The speed of the canopy boat was very fast, and after a while, it sailed to the front of the painting boat, and Yue Yang could already see several people standing in front of the awning boat, led by Chen Dazhi, Chen Zhenhui and Mao Xiang.

When the boat approached the painting boat and did not stop, Mao Xiang jumped onto the gangway with an arrow step and hurriedly ran towards Yue Yang, who was standing on the deck of the painting boat. When he came to Yueyang, he hurriedly said, "My lord, things have changed......

Ten minutes later, in a living room of the painting boat, Chen Dazhi, Mao Xiang, Chen Yizhen and other three people sat at the table, looking at Yue Yang with their eyes together, with a look of anticipation on their faces, while Yue Yang sat on the side, constantly playing with a teacup with both hands and muttering.

After a long time, Yue Yang asked, "Is that really what Old Duke Wei said?" ”

Mao Xiang hurriedly replied: "Yes, last night, Old Duke Wei sent someone to the inn overnight to report that something had changed. I don't know who leaked the news, saying that the Hou Ye united with the Wei State Mansion to enter the salt industry in Jinling, and was ready to squeeze the salt merchants here out of Jinling, and now we have become the public enemies of the salt merchants in Jinling."

"And that's not all." Chen Zhenhui, who was on the side, also added: "Now there are still rumors that we are going to sell refined salt to Jiangnan, and now such rumors have begun to spread to Jiangnan, and Wei Laoguo is also furious." ”

"Master Hou, what should we do?"

Mao Xiang's eyes showed a look of panic, and then looked at Chen Zhenhui, although he was stronger than Mao Xiang, Yue Yang still sensed his mood at this time from his slightly trembling hands.

Yue Yang didn't blame the two for their timidity, they grew up in Jinling and knew very well how powerful the salt merchants were in this era. Their power is not only reflected in money, but also in the political arena, and they can not only push the court to introduce a certain policy to pave the way for them. It is not wrong to say that an official who is not in their interests can step down or even disappear because they are bold.

Some people may think that Yueyang didn't settle those salt merchants lightly in Shanxi, and there were no sequelae. However, Yue Yang knew that if the salt merchants in Shanxi were compared with the salt merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, it was the difference between a young child and a strong man, and since ancient times, the more south the salt merchants became, the greater the power, and they could even affect the security and promotion of officials in a place.

"Do you know who spread the news?" Yue Yang's face also began to look ugly. I just arrived the day before yesterday, and I just discussed a rough framework with Wei Guogong yesterday, and it was just a day's work that spread the word. If there is no one behind this, he will not believe it.

"I don't know." Chen Zhenhui shook her head and said ashamedly: "This news seems to have come out of nowhere, and almost all the salt merchants in Jinling City knew about it overnight, and I really don't know where these rumors came from. ”

"Check. Be sure to find out for me! Yue Yang shouted: "Don't find out this guy hiding in the shadows." Even if we come in vain this time, and if we want to enter Jinling again in the future, it will be a hundred times more difficult than today! ”

"But Master Hou, we ......"

Chen Zhenhui said without speaking, although he also had a lot of connections in Jinling, but there was no way to find out the source of the news from the huge Jinling City.

"I didn't let you check it out for yourself." Yue Yang glanced at him and smiled: "Your specialty is not here, you take my token, go to Shuanghou Street to find a shop that sells cloth, show him this token, and then tell the shopkeeper of my order." Let him figure things out as quickly as he can, and report back to me within two days. Remember...... I just want results. ”

Although Yue Yang said it with a smile, Chen Zhenhui felt a chill on his body, because he was sure that his boss was very, very angry, and if he didn't make it, someone would be unlucky.

It was nearly dusk, and two crows flew low in the air, and the quacking sound of them annoyed those who heard them. In a small courtyard, an old man with gray hair and a gray robe was walking slowly with a cane. When I got closer, the old man's sudden appearance couldn't help but turn white, and even there were many wrinkles on his face. But if Yue Yang saw him, he would inevitably exclaim in surprise, because this person Yue Yang would definitely not forget jì, he was Wang Shoucheng, the patriarch of the Wang family who dominated Yingzhou Mansion five years ago.

It's just that today's Wang Shoucheng still has the unbeatable appearance of five years ago, and now he has become an old man who is struggling to breathe.

"Squeak......

A small door opened, and a young man in green clothes walked in, this person looked three points similar to Wang Shoucheng at first glance, this person was Wang Chenglin, who had fought with Yueyang.

I saw Wang Chenglin walking quickly to Wang Shoucheng, stopped his steps, lowered his head and said respectfully: "Father, the child has already ordered some idle splashers, gangsters and gangsters to walk the news out according to your instructions, and now the people in the entire Jinling City who don't know about this matter are probably only deaf." ”

Wang Shoucheng nodded, and said in a hoarse voice: "Lin'er, it stands to reason that we shouldn't have mixed this matter in the first place, that person surnamed Yue is now a marquis, and he has a heavy army, which is definitely not something that a merchant family like us can offend, but you insist on taking out this evil breath, and you have no choice but to do it for your father, I hope it will not bring trouble to our Wang family." ”

As soon as he mentioned Yueyang, Wang Chenglin's face immediately became hideous: "This Yueyang not only killed our Wang family's clansmen, but also harmed us to this point today, how can this revenge not be avenged?" Although it is not too late for a gentleman to take revenge for ten years, but now that five years have passed, our Wang family is walking on thin ice step by step in Jinling, but the second thief is rising step by step, and now he is a marquis, and now he can have the opportunity to yin him, and the child will never miss it! ”

Wang Shoucheng closed his eyes and sighed a little bitterly: "Alas...... If the relationship between us and that Yueyang was not so bad at the beginning, now our Wang family can still live well in Yingzhou Mansion, and we don't have to run to Jinling like a lost dog, everyone says that Jinling is prosperous, but who sees the difficulties of surviving in Jinling! ”

Wang Chenglin looked at his father, who is only fifty years old now, but has long been gray-haired and old like a seventy-year-old man. His hands were clenched into fists, his eyes showed a look of resentment, and he said viciously: "Father's words are wrong. Since ancient times, how can there be a reason for the two powerhouses to fight each other, and what the child regrets most now is that there was no stick on the Baihua Tower to beat the scourge to death, so that he let him sit big, and it caused a big disaster, and finally even the family was forced to Jinling by him. These years of children have been thinking about revenge day and night, but this expectation is getting slimmer and slimmer, and now it is better. If he is in Shanxi, we still have no way to take him, and now he has come to Jinling to grab food from those salt merchants, and the child wants to see how he died! ”

looked at Wang Chenglin's resentful expression and the voice that seemed to roar out from between his teeth. Wang Shoucheng closed his eyes helplessly, since the Wang family moved to Jinling, the Wang family has been struggling. Don't look at the Wang family's previous presence in Yingzhou Mansion, it was one of the four well-known predators, but it was only discovered after coming to Jinling. In this place full of honors. With the strength of their Wang family, they can only be a small shrimp. In order to gain a foothold in Jinling, Wang Shoucheng almost exhausted his efforts, but five years have passed, and today's Wang family is at best just a family of businessmen who do not worry about food and clothing.

And Wang Chenglin also saw Yue Yang on the street by chance, and he was surprised and delighted that he quietly followed Yue Yang to the inn where Yue Yang lived, and tried his best to ask someone to listen to Yue Yang's movements, and with his unremitting efforts, he finally inquired about the meeting between Wei Guogong and Yue Yang. After years of tempering, Wang Chenglin's mind has also grown a lot. He immediately returned home and told his father Wang Shoucheng about the matter, and the two were together for a long time. Soon they guessed that Yue Yang came to Jinling, and then the two fathers and sons discussed such a poisonous plan, the purpose of which was to make Yueyang the public enemy of the salt merchants of Jinling.

Things were done, but after lighting the fire, Wang Shoucheng began to be scared again, as the saying goes, the person who knows you best is not your friend but your enemy, over the years, Wang Shoucheng has been constantly inquiring about Yueyang's news, the more he knows, the more afraid he becomes, he is afraid that once Yueyang knows the truth of the matter, with Yueyang's strength now, he only needs to stretch out a little finger to crush him.

However, Wang Shoucheng has been a businessman all his life, and it is naturally not his character to sit still, he thought for a while and then resolutely said: "Lin'er, since the previous things have been done, forget it, but the next thing is not something we can participate in, naturally there will be salt merchants and Yue Yang to fight, we just need to sit and watch the play, once Yue Yang knows that this matter is made by our Wang family, our Wang family will die without a place to be buried, do you understand?" ”

"Don't worry, daddy, the child understands!" Although Wang Chenglin gritted his teeth with hatred for Yue Yang, he also knew the importance of this matter, and quickly nodded to indicate that he knew.

Just when Wang Shoucheng's father and son were staring at the mountain and watching the tiger fight after setting a fire, Yue Yang led nearly a thousand soldiers to escort the artillery to the school field in the western suburbs of Jinling.

The western suburbs of Jinling school field is the largest school field in Jinling, and it is also the garrison of the Nanjing garrison under the command of Wei Guogong, where a garrison of 1,000 people is stationed here all the year round, so when Yue Yang led the men and horses to escort forty artillery pieces to the school field, he saw that Wei Guogong had been waiting there with a group of people.

Today, Wei Guogong did not wear his python robe, but changed into a set of mandarin duck battle jackets, with an eight-petal iron hat helmet on his head, iron boots on his feet, and a sword hanging from his waist, which looked very good-looking.

Looking at the team slowly approaching in the distance, Wei Guogong pointed ahead and smiled at a middle-aged man wearing a eunuch costume and asked with a smile: "Father-in-law Qian, how do you look at Marquis Yue's team?" ”

This middle-aged eunuch is the Jinling Town Guard Eunuch looked at the team in front of him who was tight and always maintained a neat queue and nodded: "Yes, although our family doesn't know anything about military affairs, but looking at this team, you know that the reputation of Marquis Yue is not a fluke." ”

Wei Guogong smiled: "Hehehe...... This official also thinks so, after all, Marquis Yue is a person who has made great contributions to the imperial court, so let's not be too harsh on him! ”

"yes, that's what our family thinks." Qian Nengpi said with a smile: "So today, our family will also follow Grandpa Guo to open their eyes, and look at the demeanor of the Hou Ye, who is known as the most capable of fighting in the Ming Dynasty today, and it is good to open their eyes." ”

The two of them said things that were not nutritious while smiling at each other, and together they greeted the passing group, followed by a group of officers in armor and armor.

The two groups of people finally approached, and Yue Yang, who was walking in the front, took the lead in taking a few steps forward and saluted him and said loudly: "Xu Laoguo has worked hard." Yue Yang did not fail in his mission today and brought artillery. ”

"Hahaha!" Wei Guogong also laughed and helped Yue Yang up, "Marquis Yue has worked hard all the way. For these artillery, Marquis Yue can be said to have come to Jinling thousands of miles away, which really moved the old man, and the old man must play the Ming court to ask for credit for you! ”

The two talked cordially like a pair of friends they hadn't seen for a long time, as if the quarrel the day before yesterday had never happened.

After the two met, Wei Guogong stretched out his hand and pointed to Qian Neng beside him and introduced: "Marquis Yue, this is Gonggong Qian, the eunuch stationed in Jinling by the imperial court. ”

Although Yue Yang didn't understand that today he and Wei Guogong were only trading artillery. Why did he let a eunuch come in, but he didn't understand, he still smiled at Qian Neng and said, "Father-in-law Qian." The end will be polite! ”

Qian Neng also smiled all over his face and pulled the male duck's voice and said: "Eh, our family has already heard of the name of Marquis Yue, why haven't we had the chance to see each other, and now I finally got what I wanted." In the future, we can also brag to others after returning to Beijing! ”

"Hehehehehe......"

Everyone laughed. In short, it is a happy scene.

After the greetings, Yue Yang pointed to the long list of artillery pieces behind him and said to Wei Guogong: "Grandpa Guo, Yue has transported the artillery, please check it!" ”

Wei Guogong nodded, walked to the long row of cannons and carefully observed the appearance, and then leaned over to the muzzle of the cannon and carefully observed it by the light for a while before nodding with satisfaction and exclaiming: "Okay, the surface of this cannon is smooth, but there is no hole at a glance." What's even more rare is that the inside of the barrel is also as smooth as a mirror, which shows that this cannon was successfully cast. It's just that this artillery has to be tried before I can draw a conclusion, I don't know if Marquis Yue can let me wait to open my eyes. ”

"Why not!"

Yue Yang smiled and said to an artillery officer behind him: "Order to quickly unload the artillery, and prepare for a test firing on the hill two miles in front of the target!" ”

"Yes!"

After saluting, the officer of the artillery team immediately blew the whistle hanging around his neck. With the sound of a sharp whistle, the originally calm ranks immediately boiled like boiling water in a pot, and soon with the efforts of hundreds of gunners, dozens of artillery pieces formed a position of ten guns in each row with a total of four rows. Moreover, many gunners also removed a lot of lead bullets and gunpowder bags from the cart behind, and the whole process of doing this qiē took less than a quarter of an hour, which can be described as a god speed, and Wei Guogong and the generals behind him gasped.

Soon, an artillery officer ran to Yue Yang and said loudly: "Report to your lord, the artillery is ready, please give the order!" ”

Yue Yang nodded: "Two miles in front of the target, open fire immediately!" ”

"Yes!"

The artillery officer immediately began to give orders after receiving the order, and soon, in the deafening explosions, one after another swarthy projectiles crossed the air in arcs and then landed on the small hill, although they were separated by two miles, the dull impact sound of the projectiles landing one after another in the distance could still be faintly heard on the school ground.

"Good!"

Wei Guogong saw very clearly from the clairvoyant mirror, most of these projectiles fell on the hills, even if there were some projectiles that did not hit the hills, the error was not very large, seeing this, he nodded with satisfaction, and said to Yue Yang: "Marquis Yue, your batch of artillery is very good, my country has accepted it, let's go...... Let's go inside and have tea! ”

"It's better to be respectful than to obey!"

Yue Yang also smiled and followed Wei Guogong to a stage located on the east side of the school grounds, where Qian Neng was already sitting at a table and waiting.

After the three of them sat down, someone immediately stepped forward to serve tea, Qian Neng looked at Yue Yang and said with a smile: "Marquis Yue, you have traveled thousands of miles to transport artillery for the comfort of Jinling, it is really hard, our family thank you for the court for Grandpa Xu." ”

Yue Yang knew that this Jinling town guard eunuch would never come here just to compliment him today, so he arched his hand without moving: "Father-in-law Qian is polite, it's easy to say, it's all for the court and the people!" ”

"This little fox ......"

Seeing Yue Yang's appearance of not entering the oil and salt, Qian Neng scolded secretly in her heart, but her face was still full of smiles, and she said: "Marquis Yue's loyalty to the imperial court is naturally well known, but there is one thing you may not know yet, just yesterday, the front came to report, and the gang of Japanese robbers who went ashore actually retreated again. ”

"What...... The Wokkers retreated? ”

Yue Yang was stunned for a moment, this news is too deceitful, my brother has sent artillery all the way to help you defend the city, but now you say that the Japanese have retreated, are you going to cancel the rhythm of the transaction?

Seeing that Yue Yang's face gradually became ugly, Wei Guogong on the side hurriedly said: "Don't misunderstand Hou Ye, Gong Qian just said this in passing, these artillery old men sent by Hou Ye still have to buy them, and as for the price, it is naturally calculated according to the original negotiation." ”

"That's it!"

Hearing this, Yue Yang's face was a little better, but he knew that the matter was not over yet, otherwise, as this eunuch guarding Jinling Town, he would never have nothing to say that he was happy about.

Thinking of this, Yue Yang smiled and said, "Father-in-law Qian, you are here today, you don't just want to tell Sù Benhou these words, right?" (To be continued......)