Liang Bao and Wei Yan brought back 20,000 quintals of grain and 500,000 gold from Yongyang Mansion, and everyone who had been frowning sadly smiled for a while. The material use of the Qingyan Army in Shangnan Town has always depended on the Xiangfan Society, and at that time, the Xiangfan Society asked Xu Ruyu for it, and he had to ask for it. But after arriving in the deserted city, if the materials of the Qingyan Army still rely on the supply of the Xiangfan Society, then the Qingyan Army will become a vassal of the Xiangfan Society, which is a result that everyone who follows Xu Ruyu does not want to see.

On the journey from Shangnan to Jiangjin, although everyone trusted Xu Ruyu's ability, there were still doubts and worries in their hearts. Now Xu Ruyu not only received the first batch of huge supplies from Yongyang Mansion, but also could use sixteen merchant ships that could be converted into warships at any time to open up the connection between Qingjiang Mansion and the outside world, and at that time, Xiangfan would in turn rely on the Qingyan Army. The worries in the hearts of the people were gone.

Xu Ruyu, Jiang Youli, Meng Yi, Uncle Sun Fangwu, Xu Boying, Jimo Mingxi, Liang Bao, Mi Yusheng, Wei Yu, Wei Yan, Yi Tingxue, Jiang Jue'er and others walked into the tent set up in the middle of the camp. I don't know when the camp tent is arranged according to the pattern of the official tent, a long case is facing the tent door, and the left and right columns are a few shorter. After a few cases, a plain sitting carpet was spread,

Xu Ruyu took Youli's hand and walked straight to the back of the long case in the center, turned to face everyone, and said solemnly: "These sixteen boats of supplies are the only ones we can get Yongyang's assistance in the near future, and in the future, everyone here will work together to open up a new situation and achieve a career with me in Qingjiang Mansion." ”

Xu Ruyu's sharp gaze slowly swept over everyone, and when he saw the expectant gaze in everyone's eyes, he knew that they had already guessed the essence of this meeting. Xu Ruyu had been repeatedly discussing the details of the reorganization of the Qingyan Army with everyone on the way from Shangnan to Jiangjin, and now the time was ripe.

Xu Ruyu said slowly: "As soon as we arrive in Qingjiang, we need to cultivate obscurity, and it is not appropriate to be overly publicized, all the people and horses of our department will be arranged under the Qingyan Camp, and now I will compile and announce as follows: Mi Yusheng selected fifty people who are proficient in the water surname from the Hanshui Taoyuan to form the Qingjiang Water Camp, which is under the command of Mi Yusheng; One hundred and twenty-five people from the left post of the Qingyan Army led by Wei Yu formed the Qingjiang Water Camp Protector Army, which was under the command of Wei Yu; One hundred and twenty-five people from the right post of the Qingyan Army formed the Qingjiang Cavalry Battalion, which was under the command of the Ming Dynasty; One hundred and twenty-five young men were recruited from the Taoyuan of Hanshui to form a teaching cavalry battalion, which was under the command of Liang Bao; Set up a camp and put it under the command of Wei Yan......"

Wei Yan didn't hear Xu Ruyu report on the establishment of the Guards Camp, and without waiting for Xu Ruyu to continue, he shouted: "Sir, how many people are in the Camp Guards, why don't you say it?" ”

Xu Ru smiled foolishly: "How many words you know, how many guards will be in the camp." ”

Wei Yan hurriedly said: "I just learned twenty words with my uncle and uncle the day before yesterday, and now I have forgotten all of them. Sir, it's better for me to be a small commander under Mingxi's subordinates than to not have a single subordinate under him. ”

And they all amused him. Meng Yi said: "After we gain a foothold in Qingjiang, the Su Guard Camp undertakes the heavy responsibility of guarding the base of the Qingyan Army and their families, how can there be no soldiers to bring, if there is an enemy to attack, our soldiers who stay in the base must be controlled by the Su Guard Camp, are you still not satisfied?" ”

Wei Yan listened to his explanation, and was satisfied and no longer argued. Ji Mo Mingxi and the others were secretly happy in their hearts, and they all thought: Among the people who stayed at the base, Wei Yan's qualifications and experience would never be the highest, and it would probably be difficult for him to have the opportunity to study and fight. Xu Ruyu's move was afraid that he would be too murderous and indulgent, causing too much blood, which was contrary to his original intention of founding the Blue Flame Army.

Xu Ruyu saw that he was easily fooled, exchanged glances with a few people who knew well, and continued: "The Qingyan Army has temporarily set up three deacons, which are served by Meng Yi, Xu Boying, and Uncle Sun Fangwu, and the Qingyan Army has twelve teachings, and Meng Yi is the chief. Uncle Fang Wu is in charge of the general affairs of the Qingyan Army. Xu Boying is in charge of logistics, finance, and commerce of the Qingyan Army. ”

Although Uncle Sun Fangwu was in charge of the general affairs of the Qingyan Army, the most critical logistics, finance, and business affairs in the general affairs were all divided by Xu Boying, and the official position of General Affairs of Uncle Sun Fangwu actually became Xu Boying's auxiliary position. Regarding Xu Boying's position in the Qingyan Army, Xu Ruyu, Uncle Sun Fangwu, and Meng Yi were distressed for several days, and Uncle Sun Fangwu of course knew that Xu Boying, who was proficient in government affairs, was the best candidate for the general affairs officer, and he was originally intended to be appointed by him, but later considering many reasons, Uncle Sun Fangwu was appointed as the general affairs officer, and the three major substantive positions in the general affairs were awarded to Xu Boying.

Xu Ruyu said loudly: "The Qingyan Army is led by me, you guys take a seat." ”

Xu Ruyu and Jiang Youli knelt side by side in front of the long case, and Meng Yi, Uncle Sun Fangwu, Xu Boying, Liang Bao, Jimo Mingxi, Mi Yusheng, Wei Yu, Wei Yan, Yi Tingxue, and Jiang Jue'er also sat down in turn, and a few years later, the core layer of the Megatron Qingyan Army was formed in a small camp in the south of Jiangjin City. At this time, the Qingyan Army, plus the 175 people requisitioned from the Hanshui Taoyuan relocation, was only 425 people.

Xu Ruyu waited for everyone to sit down, and said slowly: "The destination of our trip is Xuanchengyi in Qingjiang Mansion, Yue County. Liang Bao, you will tell you about the situation in Xuancheng. ”

Liang Bao got out of his seat, unfolded the topographic map of Yue County handed over by Jue'er, and said: "Qingjiang Mansion is located in the southwest of Yue County, known as Yuetou Jingwei in ancient times, the gate of Fujian, the Wuling Mountains of 600 miles in the south, and the Huaiyu Mountains in the west are separated from Jing County, and the topography of Qingjiang Mansion is poured from south to north. The Qingjiang River originates in Yunling, flows through the valley and hilly belt between Wuling Mountain and Huaiyu Mountain and enters the territory of Qingjiang, and several water flows originating from Wuling Mountain such as Lishui flow into Qingjiang, which makes the flow of Qingjiang increase suddenly, which is conducive to the navigation of giant ships. Xuancheng is located in the southwest of Qingjiang Prefecture, backed by Wuling Mountain and Huaiyu Mountain, and Lishui is close to the southern city wall of Xuancheng and joins Qingjiang ......"

Xu Ruyu waved his hand to stop Liang Bao's introduction, and then his topic said: "Xuancheng is the first deserted city in Qingjiang Mansion to be destroyed in war. Sanmiao was expelled by the Rong family from the southwest of Nanping County in the Qianshan area, attached to the Yue family in Nanning, since the beginning of the Xuanling Emperor of the old dynasty, millions of Miao people gradually moved to live in Yunling between Nanning and Jing County, and the Baiyi people who originally lived in Yunling gradually migrated to the northeast of Yuejun, and the new dynasty was founded, nearly 800,000 Baiyi people, all moved to Wuling Mountain in Yue County. At that time, Yue Zhifeng, the head of the Yue family in Xuancheng, was extremely wary of the appearance of strong neighbors behind him, and joined forces with the families of Yue County to adopt a policy of isolation and expulsion against the Baiyi people, and strictly prohibited commercial goods from entering and leaving Wuling Mountain. The Baiyi people were forced to be helpless and sent troops to seize Xuancheng to fight for a certain living space for the Baiyi people. ”

Xu Ruyu told the fifty-year history of Baiyi, and Liang Bao, Jimo Mingxi, Wei Yu, and Wei Yan all buried their heads deeply. Xu Ruyu sighed leisurely: "After the Yue family was expelled from Xuancheng, the Zhu family and the Fan family, the most powerful families in Yue County, adopted an iron-blooded policy to suppress Baiyi, and did not hesitate to destroy Xuancheng, but also to expel the Baiyi people from Yue County. In the following 40 years, the war between the Yuejun family and the Baiyi tribe mainly took place in Qingjiang Prefecture, and the five cities of Qingjiang Prefecture: Xuancheng, Xin'an, Fuzhou, Chongyi, and Qingjiang gradually became deserted cities. From the 36th year of the New Dynasty to the 42nd year of the New Dynasty, the bandits of Qingjiang Mansion became the third force in Qingjiang Mansion in addition to the family and the Baiyi clan. In the forty-second year of the new dynasty, the Baiyi tribe and the Yuejun family were in a tight war, Gongliang Youqin sent troops from Wenling, detoured to Fuzhou, Xuancheng and captured the population of the islanders, in this battle, the Baiyi royal family escort unfortunately encountered the Puji bandits, the Baiyi royal family disappeared, and the Baiyi tribe who lost their leader had to give up the two cities of Fuzhou and Xuancheng and retreat to Wuling Mountain. Bandits from all walks of life took advantage of the opportunity to occupy two cities and numerous dock forts. The strength of the Yuejun family was attracted by Gongliang Youqin in Jinhua Mansion, and there was no spare energy to run the dilapidated Qingjiang Mansion, which has since become a paradise for bandits, and only Xin'anyi can barely be regarded as intact. ”

After Xu Ruyu finished talking about the origin of the deserted city of Qingjiang Mansion, his mood couldn't help but become heavy, and he paused, and then said: "After forty years of war, the population of the Baiyi tribe has dropped from 800,000 to 300,000. In order to continue to curb the Baiyi forces, the Yuejun family set up a fortress at the northeast foot of Wuling Mountain in Jinhua and Fuzhou, and built a fort with a high wall, stretching more than 120 miles from east to west, and sealing all 300,000 people of the Baiyi tribe in Wuling Mountain. The Southern Fujian clan also adopted a policy of blockade and isolation against the Baiyi people, and set up a blockade belt in the southeast of Wuling Mountain. The southwest of Wuling Mountain is the Yunling Mountains, which stretch for thousands of miles, and the Baiyi tribe was originally expelled from the Yunling Mountains by the Sanmiao tribe, so they naturally could not get support from there. To the north of Wuling Mountain is Qingjiang Mansion, but Qingjiang Mansion is now entrenched by dozens of bandits from different sources, and the Baiyi tribe naturally cannot communicate with the outside world from the weak side. Blockaded in the Wuling Mountains, the Baiyi people lived in extreme hardship, often paying the Qingjiang bandits dozens of times the price for some daily necessities. ”

"Among the bandits from all walks of life entrenched in Qingjiang Mansion, they can be divided into three categories, the first type is mainly the pro-Puji bandits who are supported by Gongliang Youqin behind the scenes, the second type is the bandits who lost the battle for the hegemony of the Yue County family in Jing County and fell to Qingjiang Mansion, and the third type is composed of local displaced people in Qingjiang. Most of the population of Qingjiang Mansion went into exile due to the war, but there were still some people who stayed, in order to survive in a dangerous environment, they had to become thieves, but they occupied the dangerous terrain of Qingjiang Prefecture, organized production, and did not rely on plundering for a living, ten years ago, seven years ago, my father and I went to Qingjiang twice, it is estimated that there are 200,000 civilian thieves, of which seven or eight out of ten are old and weak, women and children, 200,000 people are divided into 17 teams, large and small, the largest population is only 30,000, the combat power is less than 2,000, and even fewer are elite. It is now said that they have joined forces against the other two types of thieves. After the family who was defeated in the battle for hegemony became bandits in Qingjiang Mansion, the bandits supported by Gongliang Youqin were the ones we must gradually get rid of in Qingjiang Mansion in the future. ”

When Xu Ruyu said this, he looked at everyone with bright eyes, and said resolutely: "Jimo Mingxi is the legacy of the Baiyi royal family, Liang Bao, Wei Yu, and Wei Yan are all Yi people, in my Qingyan Army, there is no foreign race, living together in the four seas, you should all be respected as brothers and sisters." In the past, you stood up. ”

Jimo Mingxi, Liang Bao, Wei Yu, and Wei Yan's eyes were already full of tears, and when they heard Xu Ruyu say, "Living together in the four seas, we should all be respected as brothers and sisters", my nose couldn't hold back the sourness, and tears rolled down. The four of them stumbled to the center, knelt on the ground, and said, "Mingxi listened to Mr. Hou's orders. ”

Xu Ruyu said: "In the past, when we were not able to gain a firm foothold in Qingjiang, you could not reveal your royal identity to your people, lest your people urge trouble, which will not only ruin my plan, but also bring ruin to your people, do you know?" ”

Baiyi is a nation that has the courage to fight and yearn for freedom, if the Ming Dynasty returns to Wuling Mountain as a royal family, it is very likely that the Baiyi people will come out of Wuling Mountain again to fight for the Qingjiang deserted city. At this time, Baiyi only had 300,000 people, and was blocked in Wuling Mountain for a long time, the combat strength was weak, the people's lives were extremely embarrassed, and they could no longer withstand the consumption of war.

Jimo Mingxi bowed his head and said: "Mingxi knows Mr.'s kindness, and Mingxi will follow Mr.'s wishes." ”

Xu Ruyu nodded and said, "Okay, Ming's former identity and surname are now under a gag order, and no one is allowed to mention it outside of the twelve of us until the gag order is lifted." Liang Bao, you led the soldiers of the Twenty Yi tribe to quickly sneak into the Wuling Mountain to find your people, and sent people to Xuancheng to transport grain up the mountain after ten days. ”

Wei Yan was surprised: "Aren't these dozen boats of grain stored for the Qingyan Army?" ”

Xu Ru smiled foolishly: "There are not only 20,000 loads of grain on the ship, but also hundreds of bags of sea salt, if we have a thousand people to enjoy it, I am afraid that it will not be exhausted in two years." In the spring of Wuling Mountain, there is a shortage of food, and salt is even more scarce, we only need to leave a thousand loads of grain, ten bags of sea salt and the blades and arrows in the ship, and the rest will be sold to your people at the market price plus 30% of the selling price, you won't say that I am greedy for money, right? ”

Wei Yan hurriedly said: "No, no, how dare you say that Mr. is greedy for money?" But he had such a thought in his heart, and Xu Ruyu couldn't help but show a bitter face when he heard him say this.

Xu Boying saw Xu Ruyu's embarrassment, and said loudly: "We sold grain and grass to the Yiren brothers, firstly, to avoid too much pressure from the Yuejun family, and secondly, to meet the development needs of the Qingyan Army itself. In the future, after our power is stabilized in Qingjiang, we will let the Yiren brothers come down to live with us in the mountains. ”

Ming Xi said: "There are many people in the mountains and little land, lack of food and salt must be secretly traded with the merchants under the mountain, the transaction is mostly barter, often the price of grain and salt is extremely high, and the price of products in the mountains is extremely low, the people in the mountains get a year in exchange for food is extremely limited, that is, our royal family also has a time when there is no food, other people are suffering from hunger all year round, especially in the late winter and early spring, the wild vegetables in the mountains are extinct, in the memory of the Ming Dynasty, the old people of the clan will give limited food to our juniors at this time, I'd rather starve to death in the mountains than let our Baiyi people survive for a year. Sir can treat my people equally, and in the past, he could only repay with death. With that, his head was buried deeply, and intermittent sobbing sounded out, making everyone feel sad.

Xu Ruyu sighed gloomily, looked at Youli's red and swollen eyes, and said to her softly: "What Ming Xi said is true, seven years ago, my father took me deep into the Wuling Mountains in order to visit the disappearance of the Yi royal family, and the scene I saw was extremely miserable. This is also the fundamental reason why I got rid of Shangnan and didn't go to Yuejun first. ”

Youli took his hand, put it on the long table, and said: "Ming Xi should know what is in short supply in the mountains besides grain and salt, and these should be purchased in Jiangjin City immediately and transported to Xuancheng together, so as to meet the urgent needs in the mountains." ”

Xu Ruyu said: "Liang Bao quickly went to the mountains to contact the clansmen, since the mountains are in urgent need, we will return to Xuancheng tomorrow and night, and we should be able to reach Xuancheng after six days." In the past, Ming discussed with Boying the materials needed to establish a base in the mountains and our army in Xuancheng, which could be purchased urgently from the Jiangjin family. ”

Xu Boying said: "It seems that Qingjiang Mansion will also be in short supply of food, can we persuade the grain ships parked in Jiangjin to follow us to Xuancheng, we will provide security for the grain ships to go back and forth, but we will charge a certain fee." I think that with your name as General Qingfeng, you can attract a lot of people. ”

Meng Yi said with a smile: "This is a good idea, there are three river bandits on the four hundred miles of Qingjiang waterway in the Qingjiang Mansion, and a large number of grain ships can also distract their attention, so as not to think that there is a lot of money hidden in our ship, I think that with your fame and the strength shown by the Qingyan Army, the Jiang bandits will not covet the grain and grass that is difficult to get rid of." ”

"What Mr. Meng said is very much, in addition, if the grain merchants are unwilling to accompany them, we might as well buy out the grain ships at a high price, because the merchant ships and grain are things that we desperately need."

Xu Ruyu looked at Uncle Sun Fang Wu and asked, "Uncle Sun, what do you think?" ”

"Bo Ying's idea is excellent, I think it is feasible."

"Okay, Bo Ying, you and I will go to visit the Jiangjin giants together in the afternoon. Mi Yusheng and Uncle Yi went to Hanshui Taoyuan to select fifty people to take over sixteen merchant ships, and the guards of the Qingjiang Water Battalion led by Wei Yu immediately performed their duties, and the others remained in the camp on standby. ”

At noon, Xu Ruyu, Jiang Youli, and Xu Boying visited the family in Jiangjin City again. The Ling family was originally the largest grain merchant in Jiangjin, and most of the commercial grain from the south to the north of Jiangjin was through the hands of the Ling family. In addition to transporting grain with the help of the fleet of the Donglin Society, the Ling family also has its own fleet. However, transporting grain to Qingjiang Mansion, whether it was selling and buying with thieves, or hoarding grain for the future Xiangfan Society, was against the system of his family, which made Ling Zhanwei very difficult. He hadn't thought that most of the grain that Xu Ruyu transported to Xuancheng would be sold to the people of Shanzhongyi, otherwise he would have more scruples in his heart. Jiang Jin is now trying his best to establish a good relationship with Yuejun, how dare he sell grain to the great enemy of the Yuejun family?

Ling Zhanwei pondered for a long time, and said to Xu Ruyu and the others who came to visit: "If there is no big family to lead with you, most of those retail and small grain merchants will not dare to take risks easily, but it is not that General Qingfeng's reputation is not enough. This is good, my Ling family can sell 20,000 quintals of grain to you with the grain on the ship, and the grain ships are all standard load-carrying 1,000 stone and three sail single-oar paddle steamers, a total of 20 ships. Now that the north wind is in full swing, you can quickly reach Xuancheng without manpower to ride the paddle wheel. ”

The warship was counted in terms of tips, and the 400-tip warship was already a super-giant ship at that time, with a load of 8,000 stone (about 500 tons), and the load of the building ship was as high as 16,000 stone. Liang Bao brought a hundred warships from Yongyang with a load of 2,000 stones, and now the wind is very strong, and you can sail to Xuancheng with sails, but suddenly there are 20 more 500 stone grain ships, and the manpower is a little insufficient.

In addition, there are still more than 20 retail grain ships with about 10,000 loads of grain willing to accept Xu Ruyu's protection and go to Xuancheng to pan for gold.

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