Viscount Humen is a very legendary figure in the empire, especially the mysterious aura of the "King of Mercenaries" on his head, which is even more topical.

In May of this year, Viscount Toranomon signed a large employment contract with the British military.

The news of the dispatch of 6,500 mercenaries with their own weapons and equipment to South Africa for two years to serve the British Expeditionary Force in a contract worth £3.8 million shocked world opinion at the time.

This was tantamount to an open admission by the British Expeditionary Force that it was really unable to deal with the elusive Boer guerrillas.

However, the performance of the British Expeditionary Force in South Africa was terrible, and it was completely unable to deal with the Boer guerrillas who were fighting guerrillas everywhere.

The Humen mercenaries reacted just as quickly, and it took only six days to assemble and board a passenger ship bound for South Africa.

From the time the contract was signed to the time they arrived in Cape Town, the 6,500 Humen mercenaries took only 13 days, seven of which were tedious trips at sea.

After two weeks of rest and understanding the enemy's situation, the 6,500 Humen mercenaries were divided into pieces, dispersed into hundreds of cavalry teams, and began to play hide and seek on the land of South Africa.

Experienced mercenaries do not need centralized command at all, each cavalry team is composed of large and small mercenary teams, with mobile and flexible to flexible, elite veterans to elite veterans, cavalry to cavalry, relying on the British expeditionary force and ubiquitous bunker support, Humen mercenaries quickly curbed the rampant momentum of the Boers, so that the situation on the battlefield in South Africa has greatly improved.

These Humen mercenaries fought chicken thieves, and their marksmanship was extremely accurate, and when they met the Boer guerrillas of the brigade, they immediately fled, and immediately went to report to the mobile unit of the British Expeditionary Force, and found a large army to encircle and suppress them.

When you meet a small group of Boers who are weak, you will stick to them like kraft candy and chase them until they are finally completely wiped out or captured, and you will get a rich bounty.

They were veteran stalkers, horse's hoof prints, broken branches, horse dung, campfire embers, and even a cigarette butt that could tell the trail until they found a hiding place for the Boer guerrillas.

Mercenaries will patiently lurk, or sweep Boer towns to lure enemy troops to expose, or set up machine-gun traps, and the decline on the battlefield will be quickly reversed.

Such a legendary figure, how could Li Xiaozu not feel interested, so he asked; "Changjiang, have you seen him in person?"

"No, but I have seen his two sons in the division, both of them are mixed-race, they are indeed tall and handsome, with a fierce expression, and they look at people strangely, like wolves."

"Hehehe...... How can you talk like that, you should invite these two people over to have a good relationship, I am also very interested in Somalia, many friends and many roads! ”

"Uh...... Well, I forgot about it. ”

"Just remember next time, okay...... When you get home, get out of the car. ”

While speaking, the crown car had stopped, Li Xiaozu and Duan Changjiang pushed the door and got out of the car, and a personal servant on the side had already greeted him, took the cowhide briefcase in Li Xiaozu's hand, and walked inside with him.

This is the Earl's Mansion of Zhengyuan, covering a very large area, the tall trees on both sides of the road are lush, the buildings of the eaves and arches are looming, and the sika deer and peacocks can also be seen wandering leisurely in the forest, from time to time they bow their heads to nibble on the young leaves and fat insects on the ground, and the wild is full of fun.

Duan Changjiang was very familiar with this place, and said as he walked; "I have to go and say goodbye to my aunt first, I haven't seen her for a few days, I miss her, she shouldn't blame me, right?"

"Jiaci was talking to you two days ago, saying that the Yangtze River and the Yangtze River didn't come to these little monkeys, without you making a fuss, I feel that the courtyard of the back house is a lot deserted."

"Hehe, I'll just say that my aunt loves me the most."

"Look at you, you don't need to repair it." Li Xiaozu couldn't help but roll his eyes.

On the lobby of the back house

Countess Li Zhao of Zhengyuan was at the top of the seat, and looked at Duan Changjiang kneeling on the ground with a smile, kowtowed three times, and couldn't hold back her smile anymore, so she said; "You little monkey used to run every day, and you haven't come for more than ten days, what kind of charter is it? I get suspicious, and I'm always worried about what's going to happen to you. ”

"Thank you aunt for your concern, my nephew is fine, but the internal government office has been very busy recently, and I can't get away from entertainment every day, so please forgive my aunt."

"It's okay, get up, my aunt won't let you kowtow three times in vain, prepare a big red envelope for you, and put it away."

"Thank you, Auntie, I know you love me the most."

Duan Changjiang stood up excitedly, and the maid next to him took the tray with a smile in her mouth, and there was a bulging bronzing red envelope on it, Duan Changjiang counted it with his hand, at least 300 gold bills.

The largest denomination of the ocean empire banknotes is 10 gold oceans, and there are at least 30 in this red envelope, so you can be chic for a while.

After talking to the eldest aunt in the back house for a while, seeing that the sky was dark, Duan Changjiang said goodbye and found Li Xiaozu in the front yard, the wine and food on the table had been placed, and two pairs of dishes and chopsticks were placed face to face.

Li Xiaozu freshened up and changed into loose civilian clothes, was sitting on the soft couch, reading a newspaper in his hand, and saw Duan Changjiang coming over happily and glanced at it, and said calmly; "Good brothers don't see each other, half of them will be divided......"

"Wow, robbery, big brother."

"Why not? Every time I see my aunt take a reward, aren't you all a fart and want to divide it in half, why can't you come to me? ”

"Cut, can that be the same?" Duan Changjiang hurriedly covered his pocket and pointed around with his other hand and said; "Look at how bright and bold your Earl's Mansion is, can our small family compare?"

"Aren't you talking nonsense, Your Majesty has rewarded this earl's mansion for more than two years, didn't we live the same before, and it's not much bigger than your family."

"So at this time and at that time, the eldest brother is the prince of the Earl's Mansion, so don't worry about the younger brother, you can't look down on these three melons and two dates, so you won't open this mouth."

"I think that's ......how much I get paid as a team leader for a year."

"Okay, big brother, can't we talk about something else?" Duan Changjiang sat down at the table unceremoniously and said loudly; "Don't worry about my reward, I just knocked my head three times in front of my aunt, is it easy for me? Hurry up and sit down to drink, let's talk about this Viscount of Humen, don't blame me for not reminding you, our property rights department has already had a good person to inquire about a lot of secrets, I also agreed to my colleagues to invite a meal before I heard it, let's talk while drinking. ”

"That Cheng ......" Li Xiaozu heard the excitement, put away the newspaper and sat down.

The wine has passed three rounds, and the dishes have passed five flavors.

Duan Changjiang's face was red and he burped, put down his chopsticks and said; "Therefore, Viscount Li Yong of Humen is inseparable from the support of the Lei family, when Colonel Lei Xiaopeng was responsible for leading the African advance team to open up the Somali colony, pinning on His Majesty's full expectations.

If you don't make a mistake, with the grace left by Lord Lei Xiao, you will have to be a viscount.

Now, it's a barony, and there's no room to rise, it's a pity! ”

When Duan Changjiang said this, his eyes looked left and right mysteriously, hooked his hand around Li Xiaozu's shoulder, and said in a low voice; "It is said that after the African advance team's involvement in the smuggling incident was revealed, His Majesty was very angry, and was ready to deal with these officers.

Later, I remembered that Lei Xiao had been guarding him for many years, and the friendship of forgetting his life and death to save him in times of crisis, this high board fell gently, but he expelled these officers from the army, and still retained Lei Xiaopeng's military position.

Lei Xiaopeng stayed in Somalia for 15 years, he was a colonel when he went, and when he came back, he was a brigadier general, and his title stayed at the baron, until he was barely promoted to a major general in the past two years, which basically consumed the grace of the old chief Lei Xiao.

You must know that the Lei brothers were the first officers to follow His Majesty, and those people served in the army for more than 20 years, and the lowest was a major general.

I think back then, when Lei Xiaopeng became a colonel, my father was a captain company commander who had just been promoted.

Now my father is a lieutenant general and deputy commander, and Sir Ray is just a major general, and he has been transferred to the Military Theory Research Institute as vice president, and his career in the army has come to an end.

Therefore, Lei Xiaopeng is the benefactor of those people in Humen, and he took the sin of losing his head for them.

But it was said that Sir Ray was worth it, and that he was arguably one of the richest nobles, and that he still had a large share of the smuggling business from the Arabian Peninsula to the Persian Gulf.

The eldest son of Viscount Li Yong of Humen is married to Lei Tingting, this time he came to the capital of the empire, Lord Li didn't go anywhere, he lived in Sir Lei's baronial mansion, and the relationship between the two families is irreversible, doesn't this explain the problem? ”

Duan Changjiang's mouth foamed, and it was full of alcohol next to Li Xiaozu's ears, which made Li Xiaozu push him away in disgust.

"Okay, I see, don't get so close, my ears aren't deaf yet."

Who knew that this thing didn't sit firmly, fell on its back, fell firmly, and cried out with an "ouch" in pain.

This startled Li Xiaozu, and hurriedly reached out to help, but was pushed away by Duan Changjiang, and said a little angrily; "Big brother, I've been broken now, and I can't get up without a thick profit, hey, my aunt, your old man has to make the decision for his nephew!"

"Don't make trouble, Yangtze River, how big are we, still playing this?"

"It's not easy to talk about the vernacular, two big three yuan, I will pay for the money to beat the doctor myself, our old man spit on a nail, you just say it's okay, right?"

"Okay...... Good brother, hurry up and get up, have you broken it yet? Looking at his lazy appearance, Li Xiaozu couldn't cry or laugh, and was worried about where Duan Changjiang really fell.

The two of them were making a fuss when they heard a small footstep outside, and a crisp sound; "Brother Duan, what is the reason for coming to the mansion but not looking for Ruoxi to play?"

Duan Changjiang and Li Xiaozu looked at each other, were silent for a while, and suddenly got up with a "grunt" and said eagerly; "Don't fool yourself on what you promised."

Then he shook his square steps with a reserved expression, making a chic appearance.

I saw a fragrant wind outside the door rolling in, and a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl with bright eyes and bright teeth walked in pretty, and her big talking eyes bent into a crescent moon when she saw Duan Changjiang, and said strangely; "Brother Duan, oops, you smell so heavy of wine..."

"A pot of turbid wine is full of joy, don't dream of cold tonight......"

Duan Changjiang looked immersed in his own thoughts, casually chanted Li Shutong's "Farewell", inadvertently turned his head to see Li Ruoxi, his expression was just right for a moment, and then said warmly like jade; "Oh, Sister Ruoxin is here, Brother Duan is polite."

His behavior really shocked the little girl, Li Ruoxi's big black eyes flashed with a hint of brilliance, and she no longer had the wind and fire just now, and she quietly collected a blessing; "Ruoxi has seen the Duan family's elder brother."

"The moonlight is like water tonight, sultry, Brother Duan doesn't know if it's the mellow wine or something else, but he's a little drunk." Duan Changjiang said politely, looking like a beautiful son.

His appearance is not ugly, he is the appearance of a little white face, coupled with a well-fitting cashmere plaid suit, he has a good temperament, and he is also very capable of bluffing.

Looking at Duan Changjiang's style, Li Xiaozu couldn't help but feel a chill. Looking at it from his angle, he could see a thin layer of ash on Duan Changjiang's back and buttocks, and a vegetable leaf was sticking to it.

So Li Xiaozu forced a smile and coughed lightly; "Ruoxi, don't pay attention to the Yangtze River, is there something wrong at this time?"

Since the eldest brother asked, Li Ruoxi also became serious, and when she saw the scraps on the table, she pursed her lips and smiled, and said with a sly expression; "Raise a glass to invite the bright moon, and the shadow becomes a trio, in this moonlit night like water, it is really a good mood. But big brother, don't blame me for not reminding you, Daddy is back, and Viscount Humen will come to visit immediately, and Daddy will let you accompany you to meet the guests. ”

"Is that true?"

"Of course, what am I lying to you for?"

Li Xiaozu received an affirmative answer, and the wine suddenly woke up halfway, and hurriedly beckoned the maid to wash up again, removed the table, changed into a fitting formal suit, and led Duan Changjiang to the front.

Recently, the Imperial Janissary Army is being expanded on a large scale, and General Li Zhuzhu and Lieutenant General Duan Qirui are often in the military camp in the northern suburbs, staying for several days without going home, and devoting themselves to the reorganization of military affairs.

The two hurried to the front of the main hall, and outside the main hall, they saw more than 20 elite officers and soldiers in a hundred battles, all of which were the personal guards of the commander of the Imperial Praetorian Guard, led by the colonel's adjutant Sima Changqing, and beckoned to Li Xiaozu and the two; "Young Master, Young Master Duan, the commander is in the study inside, you come with me."

"Then there's Uncle Lao Sima."

"It doesn't matter."