Li Zicheng was already a little anxious and said: "King Chuang, we cannot delay the recruitment. How can we delay it until later? Today we must..."
Before he finished speaking, Gao Yingxiang waved his hand and interrupted: "There are still some issues that I have not thought about thoroughly. It seems that it is not appropriate to act too hastily. Hongji, please don't say more!"
When Zhang Xianzhong raised the issue and Li Zicheng said that he would recruit rebels from Henan, Shanxi and Shaanxi, Hua Bushi knew that something was wrong.
The tens of thousands of rebels in Huaiqing City are currently not strong enough to withstand the large army of officers and soldiers coming to encircle and suppress them. This young master is very thoughtful and has actually considered it long ago. The method he came up with is actually the same as Li Zicheng. The reason why he was in the Commander's Mansion before Li did not tell Gao Yingxiang during the secret conversation because he knew the weaknesses in Gao Chuang Wang's character.
Spending 300,000 silver taels to obtain 30,000 rebels and horses in the city already seemed a bit reluctant to Gao Yingxiang. If he had been told that he would have to recruit more than 100,000 people from all over the country, he would definitely not agree. In Li Zicheng's opinion, recruiting troops was a great idea. , it was an inevitable move, but in Gao Yingxiang's eyes, it was not necessarily the case, just because the courage and vision of the two people were actually very different.[
According to Hua Bushi's original plan, he first persuaded Gao Yingxiang to recruit all the people in Huaiqing City, and then he could also take the opportunity to make the rebels return the looted property and preserve the assets of the people in the city. As for recruiting other rebels in the future, By the time Gao Yingxiang is riding a tiger and has no choice but to do something about it, and with Li Zicheng on his side to support him, there should be no problem.
But he didn't expect that Zhang Xianzhong was so cunning and could see Gao Yingxiang's weakness in an instant, and that Gao Chuang's ears were so soft. He only listened to a few provocative words from Zhang Xianzhong, but he would change his mind when things got real. .No wonder when Chu Yiyi evaluated Gao Yingxiang, he said that although he was kind-hearted, he was too stupid and corrupt in his actions, lacked talents and strategies, and was unable to recognize and employ people. He was really not a commander-in-chief.
Hua Bushi came closer and said to Gao Yingxiang: "If the commander is worried that he will not be able to raise the silver required for military pay and equipment in the future, he can leave the matter to Shi Xiao. Although I am talented, I still have some experience in making money, so I am willing to take on this responsibility!”
Now, he can only try his best to try to make Gao Yingxiang change his mind.
Gao Yingxiang waved his hand and said: "Shi Canjun's intentions are commendable, but the cost of military pay and equipment for the army is not a small amount. How can I leave it to you alone? I have just said that the recruitment matter will be put aside for the time being. , we will mention it later when the conditions are ripe. As for the actions of the leaders in looting in the city in violation of the order, it is the first offense, so I cannot pursue it, and there is no need to return the property. It is just that from now on, no more looting is allowed! "
Gao Yingxiang did not agree to Hua Bushi's request, obviously because he did not trust him enough.
The rebel leaders in the hall had mixed feelings about the recruitment of troops. What they were most afraid of was asking them to return the stolen property. After hearing this, they all cheered loudly. As for what Gao Yingxiang said about not being allowed to rob again, these days Most of the shops and wealthy households in Tianlai City have already been robbed, so it doesn't matter if they don't rob them again. Besides, if they don't pursue the case this time, even if they do commit the crime next time, it probably won't matter.
Gao Yingxiang said: "Everyone must be hungry. Hongji, tell us to open the banquet so that everyone can eat and drink to their heart's content!"
After saying this, there was another burst of cheers in the lobby. Zhang Xianzhong also laughed a few times and walked back to his desk to sit down.
Li Zicheng and Hua Bushi looked at each other, but they both saw the expressions of frustration on each other's faces. They could both see that Gao Yingxiang had made a decision, and no matter how much he tried to persuade him, it would be useless in today's plan to recruit all the rebels in the city. Lift, it can be regarded as a failure to withdraw from the bottom!
Li Zicheng waved his hand, and the soldiers followed the order. Not long after, basins of wine and vegetables were brought up.
For this "celebration banquet", Li Zicheng prepared very rich food and wine, including chicken, duck, fish and meat, and the wine was also aged in the old cellar. He originally wanted to gather all the people, so that everyone could have a good drink, but he didn't expect that it would be Now this is the result.
Hua Bushi sat at the bottom of the main table and watched as large dishes and small dishes were brought to him one after another. He felt disappointed and naturally had no appetite. Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng and others at the main table were also unhappy and occupied their own minds.
On the other hand, the rebel leaders at other tables were eating and drinking very happily. Many people began to give orders with their fists, and the hall of the General Military Mansion was noisy and lively for a while. During the banquet, many people came to the main table to give orders to King Chuang. They toasted to Li Zicheng, and a few people clinked glasses with Hua Bushi to congratulate him on his promotion to the post of general staff member of the 36th Battalion Rebel Army.
For those who came to congratulate them, Hua Bushi just dealt with them casually, and at most he only took a sip of the wine he was handed and put it down.
At this moment, I saw a tall man in Tsing Yi striding up to the table. It was Liu Zongmin. He was holding a wine bowl in one hand and a wine jar in the other. His dark face was a little pale. The red color turned into purple, and it was obvious that he had drank a lot of wine.
He walked straight to Hua Bushi and said loudly: "Master Shi, Mr. Liu wants to toast you three bowls of wine today! This first bowl is to congratulate you on becoming the general staff member of our rebel army. In the future, you and I will both It’s my own family!”
Liu Zongmin took the wine jar and filled the porcelain bowl in front of Hua Bushi, then touched the wine bowl with the porcelain bowl, put it to his mouth and drank it all in one gulp, saying: "Liu Zongmin is the first to do it first, and I also invite Shi Canjun to drink." Finish this bowl!"
Hua Bushi said: "Thank you very much, General Liu. I'm just too drunk, so..." [
He was about to resign, but Liu Zongmin interrupted: "I sincerely propose a toast. If Shi Canjun refuses to drink, he will be looking down on me, Liu Zongmin!"
Li Zicheng, who was sitting aside, saw this scene and said with a smile: "Brother Shi, Zong Min speaks too straight. Don't be offended. You can drink this bowl with him, and my brother will drink the next bowl for you!"
Hua Bushi had no choice but to drink up the wine in the bowl in several sips. He didn't drink much, so after drinking a large bowl of wine, his mind became a little dizzy.
Liu Zongmin filled the wine jar with two more bowls, held one bowl in his hand, and said: "This second bowl is for the sake of the friendship between Shi Canjun and my elder brother Hongji." We have chopped chicken heads, burned yellow paper, and have a life-long friendship. In this way, Shi Canjun and I can be regarded as brothers. No matter how much older Liu Zongmin is in age, this bowl of foolish brother respects wise brother, Shi Canjun must drink it. of!"
As he spoke, he clinked the two bowls together, raised his head and drank the whole bowl of wine.
Before Hua Bushi could answer, Li Zicheng had already taken the wine bowl in front of him and said with a smile: "I said I would drink a bowl for brother Shi. This time Zong Min said it happened to be brotherly love. I am the eldest brother. It should be no problem if you do it for me!" He finished the drink in one gulp.
Liu Zongmin filled it up again and said: "I can drink the bowl just now for my brother, but this bowl cannot be replaced. Shi Canjun must drink it himself!"
Li Zicheng said: "Then why?"
Liu Zongmin said: "Because this third bowl of wine was brought by Zongmin to apologize to Shi Canjun! This morning, just because Zongmin didn't know Shi Canjun, he misunderstood him and thought he was a spy of the army. There were many people in Qingyang Town. It's really inappropriate for me to fight with Miss Shi Xue even though I've offended her!"
Although Li Zicheng knew that Xing Honglang went to Qingyang Town to rob, he did not know the specific circumstances of Liu Zongmin going there with him, and Li Guo did not report it to him after he came back. When he heard Liu Zongmin say it, he couldn't help but He was startled and said: "Is there such a thing? You and Miss Shi had a fight, but you didn't hurt anyone, right?"
Li Zicheng knew that Liu Zongmin was very skilled in martial arts, so when he asked this question, he only heard Liu Zongmin say: "Miss Shi Xue's swordsmanship is amazing, I couldn't hurt her even if I wanted to, and I lost to her in the end. Duo Cheng Miss Shi, please be merciful, otherwise Zong Min will risk his life!"
After hearing this, not only Li Zicheng was very surprised, Hua Bushi was also quite surprised. Liu Zongmin had previously lost to Yang Jiangyi in Qingyang Town. Judging from his expression when he left, it was obvious that he was not reconciled. At this moment, Liu Zongmin was defeated by Yang Jiangyi. But he said it openly, as if he no longer cared about it. Could it be that he had misjudged him before?
I heard Liu Zongmin say again: "Liu Zongmin drank this third bowl of guilt wine first. Shi Canjun must drink it, otherwise he will not forgive Liu for his offense!"
After he finished speaking, he drank the wine in one gulp.
With Hua Bushi's ability to drink, he would get drunk after just one more bowl. However, Liu Zongmin couldn't help but drink after saying such words, so he had to reach out and pick up the wine bowl. But before he could bring the wine to his mouth, the porcelain bowl But it was suddenly taken away by a delicate hand.
It was Yang Jiangyi who grabbed the bowl. She had already seen that Hua Bushi was incapable of drinking, and she did not want the young master to drink again. She immediately took the bowl into her hand and said, "General Liu, what happened in Qingyang Town?" , Shi Xue is also at fault, let me drink this bowl of wine for my brother!" He said and drank all the wine in the bowl in one gulp.
Liu Zongmin looked at Yang Jiangyi, raised his finger and said: "Miss Shi Xue is really a hero among women. The Guo Kingdom does not give way to men. Her sword skills are so good and her drinking ability is so good. It is really admirable! Zong Min was defeated by the girl. I am convinced that I have lost. I originally wanted to honor Miss Shi after finishing my respects to your brother, but now that the girl has had one bowl, Zong Min has to drink another one!"
After he finished speaking, he lifted the wine jar, filled a bowl, and drank it all in one gulp.
Yang Jiangyi said calmly: "General Liu deserves the award. Shi Xue's martial arts is shallow. He was just lucky enough to win one and a half moves during the day. It's not worth mentioning."
Liu Zongmin said: "Miss Shi Xue, why should you be too modest? Zongmin has traveled all over the country and has quite a lot of knowledge, but he has never seen a woman with peerless swordsmanship and the appearance of a moon-shy flower like this girl, who can compete with Shi Xue." Zong Min is really lucky to have met Miss Snow!"
When he said this, his eyes were fixed on Yang Jiangyi, and there was indeed admiration in his eyes.