Although He Yu has been reminding himself repeatedly in his heart that he must not underestimate Zhao Junchen. When it comes to scheming and power, a border army general like him is no match for a powerful minister like Zhao Junchen.
However, whenever things came to a head, He Yu could not help but look down on Zhao Junchen, always feeling that Zhao Junchen was nothing more than that.
This is because when He Yu and Wu Shilin drew their swords to confront each other a few days ago, Zhao Junchen's reaction was so cowardly that it left a very deep impression on He Yu.
Until now, whenever He Yu thinks of Zhao Junchen, his first impression is naturally "despicable and shameless", and his second impression is "severe in appearance and soft in heart"!
During this period of time, although He Yu has been tortured a lot by Zhao Junchen, he still subconsciously feels that a timid and timid person like Zhao Junchen can be so smart and clever. Even if he is good at it, it will be annoying.
With his little tricks and cleverness, he would never dare to take the risk of overturning the table himself!
When they met today, when Zhao Junchen suddenly proposed to go hunting with He Yu, He Yu was still a little skeptical at first.
But as Zhao Junchen once again proposed that all accompanying escort tasks should be handed over to the Liaodong Cavalry, He Yu's doubts quickly disappeared.
If the accompanying guards are all Liaodong cavalry, it would be equivalent to Zhao Junchen becoming a hostage in the hands of He Yu. He Yu can decide Zhao Junchen's life and death with just one thought.
, how dare you plot against He Yu under such circumstances?
What's more, the Chilin Mountain where Zhao Junchen and He Yu went to hunt is only more than 20 miles away from the garrison camp in Liaodong Town. Even if some accident occurs, it only takes a quarter of an hour with the horsepower of the Liaodong Iron Cavalry.
Support can be reached immediately, which is absolutely foolproof.
Therefore, when He Yugang and Zhao Junchen left camp and rushed to Chilin Mountain for hunting, he didn't think much about it at first.
At the beginning, things developed smoothly as He Yu expected.
After everyone arrived at Chilin Mountain, under He Yu's hint, several Liaodong cavalry quickly surrounded Jiang Quan, and then deliberately slowed down their horses, blocking Jiang Quan's path forward and retreat, forcing Jiang Quan to retreat.
Quan had to stay away from Zhao Junchen and He Yu temporarily.
In this way, regardless of Jiang Quan's repeated protests, Zhao Junchen and He Yu finally had the space for private discussions.
And because both Zhao Junchen and He Yu had a certain degree of "sincerity" and were willing to make certain concessions, most of the political deal was quickly concluded.
*
The specific contents of this private political transaction mainly include three points.
First, He Yu will personally take action to severely punish those military attachés of the West Road in Liaodong Town who persecute the people within the territory, but the current West Road military attache Huang Shenming will still retain his position.
In this way, He Yu could show his clear distinction between rewards and punishments to all the Liaodong soldiers and take the opportunity to stabilize the morale of the army. On the surface, Zhao Junchen also completed his mission of beating up Liaodong Town. He had an explanation to the court and the people, and everyone was happy.
.
Secondly, He Yu will openly agree with the court's proposal to reduce Liao's pay, but the specific reduction in Liao's pay cannot exceed 800,000 taels of silver; at the same time, Zhao Junchen will privately use the Ministry of Household Affairs to pay a total of 1,000 yuan worth of money.
One million taels of grain and grass were then sold to Liaodong Town at a discount of 200,000 taels of silver.
In this way, the imperial court clearly achieved the goal of reducing Liao's pay, and also made Liaodong Town lower its head, maintaining the central authority's prestige. Zhao Junchen could also make meritorious deeds again, but Liaodong Town did not suffer any actual losses and only lost part of Liaodong Town.
The salary has just been changed into a different name. It can be said that the soup is changed without changing the medicine.
Thirdly, after the deal is concluded, the central court cannot mention the reduction of Liao's salary in the next three years, and Liaodong Town cannot use civil unrest, mutiny, Jianzhou Jurchen provocation, etc. again in the next three years.
Continue to reach out to the court center to ask for money and food...
All in all, it is necessary to maintain the status quo and live in peace, just treat it as a stubborn disease that does not know how to pay, and no one should continue to toss it in the future!
At the same time, the investigation of the conflict between Liaodong Cavalry and Guanning Cavalry is left to Liaodong Town and Shanhaiguan Wu family to negotiate on their own. Zhao Junchen will not continue to intervene, and will soon report thousands of households in Liaodong involved.
Li Shijie put it back.
After the completion of these three transactions, the court and the emperor gained face, Zhao Junchen took credit, and Liaodong Town also resisted the storm of Liao salary reduction. Although the actual problem was not solved, the Liao salary over the years was still a huge amount, but except for those who had to
Except for the common people who bear the burden of Liao's salary, all relevant parties can be satisfied.
Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty, this dilapidated house with air leakage everywhere was pretended and framed. As long as it was acceptable, the problem was considered to have been solved, and then you could continue to live in it.
*
After the transaction was completed, He Yu was very satisfied with the result, and Zhao Junchen seemed to be very satisfied as well.
Therefore, both of them were smiling and the atmosphere of getting along was more harmonious.
Later, taking advantage of the harmonious atmosphere, Zhao Junchen suddenly proposed: "By the way, I heard that Liaodong Town's business in Liaoyang City is very lively, and it can be said that money is made every day!
Nowadays, as the Jianzhou Jurchens pay tribute to the imperial court, the imperial court plans to open several cities to the Jianzhou Jurchens for mutual trade between the two sides. This matter is naturally the responsibility of this pavilion... and this pavilion is currently considering how to transfer Liaoyang to Liaoyang.
The city is also included in the list of mutual markets..."
Hearing Zhao Junchen's proposal, He Yu suddenly felt happy.
Liaoyang City's border trade is one of the three major sources of income for Liaodong Town. During this period, with the Jurchens of Jianzhou paying tribute and claiming tributary status, the court decided to open up mutual trade. Liaodong Town was originally quite worried that the status of Liaoyang trade would gradually be shaken.
This is one of the reasons why Liaodong Town is absolutely unwilling to cut Liao's salary.
And now that Zhao Junchen has taken the initiative to propose that Liaoyang City be included in the mutual trade list, then the future financial resources of Liaoyang trade can be guaranteed, which is naturally a good thing for Liaodong Town.
But just when He Yu was secretly happy, Zhao Junchen deliberately added: "Of course, there are many candidates for mutual trading, and Liaoyang City is just one of the targets we are considering... This matter is of great importance.
Many factors have to be considered.”
He Yu's heart moved slightly, but he suggested: "I heard that Zhao Gechen, you are also a wizard in business. Whether it is Yuerongfang, United Shipping Company, or the United Trading Company being established in the northwest provinces, they are all world-famous cornucopias.
! In comparison, the mutual trading business in Liaoyang City is far different!
My humble position and all the military attachés under my command are rough people and have never been good at business management. Therefore, I hope that you, Zhao Gechen, can find a few honest and reliable trading houses to settle in Liaoyang, join the Liaoyang mutual trade business, and help Liaoyang trade become bigger and stronger...
But I don’t know what your thoughts are, minister?
Of course, after these companies settle in Liaoyang, they will definitely receive the highest level of preferential treatment and full protection from Liaodong Town!"
He Yu's intention was obvious, that is, he wanted to give Zhao Junchen a share of Liaoyang City's border trade business in exchange for a stable position in Liaoyang Trade.
According to He Yu, this is also what Zhao Junchen has in mind.
Sure enough, after hearing He Yu's proposal, Zhao Junchen smiled a little more and nodded: "If you think about it carefully, Liaoyang City has a good trade foundation and a good geographical location. It is indeed an excellent choice...
If nothing else happens, it should be included in the imperial court’s mutual trading list... Of course, if it can help Liaoyang’s trade become more prosperous, I will also be happy to recommend several powerful trading firms to Mr. He!"
Afterwards, Zhao Junchen quickly mentioned the names of several trading firms. Of course, these firms were actually controlled by Zhao Junchen. He Yu also quickly remembered them in his heart and nodded to express that he would take care of them.
In this way, after another deal was reached, Zhao Junchen and He Yu not only got along with each other more harmoniously, but also got closer. The intrigues and conflicts of the past few days seemed as if they had never happened before.
.
After all, this transaction has nothing to do with the overall situation of the court, but only concerns the actual interests of both parties.
Regardless of ancient and modern times, at home and abroad, the best way to exchange feelings and close relationships in the officialdom is to join forces and use power to make money together. The more unclean the source of the money and the larger the amount, the closer and firmer the relationship between the two parties will be.
And now, after Zhao Junchen and He Yu have common interests, their relationship has improved by leaps and bounds, and to some extent, they can already regard each other as comrades.
Under such circumstances, He Yu not only felt more relaxed, but also became more and more cautious about Zhao Junchen.
At the same time, Zhao Junchen seemed to be in a good mood after reaching the deal. He laughed loudly and said: "Yes, it is the right way for everyone to do business and make money together in a harmonious manner. Some things seem very important, but as long as everyone withdraws,
It's all done in one step, there's no need to worry about it!"
Having said this, Zhao Junchen saw a dense forest in front of him and suddenly became excited. He raised his hand and pointed to the distance ahead and said loudly: "Look! There is a deer there... Mr. He, let's compete with each other to see who is the best."
Hunt the deer first... If Mr. He wins, we will consider including Shenyang and Fushun in the mutual trading list. If we win, the purchase of grain and grass and Liaodong Town just agreed upon
How about increasing the price to five hundred thousand taels?"
After saying that, before He Yu could refuse, Zhao Junchen took the lead and rushed forward!
After hearing Zhao Junchen's half-joking and half-serious bet, He Yu was slightly startled because he did not see any deer appearing in front of him.
But on the one hand, He Yu hoped that Shenyang and Fushun could also open up mutual markets. On the other hand, he was unwilling to spend an extra 300,000 taels of silver to buy grain and grass.
So he also galloped forward, intending to win the gamble and gain more benefits for Liaodong Town.
At the same time, after hearing the bet between Zhao Junchen and He Yu, the accompanying Liaodong cavalry soldiers naturally did not dare to steal the limelight, so they followed behind.
In this way, Zhao Junchen and He Yu ran at the front, while the Liaodong cavalry were not far behind. Everyone galloped with all their strength, and in a moment they had arrived in front of the dense forest.
I heard Zhao Junchen shouting again: "The deer has entered the forest, we can't let it escape! I will win for sure!"
After saying that, Zhao Junchen hurriedly raised his bow and arrow and shot an arrow crookedly into the forest.
Zhao Junchen's shooting skills were extremely poor, and he knew he had missed the shot, so Zhao Junchen rode his horse directly into the forest.
On the other side, He Yu vaguely felt that something was wrong because he had never found any trace of the deer.
At the same time, "Don't enter the forest at will" is also his instinct as a military general.
However, just when He Yu was about to slow down his horse and stop Zhao Junchen, he heard Zhao Junchen suddenly scream, and then saw the ground in front of Zhao Junchen suddenly collapse, and Zhao Junchen was killed with his body.
The horse fell into the pit.
He Yu and Zhao Junchen were very close to each other, only one horse position away, but he had always had superb equestrian skills and very quick reactions. He actually jumped into the air in an instant, trying to cross the pothole that suddenly appeared in front of him.
However, just as He Yu rode his horse into the air, several arrows suddenly shot out from the forest, three of which hit He Yu's horse in the crotch, and one hit He Yu's shoulder.
As a result, even with He Yu's superb riding skills and his calmness in the face of danger, he completely lost control of his horse. The horse failed to jump over the pothole and still fell into it.
Those Liaodong cavalrymen who were stationed at the rear, how could they not know that they had fallen into a trap when they saw this scene?
Next, the Liaodong Cavalry also instantly demonstrated their strong combat power and excellent tactical rest.
I saw a Liaodong cavalryman shouting loudly: "There is an ambush! There is an ambush!"
Pass our military orders! The rear team separated three cavalry and immediately returned to our camp to seek support!
Be strong and flamboyant, each of you will lead a flag to surround you and repel the thieves ambushing in the forest!
The rest of the soldiers rushed forward with me! Use all your strength to rescue the Commander-in-Chief!"
Following the military order from this military attaché, the three Liaodong cavalrymen at the rear immediately turned their horses and rushed to the camp in Liaodong Town to seek support. The remaining nearly fifty Liaodong cavalrymen changed their formations in just an instant.
Divide into three teams and rush forward.
Next, arrows were shot out again in the forest. They were densely packed and numbered up to dozens. These arrows were not only powerful but also extremely fast. They were actually shot by Zhuge Liannu.
However, the Liaodong cavalry were not only superb in riding skills and tough in temperament, but they were also dedicated to savior at this time. They were not afraid of casualties at all. The dense arrows only blocked them for a moment, but the next moment they had already rushed to Zhao Junchen.
Around the pothole where He and Yu fell,
At the same time, because the Liaodong cavalry was outflanking and attacking fiercely, the crossbowmen who were ambushed in the forest quickly retreated on their own initiative.
After quickly driving back the crossbowmen in the forest, the Liaodong cavalry were worried about encountering an ambush again, and they were not familiar with the forest environment, so they did not continue the pursuit. They only sent a small number of troops into the forest to investigate the situation, while most of the soldiers surrounded them.
Around the pothole, protect Zhao Junchen and He Yu who are in the pothole.
After being on guard like this for a moment, everyone in the Liaodong Cavalry breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that the situation was under control, and then planned to jump into the pothole to rescue He Yu and Zhao Junchen.
However, when the Liaodong cavalry saw the situation in the pothole, they were once again stunned and shocked!
The hole in front of me was half a foot long and half a foot wide, and more than ten feet deep, but there were only two injured horses inside. As for Zhao Junchen and He Yu... they were completely missing.
Seeing this scene, the Liaodong Iron Cavalry quickly sent people to jump into the pit to investigate the details. As a result, the Liaodong Iron Cavalry soldier had just jumped into the pit. Before he could carefully investigate the situation, he felt dizzy and weak.
.
Finally, the Liaodong cavalry soldier forcibly shouted, "There are a lot of drugs down there..." and then quickly fell down.
Seeing this situation, everyone in the Liaodong Iron Cavalry became increasingly anxious, but they also reacted very quickly and quickly arranged for new personnel to jump into the pothole again to investigate. At the same time, they used several layers of wet cloth to wrap their mouths and noses to prevent the drug from taking effect quickly.
effect.
Subsequently, the soldiers of the Liaodong Cavalry finally investigated the truth behind the sudden disappearance of He Yu and Zhao Junchen.
It turns out that this pothole is not only filled with a large amount of intoxicating drugs, but also hides a tunnel leading to the dense forest!
Therefore, after Zhao Junchen and He Yu fell into the pit, even if they were not seriously injured, they must have quickly lost control of their bodies under the influence of the drug, and then were robbed through the tunnel!
However, due to the action of certain agencies, this tunnel has collapsed at this time.
After checking the situation, all the Liaodong cavalry were at a loss. In addition to sending people to Hujiazhuang to report again, they planned to rush into the dense forest ahead to track the whereabouts of He Yu and Zhao Junchen.
As a result, the Liaodong Cavalry rushed into the forest and only advanced a few hundred meters before they saw a wooden sign nailed to the tree in front of them. On the wooden sign was written a line of red paint: "Exit this forest, otherwise the hostages will die!"
Seeing this wooden sign, the Liaodong cavalry military attache gritted his teeth and said: "Get out! Then surround this forest. Those thieves have no time to escape from this forest. As long as we keep an eye on this forest, we are not afraid of them."
Spread your wings and fly!”
*
At the same time, Zhao Junchen, who fell into a coma, was kicked hard and finally woke up, feeling pain all over his body.
He fell into the pit with his horse just now. It can be said that he fell very hard. It was lucky that he did not become the flesh pad when He Yu and He Yu's horse fell into the pit. Otherwise, it would not be as simple as pain all over his body now.
.
For a moment, Zhao Junchen couldn't help but groan in pain.
Then, Zhao Junchen was kicked again, and someone shouted in a cold voice: "Don't pretend to be dead, get up!"
Zhao Junchen opened his eyes and turned to look at the person who kicked him.
Although this man covered his face with a cloth, deliberately changed his voice, and even used insoles and clothes to change his height and body shape, Zhao Junchen could still tell at a glance who this man was if he wasn't Xu Qingyan.
When Zhao Junchen was making a deal with He Yu, he deliberately made a circle and took the opportunity to slow down his horse, so Xu Qingyan and others were able to enter the forest in advance and participate in the ambush in time.
Therefore, Zhao Junchen was not surprised at all when he saw Xu Qingyan appearing here.
But, Xu Qingyan, why did you look so excited when you kicked Zhao Junchen?
As if aware of the question in Zhao Junchen's eyes, Xu Qingyan quickly turned his head to avoid Zhao Junchen's eyes, but there was still a hint of smile in his eyes.