"Ahem!" Lu Boqi saw that Yu He had pushed things all the way through, so he had to open his words and say: "Mr. Yu, what you said is not true, everyone has long eyes, the money over there, the taxes paid by the business travelers, and the rows of workshops, but they are all in your hands, how can you say that there is no money?" ”

Yu He didn't panic, and said with a smile: "My lord, what you said is bad." It is true that the villain is valued by Lord Liu, and the management of the levy of centigold, the bazaar and the workshop is handed over to the villain, but Lord Liu leads the army to the expedition, and the more than 2,000 people eat horses and chew without money, and they all rely on the expenditure of this centigold. As for the others, although there is a little income, please forgive the villain for saying something rude, this is not what Lord Lu should ask. ”

was directly reprimanded by Yu He, a grass man, a green tendon on Lu Boqi's forehead jumped, he forced himself to suppress the anger in his chest, and said in a deep voice: "Oh, what did the official say that was not right, but I want to listen to Mr. Yu talk about it?" ”

"My lord, this cent of gold is the tax of the imperial court, and it is not in Lord Liu's private pocket, but is used to support the military of the imperial court. But the workshop is Lord Liu's private property, and the land of the market is also Lord Liu's own person, and the rent collected from the business travelers is also in the private pocket of Lord Liu. Lord Liu is a military minister, and he takes money out of his own pocket to pay the newly formed regimental training, if you let any master seize the handle, I am afraid that you will not be able to get rid of it, right? “

"This-" Lu Boqi was suddenly dumbfounded, according to the political conventions at the time, it didn't matter if the gentry paid for the regiment out of their own pockets, but it was another matter for the military ministers in charge of the army to pay for the regimental training. To put it to the extreme, the Son of Heaven will turn a blind eye to the military ministers' deduction of military salaries and filling their private pockets, martial artists, I have not read the books of saints, and I don't know much about etiquette, righteousness and shame. To make them willing to work hard at critical times, there are some things that they can't take too seriously. But if a certain general soldier or general takes money from his own pocket to pay the soldiers, as the saying goes, "whose salary you eat, whose order you listen to", Eighth Master Qiu doesn't understand so many big truths, isn't this a bad attempt to buy people's hearts? Of course, it is also possible that this adult is worried about state affairs and breaks his family for the country, but the Son of Heaven does not dare to pin the stability of his own country on the conscience of his courtiers, so he still seizes the military power first.

"Then, is there any money left?" Lu Boqi asked with the hope of just in case.

"Yes!" Yu He took out an account book from his bosom. Turned to one of the pages and said to Lu Boqi: "There is still a balance of seven thousand four hundred taels, but Lord Liu is fighting outside, and he has to use money at any time, Lord Lu, if you want to withdraw it, it is not impossible, but you must first sign an IOU to the villain, and Lord Liu blames the villain and has an explanation." ”

"This-" Lu Boqi's eyes appeared Liu Cheng's smiling face, and the courage in his chest immediately disappeared, and he sighed and said, "Since that's the case, then don't withdraw it." If you miss Lord Liu's official business, the official can't afford it. ”

Du Ruhu is not a fool, Lu Boqi and Yu He are at loggerheads, and they are fighting fiercely. He is not easy to intervene as a martial artist, but now that Lu Boqi is soft, he has a chance to speak: "Lord Lu, hasn't the Hong army already taken out the arrears of taxes in Tongzhou, Huazhou, Dunzhou, and Yaozhou as the cost of training the new army?" Isn't it true that all the taxes in these states and counties have been paid? “

"How is that possible!" Lu Boqi smiled bitterly: "This Shaanxi is barren land. It is a peaceful year, and it is good to receive seven or eighty percent of the money and food in a year, not to mention that in the past few years, it has either been a war or a natural disaster. There is also a liao salary, that is, the Dunzhou where I stayed, which of the following counties does not owe a few thousand taels of silver every year? Although I haven't checked other states and counties, I guess it's about the same. “

"Wouldn't it be a good thing that there is money and food in arrears?" Du Ruhu asked in surprise: "Just look for opportunities according to the map, can't you check them one by one?" ”

"There is no such simple thing in the world." Lu Boqi's stomach finally had an outlet for his grievances: "Where can ordinary people owe this money and food?" Either it is a gentleman with someone in the court, or a tyrant with a clan, if it is so easy to collect money and grain, how can it be delayed until today? Not to mention anything else, they all have people in the state and county, go to check the money and grain sticks today, and they will all know tomorrow, Hong Zhijun is pushing me into the fire pit! At this point, Lu Boqi seemed to have all the bones in his body removed, and he collapsed in his chair, covering his face with his hands and lamenting. Du Ruhu looked at him like this, and he didn't know what to do.

"Lord Lu, Lord Lu!" Yu He stood up and called Lu Boqi twice, seeing that the other party still looked like a half-dead person, he didn't even want to leave his face, so he had to lean into the other party's ear and whispered: "Actually, Lord Liu already has a countermeasure, if you are willing to work, not only can the money and food be collected, the soldiers can be trained, maybe you can continue to rise!" ”

"Does Lord Liu have a countermeasure?" Hearing this, Lu Boqi's hand came down from his face: "You can't lie to me, right?" ”

"Lord Lu, you are an official of the imperial court, I am just a grass people, how dare I lie to you? If you don't believe me, I can tell you what Master Liu is doing, and it will be clear? Seeing that Lu Boqi did not object, he whispered in the other party's ear, and as he narrated, Lu Boqi's face was cloudy, and he suddenly jumped up, waved his hand again and again: "How can this be?" You're trying to hurt me! “

The smile on Yu He's face immediately disappeared: "Lord Lu, what you said is bad, everything I just said is Lord Liu's advice." How Lord Liu treats you, you know it, will he harm you? ”

Hearing Yu He mention Liu Cheng, Lu Boqi's voice suddenly lowered: "Lord Liu naturally won't harm me, it's just-"

"If Lord Lu thinks this thing is inappropriate, then it doesn't matter!" Yu He smiled: "For such a major matter, adults naturally have to think about it." However, Lord Liu also told the villain in the letter, the Tatar chieftain invaded the Hetao, and the Hong army naturally had to relax for the thieves, so let me wait to take care of my own foundation. Du Shoubei, that's what Lord Liu wrote in the letter, right? His last sentence was to Du Ruhu.

"Exactly!" Du Ruhu remembered that there was indeed this sentence in the letter, and hurriedly replied: "Lord Lu, the general did say in the letter, let me speed up the construction of fortifications and hoard food in case of thieves!" ”

Lu Boqi heard this. How do you not know the meaning of Yu He's words, Liu Cheng clearly told his subordinates that if Lu Boqi did not raise money and food to raise new troops as he said, then he would take care of his own territory, and he would not have to worry about anything else. Lu Boqi remembered that he was attacked by Li Zicheng not long ago, and he and Ma Ziyi were locked in a cage and starved and waiting for porridge to eat, and he couldn't help but shudder. He was about to speak, but Yu He patted his head and scolded: "Look at this memory, there is one more thing the villain forgot to say." In the letter, the lord also said that if the thieves are strong, Lord Lu can come to the ferry, and it should be safer here. ”

Hearing Yu He say this, Lu Boqi couldn't help but laugh a little, if it was indeed safe to run to the ferry as Liu Cheng said, but if he lost the state and county he was guarding without a fight, his future would definitely be gone, and he might have to go to prison. It is impossible to tell which is better and which is bad than the death at the hands of thieves. But this made him determined, anyway, the worst is nothing more than that, it is better to give it a go according to Liu Cheng's method. Maybe you can make a way out of it.

"In that case, then the official can only give it a go, you go back and do what Lord Liu said!" Speaking of this, Lu Boqi's voice suddenly became smaller: "But you have to be careful in what you do. Don't let a third party know, otherwise the official won't recognize it! ”

"Don't worry, adult, villain understands!"

Yu He and Du Ruhu said goodbye to Lu Boqi. As soon as he left the yamen, Du Ruhu asked: "Mr. Yu, what kind of dumb riddle are you playing with Master Lu, why can't I understand a word?" ”

"Don't understand? If you don't understand, that's right! Yu He smiled, he looked at Du Ruhu, lowered his voice and said, "There are two letters sent back by the adults, except for the one you and I have seen, and the other is dedicated to me." Du Lao, don't be angry, it's not that adults can't trust you, but that if one person knows about this kind of thing, there will be less danger of leakage, and I will tell you when I should know. “

"Hmm!" Du Ruhu suppressed the unhappiness in his heart and nodded. He instinctively felt that there was a conspiracy hidden under Liu Cheng's letter that he didn't know about, but he didn't ask, because he knew very well that there were some things that he still didn't know.

Chaoyi, wharf.

"Next, next!" The guard shouted impatiently while beating the wooden barrel with a wooden spoon, Li Zicheng walked in front of him with a wooden bowl, the guard put a spoonful of gruel in the wooden bowl, and took out two multigrain buns from the basket on the side. Li Zicheng silently walked aside with a wooden bowl and steamed buns, and buried himself in eating. Compared to the ambitious leader of the thieves a few months ago, he was almost a different person. The shaved scalp has grown a short layer of hair, and the whole body is **** except for a rag wrapped around the waist, which is covered with soot from head to toe, and it is pitch black, only the eyes occasionally show a little white. This is the result of hard labor - the blast furnace is like a monster that does not know how to feed itself, swallowing hundreds of stones of coke and iron ore every day, which are transported here by water, and once the Yellow River freezes, the waterway will be cut off, and the blast furnace cannot be stopped. As a result, the wharves are intensifying the stockpiling of iron ore and coal needed for the freezing season, and these heavy goods must be unloaded from the ships to the trestle and then transported to the warehouses, where the most unruly prisoners are sent to endure torture.

Li Zicheng didn't eat fast, heavy hard labor, and coarse food consumed his originally very vigorous energy, in fact, Liu Cheng didn't particularly tell the guards to abuse him at all - six hours of heavy physical labor a day is enough, even the strongest young man, it is difficult to support more than half a year here, it is impossible to escape, jumping into the Yellow River water in winter with twelve pounds of shackles, and diving for four or five miles to escape from the pursuit of the clipper, which is beyond the scope of human beings.

Just as everything in the world has an end, Li Zicheng finally finished his dinner, he looked at the porridge bowl with some reluctance, and decided to lick the remnants of the porridge soup on it, and suddenly saw a pair of leather-faced official boots appear in front of him. Li Zicheng raised his head in surprise, just in time to see Yu He standing in front of him, looking at him with a smile.

"Someone, take this man's shackles off and let him come with me!" Yu He's voice was not loud, but it was full of the reserve of the superiors.

"Mr. Yu!" The guard ran over panting: "This prisoner is a felon, who has been told to be strictly guarded, do you see if-"

"It's okay, I have an adult's military order here!" Yu He took out a token from his bosom and lit it up in front of the guard, and asked, "There is no problem, right?" ”

"No problem, no problem!" The guard's fat face was already full of wrinkles with laughter, and he bent down and whispered in a courteous voice: "Mr. Yu, this guy is very vicious, and he injured people when he first came, otherwise don't go to this shackle first, right?" “

"Vicious?" Yu He laughed: "It's okay, after working here for a few months, even a tiger has become a sick cat, where can it hurt people, and besides, these guards around me are also okay, so I'm about to shackle him." ”

"Yes, yes!" The guard hurriedly hauled his waist, took out a key from his waist, and bent down to open the shackles on Li Zicheng's feet. Li Zicheng moved his legs and feet, as if he was experiencing the feeling of being free again, and suddenly, he flew up and kicked the guard on his heels.

"Oops!" The guards screamed, and the two guards brought by Yu He hurriedly stepped forward, one of them blocked behind He, and the other pulled out his waist knife and stepped forward, seeing that his hands and feet were fast, and his movements were orderly, obviously a practitioner, Li Zicheng picked up the shackles on the ground with his right foot, and prepared to fight with the comers.

"That's it!" Yu He stopped his subordinates and said to Li Zicheng: "Leader Li, you are a hero, don't be familiar with such little people, I am ordered by Lord Liu, I have something to do with you, you don't want to embarrass me!" “

Li Zicheng snorted coldly and threw the shackles in his hand to the ground: "Where is Liu Cheng?" ”

"You come with me!" Yu He turned around with a smile, stretched out his hand and made an inviting gesture, and Li Zicheng didn't say much, so he followed. The group passed through the dock area, got into the carriage, and walked about a meal before the carriage stopped. The two of them got out of the car, but in front of them was a mansion by the river, about two courtyards, although not very ornate but quite exquisite, like a large family's courtyard. (To be continued.) )