"Well, I don't want to tell you, I already know the content of the holy decree, it doesn't rush me, nor does it rush to the mountain bandits, it is for Zhang Rake, if the expectation is good, Zhang Rake is in the catastrophe this time, you think about it again, where did Zhang Rake's military expenses for this bandit come from, yes, it was Anqing Mansion that first allocated to Zhang Rake for the imperial court, and now the war is like this, you say, does the emperor want to recover this expenditure?"

Li Shun lowered his head and thought for a while, nodded and said, "Naturally, I heard that this time General Zhang opened his mouth from the lion in the Wang Governor's Mansion and asked for 100,000 taels of military expenses, so I think he will spit it out again."

Lu Fei smiled, "That's right, the emperor will definitely do this, who would know that the 100,000 taels of military expenses have fallen into my hands, hehe, he Zhang Rake is now so poor that he only has the general's helmet left, and eighty percent of this money has to fall on the prefect of Wang, it is very likely that the prefect of Wang is here to please the poor for this matter, just ask for the news"

Li Shun also laughed at this time, "Yes, yes, the master's analysis is reasonable, this time Lord Wang has lost all his money, and if he doesn't get it right, he will have to be affected by General Zhang."

Lu Fei patted Li Shun on the shoulder, "So, since he is going to hit the knife edge himself, my lord, I will be happy to avoid the limelight, let's be late, wait until the emperor is done scolding the emperor's anger before going, don't worry, come on, Zhao Bantou, you also sit, drink some sour plum soup, relieve the heat, this is made by Yun Niang herself, don't waste it, ah, haha"

The three of them chatted happily in the receiving pavilion, only when the sun was approaching the west, Lu Fei slowly sat on the stone bench and removed his buttocks, slapped his stomach full of sour plum soup and burped, "Okay, the time is almost up, let's go, go back to the Ya"

Just as Lu Fei expected, as soon as Wang Guangmei appeared in Susong County, he was passed over by the master of ceremonies, Zhou Gonggong. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Zhou Gonggong is a little older, about fifty years old, but his face is full of red light, and there is no wrinkles, at this time he is sitting on the side seat of the county hall, and the two people sitting on the other side also know their origins, a flying fish suit is their identity name, this is the Jinyi Wei of the Tang Dynasty officialdom, the flying fish suit is not an ordinary brocade guard can wear, that at least five grades or more of the official position is worthy of owning, it can be seen that these two people have a big background, high power, two people with embroidered spring knives on their waists, There is no smile on his face, giving people a sense of authority without anger.

Wang Guangmei slipped the hem of her clothes, ran in in a hurry, and bowed her head, "Wang Guangmei, the prefect of Anqing, has seen the young eunuch Zhou and the two thousand households."

In fact, in terms of grade, the official qualities of the two Jinyiwei are on par with the prefect of the Wang, and there is no relationship between superiors and subordinates, but Jinyiwei has a symbol of imperial power, and his appearance is often accompanied by the emperor, which is not comparable to a small prefect.

Zhou Shaojian Zhou Gonggong, one of the twelve eunuchs in the Forbidden City, is one of the twelve eunuchs in the Forbidden City, although the grade is slightly inferior to the prefect of Wang, but he came this time to be the title of the mandate of heaven, and the official is the third level, not to mention a small prefect, even if King Ning sees it, he has to give three points.

It is said that it is not the turn of the inner official supervisor to do the work of passing the holy decree, but this time Lu Fei opened the ore stone, which is within the responsibility of the Ministry of Industry, and the internal official supervisor is in charge of all civil engineering matters related to the royal family for the emperor, which is considered an expert, and it can also be seen that Emperor Zhengde sent him to help the emperor check whether it is feasible for Lu Fei to open an ore factory.

Zhou Shaojian raised his chin and did not let Wang Guangwang stand up, "You are the prefect of Wang, you came just in time, our family is going to look for you when we go back to Beijing, since we are here, I will listen to you if I don't want to prevent it" Zhou Gonggong whispered, making people immediately shake off the goosebumps that fell to the ground, this is not his original voice, but he was castrated early years ago, lost his male reproductive function, and gradually lost the androgen in the body, so that it became what it is now, not only the voice has changed, Even body hair is decreasing year by year.

The two brocade guards on the side were still motionless, their faces cold as ice.

Wang Guangmei didn't know what Young Eunuch Zhou meant, knelt up straight, and arched his hand, "If Young Eunuch Zhou has something to say, just ask, the lower officials know everything, and they have nothing to say."

Zhou Shaojian stood up, walked up to Wang Guangmei, looked down at him and said, "Lord Wang, when will the tax money from Anqing Mansion be shipped into Beijing this year?" It's time to hit the road."

Wang Guangmei said, "Yes, the plan is to go north by waterway through the Yangtze River on the 15th of next month, and it can be transported to Beijing in early October."

Young Eunuch Zhou nodded, and said with a smile, "Oh, I don't know how much this is?" ”

Obviously, none of his internal officials came to inquire about these matters, but Wang Guangmei still answered truthfully, "A total of 780,000 taels, and it will be escorted to the household department on the 15th of next month, along with the sales documents."

This is a common practice of money and tax exchanges between local finance and the imperial court over the years, which roughly means how much is the total tax revenue of Anqing Mansion this year, and what are the local expenditures, such as the income of officials, building bridges and paving roads, disaster relief, etc., and then subtracting the total tax revenue of the whole government from these local legitimate expenditures, then the rest is the amount of money and grain that Anqing Mansion will hand over to the household department this year.

Zhou Shaojian narrowed his eyes, as if he was thinking, "No, Lord Wang, we heard that the tax and silver you paid in Anqing Mansion this year should be 900,000 taels, where did you get the 780,000 taels?" ”

Governor Wang's forehead was sweating slightly, and he still smiled respectfully, "Young Eunuch Zhou is really clear, yes, the tax money in Anqing Mansion this year is indeed 900,000 taels, but Young Eunuch Zhou doesn't know that this month, Zhang Shen, the battalion army of Anqing Mansion, will take 100,000 taels from the treasury as his military expenses to suppress bandits in Susong, and the other 20,000 taels will be distributed to the soldiers in the name of the imperial court in order to sympathize with the suffering of the soldiers."

In fact, the 20,000 taels did not fall into the hands of the soldiers at all, and he and General Zhang Shen fabricated an excuse and divided the money privately.

Zhou Shaojian said, "The prefect of the king is generous, think about our long live grandfather in the palace will spend 2,000 taels of silver a day, your shot is 20,000, a big deal, but it is also forgivable to sympathize with the soldiers, no matter how bitter it is, the soldiers can not be thin, but when did your 100,000 taels of military expenses be allocated to the military department, why do we know nothing"

Wang Guangmei snorted, panicked in her heart, and whispered, "This, this is what the emperor asked his father-in-law to ask?" ”

Zhou Shaojian waved his hand, "Oh, no, no, it's just that before our family left Beijing, the household department Tianguan said privately to our family, recently the household bank deposit is tight, and the local tax silver has not been collected for a long time, it just so happens that he learned that our family is coming to Anqing, so he asked our family to ask you when the tax silver will enter Beijing, whether there is a shortage, just right, our family is also on the way, so you can bring it back to Beijing for Lord Wang."

Wang Guangmei nodded half-suspiciously and said, "So that's the case, then please ask your father-in-law to explain this matter to the household department when he returns to Beijing, and the 100,000 taels can be signed by the military department at that time, and the Anqing Mansion will pay one tael of tax and silver this year, and it will be paid in full."

Wuguangmei raised her hand, "Our family doesn't dare to pass on this, so you should go and explain it to the Heavenly Officials of the Ministry of Household in person, but we heard that the Ministry of War doesn't know about the 100,000 taels of silver, so I'm afraid it's not easy for you to explain, oh, Lord Wang, please get up, please get up."

Wang Guangmei was sweating profusely, and stood up tremblingly, he now probably guessed the meaning of the holy decree, since the imperial court did not recognize this military expenditure, then eighty percent of Zhang Shenjiang was hanging, but he still explained, "Father-in-law Zhou, you can preside over justice for the lower officials, this 100,000 taels was indeed taken away by General Zhang Shen from the treasury, there are accounts to check, and later the Ministry of War also sent someone to recognize, saying that this money will be directly offset from the tax and silver in the future."

Zhou Shaojian said, "Then there are military documents?" ”

Wang Guangmei was puzzled, "This, this was an urgent situation at that time, and I didn't have time to wait for the documents of the Ministry of War, but later the Ministry of War sent someone here, and it was an official surnamed Sun of the Ministry of War who said it to the lower officer in person."

Zhou Shao smiled yesterday, "The official surnamed Sun you said had his house raided the day before our family left Beijing, and the crime was for personal fraud, concealing military expenses for the general soldiers of Shanhaiguan, and the emperor had already hooked the red pen with a pen, oh yes, he will be beheaded outside the noon gate in a few days, are you talking about him?" ”

Hearing this, Wang Guangmei took a few steps back, frightened, "Why, how is it possible, this, did he report this expenditure to the heavenly officials?" ”

Young Eunuch Zhou smiled coldly, "Our family doesn't know about this, but since the Heavenly Official of the Household Department asked like this, it must be gone."

The prefect of Wang was already sweating, so he could only ask General Zhang for 100,000 taels of silver, and he hurriedly asked, "Dare to ask Gonggong Zhou, what is the emperor's attitude towards General Zhang Shen's suppression of bandits this time?" ”

Before Gonggong Zhou could speak, Jinyiwei, who had been silent beside him, stood up suddenly, "Lord Wang, is this also something you should inquire about?" "The two Jinyi guards are here for General Zhang's business, and they don't care about any taxes, silver, and military expenses.

Wang Zhifu was frightened for a while, and said continuously, "No, no, the lower officials don't ask, don't ask."

Zhou Shaojian smiled at the top of his voice, "Lord Wang, there is no need for you to serve here, before our family's holy decree is announced, go find Zhang Shen to return the 100,000 taels of silver, haha"

Listening to Zhou Shaojian's sharp laughter, half of Wang Guangmei's body was about to weaken, which was clearly telling him that once the holy decree was issued, General Zhang would be under the control of Jinyiwei, and all the things he got from him would have to be included in the evidence presented in court, not to mention 100,000 taels of silver, even a needle.

Thinking of this, Wang Guangmei hurriedly said goodbye to Zhou Shaojian and the two brocade-clothed guards Qianhu, and after inquiring about General Zhang's station, he didn't even bother to sit in a sedan chair, and rode over on a horse.

As the sun waned, the official at the guard station at the entrance of the county yamen shouted, "The county lord has returned to the ya", and Lu Fei walked into the county yaya with steady steps.

As soon as Zhou Shaojian heard that Lu Fei was back, he hurriedly changed his face to a face that was diametrically opposite to Wang Guangmei before, stood up with a smile, walked to the door of the main hall and said, "Lord Lu, it's been two months since you left the capital, is it okay not to come?" ”

When Lu Fei heard this sissy tone, this must be the father-in-law of Zhou that Zhao Bantou said, and it seemed that he was still an old friend, but Lu Fei couldn't remember it at all.

Lu Fei also greeted him with a smile on his face, and arched his hand, "Father-in-law Zhou, yes, yes, I haven't seen you in the past two months, but I'm getting younger and younger, you see that your forehead is so bright that you can look in the mirror, ah, haha"

Zhou Shaojian smiled, "I didn't expect Lord Lu to be in the Susong Zhengtang for two months, and his speech became so funny, our family is very surprised, are you still the two Jinshi who didn't even dare to raise their heads in front of the Long Live Lord?" ”

Lu Fei was secretly surprised, it turned out that this person was personally received by the emperor Lao Tzu, but this person's courage was too small, he didn't even dare to raise his head when he saw the emperor, and if he wanted me to see the emperor one day, I had to take a good look at whether he had a black head on his face.

Since it is an old acquaintance, Lu Fei is even more open, and even the courtesy that does not cost money is relied on, and as soon as he pulled the elbow of Young Eunuch Zhou, he walked to the main hall, "People will always change, not to mention that you are not the emperor, I am the biggest official here, I can feel as free as I want, you say no, my father-in-law Zhou"

Young Eunuch Zhou was pulled by him and staggered, "The emperor was really unique, and he appointed you as the magistrate of Susong, all the way are your rumors, you kid is doing well here."

Lu Fei smiled, and put his hand on Zhou Shaojian's shoulder like an old friend, "You kid, I spent a day in the sun in the official pavilion for nothing, but I didn't expect you to come directly to my county office, and you didn't give me a chance to meet the emperor's sycophants."

Zhou Shao said with a smile yesterday, "After our family entered Anqing, we changed the waterway, let Lord Lu wait for a while, and our family will accuse you."

Lu Fei laughed, "Just kidding, you, the person next to the emperor, gave me a small county magistrate to accuse, then I won't want my life, this, these two are?" ”

The two walked to the two brocade guards, Lu Fei saw that these two people were extraordinary, and they had a posture of no one in their eyes, sitting there, they didn't look at Lu Fei directly.

Zhou Shao hurriedly introduced yesterday, "These two are Wu Qianhu and Yang Qianhu of the Beizhen Mansion Division, and they came specially for the matter of General Zhang on the order of the emperor."

Lu Fei had long heard of the prestige of the Beizhen Mansion Division, this is a real Jinyi Guard, and it is also a thousand households with two Jinyi Guards, and the power is boundless.

"Yo, it turned out to be the Jinyi Guard at the top of the daimyo, I don't know that the two superiors are also here together, the lower officials are polite here" Lu Fei bowed with a smile.

The two brocade guards nodded, "It's easy to say, Lord Lu"

At this time, Zhou Shaojian patted Lu Fei's shoulder, "Lord Lu, hurry up and prepare the incense and candle table, and prepare to receive the order, you, you are going to be overjoyed."

Li Shun hurriedly took several officials to get busy, put up the incense and candle desk, lit the yellow watch, lit the cigarette, Lu Fei took a bath, changed into official clothes, and knelt in the main hall solemnly.

Young Eunuch Zhou was shouting, "Su Songzhi County Lu Fei takes the order!" ”

On the edge of the battalion camp that had been burned by the fire, a simple barracks was erected again, and the materials were all built with objects rescued from the fire, so it looked dilapidated, and even the soldiers in the camp were listless and sad, and the whole barracks was full of a dead and heavy atmosphere, which was not because the battle of the first battle of the mountain was not fought well, but mostly because the military pay and military rations were not settled.

More than 1,000 people in the whole battalion, including the sick and wounded, can only eat white rice porridge once a day without exception, and the other two meals all have to rely on collecting wild vegetables and wild fruits everywhere to satisfy their hunger, fortunately, in the territory of Susong, there are many mountains and forests, and it is not too much trouble to get some game, and there is still some freshness in the first few days, but now after nearly ten days of this savage-like life, there are complaints in the barracks, and many soldiers are almost carrying big knives to grab food from the common people.

Fortunately, the battalions have canceled their daily drills, otherwise they wouldn't have farted if they had eaten this little food.

Zhang Rake is a doppelganger these days, he has been tied to King Ning for various reasons, and he can't leave for a while, and even when he sleeps at night, he has to send someone to live with him, for this kind of disguised house arrest Zhang Rake is afraid to be angry, and finally today King Ning let him go back to the camp, which he rushed back to the barracks without stopping.

As soon as the news of Zhang Razi's return to the barracks spread, before he got off his horse, all the generals and officers surrounded him, and everyone surrounded him, complaining about their suffering, but there was only one purpose, that is, to ask for food and military salaries.

Qianhu sighed and said, "General, you are finally back, if you don't come back, the last general and others will be almost unable to suppress it."

Zhang rakezi threw the reins of the horse into the hands of the soldiers on the side, and strode towards the military tent, saying as he walked, "What's the matter, these stinky boys still dare to rebel?" ”

The thousand households cried and said with a sad face, "The army's food stock was cut off six days ago, and now the soldiers are eating wild vegetables to spend the day, general, you have to hurry up and get an idea."

A few other people also hurriedly echoed a few words, and the situation in each battalion was roughly the same.

Zhang Rake waved his hand and shouted, "Howl mourning, aren't I coming back, look at your bear-like looks, you don't know how to borrow from Susongzhi County if you have no food, I don't know how to borrow it from the people's homes, it's really not good, is the knife in your hand used to shave?" ”

One of them muttered in embarrassment, "General, you are not here, there is no leader in the army, and no one dares to call the shots"

Zhang Rake walked into the military tent, and immediately a guard brought a leather military water bag, Zhang Rake raised his head and drank it, threw the water bag to the side, and shouted, "Then you will watch the soldiers mutiny?" You, come here, you are the quartermaster, tell me how much food is still in the army"

The quartermaster stepped forward and replied, "There is no longer even a gruel to spread, and the battalions have sent men to hunt in the nearby woods."

Zhang Rake frowned when he heard this, and then pointed at another person and shouted, "You, how big was the loss in the last battle?" ”

The man also stepped forward and replied, "In the battle of the mountain, only thirty-two horses were lost, three hundred and seventy-three soldiers, and one hundred and ten wounded."

As soon as Zhang Razi heard this, he walked back and forth in the tent with his hands crossed and his waist crossed, scolding in his mouth, "He XX, the wind and waves have come, I can't imagine that I have suffered such a big loss in this small gutter, the god-damn bandits, the god-damned Lu Fei, this general and you will not stand together"

A general bowed his hand and whispered to Zhang Razi, "General, the most important thing now is to solve the problem of army food first, and now, since the bandits on the mountain have been dispersed, this war is over, where should we go?" Why don't you go back to Anqing overnight?"

Zhang Rake waved his hand, and said with a distorted face, "It's easy to say that it's just gone, you lost this person, I still want to have face, did you find the group of bandits I asked you to find to rob the camp?" ”

Everyone didn't speak, their heads looked down and their eyes flickered.

Zhang Rake approached everyone, "No clue at all?" Did so many people go to heaven or to the earth? There's always a little bit of a clue, right? ”

Someone said softly, "General, we have searched all over the radius of a hundred miles, but we have not found their whereabouts, and we have also inquired about the surrounding people, there are only 300 bandits on the mountain, where are there any extra manpower to rob the camp."

Zhang Rake stepped forward and tugged at his collar and shouted, "Who did that?" My silver and food are all long legs, can I run away by myself? ”

Another person arched his hand and said, "According to the investigation of the last general, in this Susong County, in addition to the gang of bandits on the mountain, there are only two teams of the newly recruited rebels in Luzhi County."

Zhang Rake immediately let go of the person in his hand, turned to the person who spoke, and said, "You mean to say that Lu Fei, this hairy boy, sent someone to rob my camp?" ”

The man hurriedly said, "This and this, this will not dare to talk nonsense"

Zhang Rake was extremely angry, and waved his arm, "I think it's him, he is breaking ground on Tai Sui's head, this general has to burn his county government with a fire, it's just lawless, come here, order troops, follow me to Pingsu Songcheng, and kill these bandit people without leaving a piece of armor."

None of the generals moved, and everyone knew that the general was speaking in a momentary manner.

Seeing that everyone didn't move, Zhang Rake drank, "What are you still doing in a daze, raise the account!" ”

The general's promotion is extraordinary, the military order is like a mountain, he must do what he says, and he has no chance to regret it, and everyone is comforted when he sees that the general is really busy, the army of the Tang Dynasty attacked the counties and counties of the Tang Dynasty, which is the first in the world, and it is not good to be accused of plotting.

Qianhu said, "The general is angry, this matter is not trivial, it is better to think in the long run, or solve this urgent need, in case the army is about to mutiny, but I can't explain it to the emperor."

Zhang Rake walked back and forth in the tent in a huff, he just wanted to lose face in order to lose the big camp and lose face, and wanted to use a few words of spirit in front of the generals to regain some face, give him one hundred and ten dares, he didn't dare to attack Susong City, these days by King Ning's side, he can see that King Ning has the heart to maintain the stability of Susong, and to be more detailed, King Ning's old slippery head is likely to look at Lu Fei differently, how dare Zhang Rake start.

In fact, the most important thing in Zhang Razi's heart now is to write an excerpt to the imperial court, reporting the situation of the suppression of bandits, because he did not wipe out the bandits according to the original plan, he must rush to the emperor before the court's criticism comes, and retreat as advance, no matter what, he will end up with a result of no reward or punishment.

Zhang Razi's anger gradually subsided, and he pointed to the quartermaster and said, "You, someone will personally take someone to the city to find Lu Fei, and borrow five thousand stones of silver from him in my name."