Although the war ended only a few months ago, Jiangzhou City at this time had already restored some of its former prosperity.
Shops on both sides of the streets in the city are opening their doors one after another. The number of people going out has also increased visibly. At the city gates and docks, countless caravans and merchants are coming, carrying an astonishing amount of supplies. Even on the roadside
, there are many more vendors.
At this time, in the city, the armor-clad soldiers of the Yun Kingdom could be seen everywhere in groups, happily shopping and wandering around the city.
Now that the war has come to an end, each battalion of Yun soldiers has begun to take turns to go out to rest and rest in order to relieve the depression of the soldiers who have been in the military camp for more than half a year. It is also because of this that we can see so many people in the city who have no military affairs at this time.
The soldiers of the Yun Army.
At the beginning, facing the soldiers of the Yun Army, the merchants and people in the city were all afraid and did not dare to approach at all.
But some time ago, rewards from the imperial court were handed out one after another. Now these Yun army soldiers not only have a lot of money in their pockets, but also have cloth, silk, rice, meat and other supplies.
Some soldiers did not need to use these rewards, so they chose to sell them to ordinary merchants in the city in exchange for gold and silver. Then they used the gold and silver in their hands to spend a lot of money in the city.
The people of Jiangzhou City can benefit from this, and the many caravans and trading houses attracted by it further promote the city's economy.
It can be said that this is a large part of the reason why Jiangzhou City has been able to quickly restore some of its former prosperity not long after the war.
The people of Jiangzhou County, who had already begun to submit to and accept the rule of the Yun Kingdom, were now boosted by economic prosperity and their popular sentiments were rising sharply.
At a street corner somewhere in the city, an extremely thin old vegetable seller with white hair squatted beside a vegetable stall with his head lowered, hawking absentmindedly.
Although he looked like just an ordinary old man, the sharpness under his hat and the eyes that constantly scanned the street in front of him showed that this old vegetable seller was not as simple as he seemed on the surface.
"Get out of the way quickly... drive!"
The sudden sound of loud shouting caused chaos in the originally bustling street.
A dozen Yun Army cavalrymen, with awe-inspiring looks in their eyes, trotted away on their horses.
Even though this small group of cavalry was not fast and shouted warnings all the way, they did not collide with innocent passers-by. Apart from making the people on the street unable to get out of their way and causing a bit of commotion, there was nothing.
At this time, the old vegetable seller stared closely at the Yun Kingdom cavalry riding past in front of him, and his eyes suddenly lit up.
Just looking at the costumes of this cavalry, it is clear that they are the elites of the Yun Kingdom on the battlefield, the Youzhou sudden cavalry!
The old vegetable seller hesitated for a moment, then sighed quietly and thought to himself:
The various government offices in Jiangzhou City were heavily guarded, and he could not get close to them, let alone attack and kill them.
After waiting in ambush on the street for more than a month, my patience was exhausted. I was loyal and brave in my heart, but I also felt extremely chilled because of the fact that the righteous soldiers of Jiangzhou County were beheaded one by one in front of the Xia State envoy.
The dejected old man felt at a loss. At this moment, when he saw the Youzhou Tuqi riding by on horseback, an idea suddenly came to his mind.
Since it is impossible to assassinate the senior officials of the Yun Kingdom, it is better to find a way to kill the elite Yun Kingdom in front of you. It is worse than killing a few ordinary Yun soldiers and then being discovered and surrounded by the Yun Kingdom people.
The old vegetable seller thought this in his mind, and a hint of awe-inspiring murderous intent suddenly flashed in his eyes.
The next moment, his skinny right hand had already reached towards the pole placed next to the stall.
If anyone is observant and sensitive, they will be able to notice that the pole, which looks like a wooden pole, actually cracks the bluestone bricks paved on the street.
The "shoulder pole" of the old vegetable seller is by no means as simple as it seems at the moment.
But even so, the vegetable seller still lifted it up with one hand very lightly, as if he was holding a real carrying pole.
Seeing the Yun Army cavalry leaving quickly, the old vegetable seller pondered for a moment, and then he couldn't sit still anymore. He didn't even bother to look at the stall. Amid the slightly astonished eyes of others, he strode towards the stall.
The cavalry of the Yun Kingdom pursued him.
Although the old man seemed thin, the martial arts he displayed at this time was unusual. He held the "polar" of unknown weight in his hand and took long strides. His speed was very fast. He was no slower than a galloping horse, revealing his height.
The cultivation level of a warrior.
At this time, the old vegetable seller was staring at the Yun Kingdom cavalry in front of him, and the veins in his right hand holding the pole were exposed.
And just when he was about to attack Yun Jun in the street, he saw the Youzhou Cavalry in front of him suddenly reined in his horse and stopped, in front of a crowd of people, and rushed into a restaurant next to the street with murderous intent.
among.
His wolf-like and tiger-like appearance immediately caused the people around him to watch from a distance and whisper timidly in private.
The old man who came over raised his eyebrows when he saw this.
The old man was already depressed and could not get rid of his anger. At this moment, he felt that this was a massive robbery carried out by the Yun army in broad daylight. His anger suddenly rose in his heart and he cursed angrily:
This Youzhou Assault Cavalry is said to be the best in the world, but they are in vain. They bully the people in this way, loot without hesitation, and kill without mercy!
Thinking of this, the old man pushed away the crowd of onlookers and wanted to rush in. Even if he risked being surrounded and killed by the approaching Yun army, he still wanted to kill them all in full view of the crowd!
But before he could rush into the restaurant, the Youzhou assault cavalry team came out with three Yun Army soldiers. In front of a crowd of onlookers, they stripped off the armor of the three people and pressed them down.
Kneel down on the ground.
The leading general quickly walked up to the crowd, looked at the three of them, and yelled:
"Chen Shi, the commander of Tianwu Camp of the Forbidden Army, and Kong Anhe, a soldier of Ma Xiang, were sued by the people. After the three of you entered the city, you, as lieutenant generals of the army, forcibly bought and sold at the vendors in Tianshui Lane in the south of the city. After a dispute, you actually returned
Beating up a street vendor. Is this possible?"
The three Yun Army generals who were being escorted had a bit of drunkenness on their faces, and they looked a little confused when they were escorted out.
When they heard the general shouting and asking, and saw the murderous look on their faces, the drunkenness of the three people immediately dissipated, and they couldn't help but tremble in their hearts and look panicked on their faces.
The leader, Dub, argued loudly:
"No, it's not a forced transaction, it's because the person was unfair in the transaction! A piece of cloth given by the army was clearly worth three coins, but he only paid two coins. A bottle of medicine cost five coins. Such a profiteer.
,How can I let it go!"
The other two soldiers also quickly called out to Qu Lai.
"Yes, please let the captain take a closer look!"
"I was wronged!"
The leading general who came to arrest him looked sharply and shouted immediately:
"Before the camp gate is opened, His Majesty issued an edict that all officers and soldiers must not disturb the people. If there is any violation, they will be dealt with severely to serve as a warning to others!"
"You have now confessed to the crimes you committed. Buying and selling by force, beating the people, and disturbing the people. Both crimes are punishable. You should be severely punished. According to my Dayun military law, you will be executed on the spot!"
A strong aura arose from all the soldiers at this time. The solemn and compelling murderous aura made the three officers who committed the crime suddenly turn pale and shouted urgently:
"Captain, please show your respect!"
"I, we are soldiers of the Tianwu Camp. Even if we violate military regulations, we should be dealt with by the camp's peace officer!"
"We all have military merits and have shed blood for Your Majesty and Dayun. You cannot treat me like this!"
The leading general ignored what the three people said, his eyes were firm and firm, and he shouted:
"Behead him on the spot!"
The soldiers of the Youzhou Cavalry on the side immediately stepped forward, raised their long swords in their hands, and swung them down.
The three heads just rolled to the ground, with blood splattering all over the ground, which immediately caused the people around to scream.
After a moment of silence, someone took the lead and shouted:
"good!"
Hearing the cheers, all the people reacted and cheered loudly.
The soldiers who came for the marching ceremony gathered the bodies of the three people, got on their horses, and left quickly amid the cheers and applause.
The old vegetable seller, holding a pole in his hand, stood blankly in front of the crowd, watching the people around him applauding and applauding, and for some reason, he suddenly felt helpless.
He stayed where he was, seemingly at a loss.
It wasn't until all the people around him dispersed that he returned in a daze.
And when he returned to the vegetable stall that was originally used as a disguise, he saw several Yun Army soldiers talking to the vendors around him. One of them even stood at his stall and never left.
.
When the old man saw this, he suddenly felt vigilant in his heart. He couldn't help but tighten his right hand on the pole, and subconsciously wanted to turn around and leave.
But before the old man could react, a vendor nearby saw him standing there, and without thinking much, he smiled and said casually:
"Old man Qian, someone from the government came here. They said that setting up stalls randomly would affect the appearance of the city, and they gave us a good place to shelter from the wind and rain. It will be used exclusively for us to set up stalls and do business in the future. He also promised us not to let those
Police officers, charlatans, and gangsters come to extort money... Hey, this sounds like a good thing. I just don't know how much the government will charge us."
"Of course it's a good thing. If nothing else, we can have a place to shelter from the wind and rain. We won't need to be exposed to the wind and the sun in the future! And if the government wants more, we can just come out again." Someone said on the side.
The street vendor answered.
Someone quietly glanced at the Yun Army soldiers in the distance, lowered his voice and said:
"There are also these soldiers, although they speak in Mandarin, their attitudes are much kinder than those of the old local guards in the yamen!"
"Tell me whether this is strange or not. In all my life, I have never seen the government care about poor people like us."
"That's right. In the past, the government only cared about the wealthy businessmen who owned shops. I didn't expect that the new court would take an interest in us!"
Old man Qian relaxed a little after hearing the discussion and knowing that these Yun soldiers were not coming for him.
"Old man Qian, go back quickly! I just saw you in a hurry and didn't know where you were going, and someone was thinking of sharing all your food. Fortunately, these soldiers came, drove people away, and even sent people to
I'm specially looking after the stall for you."
When Old Man Qian heard this, he stood in silence for a long time. He lowered his head and looked at the pole in his hand, feeling even more confused...
——
Xia Kingdom, Hailing County.
More than a hundred embroidered messengers wearing colorful satin embroidered clothes, all of them powerful and sharp-eyed, rode on war horses, surrounded the carriage in the middle, and marched along the official road.
There were thousands of local county soldiers carefully escorting the convoy in front and behind it.
Such a large formation can hardly be compared to the two thousand stone officials of Xia Kingdom who patrolled the place in the past. Just by looking at it, you can tell that the people in this convoy are really well-established!
In the carriage, Zhong Zizuo, whose fat face had lost a lot of weight due to running around for days, stuck his head out of the carriage window and asked anxiously:
"Where are you?"
The embroidered messenger beside the carriage quickly replied:
"Sir, we are still two hundred miles away from Taizhou City, the county seat of Hailing County."
When Zhong Zizuo heard this, he couldn't help but say:
"Since there are only two hundred miles left, why not speed up the journey? At the current speed, I'm afraid it will take two or three days to reach Taizhou City!"
Zhong Zizuo was really tired of running around these past few days.
"Sir, the forces of the traitor Zhang Shicheng have already reached outside Taizhou City. Therefore, we cannot move too fast at this speed. Otherwise, the bandit army will take the opportunity to sneak attack, which may endanger your safety, sir!" His embroidered clothes envoy said quickly.
Hearing this, Zhong Zizuo paused slightly. He could no longer utter the command to speed up. He could only grit his teeth and sit back in the carriage.
In the carriage at this time, there were two Zhong Zizuo "confidant" embroidered messengers wearing embroidered clothes. At this time, he lowered his voice and said:
"Master Yiwei, your identity has not yet been informed to Zhang Shicheng, so it is better to be on the safe side."
Hearing this, Zhong Zizuo could only nod his head and said:
"I know!"
Speaking of this, Zhong Zizuo also lowered his voice and said:
"Then who is the person sent by His Majesty? Where exactly will they meet? What is my mission? Have you already contacted me?"
"Don't worry, sir, everything is already clear."
"In addition to Zhang Shicheng, the people who came this time also included Wang Zhi, the Henghai general who was responsible for secretly transporting a batch of weapons, money and food to Zhang Shicheng. And your mission, my lord, is to obey Emperor Xia's order and commit suicide.
Hands, investigate the salt merchants in Hailing County."
When Zhong Zizuo heard this, he was stunned and said hesitantly:
"Isn't it because of the support of salt merchants that Zhang Shicheng is so popular today? Is your majesty serious that you want me to clean up the salt merchants?
Zhong Zizhuo is not low in resourcefulness, and he can naturally see how unrest in Hailing County, a place on the southeastern coast of the Xia Kingdom, would be beneficial to the Yun Kingdom. At this time, he was asked to clean up the local salt merchants.
It is very likely that Zhang Shicheng's troops will be destroyed without assistance!
Hearing this, his subordinates opened their mouths and explained:
"It was true before, but now General Henghai has come to prove that the sea route has been opened. In the future, the grain, grass and weapons that Zhang Shicheng needs can be transported from the sea trade route. These salt merchants are of little use anymore. The more ruthless you are, the more powerful you will be."
The better!”
"First of all, I can add credit to you, sir. Secondly, in addition to Hailing County, the salt merchants of Xia State also have a richer land of Qi. The more ruthless my lord's methods are, the more frightened these salt merchants are.
The salt merchants became more and more alienated from the Xia Kingdom..."
The consequences of this "dissociation from the Xia court" will naturally lead to turmoil in the whole country. With a little push, wouldn't the story of Hailing County be repeated again?
Hearing this, Zhong Zizuo's eyes lit up and he couldn't help but smile, saying:
"High, really high! I know what your Majesty means!"
