Armistice: A state in which the warring parties cease hostile military operations. It is generally implemented through negotiation and agreement. There are partial and comprehensive, limited and indefinite.

Basically, the so-called armistice agreement reached between the Pingxi Imperial Mansion and the Qing Dynasty is a typical example of a limited-term truce, and it is also a typical example of having to temporarily be friendly after the strength is exhausted and the force is exhausted. What is more typical is that neither side knows how long this armistice will last, when the war will resume, and still less whether that side will take the lead in restarting the war and when it will start the war. -- Regarding this point, whether it is Kang Mazi, the chief of the Qing Dynasty, or Wu Laohan, the leader of the Pingxi Palace, they are all boiling dumplings in a teapot and know it.

Of course, not everyone has such a calm and sober mind, there are mites in the Qing court, and there are many on the Wu army's side, and the second son of Wu Lao Hanjian, the famous two hundred and five Wu Yingqi, is one of them. After receiving seventy percent of the army's grain and grass for the down payment of the Mite Qing court, Wu Yingqi, who was happy to bloom, actually made a suggestion to Wu Lao Han to plant opium on all the fertile fields in the Huguang grain producing area that Wu Jun had finally snatched back from the mite Qing court, in order to make huge profits at the end of the year!

Fortunately, Wu Laohan has not lost his breath at this time, and there are still people who can stop Wu Yingqi's nonsense, Wu Jun is not harmed by Wu Yingqi, but Wu Yingqi was of course also scolded by Wu Laohan for a bloody head, if it weren't for his great contribution in Xiong Cilu's bribing of Wu Jun's important ministers last time, Wu Lao Hanzhan would definitely have to slap this straw bale son a few times. In the end, it was Lu Fatzi who stood up to make a round and proposed that the Eight Banners Paste was extremely effective in healing wounds on the battlefield and could be planted appropriately, and Wu Laohan allowed the people of Guizhou and Yunnan, who could not produce much grain, to plant it on their own -- but also posted notices to warn them again and again, warning that the price of Eight Banners Paste would inevitably plummet and that grain prices would inevitably soar within the year, and suggested that the people plant it in the ratio of three grains and seven grains.

Wu Yingqi is definitely not the only one who is lax, after receiving the arrears of military salaries and rewards, the whole army of Wu is obviously a little slack, gambling is common in the barracks, countless soldiers gather to gamble at night, and regular training is perfunctory; Coupled with the destruction of the war, hundreds of people's families were destroyed, and many women could only do some dusty things to make a living, and their main customers were naturally the soldiers of the Wu army who happened to have a few spare money in their hands.

In the face of such a situation, Wu Lao Hanjian, Hu Guozhu, and Lu Fatzi were all so broken that they had to issue a strict order prohibiting all-night gambling and sneaking out of the barracks to buy fun, and for this reason they also arrested and severely punished nearly 100 officers and men of the Wu Army. Even the military discipline of the fat man's army, which Lu Fatzi was proud of, was greatly affected, and there was a situation of going off the post in the middle of the night to gamble and prostitute, so angry that Lu Fatzi personally whipped a few unlucky eggs who were caught, and was forced to strengthen the supervision of the army, so as not to completely degenerate his descendants.

Fortunately, this is a worse world than rotten, the morale and discipline of Wu Laohan's army are sloppy, and the situation on the side of the Qing army on the other side of the river is even more serious, and the quality of the surname is even worse -- according to the detailed statistics of the Wu army, the Qing army's Hanyang garrison alone committed hundreds of atrocities of forcibly annihilating the people's women in the first month of the 12th year of Kang Mazi, and at the same time, because of the serious problem of arrears of military salaries, the phenomena of soldiers fleeing and pretending to be bandits and robbers are even more endless, and they are repeatedly prohibited. So relatively speaking, the situation of Wu Jun, who has not been rotten to the extreme, is even better.

At the beginning of February, the Wu army built two Linjiang forts were completed, located in the north of Wuchang City and at the mouth of Dongting Lake, respectively, and planned to set up hundreds of heavy artillery pieces each, the purpose of which was naturally to block the Yangtze River waterway, disturb the Qing army's waterway transportation and protect the rear grain-producing areas, but the Wu army's firearms and equipment were too biased, focusing on field battles and lightly attacking fortified positions, and the Hongyi cannons that could shoot ten miles were seriously insufficient, and although the number of sub-mother cannons and bronze cannons was quite large, the firing range was insufficient. Lu Fatzi, who was extremely reluctant to leave the decision-making level of the Wu army, had no choice but to pack his luggage and prepare to rush to the newly built Jijia Mountain Firearms Battalion, where he instructed the craftsmen to build heavy artillery and equip the battery.

Before leaving, when he was resigning in front of Wu Laohan Annihilation, Lu Fatzi took the opportunity to put forward his long-brewing vicious suggestion, and said to Wu Laohan Annihilation: "Grandfather, according to my grandson-in-law's opinion, if our army's fighting spirit and military discipline continue as it is now, I am afraid that it will not be conducive to our army's all-out counteroffensive plan in the future. ”

"The old man has long been aware of this." Wu Lao Han rubbed his temples with a tired expression, and said helplessly: "But this is also something that cannot be eliminated, now there is a temporary truce, there is no war to fight, and the old man cannot use wartime discipline on the soldiers, and if he is caught violating discipline, he will be killed directly, and he must relax these rabbit cubs, otherwise, the effect will only be counterproductive, and the morale of the army will be even more sluggish." ”

"Grandfather, why don't we create some friction and fight some small battles with the full dogs on the north shore at any time to maintain the morale and combat effectiveness of the army?" Fat Lu suggested insidiously.

"Friction?" Wu Laohan was stunned, and said suspiciously: "We have now signed an armistice and peace treaty with Mangou, and we have taken the initiative to provoke a war for no reason, isn't it dishonest to the world?" ”

"Grandfather misunderstood." Fat Lu shook his head and said in a dark voice: "Son-in-law didn't say that he would provoke a big war, but he just lured the soldiers to take advantage of them, let the soldiers take the initiative to attack, and rubbed the fire with the soldiers in his private capacity. In this way, the soldiers tasted the sweetness in the friction, naturally thought about the next time, suffered losses in the friction, and naturally thought about revenge, grandfather did not need to come forward in person, just let the generals at all levels fan the flames behind their backs, and connived and connived. ”

"How? Let's hear it. Wu Laohan became interested.

"Follow the example of the ancestors who are full of dogs, and let the soldiers go out to fight the wild valley." Lu Fatzi suggested: "The Mangou army across the bank from our army, as well as the Mangou army in Nanchang Prefecture, Jiangxi Province, which borders Wuchang Mansion, have very corrupt military discipline, and there are often people who loot people's property and annihilate silver women, and the people of the two places often flee to Wuchang. Grandfather can let the grassroots generals ask our army for help under the pretext of the people, organize small armies to attack these harassing dogs, and the things and women that are snatched from them do not have to be handed over, and all belong to the soldiers. In this way, grandfather, you can not only win the hearts of the people, but also use the excuse that the soldiers are brave and brave to block the mouths of the dogs, and at the same time maintain the morale of the army and the combat effectiveness of the soldiers, killing multiple birds with one stone. ”

"Is this possible?" Wu Lao Han Jian began to be tempted, and after thinking for a long time, Wu Lao Han Jian slapped the table and said: "You can give it a try, and by the way, you can also train the water army, the water army that has never seen blood is unreliable on the battlefield." ”

"Grandfather, my grandson-in-law thinks that this matter can be handed over to the second uncle to be responsible." Lu Fatzi suggested again: "Second uncle's temper, I guess my grandfather is also very clear, as long as there is something to take advantage of, he is absolutely willing to do it." As long as he remembers that the teacher is famous, how much trouble he makes, grandfather, you can easily deal with the accusations of the Mangou court. ”

"Yes." Wu Lao Han nodded and sneered: "Sending this kid out will also save him from always gathering gambling and prostitution in the barracks, taking the lead in corrupting Lao Tzu's military discipline, and making Lao Tzu embarrassed to deal with other generals if he wants to." Fat Lu smiled bitterly, and also sympathized with Wu Laohan's mood - the eldest son is so wise and calm, why is the second son so stupid as a pig?

"By the way, there's one more thing." Wu Lao Hanjian suddenly remembered something again, and hurriedly asked: "I heard Mr. Liangchen say, you wrote to the Tongshan Zhixian of Wuchang Mansion, ordering him to plant a thousand acres of gourds in Tongshan, and said that in the future, this king will buy it with a lot of money, what is going on?" Why hasn't I heard you mention it? ”

"Son-in-law should be damned, I've been busy making artillery iron molds these days, and I forgot to report this to my grandfather." Lu Fatzi, who had indeed forgotten about this, was afraid that Wu Lao Han would suspect that he had overstepped his authority, so he hurriedly saluted and excused himself, explaining: "This matter, my grandson-in-law also thought of it by chance when I was observing the training of the sailors, and my grandfather also knew that the main force of our army was mostly Yungui soldiers, most of whom did not know the surname Shui, and they suffered very much in the water war and were very dangerous, so the grandson-in-law thought of a way to provide six to eight gourds for each navy soldier and let them tie them around their waists to act as a floating hanging, so that even if they accidentally fell into the water in the water battle, It will not be sacrificed in vain because he doesn't know the surname Shui. ”

"I see, so you let Tongshan County plant a lot of gourds?" Wu Laohan asked with great joy.

"Back to my grandfather, that's true." Fat Lu nodded and replied honestly: "Because my grandson-in-law only thought of this idea by chance five days ago, and he was at the Jinkou Shuishi Wharf outside the city at that time, and considering that the area of Tongshan is remote and the grain output is not high, even if there are many kinds of gourds, it will not affect the collection of military grain of our army too much, so I immediately wrote this letter to Liu Dashuang, the magistrate of Tongshan, and sent it quickly, ordering him to follow the plan." At that time, the grandson-in-law originally planned to report the incident to his grandfather after returning to the city, but because he caught up with the military factory to find his grandson-in-law when he returned to the city, the grandson-in-law went to work all night and forgot about it completely. The grandson-in-law overstepped his authority and asked his grandfather to punish him. ”

"It's no wonder to you about this, it's because you're too busy to forget, just pay attention to it in the future." Wu Laohan smiled and said magnanimously: "In the future, if something like this is beneficial to our army, my grandfather will allow you to overstep your authority and report to your grandfather afterwards." Also, don't blame Mr. Liangchen for suing you for this matter, he is the acting prefect of Wuchang Mansion appointed by his grandfather, Liu Dashuang of Tongshan Zhixian County is not under your control, and he didn't see Mr. Liangchen's official document, so he sent a letter to inquire about the authenticity, Mr. Liangchen felt inexplicable, so he reported this matter to this king, don't blame him. ”

"Grandfather, please don't worry, grandson-in-law will never dare." Fat Lu lowered his head very modestly.

"That's good." Wu Lao Han nodded with satisfaction, and said: "The method you said is very good, when the old man crossed the Yellow River, he also saw the local people cross the river in this way, and your method will definitely play a big role." In this way, since you let Tongshan County plant gourds, then simply plant more and plant 5,000 acres, and in the future, this king will send someone to buy them back at a high price, so as not to have enough time. ”

"Grandfather is wise, thousands of acres of gourds, and it is indeed not enough." Fat Lu hurriedly slapped his ass.

"Don't be a sycophant, it's your credit." Wu Lao Han smiled lightly, and then advised: "After arriving at Ji Ji Mountain, you should also pay more attention to rest, don't forget to rest when you do things like in Wuchang City, look at yourself, how thin have you become?" Hurry up and finish the matter of Ji Ji Mountain, and after a while, the old man will let you go back to Kunming to officially marry Xiao Su. ”

"Grandfather Xie cares, and my son-in-law will pay attention to rest." Fat Lu hurriedly thanked him, but his fat face was a little sad -- now that Wu Jun's weapons development, internal affairs construction, and military affairs are inseparable from him, it is really difficult for him to find time to go back to Yunnan and marry Wu Xiaosu.

"Grandfather, if there is nothing else, then the son-in-law will leave, and please take care of your health grandfather." After secretly sighing that he was really born to work hard, Lu Fatzi proposed to leave.

"Okay, you go ......." As soon as Wu Lao Han's words were halfway through, a guard of the Wu army suddenly came in outside the door, hugged his fists and said: "Lord Qiqi, a strange person suddenly came outside the gate, dressed in tatters like a flower child, and his behavior was also a little crazy, saying that he must see the prince, and he can't drive away." ”

"Bastard, such a trivial matter, also come to report to the king?" Wu Laohan said angrily: "Can't drive away, won't you beat away with a stick?" The stick couldn't be beaten away, so he was tied up and thrown into the prison. ”

"Back to the prince, the little ones started to think the same way." The guard replied helplessly: "But the strange man said that he heard that the prince was recruiting talents in the list, so he came to defect, and you have given an order to not wait for the wise men from all over the world who came to join our army, so the little one had no choice but to come in and report to the prince." ”

"What's his name? What are the talents? Wu Laohan's face slowed down.

"Back to the prince, he claims to be surnamed Xu and is a craftsman." The guard replied.

"A craftsman is also a wise man?" Wu Laohan's nose was almost crooked, and he shouted: "Fight away!" ”

"Wait." Although the status of craftsmen in this era is the lowest, Lu Fatzi did not have such thoughts, so he stopped the guard and asked, "He is a craftsman?" Did he say what he was good at? ”

"Back to Lord Lu, he said that he can do anything, as long as the prince wants, he can do it." The guard replied honestly, and added: "By the way, he also showed a letter saying that a Mangou official named Dai Zi wrote to him and asked him to go out of the mountain, but he didn't want to work for Mangou, he just wanted to come to us." ”

"Dai Zi?" Lu Fatzi jumped up violently and shouted: "You heard it right, the official who asked him to go out of the mountain is really called Dai Zi?" ”

"Absolutely not." The guard replied honestly, "Because at first the little one sounded like a bag, and when he laughed at him, he corrected it." ”

"Grandfather, this must be a great talent!" Lu Fatzi turned to Wu Lao Han Jian, and said loudly: "The name of Dai Zi, my grandfather must have heard of it, the son and mother cannon we captured from Mangou was made by Dai Zi for Emperor Mangou, since Dai Zi wants to invite him out of the mountain, then this person's talent in craftsman must be extraordinary!" ”

"Really?" Wu Laohan was skeptical, got up and said, "Okay, let's go, this king will go and see it himself." ”

Lu Fatzi was overjoyed, and hurriedly went out with Wu Laohan, and came to the Xingyuan Gate to take a look, and sure enough, a middle-aged man dressed no different from his name Huazi was standing in front of the icy and snowy Xingyuan Gate with his bare feet, shivering from the cold but still looking around, and reached out to touch the musket of the Wu soldiers, but was pushed away by the Wu soldiers. Seeing that Wu Lao Han came out in person, the guards of the Wu army in front of the door hurriedly knelt down on one knee and saluted together, and said in unison: "Welcome to the prince." ”

At this point, no matter how stupid a person is, he knows that it was Wu Lao Han Zhan who came out in person, but Hua Zi was still stupid and refused to bow down, but just asked Wu Lao Han Jian: "You are the king of Pingxi?" ”

"This king is Wu Sangui, the king of Pingxi, who are you?" Wu Lao Han asked with a frown and displeasure.

"Okay, I finally met King Pingxi." That called Huazi clapped his hands, and hurriedly came to pull Wu Laohan's hand, and couldn't wait to ask: "Lord Wang, my name is Xu Zhengming, is there a person named Lu Yifeng in your palace?" I want to see him. ”

"What did you see him doing?" Wu Laohan shook off the dirty hand called Hanako. The lonely and unheard of Fat Lu was confused, and he couldn't remember if there was a celebrity named Xu Zhengming in history.

"I'm going to ask him for advice and see what his flying boat looks like." Xu Zhengming, whose name is Huazi, explained: "In order to see him, I walked thousands of miles, and came from Wu County while asking for food, just to meet him, and to see the airship he built with my own eyes." ”

"Daring fanatic!" Wu Laohan was furious and shouted: "The airship is the first secret of this king's army, what are you, you want to see it if you want to see it?" ”

"It turned out to be called an airship, no wonder I think it's so awkward to call it a flying boat." Xu Zhengming was not afraid of anti-joy, and said with a smile: "Lord Wang, in fact, your airship is really nothing great, because before me, I have also built a jujube flying car that can fly to the sky with people, but the road is too far for me to bring it." ”

"Jujube Speed? The world's first helicopter? Fat Lu finally came to his senses, and quickly jumped out and hurriedly asked, "What did you say?" Did you build the jujube speeder? What evidence do you have? ”

"I'm here with the drawing." Xu Zhengming took out a stack of drawings from his bosom that smelled of sweat. Lu Fatzi was so excited that his whole body trembled, and he hurriedly snatched it over, opened the drawings and looked at it carefully, while Xu Zhengming urged impatiently: "This adult, have you finished reading it?" Can you let me see Lu Yifeng? In order to see him, Dai Zi recommended me to be an official, but I didn't ...... it. ”

"Mr. Xu-!"

Xu Zhengming's words were destined to be completely finished, because after Lu Fatzi yelled, a tiger pounced and hugged Xu Zhengming, who was covered in mud and mud, and scared Xu Zhengming to scream like a pig, but Lu Fatzi hugged him and didn't let go, turned around and yelled at Wu Laohan: "Grandfather, genius has arrived!" The real genius has arrived! With him, our rockets will be more powerful, there will be more airships, and the rear-loading muskets and gas bombs that my grandson-in-law has never been able to build can also be made! Our Jijia Mountain Firearms Battalion finally has a chief craftsman! ”

"Really?" Wu Lao Han was overjoyed and surprised, pointed at Xu Zhengming and asked suspiciously: "This is called Huazi?" Is it so powerful? ”

"Absolutely!" Lu Fatzi let go of Xu Zhengming, picked up the drawings of the jujube flying car and pointed out to Wu Laohan, and said excitedly: "Grandfather, please see, this is a helicopter, it's a helicopter!" To be able to create such a thing is definitely a genius among craftsmen, a genius among geniuses! With his help to his grandson-in-law, all the weapons that his grandson-in-law told his grandfather before can be made! ”

"Really?" Wu Laohan, who couldn't see any fame, was suspicious, but considering that his grandson-in-law had always been respectful and never talked nonsense, he still immediately ordered: "Quick, prepare the banquet, clothes and bath barrel, first invite Mr. Xu to bathe and change clothes, and then invite him to the reception hall, where the king will personally entertain." ”

"Order." The surrounding guards agreed, and hurriedly stepped forward to invite Xu Zhengming, but Xu Zhengming shook his head desperately and said: "Lord Wang, you can talk about the banquet and changing clothes slowly, I just want to see Lu Yifeng now, I have traveled thousands of miles to ask for food, just to see him." ”

"You've seen him." Wu Laohan smiled bitterly and pointed at Lu Fatzi, "He is the grandson-in-law of this king, you want to see that Lu Yifeng!" ”

Fat Lu also smiled at Xu Zhengming, and was about to salute, but he never thought that Xu Zhengming was also a tiger pounced up, hugged Fat Lu, and yelled: "Lu Yifeng, I finally saw you!" Tell me, how can your airship fly into the sky with four people? The fat man Lu, who was almost out of breath, struggled desperately, but unfortunately Xu Zhengming refused to let go of anything.

"It's over, the clothes Yu'er made for me are the first time to wear them, Yu'er has to peel my skin this time." Fat Lu sighed. The guards of Wu Jun next to him looked at each other and said together: "No wonder there are rumors that Lord Lu likes women and prefers men - it turns out to be true!" ”

(To be continued)