Section 4 Banquets of Wealthy Families

On October 5, Stirling led the Zōngyāng army out of Yun Province and into the province of Deyaxing.

When the great rebellion that swept across the Far East broke out, the governor of the province, Gu Lan, was quite a famous general, and he recruited local residents to organize a provincial garrison of nearly 100,000 people, which echoed the garrison of the nearby Ilia Province, although the number of troops was not enough to quell the rebellion, but the garrison province was enough. Eventually, these two provinces became the only areas in the Far East that had not been ravaged by war, and people's livelihoods were maintained.

Trudging out of the quagmire of the mountains of Yun Province, Stirling could finally catch his breath. Returning to the world of fireworks and flowers, I can't see the tragic scene of the two armies intersecting and fighting with each other, and I see the village girls laughing in the countryside, the shepherd boys chasing sheep, the bustling city is full of traffic, the wine is red and the lights are green, and the merchants along the way are shouting and selling...... All kinds of worldly conditions and vulgarities feel strange and novel when they enter the eyes, and the shadows of swords, guns, swords, and halberds in the head gradually dissipate.

He is a first-class member who commands the army as a commander, and everywhere he passes, the garrison officials from all over the family are close to send and flatter, and the people are empty and the alleys are full of fireworks and flowers, flowers and wine, and they come to pay tribute to the mighty procession of the Wang Division's army, and all they see are the sycophancy smiles of the big and small officials. And everywhere they went, the local nobles, gentry, and officials came to the banquet to entertain this "lord of the zhōngyāng army, the first general of the family with outstanding military achievements, and a promising heavyweight who was deeply favored by the commander-in-chief", all of them were enthusiastic, and their tones were as if they were friends with bare butts when Sterling was born, and kept saying: "Your Excellency must appreciate the light and give face!"

Sterling is also good-natured, and no one wants to offend, and the result is that he often gives people half an invitation and half a tie-up ticket. However, he was accustomed to clear soup and fresh water at the front line, and every meal was full of delicacies from the mountains and seas, and the cups were so unbearable that his stomach could not bear it, and he began to vomit and diarrhea in less than three days -- not only him, but also the deputy commanders, the chief of staff, and the division commanders below all collapsed one after another at the banquet.

This group of officers from Dìdū came to know the extravagance of the aristocracy of the Far East.

Until Deya City, the capital of Deya Province, Sterling's illness took a slight turn, and a post was sent like a ghost: "Gu Lan, Governor of Deya Province, Governor Liu Zifeng, Governor of Ilia Province Ilinin, Governor Luo Linshuang and provincial officials and nobles are the ambassadors of Qin's order to quell the rebellion, Lord Stirling, the commander of the zhōngyāng army, and all the generals under him!"

Sterling was really impatient to see the group of dirty officials, and asked the chief of staff, Tang Ping: "Can you not go?"

Tang Ping shook his head: "My lord, although their position is only a red-clothed banner, but now our supply of grain and grass still depends on the two provinces and regions of Deya and Ilia provinces, and it is said that the Gu family is a famous family in the Far East, and among the governors and governors of the twenty-three provinces in the Far East, their family members account for nine, and that Gu Lan and Luo Lin are both members of the Senate. ”

Sterling smiled wryly and said, "I know, this is another one that can't be offended - everyone is ready to go together." ”

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The local officials and nobles were indeed well-mannered, and lined up outside the gate of the mansion to greet Stirling and his party, Stirling was deeply disturbed, and before he could speak, several bundles of firecrackers thundered at the same time, and a group of people immediately gathered around like flies finding: smiling faces, greetings:

"The adults have worked the road!" and "The adults have won the victory, and the fame is shocking the world!"

"My lords have worked hard for all our people, and the people of the Far East are grateful!" and "Lord Stirling's young ambition will surely have a bright future in the future!"

When Sterling was busy responding one by one, an official in a military uniform stepped forward and saluted: "Xiaguan Gulan participates in the adult." ”

Sterling hurriedly returned the salute: "Your Excellency Governor Gulan has worked hard!" Carefully looked at the middle-aged man in front of him: fat and bloated body, white and chubby face, well-maintained, faintly revealing excessive pale of wine, red rosacea nose, blank eyes, and bloodshot eyes--At first glance, Stirling classified him into the category of wine bags and rice barrels and gentlemen, but he was secretly surprised: the rumor that Governor Gulan was calm and calm at the moment of crisis, was he such a drunkard? Hey, there are really people in the world who can't be good-looking!

As the host, Gu Lan introduced the other participants of the banquet to Sterling:

Liu Zifeng, the governor of Deya Province, a dry old man - when he saw him Stirling thought of the air-dried meat slices used in the army reserve - he was much older than Gu Lan, but I don't know why he looked at Gu Lan in everything, and even said a few words of greeting, he secretly looked at Gu Lan's face several times from time to time, which puzzled Sterling: It stands to reason that the governor of the province and the governor of the province are officials of the same rank, but one is in charge of military affairs and the other is in charge of civil affairs.

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The governor of the province of Irya, Luo Linshuang, was a young man with a pale face.

Sterling said kindly: "Hello, Lord Luo!"

Luo Linshuang couldn't wait to show off and said: "Lord Sterling, maybe you don't know yet: if you count the seniority, Lord Luo Minghai is my distant second uncle!"

Stirling looked at this young man who was full of arrogance and arrogance again, sighed and said, "Your Excellency, your distant nephew of Lord Luo Minghai, hello!"

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The only one of these people who made Sterling look more pleasing to the eye was Irinin, the governor of the province of Ilya. He is middle-aged, burly, magnificent, neat and neat, polite and measured, compared to the servile face of other officials, Sterling has a good impression of him: "This still looks like a soldier, but he always looks like a sneer on his lips." ”

In addition to them, there are also several governors and governors from the occupied provinces, whose own districts have rebelled and corrupted, and all of them have taken refuge in the province of Deya.

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After a period of bowing, bowing, saluting, greetings, shaking hands, hugging shoulders, holding hands, and greetings, everyone finally entered the table. Gu Lan opened his voice and shouted: "Today, I will take the wind and wash the dust for Lord Stirling and the Zhōngyāng Army, please feel free!"

At the sumptuous feast, Stirling did not drink a drop of wine, and he was not reserved, and he talked to the nobles one by one, and took turns to persuade the gentry to drink, and talked eloquently, without departing from the customs and climatic characteristics of the Far East, but never mentioning the current war, and when someone complimented him on his victory, he only listened to it and laughed, and then changed the subject. Everyone was fascinated by the demeanor of the number one general under the seat of today's commander-in-chief.

During the meeting, some people mentioned the current great rebellion, and everyone present hated the rebels for their shameless cunning, treachery, and cruelty.

Lu Hai, the governor who fled from the border provinces, hated that he originally had an army of nearly 80,000 people with seven half-orc divisions and three snake tribe divisions, but later rebelled, and they immediately rebelled, causing him heavy losses, otherwise he would have the strength to fight the rebels and prevent the wolf bèi from fleeing.

Everyone comforted him in unison and said yes: Ah, yes, that group of untouchable rebels is so shameless and unfaithful.

A smile appeared at the corner of Ilyinin's mouth, who was sitting on Stirling's right, and Sterling guessed that there was a lot of article in it, and asked softly:

"What? He's not right?"

Ilyinin was startled and hurriedly said, "It's nothing, it's a lot of trouble for the lower officials." ”

Stirling smiled, but his words were as sharp as a knife: "Why, Your Excellency Irinin refuses to tell me?"

Yi Linning couldn't stand it, and leaned close to his ear and whispered: "When Lu Hai fled and came to us, there was a squadron of big and small wives alone, and there were several carts of gold bars and diamonds in the luggage. ”

Sterling frowned and said softly, "How can he be so rich as a garrison official?"

Elinin whispered: "His army is 80,000 in name, but in fact it is less than 30,000 -- the salaries of those 50,000 people are in his pocket! Even those 30,000 soldiers are only paid one-third of their salaries -- if I were his subordinates, it would be strange if I didn't do it!"

Sterling was taken aback: "Drink soldiers' blood and eat empty wages?"

Ilinning nodded, Sterling's face sank, and neither of them said anything more.

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An old nobleman cried and said that he could not understand why he was so kind to people of other races, and "took care of them in every detail", when they were so ungrateful that they would rebel!

Irinin sneered and said to Stirling, "It's really meticulous! In his territory, orcs have to pay taxes even for brushing their teeth." ”

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There are also a few nobles who are talking about the murderous and unusual non-human race in their hometown, killing humans when they see them. Everyone agreed, saying that this group of untouchables did not know what to do, and that the family had done so much to them that they did not think of reciprocating it, and even committed a crime against them, violating the sacred authority of mankind, especially the human aristocracy!

There are also people who say: The former commander of Ge Yingxing - everyone else is dead, he shouldn't have said bad things about him - but he is not good, he is not soft enough to those untouchables, he always favors the untouchables and bullies us nobles, if he had been more ruthless to them at that time, maybe there would not have been such a thing today, and complimented Lord Sterling for really killing the rebels well, resolute and decisive, "It's really different from that timid and afraid Ge Yingxing!"

After finishing speaking, everyone looked at Sterling's expression, and saw that Sterling's face was faintly noncommittal, so everyone knew that this fart was slapped on the horse's leg, and no one laughed. The sycophant laughed dryly twice, and then hurriedly buried his head in eating vegetables and didn't dare to look up.

Sterling asked softly, "Who is this?"

Ilyinin replied with the same understatement: "The governor of Lange Province, Tang Guo." He whispered: "He usually exploited the snake clan and blackmailed the orcs when he reached out to ask for money, and when he was in chaos, he ordered the officials of the whole province to "stick to their posts and not leave without permission", but he smeared oil on the soles of his feet; the bearded man who laughed with him was the governor of Garin Province, and the rebellion only rose up at the beginning, and the rebel forces were not strong, and when he saw that the capital of Minsk Province was surrounded, he was close with more than 30,000 troops and did not dare to go to the rescue, and he excused himself: "We will defend Garin, and we will never leave a step!" -- As a result, the governor of Minsk, Lin Wei, was killed in battle, and the rebels really rushed to Garin in large numbers, and this good man who "never left a step" actually left the city, troops and people in the middle of the night and ran away, the army dispersed without fighting, and the rebels went into the city to kill more than 100,000 people, and the corpses were all over the streets......"

"Don't say it!" Stirling interrupted Illinning's speech sharply, and he only felt an indescribable depression and nausea when he saw the group of "family pillars" in front of him who were gorgeously dressed, elegant in manners, and had an amiable smile.

The hustle and bustle, laughter, and conversation at the banquet suddenly subsided, and everyone wondered why Master Stirling was so angry that they didn't dare to speak out. Countless angry eyes all turned to Elinning beside Stirling: You bastard, you dare to make Lord Stirling angry!

Seeing that there was silence at the table, Sterling sensed his gaffe, squeezed out a smile, took a bite of food and tasted it slowly, and said, "This chicken is a little salty." ”

The atmosphere suddenly became lively again, and everyone expressed their attitude: resolutely support Lord Stirling, and said one by one: "Yes, yes, this chicken is really salty!" The expression was serious and stern, as if they had just grasped Lord Stirling's important instructions. Someone even made a report and summarized one, two or three points on the spot: "About why chickens are more salty!"

As the master, Gu Lan could see clearly: it was obviously that Ilynnin whispered to Sterling, and Stirling didn't know how to get angry. He was still a little jealous that Irynin could sit next to Stirling and be close to Stirling today, but now he gloated: Okay! Ilyinin, you guy is usually yīn yang weird, this will be in the wrong place, right?

He was determined to strike while the iron was hot, and approached: "My lord, the taste of today's food is a little heavier--I'll ask someone to smoke that bastard cook--my lord, we have a special dish in the Far East, and the taste is very delicious, and it is not greasy, so we will bring it to you." ”

Sterling couldn't laugh or cry, but he didn't expect them to make such a fuss with a random sentence. I saw two people coming up with a pot of tofu-like things with white flowers.

Yi Linning was surprised: "It's this!" He looked at Gu Lan and sneered: "You are really reluctant!"

Gu Lan said reservedly: "It's nothing, the people who came out of the big place of Master Stirling have seen a lot of knowledge." We don't have anything to do in the remote places of the Far East, which is just a little bit of the care that the people below us have for adults. ”

Sterling was amazed and asked, "Is this thing precious?"

Irinin and Gu Lan said together: "It's not expensive. ”

Yilinning said compassionately: "This material is easy to find now. ”

Gu Lan smiled: "We can't get any good things from the countryside, it's just a home-cooked dish, so please try it." ”

Seeing this situation, Sterling must be the first to taste, otherwise everyone would not move the chopsticks, and said with a smile: "Then I'm welcome." "Reached out and scooped a spoonful, savored it, it was delicious, smooth but not greasy, delicious and delicious. The officers of the zhōngyāng army who came with them also tasted it and praised it in unison, but no one could tell what kind of material it was made of, so delicious.

Gu Lan said enthusiastically: "It's nothing, if you think that you can still enter, during your stay in our province in the future, the lower official will send a copy to the adult every day!"

Sterling hurriedly excused himself: "No, no, that's too troublesome." But he was also curious, and asked, "What kind of material is this made of? Like tofu, more tender than tofu, like an egg, more delicious than an egg, I can't eat it?"

"It's nothing. Such a pot is just the brains of a dozen or so orcs, Lord Gu Lan, am I right?" Yi Linning said coldly—he had already figured out this Stirling's xìng grid, and knew that Gu Lan was about to be unlucky.

Gu Lan smiled: "The brains of half-orcs alone can't make such deliciousness, and I also added the brains of the snake clan and jīng spirit monsters this time-my lord, don't shirk it, just let me send it to you every day, right?"

This stuff is not surprising, we have a lot of slaves and a lot of prisoners of war - the key is the method, to be fresh, to crack open the skull alive and let them live, take a special spoon to scoop it out of the fresh - my lord, your face is not right?"

Sterling stood up with a pale face: "Where's the bathroom?" -- Tang Ping's military officer had already run behind the door and vomited heavily.

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At this moment, there was a rumbling sound in the distance, louder and louder, and most of the soldiers at the banquet could already hear it: This was the sound of a large group of troops marching, and this sound was getting closer and closer! Everyone could not help but look at each other and ask each other: What is the matter? Whose troops have entered the city? I don't have it? I don't have it. Is that a rebel army? There is no rebel brigade nearby? Not to mention that there are 30,000 garrisons stationed in the city and Stirling's nearly 100,000 jīng Ruizhōngyāng army, where can such a rebel who is not on the road dare to come and seek death?

One of Gu Lan's guards rushed into the banquet and approached Gu Lan's ear and said a few words. Gu Lan's face immediately changed greatly, and he didn't even have time to say anything and went out with the guards.

Sterling sensed that the momentum was not good, and turned around and ordered Tang Ping: "Take my troop transfer order and call my direct division and Wenhe division over." Tang Ping immediately took a few officers and went out quickly, but after a while he came back and reported to Sterling: "My lord, the governor's palace is surrounded by armed soldiers, and we can't get out!"

Sterling was taken aback and asked, "Where are their troops?"

"They wouldn't say, but judging by their clothing, it should be the garrison of Deya City. ”

Sterling was horrified: The garrison of Deya City? Isn't that Gu Lan's subordinates? What did he want to do? I regret that I was so relieved when I came to the banquet that I didn't even bring the Jǐng guards. Now the disaster is hasty......

He got up and looked around: "Where is Governor Gu Lan?" The guests all searched together, but there was no trace of Gu Lan!

Sterling's heart was shocked, but his face was as if nothing had happened: "It doesn't matter, Deputy Commander Qin Lu is still staying in the camp, and when he sees that something is wrong, he will bring someone to pick us up in a while." ”

Hearing Sterling's words, everyone at the banquet breathed a sigh of relief and peace of mind. Chief of Staff Tang Ping was still worried:

Even if Qin Lu sensed that something was wrong and immediately brought someone over, it would take half an hour later, but if Gu Lan immediately made trouble, he would definitely not be able to support the arrival of reinforcements with less than ten zhōngyāng army officers during the banquet.

Sterling turned his head to look back at the people in the hall, including the provincial governor Liu Zifeng, all of them had pale faces and panicked, trembling non-stop, the "distant nephew of Lord Luo Minghai" Luo Linshuang who was very arrogant just now was so afraid that he couldn't sit down steadily-Sterling showed a contemptuous smile on the corner of his mouth, but he also understood that the matter had nothing to do with them.

But there was another man who was eating and drinking and eating soundly as if nothing had happened—the Governor of Irinin in the province of Iria

Stirling's mind moved, and he leaned in and asked, "You must know what's going on, don't you?"

Ilyinin stopped and replied respectfully: "My lord, you just wait to see the good show - Gu Lan's garrison has mutinied!"

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