As soon as this grand meeting of cooking sheep and cooking wine and drinking banquet for thousands of people ended, Meng Yishan, who had drunk too much, personally led the team to rob the battalion of munitions.

The quartermaster, who was in charge of the distribution of rations, was wounded, the door of the storehouse was smashed, and even a gable was torn down, leaving it in a state of ruins.

The military uniforms for the winter were uninvited, and everyone wore a set of thick cotton narrow-sleeved red jackets on their bodies, and this team of harrier soldiers had the momentum of the strong soldiers of the past.

Taking advantage of the wine, Lord Meng did not even let go of the adjacent armory, and took out five hundred spears, two hundred narrow-bladed sabers, and dozens of soft bows.

He re-equipped the entire army, but when he came, he only left a receipt for the quartermaster, saying that the blades taken were needed for training, and the military uniforms were due to the harrier soldiers, and this time they were to be replaced as usual.

Where can the quartermaster afford to provoke this ancestor, seeing that Lao Meng has wrapped a large number of ordnance with a blank note, he complains bitterly in his heart.

Wait until Lao Meng led the men and horses away, and the tiger and wolf crossed the border. The quartermaster ran to the yamen of the general army with trepidation and reported the matter.

Liu Li was recuperating from his injuries at home, and when he heard the news from the yamen that Lao Meng had led someone to rob the warehouse, he frowned, but he didn't react for most of the time.

Lao Liu can't take care of this matter at all, he himself embezzled military salaries and provoked a mutiny, let alone provoke Meng Yishan, who has a lot of power.

In addition, from a personal point of view, Lao Meng saved him in the hands of the harrier soldiers, and Liu Li had to thank others for saving his life. The chief soldier had no choice but to turn a blind eye. Let this matter be closed.

That night, Liu Li prepared a rich gift and got into a carriage and rushed to the Inspection Department to meet Lao Meng.

In fact, when he heard that a big competition in the army was going to be held, Liu Li couldn't sit still. Although it is mainly based on several guards under the jurisdiction of the palace, the men and horses under his command also have to cooperate.

The soldiers and horses have not moved, the grain and grass go first, the army needs to prepare in advance, and the guards of the surrounding prefectures and counties must be transferred to Luoyang.

The difficulty lies in the word "no money", the military salary allocated by the imperial court is insufficient, and the military leaders go down to hundreds of households and embezzle it again, and the remaining money is difficult to cope with Luoyang City, and the training of supporting tens of thousands of people is like a dream.

In order to make this big competition a complete success, it is necessary to get a sum of silver taels, and this gap must be filled first, and the part of the contribution to the adults in Beijing has not yet been settled.

This is a huge amount of money, and out of official considerations, Liu Zongbing had no choice but to ask Lao Meng for help.

The candles were lit in the study in the backyard of the Inspection Division, Meng Yishan was working with Mr. Yan to formulate a strategy to capture the flag, and the harrier soldiers had already gone back to reunite with their families, and they would return to train in two days.

Meng Yishan urged Yan Ji to sort out a training strategy in these two days.

Although he was at odds with Wu Chang, he didn't dare to look down on his opponent at all, the other party was a military family that was a general since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and the way of training soldiers in battle formations was not comparable to a reckless bandit from his own background.

Fortunately, Meng Yishan has generals and strategists under him. With the help of Yan Ji and Yao Wenzhong, he had the confidence and strength to confront General Wu.

Mr. Yan had a stack of papers in front of him, and he was drawing there with a brush in his hand, shaking his head incessantly as he drew up a sketch of the formation.

Lao Meng had a headache on the side, and said with some eagerness: "Sir, I don't understand this platoon of troops, look at your appearance, what is the difficulty!" ”

Mr. Yan put down his pen and said worriedly: "First of all, the Honor Guard Division is an establishment of a full number of guards, there are 3,000 people, and 1,000 people are selected to fight against us, which is elite. ”

"The harrier soldiers are not bad, they are all experienced in a hundred battles." Lao Meng retorted: "Besides, I just grabbed a batch of ordnance in the Luoyang camp, and it is well-equipped!" ”

Yan Ji stroked his long beard and said, "It doesn't look bad, but we don't have the manpower to practice." Some people have manpower to attack each other. 1,000 against 1,000 men, emulate the situation of the Great Match to fight. In this way, we will lose out on military training. ”

Lao Meng frowned, he wanted to say that he would use the errand of the Inspection Department to practice, but after thinking about it, it was impossible, the gap was too big. It does not achieve the effect of being evenly matched.

He was worried, and someone came in to report that Mr. Liu came to pay a visit.

Yan Ji smiled and said: "Liu Li came just in time, if the lord can say that he can send the Luoyang army to train with the harrier soldiers, this matter will be easy to do." ”

Leaving Mr. Yan in the study to plan and strategize, Meng Yishan cleaned up his clothes and went to greet Liu Li.

As soon as the two met in the front hall, Mr. Liu suddenly stepped forward to hold Lao Meng's hand and said excitedly: "The day before yesterday, it was all thanks to Lord Meng's rescue, otherwise Liu's life would be in danger." ”

Lao Meng smiled very politely: "Even if the brother doesn't come forward, those rebels don't dare to offend Brother Liu." How dare you really kill someone! ”

"Without Brother Meng, Liu's bones are already cold, this self-knowledge is still there, and I came here this time to thank you for saving your life."

Lao Meng was a little puzzled in his heart: "Why is Lao Liu so low-eyed?" He shook his hand and said, "What is this! A friend has something to do with a knife in both sides, as it should. ”

After a few polite words, Meng Yishan let Liu Li into the flower hall of the guests. After taking his seat, Mr. Liu looked out the window and sighed with a heavy expression.

Seeing this, Lao Meng asked with concern, "Brother Liu has something on his mind?" ”。

Liu Li said with a smile on his face: "After this mutiny, Liu was very uneasy, and the soldiers below lacked food and clothing, so he was really ashamed of the soldiers of the whole army. ”

Although Meng Yishan wanted to smack him in his heart, he had to cover up for Liu Li in his face: "You just took office and there are many places to make money, you have to do everything in the place, and you have to maintain the pomp and circumstance of the General Military Mansion, in order to get money, it's nothing to be negligent for a while." ”

Liu Li shook his head again and again, and said bitterly: "Liu is ashamed of the promotion of the imperial court, and he can't explain it to the soldiers!" ”

Old Meng Xin said that you bastard is still acting.

Liu Li complained to Lao Meng: "Soon it will be a big competition in the army, and tens of thousands of troops in Luoyang will go into battle." These days' drills require a large amount of food and ordnance, and seeing that the supply in the army is insufficient, it is difficult for the brothers to sleep and eat. ”

"It's not good to go to see Langzhong if you are sick, you can't sleep, what do you say to Lao Tzu."

Meng Yishan said perfunctorily: "The chief soldier is worried about these small things about food and salary, and his subordinates are responsible for it, so the boat will naturally go straight to the bridge!" ”

It's all scenes, and the words don't focus on the point at all.

Liu Li couldn't help but say: "Straight, straight!" If something goes wrong this time, what can I, the chief soldier, do? He looked anxious and made it clear what he meant: "Brother came this time to borrow some silver taels from Lord Meng to use them as military expenses for this big competition." ”

"Oh, how much?" Old Meng asked nonchalantly.

Liu Zongbing said with some difficulty: "Twenty thousand taels of silver." ”

Meng Yishan coughed lightly and did not speak.

Master Meng originally thought that if it was a few thousand taels of silver, he would lend it to Liu Li as a favor. But Lao Liu costs 20,000 taels for a mouth? Lao Meng Xin said: "You should be Lao Tzu, this is a silver mine?" ”

Ignoring Liu Li's expectations, Lao Meng half-narrowed his eyes and didn't answer whether it would work or not.

It wasn't until Liu Li was in a hurry that Lao Meng slowly spoke: "I don't have much money left, I originally said that I would take out some salary to stick to Brother Liu, but my brother is an upright official, and he hasn't saved a lot of money." I can't take it! ”

Liu Li said more earnestly: "Please also ask Brother Meng not to do a favor, the army urgently needs this money to turn around." ”

Lao Meng rebelled against the army and said: "The chief soldier has a lot of money, and he can't take it out of his own eunuch bag, right?"

Liu Li's face changed, he lost all his floating wealth, but the value of the family property and the mansions everywhere was not to mention 20,000 taels, and the value of 70,000 or 80,000 taels was exceeded. But how can those properties be sold in a hurry?

Even if you find the master to take over, the selling price will be painfully low.

To make up for the cost of the large ratio in the army, the only way to borrow cash is to save the emergency. Liu Zongbing put down his face again and pleaded: "Brother Meng help me this time, I am willing to take out 10,000 acres of good land, and the three houses in the city will be offset." ”

Lao Meng grinned and said unmoved: "These things are not enough for ten thousand!" That can be used as collateral. ”

Liu Li was really anxious and said, "Then what do you mean?" ”

Lao Meng's fingers tapped rhythmically on the table, and said slowly: "I can transfer 10,000 taels of silver to you from the account of the Inspection Division, and the brother will personally borrow another 5,000 for half a year, but he will receive four cents of interest." The interest can be paid in three installments, at which point it must be repaid. ”

"Quarter cents!" Liu Li gritted his teeth, and said in his heart that this is one percent higher than the three-point interest stipulated by the official family.

The law of the Ming Dynasty stipulates that the maximum loan can only be collected by three points, but the Ming Dynasty has long exceeded this law and made nine out of thirteen.

The chief soldier was ruthless and said, "Okay! I borrowed 15,000 taels, and the land was made as interest. ”

Liu Li looked a little depressed, he was sad for the four points of profit, which was equivalent to being stripped of a layer of skin.

Lao Meng looked at his painful look of cutting meat to feed the eagle, and couldn't help laughing: "Lao Liu, don't cry and lose your face, if you don't buy your face, my brother won't be able to lend you money." This ten thousand five is left in his hand, and Lao Tzu can smash a three-grade master with money. Why bother with it, take the risk. ”

Liu Li thought about it, it is more cost-effective for people to dredge joints than to borrow money to make profits, people in officialdom have always been better at taking power than making money, Meng Yishan can lend money to himself, and he is already a good friend.

"Brother Meng's benefits, how can brothers forget. Well, let's write an IOU quickly. ”

He was afraid that Lao Meng would change his mind temporarily, and he was a little anxious.

Meng Yishan promised in his mouth, but he didn't put pen to paper, he looked at Liu Li and said: "This time in the army, the harrier soldiers I led will also fight with the Honor Guard Division to capture the flag." It's a little difficult right now, and I need Brother Liu to do a little favor. ”

Liu Li thought to himself, this favor seems to be unhelpful, who asked him to borrow money from others. owes favors and is a creditor, and he has to be coerced to some extent.

Lao Liu said very consciously: "What's the matter? As long as he can help, Liu will never refuse. ”

Meng Yishan said with a smile: "I want to borrow 3,000 soldiers from the big camp and school field to drill against the harrier soldiers." It began two days later and continued until the day of Dabi. ”

Dispatch 3,000 soldiers, if Liu Li does not have the power to fight in the camp, he can definitely be the master of the training in the big camp school.

Lao Liu agreed very happily, and promised to send elite soldiers into battle. But the cost of these soldiers eating horses has to be paid by Lao Meng.

After solving the training problem of the harrier soldiers, Meng Yishan was happy in his heart, and the matter of borrowing money was easy to handle. quickly wrote down the contract and asked Liu Li to draw the charge. The loan is released.

After a second entertainment, he sent away General Liu who got what he wanted, Meng Yishan thought about it, called someone and said: "Take an inventory of the gifts brought by Liu Li, put them in the car and send them to the homes of the two generals Yao and Zhang." Let's just say it's a little bit of my heart. ”

Back in the study, Lao Meng said to Yan Ji excitedly: "Sir! The strength of the sparring force is already there. Liu Li promised to send 3,000 men to practice with the harrier soldiers. ”

Meng Yishan said with a smile, "This time, I must show my face in front of the prince to prove that my old Meng is also a general!" ”

Yan Ji ignored Lao Meng's boasting, raised his head and said, "If you find out about Wu Chang's training again, you will have a greater chance of winning!" ”

Meng Yishan was not yet carried away by the smugness, and immediately nodded and said, "I will immediately gather a few subordinates who are good at light skills, and go to Wu Changna tomorrow to investigate and see how he trains his troops." ”

Before the two armies began to capture the flag, Lao Meng was ready to use the room to listen to the intelligence.

Mr. Yan nodded approvingly. and buried his head in the pile of paper to deduce the formation diagram. Meng Yishan didn't understand the formation, and sat on the side and felt bored.

But Yan Ji was making a training draft overnight for himself, and Lao Meng had to accompany him to show his sincerity, and even the tea was personally made by him and served to Mr. Yan.

Until the end of the night, Meng Yishan was sleepy, but he still insisted on waiting by Yan Ji's side.

All the sincerity fell in Mr. Yan's eyes, and he felt the weight, and he couldn't help but be more dedicated.

=

In an all-nighter time, a few immature drafts were eliminated, and the strategy of ten days of training was born.

Not counting the first two days of vacation, ten days of training, only three days were left for the harrier soldiers to recuperate, and then it was against Wu Chang's Honor Guard.

Meng Yishan took the strategy and took a closer look, his face changed slightly, Yan Ji divided the Luoyang army into three groups, each group of 1,000 people, and took turns to practice with the harrier soldiers every day, each group was divided into five teams, two teams in the morning and three teams in the afternoon.

A thousand harriers were to fight fifty battles in ten days. The opponent of each game will be the energetic Luoyang Army, and these ten days will be a hard battle.

"That's too strict, isn't it?" Meng Yishan asked with some surprise. After ten days of fierce training, he was worried that the soldiers would not be able to withstand this kind of intense drill, and they would all be tired and lie down before they began to capture the flag, which would become the laughing stock of the whole Luoyang.

Mr. Yan said: "I asked Ma Wenming about the way he led the troops in the past, and the training was extremely strict, and in the hands of the general soldier Ma, more people died under the military stick than on the battlefield. These harriers are seasoned veterans who are good enough to handle this test. ”

Lao Meng thought to himself that since these thousand harrier soldiers were left from the scourge of the horse civilization, there should be no problem in these ten days of hard fighting. He nodded in agreement.

Mr. Yan also knew that he could not blindly train hard, and out of consideration for the physical strength of the soldiers, he added: "In the ten-day battle, the health of the soldiers is very important. Adequate food and drink should be sufficient, and several good doctors should be with them in the barracks to diagnose and treat them at any time. ”

Lao Meng patted the table and said, "As long as you can win, you can put mutton and ginseng in the porridge pot every day." ”

Meng Yishan completely adopted Yan Ji's training methods. The preparation for training the army went very well, and the next day he sent someone to inquire about the military situation of the Honor Guard Division, but he ran into trouble.

The guard barracks were heavily guarded, and ordinary people could not approach them, and even those who delivered food could only be delivered to the door. Tokens are required for people outside of the Guard of Honor to pass.

At the moment of Dabi, the sentry check is even stricter than usual. You can't get in from the front at all.

Lao Meng sent a total of five people, all of whom were Jianghu characters from Yejiazhuang, and seeing that they couldn't get into the training school, they had to go around to the side, ready to break in with light skills.

The army training was in the daytime, and it was not easy to hide their figures, and the five men finally avoided the mobile posts on the periphery, and as soon as they passed through the two rows of houses, they were discovered by the soldiers in charge of guarding.

Wu Chang has already ordered that the military aircraft is heavy, and the snoopers will not be forgiven.

The five intruders were quickly surrounded.

The Department of Honor and Guards is so tightly guarded that it is not to prevent anyone from prying eyes and expose the weaknesses of the training. General Wu didn't take Lao Meng's ability to command troops in his eyes at all, and Wu Chang was worried about the safety of Dabi's previous military camp.

He was afraid that Meng Yishan would send someone to poison him, and he didn't dare to release the poison, so it was very likely that he would get some crotons and throw them in the well, so that people could pour them out a few times. When the soldiers don't have the strength, how can they capture the flag.

Three of the five spies were killed on the spot by crossbows, and the remaining two were not shot to the point, with arrows hanging from their bodies, and ran out of the barracks in desperation.

The smoke and dust were billowing behind him, and the Honor Guard Division actually sent a small team of light horses to chase and kill.

The two spies were quite shrewd, ran to a fork in the road, one left and one right, and ran separately. Before one of them had gone far, the arrow wound on his shoulder was torn off and he fainted in pain. He was easily found by the guards and captured back to the barracks.

The other fled into the alley, hid in a house, and hid until the evening before reporting back to Lao Meng with an arrow wound.

Nothing was found on this trip, and no information was obtained about Wu Chang's military training. It just proves that there are too many light and dark sentinels in the Honor and Guard Division, and the defense is tighter than an iron bucket.

Meng Yishan had a calm face and was angry for a while. At last he rewarded the spy with fifty taels of silver, and told him to go down to recuperate from his wounds.

The most hateful thing is what Wu Chang did next. General Wu showed the captured spy outside the barracks, and cut off his ear and put it in a letter to Lao Meng.

There were only four words on the letter: "Little Boy!" ”

In a fit of rage, Lao Meng threw the letter in the air, drew his knife and slashed it, raising a butterfly made of paper all over the sky. With his heavy heart, they all fell.

Meng Yishan's hatred for Wu Chang increased even more in his heart, and after calming down, he felt that he could no longer send people to die, and this secret loss could only be eaten in a muffled voice for the time being.

Everything will be cut off on the day of Dabi.

Aside from this small setback, Lao Meng's career can be said to be smooth sailing.

The martial arts hall has begun to be built, and Qian Lun bought a large courtyard in Sanjin on the most prosperous street in Luoyang, and is building a large number of buildings, which will be completed in a few days. When the time comes, hang up the signboard of the Guizhen Martial Arts Hall, and Lao Meng will take the first step to make a living in the White Dao.

In Luoyang after the heavy snowfall, the price of rice is also rising day by day.

The lives of the poor people were even more embarrassing, and the soup kitchen opened by Meng Yishan in Simen was simply overcrowded, and it was full of people who came to beg for porridge early in the morning.

Master Meng was kind and charitable, and the reputation of the Buddha of ten thousand families gradually spread in Luoyang with the increase in the number of people who received favors.

The ensuing benefit is that the rumors and speculations about his burning of Yejiazhuang gradually died down. As soon as it covers up all kinds of ugliness, people only remember Lao Meng's benevolence and righteousness.

The bandit was proud, and he couldn't help but sigh that Yan Ji asked him to show kindness to the public, and the effect was really not small.