The reason why Ma Wanli came up with the idea of buying weapons and armor is also for a reason, he just met a military general not long ago, and the general's name is Zuo Liangyu. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Zuo Liangyu was also a well-known figure in the last years of the Ming Dynasty, he was raised by his uncle after his parents died when he was a child, he was born tall and burly, powerful and especially good at archery. I haven't read a day's book, I don't know a word, but he is brilliant, and he has learned martial arts since he was a child, and later he joined the army to Guanwai, relying on his own courage and resourcefulness to be promoted to the right battalion of Liaodong Che. Later, he met the noble man of his life, Hou Sui.

The reason why Hou Sui became famous was because he himself held important official positions in the court, such as the secretary of the transfer department, and another reason was that he had a very famous son. Hou Sui's son Hou Fangyu, the word Chaozong, one of the "Four Princes" in the late Ming Dynasty, was very famous both at that time and in later generations. Moreover, their family is a member of the Donglin Party, and they were excluded because of their opposition to the eunuch dictatorship, and Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne and Wei Zhongxian fell, and Hou Sui and others became active again.

Hou Sui served as the right attendant of the military department in Chongzhen for three years, Zuo Liangyu happened to be under him at that time, Hou Sui was a person who knew talents, and immediately felt that this son was a talent that could be created after seeing Zuo Liangyu, and recommended Zuo Liangyu to be a deputy general. Later, the rebel uprisings in Shaanxi, Henan, and Hebei were surging, and the court transferred Zuo Liangyu to Henan to exterminate the thieves.

Zuo Liangyu is only thirty-two years old now, and he not only experienced life and death in the battle with Houjin outside the Guan, but also saw the ups and downs of the positions of the surrounding Wenchen military generals, and he himself was demoted due to defeat. Zuo Liangyu has a new understanding of today's social situation.

The Ming Dynasty has reached a time of turmoil, the peasant uprising is surging, and the growth of the Later Jin Dynasty has doubled the pressure on the Ming court. At this time, the importance of military generals was highlighted. There were cracks in the tradition of the Ming Dynasty that had adhered to the centuries of using literature to control the military, which created an opportunity for the generals to come forward.

After arriving in Henan, Zuo Liangyu encountered the same problem as Cao Wenzhao's arrival in Shaanxi, no soldiers, no generals, and no food. He nominally commanded the officials and troops in Henan to suppress thieves, and the only possible mobilization was more than 1,000 personal soldiers who followed him from outside the Guan. The officers and soldiers in Henan have either long been rotten, or they are the personal soldiers of other generals, and Zuo Liangyu will not be able to adjust anyone without food.

Zuo Liangyu saw the strength of Houjin Bing outside the gate and knew what absolute power was. Moreover, the practice of those officers outside the customs to keep private soldiers was also very inspiring to him. He decided to train himself and have his own strength to protect himself.

These days, Zuo Liangyu has been active in Kaifeng City, visiting officials at all levels in the city, regardless of their official positions, as long as they can manage money and goods, they are all kind to each other, and strive to get a little more materials.

Zuo Liangyu, a wealthy household in Kaifeng City, did not let go, Zuo Liangyu, who was a little bit of a face, had fought the autumn wind in the past, how to say that he was also to protect the property of the rich, and everyone should contribute a little bit of effort.

Ma Wanli is one of the few wealthy businessmen in Kaifeng City, and of course he is the focus of Zuo Liangyu's autumn breeze. Zuo Liangyu found Ma Wanli, but Ma Wanli did not let go, anyone who came out with silver would be heartbroken, Ma Wanli has been in business for so many years and is still inextricably linked with the officials of the court, and he is not afraid of this military general with low status. Ma Wanli hadn't figured out what benefits he could get through this Zuo Liangyu. So he neither refused nor agreed.

Seeing the iron materials weighing in the texture of the Yuji Trading Bank, Ma Wanli's mind connected them with Zuo Liangyu, and found that there was a lot to be done in it, and maybe he could make a fortune.

After getting the guarantee that Zhang Chuneng could supply a large number of goods, Ma Wanli was very satisfied, and decided to go back to see how this Zuo Liangyu was and whether he had great ambitions. Ma Wanli looked at the cloth produced in Zhongyang under the recommendation of Zhang Chu and others, and felt that this was also a profitable business, so he silently kept these in his heart.

After agreeing with Yu Chunguang and others to discuss the cooperation in detail next time, Ma Wanli resigned from the firm, and before leaving, he not only took away the sample of the cloth that Yu Chunguang gave him, but also took away the short knife that Zhang Chu showed him.

Ma Wanli felt that his trip to the business bank was not in vain, and he created new business opportunities for himself. When he returned home, he didn't rest, so he took the servant to Zuo Liangyu's residence.

Zuo Liangyu was a little surprised when he saw Ma Wanli's arrival, and he stepped forward to ask this Ma boss for a small amount of money, but he didn't have a dime, but now he came to find him in person. However, there was nothing on the surface, and he said politely: "Welcome, welcome." Boss Ma visited in person, which is really a blessing for Sansheng. ”

"The general is polite, I'm here to see how your military salary is planned." Ma Wanli said straight to the point.

"It's hard!" Zuo Liangyu sighed while inviting Ma Wanli to sit down. He burned incense and worshiped Buddha everywhere in Kaifeng City, begging his grandfather to tell his grandmother but he couldn't get much silver, and now Hong Chengchou drove most of the rebel troops in Shanxi to Henan, Zuo Liangyu felt a lot of pressure, and it was too late to put out fires everywhere with his current troops, let alone completely solve the problem of thieves.

"The general is a deputy general, is there anything you can't do to lead the army?" Ma Wanli asked knowingly.

"Alas, this is really difficult to do, now the court has to deal with the rebellion of the displaced people in various places every year, and also guard against the looting of Houjin, all places are asking for grain and salary, and the silver that can be allocated to Henan is already small, and it has been skinned layer by layer by officials and masters at all levels, and it is not enough for the soldiers to eat in my hands. This also needs a lot of help from merchants. Zuo Liangyu's three sentences did not deviate from the topic, and led the topic to asking for silver.

"It's okay for us to give the general some silver, but this is not a long-term solution, the silver will always run out, and the merchant always has to talk about pay and return, I wonder what the general can do for us merchants?" Ma Wanli is in business, and he is not willing to do that kind of thing for nothing.

"What do you need?" Zuo Liangyu wanted to go crazy when he thought about silver, and said in his heart: "As long as you give me silver, let me do anything." ”

"We businessmen are doing business in various places, and we must turn some goods between places, but now there are thieves everywhere, and all places have strengthened their vigilance and set up many checkpoints. One is to prevent thieves, in fact, it is also to collect money. Can the general send troops to provide some protection for our merchants, so that the checkpoints can be convenient. Ma Wanli also unceremoniously said the conditions directly.

"It's easy, I'll send a team to protect you all then." Zuo Liangyu agreed to Ma Wanli's conditions in one bite. It seemed to him that it was too simple, and it was too easy to get the money just by letting those soldiers run errands. With the current situation, even if those civil officials knew about it, they didn't dare to say anything.

"Now there is a shortage of salt in various places, so I have purchased a batch of salt and have to transport it outside the province. Do you think this general can provide protection? "Of course, Ma Wanli can't let Zuo Liangyu's silver be so easy. (To be continued.) )