Chapter 218 Retaliatory Attack
Guo Jing was worried that there might be a secret room with enemies hiding inside, so he called all the guards outside to come in and guard the place, and the two of them began to try to move the bookshelf.
But no matter how hard I pushed the bookshelf, it wouldn't fall over. Instead, I pulled it hard in the direction it was attached to and it broke away from the wall pillar it was attached to.
A narrow secret door appeared on the side of the wall. The shrewd female gang leader immediately found a plum blossom-shaped mechanism under the corner of the wall. Guo Jing stepped forward and twisted it hard, easily opening the secret door.
Everyone went in carefully and took a look. Wow, it turned out to be a beautifully decorated dark room. There were gold, silver, jewelry, famous paintings and calligraphy. The boxes of gold and silver were sparkling. Even Guo Jing was so surprised that she couldn't close her mouth.
The female gang leader said that this government office has been used by Zhao Fan to live in for a long time. Could it be that this old bird hid it?
Guo Jing asked her, the traitor Li Boyuan also lived there, could it be that Li Boyuan was hiding?
The female gang leader hit Guo Jing on the head with a dog-beating stick, and said with a smile, "Brother Jing is really honest and a little stupid. Zhao Fan has lived in the government office for several years, but Li Boyuan has only been there for a few days?"
They are all greedy, but can they be as greedy as Zhao Fan?
Guo Jing racked his brains and said that he remembered that Li the thief had rebelled suddenly, and Zhao Fan must have received the news but had no time to move the treasures away, so he stayed here.
The female leader said with a smile that the answer was correct, because even the Beggars' Sect found Li Boyuan's rebellion very sudden, and how much faster could the news of that corrupt official who spent all day drinking and hanging out with the rebels be than that of the Beggars' Sect?
The gang leader ordered the guards to report to Commander Zhao and ask the clerks in the treasury to clean up and move the things.
Guo Jing looked at the dazzling array of treasures and asked her with a smile, why don't you just keep the two you like for yourself?
He knew his woman's faults. Whenever he led the Beggar Gang brothers to do things, she would always bring back one or two things she liked.
But today is different.
Before he could finish his words, the female gang leader's dog-beating stick had already landed on his butt with quite a bit of force.
Guo Jing quickly dodged and shouted aggrievedly: "Rong'er."
The gang leader started to curse: Are you trying to kill me? The Shenwei Army says that all captured items must be returned to the public. Brother Jing instigated me to make a mistake, so his crime is even more serious.
The couple, who were both quite old, actually started teasing each other in front of the guards.
In fact, the female gang leader was not the kind of person Guo Jing imagined. The reason why she took some ill-gotten gains was because Guo Jing was not greedy or corrupt. She had an average income but spent money very generously without caring whether there was money at home. In order to maintain the housework, the female gang leader had to show her domineering majesty as the gang leader.
Zhao Yulin entered the government office and was surprised after seeing Zhao Fan's treasure room. It is said that a clean government official can earn 100,000 taels of silver in three years. How could there be more than 100,000 taels of silver here?
The high-end glass cups that were found alone were worth more than 100,000 taels of silver after being auctioned.
These officials are really good at making money.
He ordered that all the gold and silver be sent to Fengyuan Prison to mint new coins, and that all the land be confiscated by the government and distributed to the people for cultivation. The calligraphy and paintings, antiques, jade articles, and houses, which were real estate, be auctioned off by the chief steward and then handed over to the Lin'an court.
The female gang leader was a little reluctant, and asked him if he couldn't keep some for the expenses in Xiangyang Prefecture?
Zhao Yulin smiled and said to deal with it as appropriate. The Imperial City Bureau also has people here. The Lin'an officials are very clear-headed. Last time, two corrupt officials were investigated in Chengdu, and four million strings of new currency were taken from him, and he was also required to have two million silver coins.
The female gang leader stuck out her tongue when she heard this.
After returning, Zhao Yulin lay in bed for a long time but couldn't fall asleep. These provincial governors were so focused on squeezing the people's wealth that it was no wonder that the Song Dynasty was defeated.
The gang leader worked for most of the night before he lay down, curled up in Guo Jing's arms and talked excitedly. Guo Jing felt that this woman of his had changed. She was no longer playful and was focused on work.
In the past, Qigong had asked her to manage the Beggars' Sect more carefully than she does today as the chief steward of Xiangyang.
The woman was still in his arms chattering about the rare treasures she had found, but our hero Guo was already snoring happily.
Three days later, generals from all over the country gathered in Xiangyang, and Zhao Yulin finally met Shunzhidi. As soon as the little woman entered the room, she threw herself into his arms and sobbed. After a short rest, she kept hitting him with her little pink fists, causing the brothers and maids around her to hide outside.
Zhao Yulin hugged the woman's waist and put his hands on her. The woman immediately clung to his chest. He said everyone was fine, why were you crying?
The woman said that her sisters asked her to stay with her brother and not take any risks, but now he is climbing the Xiangyang City Wall. Isn't he afraid of death and wants them to be widows?
Zhao Yulin knew that the situation was urgent, so he deliberately sent Shunzhidi away and did not let her go. Otherwise, if she knew about it, she would definitely refuse to climb the city wall. How could they capture Xiangyang City then?
He quickly lowered his head and used his tongue to deal with this thorny problem...
In the afternoon, Zhao Yulin asked everyone to go to the meeting room of the government office to discuss something.
He said: Today we will summarize the gains and losses of the Battle of Xiangyang and discuss the future governance of Xiangyang.
He will start by saying that we were able to defend Xiangyang this time because the Shenwei Army acted quickly, the people of Xiangyang supported us, and especially the brothers of the Beggars' Sect and the righteous men under General Guo worked together. What should we do next? We need to listen to everyone's opinions.
Then the right to speak was given to all the participants.
After everyone had spoken, he spoke again: Xiangyang is now the easternmost part of the Shenwei Army's battle, and its location is very important. The garrison corps must continue to expand and will be composed of 10,000 people to guard the border.
The Shenwei Army established a separate Xiangyang Shunfeng Office, with Master Qu Zhengxiang as the general manager, and together with the chief general manager, governed Xiangyang. Considering that Guo Jing and the female leader were both chivalrous, Zhao Yulin simply swapped Master Qu and Zhang Qi, leaving them in Xiangyang to coordinate affairs.
After explaining the official business, he smiled and asked the chief steward to treat him to a meal.
But the female gang leader was well prepared. The person in charge of the government cafeteria had already prepared wine and food, and everyone sat down to drink together.
Shunzhidi sat happily beside Zhao Yulin, constantly picking food for him. Seeing this, the female gang leader beside him was a little jealous, and her Xiang'er kept popping up in her mind. Why wasn't her Xiang'er sitting next to Zhao Yulin?
The gang leader was a little depressed.
After returning, Zhao Yulin asked Zhou Ping why he still wanted to keep the navy headquarters in Dahu?
Zhou Ping said honestly that the lake had a wide surface and was a good place to train troops. Besides, the navy’s current home was in the lake and he didn’t want to move for the time being.
Zhao Yulin smiled and said that if we don’t move, then we don’t move. One day our navy will still go east to the rivers and lakes, enter the East China Sea and the South China Sea, and go out into the world.
Zhou Ping seemed a little bewildered after hearing what he said. He smiled innocently and said that he had not thought that far ahead. He would just do whatever the young master said.
Zhao Yulin looked at Yang Xingyun and said that some adjustments might need to be made. The Southern Group might have to face retaliatory attacks from the Mongolian army in the future, but Xiangyang was no longer the focus. In other words, if the enemy had already reached Xiangyang, then there would be no need to worry about how to fight, as there were battlefields all around.
Therefore, the command headquarters of the Southern Group had to move north to Shangnan and set up camp in Xixia, focusing on taking care of the guerrillas in Lu'shi, Luanchuan and Luoyang, and constantly expanding local forces to tire out and wear down the Mongolian army.
As long as we can really delay and defeat the Mongolian army, they won't be able to take Xiangyang, and we will definitely be safe here.
Yang Xingyun agreed immediately and said that he would adjust the camp's location when he returned.
Zhao Yulin smiled and told him that it was not just the adjustment of the garrison, but all aspects of roads and transportation had to be taken into consideration. The simplest one was the transmission of intelligence. He pointed at Zhang Qi beside him and said that for the fast delivery of messages by carrier pigeons, carrier pigeons had to be prepared.
Zhang Qi immediately said that he would guarantee to complete the task.
This guy and Qu Zhengxiang both came back to work on Shunfeng Department's affairs. This time they also followed the South Group's camp. They are very motivated.
It was late at night, Zhao Yulin slapped his lips and yawned. His brothers understood and immediately stood up and said they would talk again another day.
Shunzhidi had already prepared hot water. Zhao Yulin went in and saw a big wooden barrel. He pulled the woman and said, "Let's take a bath together."
Shunzhidi's face turned red and she looked outside the door.
He smiled and said: We have brothers guarding outside, it's very safe. He picked up Zhidi and threw her into the bathtub . Then he completely freed himself and went in naked as well.
The bathroom was filled with mist and the temperature rose rapidly.
The two were having a great time when Shunzhidi suddenly covered her chest and pretended to vomit, which scared him. He quickly steady himself. The little woman actually lay on top of him, holding onto the edge of the bucket and vomiting.
Zhao Yulin hurriedly and carefully helped her bathe and dress. When they returned to the house, he anxiously asked what happened.
Did you have a stomach upset or just a cold?
Shunzhidi's face turned red and she said embarrassedly, "I don't know." She vomited twice for no reason and embarrassed herself in front of her brother.
He hugged the woman and said, "It doesn't matter if she is ugly or not. I'm afraid she might be pregnant. Your health is important. You should be careful in the future." When the woman heard that she might be pregnant, she happily got into his arms.
After breakfast the next day, Zhao Yulin asked the imperial physician to take Shunzhidi's pulse carefully. It turned out that she was pregnant, but the pregnancy had not lasted long, so it was still impossible to determine whether it was a boy or a girl.
After the imperial physician left, the young woman immediately went up and stamped his face. Zhao Yulin smiled and asked her if this was a reward for her husband's ability?
The little woman immediately pretended to be angry and stopped him, pinching his pectoralis major with two fingers, calling it a cupping massage.
Zhao Yulin pretended to be in pain and told her to rest and not to move. He got up and went to the study to write two secret letters and asked the captain of the guard to give them to Zhang Qi to pass on to Luzhou and Cuiping Mountain.
As soon as they sat down to drink tea, the female leader came over, still holding the dog-beating stick in her hand and walking behind her. Seeing him and Shunzhidi showing their affection, the joy on her face disappeared in an instant, and she asked him coldly, "The magistrate of Jingmen County has run away, and there is no one in charge, what should we do?"
Zhao Yulin signaled Shunzhidi to serve tea, and said with a smile that this matter should be handled by the chief steward, and he should find a suitable person in the mansion to take charge.
The female gang leader had an unhappy look on her face just now, but she felt relieved after hearing what he said. It turned out that the Xiangyang chief steward really had the power and authority.
The female gang leader immediately said with a smile, "How could I have the ability to choose a key minister of the court?"
Please let the commander decide.
