In the yamen of the governor of Jinan, Yan Yuyao told his father the news of the victory of the Denglai army, and Yan Jizu was taken aback and said: "Really annihilated all of them into Kou Jianyu?" ”

Yan Yuyao nodded and said, "The Holy Lord also ordered Prime Minister Zhao Yan to do military affairs in Shandong. ”

"In this way, wouldn't this son be even more single-handedly covering the sky in Shandong?" Yan Jizu said worriedly.

"Daddy, what my daughter saw in Denglai, the people of Denglai live and work in peace and contentment, and they can't even see a homeless person, a beggar, a stream of foreign businessmen, and the people of Denglai are getting richer, if Daddy can get his help, he will be able to make some achievements in Shandong." Yan Yuyao couldn't help but say anxiously, wondering why her father was wary of Zhao Yan.

"Let's take a look!" Yan Jizu was stunned for a while, and the Chinese people were arrogant and unwilling to bow to the warriors.

…… The Qing soldiers entered the Kou, and Lu Xiangsheng, who was sitting in Huguang and Henan, immediately entered the king of Jingqin, but when he traveled to Gaoyang, he ran into the Denglai army that returned to Shandong.

Lu Xiangsheng saw Zhao Yan, heard that the battle had been settled, and his heart was also a little depressed, since he asked Zhao Yan for a batch of guns last year, and borrowed 300 officers from Zhao Yan to train soldiers and horses, the combat effectiveness of the Tianxiong Army has risen sharply, and the officers and men are already eager to try.

However, the Qing army was completely annihilated, which still made Lu Xiangsheng feel excited.

"How can you say that you will be able to return to Liao for three years, if you can't do it, won't you fall into the trap?" Lu Xiangsheng heard that Zhao Yan's arrogance in Beijing was thick, and said to Zhao Yan in surprise.

Zhao Yan smiled and said: "I have already thought about the plan to restore Liao, our firearms are sharp, and it is very easy to attack the city and plunder the land in Liaodong." ”

"What's the difficulty?" Lu Xiangsheng asked, "I don't know if I can help you." ”

"Isn't there too much, but if you can recruit more homeless people to send to Denglai, Fuliao will have a greater grasp." Zhao Yan said to Lu Xiangsheng.

"Hmmm! I'll help you recruit the homeless when I get back. Lu Xiangsheng nodded and said, "There are a lot of displaced people in Shaanxi, Denglai may be able to settle them?" ”

"There is a shortage of cattle, but the problem should not be big, and people have gone out to buy them, even if there are no cattle, they can grow sweet potatoes." Zhao Yan replied that in Datuntian for several years in a row, the cattle could indeed not keep up.

"Tuntian still has to be stepped up, if there are no homeless people, how can the thieves be arrogant? I am in Huguang Tuntian, and this year I have a bumper harvest, which is also a slight success. However, Huguang land is mostly concentrated in the hands of landlords and vassal kings, one by one depending on the land as life, but it is not easy to expand, if you can hold on to the great development of Tuntian in Shandong, the end of the thief will be soon. Lu Xiangsheng complained a little about the landlords and vassal kings, but Zhao Yan also faced this problem.

"Do your best." Zhao Yan nodded.

…… Zhao Yan and Lu Xiangsheng's two Qinwang armies were all returning home, one to the east and the other to the west.

Along the way, there were not squires along the way as in the Gyeonggi area, because Zhao Yan was not very popular with those squires in Shandong.

As the Agricultural Bureau began to lease land in Laizhou, the name of forcibly renting land has spread all over Shandong, and most of those squires feel jealous of Zhao Yan.

Zhao Yan's army marched to Jinan, and Zheng Shilian had already led a group of merchants out of the city to greet him, and when Zhao Yan arrived, they immediately greeted him.

"Congratulations to the general on his victorious return." Zheng Shilian walked over with a smile.

Zhao Yan turned over and dismounted, arched his hand and said: "All these years have relied on the help of all the fathers and elders, otherwise there would be no big victory today." ”

"The general has praised Liao, the general has returned from a great victory, we have prepared a banquet, and invite the general to enter the city for a banquet." Zheng Shilian invited, Zhao Yan waved his hand, and refused: "The sons and daughters are eager to return home, so I won't enter the city, and in a few days, I will invite all the fathers and elders to Zhaojiabao for a banquet, and then discuss the major affairs of maritime trade with everyone." ”

Then Zhao Yan went back to the army, just now Zhao Yan mentioned the matter of sea trade, but the merchants who went out of the city to greet Zhao Yan exploded.

"The profit of sea trade is at least five times, and it is said that there is ten times the profit, is the general interested in inviting us to go to sea to trade together?"

"It seems to be so."

"The general and I have always made money together, I don't think we can be wrong this time, the general must want everyone to participate in the sea trade."

These businessmen talked a lot, most of them were happy, Qingdao Port opened trade at this moment, it has become very lush, and Zhao Yan's profits make people jealous.

"Maritime trade is very dangerous, and if it is not good, the ship will be destroyed and people will die, so we need to be cautious." Some merchants were very cautious and clearly saw the dangers of maritime trade.

"Selling salt was also dangerous at the beginning, but the generals can solve it, and the sea will definitely protect our safety." Zheng Shilian said at this time, "There are quite a lot of warships under the general, so what else do you have to worry about." ”

"Check it out!"

"Hmmm! Take a look first. ”

…… Zhao Yan returned to Denglai, and Denglai was jubilant again, a hundred times more lively than the New Year.

However, after Zhao Yan returned to Zhaojiabao, the first thing he did was not to reward meritorious deeds, but to hold a funeral for the fallen soldiers.

Three hundred Taoist priests, three hundred monks set up a dojo to hold a ceremony for the fallen soldiers, the scene was very grand, Zhao Yan didn't care whether these ceremonies were useful or not, anyway, he wanted to let the soldiers who donated their lives go beautifully, so the monks and Taoists were invited. These 600 mages belong to the standing staff.

Then the various departments began to report to Zhao Yan on the development of the expedition, and there were no accidents in the various departments during this period, and Denglai was even more peaceful.

After several years of vigorous attack, the Denglai bandits have completely disappeared, during the expedition there is the Liaodong Army in charge, and the cantonments are in a state of high alert, which is not long-sighted if it invades, it will definitely die without a place to be buried.

Three days later, the ritual was completed, and the whole army came to the cemetery with the ashes of the fallen soldiers.

This cemetery only buries soldiers and martyrs who have lost their lives, and has buried nearly 1,000 fallen soldiers, and each tombstone is made of fine stone, engraved with the soldier's name, life, and military exploits.

There is also a martyr's monument more than ten meters high in front of the cemetery, which is engraved with the names of all the fallen soldiers, the floor before the martyr's monument is paved with blue bricks, and each stone tablet is engraved with the name of a national sinner, as well as the crime, whenever the martyr's monument is worshipped, it is stepped on these stone slabs first.

There are also a number of large and small stone tablets next to the martyrs' monuments, each of which represents a battle and the names of the fallen soldiers.

The stonemasons have already engraved the list of the fallen soldiers on the martyr's monument, and a stone tablet of 'Nine Years of King Qin' is marked on the side of the martyr's monument.

This stele records the course of the war, as well as the list of fallen soldiers, the results of the Denglai army, and so on.

"Wang Zhong, a native of Shangqiu, Henan, the platoon commander of the pioneer battalion, joined the army for one year, bravely sacrificed his life in the battle of King Qin, added the post of company commander, and issued three hundred taels of silver to his family."

"Liu Guobao, a native of Dengzhou, Shandong, a third-class soldier in the pioneer battalion, joined the army for half a year, sacrificed his life in the battle of King Qin, and added the post of platoon commander......"

"As long as we live, as long as the nation still exists, we will not forget, and the nation will not forget, it is they who defended the safety of their homeland with their lives, defended the dignity of the nation with their lives, and their heroic souls will coexist with the nation......," Zhao Yan said impassionedly in front of all the soldiers, "All salute." ”

"Salute~!"

Rushing...... At this moment, all the soldiers raised their right hands, and many soldiers had tears in their eyes, and at this moment, they were only left with devotion to the nation in their hearts............ After the burial of the fallen soldiers, it is time to reward meritorious deeds.

First of all, it is naturally divided into the number of heads, fifty taels of silver for each head, and the performance of each battalion in this battle is very good, so the first level is divided into battalions according to the number of people.

Then they are divided according to the class and rank.

In this way, the minimum number of soldiers in each battalion was thirty taels, and the high one was two hundred taels. However, it was the scouts who received the most silver, and the scouts not only cut down the enemy as long as they were divided equally within the squad, but also from the battalion to the first rank, and the captain of one of the squads received the highest number of three hundred and fifty taels.

Then there is the question of promotion, all ordinary soldiers are promoted to the first rank, the third class is promoted to the second class, the second class is promoted to the first class, and the first class is promoted to the general.

It is always a military rank, and when the army expands, it will be promoted to platoon commander. The expansion of the cavalry battalion is already a sure thing, and the 19,000 war horses captured, the pioneer battalion and the wind battalion are estimated to be doubled.

The reward was so rich that the soldiers of the Liaodong Legion were envious, and they became eager to fight, and they wanted to fight one by one.

On July 20, Zhaojiabao held a celebration banquet, and many people received invitations, almost all the squires in Shandong received invitations, as well as civil and military officials and businessmen.

These classes at the top of society, Zhao Yan sent them all invitations.

On the nineteenth day, many people had already arrived at Zhaojiabao, and Zhaojiabao became busy and lively for a while, and most of the squires received Zhao Yan's invitation and rushed over.

Merchants who receive invitations will find time to come even if they are busy. Shandong's civil and military officials did not dare to slack off when they received Zhao Yan's invitation.

Even the governor Yan Jizu had to come, after all, Zhao Yan returned from a great victory, and as the governor, he at least had to attend the banquet, otherwise he might be completely isolated.

And as Zhao Yan's boss, Zhao Yan had to invite him to the banquet because of reason.

The work of receiving the guests was handed over to Zhao Quan, and all the guests were arranged to live in the hall, and the hall in Zhaojiabao has reached a large scale after years of expansion.

In the evening of the same day, a reception banquet was held.

Zhao Jiabao set up dozens of tables and feasts, merchants, civil officials, military attachés, and squires sat down at their own tables, and everyone was waiting for Zhao Yan to attend.

After everyone sat down, Zhao Yan walked out wearing civilian clothes and holding a wine glass, and everyone immediately looked at each other.

"The general is here, the general is here......" The atmosphere became warm for a while, and they all toasted Zhao Yan, Zhao Yan and they toasted each other, waved their hands, and the scene suddenly quieted down.

Zhao Yan cut to the chase and said loudly: "You are all elites in Shandong, either civil officials or military generals, either squires or businessmen. Zhao said that he invited you here, not only to participate in the celebration banquet, but also to discuss important matters. ”

"Why is it so important to work so hard?" Yan Jizu was in the first place, and snorted dissatisfiedly.

"Your Excellency, the Governor asked, why is it so important to work so hard. Today, it is said that Zhao's major events, that is, commercial affairs, agricultural affairs, military affairs, political affairs, and those who seek are the only way to be peaceful and prosperous in Shandong. Zhao Yan said loudly.

He invited these people to have a showdown with them.

(To be continued)