Chapter 026: Canal Bandits

Chen Cao saw that the arrows were not aimed at him, and hurriedly pulled Zhang Feng's retreat, so as not to be injured by mistake, sure enough, this retreat, there were more than a dozen arrows through the window, the black-clothed people were shocked, and hurriedly retreated, the bows and arrows were either officials or the army, the big man knew that things would not work out tonight, and shouted: "The wind is tight, pull and hoo..."

Turning his head and running, Chen Cao let out a big breath, the other party ran away, he definitely didn't dare to chase, and now his physical strength was exhausted, so he immediately sat in the middle of the cabin with a horizontal knife, waiting to see who the person was, so as not to lose his identity as a brocade guard, while Zhang Fengnian wiped the blood on his face and stood beside Chen Cao with a knife.

In addition to the sound of diving under the boat, there was a fierce shouting and killing, from time to time the sound stopped, the footsteps sounded, Chen Cao could see it, Li Wan'er was dressed in a strong suit, holding a blood-dripping long sword in her hand and ran into the cabin, seeing the situation in the cabin, and then seeing that the crimson flying fish suit on Chen Cao's body was already dark, she was so frightened that the long sword took off her hand, and hurriedly ran to Chen Cao's side: "Splash thief, are you injured?" ”

The look of concern was really pitiful, but that line was really unacceptable, but Chen Cao was very pleased: "Why did you come so soon?" ”

"Are you hurt?" Li Wan'er then asked.

"No..."Chen Cao turned his head to look at Li Xiang behind him and said, "Xiang'er, this is the Wan'er girl I told you..."

Li Xiang smiled and saluted Li Wan'er: "The folk girl Li Xiang has seen Tieling Township..."

Li Wan'er replied embarrassedly: "Don't dare, don't dare..."

"My lord..."Xu Kaixian walked into the cabin and saluted: "My subordinates are late, please forgive my lordship, can my lord be injured?" ”

"It's not too late," Chen Cao shook his head and said, "Have you caught a live mouth?" ”

"Come, bring the thief up." Xu Kaixian stood up and shouted.

A few brocade guards walked in with a black-clothed man, who was the previous leader, Xu Kaixian kicked the big man's knee socket and scolded: "Bastard thing, I'm impatient, I actually dare to attack the brocade guard, kneel down and roll call..."

Chen Cao threw the knife away and asked in a cold voice, "The gang leader of the Cao Gang will definitely not be able to get out of the relationship this time. ”

"It's none of the business of the gang leader..."The big man shouted urgently, "I made up my mind to come to hijack the ship, and it has nothing to do with the Cao Gang." ”

It's really the Cao Gang...

Chen Cao said again: "Roll call..."

Dahan thought for a long time, and then said, "A certain Liu San..."

"What a Liu San," Chen Cao nodded with satisfaction, then looked at Xu Kaixian and said: "Take him down, take care of him, don't let him commit suicide, go back to Nanjing and then slowly interrogate him..."

Liu San thought that he was going to be tried, and he even thought about how to resist, but he knew that Chen Cao only asked his name and took it down, and he had to go to Nanjing for a slow trial, so he lost his sense of proportion and shouted: "Lord Chen, you have detained a certain family, if the Cao Gang blames it and the Cao Yun stops, you can't afford it..."

Chen Cao is most annoyed by being threatened, he has Wei Zhongxian as a backer behind him, and he is still afraid that you will be a gang? So he asked people to clean up the corpses in the cabin, and asked curiously: "Lao Xu, why did you come so fast?" ”

Xu Kai first glanced at Li Wan'er, who was talking to Li Xiang, and whispered: "The townsman went to find the imperial history Sun Kexiang after the adults left, their Li family and Sun Kexiang have a good relationship, then Sun Kexiang went to the palace with the meaning of the townsman, and from time to time he issued an edict, allowing him to go to Nanjing to pray for Emperor Taizu for three years," Xu Kaixian said: "The township gentleman got the edict in the evening, so he packed up and took the family to catch up first, and the family members are all behind. I was afraid that something would happen to the adults, so I rushed here immediately, but fortunately..."

Chen Cao nodded, it seems that Li Wan'er really cares about herself, and she is very satisfied, although this guy is ruthless, but in fact he is still a tofu heart.

"You take my name and tell the Yamen of the Governor of Caoyun what happened tonight, and then inform the Yamen of the General Army of Caoyun; Then he sent a message to the commander of Tianjin, Si Yamen. Chen Cao handed the name card to Xu Kai, and then thought about saying a few words to Li Xiang, but Li Wan'er pulled Li Xiang and the two into the inner cabin together, without giving Chen Cao a chance.

Ay...

When Chen Cao arrived at the mouth of the Longjiang River, Yang Yipeng was commanding the general soldier Wang Yiqing to search both sides of the canal, and then give Chen Cao an explanation, and the big problem for Yang Yipeng was that the captured Cao gang personnel were also the leaders of the attack on Chen Cao.

The news of Chen Cao's attack soon spread to Jingshi, and Luo Sigong ordered Beizhen Fusi to investigate strictly after learning about it, and Zhang Wenda also put pressure on Yang Yipeng through his own connections.

Pan Yourong, the leader of the Cao Gang, was the most uncomfortable person, the leader of the arrested was his own gang, and the people who were killed were all Cao Gang members, Yang Yipeng recruited Pan Yourong to Huai'an Mansion, reprimanded, asked if the Cao Gang was a part-time water ghost on the canal, and said that if this matter is good, you have to negotiate with the owner.

So Pan Yourong decided to go to Nanjing in person to find Chen Cao to discuss.

When Chen Cao returned to Nanjing, the first thing he did was to tell Xu Xianchun something about what Wei Zhongxian had given him, and then he went to the Nanjing Military Department to report, and there were documents from the Beijing Military Department and the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies.

Xu Hongji was very satisfied with Chen Cao's trip, and said that he would let Chen Cao train the new Nanjing right guard well, give the Guogong Mansion a long face, and don't be like Zhang Tiande...

"The name of the secretary of the Nanjing military department is Qi Boyu, this adult is not small, he retired from the trilateral general system, when His Majesty ascended the throne, he was the secretary of the Nanjing military department and the right capital of the Imperial Court of the Imperial Palace, and the officials over there called him 'Qi Dutang'..."

Chen Cao didn't want to enter these courtyards, but he was also on business, and the sergeant guarding the door had only seen Chen Cao the day before yesterday, and when he saw that he was coming again, he smiled and saluted, and then went in to report.

Qi Boyu is over fifty years old, because he has been an official on the Shaanxi-Gansu border all the year round, and he has the demeanor of some sub-soldiers, and his spirit is relatively good: "You guy only came to report the day before yesterday, what's the matter?" ”

"It's not a matter of urgency," Chen Cao took the initiative to serve tea to Qi Boyu: "This is not Your Majesty's appreciation to a commander of the Nanjing Right Guard, the Nanjing Right Guard was originally in the military academy of Xihuamen, but now the little nephew's guard is ready to be made into a full firearms unit, which is too close to the side of the imperial city, and it is not easy to train, so the little nephew wants to agree on the side of the adult, and move the Nanjing Right Guard to the side of the Jubao Mountain outside the Zhengyang Gate, which is close to the Jubao Mountain Guard, and the training of firearms is also safe." ”

The relationship between Qi Boyu and Zhang Wenda is good, according to the relationship between Chen Cao and Zhang Wenda, he naturally calls Qi Boyu uncle, but Chen Cao is interesting and will not get too carried away, and he is still very respectful in front of Qi Boyu.

Qi Boyu nodded, and then reacted and said: "By the way, the old man only remembered now, if your Nanjing Right Guard is all made into a firearms unit, then the military expenditure is not ordinarily high, but you guy knows that the military expenditure in a year is only so much, how can you get it?" ”

Chen Cao knew this joint, so he said: "Don't worry, my lord, I told Your Majesty about the military expenses, and the amount given by the imperial court in advance will be counted, and the rest of the little nephews will be taken from their own homes." ”

This is a joint point, the court has to spend silver, but some people will think more, you spend your own money to raise soldiers, what if you become the kind of Li family in Liaodong in the future, looking at Qi Boyu's eyes, Chen Cao also knew what he meant, so he explained: "Don't worry about it, my lordship, I told Your Majesty that after three years, the Nanjing Right Guard will set off for Liaodong, and after Liaodong is finished, I will step down as a commander, after all, Jinyi Wei is my main job, isn't it?" ”

As soon as these words came out, Qi Boyu's expression relaxed, and then said: "Yes, but there is no barracks over there, if you want to go over, you have to find your own way." ”

An old guy is such a thief...

Chen Cao said it, and then smiled and arched his hand: "The little nephew has thanked the adult, if it is about some issues in the future, please also ask the adult to be accommodating, by the way, my lord, the right guard of Nanjing Ningbo was disabled in the first battle, and the whole army was basically wiped out, and the new officer was appointed, and then I will report to the adult after the little nephew is selected." ”

Chen Cao has a lot of things, maybe he can't finish it today, but the important things have to be done first, out of the gate of the Ministry of War, Chen Cao walked to the front of the Ministry of Engineering compound diagonally opposite, wearing a brocade guard costume so frightened that the guards didn't dare to move, allowing Chen Cao to enter and exit freely.

Wang Gongbi, the director of the Ministry of Industry, has just been transferred from the capital, and the Firearms Bureau of the Ministry of Industry in Nanjing is managed by him.

Wang Gongbi is an upright official, but integrity is upright, it doesn't mean that he doesn't like money, Chen Cao doesn't take much money, and this guy doesn't dare to ask for more, so he prepared a silver ticket of five hundred taels to express his heart, good guy, the old man nodded from the awe-inspiring justice at the beginning to the last hip-hop, and was stunned to write the official document to Chen Cao as quickly as possible, and then asked Chen Cao to find Xiao Duan after stamping.

Xiao Duan is easy to deal with, Wang Gongbi's official position is six grades, and Chen Cao gives face, but the ambassador of the Firearms Bureau only went in from the official of the seventh rank, Chen Cao went in and took out the official authority of Jinyiwei plus two hundred taels of silver tickets, this guy made it convenient for Chen Cao as if he had met his ancestors, and transferred more than half of the craftsmen of the Firearms Bureau to Chen Cao for use.

It is no wonder that Xiao Duan is polite, the firearms in the country are basically from the Wang Gongchang Firearms Bureau of the Beijing Division, and the role of the Nanjing Firearms Bureau is only to help the troops of the guard station repair the firearms that have problems, there is no oil and water to fish, Xiao Duan, the ambassador, is not interesting, so that two hundred taels of silver tickets can make this guy happy for a long time.

Finally, after everything was done, Chen Cao left with the stamped documents of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Industry, ready to start his own entrepreneurial road.

In the evening, as soon as Chen Cao walked to the door of his house, he saw a group of people standing respectfully at the door of his house, among which a middle-aged man was wearing brocade clothes and gorgeous clothes, and he was very rich just because of his appearance.

Zhang Fengnian was transferred from Jinyi Wei by Chen Cao because of his performance on the canal, and was transferred to the right guard of Nanjing and was exceptionally promoted to a hundred personal soldiers.

"My lord," Zhang Fengnian walked down the steps and handed over the name post: "This is their name post, they have been here for two hours, and they haven't moved." ”

Chen Cao opened it, and what caught his eye was the five words 'Cao Gang Leader Pan', followed by the entire name and origin: "Pan Yourong? ”

The man in brocade gave his hand: "It's Pan Yourong below, and I've seen Lord Chen." ”

Chen Cao knew in his heart that these people must have come to ask about Liu San, so he looked at Pan Yourong coldly and said, "What's the matter, the canal suffered a loss, and now it's coming to the door?" ”

Pan Yourong smiled awkwardly: "My lord said that I laughed, how dare I do anything wrong, my subordinates have done foolish things in secret, I, as the helper, naturally want to solve this matter, I don't know if my lord can discuss a thing or two with him?" ”

"What about sincerity?" The Cao Gang is the richest, and Chen Cao is short of money now.

When Pan Yourong heard this, he immediately laughed and said: "Yes, yes... Someone..."

No wonder a bunch of people, the weight of the three boxes is at least two hundred catties, the three boxes are opened together, all of them are full of gold, Pan Yourong pointed to the box and said: "The imperial court has Tui En Yin, and I know one or two below, this is a thousand taels of gold, please laugh and accept." ”

"Hmm..." Chen Cao nodded, a thousand taels of gold is almost 100,000 taels of silver at the current exchange, and gold retains its value compared to silver, but the other party also came with a heart: "You come in with this official." ”

The lobby is generally attended by some outsiders, their own people attend the meeting is the second hall or the inner hall, Chen Cao and Pan Yourong sat down in the lobby, as soon as the tea was served, Chen Cao said: "It stands to reason that my dignified Jinyi Wei does not need to negotiate with ordinary people like you, but when things come out, we don't have to care, I Chen Cao has a Nalan Rongruo's name resounding in Nanzhili, many people know that I Chen Cao published a book just to make money, Liu San's matter has been tried very clearly, this case is handed over, it is not a hundred thousand taels of silver can be solved, you Cao Gang will bleed," Saying that, he looked at Pan Yourong and said: "There are many livelihoods in the two canals, your Cao Gang controls the lifeblood of the Great Tomorrow, Liu San threatened to kill him, the Cao Gang broke the Cao luck, and I Chen Cao can't eat and walk around." ”

"My lord, there is no such thing..."Pan Yourong said pretendingly.

Chen Cao could see it, so he said: "I think this matter is easy for your Cao Gang, and the Cao Gang is involved in many high-ranking officials and dignitaries, the former governor Li Sancai has not always supported you behind your back, this old guy is not greedy enough to eat a lot of your money, right?" Chen Cao saw Pan Yourong's face change, so he said: "This matter can be good, and the official can not be investigated, but it is still the same sentence, I, Chen Cao, am an official and a businessman, what do you think?" ”

Pan Yourong nodded: "In the lower province..."After speaking, he took out a stack of silver tickets from his arms: "Lord Chen, this is a hundred thousand taels of silver tickets from Jingshi Baohui Village, and please accept these regardless of your past suspicions, which can be regarded as an apology from the Cao Gang to the adults." ”

"Well," Chen Cao gave Xu Kai a look and asked him to accept the silver ticket, and then said: "Old Xu, while the Nanjing City Gate is not closed, quickly go to the Thousand Households to bring Liu San, hand it over to the Pan Gang Master, and bring his confession with you." ”

"Yes..."

The purpose of Pan Yourong's trip is very clear, first, to obtain Chen Cao's understanding in monetary terms, and second, to bring Liu San back; Chen Cao's request is also very simple, it is very simple to return Liu San, but at least this guy cannot be complete, Pan Yourong also said that he decided to cut off Liu San's hand and expel him from the Cao Gang as a punishment.

Chen Cao's income is 200,000 taels, gold is a good thing, this thing maintains its value, plus his Nanjing right guard is about to be reorganized, there are many places to use money, so he doesn't plan to give Xu Xianchun benefits, wait for the future to improve.

Two days later, Zhao Xinfeng, who returned from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, rushed to Chen Cao's house, at this moment Chen Cao was happy because Li Fengchun was pregnant, and he came to the world for his first child, and Li Xiang was a little unhappy, as a wife and mother, he actually let the concubine get pregnant first, and his position was very embarrassing, so he said that Chen Cao must work hard, otherwise he would have to go back to Beijing to face the wall and think about the past.

In the living room, Zhao Xin was a little embarrassed and was eating heavily, Chen Cao waited for him to eat enough before asking, "How is this trip?" ”

Zhao Xin swallowed a mouthful of water and burped comfortably: "Thank you for your reward; This trip to Jiangsu and Zhejiang, live up to the expectations of adults, humble in the coastal area to convene a lot of craftsmen of the former Nanjing Firearms Bureau, as well as the craftsmen repatriated by the Beijing Division Firearms Bureau, most of them are craftsmen, it is very easy to find them, and the subordinates also found a lot of craftsmen who can build sea ships in Taizhou, these people ancestors were craftsmen of Longjiang Shipyard, and several ancestors even participated in the manufacture of treasure ships, all of which are ancestral crafts. ”

"Okay..."Chen Cao laughed a few times and patted Zhao Xin's shoulder: "Old Zhao, you kid did a good job." Where are they? ”

"According to the meaning of the lordship, it is now arranged to be stationed in Chunhua Town, and the subordinates congratulate the lord on serving as the commander of the right guard in Nanjing..."Zhao Xin knelt down as he said.

Chen Cao helped him up and said: "In the future, the affairs of Jinyiwei will be handed over to you to handle well, and you must be rewarded, by the way, I will let you see the water conservancy workshop over there, can you find it?" ”

Zhao Xin nodded, thanked Chen Cao for his reward first, and then said: "My lord doesn't know, there are many water conservancy workshops on the side of the Yangtze River tributaries in the Quzhou Mansion, and my subordinates know what adults like, so I found a reason to bring all these people to Nanjing, all in Chunhua Town." ”

"You threaten them?"

Zhao Xin's face was helpless: "My lord doesn't know, these people are very stubborn, after the court dismissed them, because of the craftsman's status, they were not allowed to engage in other industries, but there were documents from the imperial court, and their subordinates told them that they had money to take, and they didn't believe it, so they didn't come to say anything, no way, just when the Nanjing Right Guard incident happened, the subordinates were all arrested on the charges of implication, and the lack of manpower mobilized the local guard in the name of the Nanzhen Fusi to escort them." ”

"Bastard thing..."Chen Cao scolded: "How can you win them over in the future?" ”

"By the way, my lord," Zhao Xin seemed to think of something: "I heard that the water hammer produced by the workshop in Quzhou was studied by a scholar named Song Yingxing, and his subordinates thought that it was better to arrest this guy about the water conservancy workshop." ”

"Song Yingxing?" Chen Cao's heart jumped, Bi Maokang said that Song Yingxing returned to his hometown: "Where is he?" ”

"It seems that in Jiangxi, you have to inquire carefully." Zhao Xin thought about it.

Chen Cao said: "You send someone to Jiangxi immediately and get Song Yingxing here." ”

"Okay..."Zhao Xin turned around and was stunned for a moment, then turned his head and asked, "My lord, what is the charge?" I heard that this guy is a lifter, he has a meritorious reputation, and he has no appropriate charges, so I'm afraid that Jiangxi Xuezheng will join us here in the Nanjing Ministry of Rites. ”

Chen Cao said to the guts: "Check his fraud in the imperial examination last year..."

"Huh?"

...

The station of Nanjing Youwei was officially set on the edge of Jubao Mountain, ten miles outside Zhengyang Gate, less than five miles away from Chen Cao's mansion, which was the location deliberately chosen by Chen Cao.

If it weren't for Zhang Tiande running away with people, it is estimated that there would be no Nanjing Right Guard; After that, the whole guard was abolished, and only Qi Xianzong's Qianhu and Zhang Kai fought to the death, and in the end, there were one hundred and four people left in the Qianhu, and because of this, Qi Xianzong was not punished.

"Qi Qianhu," Chen Cao met Qi Xianzong at home, this guy is Qi Changguo's son, and his bravery is abnormal: "This time, the right guard of Nanjing was rebuilt by His Majesty's order, and the official was the commander, and the official was ready to appoint you as the commander, what do you think?" ”

Qi Xianzong was very satisfied that he could continue to serve in the right guard of Nanjing, and he was promoted, and this twenty-three-year-old young man saluted Chen Cao very respectfully: "Humble and promoted by Lord Xie..."

"Don't worry," Chen Cao handed him the paperwork: "Take the paperwork and go to Zhejiang to recruit some untouchables, as long as I am young and strong, I can carry the surplus army, and tell them, if I have money, I want 2,500 people." ”

"The last will be ordered..."

After Qi Xianzong left, Chen Cao said to Zhao Xin: "The matter of recruiting soldiers has to be handled by you for the time being, you go outside the city to find those displaced people, as long as you are young and strong, 3,000 people will do." ”

"My lord," Zhao Xin left, and Han Shizhong entered the hall from the outside: "My lord, all the things you asked your subordinates to find have been found by your subordinates, I don't know what your lords are for?" ”

"It's very big..."Chen Cao smiled, and hurriedly ordered: "Go to Chunhua Town to find a craftsman, the kind who can repair houses and build rammed earth." ”

"Yes..."

Chen Cao has been very busy these days, and he has been working at the quasi-station of the right guard, and he has a big thing to do, a major event that benefits the people's livelihood, and he can't be delayed.

"My lord," a craftsman knelt down for Chen Cao with great joy: "My lord, it has become... It's done..."

Chen Cao sat up and walked towards the temporary workshop in the station, only to see a craftsman filling the ground lime powder into the clay pot: "Quick, bring some sand and stone, and the official will personally demonstrate it to you." ”

The first cement pillar, which can be said to be the first in the world, is not big, and after Chen Cao reconciled the cement, he poured a small pillar with wooden planks, and then waited for it to dry tomorrow.

"It looks good," Chen Cao nodded: "You guys did a good job," Chen Cao looked at the dozen or so craftsmen who came around: "Each person will be rewarded with two dollars of silver..."

"Lord Xie...", the craftsmen knelt down one after another, thanking Dade.

Chen Cao continued: "After drying tomorrow, if it is extremely hard, each person will be rewarded with another penny of silver to show encouragement." ”

One of the elderly craftsmen wept bitterly, he was a craftsman all his life, and he worked for the government for free, where did he get the money to distribute.

"Listen, my Chen Cao attaches the most importance to craftsmen, although you are craftsmen, but as long as you work under me, you have money to take, this official hereby announces, each of you has a monthly money of one or two silver, if there is a big work to complete, there is another reward..."

"Lord Xie..."