After the Fairy Disappeared

  Chapter 183 The money is coming

  Right now, celebrities are gathering here, and everyone's ears are pricked up. This is exactly the environment He Chunhua needs. He did not refuse, sat down and talked. Regarding Zhu Xiu'er's role in Xianling Lake, he didn't mention a word, only that a villager secretly notified him to remind the supporting army.

  Seeing his well-spoken words and generous demeanor, others nodded secretly.

  He Lingchuan paid attention to Ke Jihai.

  When he was talking with He Chunhua, he really only had He Chunhua in his eyes, and he acted like no one else when talking and laughing. The other nobles couldn't help cheering and applauding when they heard the important points, but Ke Jihai became very impatient and turned his head to scold.

  The protagonists of today's banquet are obviously the Zhu family and Zhu Xiu'er, and they all said that the guests should do whatever they want, but this time he turned against the guests, without realizing it. General Ke seems to have a straightforward temper and doesn't care about offending others.

  Zhu Xiyan smiled and didn't care, but the young men of the Zhu family were frowning and dissatisfied.

Ke Jihai asked detailed questions about the battle strategy and the battle process, especially when the supporting army led the whole village to flee westward. He immediately asked questions: "Master He is kind, but women and children are slow to move, and they can throw off the bandit army even more." The farther you go, the broken team must be left behind. May I ask how much this part lost?"

"There are thirty-five supporting troops, seventeen horses, and fourteen villagers who stayed behind to help." After experiencing the thrilling night, He Chunhua knew these numbers by heart, "They dragged the bandit army close Three hours."

   "Thirty-five people, delayed for three hours!" Ke Jihai was moved, "Okay, there must be brave ones among them, Mr. He must reuse them."

  He Chunhua smiled slightly, and then called He Lingchuan to the front: "At that time, I was very reluctant to give up the child's request. But I didn't know that this kid commanded properly and successfully completed the task."

He let out a long sigh: "When he was retreating, he was shot by Lu Yao and fell off the cliff. It is said that the arrow can hit three times in one shot. We all thought he was unreasonable. My wife fainted on the spot. Unexpectedly, ah, not only did he not die, He also rescued Wu Shaoyi, who was only half alive, otherwise he would not be able to surrender. This is really God's blessing."

"He who saves himself is saved by God. Lu Yao's set of bows and arrows has a background, and it is one of the treasures of the thief leader Hong Xiangqian. It is called the 'Ghost Eye Bow'. If you miss a hit, you will automatically double-click later. The officers and soldiers have experienced its power on the battlefield, and two generals under my command died under the bow of ghost eyes. It is not easy for Lu Yao to shoot you with this bow and still not die."

  Ke Jihai turned to He Lingchuan: "You are young, resourceful and courageous, which is rare! You are not a hero if you don't go to the battlefield. This time you go to the north, you will be very useful. You must devote yourself to sharpen it and add another general to my big yuan!"

  Wang Ting transferred He Chunhua to Xiazhou for the purpose, he, a veteran on the battlefield, understood at a glance, that is to increase the military strength against Xunzhou's pastoral celebration and the northern demon kingdom. He's parents and son followed their father, and fighting was inevitable.

  He Lingchuan nodded, sonorously: "Adhering to the teachings of the great general, definitely!"

  Ke Jihai admired him for being such a good guy who is straightforward and doesn't talk nonsense, so he took off the saber from his waist and handed it to He Lingchuan: "The precious sword is for heroes."

   "How can this be done!" Before the eldest son could speak, He Chunhua immediately declined.

  Ke Jihai ignored him, and put the knife directly into He Lingchuan's hand: "This knife is called 'Baipi', and it has been with me for twenty-two years. I hope you will make good use of it."

  He Lingchuan was overjoyed, took it with both hands, and said solemnly: "I accept it, and I will definitely live up to the general's expectations."

  Ke Jihai attached so much importance to a sixteen or seventeen-year-old country boy, praised the hero and gave him a knife, but didn't pay attention to others, the other nobles here were not very pleased. Especially for those in their early twenties, it is even more harsh to hear him say, "If you don't go to the battlefield, you are not a hero."

He Su, who had chatted with the He family brothers before, immediately said: "I heard that Wu He, the eldest son of General Wu Di, went to the battlefield at the age of thirteen and led his troops to capture the enemy general at the age of sixteen. He happens to be two years older than Brother He, could it be that our Yuan Kingdom is going to produce a pair of indistinguishable generals?"

  The few teenagers who usually surrounded him responded one after another, but the other nobles just smiled without making a sound. Ke Jihai glanced at He Su: "Who are you?"

   "My surname is He, my father Yushitai He Changqi." In order to avoid suspicion, his father did not come to the Zhu family's night banquet.

  The Zhu family added: "This is He Su, the third son of the imperial historian."

   "Do you have merit?"

  He Su blushed and could only shake his head.

   "Have you ever offered advice and suggestions?"

  It is not easy for other seventeen or eighteen-year-old youths to offer their words to the royal court, but the son of the imperial censor is very close.

  He Su blushed even more, and said, "I have mentioned a few articles to the Holy One."

  But the word "read" was approved at the top, and then the text came back.

  Ke Jihai smiled: "If you have no achievements and have never been advised, you are just a spectator, so you have to watch from the sidelines."

   This is to shut him up, in front of so many people! He Su's face swelled from red to purple, he swallowed a mouthful of bad breath, but secretly clenched his fists in his sleeves.

  Ke Jihai was so impolite, a needle could be heard at the banquet, and everyone was speechless.

   It was He Chunhua who broke the silence: "I heard that the Wuzhou front line is stalemate, why did General Ke return to the capital at this time?"

  He also sensed Ke Jihai's temper, so he asked directly.

   "Hey, it's not just to collect food and pay." The smile on Ke Jihai's face gradually became heavy, "I heard that the tax collectors sent by the royal court to the four southern states returned with a full load and collected millions of taels of tax money."

"Dong Haoming is in Wuzhou with strong walls and clear fields, and he doesn't leave us a single grain. This year, Wujing has a bumper harvest of autumn grain, which has been arranged by them, and there is no food left in the fields. In order to ask for payment, General Wu and I have sent ten people to the royal court. Two times to send the letter urgently, but in the past three or four months, we have only received food and grass twice. Fortunately, after breaking through Baiding City, we can continue to eat and drink."

"If it wasn't an emergency, why would I have the audacity to go back to China and ask for money and food?" He sighed quietly, "The front line has been in arrears for more than three months, and now one day's rations will last for three days. If it is not distributed, the soldiers will not have the strength to fight .”

An official present said: "It's not that Wang Ting doesn't want to send it. This year is too difficult. Woling Pass was hit by rebels first, then flooded, and there was almost no harvest in spring, summer and autumn. That large area has always been one of the rich grain areas, accounting for When the national grain harvest reaches 30%, not only will the tribute not be paid this year, but the country will be required to provide disaster relief instead.”

  The rebel army and the official army came and went at Woling Pass for several months. The tug-of-war was a mess, and then they ran into floods. The grain-producing area became a disaster area. Wang Ting scratched his head because of this.

  Zhu Xiyan also sighed: "The price of grain in Shihuan City has risen by 40%. Once the grain price rises, everything else will follow suit. The servant said that even the candles are expensive."

"Coincidentally, what I heard in the royal court was also a lot of complaints." Ke Jihai shook his head, "We are responsible for fighting the front line, and it is the job of the officials to raise logistics and pay. If I don't ask the royal court for money, who else can I ask? Officers and soldiers You can fight hungry, but what about the horses? If you don’t eat wheat bran and bean cakes, you can’t run fast or carry heavy loads if you just eat grass.”

  The official's face was serious: "Actually, Shi Huan's family is also saving food and clothing to support the front line. Mr. Cao, who is in charge of transporting supplies to the front line, I heard that he hasn't closed his eyes for a few days."

  He Lingchuan subconsciously looked at the delicacies on the table.

  He Yue couldn't help but said: "Dong Haoming has been prepared for a long time. He has a strong army and a strong city, and he plans to fight a protracted war with the official army. Once the official army is exhausted and starts to retreat, he will turn from defense to attack."

"That's the truth." Ke Jihai nodded, "Dong Haoming has been on the battlefield for decades, and he knows all about it. Once the attack and defense are changed, and the officers and soldiers fail to defend the Jixingang in the north, Dong Haoming can board a boat there and go straight to Hongchuan. Shihuan City and the capital are in danger again."

   Everyone's expressions changed. The last time the rebels captured Woling Pass, they frightened the residents of Shihuan City. Once the rebels took a boat from Fenglingdu and went downstream along the Hongchuan River, they would arrive at Shihuan within a few days and start killing without any shelter or barriers.

   Some nobles who were present heard the news and fled with their families. They didn't return to Shihuan until they heard that Wu Di and Ke Jihai had defeated the rebels.

  No one wants to experience that thrill again.

  Someone asked Ke Jihai: "The general returned to the capital, how is the result?"

"It's just a drop in the bucket." Ke Jihai sighed deeply and shook his head, "Donghao Mingbu is different from a mob like Hong Xiangqian. Its elites are even better than the officers and soldiers, and they can't be wiped out overnight. The lack of food is the most morale drain. In the middle of winter There are not enough uniforms and quilts in the army during the season, and people freeze to death and get frostbite every day. I am not afraid to tell the truth, if this continues, I will have to retreat to Jixingang at the beginning of next spring at the latest."

   That's less than three months away.

   "Jixingang is already building defenses, digging deep ditches and building high walls. But as far as I know, the land there can't describe hundreds of thousands of troops."

Seeing everyone's expressions, Zhu Xiyan also knew that the time was almost up, so he coughed: "For the frontline soldiers to fight, my family has to be a little bit poor. In this way, my Zhu family is willing to donate 50,000 shi for military rations and 5,000 shi for horse feed to the royal court's military supplies. Let them rush to the front!"

  He Yue secretly pinched his fingers, his mind calculating quickly. The seasonal grain price was 800 Wen and a stone, so the Zhu family would probably spend 40,000 taels of silver to buy grain and donate it to the front line, not including the money for fodder.

   There was a lot of discussion around.

  The host, Zhu Xiyan, expressed his opinion, and the others settled their accounts with caressing their hearts, and found that it was better to spend a little money on the frontline soldiers so that they could withstand Dong Haoming's iron hooves, than to ruin their families behind.

   As a result, several respected imperial relatives also donated their money.

   Their status is more respected than Zhu Xiyan, and they can't be more shabby than him. The family with the most pledged to donate 120,000 shi, and the rest ranged from 60,000 shi to 90,000 shi, as well as horse feed, clothes, shoes, and bedding.

  With them taking the lead, the aristocratic families and officials present had no choice but to bite the bullet and keep up, secretly feeling bad luck in their hearts. Attending Zhu's family's Dust Cleaning Feast tonight has already given a gift, but I didn't expect General Ke Jihai Ke to wait here and let them take a second gift.

  So many families have to buy grain, so the price of grain near Shihuan can't go up to the sky?

  (end of this chapter)