Chapter 143: Breaking the Rules

Li Meng barely squeezed out a smile on his face, and said loudly, the two pro-soldiers of Denglai Road came to him proudly, did not salute, looked Li Meng up and down a few times, and said arrogantly:

"How big a matter is to check the soldiers, it has to be February, and this year is not easy."

Li Meng didn't answer, squinting at the other party's dress, this mandarin duck jacket is brand new, but there is no wear and tear on the neckline and cuffs, but there are traces of pulp washing, although the two pro-soldiers on the opposite side are standing up and trying to show a strong appearance, but they look a little fat, and the embroidered spring knife is diagonally straddling the side, and the position is not convenient to draw the knife at all, this is clearly the so-called appearance of goods, and it is impossible to count at all.

Over there, Ning Qiangui had already prepared, trotted over, handed over two red envelopes, and said with a smile:

"It's windy on the road, and a few soldiers are working hard, so take it to drink a cup of hot tea to warm up."

After the red envelope was handed over, the faces of the two pro-soldiers immediately became much more polite, and one soldier also clenched his fists and said:

"Lord Li hurry up and go to the front, say hello to Lord Liu early, and it will be easier for the soldiers to check their salaries."

Li Meng greeted the Zhizhou greeting team across the road, and ran towards the Denglai Road team not far away, the horses trotted and were blown by the cold wind. Li Meng held the helmet that was not crooked, he was inexplicably a little emotional at this time, Li Meng finally realized that it is now the ninth year of Chongzhen, not modern, he is a local small army leader, not a modern non-commissioned officer of the People's Liberation Army.

When they arrived at the team, Li Meng hurriedly dismounted and walked towards the carriage on Denglai Road with Yan Zhizhou, and when he walked to the front, the two of them and a cadre of officials behind him greeted in unison:

"Xiaguan (the last general) so-and-so, I have seen the deputy envoy of the inspection, Lord Denglai Daoliu......"

After the greetings, Li Meng and Yan Zhizhou were left, and Zhizhou's master and Ning Qiangui were given silver to the entourage of this team with smiling faces, after all, this matter is a big deal, don't dare to treat it carefully!

The carriage continued to move forward, the two of them didn't know what the people in the carriage looked like, and Denglai Road also had the courage of a high-ranking official, so they didn't lift the curtain at all, just sat in the car, and without saying a word, Li Meng and Yan Zhizhou followed the car on foot.

Yan Zhizhou may know that this is the norm in officialdom, anyway, his face is full of respectful smiles, but Li Meng's side is very unaccustomed, and the expression on his face is extremely stiff.

"In the eventful autumn of the country, Li Shoubei joined the army and pacified the bandits, which is a model, and this time the official also brought the salary and silver issued by the imperial court to boost morale."

The voice is the accent of the Jingshi area, which sounds very interesting, but the content of the words is stiff, but Li Meng can only say with a low smile:

"This is the last general's business, this time let the adults come, it's really hard, the last general is not happy, there are some local products here, and I hope the adults will smile."

Yan Zhizhou was a literati after all, and he was a little out of breath with the carriage, and when he heard Li Meng behind him speak, he thought to himself, didn't this kid always know the rules, why did he speak so smoothly and transparently today, and couldn't help but glance at Li Meng, but found that Li Meng's face was blue and stiff, which was obviously against his will.

"It's young after all." Yan Zhizhou sighed in his heart, his impression of Li Meng has changed for the better, but the work that should be done is always done, and he also said in a low voice:

"Lord Liu, a few elegant and beautiful girls specially invited from Jining in this state, as well as the chef of Linfeng Building, are already ready in the city to pick up the wind and wash the dust for the adults, and also eliminate the fatigue along the way."

……

There was a slight silence in the car, and there was a light laugh, and Lord Liu said softly:

"Lord Yan bothered, the official of Jining has already heard of it, it is comparable to Jiangnan, but it is a pity that he has no chance to go to Denglai, I didn't expect to have a chance in Jiaozhou City, hehe......"

Listening to this, Li Meng really had a feeling of vomiting, in the past, in modern times, he couldn't get in touch with too much officialdom at all, and often watched the officialdom usher in the send-off, eating, drinking, playing, and majestic, and he was also very envious, who would have thought that he would come to the Ming Dynasty to contact in person, but it was so disgusting.

Fortunately, this uncomfortable scene didn't last long, and Yan Zhizhou didn't know whether it was intentional or unintentional, so he took the initiative to say a lot of things, and greeted this Lord Denglai Daoliu, which relieved a lot of Li Meng's pressure. After walking like this for a while, the etiquette is considered thoughtful, everyone is on the horse and rushing towards the city, the fourth day of the second month is the verification parade, after this day comes, always give this Lord Liu time to drink and feast.

Out of courtesy and respect, Li Meng and these people had to follow behind, and the performance of the deputy envoy and his entourage made the soldiers of the Jiaozhou battalion feel quite unhappy, watching the convoy of the deputy envoy of the inspection move forward, a Li Meng's personal guard cavalry was the first batch to defect to Li Meng with horses, and his previous background was quite innocent.

There he sneered at the crushed ruts and said:

"My lord, there are a lot of valuable things in this car, otherwise there would be such a deep rutted silver there."

"Don't talk nonsense, what does this lord carry with him?"

"If it's silver, it should be pulled by a few big carts behind, and the soldiers of this pair of men and horses are staring at the cars behind, and the ruts are deeper, it should be silver."

Li Meng followed the guard's guidance and looked over, sure enough, the ruts on the ground were of different depths, and he could also feel the heaviness of the vehicle, and the unhappiness in Fang Cai's heart was dispersed a lot, and he heard the guard behind him smile maliciously and said:

"My lord, why don't we change our clothes and rob these big cars, those soldiers are new clothes, I think they are a bunch of straw bales."

Everyone immediately burst into laughter, and Li Meng scolded with a smile:

"This is the money to be sent to us, what are you kid going to do with this kind of effort!!"

The mood was finally much better, so I followed the convoy back to Jiaozhou City, when I arrived in Jiaozhou City, the sun was already westerly, Li Meng thought that he was on the road for a day, this Lord Liu would definitely go to enjoy the so-called Jining flavor, and he went back directly.

"My lord asked Master Li to come over and meet him."

When Li Meng rode over, the house was in full swing.

Jiaozhou Zhizhou and Tongzhi are both waiting here, Li Meng is indeed a little rude, but it is also in line with everyone's consistent impression, such a reckless man who pulls people into the army, where does he know what the rules of officialdom are.

Seeing Lord Liu Qingsong's face, Li Meng understood why the carriage that this Denglai Dao was riding was so deeply rutted, because this person was too fat, maybe it was the same appearance as a fat person, and he actually had many similarities with Kong Sande before his eyebrows.

When Li Meng entered, this Lord Liu was sitting in the main hall and drinking tea there, the difference with Kong Sande was that this Lord Liu was fat and fat, but he had a bit of the majesty of the official family, and when he saw Li Meng coming, he put the teacup on the side, greeted each other with Li Meng, and stretched out his hand to make a gesture of please.

After thanking him, he sat down, but it was the deputy envoy who spoke first, and he only heard Lord Liu say leisurely:

"And today, there is turmoil, the people are swarming, the country is employing people, Li Shoubei summoned the righteous people to serve the court, it is a heroic act of loyalty and filial piety, which is worthy of praise!"

Since the other party opened in an official tone, Li Meng had to get up again and say nonsense such as "This is all a lowly job", but fortunately, he got to the point quickly, and Lord Liu waved his hand and retreated from the servants who were waiting, and said with a smile:

"The clerk and the official saw it twice, and Lord Li's thoughts on meritorious service were inevitably too eager."

When it comes to this topic, Li Meng is extremely angry, but he can't explain anything, he can only smile awkwardly, noncommittal, Lord Liu is also joking, and then said:

"This time, the salary is a total of 6,500 taels, the money and rice are converted together, and the silver accounts are all here, and such a large amount of silver is not safe to put here, so it is better to withdraw it as soon as possible!"

But after he finished speaking, Li Meng didn't react for a long time, this Denglai Dao was quite strange, but he looked over and found that Li Meng was sitting on the chair with a confused look, this Lord Liu was quite unhappy, coughed dryly, and Li Meng over there also reacted, hesitated and asked:

"Lord Liu, it has been more than six months since the end of this Jiaozhou battalion was formed, according to the calculation of one or two and a half cents of silver and a load of rice and flour per soldier per month, 25,000 taels of silver are still needed, how can there be 6,500 taels. Could it be that it's only been sent for two months? ”

Li Meng naturally knew that the other party would definitely deduct military salaries, but the difference between 25,000 taels and 6,500 taels was too great.

When Li Meng asked this question, Lord Liu was stunned for a long time, and then burst into laughter, the fat on his face trembled, and he laughed for a long time before he stopped and said:

"Thanks to the fact that the official has already dismissed his subordinates, otherwise Li Shoubei would not have made people laugh off their big teeth if you asked this question."

Seeing that Li Meng still looked confused, Liu Qingsong opened his mouth and explained:

"Father-in-law Liu has taken care of it in advance, if the official doesn't make it clear, I'm afraid that you will misunderstand, this military salary is a precedent, the military department and the household department have allocated silver, which is generally seventy percent of the full amount, and the situation has become worse and worse over the years, and it is not bad to be able to give fifty percent. The local use is also nervous, the common practice is to deduct it again according to the discount of the Ministry of War, this time the peak is taken care of by Liu Gonggong, and the local government has deducted forty percent of your silver. ”