Chapter 146 The Three Leaders of Chaohu Water Village
In the early morning of the next day, Zhang Yangquan selected a dozen capable people to accompany Chen and Fang to protect them. In addition to three thousand taels of gold, he also selected some treasures for the two to take as a meeting gift.
At noon that day, Zhang Yangquan and Qin Lingjun held a farewell banquet to see them off, then sent them to the dock and watched them board a passenger ship bound for Jiangzhou.
After Chen and Fang left, Zhang Yangquan returned to the General Manager's Office.
Now that artillery production is on track, he is much more confident in holding Jiangdu.
Originally, he planned to wait for the Yuan soldiers to attack, then abandon Zhenzhou and Tongzhou and shrink his troops to Jiangdu. But now he is reluctant to part with these two cities, especially Tongzhou, which is an outlet to the sea.
The garrison force in both cities is 10,000. If they do not withdraw their troops, it is impossible to send them more troops from Jiangdu, so they can only allow them to expand their troops on their own.
So after returning to the General Manager's Office, Zhang Yangquan issued an order to allow Shanzhu to recruit soldiers in Tongzhou and Taixing to expand his military strength as soon as possible.
Xu Baisheng also issued a recruitment notice in Zhenzhou as soon as possible. He also ordered that all the cement produced by the cement workshop in the next month be transported to Zhenzhou to strengthen Zhenzhou's city defense.
Jiangdu City also issued a new conscription order.
Zhang Yangquan plans to recruit 20,000 reserve troops. Although they receive training, they are not regular troops. They can go about their own business on weekdays and only need to participate in training at designated times.
Not long after the orders were passed down, Guo Niansheng suddenly walked into the study, holding two letters in his hand.
"General Manager, urgent message from Haozhou and Wuwei!"
Zhang Yangquan was stunned: "Wuwei?"
Guo Niansheng said: "This is a letter from Zhao Pusheng, the commander-in-chief of the Tianwan Army. He said that Peng Yingyu fell into Dong Tuanxiao's scheme and was lured out of Huizhou. She was trapped in Caishi County. The situation is precarious. He hopes that we will send troops to rescue her!"
Zhang Yangquan frowned and said: "We are far away from Quishi, how can we save it?"
Guo Niansheng said: "He hopes that we attack Jiqing Road. In this way, the Yuan soldiers who besieged the quarry will definitely return to Jiqing to defend, and Peng Yingyu can break through!"
Zhang Yangquan hummed: "Our navy has not yet been fully trained. If we attack rashly, the whole army may be wiped out. You write back and tell him that although we have the intention to rescue, we are powerless. Try to write as tactfully as possible."
Guo Niansheng nodded in agreement.
Zhang Yangquan asked again: "What does Haozhou's letter say?"
Guo Niansheng said hurriedly: "It's a letter from Guo Zixing. He said that several troops sent by Haozhou to block Jia Lu's army were defeated. Now he, Sun Deya, Zhao Junyong, Peng Da and others are all surrounded in the city."<
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Zhang Yangquan was shocked. Haozhou had at least 50,000 soldiers and horses, but they could not defeat Jia Lu's 30,000 Yuan soldiers. Did Jia Lu lead the troops well, or was the main force of the Yuan army really that powerful?
"They don't want us to send troops to help, right?"
"That's not true." Guo Niansheng said with a smile: "He just heard that we defeated the Chuzhou soldiers and hoped that we could take advantage of the situation and capture Chuzhou, which would increase the pressure on Jia Lu!"
Zhang Yangquan thought for a while, waved his hand and said: "We can't divide our troops anymore at the moment. Send someone to the military camp and tell the village leader about this first. If she doesn't have any objections, don't bother with it."
Guo Niansheng took the order.
Hearing two pieces of bad news one after another made Zhang Yangquan feel a little heavy.
Although there are countless rebel armies in the world, the two strongest ones are Liu Futong and Xu Shouhui.
Now Liu Futong is crushed to death by Chahan Timur, and Xu Shouhui is also surrounded and suppressed by Dong Tuanxiao and Barbarian Hague armies. In a sense, the rebel army is at its lowest point.
The breaking point is still in the battle of Gaoyou. Once this battle is over, the situation will become clearer.
A few days later, Zhang Yangquan received a letter from Chen Ji, which stated that when he and Fang Yuan were passing through Hezhou, the passenger ship was detained by the Hezhou navy.
The two men carried a lot of gold and silver treasures with them, so they secretly put a small boat in the bottom and ran away.
It was night and the boat was not discovered. The two found a place to go ashore and traveled by land, so they delayed for a while to let Zhang Yangquan know.
In fact, on the day Zhang Yangquan received the letter, Chen Ji and Fang Yuan had already arrived in Chao County.
Chao County is currently Zuo Junbi’s territory, and Chao Lake is located to the west of Chao County.
Zuo Junbi is also a disciple of Peng Yingyu. He currently serves in the Tianwan regime and is stationed in Luzhou. He is considered an ally with Chaohu Water Village.
Chen and Fang first stayed in Cao County for a day and inquired about some information. Then they took a boat to Shuizhai and reported their identities.
Now that Jiangdu Army is very famous, Li Pusheng, Yu Yanyu, and Liao Yongan learned that Jiangdu Army envoys had arrived, and they all came out to welcome them and led them to the gathering hall of Shuizhai.
After reciting the ceremony, Li Pusheng laughed and said: "I didn't expect that the Jiangdu Army actually knew about our Chaohu Water Village and sent an envoy to come in person. It really gave us face!"
He, Liao Yong'an, and Yu Yanyu sit together in the first chair. Because he likes his hair disheveled the most, others like to call him Li Patou.
Chen Ji smiled and said: "Among the rebels in the world, who doesn't know the name of your Chaohu water village? When it comes to water battles, apart from Fang Guozhen, you are the one who everyone admires the most!"
Yu Yanyu said calmly: "Brother Chen means that our Chaohu Water Village is not as good as that repetitive villain Fang Guozhen?"
A young man who accompanied Mr. Chen laughed and said: "I heard that Mr. Chen used to work as a staff member under Fang Guozhen. It is normal for him to praise his old master a few times."
Liao Yongan was taken aback and shouted hurriedly: "Yongzhong, shut up!" That person was his younger brother Liao Yongzhong.
Fang Yuan had already jumped up and glared at Liao Yongzhong: "You kid, be careful what you say, my brother Chen and Fang Guozhen are just friends!"
Li Pusheng laughed loudly: "I'm sorry, we small local water bandits are so unruly in our speech. You are nobles from a big place, please forgive me."
On the surface it was an apology, but in reality it was sarcasm. It was obvious that he was a little dissatisfied with Fang Yuan's attitude.
Chen Ji pulled Fang Yuan back to his seat, clapped his hands, and his two men took out the package they were carrying and spread it out. Inside were twelve pearls, each the size of a fist and exuding a milky white luster. p>
Li Pusheng's eyes widened and he trembled: "This, this is?"
Chen Ji smiled and said: "This is a little greeting gift from our manager Zhang, and I hope the three village leaders will accept it."
Treasures of this level are not difficult to see in Dadu, Jiangdu, and Hangzhou, but for people in inland counties, they may never see them in their lifetime.
Liao Yongan has been living under the grass for many years and has snatched many rare treasures on the Yangtze River, but he has never seen such a big pearl, or twelve of the same size.
"It is said that Jiangdu is the richest in the world. When I see this treasure today, I know that what they say is true." He sighed.
Li Pusheng's eyes shone with strange light, his attitude became much friendlier, and he smiled and said: "Manager Zhang is a very good friend, and we appreciate it very much. I don't know what his instructions are, but please let me know, Brother Chen."
Chen Jidao: "Our manager wants to buy some iron ore from Emperor Tianwan, but the waterway is blocked, so we want to ask Guizhai to escort him."
Li Pusheng frowned and said, "Do you want to be escorted all the way to Jiangdu?"
Chen Jidao: "Not bad."
Li Pusheng was silent for a while and said: "Brother Chen, now that the Tatars in Hezhou and Jiqing have established naval drills, it is becoming more and more difficult to break through their interception!"
Chen Ji said sincerely: "We also know this, so when the matter is completed, our General Manager's Office will still be grateful!"
Li Pusheng was waiting for his words and said with a smile: "I wonder what Mr. Zhang's sincere thanks includes?"
Chen Ji and Fang Yuan looked at each other and smiled: "When we were in Caoxian, we found that there was a salt shortage in the Luzhou area. White salt is more valuable than silver. How about bringing some salt back to Caoxian when we return to Guizhai?" Li Pusheng couldn't hide the joy on his face and asked quickly: "How much salt can we bring?"
Chen Ji stretched out three fingers.
Liao Yongan was stunned and said: "Three hundred stones?"
Chen Ji said calmly: "Three thousand stones!"
With a pop, a man accompanying me slipped and sat on the ground.
Li Pusheng glared at the man, suppressed the joy in his heart, and laughed and said: "Since Manager Zhang thinks highly of us, our Chaohu Water Village is willing to serve!"
Chen Ji turned to Liao Yong'an, who looked at his brother Liao Yongzhong and nodded: "I have no objection!"
At this moment, a young man on the left stood up and said: "It's okay if we agree, but we need to agree to another condition!"
Chen Ji frowned.
Li Pusheng slammed the table and angrily yelled at the man: "Yu Tonghai, when was it your turn to speak here!"
Yu Yanyu squinted his eyes and said: "Does the leader of the village say that we surnamed Yu can no longer speak in the water village?"
Li Pusheng glanced at him sideways and hummed: "Not only did they bring out twelve beads, but they also gave him three thousand stones of salt. Is Brother Yu still dissatisfied?"
Yu Yanyu said in a deep voice: "We just want to ask Manager Zhang to do a small favor. Is there anything we can't do?"
Liao Yong'an was heartbroken and said, "Brother Yu, do you want Manager Zhang to help investigate Tong Yuan's whereabouts?"
"Not bad!"
Fang Yuan said harshly: "What on earth are you talking about? Can you give me a quick word?"
Liao Yong'an said hurriedly: "That's it. Yu Tongyuan, the youngest son of village leader Yu, disappeared when he went to Haozhou to buy coal ore last year. We sent people to look for him several times, but we couldn't even find his body."
Chen Ji said with emotion: "Is this happening? Have you asked Guo Zixing?"
Yu Yanyu said in a deep voice: "After asking, he helped investigate the surrounding areas of Haozhou City and found nothing."
After a pause, he added: "I heard from Sun Deya that he might have disappeared in Dingyuan. People often disappeared in Dingyuan at that time. Later we also went to Dingyuan to look for him, but still found nothing."
Chen Ji shook his head and said: "Even if we can't find Guo Zixing, our manager is afraid there is nothing we can do."
Yu Yanyu said hurriedly: "No, Guo Zixing has no friendship with us and is not looking for it seriously. We suspected that it was the bandits in the Dingyuan area who did it. When we asked Guo Zixing to help summon the bandit leaders for questioning, he refused to come forward." p>
Chen Ji thought that based on his friendship with Guo Zixing, he should be able to persuade him, so he said: "I can agree to this for our manager, but I can't guarantee whether I can find it."
Yu Yanyu said happily: "As long as you are willing to help, I have no objection whether it succeeds or fails."
Chen Ji discussed the transportation details with the three people, and finally decided that the cargo ship from Jiangdu would go to Jiangzhou first, buy the iron ore and then arrive in Wuwei County. The Chaohu navy would then escort it from Wuwei County to Jiangdu.