Three thousand miles in exile

If the old ones don't go, the new ones won't come, Liu Zhan quickly cut through the mess and cleaned up Zhao Qianhu's party members and immediately promoted a group of his own people.

Cao Ming, Wei Chenggui, and Li Xiaolian are the head of a hundred households, ten people including Zhang Xiaoman and Li Futian are the general banner, Guo Donghu is also capable of being the general banner, but Liu Zhan wants to sharpen his sharpness and deliberately suppresses it.

As for the much-anticipated position of Qianhu, there is no suspense that Cao Zhuang will be promoted. Although the ninth-rank Qianhu is a low-ranking official of Sesame Mung Bean, he is a decent official with a high grade on the yamen list.

When Cao Zhuang became the head of thousands of households, he caused a sensation in the surrounding villages of Tiancang Village. On the day Cao Zhuang became an official, the Cao family set up a running water mat for a whole day, and the sound of firecrackers started before dawn and continued for a whole day at night.

It is said that there was an endless stream of matchmakers who came to Cao's family that day, and all the big families in the county invited matchmakers to come to their door. Although Cao Zhuang's father, Cao Tiemu, was illiterate but very transparent in his heart, he rejected the big family's matchmaker only Only the matchmaker invited by the shopkeeper of Zhou Zhou, the only one in the county, was left behind.

Cao Dazhuang's good days are coming when Cao Dazhuang has thousands of households. Those big families want to marry because of how much money they have in the family. Cao Tie doesn't like it.

The shopkeeper of that week was from Wuyuan County, an old scholar in the period of Emperor Rendi, his grandfather and father were also scholars, and four generations of scholars were scholars, which can be regarded as a scholarly family in Wuyuan County.

Shopkeeper Zhou's youngest daughter is seventeen years old and is well-known in Wuyuan County. Since Shopkeeper Zhou's youngest daughter reached the age of marriage, the people who proposed to her were almost trampled on the threshold of the study, but Shopkeeper Zhou didn't care about it. No, how could he have fallen in love with a boy from a tenant family background.

The eldest son of shopkeeper Zhou was very puzzled by this, so why didn't Liu Xianwei marry his younger sister as a maiden?

Shopkeeper Zhou had a look of resignation for being a fool in the family, if it wasn't for the fact that his son was so stupid and dandy, he would have put him beside Liu Zhan despite his old face.

"Then the Liu family is from the Zanying family, how could they have a crush on your sister? Over the years, many rich families have been rejected by Dean Liu's marriage proposals, don't you understand? The Liu family doesn't look down on small families at all, We went there just to humiliate ourselves, and I think the son of the Cao family is quite impressive, and following the Liu family may not fail to make a career in the future."

Shopkeeper Zhou watched other people's sons excel one by one, and then looked at his own elm head who couldn't even pass the exam as a child.His old Zhou family's reputation as a scholar of four generations may be given to this stupid son. If he doesn't take this opportunity to board the big ship of the Liu family, their old Zhou family may not be able to turn around in a few more generations.

Cao Zhuang's marriage was soon settled, and the date was set at the summer solstice. Not only Cao Zhuang, but also the group of small military officers promoted by Liu Zhan became very popular sons-in-law. It wasn't a wealthy family in Wuyuan County, only Li Xiaolian's mother, Mrs. Li, was in no hurry to say goodbye to her son after hearing Mrs. Zhao's words.

After getting rid of Zhao Qianhu's party feathers, Liu Zhan began to reform the county barracks drastically. All the decadent old systems in the past were abolished, and the county barracks also practiced according to the same schedule as Tongtianguan.

At the same time, the recruitment of recruits is also proceeding in an orderly manner.

Everything is settled, today Liu Zhan brought a dozen or so confidantes to drink in Linji, some of these guys are already married, some are preparing to get married, and each of them will never leave their daughter-in-law.

"Boss, when do you plan to get married?" Suddenly someone asked.

"Boss, any woman in our county who can catch your eye, brothers help you to come over and ask for a daughter-in-law."

Before Liu Zhan could speak, Cao Zhuang slapped the guy on the back of the head. "What is the background of our boss? In the future, he will definitely marry a woman from a big family. How can those women in the county be worthy of him?"

The younger brothers nodded again and again.

Liu Zhan smiled and didn't speak. He just felt that time passed so fast. Those teenagers who followed him up the mountain to hunt wild boars were all ready to get married.

Suddenly, Liu Zhan stopped drinking, and belatedly remembered a very important question!He himself certainly wouldn't get married and harm other girls, but what about Song Fenglin?

"You eat, I have to leave beforehand, and I will credit the account later." Liu Zhan couldn't sit still for a moment.

Liu Zhan rushed back to his home in the county seat. Liu Cheng and his wife were about to leave after cleaning. Their family lived in another yard.

"Master, have you eaten yet?"

Liu Zhan walked quickly into the room without squinting. "I've eaten, you go back first."

It was dusk at this time, and the fire clouds all over the sky dyed the small courtyard of Wei's house in Liu County orange.

"Fenglin?" Liu Zhan didn't find anyone in the study and immediately turned to go to the next bedroom. When Liu Zhan entered the door, Song Fenglin had just finished taking a shower and getting dressed. He was only covered with a thin unlined garment, and his hair was untied and half wet. on the shoulders.

Before Song Fenglin turned around to react, he was hugged fiercely.

"Why are you crazy?" Song Fenglin was very angry.

Liu Zhan took a deep breath on his neck. "I don't allow you to get married."

"What?" Song Fenglin didn't hear clearly and wanted to push him away but couldn't move him a bit.

Liu Zhan buried his head in his neck and hummed. "You are mine, and I have only you in this life. If I don't marry, I will not allow you to marry."

Song Fenglin was stunned for a long time before he spoke. "Suddenly, what nonsense are you talking about?"

"I'm not talking nonsense." Liu Zhan thought to himself that anyway, Song Fenglin was right under his nose, and anyone who dared to attack his people would be disabled and thrown out of the house.

As for Song Fenglin himself, it was too early for him to get married, and he never even thought about it.

Liu Zhan's heart was hot as he hugged the man. "Fenglin, I thought of a new way to play, do you want to..."

"do not want!"

Song Fenglin resolutely refused, as long as he remembered the shameless things that someone did, he would feel bad all over!

"you will like it……"

"do not like!"

In Liu Zhan's eyes, the strict etiquette constraints of this era are like nothing, and there are so many ghost ideas, Song Fenglin is defeated every time.

Afterwards, the conscription of the county barracks was in full swing, and most of the applicants were from the surrounding villages near Tiancang Village. Cao Zhuang, Li Xiaolian and others took care of the conscription. When I had nothing to do, I went to Song Fenglin's study to look for him.

"Everyone is busy picking up new recruits. I won't practice today. I'll come here to ask you for tea." Liu Zhan smiled brightly.

"Are you still angry?"

Song Fenglin didn't look good, but he still got up and went to the small stove to make tea. Liu Zhan sat on the teacher's chair and propped his chin to watch, and the room was filled with the fragrance of tea after a while.

Liu Zhan looked at Song Fenglin's back making tea and said. "There is a constant stream of recruits this time. It should be able to recruit a thousand people. I didn't expect that there would be so many people. I thought it would be good to recruit three to four hundred people."

Song Fenglin returned to the table and said in a business-like tone while making tea. "The smoothness of the conscription this time should be related to the robbery of food. As usual, ordinary soldiers have three hundred yuan a month in salary. After deducting the part that was deducted by Shangfeng, the remaining salary is not enough to buy a bucket of coarse grain. But after the food robbery in your camp, you will be judged for your merit. There are at least one tael of silver per month for all kinds of rewards for travel rewards."

Not to mention Cao Zhuang and others, but Wei Chenggui's family was too poor to eat, and now they are building new houses. It is said that he will get married next month, and the bride will be a wealthy family in the county. Naturally, more people came to join him.

Song Fenglin thought of something and said: "I thought you could keep the food robbery a secret for a while, but now it seems that everyone has already understood it, so Yan Guo will definitely not be able to hide it."

Liu Zhan nodded. "I didn't think I could hide it from the Yan Kingdom for a long time, so I was in a hurry to recruit troops and strengthen the camp defense. Although Tongtian Pass is dangerous, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, so it is better to prepare early."

Song Fenglin said earnestly: "I don't think that Yan State will spend a lot of time to attack Tongtian Pass in a short time. In the eyes of Yan State, this is just a loss of food and property for the people on the frontier. Now their top priority is to take down Cangxia Pingyuan, during this period of time, they will definitely not devote a lot of energy to deal with you, so they are more likely to retreat and choose to drive or ambush halfway, and now we should think about how to get out after robbing food."

Liu Zhan sat up straight and listened very seriously, nodding repeatedly. "The hero sees the same thing. I have made several plans for the retreat route. I will take you to see the specific method of play next time I step on the spot."

Song Fenglin took a sip of tea. "I don't understand tactics, and I haven't studied the art of war."

Liu Zhan laughed. "Shiqing, don't belittle yourself."

Song Fenglin was stunned.

"I saw you sign Shiqing on the painting yesterday, this should be your signature, right?"

"Hmm..." Song Fenglin didn't say anything.

It is a convention among the children of the aristocratic family that only those who are very close will call each other's nickname.

Liu Zhan said carelessly. "I also have a table name. My father gave it to me when I was 15 years old. It's called Donglin. I guess I hope I can return to my hometown."

Song Fenglin held the teacup lightly and was a little lost in thought.

"By the way, there is something I would like to discuss with you." Liu Zhan has become used to discussing every detail with Song Fenglin since some time ago, and he will not force things that Song Fenglin disagrees with.

"I want to take out 3000 taels of silver from the treasury and send it to Pei Zhizhou in person. First, I want to congratulate him on his promotion, and second, I want to maintain our relationship."

Song Fenglin said: "I was negligent, this matter is done very well, even if Pei Zhizhou recognizes the Liu family as the head of the family, but he is your upper peak after all."

Liu Zhan took the opportunity to say, "Let's go together. There's not much going on in the camp now. We haven't left Wuyuan County since we came here."

Song Fenglin hadn't forgiven him yet, but he really wanted to go out of Wuyuan County to have a look, but he was finally relieved after being begged softly by Liu Zhan a few times.

Cenzhou is on the westernmost side of Qiyun Mountain. From Wuyuan County, you have to pass through Dingbian County and Yongning County. When you leave Cenzhou, you are considered to have left the boundary of Qiyun Mountain.Liu Zhan set off lightly on this trip, and only brought his entourage Liu Cheng and his personal soldiers Zhang Xiaoman and Cao Ming. Like Cao Zhuang and Li Xiaolian, they were all left in charge of conscription.

A group of six set off on horseback. Liu Zhan wore a lake blue suit with a long knife on his waist, Song Fenglin wore a crescent white suit and immediately equipped with a bow and arrow. The clothes of the two were ordinary, but they had a natural momentum.

Dingbian County is on the bank of Huangchuan River. Huangchuan River originates from Qiyun Mountain, divides Qiyun Mountain into two parts, and flows eastward along the Huangchuan Gorge to the coast of Beihai.

To get to Dingbian County, you can only cross the iron-locked suspension bridge on the Huangchuan Gorge. This suspension bridge is guarded by the city gate. After crossing the suspension bridge, you enter Dingbian County.

The soldier guarding the gate saw Liu Zhan and his party running on horseback from a distance, but he didn't dare to shout and drink to the horsemen as usual, but offered to say hello tremblingly.

Wei Chenggui condescended to show the official quotation, and the gatekeeper hurriedly greeted him when he saw the word "county lieutenant".

The Iron Lock Bridge is not big enough to accommodate a carriage. Passengers on the bridge come and go. Occasionally, there are carriages that walk cautiously and slowly. Whenever there is a big movement, the Iron Lock Bridge will start to shake. There is no doubt that he must die, and there is a stele at the head of the bridge with the words "get off the horse and pass, don't run".

Liu Zhan and Song Fenglin walked side by side. "I remember that when I entered the mountain, I didn't cross the iron chain bridge, as if I was on a boat."

Song Fenglin said: "We entered Qiyun Mountain via the Luming official road. From Ruichang, we took a boat across Huangchuan to enter Cangxia Plain, and then entered Qiyun Mountain via Jinyang."

"If I have a chance, I'll go for a walk." Liu Zhan was thoughtful.

That night, Liu Zhan and his party stayed at the post station. This kind of post station set up by the government has superior rooms for passing officials, and the conditions are much better than ordinary inns. The next morning, the group set off again, riding horses from Dingbian County to Yongning County It takes a day's journey to go to the city just after dark.

Yongning County is more prosperous than Dingbian County, and Wuyuan County is a shameful county with only one main street. No wonder people say that Wuyuan County is the poorest county in Qiyun Mountain.

Stayed at the post station in Yongning County for one night, and the five of them set off again early the next morning.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that they were approaching Cenzhou. The post road on the road became more and more spacious and smooth, and the journey was very smooth. When entering the boundary of Cenzhou, there were sparse passers-by and business travelers on the road. From a distance, they saw the towering city of Cenzhou. city ​​gate.

When they entered Cenzhou City, Cao Ming and Zhang Xiaoman, two guys who had never seen the world, were so shocked that they couldn't even close their mouths.

Cenzhou City is full of people coming and going, and there are shops on both sides of the street that can't be seen at a glance, and the architectural style is beautiful, with two or three storey buildings everywhere, and the domineering eaves of the houses of the rich and powerful like rocs spreading their wings.

The scale of Cenzhou City is more than ten times larger than that of Wuyuan County. One can imagine how powerful the magistrate of Cenzhou who governs this city will be.

When Liu Zhan saw Pei Wanshan again, he almost didn't recognize him. Master Pei Zhizhou appeared in the crowd, with a proud face, and he was fatter than when he was in Wuyuan County.

"I pay my respects to Mr. Pei." Liu Zhan and others bowed their hands in salute.

"Nephew, you don't need to be too polite." Pei Wanshan smiled amiably with a radiant face. He retreated to the left and right, leaving only Mr. Ma who knew everything about him, and invited Liu Zhan and Song Fenglin to sit down.

After some courtesies, Liu Zhan asked Liu Cheng to present a congratulatory gift. Pei Wanshan was very satisfied with the amount, and the enthusiasm on his face became more sincere.

The two gossiped, Pei Wanshan asked about Liu Xueyuan and the old lady's recent situation, Liu Zhan said everything was fine, and the topic ranged from the county soldiers' rebellion against Liu Zhan's disposal of the thief leader Zhao Qianhu to Zhao Qianhu's brother-in-law.

Speaking of this, Pei Wanshan became angry. "When I first came to Cenzhou, the old people in the yamen were obsequious. Most of these people were local wealthy families in Cenzhou. They bullied me. I was born in a poor family and had nothing to rely on. Zhao Qianhu's brother-in-law was one of them. It happened that I took Zhao Qianhu This incident was used as a pretext to punish him for the crime of harboring a thief leader, and he was dismissed from his post and ransacked his home to make an example of others, and finally subdued these people."

Liu Zhan helped a lot by beating the wrong way, and Pei Wanshan finally secured his position as the magistrate of Cenzhou, and then Pei Wanshan talked about the news from the capital.

In the past six months, many unexpected and unsurprising things have happened in the DPRK and China.

One is the influx of refugees from northern Xinjiang into the Central Plains.

Last year, the Yan State cavalry entered the Cangxia Plain to burn, kill and loot countless times, killing countless good people and destroying countless fertile fields. In just one year, the people were destitute, and the border areas were even empty. The people in northern Xinjiang were displaced. Refugees who have no food to eat can only migrate to the south.

Dingguo General Yan Qiliang, who governed the Cangxia Plain, kept concealing the situation in northern Xinjiang until a large number of refugees flooded into the Central Plains in winter.Emperor Xuan wanted to kill Yan Qiliang, but because the Yan family had been operating in the Cangxia Plain for several generations, he was afraid that his family would rebel against the Yan State, so he had to cut his official position and appoint his cousin Yan Qirong as General Dingguo to take over Cangxia plain.

Second, the third prince's mother family, the Chen family, was in decline, and the first prince's mother family, the Zhou family, dominated the family. Emperor Xuan became more and more powerless with the government.

Third, the situation in northern Xinjiang has changed!The State of Yan dispatched 20 troops to attack Fanyang Pass, and the army was stationed in Guzhu City of the State of Yan, which is the closest to the Cangxia Plain.

Pei Wanshan said again. "The new General Yan asked His Majesty to send troops for support, but was rejected by Prime Minister Zhou. At that time, Prime Minister Zhou was the eldest prince's grandfather with great power. His Majesty intended to help the Yan family, but he had to give up because of Zhou's opposition. The Yan family claimed to have an army of 15. Moreover, the Yan family is rich and powerful in the fertile fields of the Cangxia Plain, so it looks like they don’t need help, but in fact, you and I both know that the Yan family’s army does not have 15 people, at most there are only tens of thousands of people.”

In recent years, the Yan army has repeatedly violated the frontiers, disturbing the people in the Cangxia Plain, and the Yan family is not as good as the next generation. Now the Yan family is no longer as rich and powerful as its ancestors were, but it is only a skin that is strong outside but dry in the middle, but the family far away in the capital is not You know, so it is not surprising that the courtiers are almost one-sided in their opposition to supporting the Yan family.

Pei Wanshan solemnly told Liu Zhan to make preparations early. Once the army came under pressure, the counties and counties around Qiyun Mountain would definitely be affected. Liu Zhan looked at Song Fenglin, both of them looked serious.

According to the understanding of the county barracks these days, the Yan family claims to have an army of 15, and at least half of them have falsely reported the number of people without pay. This is a common phenomenon in northern Xinjiang barracks. There is no single enemy.

There is also another news that Da Chu helped Chen Liu's army make a joke. The Ministry of War asked the Ministry of Households for food, but the Ministry of Households couldn't get it together. The matter was brought up to Emperor Xuan, and Emperor Xuan knew that the treasury was out of money!

During the period of Chu □□, the great Chu Nai was militaristic, and the national treasury was short of money every year. In the period of Emperor Chu Rendi, he worked hard to plug the hole and saved some money.

However, Emperor Xuan of Chu, who was relaying the relay, was used to Prince Taiping and didn’t know the hardships of the country. As soon as he came to the throne, he disliked the old palace and built palaces. How can I stand up to such a toss?

What if the treasury has no money and the army is already on the way?You can't let the army go back home and let the people laugh at you. Emperor Xuan had no choice but to order food from the southwestern states and counties.

That night, Pei Wanshan hosted a banquet in honor of Liu Zhan and Song Fenglin. He wanted to stay with them for a few more days, but knowing that 20 Yan troops were stationed outside the Cangxia Plain, Liu Zhan was still in the mood to have fun, so he asked Pei Wanshan the next day. farewell.