Chapter 038 Killing without a knife
The eunuchs who attended to him reported to him that the son of the Shi family took a group of people to enjoy themselves in Shu. In order to snatch women, four young officers were killed, and even Eunuch Wang died in Xuzhou.
The emperor said happily, "It's just a few deaths," and sent this to the prime minister's residence.
The eunuch did as he was told immediately.
The envoy had already received the news that his grandson had killed Eunuch Wang in Yibin, causing a big disaster. He was getting anxious when he suddenly received a newspaper sent by the emperor. When he saw that the newspaper said the emperor had to get his permission before going ashore, his originally comfortable body suddenly broke out in sweat and began to tremble all over.
Damn, who is this? He kills people with a pen instead of a knife. This is trying to kill him. He quickly picked up his gown and ran to the palace.
The emperor had not yet finished his drink when the envoy came stumbling in, knelt before the emperor in tears, and examined himself for his poor household management and begged for punishment.
The emperor acted as if nothing had happened. He only said that the Yibin county magistrate had done a good job in his position and deserved a reward. The grains were plentiful and the wine was good, so he would hold a banquet for all his officials.
The prime minister understood immediately and said he would draft the imperial edict right away.
These two are both god-level figures in the officialdom. If the emperor doesn't scold them, they know what's going on and understand everything. They just need to be good servants. But now the emperor has a reason to take action, and even if the prime minister is arrogant, he has to think twice.
Zhao Yulin certainly didn't know about what happened in Lin'an, as he was discussing the flag of the Shenwei Army with Zhu Congwen at that time.
Zhu Congwen said that the military flags of the ancients were made like the sails on a ship, with the surname of the leading general written on the sailboat cloth. For example, for Yue Fei, the character "Yue" was written on the sail, and for Zhang Fei, the character "Zhang" was written on the sail. How about we also write the whole character "Zhao"?
Zhao Yulin just took a sip of tea and almost spit it out. He scolded Zhu Congwen for making fun of him.
He said that since we are time travelers, we should follow the military flag style of later generations, with a red flag embroidered with a golden dragon, and the names of the squadrons and teams written in Slender Gold script on the uprights.
Zhu Congwen said he had the same idea, but he didn't know how to make the pattern. Now he had an idea, he immediately went to Cuiping Garment Shop to make it.
Zhao Yulin went back to find Wu Yuqi and told her that the Shenwei Army was going to Yunding Mountain to suppress the bandits. The little girl immediately said that she would go with them to protect them.
He knew Yuqi would be like this, and said that he planned to set up a special service squadron to be responsible for the medical care, intelligence gathering and service of the Shenwei Army's central military tent. How about letting her be the squadron leader?
The young girl stroked her hair and asked him hesitantly: Is it possible?
Zhao Yulin said that if he said it was okay, it would be okay, and asked her to go to Zhu Congwen for guidance and quickly build up the team.
I received the order and went happily.
Zhao Yulin had just sat down to drink tea when Ma Ling'er came running over, clamoring to go back to Jiangbei to work. Wu Yuqi had already joined the army, but she was still playing around. She had to do something.
Zhao Yulin brought the freshly brewed tea to his wife and told her that he would not go to Jiangbei for the time being, and asked her to find his mother, and then he would be the third manager of the business, specifically monitoring whether there was any favoritism or fraud.
After Zhao Yulin learned about the corruption discovered by the construction team, he felt that the business was expanded too quickly and loopholes were bound to appear, allowing others to take advantage of them.
The loopholes must be plugged and supervision must be strengthened. Ma Ling'er was his nominal daughter-in-law, so no one dared not cooperate in this matter.
After hearing how thoughtful he was, Ma Ling had nothing to say. After taking a sip of tea, she told Zhao Yulin to continue drinking and not waste it.
Zhao Yulin said with a smile, pointed at the lipstick beside the tea bowl, and drank the tea with his mouth facing it.
Ma Ling'er was very happy. She went up to him and touched his cheek, then ran away happily like the wind.
Zhao Yulin kept shaking his head, his face full of happiness.
At dinner, his fourth mother said that the young ladies had gone out to take care of their own affairs, and Sihan had no one to accompany him and didn't want to study. Zhao Sihan stared at his brother with his eyes, and it seemed that his eyes were about to burst into flames.
Zhao Yulin asked her, "What's wrong, Fourth Sister? Do you want to be the head shopkeeper?"
Zhao Sihan pouted and spread her hands, saying that no one invited her and that a good horse had become a good cat.
Zhao Yulin said with a smile that the fourth sister is still young, so why not follow your sister Ma Ling to help the third mother supervise the business of the company, and then become the manager after some time?
Zhao Sihan immediately perked up and picked up the chopsticks to pick up several servings of food for his brother.
After dinner, Zhao Sihan took him to see Chen Xiaomin. Xiaomin had only one word in her mind: "Let's go."
When the three of them went out, the ox cart was already waiting outside the gate. They got on it and drove to the winery.
Zhao Yulin asked what this was for?
His sister said that she wants to be the boss now, but she has no goods. Can't he take some effort to get some perfume for her to sell?
Zhao Yulin looked at Chen Xiaomin again. The little girl squinted at him, as if to ask again, wasn't it wrong?
Zhao Yulin pulled his sister and told her to listen to their mother.
"My mother wants me to read the Four Books and Five Classics. It's so annoying. Man is born good..."
Zhao Sihan started to talk to his brother, and Zhao Yulin quickly covered his sister's mouth, saying that he couldn't stand it. Chen Xiaomin saw this and bent over with laughter.
After entering the winery, Chen Xiaomin took them to a secret house at the back. Zhao Yulin was stunned to see a brand new double stove inside.
Oh my God, what do they want to do?
Are we going to make perfume like we make wine?
Wow, what is this called? It’s the top-grade Queen Mother incense.
Chen Xiaomin pulled him into the innermost room without saying a word. It was filled with all kinds of spices needed. She also opened a jar of honey and let him taste it . It was fresh rapeseed honey. She told him to start working quickly.
Zhao Yulin had nothing else to say, he immediately put on his apron and started moving.
This time he first fried various spices in a hot pan, then added spring water and alcohol and simmered them. It was the afternoon of the next day when he finished distilling and blending the two pots.
Chen Xiaomin was very happy. She filled a new wine jug with wine and said it was for Sister Yuqi to use on the road. Are you happy?
Zhao Yulin's eyes turned into the shape of a panda, and he said in a bad mood that Yuqi's happiness was not his happiness, so what did it have to do with him?
Xiaomin grabbed his ear and said, "You already have three wives, why don't you just act ungratefully after getting the advantage?"
Zhao Yulin couldn't persuade the girl, so he had to admit it with "Oh, oh, oh".
Several people returned home to bathe and change clothes. They saw his mother leading a maid in carrying a suitcase. Zhao Yulin opened it and saw that it was a brand new Shenwei Army uniform.
His mother asked kindly, "Does it look good?"
"Try it?"
"I made it according to your size. Mr. Zhu also asked for two more baskets, saying it was not a chief uniform, but only squadron leaders and above were allowed to wear it."
Zhao Yulin didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he heard this. He went into the house and changed into his clothes. His mother came forward to help him adjust his collar, patted his shoulders, and said, "It's just right for you. My son is so handsome." She couldn't help crying again, and told him to be careful when he went out.
Zhao Yulin guessed that his mother knew that the army was about to be dispatched again, and told her that he was lucky and would be fine. Watching his mother wipe away tears and leave, Zhao Yulin realized that he had a lot of sisters and brothers in a blink of an eye, and in the end, he couldn't help but say two words: "concern."
The next day, the Shenwei Army assembled at the gate of the Labor Society in Jiangbei. They all wore brand new uniforms and were equipped with special Zhuge crossbows, anti-Japanese swords, engineer shovels, backpacks and other items.
Zhao Yulin invited Prefect Xu and Magistrate Chen to give speeches and present flags to everyone. The officials and wealthy people in the city were deeply shocked when they saw more than a thousand soldiers of the Shenwei Army standing neatly and energetically on the dock, in the dark and silent state.
When Prefect Xu handed over the golden dragon flag with the three characters of "Shenwei Army" embroidered on it to , the audience roared: "Shenwei Army is mighty, Shenwei Army is mighty, Shenwei Army is mighty."
Zhao Yulin reported to Prefect Xu that the Shenwei Army had been assembled and asked for orders.
The prefect waved his hand and ordered the troops to go to war.
Zhao Yulin then looked at Lei Man, who immediately led his team aboard. Zhu Congwen took the opportunity to conduct rotation training for the Shenwei troops stationed in various places according to Zhao Yulin's request.
On the river, twelve military ships were lined up in a row, and the two ships were running easily in the front. Zhao Yulin led a team of more than 600 people towards Yunding Mountain.
The county town was already in an uproar. The officials and wealthy families who participated in the flag-raising ceremony of the Shenwei Army returned to the city and talked with their friends in teahouses and taverns about how powerful Zhao Yulin's Shenwei Army was.
Some said that it was less than a year, and the abandoned child of the Zhao family already had thousands of soldiers and horses. How much silver did it cost? Look at those strong and sturdy people, like oxen, how much rice do they eat every day?
Some people were making fun of Zhao Yulin's father, saying that he was a child born to a scholar and even an abandoned child was so powerful.
Then he felt sorry for Mr. Wang. Didn’t the Zhao family give Zhao Yulin to their Wang family?
Why did Mr. Wang bury his eyes in the sand and fail to see that the young scholar was so capable?
The young people in the city had a different view. Three or five of them gathered together and said, "Let's go across the river and join the Shenwei Army. Look at how impressive the military uniforms are."
On the Minjiang River, Zhao Yulin was resting on the first boat. Lei Man asked him, "Didn't you say you were here to help defend the area? Why are you here? You could have stayed at Sanjiangkou."
Zhao Yulin said he likes lively places and wants to stay with his brothers.
The boat arrived at the dock, and the troops disembarked one after another. Wu Yuqi asked him where the special forces team camped. Zhao Yulin said that they were there to protect him, so they camped next to the central army tent.
Lei Manzi smiled knowingly and walked away.
Later, Zhao Yulin called for all officers above the rank of squadron leader to enter the big tent for a meeting. For this expedition to Yunding Mountain, he called Miao Gui, Han Yongchao, Hao Xiaoming from the 1st, 2nd, and 5th squadrons and Zhou Ping from the navy squadron to go into battle.
Zhao Yulin asked everyone to talk about how to fight this battle.
Miao Gui said that the intelligence provided by Lu Zongguan showed that Yunding Mountain was surrounded by cliffs and faced water on three sides, and the only way to climb the mountain was from the front. There were about 200 bandits on the mountain, not many in number, but all of them were habitual bandits. We had just come up, so we should first take over the defense and surround them before making a long-term plan.
Miao Gui was a famous and fierce general in the Shenwei Army. Even he said so, so the others did not hesitate to say anything.
Lei Man said that his opinion was also to surround the enemy first and then let the government troops go to Lingxiao Mountain.
Zhao Yulin nodded and said that they would do it this way. This time, Miao Gui would be in charge of the suppression of bandits in Yunding Mountain. He and General Lei would lead the charge. He asked Miao Gui to first understand the terrain of Yunding Mountain.
The generals received the order and filed out.
He asked Lei Man, how long will it take for Lu Youpeng to arrive?
Lei Man said that we should be able to go there after dark. I wonder if there will be any delays in the meantime?
