The return of the son-in-law

The next day, the staff and Hao Yun took these cotton-padded clothes and ginseng to the border town where the Tatar cavalry had been entrenched.On the other hand, Xie Bing rarely took the initiative to find Guo Zhanan, and expressed his doubts: "Master Guo, this is considered an IOU, what if the fourth prince bites him to death and refuses to admit it?"

Guo Zhan'an almost laughed out loud. He looked at Xie Bing with a serious face in front of him, and couldn't help but wonder what Li Shaojin had done to make Xie Bing think that he was a person who owed money and didn't pay back.

"Master Xie, don't worry, we still have an IOU in hand. If we really don't pay it back, we can ask His Majesty to make the decision. Your Majesty has all the power in the world, and the money owed by his son will always be repaid."

Xie Bing was not in the mood to appreciate Guo Zhanan's joke at this time, he was still a little worried: "The fourth prince is really bad." Speaking of this, he suddenly shut up because he realized that what he said was too much .If Guo Zhan'an turns around and accuses him of discussing the prince's right and wrong in private, he will be in bad luck.

Guo Zhan'an didn't care about it, and said: "The money has been spent, and it's too late to get it back now. Please be patient, Mr. Xie. When the fourth prince's husband comes back, we will remind him more, so that he remembers to pay back the money." Just return the money before the beginning of spring. If Mr. Xie is still not at ease, then send someone to escort that gentleman back to Beijing, and get the money back by the way, which can also help the Fourth Prince save a fortune on traveling to and from Xuzhou."

Even someone as old-fashioned as Xie Bing couldn't help but laugh when he heard Guo Zhan'an's remarks: "It's because I'm worrying too much, or Mr. Guo has a vision. Forget it, this person is the fourth prince's husband after all. Mao Mao hastily let him go back to Beijing alone, what if something happens on the way? I will choose some skilled men in the past two days and escort him back to Beijing."

On the other side, the unlucky staff member who was left by Li Shaojin to clean up the mess sneezed hard. He was sitting in a corner of the carriage, huddled together, with a thick blanket on his body, holding a A stove to warm your hands.But even so, his knees still hurt from the cold.

Hao Yun in the car and the driver outside are both native Xuzhou people, and they have long been used to the cold winter in Xuzhou.Although this year's winter is much colder than previous years, it is not as embarrassing as the staff.

The three of them worked hard, and finally arrived before the Tatar cavalry under the city were about to lose their patience and attack the city gate.

Ning Guhan was not far from the cavalry, and when he heard the Fourth Prince's approach, he gestured, and the attendants beside him shouted twice, and the cavalry retreated one after another, stopping a hundred steps away from the city wall.

Ning Guhan drove his horse to the front of the cavalry, stopped three steps away from the staff, and looked at the man in front of him.

The black horse he was riding snorted impatiently, Ning Guhan stretched out his hand and patted it, and then asked: "Are you sent by the Fourth Prince?"

The staff cheered up and replied: "Exactly, this is the fourth prince's husband. The fourth prince was very anxious after hearing about this matter, and specially sent me to deal with it."

Ning Guhan sneered: "How to deal with it? My people almost died because of your ginseng! Since he wants to deal with this matter, why doesn't he do it himself?"

The staff have always looked down on these barbarians. Hearing that the leader of the barbarians actually announced that he wanted the fourth prince to come forward, he was very unhappy and couldn't help complaining in a low voice: "What are you, the fourth prince is the most beloved of the Holy One Your prince, where is it that you can meet casually."

Unexpectedly, when Ning Guhan heard it, his eyes turned cold immediately, and he stared straight at the staff member, but the knife was still unsheathed in his hand, and he changed his words to something else: "Since you On behalf of the fourth prince, let me see the sincerity of your fourth prince."

The aides were anxious to finish the matter quickly and return to Beijing, and said, "I have brought everything. According to your report, five ginsengs and sixty cotton-padded clothes are prepared. The rest will be regarded as compensation."

Ning Guhan's eyes lit up, and he said, "There are seven more cotton-padded clothes. Is this your sincerity?"

The staff has a bad heart, so is this barbarian going to sit on the ground and raise the price?

He estimated what he could buy with the remaining two taels of silver, and finally said: "If you retreat immediately, the Fourth Prince is willing to give you an extra five catties of dried meat."

Ning Guhan listened, looked up to the sky and laughed: "The fourth prince really thinks highly of us. Five catties of dried meat can repel my Tatar cavalry. If it is spread, do my men want to be human again? Five hundred catties of dried meat, one Hundreds of cotton clothes, plus the herbs we need for sacrifice."

Naturally, the staff did not agree, he borrowed the money from Xuzhou magistrate in the name of the fourth prince, and it was the fourth prince who exchanged the money for the IOU!Although the fourth prince has countless treasures in his family, he has never been a generous person. If he turns around and let the fourth prince know that he spent so much money, then his official career will come to an end.

He suppressed a bad breath, and said: "Young master, this matter is our negligence, let unscrupulous businessmen mix in, and sell you low-quality ginseng and padded clothes with cotton wool. But the fourth prince has made up for it in time, I also gave you seven extra cotton-padded clothes, and as for the five hundred catties of meat, it's too much."

Ning Guhan simply played a rogue: "Then you go back and explain my request to the fourth prince. If my request is not met, Tatar's iron cavalry will not have eyes."

The staff took a deep breath. The meaning of these words was to start a war!

He heard that the Tatar cavalry is the most powerful on the grassland. Although it is impossible to fight against a hundred with one, it is still possible to fight against ten with one.If Tatar sent troops for this reason, instead of gaining any benefit, the Fourth Prince would be infamous for the ages!

It's just that he didn't dare to agree to the deal without the fourth prince's consent, so he could only beg for mercy: "My lord, please wait a few days for me to discuss with the fourth prince."

Ning Guhan raised his left hand and gestured: "Three days, I only give you three days."

The staff had no choice but to return to the city gate with a bitter face.

The fourth prince has been away from Xuzhou for several days, even if he sends someone to chase him now, he will not be able to come back in three days.The Tatar cavalry outside the city gate refused to leave. From time to time, they ran around the city gate a few times to show their strength to the soldiers guarding the city wall.

The staff was so anxious that their hair was about to fall out, they walked back and forth in the room, but they couldn't think of any way.

Hao Yun saw it, and asked from the side: "My lord, what did Tatar say?"

The staff repeated Ning Guhan's conditions, and complained again: "This barbarian is too much, this is clearly taking advantage of this opportunity to cheat! No, absolutely cannot agree to this condition."

Hao Yun asked again: "What do you think we should do after those three days?"

The aide said righteously: "All the people in the Northwest Army camp can drown those Tatars outside with one mouthful of spit. What are they afraid of doing! The imperial court supports these soldiers, and now it's time to serve the imperial court ! Yes, that’s right, that’s it! Raising soldiers for a thousand days and using them for a short time, isn’t now the opportunity!”

Hao Yun rolled his eyes in his heart, and looked down on this man even more.If it is really as simple as he said, then why have Tatar and the soldiers of this dynasty been stalemate on the northwest border for so many years?

Even though there are only so few people in Tatar now, if there is a fight, the other tribes in Tatar will not miss this opportunity to get a share of the pie.Although there are also conflicts among the Tatar tribes, they will be unanimous at this time.The terrain here has little undulations and is dominated by large grasslands, which is most suitable for cavalry to fight back and forth and sweep everything.The cavalry happens to be the country's weakness.

"My lord, why don't we send someone to send a letter to ask Mr. Guo for advice." Hao Yun has confidence in his lord. In his opinion, although the Tatar cavalry is powerful, they must be able to fight!With Guo Zhan'an around, Natatar must be told to retreat obediently!

"No!" The staff vetoed, "I have already caused so much trouble for Mr. Guo, we can't let Mr. Guo worry about this matter anymore."

What a joke!Guo Zhan'an is a member of the third prince. The matter of borrowing money from Xie Bing was proposed by Guo Zhan'an. Maybe there is some conspiracy hidden behind it. After returning to Beijing, he urged the fourth prince to pay back the money and take the IOU. Just come back.If he was allowed to interfere with this matter, it would be tantamount to letting the Third Prince reap the benefits of a fisherman!

Hao Yun didn't know so much, he just thought it was the fourth prince's gentleman who couldn't hold back his face, and persuaded: "If Tatar sends troops, the barracks will definitely report to His Majesty. When the time comes to investigate the reason, it turns out that it is because A few unscrupulous businessmen sold inferior goods to Tatar, so what should the fourth prince who presided over this matter do? My lord, the fourth prince has returned to Beijing now, my lord, please hurry up and make up your mind."

The staff was startled, he was eager to cover up for the fourth prince, he didn't want to make things big, almost forgot that doing so would be the most detrimental to the fourth prince!

The fourth prince is already on his way back to the capital, and it is too late to send people to chase after him. If the fourth prince boasted about his experience after returning to the capital, he will be furious when things come to light and what awaits him!

Thinking of this, the aides didn't care whether the third prince would reap the benefits, he just asked the fourth prince not to anger the emperor because of this.

More than a day had passed since Guo Zhanan received the news. Xie Bing was very anxious at the side: "The Tatars are desperate to fight. In my opinion, we should hurry up and prepare the five hundred catties of dried meat and send them away." Bar."

Guo Zhanan frowned and said, "If there is one, there will be two. Once this head is opened, it will not be broken in the future."

Xie Bing also knew the consequences, but time is running out now, seeing that the Tatar cavalry is about to attack in less than two days, the most urgent task is to delay as much time as possible for the Northwest Army Camp, gather a large number of soldiers, and prevent Tatar from falling A "rip-off".

Guo Zhan'an read the letter again and made up his mind: "Master Xie, leave this matter to me."

"You?" Xie Bing was taken aback. It was too late for him to try to get rid of the relationship with this matter. Why did Guo Zhan'an take the initiative to embrace him?Could it be that there is something inside that I don't understand?

Guo Zhan'an didn't have time to explain to him, so he just said: "My lord, don't worry, I will definitely take care of this matter. Don't forget, if you want to prepare the materials requested by the Tatar people, it will cost a lot of money."

Speaking of money, Xie Bing felt distressed, part of the tax had already been borrowed, and if he embezzled it again, Xie Bingke couldn't afford it and walked away.

"Then Mr. Guo, Xu Zhou will be entrusted to you."

Guo Zhan'an put the letter away and said, "Don't worry, my lord, I will leave immediately."

The situation was urgent, Guo Zhan'an didn't even have time to go home, so he sent someone back to Guo's mansion to inform Huo Yu, and ordered some skilled people to go with him in the government office, and rode fast horses to the border town together.

Fortunately, Hao Yun was clever and changed his staff's attention in time, so Guo Zhan'an rushed to the border town before Ning Guhan ordered the attack.Guo Zhan'an didn't care about rest, and didn't even have time to drink a sip of water. He paid his respects to the generals in the city, but after a while, he rode his horse again, went out from the city gate under the escort of a small team, and set foot on the grassland of Tatar.

Seeing that it was Guo Zhanan who came, Ning Guhan ordered everyone to be calm and not to be impatient, but he went up to meet him: "Did Mr. Guo bring jerky?"

Guo Zhanan shook his head and said, "We don't agree to your request."

Ning Guhan was very angry and said: "Since you don't agree, then there is nothing to talk about. Mr. Guo, for the sake of letting my people live, I will let you go back safely. Just meet again, don't blame my subordinates Show no mercy!"

Guo Zhan'an sneered: "You're merciless? I have hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the northwest, so I'm afraid of someone like you?"

Ning Guhan's face darkened, and said: "Since your lord has said so, then wait for the moment when my Tatar cavalry sets foot in the Central Plains!"

Guo Zhanan caressed the steed under him leisurely, and asked with a smile, "Do you think other tribes of Tatar will come to help you?"

His light question fell on Ning Guhan's ears like a thunderbolt from the blue sky: "Don't trouble Mr. Guo to worry about it for us. Although the Tatar tribe has occasional conflicts, we are still brothers when facing you."

"Hehe," Guo Zhan'an said with a deeper smile, "It's been a hard winter this year. I think you cavalrymen have taken out all the horses you can get from your small tribes? Kill you, you guys The land of the tribe will belong to them forever, you say, your brothers from other tribes, will you help me, or stand by and wait to take over your land, cattle, sheep, horses and women?"

Ning Guhan's pretentious confidence was punctured, he could only hold his last breath, and said: "I said, don't trouble Mr. Guo, you can go back."

Guo Zhan'an nodded and said: "In that case, let's wait for the moment when the Tatar cavalry approach the city."

The conversation between the two broke up badly, and Guo Zhanan took the lead to turn his horse's head around and returned to the border city under the protection of the team.

"What? You refused?" Hearing what Guo Zhanan said, the staff member was shocked and said, "This, this, if the Tatar cavalry breaks in, Mr. Guo, you will be responsible!"

Guo Zhan'an didn't care about it: "Don't worry, sir, if the cavalry comes in, it will naturally be my responsibility, Guo, and it has nothing to do with the fourth prince."

Guo Zhan'an picked out the staff's dirty thoughts, snorted, and turned his head away.

On the other hand, the general guarding the city listened and asked, "Master Guo is so confident?"

Guo Zhan'an explained in a pleasant manner: "General, what the Tatar cavalry relies on is nothing more than their horses that travel thousands of miles a day and their sharp weapons. They use their speed to win. I just saw that although those horses look energetic, their fur is messy. There is no light, and rib marks can still be seen on the stomachs of many horses, obviously they have been hungry for a long time."

The general guarding the city nodded and said, "If there are only such people, then there is really nothing to worry about."

Guo Zhanan said with a smile: "I heard that because of the coldness in Tatar this winter and the frequent shortage of supplies, the big tribes are robbing the small tribes, and the small tribes are robbing the homeless people. At this time, even if the cavalry outside the city attack Come here, there will be no other Tatar tribes to support. Otherwise, after fighting this battle so hard, one's own manpower will be damaged a lot, and it will be bad for others to take advantage of it."

The general guarding the city reminded: "Master Guo is smart, but the Tatars don't necessarily think so."

Guo Zhan'an waved his hand and said, "I don't need others to think so, as long as the leaders of the other big tribes think so. If they can manage their own tribe into one of the best big tribes on the grassland, the brains of these leaders will not be bad."

The general guarding the city was still a little worried, and said: "In this case, I will send more people to watch Tatar's movements, lest they have reinforcements."

Guo Zhan'an nodded and said, "General I'm here."

The facts were as expected by Guo Zhanan. The two sides stalemate meaninglessly inside and outside the city gate for three or four days, scolding and hitting each other, but there was no fight.

The general guarding the city couldn't help sighing in his heart that Guo Zhan'an's ingenious calculation had predicted the hearts of Tatar's people.How did he know that Guo Zhan'an is not some kind of fairy, and he has never had the ability to make calculations. This is all based on what he heard from Jiang Yannian, what he heard from veterans, what he read in books, and what Ning Guhan said. The conclusions drawn together with the performance.

However, the secrets, especially his private dealings with Jiang Yannian, must not be known to others.By doing this, Guo Zhan'an added some magic to himself.

As for the staff, don't mention how regretful it is.He thought, if he had known that this would happen, he would have acted harder, and now the praise Guo Zhanan got was all his!

But the staff member forgot that Guo Zhanan did not have the ability to predict the future. He did so under a lot of pressure, which was far beyond what the staff could bear.

In the end, Ning Guhan retreated first.He agreed to the compensation proposed by the staff, and Guo Zhanan was in a good mood, and added a few catties of jerky—of course, the jerky was bought with the two taels of silver that the staff had on hand.

Ning Guhan was extremely humiliated and wanted to leave on horseback after his subordinates finished counting, but was stopped by Guo Zhanan.

"Ning Guhan, do you still want to let your people suffer and be fooled?"

Ning Guhan held back his anger and said in a rough voice: "Master Guo, I almost forgot to tell you that we won't be here for the future trade."

Guo Zhan'an was a little surprised, and asked back: "Are you planning to take your clansmen to fight with the tribes that occupy your land, and grab food?"

Ning Guhan shook his head.

Guo Zhan'an said again: "This is weird, since you don't want to rob those tribes, is there anyone willing to exchange supplies with you?"

Ning Guhan was stunned for a moment, and replied: "You don't need to worry about it."

Guo Zhan'an smiled and nodded: "I'm being rude. Since you want to cancel the trade with us, let's forget about the fact that the envoy of the fourth prince wanted to sign an agreement with you."

Ning Guhan was taken aback: "What agreement?"

Guo Zhanan ignored the tense staff and said: "This kind of thing is not only our negligence, but more of your own ignorance. But for the sake of peace between Tatar and this dynasty, the fourth prince plans to discuss with you and sign a new agreement. , to minimize the occurrence of such things.”

Isn't it like this to hit a stick and give a date?

Ning Guhan hesitated for a moment, nodded and said: "Okay, I promise you. But if you four princes lie to us again and risk your life, we will also fight to your imperial capital and make him a blood sacrifice!"

Guo Zhanan smiled slightly: "Don't worry."