In Anhua County, Linyang County, Jizhou, the inner courtyard of the Assassin Mansion

The northwest wind blows through the courtyard, the slightly cold north wind blows on the woman in the courtyard, a white dress is windless and automatic, the hair bun and green silk are fluttering with the wind, the eyes are like stars, the small nose, the lovely cherry mouth, the face like the dust fairy is so pretty, a pair of soft fingers caress on the strings, there is a beautiful music like fairy music echoing in the courtyard, the aftermath is lingering, this situation and this scene, broken is beautiful and moving.

At the gate of the courtyard, a middle-aged man, eight feet tall, wearing a green shirt, wearing a jade crown, and his hair was slightly gray, he walked slowly into the courtyard.

When the woman saw someone coming in, she looked up and saw that it was her father coming, holding the strings with both hands, getting up and smiling, "Dad, why are you here?" Isn't the Assassin's Mansion busy lately? "The person who came was Fang Qian, the assassin of Jizhou, and the woman who was Fuqin just now was also Fang Qian's daughter, Fang Ningyu.

"I was thinking about things in the front yard, and I heard you have the sound of the piano here, so I came over to take a look." Fang Qian stroked the goatee's beard and said indifferently: "By the way, in two days, we will leave Jizhou and go to Yingzhou." You can clean up these two days. ”

Fang Ningyu walked out of the square table and asked, "Why did you suddenly leave Jizhou?" Aren't we staying in Jizhou? ”

"Zhang Cheng has made great contributions in Lingzhou, and the imperial court has issued an order to let him take over as his father's official position, and his father will go to Yingzhou to serve as the assassin of Yingzhou. The imperial court ordered Zhang Cheng to take over as his father within three days, and Zhang Cheng will come tomorrow, so we have to pack our bags in advance. Fang Qian said with a look of appreciation on his face.

Hearing this, Fang Ningyu was shocked, and hurriedly asked: "Didn't you say that Zhang Cheng was convicted of raising soldiers and horses, so he returned to Beidi County to think about it?" Why did he suddenly let him lead the history of Jizhou assassination again? ”

Fang Qian let out a long sigh before he sighed: "Since ancient times, royal battles have been indispensable in any dynasty and generation. At present, the world is undecided, and the two sons of the lord have launched such a fierce struggle, I am afraid that in the future, there will inevitably be a bloody storm in the imperial city. ”

"According to his father, Zhang Cheng was appointed as the assassin of Jizhou because of the eldest son Zhao Jingyu? Zhao Jingyu acted like this, isn't it obvious that he is going to compete with Zhao Huiming, the governor of the capital? Fang Ningyu thought about it and said.

"Not only is it to lead the history of Jizhou Thorn, the eldest prince Zhao Jingyu also gave Zhang Cheng military power, he can lead 30,000 horses, Zhang Cheng can manage the army when he gets on the horse, and he can manage the people when he gets off the horse. What a great kindness this is, Zhang Cheng has become the overlord of the northern border! Judging from the court situation, the two princes are fighting openly and secretly, and they are both cultivating their own forces inside and outside. And Zhang Cheng, a good general in the world, will inevitably be contested by the two princes. The metropolitan governor belittled Zhang Cheng, and Shang Shuling promoted him with all his might. In this way, Zhang Cheng was originally wronged by the Metropolitan Governor, and now he received the favor of Shang Shu Ling, so he must be grateful to Shang Shu Ling. In this way, the Metropolitan Governor will be suspicious of Zhang Cheng, and he will even get rid of Zhang Cheng. Okay, let's not talk about that, you can prepare slowly. Fang Qian sighed and analyzed.

Fang Ningyu caressed the gift and sent his father away. Then he said to the slave maid in the distance, "Pack it up." I went back to my room and rested. ”

The words are divided into two ends, from the will of the imperial court to the end, in the past three days, Zhang Cheng was with all the soldiers every day to select soldiers for each division. In the past three days, priority has been given to the selection of light and heavy cavalry divisions, 6,000 people. However, it is a pity that the heavy cavalry division only selected 2,500 people. Because the 20,000 soldiers and horses recruited were mostly grassland slaves who were captured in the north, and there were about 15,000 people from this. Although they have returned to Northland County for more than two years, after all, they are slaves, so they naturally know about archery and horse archery. Therefore, it took a lot of effort to form a group of archers, and in the end, it was only barely enough to raise two thousand. Finally, there are the infantry divisions of Tiezhu and Zhang Laoda, which are relatively easy to organize.

So there were 6,500 left. Zhang Cheng gathered all the 6,500 people and organized a competition in pairs, whoever has the highest martial arts will win, and those who win will be rewarded with two taels of silver, and will be given a day off from the camp.

After this order, he really responded to that sentence, and there must be brave men under the heavy reward. These 6,500 soldiers really produced 3,250 warriors. Next, the competition is repeated again, and the winner will be rewarded with two taels of silver. And there were 1,625 warriors. Repeating like this, in the end, several people with excellent martial arts really appeared, named Feng Jingyu, Chu Muyan, and Shi Qian.

Then Zhang Cheng selected 1,500 winners, and Feng Jingyu served as the commander of Zhang Cheng's personal guard battalion and awarded the rank of captain; Chu Muyan and Shi Qian, each with 2,500 people, served as the commander of the reserve division and the general.

After completing the selection, before taking it away, he instructed Yang Wenzhao's assistant Xiyang County to order Han Wenyuan to build all the ordnance of each army, and the ordnance of each army should be the best and the best, and if there was any neglect, it should be in accordance with military law.

Before leaving, he pondered for a long time before giving the craftsmen the method of forging iron to steel, ordering them to melt the pig iron first, then remove the surface slag, and then add lime to the molten iron, so that after the first step of steel is completed, the steel is repeatedly fried. Finally, the drawings of the bellows are drawn and handed over to the craftsmen. The craftsman didn't know why he was at all, but the warden said that he could get a sharp blade that sharpened iron like clay, so he had to do it. He also repeatedly instructed the craftsman not to slack off, must keep improving, he told the craftsman that a good knife on the battlefield is no less effective than a warrior with excellent martial arts.

All armies should strengthen their training, and when they return from Fuzhou and Xijing the next time, they will review it. After the arrangements were made, Zhang Cheng led Yang Wenzhao and the personal guard battalion to Anhua County.

Zhang Cheng and his entourage left Beidi County and entered Liyang County. There are six counties in Liyang County, and the county guard is located in She County. Zhang Cheng and the others had just entered Liyang County and arrived in Raoyang County. All I saw along the way was a withered image. Compared to the prosperity of Northland, it is truly incomparable. In the cold winter, Liyang County is covered with snow, and the heavy snow has crushed many houses, and many villages in many places are as unsightly as broken walls.

I have passed through Liyang County many times before, but because of the hurry of the trip, it is basically difficult to take a closer look, although I also know a little about the withering of Liyang County, but I don't know that it has withered to such a point. Since this is to take office in Jizhou, it is natural to take a closer look. After walking a few miles, he suddenly saw a village not far away, and Zhang Cheng went immediately.

There is a stone tablet outside the village, called Lijiazhuang. Riding a horse into the village, the village is not big, and it seems that there are only about 100 households. Hundreds of households, there is not a single house is intact, the cold wind blows into the house, there are more old and weak women and children living in the house, dressed in rags, a piece of torn cotton jacket wrapped around the body, the old lady is holding a bowl of gruel that is so thin that there are no grains of rice in sight, relying on the heat emitted by the gruel to keep warm.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Cheng left sad tears, he hurriedly dismounted, walked to the old woman, grabbed her palm like a dead tree, and asked, "Old man, you are alone in the family, ah?" ”

The old woman saw that this person was heroic and extraordinary, wearing a brocade silk, and he must be a rich and noble person, and her palm shrank back, wanting to pull out her palm, Zhang Cheng saw this, and hurriedly let go.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Below is Zhang Cheng, the guard of Beidi County, why is the old man's home so withered, and even the food for his belly is like this? Zhang Cheng thought for a moment, looked up at the old man and asked.

As soon as he heard that it was the county guard, the old man seemed to know that it was a big official, and hurriedly bowed. Zhang Cheng hurriedly helped him up, the old man sat down, sighed a few times before he said quietly: "My lord doesn't know, the government has earned more and more taxes in recent years, and we have collected four out of ten, and our harvest in Raoyang County has not been good for a few years. In these years, it is not easy to have a bowl of gruel to drink and a bowl of wild vegetables to eat, and to survive. ”

"Four out of ten! Oh, my God! Does this require the people to live? Feng Jingyu, who walked to Zhang Cheng's side, was shocked when he heard this.

Yang Wenzhao seemed to know something, and said to Zhang Cheng on the side: "My lord, Zhou Wuliang, the county guard of Liyang County, is the uncle of the lord, and his sister is the lord's father. Since this person took office, he has been following the rules and has not done anything out of the ordinary. However, this person was born with a luxurious temperament, levied harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes in the county, took it for himself, and also ran private shops, competing with the people for profit, making the people unhappy and complaining. However, he is the uncle of the lord, and Lord Assassin Shi intends to remove, but he has been interfered with by the inner palace several times and does not dare to act easily. ”

"Hmph, what Lord Fang didn't dare to do, I dare to do! Let Yao Han use all his strength to immediately collect all the evidence of this Zhou Wuliang's crimes, and the first thing I will do when I take office is to kill this thief! Zhang Cheng got up angrily, suddenly got on his horse, and headed towards the Assassin's Mansion in Anhua County.

Walking through Liyang County, the situation is the same in all three counties, the worst situation is Raoyang County, and the situation in several other counties is also mostly the same. The only thing that is better is that I am afraid that there is only the county seat. Every time Zhang Cheng passed through the city, he had to pay a city entry tax of 500 yuan. Finally, when he arrived five miles outside She County, Zhang Cheng asked the guard battalion to temporarily stay outside She County. He only brought Yang Wenzhao and Feng Jingyu and other eleven people into the city.

And when the eleven had just arrived at the gate, they were about to enter the city. The gatekeeper stopped the way with two guards and shouted, "Who are you, don't you know that you enter the city to pay taxes?" ”

"How much is taxable?" Zhang Cheng didn't say a word, and said bluntly indifferently.

"No matter how many people there are, you need to pay one or two pieces of silver to enter the city. After paying taxes, you can enter the city! The gatekeeper held his head high and was calm, as if all this were as it should be.

Zhang Cheng had had enough of this way, and he had already held back a wave of anger in his heart, seeing that the city gate officials were acting like this, the fist that was dragged in suddenly waved, Yang Wenzhao's hand was quick, and he dragged Zhang Cheng's fist that was about to be swung, and said in a low voice: "My lord! Adults are angry! You haven't received the seal yet, and according to the laws of my Great Qian Empire, you don't have the right to remove or even kill the county guard. If you fight with the city gate officials at this time, it will inevitably attract Zhou Wuliang to come, and there will be a dispute or even a sword meeting at that time. At that time, you have violated the laws of the Great Qian Empire, and you should be beheaded according to the law! Adults must not be reckless because of temporary dissatisfaction! Otherwise, in the court, those with bad intentions, the impeachment of the adults can smash you to death! ”

Yang Wenzhao's words made Zhang Cheng calm down a lot, and his clenched fists loosened. With a long breath, he waved his hand to Feng Jingyu and motioned for him to give him the silver.

After paying the money, the city gatekeeper looked triumphant and triumphant, and watched them enter the city with disdain.

In Shexian County, there are only a few hundred people walking around in the shops on both sides of the street, and the people on the street all look a little haggard and sad. There are few people wearing new clothes, this is the middle of winter, and the New Year is approaching. During the Spring Festival, it has been a custom since ancient times to do New Year's goods and add new clothes. can look at the county guard of Liyang County, in Shexian County, it will be so poor.

Everyone came to a teahouse, just arrived at the door, they saw a pair of women and children squatting opposite the door, the old man was gray, unkempt, with many patches on his cotton jacket, his face was so thin that he was already weak to the point of weakness, and his eyes were dull, obviously this woman was blind. And a little girl of thirteen or fourteen years old next to her was also in wisps, with a pretty face and a gray face, broken and embarrassed, and she shook the small bowl pitifully to the passing guests, babbling without words. Apparently the girl was mute.

Seeing Zhang Cheng staring intently at the pair of beggars, Yang Wenzhao understood and nodded to Feng Jingyu next to him, Feng Jingyu immediately took out a few taels of silver from his arms and put them in the little girl's bowl.

The shopkeeper saw someone outside the door, and hurriedly came out to greet him, the shopkeeper has been working here for more than ten years, and this ushered in the send-off, and the ability to observe words and colors has long been practiced, and it can be seen at a glance that the first two must be rich and noble people. He did everything he could to please flattery. I haven't seen anyone come in to drink tea and eat in this teahouse for a few days, and it's hard to come to such a rich man, and there are more than a dozen of them, so how unhappy is the shopkeeper.

Zhang Cheng didn't even look at the shopkeeper, and went directly into the store. If this was Zhang Cheng in the past, he would definitely laugh and scold the shopkeeper with a hippie smile, and then reward the shopkeeper with a few taels of silver. In this way, it can be seen that the behavior of the county guard of Liyang has completely angered Zhang Cheng.

The group walked into the store and sat down at two tables near the door. The shopkeeper brought tea and was about to pour tea for a few people, when a few errand officers dressed in patrol officials came over on the street and stopped the two beggars who had just received the silver taels from Zhang Cheng