs of the two families, he naturally knew that he was talking about Zhang Mengcheng and Cai Da's cousin. Xiucai is finally going to have an aunt, which is indeed a thing worth celebrating. At the same time, Fan Shunjiang was also very curious about whether Zhang Mengcheng had enough money in his hand, because there were many people in the village who borrowed money from him, and Che Jibao was the most prominent among them.

Che Jibao was a little embarrassed at this time, he took out an IOU that had been prepared a long time ago, and said to Fan Shunjiang cheekily: "After Xiucai gets married, the brothers want to make up some money, and it is difficult for me to make it up." So I want to borrow some money from you, not much, only five taels of silver, and I will definitely pay you back after that. ”

"Even the IOUs are ready, you've thought about it enough. Five taels of silver, yes, go to my house and get it. Regarding Che Jibao's request to borrow money, Fan Shunjiang did not shirk. Although some people privately say that Che Jibao is stingy, Fan Shunjiang, who knows his roots, knows where Che Jibao spent his money.

After negotiating the matter of borrowing money, Fan Shunjiang asked Che Jibao again: "When will the big boss's plan to announce the news of Xiucai's marriage?" ”

Seeing that Fan Shunjiang was willing to borrow money, Che Jibao breathed a sigh of relief. As for Fan Shunjiang's question, after Che Jibao briefly recalled, he remembered that he seemed to have seen Zhang Mengjin go to visit Cai Xiaozi before, so he guessed: "It seems that the big boss has already gone to talk to Cai Da Boss about this matter, if there is no accident, he seems to announce this matter to the brothers in the military fort tonight." ”

"That Xiucai, did the big boss discuss it with him? Didn't Xiucai care about the marriage period before, and he also went to the top of Artemisia several times to discuss the matter. Fan Shunjiang remembered Zhang Mengcheng's previous attitude towards the marriage period, so he wondered how Xiucai agreed to this sudden change.

Che Jibao recalled the actions of the big boss, and said with some uncertainty: "The big boss doesn't seem to have discussed it with Xiucai, and this matter seems to have been decided by himself." ”

"I didn't discuss with Xiucai, but Xiucai is the groom, what is this like if you don't discuss it with him." Fan Shunjiang was quite surprised by Che Jibao's reply.

Isn't it sung in the drama "The eldest brother is like a father", if the big boss is in charge, Xiucai can't help but listen to it. Although Che Jibao is also very strange, but the big boss has the idea of the big boss, Zhang Mengcheng is the third brother of the big boss, after the parents of the three Zhang brothers died, according to the rules, he is the biggest of the big boss.

Fan Shunjiang naturally understands this truth, but some of the impressions that Zhang Mengcheng gives him on weekdays make Fan Shunjiang still a little worried about this matter. So he was a little worried: "I hope so, it's just that Xiucai's temper is a little weird." I'm afraid that after Xiucai will get into trouble with the big boss because of this matter. At that time, who should we brothers help to speak? ”

"No matter who we help or how we help, our brotherhood will not change. And Xiucai and the big boss are brothers after all, what can they do if they make trouble. Xiucai will lose his temper at most, and when the time comes, let's hold both sides and find a staircase for each other, and there will be nothing left. Che Jibao didn't care too much, he thought Fan Shunjiang's worries were superfluous.

As the two leaders chatted more and more, Fan Shunjiang suddenly remembered the work he was still supervising. So he had to temporarily interrupt the chat, and reprimanded Ding Ding who was still training in front of him with Che Jibao again.

And the things they cared about didn't make them wait long, Zhang Mengjin gathered his own leaders in the evening and announced that the two families of Jindingshan and Artemisia Ding were about to complete the agreed marriage.

For a while, the leaders of the cottage in Ningsai Fort were excited, and they all said that they wanted to get drunk at the wedding moment, and they usually drank quite modestly.

And Zhang Mengcheng, the protagonist of the wedding, only learned the news of his early wedding date a few days later. Zhang Mengcheng was indeed very surprised by his eldest brother's self-assertion, and at the same time, he was also quite dissatisfied with this very sudden news.

Zhang Mengcheng lost his temper in Jinding Mountain, and even publicly threatened everyone that he would not attend the wedding. This statement frightened everyone, and for Zhang Mengcheng's crazy behavior, Jin Dingshan and the people at the top of Artemisia paid close attention.

As the groom's elder brother and at the same time the head of Jinding Mountain, Zhang Mengjin felt the need to talk to his younger brother. Although he couldn't leave because of business, his representative, Zhang Mengguang, who was also the groom's brother, rode a fast horse and quickly marched towards Jinding Mountain.

PS: Note 1: "Pulling incense leaders" is the meaning of bandits and bandits retreating and washing their hands. It is a relative concept to "hanging pillars" (occupation), but it is much more dangerous than "hanging pillars". "Pulling incense heads" is a ritual of playing with life, and ordinary people dare not do this thing. Unless there is a major event in the family, the man must go back, and the head of the family will agree to hold the "incense pulling" ceremony. And this ritual is more dangerous, and if there is a slight gaffe on the way, you will be severely punished.

There are many types of punishments, such as cutting off ears, gouging out eyes, and direct castration. Che Jibao's brother wants to defect to Che Jibao, this kind of behavior is not something big in the family that needs a man's support, it is already a betrayal. And as a mugwort from a family of bandits, letting this person carry out the incense pulling ceremony is an act that violates his own rules. After that, it is easy to let the other party pass, which is likely to cause a series of bad effects. Therefore, this kind of friendship can be regarded as a very face-saving behavior for Jindingshan.