"Li Feiyu is back? Do you want to see me again?" Jiang Chun frowned, feeling a little irritated for no reason.
He took a few steps and knew without thinking that Li Xia must have come to ask for money.
Sure enough, Zhan Gang said softly: "Li County Lieutenant brought out two hundred people. First, forty-nine people were killed. This time, it seems that more than ten people were killed. Plus the wounded, I'm afraid we will need a lot of compensation."
"Bofu, let's go see him. Just say that the county is not here."
"Dong Weng, please keep your voice down. Lieutenant Li is outside the public house."
Jiang Chun raised his eyebrows and lowered his voice and asked, "Where is Fang Zhengshu?"
"Team leader Wu saw Lieutenant Li's boat early, and the owner went out of town to collect it."
"Huh, avoid trouble..."
Outside the door, Li Xia's voice came in.
"Mr. Zhan, have you discussed this with the county magistrate?"
The door of the house was opened, and Li Xia pushed it open and entered.
Zhan Gang felt very embarrassed. He said it was a direct message, but it did take a long time.
Jiang Chun, however, acted naturally and said with concern: "Feiyu is back, what's wrong with this hand? Is it injured?!"
"Yes." Li Xia said: "Holding the blade of the sword, it stirred the heart of a Mongolian soldier and cut it."
Jiang Chun originally wanted to say something like, "You took away the people of Qingfu County and lost them," but he was speechless for a moment.
"This... Feiyu is very brave, very brave. Has he made great achievements this time? Maybe he will be promoted soon?"
"It's just a small achievement. I just arrived at Qingfu, so I can't move away so quickly."
"What a pity." Jiang Chun was deeply disappointed.
Li Xia got straight to the point and asked, "I see that the autumn grain harvest in the county has been completed. Can we provide some grain and grass to the river patrollers?"
Jiang Chun stroked his beard and said, "This matter has always been handled by the landlord. Feiyu should ask him."
Li Xia took a step forward and asked again: "Is the county magistrate just perfunctory with me?"
"Hey, what are you talking about, Feiyu? How can I be perfunctory? It's just you and me performing our duties. Even though I'm the county magistrate, I can't interfere too much."
"Is it possible for a county magistrate to deceive the young and ignorant? 'Every state and county has soldiers and horses, and the chief officials also have jurisdiction. The magistrate of a state is the general of a state, and the magistrate of a county is the general of a county.' The county magistrate is in charge of money, grain, and taxes, and the soldiers, horses, and people are in charge.
Why don't you have the right to provide some food and grass?"
"This...I have always delegated power to you and the landlord." Jiang Chun's eyebrows twitched fiercely and said: "Feiyu also knows that I support you the most. How about this, you go to the landlord to ask for food, just
Say I promised you."
"Okay, please ask the county magistrate for approval."
"Approval?"
Jiang Chun and Zhan Gang looked at each other and thought that it was rare for a county captain to force Shangguan like this.
It doesn't hurt to give Li Xia approval, anyway, I have to go to Fang Yankai to get it.
With this thought in mind, Jiang Chun wrote the pen, thus maintaining the peace between the county officials...
In the county captain's public room, Han Qiao'er sat there, watching her grandfather and father write and calculate non-stop, but she was a little absent-minded and looked back at the door from time to time.
Li Xia has been busy as soon as she came back. She went to the river patrol barracks to see the wounded soldiers, and asked the county magistrate for food and grass. Until now, she has not said a word to her.
Finally, the door to the public room creaked open, and Han Qiaoer jumped down from the stool in a hurry, ran to Li Xia, looked up at him, her eyes were already red.
"Brother Li."
There was yearning, worry, concern on her face... Various emotions were intertwined in her mind, and she was busy.
Li Xia stretched out his uninjured hand and patted her head.
"Well, I'm back."
Han Qiaoer raised her head, hoping that he would spread his arms for her to hug him like he did in Kaifeng.
But Li Xia turned to Han Chengxu and said, "It's time to get the approval for grain and grass. Is Fang Yankai back?"
"Not yet, I'm afraid the landlord is hiding from Alang." Han Chengxu said with a bitter smile, "I'm afraid I won't even come to the Yamen today."
"It doesn't matter, I have to go back to the camp, let's talk while walking..."
"Yes." Han Qi'an said, "Everything is complicated, so it's time to accompany Alang for a walk."
"Brother Li, can Qiaoer come too?"
"Okay, let's go together."
Considering that Han Chengxu was old and Han Qi'an was frail, they hitched a carriage and sat in the carriage talking.
"The food and grass approved by the county magistrate for this month may not be enough for compensation."
Li Xia said: "I brought back ten thousand guan, that's enough."
Both the Han family and his son were shocked, and it took them a while to come back to their senses.
Li Xia said: "The reason why I asked Jiang Chun for money and food as soon as I came back is because after we spend the money, it will be difficult to ask for it again."
Han Qi'an couldn't help laughing and said: "Alang is very considerate."
"With this batch of documents, there is no rush to ask Fang Yankai for food." Li Xia added, "I plan to expand the number of river patrols to 500 people, and I will ask for it when the time comes."
Han Chengxu stroked his beard and said, "In other words, this month's food and grass is enough for five hundred people?"
"yes."
All three of them laughed.
After laughing, Han Chengxu pondered again: "Jiang County Magistrate is willing to give this batch of documents, but he is actually trying to shirk the responsibility. I'm afraid that the landlord's secretary won't give it to him."
"The war is imminent and the soldiers are in my hands, and he will provide them."
"The Mongolian army in the south has fled. Alang means... he is worried that Zhang Dutong will be defeated."
Li Xia thought about what Yi Shiying had said, pondered, and said, "Yes, I have a gut feeling that Zhang Shi will be defeated, so I should prepare in advance."
"In this way, there are a lot of things to arrange." Han Qi'an said.
Han Chengxu said: "Let's first report to Alang the situation in the county over the past month."
"That's fine." Han Qi'an said: "Liu Bantou's training of river patrolmen has been very effective, but these more than a hundred people may not have enough experience. In addition, the naval station in Fujiang has been built; Yukouyan, Qingshan
The towers and artillery carriages on Gangling and Tuanshanzi have been built; now trenches are being dug outside the camp."
"Enough money?"
"Fortunately, when Alang sent Kong Muxi back to the wounded half a month ago, he brought back money, which was barely enough for expenses."
"Well, with this Wan Guan, I can last a little longer..."
At this point, Li Xia told Wu Tong about selling private salt, and then asked: "What do you two gentlemen think of this?"
Han Chengxu twirled his beard and pondered, and said slowly: "That inspector Wu said it nicely, 'the people can eat salt at a low price', which is harmful to the public and private, and is just a worm that eats up the country."
Li Xia understands this meaning.
I won’t mention it, but just a little thing. If the Tuojing Supervisor in Xuzhou cannot collect the salt tax, where will the money and food come from to give to the Changning Army? If there is no Changning Army, who will defend the territory when the Mongolian army comes.
Wu Tong's approach is said to benefit people's livelihood, and it is not unfair to call it "a great harm to the country".
As expected, Han Qi'an also looked down upon Wu Tong very much and said: "As far as this matter is concerned, the landlord can be said to be loyal and upright, but Wu enriched his own pockets during the inspection...Alang really wants to cooperate with him?"
Li Xia opened the curtain and took a look. At this time, the driver was Mao Yi'er, temporarily acting as a guard.
The carriage has also left the county town, and there are not many people on the road.
He then lowered the car curtain and said: "The difference between me and Wu Tong lies in the word 'filling one's own pocket'. I sell private salt, and the proceeds do not go into my own pocket."
"Alang's intention is... when this matter goes smoothly, get rid of Wu Tong, and Alang can do it himself?"
"yes."
Facing the Han family and his son, Li Xia didn't need to say more, they both understood in their hearts.
Han Chengxu nodded and said thoughtfully: "The first thing to do is the landlord's book..."
"It's true that he is an upright official." Li Xia said, "But an upright official is not a reason to block me. But this matter is not urgent. Let's talk about it after the war."
"Yes, maybe the war has passed and the situation in the county has changed."
Li Xia said: "There are a lot of things to do next. I not only need to expand the patrol team, but also reorganize it. Then, I will leave all the matters such as pensions, military rewards, logistics, and baggage to these two gentlemen."
"yes."
"Are you too busy to come here?"
"Alang, you're asking." Han Qi'an smiled bitterly and said, "Alang wants to manage an army of five hundred people, but he only has two staff."
"This is an oversight on my part. You two gentlemen can hire someone who is good at arithmetic and writing."
"Alang can also recruit some more staff."
"Yeah, let's do it step by step..."
Han Qiaoer sat aside obediently and wrote down their conversation. Although she didn't understand it, she thought she could repeat it to Li Xia in the evening to see if he had forgotten anything.
Looking up again, her father and Li Xia were chatting seriously and did not notice her. She then reached out her hand and gently pulled Li Xia's sleeve, feeling that this made her feel more at ease...