On the first day of December, the cold wind rose on this day, there were few pedestrians inside and outside the city of Qingzhou Prefecture, and there were almost no pedestrians and people on the streets and alleys, only a group of civil officials led by Wang Congyi, the prefect of Qingzhou, stood outside the north gate.

Not long after, Yan Jizu, the governor of Shandong, led the newly formed Fubiao battalion to arrive outside the city, and the soldiers escorted dozens of carriages, which were loaded with more than 200,000 taels of pension silver that Chen Xinjia had scraped together.

"Whew!"

The team stopped at the gate of the city, and at the front of the procession, there was a carriage, Yan Jizu lifted the curtain, poked his head out, exhaled a puff of "white smoke", rubbed his hands and walked off the carriage.

"My subordinates meet Lord Futai!"

The prefect Wang Congyi led a group of civil officials from the prefect's yamen to come forward and salute, Yan Jizu smiled and exchanged a few words with everyone, and then his eyes swept over everyone, frowned slightly, and said: "What, Liu Yan's anger has not dissipated yet, and he didn't even come to greet me when I arrived?" ”

Wang Congyi smiled awkwardly and said, "Don't be surprised, my lord, the new army is being equipped with bayonets during this time, and General Liu has been staying in the barracks, and it is estimated that he didn't have time to come over." ”

Since Liu Yan established the shogunate, the various ministries of the shogunate have almost set aside the various government affairs of the Qingzhou Mansion and the Laizhou Prefecture, and the officials of the various ministries of the shogunate have begun to directly give orders to the officials of various prefectures and counties, and the household department and the Ministry of Agriculture have also begun to meddle in the affairs of the people's households, so that there is nothing to do on the side of the king of the palace and the yamen of the Laizhou prefect.

However, everyone did not have much resistance to Liu Yan's "unauthorized power", firstly, because Liu Yan was powerful, and the knives and guns were in the hands of others, and everyone did not dare to disobey Liu Yan's orders. Second, Liu Yanzhu

Liu Yan also undertook all the taxes and apportionments of Qingzhou Mansion and Laizhou Mansion, and even the various "miscellaneous donations" that Wang Congyi and others needed to pay to the imperial court every year, Liu Yan also bore them, all of which were paid by the Shogunate of the General Military Mansion.

Moreover, all kinds of inputs of households, such as water conservancy facilities, relief money and grain, etc., are also borne by the shogunate of the general military government, and even the shortfall of officials at all levels in Qingzhou Mansion and Laizhou Prefecture, or the part in arrears, Liu Yan will also give some subsidies according to the situation.

As the saying goes, the man is short, and now Wang Congyi and other officials of Qingzhou Mansion, as well as officials of Laizhou Mansion, have seen the reality clearly, Liu Yan is now powerful, and he is not something he can contend with.

It's good now, you don't have to take care of anything, you don't have to take any responsibility, you take the silver as usual, you just wear official clothes and put up a shelf every day, or drink wine and tea, and live happily like a fairy!

At this time, Yan Jizu saw that Wang Congyi and others were covering up for Liu Yan, and everyone was saying all kinds of good things praising Liu Yan, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "It seems that Liu Yan has completely controlled Qingzhou Mansion and Laizhou Mansion, and it is estimated that the decree of the imperial court cannot be implemented in the two prefectures!" ”

Then Yan Jizu said to everyone: "Advanced city, Benfu will go directly to the General Military Mansion." ”

"Yes."

Wang Congyi and the others flashed to the side, Yan Jizu also got into the carriage, and the team drove into the city.

Wang Congyi hurriedly called Hong Tongyu, the new Qingzhou Governor, and said in a low voice: "Go to the barracks and inform General Liu Bing, go quickly!" ”

"Good!"

Soon, Yan Jizu led a large group of men and horses to the general army's mansion, and Miao Shao, the general of the personal guard battalion, had already received a report from the city defense soldiers, and the horse hurried to wait and see Yan Ji

Zu, immediately saluted: "The last general will meet Lord Futai!" ”

"Where's the head of your town?"

"The town is in the barracks to handle military affairs, and the last general will send someone to find it."

Yan Jizu said "um", and strode into the General Soldier's Mansion, Miao Shao hurriedly pulled Wu Xingzhou, the guerrilla general on the left side of the guard battalion, over, and said, "Go find the adults and come back!" ”

"Yes!"

Wu Xingzhou was about to go to the barracks, but when he saw that Liu Yan had already arrived on horseback, Miao Shao and the others immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"Adult ......"

Liu Yan turned over and dismounted, looked at the convoy, and the soldiers of the Fubiao battalion, and then said to Miao Shao: "You first take the brothers of the Fubiao battalion to the barracks to settle down, and they will be entertained with good wine and food." ”

"Yes."

Miao Shao asked, "What about the things in the car?" ”

"Anyway, it's already been shipped, don't do it in vain, all of it will be put into storage, registered, and handed over to the Ministry of Finance."

"Yes."

Then Liu Yan walked quickly to the main hall, Yan Jizu had already sat down and waited for a while, and when he saw Liu Yan coming in, he said with some dissatisfaction: "General Liu is so busy, it is rare to see this Fudu." ”

"Hehe, Futai is blaming his subordinates."

Liu Yan sat next to Yan Jizu with a smile and said, "In this cold winter, Futai came from Jinan, is it ......, is there something?" ”

Yan Jizu looked at Liu Yan, who was knowingly asking, and said in his heart: You Liu Yan is powerful and bold, you don't go to the imperial court to transfer you to Beijing, the military department Shangshu personally sent a letter to me to persuade you, such a big move, I don't believe you don't know!

"Of course there is!"

Yan Jizu put down the teacup and said, "Since Governor Lu and General Lu, General Xu, as well as the soldiers of the Inspector Battalion and the Fubiao Battalion spilled their blood in the Central Plains, you and I have not sat together

Heart-to-heart talk. Liu Yan, although you and I are officials in the same dynasty, we are also friends of life and death, I will say some things directly, you have to tell them the truth. ”

Liu Yan saw that Yan Jizu began to "play the family card", although he knew his intentions, but he couldn't help but be moved in his heart, and said: "Futai asks, I must have something to say." ”

"That's good!"

Yan Jizu said: "The court's reward this time is indeed unfair, and when I heard the news, I was also very angry!" If the Battle of Kaifeng hadn't been for the bloody battle led by Liu Yan, it is estimated that Li Zicheng's army would have entered Beizhili by now. Imperial Court ......"

Yan Jizu directly named and said: "Chen Benbing is confused! Treating meritorious soldiers in this way will chill the officers and men of the new army. ”

Liu Yan took the opportunity to say: "Futai is right, this town doesn't care about any official position, but it must not let the soldiers of the army chill, so this tone, this town must fight!" ”

"You!"

Yan Jizu sighed and said, "Now Chen Benbing has raised more than 200,000 taels of pension silver, and I have already brought it." In addition, Chen Benbing also asked me to come over to persuade you, this is already a low profile, in my opinion, this matter is still in moderation, and it is almost over. ”

Liu Yan smiled and said, "Posture? In my opinion, the so-called posture of this soldier is just to calm things down. But I have to consider the tens of thousands of soldiers of the New Army and the families of thousands of fallen soldiers. Therefore, this soldier wants to use more than 200,000 taels of silver to settle the incident, I can't accept it! ”

"So what?"

Yan Jizu said worriedly: "Do you really want to have a stalemate with the imperial court?" Liu Yan, listen to my advice, don't be an enemy of the court in everything, this is not

Meddlesome! ”

"It's not a stalemate, but the benefits can be begged for."

"Let's say, as long as the conditions you put forward are reasonable, Benfu can also convey them on your behalf and help you fight for it."

Liu Yan stretched out two fingers and said: "My requirements are only two points: first, since the beginning of this year, there have been disasters in various parts of Shandong, but the taxes collected by the imperial court have not been seen at all, and the salaries, training salaries, and salaries have also been collected!" Therefore, I ask the imperial court to exempt all civilian and military households in the jurisdiction of Qinglai Town from taxes and three major salaries for a period of three years! ”

"What? Three years! ”

Yan Jizu stood up suddenly, now that the imperial court is extremely short of money and food, the jurisdiction of Qinglai Town includes Qingzhou and Laizhou, how could the imperial court agree?

"This request is a bit difficult, Chen Benbing will not agree."

"It's his business to say yes or not, it's my business to say it or not!"

Liu Yan continued: "Second, my Qinglai Town is near the sea, but the various departments of the New Army do not have warships, so they can only deploy along the coast. Therefore, I ask the imperial court to allocate a group of shipbuilders, and the number of them should be at least 1,000, so that I can build warships in Qinglai Town and protect the sea frontier for the imperial court. ”

"A thousand!"

Yan Jizu couldn't sit still any longer, and said loudly: "A thousand shipbuilders, you recruit some more apprentices and guys, how many people are that?" How many ships are you going to build, and what are you going to do! ”

Liu Yan said with an innocent face: "I am the chief military officer of Qinglai Town, so I naturally want to ensure the tranquility of all parts of the coast, and it is also within my duty to build warships." ”

"Haiphong has its own sailor in charge, you don't have to ...... in Qinglai Town"

"But the Shandong Marine

Where is it? It has been many years since there has been no trace of warships, and the establishment of sailors in the imperial court is only on paper, how can they be responsible for coastal defense? ”

Yan Jizu was speechless.

"Alas!"

Yan Jizu shook his head and said: "I can convey these two things on my behalf, but I can't guarantee whether it can be done or not." ”

"It doesn't matter."

Liu Yan said with a smile: "Futai can tell this soldier, I put forward the condition is also to stabilize the rear, only when the rear is peaceful, the soldiers of the new army can go north with peace of mind, and I hope that this soldier will focus on the overall situation!" ”

"Okay, then I'll rush back to Jinan, the soldier's family is still living in the governor's yamen and waiting for news."

"Leaving today?"

"Let's go today!"

Liu Yan kept it, but Yan Jizu had made up his mind, and immediately led his troops to leave Qingzhou Prefecture.

As soon as the soldiers of the Fubiao battalion ate and drank, they were beckoned by Yan Jizu to continue their journey, and they immediately complained, but they were angrily reprimanded and suppressed by Yan Jizu.

Seeing this, Liu Yan asked Miao Shao to take out some silver and give each of the hundreds of soldiers in the Fubiao battalion a "foot silver", which made the hundreds of soldiers in the Fubiao battalion go on the road steadily.

A few days later, Yan Jizu braved the cold wind and returned to the city of Jinan, relayed the news proposed by Liu Yan to Chen Xinjia's family, and arranged carriages and horses for him to send out of the city.

In the blink of an eye, more than ten days later, the family arrived in Beijing, and Chen Xinjia learned of Liu Yan's conditions, and immediately became angry: "A martial artist, dare to make conditions with me!" ”

"Someone! Prepare the carriage and horses, I am going to see Zhou Ge Lao. ”

"Yes."

"Wait!"

Immediately, Chen Xinjia stopped the servant, and thought in his heart: "These two conditions are actually not

can't do it, anyway, the relief money and grain of Qingzhou Mansion and Laizhou Mansion are owed, which can be offset against three years of taxes and exempted for the people of the two prefectures. If you say that, the Holy One will definitely agree. ”

"As for the 1,000 shipbuilders, they can also be mobilized from Tianjin. Now the shipyard on the Wei side of Tianjin has long been dilapidated, and many craftsmen make a living by repairing fishing boats, and even begging along the streets, and transferring them to Qinglai Town is also considered a merit. ”

Chen Xinjia understands that Liu Yan is fighting for face, and he is also fighting for the inside, and he will have to rely on Liu Yan's new army in the future.

"Forget it, it seems that I want to sell some face and get things done as soon as possible."

On December 21, Liu Yan received a notice from the governor Yan Jizu that the imperial court had exempted Qingzhou and Laizhou from paying taxes and three major salaries for three years. However, now the imperial court is in arrears with the relief money and grain of the two governments, so it is offset by taxes and assessments. The imperial court will no longer allocate money and grain, and the two governments will not have to pay money and grain within three years, and the two will not owe each other.

As for the shipbuilders, Yan Jizu informed Liu Yan that those craftsmen had set off from Tianjin Wei and traveled all the way south to the Lingshan Acropolis, and it was estimated that they would arrive in the first month of next year.

Liu Yan smiled dumbly, this Chen Xinjia is really a master of mending socks, and he can come up with such a countermeasure. Even the 1,000 shipbuilders did not come by boat from Tianjinwei, but walked south all the way in the wind and snow, just to save the silver of those requisitioned sea ships, which was really "saving"!

"Forget it, anyway, the goal has been achieved, let's go to the Jingshi side, so as not to make it difficult for the soldiers of the former battalion to be lonely in Hongluo Mountain.

”