Jiaozhou is located in the south of the entrance of the Jiaolai River, the whole city is built according to the river, the Jiaolai River crosses the entire Jiaozhou City, Jiaozhou belongs to the Haidian Plain, the terrain is high in the west and low in the east, high in the south and low in the north, the temperature is distinct in four seasons, the precipitation is moderate, and it is suitable for the growth of crops. Jiaozhou is adjacent to Jiaozhou Bay, rich in fishery resources, more than 200 kinds of edible fish, and there are several salt farms in Jiaozhou, which is really a rare excellent base.

Liu Fan is very satisfied with his appointment as the Jiaolai salt transport envoy this time, Jiaozhou is backed by Jiaozhou Bay, as a rare excellent seaport in China, Jiaozhou Bay does not freeze all year round, and is very suitable for the development of marine industry. In the future, as long as the ocean is transported, there will be no more worries about running out of money. Therefore, Liu Fan has regarded Jiaozhou as his base camp, and whether he is a dragon or a worm in the future depends on whether he can do something in Jiaozhou this time!

In April of the fifth year of Chongzhen, Liu Fan finally came to Jiaozhou outside the city after a long journey, in order to impress the people of Jiaozhou, Liu Fan did not rush into the city, but the army was stationed outside the city, and specially selected a hundred pro-soldier teams, scraped together, and replaced them with birds, in order to make people remember their special team.

The next day, Liu Fan was ready and came to the gate of the city with a team of 100 people, and the gatekeeper at the head of the city saw a team of Ming troops coming, and immediately stepped forward to block the way, and asked, "My lord!" Where does it come from? Is there a warrant from the prefect? ”

Liu Fan asked Li Xiaohu to take out the household documents and hand them to the gatekeeper, "This official is the new deputy envoy of Jiaolai Salt Transport, and he is ordered to come and hand it over!" ”

The gatekeeper glanced at it and hurriedly returned the paperwork to Li Xiaohu, and said with a smile: "My lord!" I hope that adults will not be surprised by their humble duties! Adults, please! Come! Way! After speaking, he shouted to his subordinates. His subordinates didn't dare to slack off, so they moved the barricades and made way for Liu Fan and them.

Liu Fan rode on the horse and glanced at the gatekeeper, and said lightly, "It's okay!" Then he said, "Into the city!" "Take the lead and ride forward, and the pro-soldiers behind will slowly follow!

Liu Fan rode a snow-white horse, wearing chain mail, covered with a Ming Dynasty mandarin duck battle jacket, without a helmet, just with a simple head, riding a horse slowly into the city, the pro-soldiers followed in four columns, after passing the city gate, under Li Xiaohu's gesture, he suddenly changed to walk in unison to walking! Suddenly, the momentum changed, and the footsteps became neat, almost stepping on the ground with a drum beat, striking a neat echo on the bluestone slabs of Jiaozhou streets.

Jiaozhou City has not been such a special army for a long time, the people in the city are curious to see such a peculiar Ming army, attracting everyone to watch, whether it is a hawker in the city, or a passing merchant or a restaurant diner, have stopped the affairs in hand, curiously looked at Liu Fan's personal army, made a "tsk" sound of surprise, an elderly man sighed and said, "Since Qi Dashuai left, Jiaozhou has not seen such an imposing elite soldier for a long time!" This team is a well-disciplined and well-trained elite soldier, which is definitely different from those ruffians, and it seems that we Jiaozhou people are blessed! ”

Liu Fan rode on the horse and listened to the discussion of the people around him, and slowly smiled, it seemed that the effect of his careful preparation was not bad. At least the people of Jiaozhou remember their own army! Isn't it? The entire army, lined up in a neat queue, slowly marched towards the Yamen of the Jiaolai Salt Transport Division in the west of the city. The news that a very powerful army had come to Jiaozhou quickly spread in Jiaozhou City.

This time, Liu Fan deliberately chose to walk in the downtown area, there are many shops on both sides of Jiaozhou Street, pedestrians are like banners, whether it is a teahouse restaurant or a shop, whenever Liu Fan's troops pass by, no matter upstairs or downstairs, they will open the windows and doors and watch secretly.

The largest restaurant in Jiaozhou, Wanghai Tower. Because Wanghailou is very high and is a rare three-storey building in Dengzhou, standing on the third floor, you can overlook the panoramic view of Jiaozhou, enjoy the pleasant scenery of Jiaolai River, and it is a gathering place for literati and elegant guests in Jiaozhou. There are often literati, wealthy businessmen and gentry gather here, and it is a place for the famous upper-class people in Jiaozhou City to make friends and gather. Suddenly, a guest shouted, "Look, everyone! That strange army is coming! Everyone was curious and poked their heads out to watch.

Looking towards the street, I saw a person in front of a general riding a high-headed horse, coming slowly, a group of soldiers behind wearing a brand-new Ming standard mandarin duck jacket, holding a bird gun, carrying a big knife, in four vertical columns, with strange steps under their feet, the queue was neat between walking, almost everyone swung their arms and raised their legs in the same way, looking at it from a distance, it was like a person, as the team approached, the heavy footsteps came, listen carefully, there was only one sound, almost no noise, it was really amazing. The team slowly approached, everyone saw the true face of the team, the whole team is a number of strong and strong men, all of them are birds on their shoulders, their faces are resolute, their eyes do not squint, they are silent between walking, exuding a shocking momentum, plus the pro-soldier team has only returned from the battlefield, faintly revealing the spirit of killing, and only a hundred people actually give people the illusion of a golden iron horse. The people upstairs were intimidated by its momentum for a while, and the originally lively restaurant quieted down.

Liu Fan is also crazy personally, seeing so many people, looking at them, he sang the military song "The wolf smoke rises, the rivers and mountains look north..." Awakened by the singing, the people of Jiaozhou came back to their senses, looked at this iron-blooded army, and listened to the vicissitudes of singing, and the people of Jiaozhou suddenly let out bursts of applause.

At this time, Wanghailou also resumed its liveliness, and everyone was talking about the origin of this strange elite army, and the restaurant suddenly became noisy. This is a table by the window, a few scholars in cyan robes, also followed the discussion, a fair-faced scholar on the right picked up a wine glass and took a sip and said slowly, "Brother Yuanying!" Your father is the prefect of Jiaozhou, but he knows the origin of this army! A richly dressed young man on the left laughed and said, "I have heard that this person may be the new deputy envoy of Jiaolai Salt Transport, I heard that it was the extermination of Kong Youde's rebels who made war achievements, and the imperial court rewarded him and promoted him to the position of deputy envoy." ”

Hearing his words, a young man with a proud face next to him said disdainfully: "It's just a mere martial artist from the fifth grade, a grandstander!" No matter how powerful he is, he is also a lowly martial artist, even if Qi Jiguang is not a lackey under Zhang Juzheng! Hum! ”

When the handsome man heard that he was open-mouthed, he spoke disrespectfully in front of the public, and it was inevitable that he would provoke right and wrong, so he opened his mouth to persuade, "Brother Ru Xiu, be cautious, no matter what this person says, he is also an official of the imperial court, and rash criticism may cause trouble!" ”

That Yuan Ying also said, "Ru Xiu is talented, he is only twenty years old, he is already a high school person, his future is limitless, and the teacher is a master of Zhizhou, how can he be afraid of a little salt official, and his brother, don't worry." Besides, a mere martial artist is not worth discussing, come and drink and drink! ”