Li Xia looked at Jiang Fan and thought slightly in his heart.
Among the squad leaders under his command, Liu Jinsuo is skilled in martial arts but simple-minded and is suitable for being a vanguard; Bao San has the most experience in battle formations; Hu Hu is good at archery; Xiong Shan is the most able to endure hardships...
Compared with them, Jiang Fan was a bit mediocre in battle. He was also missing an arm, so he almost fell into the Changning River this time.
But Li Xia remembered what Jiang Fan asked after seeing Wu Tong being tied up during Junlian's patrol in Siguan City... "Is Wu Tong rebelling?"
Because of these words, Li Xia gave him the task of killing Zhang Yuanming, and he did not disappoint Li Xia.
"Is the injury healed? Do you need to rest for a few days?"
"Okay." Jiang Fan responded, waving his arm: "I took care of it for several days and only rushed back after the injury healed."
Li Xia nodded and said, "I didn't hand over your team to anyone else."
Jiang Fan was quite touched, and his eyes turned red when he heard this.
Just listen to Li Xia continue to say: "But since you are back, I want to ask you whether you want to continue leading the troops or do something else to help me."
"As long as the county captain gives orders, if the villain frowns, this hand can be chopped off."
Li Xia said straightforwardly: "Well, I'm going to find Wu Tong to sell smuggled salt. Find out his salt wells, sales channels, and how he smuggles it. Then kill him and we will do it ourselves."
Jiang Fan thought about it and realized that Liu Jinsuo, Bao San, and Hu Hu couldn't handle this matter. Xiong Shan might be able to do it, but the county captain didn't trust him, and he trusted himself more.
Then there was nothing to say. He directly touched his hand and the hook, making a cupped hand gesture, and said: "The villain will take care of it."
"Okay, you go pick someone and go to Junlianzhou to find out the details about Wu Tong."
"Just pick the villain?"
"It's up to you to choose one you can trust."
"What captains from other teams can you choose?"
"Um."
"Song He next to the county captain is good. He talks little and moves quickly."
"Okay, pick someone and go to Mr. Yi Ning to collect some money."
~~
There is a small courtyard in Qingfu County, where Zhang Shifei's widow Yang Xiu, his son Zhang Daihen, and Zhang Yuanming's daughter Zhang Yu live.
Although the maids who serve him are still Yang Xiu's old ones, the guards and concierges in the courtyard are all sent by Han Qi'an.
After the death of Zhang Yuanming and his son, few people came here.
On this day, the steward of the Zhang family named "Zhang Bingchu" made a fuss outside the door for a while, and finally saw Yang Xiu and her son.
Yang Xiu was only twenty-six years old, and the son in her arms was only four years old. The orphaned and widowed mother looked a little helpless. Zhang Zhu lowered his head and looked taciturn.
These two women and one child are still wearing sackcloth and paying filial piety.
"The war is over." Zhang Bingchu asked, "I wonder what your plans are next?"
"How did the chief steward get in?"
Zhang Bingchu wondered: "It's natural for a villain to come to see his mistress. Who can stop him?"
At this point, he whispered again: "We were fighting before, and Alang and the officials died suddenly. The county captain said that he sent someone to protect the eldest lady, and he was afraid that he wanted to ask for some property... The Zhang family could have donated the bento.
Now that the battle is over, it’s time for the eldest lady to think about the future.”
Yang Xiu asked: "What do you mean?"
"Alang has a cousin who is in Chongqing Mansion now. What I mean is that the eldest lady and the junior official should go and join him."
Yang Xiu didn't say anything, but hugged Zhang Dai Yin tightly.
Zhang Bingchu added: "I know that the eldest lady's mother-in-law is from Chengdu Prefecture. Now I'm afraid... and if I stay in Qingfu and have no one to rely on, I'm afraid that the county magistrate will knock out the bones and suck out the marrow of the family business in less than two years."
Yes. If you agree, will you prepare the car now?"
"I do not want to go."
"If Madam doesn't want to go, you can write a letter and ask someone to come over there."
Yang Xiu said: "The family property belongs to Yin'er and no one needs to interfere."
"The eldest lady is joking. How can a junior official manage the family business when he is still young? It is better for his uncles and brothers to help him."
"Master, you don't need to say anything about my family's affairs."
"The villain is a domestic servant, but he is also a member of the Zhang family. If something like this happens, the eldest lady cannot be left alone to be bullied."
Having said this, Zhang Bingchu thought for a while and said, "By the way, Alang brought a box with him when he came to the county from Jiuqu Garden. Did Madam see it?"
"Box?" Yang Xiu said, "I...I don't know."
"They are some account books, documents and deeds...are they not with the eldest lady?"
"I'm tired, you can go." Yang Xiu waved his hand.
Zhang Bingchu had no choice but to raise his head and glance at Zhang Zhu, who was sitting beside him without saying a word, then turned around and walked out.
…
Yang Xiu was sitting there, looking very pitiful in his mourning clothes.
"Ahem..."
Behind the screen, several coughs were heard, and Han Qian came out.
"Mr. Han." Zhang Daiyin called obediently.
Han Qian nodded and said, "Let someone take the child down."
Yang Xiu did as he was told, lowering his head, looking very scared, and said: "Mr. Han, I..."
"Don't worry, we'll talk about it later."
…
After a while, Jiang Fan came in with a baggage on his hook and said, "Kill him."
Yang Xiu and Zhang Zhu in the hall both trembled.
Han Qian said: "Where is the body?"
"It was tied with stones and sank to the bottom of the river."
"Thank you." Han Qi'an took the baggage, opened it and looked at it.
"It's a small matter." Jiang Fan said, "I've finished what Mr. Yi Ning told me and I'll set off now."
"Go ahead."
Han Qi'an then turned to Yang Xiu and said, "Madam, I haven't forced you in the past few days, have I? I wonder if you have thought clearly?"
"I...I'm going to bring the things to Mr. Han..."
~~
Those are two boxes ten inches square.
Li Xia, Han Chengxu, and Han Qiaoer sat there and watched Han Qi'an open it, only to see that it was covered with yellow gold.
The other one was opened, and there were many jewelry items inside, and underneath were letters of deed, Jiaozi.
"Wow." Han Qiaoer praised.
Han Qi'an said: "For killing Zhang Yuanming before, I got five thousand guan from them to pay for the murder, and another 34,830 guan... Now that I add these, it is even with the account book.
That woman Yang was cunning. She first handed over the copper coins and the land in Qingfu County, but then hid these valuable items. An didn't know that we could find out as long as we calculated the account books."
Li Xia picked up the deed, looked at it, and said, "These are the Zhang family's properties in Xuzhou?"
"yes."
Han Chengxu smiled and shook his head, then took out the account book for raising soldiers and went out to make an accounting with Li Xia.
In the long run, if Li Xia wants to raise 1,000 or 2,000 soldiers, and with various plans, he will be extremely short of money; but for the time being, if he uses the financial resources of the Zhang family to raise 500 soldiers, he will not be able to raise them within a few months.
Lack of money means food, weapons, leather helmets and other armaments needed to expand the army.
Qingfu, a small county town, does not have these things, so it is necessary to send people to the larger state towns to purchase them.
Li Xia is the most lacking literati who can do these things.
Han Chengxu was already very busy taking care of Li Xia's accounts, so he could only ask Han Qi'an to go to Xuzhou to sort out the Zhang family's property, exchange gold, silver, jewelry and Jiaozi, and then return with more shopping supplies...
…
"Prepare supplies before the Chinese New Year, so that we can expand our troops after the new year. However, if I go on this trip, I'm afraid I won't be able to come back within a month."
"It's hard to let Mr. Yi Ning spend the New Year away from home."
"That's not what I'm worried about." Han Qi'an said, "If Alang wants to sell private salt, who will arrange the accounts in the future? There are still not enough trustworthy talents in this area."
Li Xia nodded, thinking that this was also one of the phenomena of the Song Dynasty. The court treated scholars well, and few scholars followed the people to rebel.
Therefore, it is easy to find staff, but it is difficult to find trustworthy ones.
"There will always be someone suitable. You can also bribe a secret agent from Wu Tong. We will discuss this matter later. I will send Yu Bing to follow Mr. Yi Ning."
Han Qi'an said: "Then I'm getting ready to leave... By the way, there is one more small matter. Next time A Lang sends someone to Lin'an, please send Yan Yunyun there."
"Yes." Li Xia nodded. He had previously sent someone to Lin'an to deliver an urgent letter, and he would not let the messenger bring a woman.
In front of Li Xia, Han Qi'an covered the two boxes and wrapped them with cloth, without the slightest worry that Li Xia would suspect him of being greedy.
Han Chengxu stroked his beard and smiled, saying: "I will hire people to expand the camp..."
~~
Li Xia rubbed his forehead, continued to think about the plans after the war, and reorganized his thoughts.
The great achievement of killing Wu Liang Hetai will definitely have a more important impact in the future. For example, next year he will send people north to contact Yang Guo to help him strengthen the determination of the prince behind him.
For the time being, this can be used to control Qingfu County.
As a traitor with a backing, he killed the marshal of the Mongolian capital. Even if he didn't claim credit, no one could stop him from being promoted, even if he was young and inexperienced.
Jiang Chun is willing to be transferred, so it is not difficult to deal with it; Fang Yankai cannot pose a threat after Shi Jun leaves office, and he can be allowed to handle civil affairs. If the chief clerk is also transferred... let's talk about it.
What matters is military power and money and food, these two are the root.
The important thing is to expand the army, organize and train it, and come step by step.
There are two sources of money and food for the time being. One is to digest the Zhang family's field industry as soon as possible and then convert it into armaments. This is why Han Qi'an was sent north to Xuzhou; the other is to partner with Wu Tong to sell illicit salt and smuggle it in the southwest, sending Jiang
It was for this reason that I went south to Junlianzhou.
But Jiang Fan can kill people, but he can't run a private salt business. It's up to him to pay more attention to this matter...
Li Xia was thinking about this when he felt Han Qiaoer pulling him behind him.
"Brother Li, the war is over."
"Huh?" Li Xia said, "I almost forgot, I will take you to Qingfu Tower to eat delicious food in the evening."
Han Qiaoer said: "That's not why, I'm not greedy. Brother Li, will you go back to the back office to sleep at night? The city is no longer closed. The county magistrate's wife has already moved back to the east wing."
The reason why I say this is because Li Xia has been sleeping on a bed in the public room these days.
"good."
"What I want to say is that the war is over and the Chinese New Year is about to come again. Brother Li shouldn't work too hard..."