In fact, in addition to accepting the loyal dog Zuo Liangyu.
For the other fifteen court generals, Xujiazhuang also proposed the concept of strategic partners and accepted several strategic partners.
So what is a strategic partner?
Mainly, the following core conditions must be met:
1. No matter what the circumstances, you will never be an enemy of Xujiazhuang or do anything that harms the interests of Xujiazhuang.
Second, they are willing to cooperate in mining, road construction, logistics escort, bandit suppression, etc. to help safeguard the interests of Xujiazhuang, and Xujiazhuang will also give them rewards and benefits.
Third, set up liaison groups with each other, report major events immediately, and maintain communication at all times.
Fourth, customers, try to deposit your property in Tianxiatong Bank, and you will also enjoy preferential treatment in terms of loans, investment and financial management in the future.
Fifth, join Xu Jiazhuang's "Ocean Strategy" and be willing to follow Xu Jiazhuang's overseas expeditions in the future, establish colonies, and obtain overseas resources.
There are other terms and conditions.
But just looking at the above five core terms, once you agree to them all, what is the difference between being a dog and Zuo Liangyu?
Well, there is really no essential difference.
However, their dignified court generals, most of whom are high-ranking officials of the second and third grades, are acting as dogs for a businessman. How is this unbecoming? If word spreads, where will they put their face?
So the biggest difference is revealed. Compared with the unpleasant sound of being a dog, a strategic partner sounds much better, making it easier for people to accept.
Moreover, dogs do not have the right to choose or refuse, but strategic partners can choose some cooperation projects they like and reject projects with low risks and high returns, that is, they have a certain degree of autonomy, which is also a very big difference.
So for this strategic partner.
Yang Yufan, Wang Hong, and Deng Qi were among the first to join without hesitation, and all terms were accepted without hesitation.
Hong Chengchou, Wu Xiang, Zu Dabi, and Zuo Guangxian were the second group to join, but they requested to cooperate anonymously and did not want to be exposed, otherwise they would definitely be very passive.
Cao Wenzhao, Wang Yinghui, Li Bei, Ai Wannian, Tang Jiuzhou, Liu Zeqing and others begged to reconsider, waiting and seeing, unable to make an immediate decision. Xujiazhuang said that they would be given a half-year consideration period, and they could join at any time in the meantime.
The only three people who made it clear that they would not join or would not join were Qin Liangyu, Chen Yongfu, and Wang Yinghui. There was no way. Although cooperating with Xujiazhuang and becoming a so-called strategic partner would bring huge benefits, it did not mean that they were willing to be dogs.
Only obeying Xu Jiazhuang's orders is also disloyalty and betrayal to the imperial court, and they cannot let go of their self-respect and self-reliance. Therefore, no matter how big the temptation of interests is, they still want to stick to themselves and do not want to lose their independence.
And you will never regret it!
Xujiazhuang expressed understanding and respect for their choice and no longer forced it, but also included them in the list of ordinary partners.
…
November 25th.
The weather is getting colder and colder, and the shopping is basically completed.
Hong Chengchou, Cao Wenzhao and others applied for settlement and left one after another, hoping to get permission.
Xujiazhuang also fulfilled its promise, not only refunding them the discount, but also arranging a fast convoy to send them back: if they were going to the cold north, they would be escorted by sleighs; if they were going to the warm south, they would be escorted by four-wheel carriages or merchant ships.
In short, we want to send them home safely and comfortably.
In addition, for the large quantities of goods they purchased, Xujiazhuang will immediately organize a logistics and transportation team to deliver them to the door with free shipping (except for those that are close to each other, free shipping is usually charged). Even if they cannot all be delivered this winter, they will be delivered in the spring next year.
It will also be delivered, so they don't have to worry.
However, on the 25th, just as Hong Chengchou and others were leaving one after another.
There was a cavalry team of about 500 people, heading towards Harbor City non-stop from north to south. Everyone on the horse was covered in wind and their faces were dark, and many of them had multiple cuts on their faces caused by the cold wind.
.
who are they?
How could he go the opposite direction, not afraid of the cold, and come to Xujiazhuang Harbor City?
Tianxiong Army!
These are the soldiers of Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army. They finally arrived late and barely made it to the end of the Xujiazhuang visit and purchase event.
It was so late, and the members of the visiting purchasing group were leaving one after another. Why did Lu Xiangsheng bring these people here?
Do you also want to purchase a batch of supplies in Harbor City and hope to enjoy a 12% discount?
That's indeed the idea.
Through the contact person of Xujiazhuang Caravan, Lu Xiangsheng learned about this visiting purchasing group, and he had missed the registration period. He was anxious at that time and asked if he could be added temporarily. He also wanted to go to Harbor City to buy some goods.
goods.
The contact person reported Lu Xiangsheng’s request and received a quick reply: Tianxiong Army can join and enjoy group purchase discounts, but only within this year.
So Lu Xiangsheng took the Tianxiong Army of 500 people, took his bank books, and headed to Harbor City non-stop, barely catching the last train.
But after successfully entering Harbor City.
After going to the wholesale market in the south of the city and purchasing for about half a day, Lu Xiangsheng and others ended the purchase, even using up the 12% discount, and planned to return immediately early tomorrow morning to take home the new year's supplies.
That being said, this efficiency is too high.
You have come all the way here, the purchase is completed in just half a day, and you will leave early tomorrow morning. Isn’t this process too fast?
In order to enjoy the 12% off group purchase discount, isn't Lu Xiangsheng working too hard?
That's right.
Lu Xiangsheng had such a turbulent and lightning-like style, otherwise he would not have been able to successfully catch up with Gao Yingxiang. It would not have been possible for him to successfully bite the main force of the Eight Banners during the recent Jiannu retreat, and ruthlessly tore off a piece of flesh and blood, resulting in numerous seizures.
certainly!
The reason why he finished this purchase so quickly was because he didn't spend much money. He bought a total of 150,000 silver dollars worth of goods. Compared with Hong Chengchou and others who spent three to four million in three days, Lu Xiangsheng's spending efficiency is considered slow.
Well, after all, it was only such a small amount of money, and it was all spent in two or three times.
etc!
150,000 silver dollars.
Why did Lu Xiangsheng have so little money in his pocket? Although he and his Tianxiong Army failed to catch up with the action of "destroying the eight major Shanxi merchants" due to the relief of the people, and missed this opportunity to make a fortune, they were pursuing
In the process of advancing the Jin army, Tianxiong's army also won many battles and captured countless things.
If exact data is given.
The total value of the grain, livestock, gold, silver, jewelry, men, women, young men, etc. captured by the Tianxiong Army must have exceeded millions of silver dollars.
Although he did not become rich suddenly, he was a handful of small riches, not much worse than Hong Chengchou, Cao Wenzhao and others.
But the value of the Xujiazhuang goods purchased now is only 150,000 silver dollars. Where did Lu Xiangsheng's money go?
Could it be that most of it was deposited into Tianxiatong Bank and not spent?
But unfortunately, after this round of New Year shopping, the balance in Lu Xiangsheng's bank account dropped to less than 100 silver dollars. He has become a poor man, and there is no trace of large deposits.
That is 150,000 silver dollars, which is basically all the cash he has.
…
night.
Outside Harbor City, inside a Chase-style cheap hotel.
Lu Xiangsheng proposed that tomorrow morning, everyone would return to Daming Mansion with a small amount of new year's goods.
silence.
Everyone in the Tianxiong Army looked at him silently, without speaking, and no one nodded. Instead, many people's eyes were fixed on Lu Xiangguan, who was next to Lu Xiangsheng, and they kept making gestures with their eyes.
"Brother, there is no need to be in such a hurry when returning to Daming Mansion. We have a more important matter to deal with now."
Feeling the urging in everyone's eyes, Lu Xiangguan had no choice but to speak in Lu Xiangsheng's ear. At the same time, he waved, and a Tianxiong Army soldier immediately handed two large white bowls into Lu Xiangguan's hands.
"What needs to be done?" Lu Xiangsheng frowned and glared at his younger brother.
"That's Tianxiong Army. We should discuss the matter of applying to become Xujiazhuang's strategic partner..."
"What's there to discuss?"
Lu Xiangsheng immediately interrupted him rudely, waved his hand and said: "I have already rejected this matter. There is no way that I, Lu Jiandou, and the Tianxiong Army will betray the imperial court and become the loyal dogs of a businessman's power. There is no need to mention this matter again!"
"Brother, this is your opinion, and it does not represent the opinions of all of us. The Tianxiong Army does not belong to you alone. For such an important matter, you alone have no say. We all need to vote together to decide."
Lu Xiangguan raised the two big white bowls in his hands, asked someone to bring a small bag of soybeans for horse feeding, and said loudly: "Next, I will hold a vote. Anyone who agrees to become Xujiazhuang's strategic partner, please put the soybeans in his hand."
Put them in the white bowl on the left. If you disagree, please put the soybeans in the white bowl on the right."
"What are you doing?"
Lu Xiangsheng's face turned ashen, and he began to vaguely realize what these people wanted to do. He said to these people with an extremely stern expression: "Take the bowl back quickly! The Tianxiong Army is the Tianxiong Army created by me, Lu Xiangsheng. No matter how big or small, I will handle it."
After all, it’s useless for you to do this!”
But it doesn't work.
In the past, his serious face could make people kneel down and admit his mistakes. Now, no matter how stern his voice is, no one is afraid or pays attention to him.
Huangdou's vote was carried out forcefully regardless of his personal will.
The results came out quickly.
In the white bowl on Lu Xiangguan's left hand, 499 soybeans were placed, forming a small mountain.
In the white bowl on the right, there is only a solitary soybean, which represents Lu Xiangsheng's vote.
"Brother, you have seen it, public opinion, this is public opinion, this vote is for everyone in Tianxiong Army to vote together, I am afraid it will have the same result, so Tianxiong Army will apply to become Xujiazhuang's strategic partner. I hope that brother will obey public opinion. Tomorrow
So I took the initiative to talk to Xujiazhuang about joining." Lu Xiangguan said while holding the bowl of soybeans in his hand.
"What if I don't go?"
Lu Xiangsheng said in a deep voice with a dark face, and the muscles in the corners of his eyes twitched.
"Then I will discuss this matter with Xujiazhuang as the plenipotentiary representative of the Tianxiong Army. Brother, you just need to wait for the good news to come." Lu Xiangguan said calmly. Facing Lu Xiangsheng's sharp gaze, he did not dodge, but tried to
Poor dagger to see.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Lu Xiangsheng raised his head and laughed, laughing angrily! He gritted his teeth and said: "Forcing me, Lu Jiandou, is this what you want me to do for you? And you, Lu Xiangguan, dare to disobey and rebel, and dare to do something like eating your brother, I
I’ll kill you bastard now!”
He pulled out the sword from his waist and was about to stab Lu Xiangguan.
However, he was immediately stopped by the people around him, his sword was knocked to the ground, and Lu Xiangguan ran some distance away.
However, Lu Xiangsheng, who was in a furious state, could not be stopped by ordinary people. Even without a sword, with his unicorn arm, he quickly knocked down dozens of people, caught up with Lu Xiangguan, stretched out his right hand and hooked him.
He locked Lu Xiangguan's neck and strangled him so hard that he rolled his eyes.
He kept yelling and cursing: "How dare you, a bastard, bite my brother, even if I've gone against my will? I'll kill you today to keep the family in order!"
"No adults!"
"Let the second general go."
"Don't hold back, use all your strength to rescue the second general!"
Everyone had to use all their strength, and more than a dozen big men came together to rescue Lu Xiangguan who was chained by the neck, then subdued Lu Xiangsheng, found a thick hemp rope, and tied Lu Xiangsheng tightly to the pillar.
After the scolding Lu Xiangsheng got tired of scolding and finally stopped talking, everyone began to complain in front of him:
"Sir, there is nothing we can do about this!"
"Sir, if the Tianxiong Army continues to let you mess around like this, the morale of the army will soon be lost, and the Tianxiong Army will cease to exist."
"Sir, we have endured what you have done over and over again. We cannot tolerate it any longer today!"
"That's right! The hearts of our brothers have long been cold. If your lord does not repent and change, we can only recommend the second general as the leader. From now on, we will listen to the second general's orders and let the second general lead the Tianxiong Army forward. Sir, you still
Let me serve as your civil servant in the imperial court."
As if a vent was opened, everyone criticized Lu Xiangsheng for all his faults.
"After breaking Juyong Pass, in order to catch up with Hou Jin's retreating army, we marched for three days and nights, only sleeping for a few hours. Only then did we achieve many great victories in succession and seize countless supplies worth at least one million silver dollars."
"It's no problem to release all the young and strong people, and it's no problem to give them a hundred catties of grain each, but you can't let go of these people. You have to help them to the end. You have to build houses and resettlement sites for them, and collect them from all over."
The refugees who came here used up more than 200,000 dan of food, and distributed tens of thousands of livestock to the people. In the end, more than 200,000 people and refugees were saved. Because the money and food were not enough, they also gave more than 300 yuan in advance.
Ten thousand taels of silver."
"Our Tianxiong Army did all the relief work that originally belonged to the imperial court!"
"That's it, that's all. But in order to save these people and gain the reputation of a living Bodhisattva, we missed the opportunity to go to Shanxi to exterminate the eight major Shanxi merchants, and spent almost all of the millions of money and food seized on the refugees, but for the sake of
To rescue these refugees, in order to defeat the Hou Jin Army, we traveled thousands of miles, damaged more than a thousand bicycles, and killed more than two thousand brothers. The Tianxiong Army paid such a high price, but got nothing in exchange."
"The imperial court is supposed to give us a reward for our heads, but we haven't seen any of it. All of it has been lost by the civil servants. In order not to offend the civil servants, your Excellency has chosen to swallow his anger."
"In order to show your loyalty, your Excellency also offered a hundred thousand taels to the emperor's coffers, but he was only promoted to a noble title without being promoted to an official position. The suspicion remains the same."
"After everything was done, the more than 200,000 people we rescued were more grateful to the court and His Majesty than to our Tianxiong Army."
"I returned to Daming Mansion with the ashes of more than 2,000 brothers who died in the battle. In addition to the cries of every household, the family members of each dead brother only received a pension of 30 silver dollars."
"Now that we have come to Harbor City, we have discovered that we only have 150,000 silver dollars to spend on ourselves."
"Sir, you have done so many foolish things, stupid things, and meaningless things, and got nothing except 150,000 silver dollars for the New Year. Do you think it is worth it? Is it cost-effective? Is it fair? Should brothers be angry and angry?
?”
"We can't go on like this! We've had enough, sir. In the future, you must either obey our will or leave the Tianxiong Army and become your civil servant. Anyway, don't torment us anymore. We are tired and tired of it.
We no longer want to serve the country or the people, we just want to live for ourselves now!"
This middle-level officer of the Tianxiong Army poured out all the bitterness in his belly like a vent, raised many soul questions, and issued an ultimatum.
And seeing these angry and disappointed faces.
Seeing their determination to endure it no longer and demanding change.
Even his own brother betrayed him and tried to take away his authority.
This scene of betrayal and separation forced Lu Xiangsheng to be silent for a moment and fell into a state of reflection.