In the main house of the courtyard on the mountainside, a group of people sat down as guests of honor, there were no waiters here, and Chen Xin's guards went to make tea for everyone.

Mao Chenglu and Shang Kexi are both respectful, Mao Chenglu is rough and big, similar to Chen Xin's height, and his size is bigger, and he is also strong among the Liao people. He is the head of Mao Wenlong's adopted son, responsible for leading Mao Wenlong's family team, and has always regarded himself as Zhengshuo in Dongjiang Town, and he is not used to Liu Xingzhi's defection, nor Huanglong, an airborne cadre, and even Mao Wenlong's cheap old man Shen Shikui, he is also unwilling to serve.

Relatively speaking, he prefers Geng Zhongming, Kong Youde, Li Jiucheng, Shang Kexi and other adopted sons, these people followed Mao Wenlong from birth to death during the Apocalypse, guerrilla everywhere, and mutual recognition of Cheng Dù is sufficient, which is also the basis for him to defect to the Dengzhou Rebellion in history.

Now Denglai suddenly rose Wendeng Department, and mastered the most powerful force in Dengzhou, Mao Chenglu did not have the opportunity to rebel, but the resentment against the court in his heart for many years has not been eliminated, after the death of Yuan Chonghuan, Mao Chenglu once asked his guerrilla Zhou Wenhuang to write to the court, asking for Mao Wenlong to be rehabilitated and given a pension, Chongzhen in order to maintain the dignity of the court, did not agree to this request, only agreed to let Mao Wenlong's bones return to his hometown, Mao Wenlong can be buried by the West Lake, this is how it came.

But this decision obviously lacks practical significance, and Dongjiang Town's grievances have not been eliminated at all, and from this point of view, Chongzhen's handling methods seem a little immature. Chen Xin felt that the best way to deal with the government was to push it to Shangshu of the military department at that time, let Shangshu bear the crime of deception, and then rehabilitate Mao Wenlong, so that he would win the hearts of the people of Dongjiang Town, and the emperor's dignity would not be much lost.

Later, the Dongjiang chaos happened one after another, and Mao Chenglu's resentment became deeper and deeper, and he especially hated it. It was those foreign Liu Xingzhi, Huang Long and others, he thought that the imperial court used these people to destroy Dongjiang Town, and these rebellions also gave him a lot of inspiration. It's a pity that Chen Xin quickly defeated Li Jiucheng and occupied Lushun, Chen was sometimes arrested, and he was also sincerely afraid at that time, until Lu Zhi in Dengzhou sent someone to deliver a message to him. After being appeased, he calmed down a little, when he came to Lushun at the beginning of the year, Chen Xin did not see him, only Song Wenxian came to receive him, and later Geng Zhongming also came to write. Anyway, he didn't worry about the court dealing with him.

Chen Xin retracted his thoughts and smiled at the two people in front of him: "The two generals have made quite a success in attacking Liaodong this time, and this official is also very happy for the two generals when he hears the letter, I don't know if the attack went smoothly." ”

Mao Chenglu preemptively grinned and said: "Thank you Lord Chen for your concern, thanks to Dengzhou Town's attack on Fuzhou, most of the Jiannu in southern Liaoning have gone to Fuzhou." Along the way, Jiannu didn't even go to war, and a certain broke two forts and killed more than 40 Zhenyi. It's been a long time since I've chopped off a tartar's head so comfortably. ”

Chen Xin raised his eyebrows, looking amazed. There are thousands of people under Mao Chenglu, but there are only a few hundred who can fight tough battles, and they are qualified to kill more than 40 people, but Chen Xin estimates. Most of his true Yi may be old and weak, and there are not too many armor soldiers.

Mao Chenglu was triumphant. After a while, he felt that it was inappropriate, and immediately changed to a respectful color and added: "But compared with the adults killing nearly a thousand enemies, it is really not worth mentioning, a certain in Guanglu heard about the victory in Fuzhou, so happy that he did not close his eyes all night, and on the second day, he sent a boat to contact Vice Admiral Shang to accompany him, one to congratulate the adult, and the other to worship the father-in-law." The last general would also like to thank Master Chen Gao Yi here, so that I and other old people in Dongjiang have a thought. There are so many officials who come and go in Liaodong and Liaoxi, just Mao Shuai and Lord Chen are at ease to kill the Tartars, a certain serves you, next time Chen Shuai wants to kill the Tartars, a certain will go with you, if there is a civil official leading the army, a certain will not go. ”

Chen Xin smiled and waved his hand to be modest, listening to Mao Chenglu's speech was very rough, but the meaning of what he said was still good, but he could hear the resentment towards the civil officials between his words. But this is also understandable, Mao Wenlong treats him the most, and such a person closest to him was suddenly killed inexplicably, and anyone is furious in his heart. Mao's adopted sons are generals, and most of them changed back to their original surnames after Mao Wenlong's death, but Mao Chenglu has not changed, which also shows his deep feelings for Mao Wenlong. (Note 1)

Chen Xin turned his head to look at Shang Kexi again, Shang Kexi hurriedly said: "The last general broke three forts, and the military fort broke the Yellow Bone Island Fort, killing more than 50 people in Zhenyi, including 20 soldiers, and the others are young and elderly, and also rescued more than 70 Baoyi Dingkou, more than 190 Han women and children, and it is also thanks to the army of adults to coerce Fuzhou, and the emptiness of Jiannu in southern Liaoning is much smoother. ”

Shang Kexi's answer was much more honest, even Zhenyi also said differently, Chen Xin labeled Mao Chenglu as an old fritter from the first round of conversations between the two, in fact, Shang Kexi was also more honest, at least when Dengzhou changed, he didn't go to chaos with his adopted son.

Most of the people brought out by Mao Wenlong have a strict sense of distrust of the imperial court, and once this resentment breaks out, there is no room for maneuver with the imperial court, so many people finally voted for the former great revenge. If Mao Chenglu had not been captured by Huang Long off the coast of Lushun, it was very likely that he would have invested in Houjin with Kong Youde. The first batch of Kong Youde and others received preferential treatment, and with this example, Shang Kexi and Shen Zhixiang would be willing to take refuge. Chen Xin will not let Dongjiang Town fall apart, let alone let them take refuge in Jiannu.

Chen Xin patted his thigh and exclaimed: "The poor officials of the islands of the Dongjiang River have heard of it, and it is rare for the two of them to attack Liaodong with starving soldiers. As for the fact that the number of killings was less than that of the Battle of Fuzhou, this official believes that it is due to the lack of armor of the two soldiers. Today, I heard that the two of them have made great achievements, and I am really happy, and it just so happens that this official has also captured a batch this time, so I will give each of them 300 knives and guns, 20 iron armor, 50 cotton armor, and 100 bird guns. ”

Monk Mao Chenglu Kexi's mouth immediately opened wide, these weapons can be worth two or three thousand taels of silver, they are not interested in birds, but the big knife and iron armor are expensive, the high-quality big knife used by Jiannu can reach seven or eight taels of silver, and the iron armor is more than thirty taels, Chen Xinyi is a gift package, and the two of them hurriedly thanked him in surprise.

The two of them said yes, Chen Xin was also observing the two of them with a smile, Shang Kexi's expression was more admiration and surprise, and Mao Chenglu was more of a flattery.

After Chen Xin's Jinyuan diplomacy, the relationship between the two sides immediately became a lot closer, and Chen Xin smiled again: "You two don't have to be polite. Dengzhou Town and Dongjiang Town are both under the jurisdiction of Denglai, saying that they are two towns, but they are one, and this official is also from Liaodong, and I hope that the two can cooperate sincerely with this official to recover Liaodong as soon as possible. Mao Shuai has a spirit in the sky, and he should feel relieved, and it is not in vain that he worked hard to establish Dongjiang Town. ”

Mao Chenglu showed some grief at this time and nodded silently. Shang Kexi respectfully said to Chen Xin: "Lord Chen has recreated slaves again and again, and now the military and people of Liaodong are excited, and the last general firmly believes that Jiannu will not escape defeat this time." ”

Mao Chenglu snorted, "Then those civil officials don't hold back, Lord Chen." You also have to watch out for those civil officials and prison guards in Dengzhou, if you are suddenly summoned one day, your family will not be able to leave your side at any time, and you will have to guard the door in the thatched house. ”

Shang Kexi snorted twice, and Mao Chenglu turned his head away from him with a cold face. Shang Kexi had no choice but to say to Chen Xin: "Don't blame adults, Mao Da has always been like this." It's not disrespectful to all of you. ”

"General Mao has a good temperament, and this official has always admired him." Chen Xin didn't mind, he originally thought that Mao Chenglu was a very strategic person, but it turned out that he was really a lover. The last time Mao Chenglu came to Lushun. Chen Xin also thought that Mao Chenglu would curry favor with Lu Zhi, himself and Wang Tingqian at the same time, and might even contact Kong Youde and others, but he didn't go to Lu Zhi and Wang Tingtry at all, so he stayed in Lushun for a few days and returned to Guanglu Island. Lu Zhi later sent someone to prepare to accept him as a confidant, but Mao Chenglu sent the little eunuch away with cold words. Lu Zhi had been withholding his true colors for a few months, and it was not until the end of July that he made up a batch for him. If it weren't for Wang Ting's need to carry out this autumn offensive this year, Mao Chenglu would definitely be starving.

Shang Kexi is slightly better than Mao Chenglu, and neither is he

is sociable, at least he saved Huang Long's life, Huang Long will help more or less in terms of food, and Shang Kexi will not offend those civil officials, so although he is closer to the north, his life is better than Mao Chenglu.

At that time, Chen Xin asked the Foreign Affairs Department to contact the trading company and sold two batches of grain and grass to Guangludao at a low price, so as not to cause Mao Chenglu to vote for Kong Youde in anger, but now it seems that it has still had an effect.

Chen Xin thought of this, and said calmly to the two: "This official also has great respect for General Shang, the two of them were not afraid of the ferocity of Jiannu back then, and followed Mao Shuai across Liaodong, just this courage is worthy of admiration." There are so many wins this time, and I think Mao Shuai will be proud of the two, but ......"

He paused, the following two people originally listened to it quite usefully, as soon as they heard this turn, they hurriedly waited for Chen Xin's next words, Chen Xin put away the smile on his face and said lightly: "But some people, but from the heroes who resisted Jiannu back then, to disloyal, unrighteous and unfilial people, this time in Fuzhou, the official met Kong Youde and Li Jiucheng, who recognized Mao Shuai as their father-in-law. These two people shaved their hair and changed their clothes to be tigers, and they have become the lackeys of Jiannu, and they were broken by the official in the south of Fuzhou City, and more than half of their troops were killed. For these two people, I Dengzhou Town will never let go, and I will take their heads. ”

Chen Xin glanced at the two of them, "The two generals met the Tianyou Army on the battlefield, and they should do the same, take the heads of the two of them to pay tribute to Mao Shuai's heroic spirit." ”

Shang Ke stood up happily, his rough face was full of determination, and he said loudly: "Don't worry, my lord, this is a big matter of right and wrong, and the general will definitely not care about the old feelings." ”

Mao Chenglu frowned and thought for a while before standing up, he seemed to be a little unwilling to say: "The last general also listens to the adults, but Brother Kong, they are also forced by those civil officials, these civil officials don't have a good thing, the last general sees their faces, and always feels that it is more hateful than the Tartars, otherwise with the blood feud between Kong Youde and Jiannu, who is willing to vote for the Tartars." ”

Chen Xin was about to move to another place, but he saw that Mao Chenglu was giving Shang Kexi a look, Shang Kexi's face showed some embarrassment, he hesitated for a moment and ignored Mao Chenglu, turned his head to serve tea and drank it.

Chen Xin looked at Mao Chenglu curiously, only to see that the corners of Mao Chenglu's mouth moved twice, as if he was scolding Shang Kexi, and then Mao Chenglu turned his head and raised his eyes to look at Chen Xin, as if he had made up his mind, and said: "Lord Chen, this time the two of us have one more matter, I want to ...... This troubles Lord Chen. ”

"General Mao, please speak."

"The end of this...... Some time ago, the monk vice general gathered a boatload of ginseng and mink, to be transported to Dengzhou to exchange for some food, in Morning Glory Island was caught by the adult's water camp, the goods were also detained, the last general wanted to ask the adult to be accommodating. ”

Chen Xin sighed, and then asked, "What are you going to change?" In May, Lord Lu ordered all the islands to prevent slaves, spies, and smuggling of nitrate and military supplies, and all the commercial trade in Liaohai was traded in Nanchenghuang, and they were transported to Dengzhou without receiving a trading flag. All of them will be confiscated, don't you two know about it? ”

"Of course, in exchange for silver and grain, the imperial court has always allocated not enough, and those Qiu Ba have no silver and can't eat enough, so they won't go to kill the tartars." Mao Chenglu said as a matter of course, "The last general knows Lord Lu's strict orders, but the price of Nanchenghuang is lower, and his subordinates want to earn a little more and give the islanders more food." ”

Chen Xin shook his head. He didn't believe Mao Chenglu's nonsense, and it was true that he wanted to make more money, but Mao Chenglu was also making extra money for himself, and it was his idea to strictly investigate the Liaohai trade, and the Sihai Trading Company, Wang Tingqian, and Lu Zhi respectively held shares. The Dengzhou and Wendeng water camps inspected the sea area to catch smugglers, and set up trading points on Nanchenghuang Island, not only to collect taxes, but also to settle all transactions with bills of exchange from the four seas, so that after strict investigation, they could not only prevent the flow of grain and sulfur into the Houjin, but also ensure that the various forces in Dengzhou could earn money. And Chen Xin can establish credit and usage habits through guò money village, and slowly control the economic lifeline of various forces in Liaohai. Chen Xin naturally didn't want anyone to snatch benefits from his pocket.

"General Mao, this matter is difficult to handle, all the captured ships will be reported to the Lu Jian Army on the same day. I'm afraid that the ship has already entered the hands of Lord Lu, although the official has the intention to help the two, this is indeed a little difficult. Chen Xin's lies also came out of his mouth, in fact, Dengzhou Water Camp and Wendeng Water Camp will not honestly hand over the property they caught.

Mao Chenglu's mouth is open. His ship was small, but its cargo was worth thousands of taels of silver. originally thought that Chen Xin would return it to him very happily, but now there is no hope.

Shang Kexi accounted for half of the goods, and he was also a little heartbroken at this time, but he still said to Chen Xin: "It's also the last general who forgot about this for a while, since Lord Chen is embarrassed, the bento goods are swept away by the wind and waves." If it weren't for Lord Chen's defeat of Jiannu along the Jinzhou line, the people of the last general would not have been able to go ashore to collect ginseng. ”

The two of them were dejected for a while, and Chen Xin waited for them to be almost angry, and suddenly spoke: "The official only said that it was embarrassing, but he may not have no hope. And the official has some additional benefits for the two of them. ”

Shang Kexi and the two raised their heads in surprise, and Chen Xin said lightly: "Your goods, the official can go to Lord Lu to intercede, it's a big deal that the official is giving up some head work, and with this face, he may be able to ask the two of you to come back." But the two of them must not be so reckless in the future, the transaction in Nanchenghuang is a strict order of Lord Lu, and it must not be changed in the slightest, and it will be difficult to speak next time. However, the official did hit it off with the two at first sight, and thought of a way here, the two of them did not have to send their own ships to take the risk of the storm, and they could easily collect money to buy goods, and the goods were more than Dengzhou. ”

Monk Mao Chenglu hurriedly said, "My lord, please speak." ”

"This official in Guanglu and Shicheng Island each set up a semicolon, the two on the island will give me the goods to the semicolon, you can receive the silver ticket on the same day, you can also use this silver ticket to exchange for my semicolon goods, absolutely more than any grain store in Dengzhou, the excess silver two is useless on the island, the two can be taken out with the ticket in Denglai, Tianjin, Jingshi, Linqing, Yangzhou and other places of money, is it not more convenient than carrying a pile of cash?"

Mao Chenglu and Shang Kexi looked at each other, both of them were worried about Chen Xinhei's own silver, and finally Mao Chenglu asked: "Then in case you will use cash on the island in case of emergency......

"Inform the semicolon a few days in advance, and the semicolon located on your island can transport cash from the Lushun semicolon in a few days."

"Then in case it flips in the sea, this."

Chen Xin laughed and said: "Then naturally the official, since the official runs a money bank, he is not afraid of taking risks, and the two of them do not need to worry about other worries, the origin of this money bank is also the number one in the Beijing Division." Originally, the official didn't want to do Liaodong's money ticket business, but this matter was related to Liaohai smuggling, and he reluctantly agreed to Lord Lu. ”

Although Chen Xin said this, Mao Shang and the others never dared to believe it, the boat was still in the hands of others, how could the two dare to say that they doubted, and when the time came, as long as Chen Xin threw a sentence and Lu Zhi did not agree, the two of them would lose all their money.

After making eye contact for a while, the two finally agreed to this approach. It didn't hurt to agree this time, so I thought it was a test with that shipment.

Chen Xin quickly called the accompanying trading company and money village personnel, and agreed with Mao Shang and the others on the spot to set up two or three comprehensive stores on each island, and the stores would handle the affairs of the money bank, and the money exchange would be handled by the strong Lushun branch. Mao Shang and the others promised not to send ships to and from Dengzhou to sell them privately.

When he left from Shuangdao, Chen Xin showed a smug smile, and Wang Mafu asked Chen Xin curiously: "My lord, we have only opened a few stores, I don't know what the use is?" ”

"The store is open, we can drive away those smuggling ships at a low price, and half of the grain routes on the two islands are in the hands of my officials. When the trading company goes to take over the business of shipping next year, Wang Tingtry has nothing to be reluctant to, and then the grain road of the Dongjiang River will be all in his hands. There are two money villages and stores, and it will save a lot of trouble in Dongjiang in the future......"

Note 1: Mao Chenglu is the son of Mao Wenlong, not the nephew as some people claim. See Mao Wenlong's son Mao Chengdou's excerpt from "Dongjiang Shujietang Newspaper Excerpt" - performed on the 10th day of the first month of May in the first year of Chongzhen, Mao Wenlong said: "Chenyizi Chenglu has been ill for a long time, and seeing that the minister's illness is so wolf, it is beneficial to feel sad. ”