Chapter 161: Ten Thousand Snowflakes
Chapter 161 One Hundred Thousand Snowflake Silver
At noon, a strange scene occurred in Sanwanwei.
The soldiers who stayed behind rushed out, and the soldiers' families working in the workshop also rushed out, squinting their eyes and frowning at the suddenly bustling 30,000 guards.
The fact that the front army's scouts had only been out of the camp for one night and had brought back more than 2,000 prisoners was quite shocking.
But what shocked them even more was that they were actually friendly forces?
The Sanwanwei and Tielingwei were established one after the other, and many soldiers and civilians worked together.
When they saw familiar faces among the prisoners, they were filled with astonishment.
Xu Cheng, the commander of the Sanwanwei, was holding a large iron basin with freshly prepared food in it, still steaming with white mist.
He rushed out in a hurry and stood there.
Looking at the preface scene, with a look of disbelief,
When he saw that his immediate superior, Zhao Zunian, the deputy commander of the Duzhishisi, was also among them,
The iron basin in his hand fell to the ground with a loud bang.
With a bang, the food that had just been prepared fell to the ground.
Xu Chenglian uttered a cry of "almost" and hurriedly squatted down to pick it up. While picking it up, he raised his head and looked forward.
The captives in the team probably noticed their gazes and quickly lowered their heads.
Zhao Zunian, who had looked at Xu Cheng, kept his head down, the anger in his heart could no longer be concealed.
He twisted his body violently, trying with all his strength, but he was unable to struggle against the bonds in front of him.
Two quarters of an hour later, all the prisoners entered the camp.
Xu Chengcai saw the front army scouts and Lu Yunyi entering from behind.
He rushed forward quickly, but when he got close, he was suddenly speechless and didn't know what to say.
After thinking for a long time, he finally uttered:
"Lord Lu, are you planning to rebel?"
Lu Yunyi's expression suddenly became strange, and he smiled:
"Master Xu has misunderstood. These people are smugglers caught by my unit.
They even pretended to be Lord Zhao of the Metropolitan Command and Lord Liu, the commander of Tieling Guard.
I thought they were suspicious, so I brought them all back.”
Lu Yunyi pointed behind him:
"The seized items are all in the back. Sir Xu, please report this matter to the commander-in-chief Sir Simayi as soon as possible. This is a matter of great importance."
"A smuggler? Impersonating?"
Xu Cheng's eyes suddenly widened in disbelief, and his face was filled with astonishment.
He tilted his head and looked at Lu Yunyi, as if asking, do you think I'm a fool?
"I just met with Mr. Zhao, the deputy officer, and Mr. Liu, the commander of the Tieling Guard. General Lu may have arrested the wrong person."
"What? They are actually Lord Zhao and Lord Liu?"
Lu Yunyi's face was calm and he didn't say anything.
At this moment, more than ten large trucks drove in little by little.
The deep ruts on the land of Sanwanwei made Xu Cheng's eyes widen.
Seeing that he didn't speak, Xu Cheng spoke again:
"General Lu, this is too hasty. Lord Zhao is a third-rank official in the imperial court. How can he be detained so easily and tied up?"
I have heard that General Lan Yu behaved arrogantly.
Although I didn't see it with my own eyes, after seeing Lu Yunyi,
Xu Cheng could already imagine how domineering General Lan Yu was.
"Okay, Master Xu, the matter is settled.
You should inform the Commander-in-Chief earlier. Whether it is true or not will be determined by the Commander-in-Chief.
But no matter what, smuggling cannot be faked.”
Lu Yunyi waved his hand and rode away.
Soon, he returned to the military tent.
After taking off the head armor and the long sword, Lu Yunyi let out a long breath, drank several cups of tea in a row, and then sat at the table in deep thought.
Arresting a third-rank official would undoubtedly cause a great uproar.
But if Mei Yi didn't want the court to know about this, then this matter would be reduced to a small matter and finally disappear into thin air.
It will only exist in some unknown document in the imperial palace, and the incident involving Mei Yi will never be mentioned until something happens.
If Mei Yi swore to make a big fuss about this, it would be the Liaodong Commandery that would be in trouble.
Lu Yunyi shook his head, this possibility is not high.
Some things are not as heavy as a pound, and they cannot be contained even if they are weighed a thousand pounds.
If the imperial court thoroughly investigates the smuggling case of the Liaodong Regional Military Commission, no one will be in a good situation.
Therefore, the best outcome of this matter is that the people of the Dusi take Zhao Zunian and Liu Xian away, thus making a big deal out of a small matter.
Lu Yunyi's eyes flickered. After thinking for a long time, he sighed.
It is natural for military commanders to be domineering.
But it was the first time for Lu Yunyi to do such a thing, and there was always some waves in his heart, and a little bit of excitement.
He thought about it, then walked out of the camp quickly.
Soon he came to the place where Zhao Zunian and Liu Xian were imprisoned.
Liu Heiying was also here. He was interrogating some soldiers and had the two men tied up to one side to watch.
Before he got closer, Lu Yunyi heard a series of loud shouts.
"Tell me! How much stuff has been transported to the north? Besides those broken weapons, what else is there? Are there any intact weapons?"
“No, no more!!”
"You're lying! The drivers have confessed that you transported food and fodder a few days ago and made a lot of money. Is that true?"
Clap clap clap!
The sound of whips lashing rang out in the prison, accompanied by Liu Heiying's roar.
"Yes, yes, stop fighting! I've confessed everything. I have food, I have food!"
"Who ordered you to do this? Where is the money?"
clap clap clap!
The soldier who was badly beaten glanced cautiously at the two adults tied on the side, stammering and not knowing what to say.
"They are right, right?"
Without waiting for Liu Heiying to speak, Xu Zengshou, wearing armor, stepped forward and twisted Liu Xian's head up! !
"No it's not."
clap clap clap!
"Don't tell the truth? You'll be beaten!"
Liu Heiying cursed loudly and the whip in his hand fell again.
When Lu Yunyi saw this scene, his eyes twitched.
What a scene of torture and forced confession.
However, the two men still had some sense of propriety and did not torture Zhao Zunian to extract a confession.
After watching for a long time, the soldier told almost everything he knew, except Liu Xian and Zhao Zunian.
Lu Yunyi couldn't help but nod his head, and he knew the importance of the matter.
When he showed up, Zhao Zunian immediately looked over, his eyes full of resentment, and said viciously:
"Lu Yunyi, have you figured out how to explain this to the court?"
Lu Yunyi was stunned for a moment, then laughed out loud, and looked at Zhao Zunian through the wooden fence:
"Master Zhao, I advise you not to struggle.
With the evidence and the smuggled goods seized, it would not be too much to sentence you to death by slicing.
Your Majesty and the Crown Prince hate people who collude with foreign enemies the most."
"Yeah!!"
Xu Zengshou nodded repeatedly on the side. Before joining the army, he was a sword-bearing attendant of the emperor's honor guard and knew a lot of things.
Zhao Zunian's face showed a trace of unnaturalness, the fierceness in his eyes faded a little, and his tone became gentle:
"Sir Lu, we have no grudges against each other. I have never even seen you before. Why do you keep pestering me?"
Hearing this, Lu Yunyi ignored it and looked at Liu Heying and waved to him.
Liu Heiying blinked his eyes, took the long whip in his hand and whipped him twice, then put the whip down, took the confession and walked out of the prison.
The fierce look on his face immediately turned into a simple and honest one. A smile bloomed on his dark and fat face, and he handed over his confession:
"Brother Yun'er, they have all confessed."
"Thank you for your hard work." Lu Yunyi laughed awkwardly and kept his confession.
Then he pulled him to the side and whispered:
"There is no need to interrogate these people. The military supplies shipped to Liaowang County are enough to convict them. Let the Liaodong Commandery worry about it."
Liu Heiying looked regretful, "I understand, Brother Yun'er."
"Okay, take the brothers to have dinner, and have a good rest after dinner. I will give you an important task in a few days."
"what"
Lu Yunyi thought for a moment and said in a deep voice:
"There has been no news from Wu Fuliu, and I feel a little uneasy.
I want you to send these captured military supplies to Liaowang County to replenish Wu Fuliu, taking the same road we came from, which is safe.
Or." Lu Yunyi's eyes flickered as he looked at Liu Xian and Zhao Zunian inside:
"You can repeat the old trick and pretend to be soldiers of Tieling Guards. Let those captives from Liaowang County take you there and strike Liaowang in the back."
At this point, Liu Heiying's eyes lit up and he nodded repeatedly:
"Brother Yun'er, this method is good, but we don't have enough manpower."
Lu Yunyi raised his hand and touched his chin, looking thoughtful:
"Xu Cheng is a man who wants to make achievements. We can borrow his soldiers.
But we don't have the military order from the commander-in-chief, so there might be some trouble later.
But it doesn't matter. All the commanders have been arrested and it's just a matter of mobilizing some troops. It's a small matter compared to a big one.
I still need to think about how to do it specifically and wait for a few days.
Anyway, let the brothers take a rest first, we have been busy for several days."
"to make!"
Liu Heiying nodded, turned to look at the prison, and waved to the soldiers standing inside:
"Come out, have dinner first and have a good rest."
Xu Zengshou, who was holding a long whip in the cell and was eager to try, suddenly froze.
Looking at the bloody soldier, a look of pity appeared on his face.
After Liu Heiying and the soldiers left, Lu Yunyi looked at Zhao Zunian in the cell, and said with some emotion:
"Since Lord Zhao is already a high-ranking official, why would he do such a thing?
We are in Liaodong, where there are businesses that can make money everywhere. Why do we choose to do business with the grassland people?"
Zhao Zunian snorted coldly and said nothing.
Lu Yunyi continued, “I heard from Lord Xu that you were a general under Ma Yundu’s command in your early years.
In the battle with Nahachu in the eleventh year of Hongwu, you made great contributions, and you captured more than ten levels of spoils. You also led the team to charge into the battle. The court rewarded you with a hundred gold coins just for the silver reward."
Zhao Zunian's voice suddenly rose, and his emotions suddenly became excited:
"That's enough. The court will make the final decision on right and wrong. It is not your turn to point fingers at me."
Lu Yunyi stood outside the cell, the damp stench and smell of blood hitting him in the face. The cell was very cramped, with only a tiny window letting in a ray of sunlight.
In such a dim environment, Zhao Zunian's face looked somewhat hideous.
Liu Xian, who was sitting next to him, kept his head down, looking deathly pale.
He was the commander of the garrison, and his crime was not yet up to the court to determine. At most, the Dusi would deal with it and report it to the Dudu Mansion.
I don't know who briefly glanced over it and then put it aside.
When the governor arrives, they will stamp the seal together.
So he acted a little depressed.
As for Zhao Zunian, his crime does need to be determined by the court.
However, given the emperor's determination to punish the main culprit, if the matter is reported to the court, he will surely be killed without a complete corpse.
The atmosphere in the prison was a bit gloomy. Lu Yunyi sighed lightly and shook his head slowly.
Just as he turned around and was about to leave, Zhao Zunian, who had his head lowered, suddenly raised his head.
The voice sounded quickly, although calm, it still suppressed madness:
"One hundred thousand taels of silver, if you let me go, I'll give you one hundred thousand taels of silver with both hands.
If it’s not enough, you can add more. I have several houses in Beijing, which I will give to you. They are all excellent houses.”
In the Ming Dynasty, silver notes are the popular notes of the Ming Dynasty, which follow the Yuan Dynasty's banknote system.
One foot high and six inches wide, the largest face value is one guan, equivalent to one thousand copper coins or one liang of silver.
Four one-guan notes are equivalent to one tael of gold.
One hundred thousand taels of silver notes means one hundred thousand taels of silver.
Before Hu Weiyong's death, the Baochao was printed by the Secretariat. After Hu Weiyong's death, it was printed by the Ministry of Revenue.
Lu Yunyi paused and looked at Zhao Zunian with a hint of understanding in his eyes.
After only four years as an assistant commander of the Metropolitan Military Commission, he was able to produce one hundred thousand taels of silver notes, which showed that he was quite wealthy.
Now, in order to save his life, he no longer hides.
For some reason, Lu Yunyi suddenly felt a little hesitant. He slowly shook his head and sighed.
He opened the cell door and walked in, groping Zhao Zunian's body, and took out a stack of silver bills from his arms, perhaps thousands of taels.
"Master Zhao, please keep the 100,000 taels of silver for yourself. These are enough for me.
I came to Liaodong to persuade the Liao King and others to surrender, and I have no intention of interfering in Liaodong's affairs. Lord Zhao, please take care of yourself."
Leaving behind a word, Lu Yunyi took a step and walked straight out of the prison.
Hearing Zhao Zunian's call behind him, he did not stop, but instead quickened his pace.
When he walked out of the Sanwanwei Prison, the sunlight hitting his face made him squint his eyes.
It is summer now, at noon, and there is a hint of heat in the air.
Lu Yunyi walked out of the cell, feeling irritable and somewhat worried about the war in the northeast.
Calculating the time, it has been nearly fifteen days now, why is there still no news?
With a long sigh, Lu Yunyi handed the silver in his hand to the soldier beside him and ordered:
"Give it to the brothers, one ounce each. If it's not enough, take it from the army."
The guard's eyes widened immediately and he quickly took over:
"Thank you, sir!!"
Liaowang County, the lower reaches of the Nawu River,
A relatively simple camp suddenly appeared, hidden in the mountains and forests near the river.
More than 4,000 scouts from the front army were among them.
The military camp was filled with a bloody smell, and the bodies of the grassland people were piled up in the northeast corner of the camp.
In the northwest corner were blood-stained grain, cattle and sheep, and at a glance, there were at least a hundred carts.
This was obtained when the soldiers raided a grassland camp in Liaowang County a few days ago.
More than a thousand enemies were killed, more than a thousand were captured, and countless silver, money, treasures and food were seized.
The military tent was filled with a sense of ease.
Although the Liao king's troops did not decrease, but increased day by day, the harassment against them also became more and more frequent.
But they could clearly feel that the elite level of these soldiers was far less than that of ten days ago.
Even now, those soldiers are staying at the bank of the Nawu River, not taking the initiative to attack, just guarding there.
If the scouts of the front army left the camp, the grassland people would immediately kneel down and surrender without any charge.
Some even fought each other over the order of surrender.
As a result, the number of prisoners in the camp increased, and there were nearly a thousand of them.
Their eyes were red and full of desire as they looked at the food piled in the corner.
At this moment, in the center of the camp,
Wu Fuliu and Zhang Yu gathered together and looked at the map on the table.
Along the banks of the Nawu River, black dots have been marked one after another.
That was where the Liao King's soldiers were suspected to be. At a rough glance, there were at least twenty of them.
Half of them have been crossed out, and those that have been crossed out are the areas that have been cleared by the soldiers.
Zhang Yu showed excitement as he took the military newspaper document and looked at the findings on it.
In just fifteen days, they used all their tricks and schemes.
More than 3,000 elite soldiers under the King of Liao had been killed and more than 1,000 captured.
For the Liao King's army of only more than 10,000 people, almost all of them were young and strong.
Zhang Yu was filled with emotion, looking at the intelligence information he had collected over the past few days, his face was filled with excitement:
"Sir, in my opinion, the King of Liao is short of food and soldiers.
He had no time to care about the grassland people outside and could only take care of his own headquarters.
As for how many soldiers are left among that old man?"
Zhang Yu took a deep breath, looked puzzled, and slowly shook his head:
"Brothers have inquired in many ways, but have not found out the reason. His Liaowang City is like a tortoise shell, shrinking inside and unable to come out."
Wu Fuliu looked at the map on the table with a relaxed expression and laughed:
"When the Lord came, he ordered us to destroy as many young and strong men as possible.
Now we are arresting and killing people, and the city is probably more yin than yang now."
Zhang Yu also nodded and laughed. Up to now in this battle, they had gained a lot and it could be considered a great victory.
He gently tapped the Liaowangzhai on the map and said:
"Sir, count the days.
The reinforcements from Prince Huining and General Duoyan's Mansion may arrive in the next few days. Otherwise, we should move our generals forward.
First, surround the Liaowang Village to prevent them from joining forces, and then defeat them one by one."
Wu Fuliu nodded and said, "I was thinking the same thing, but before that I have to send the victory report to you,
According to your military strategy, it took us a little longer."
Zhang Yu looked strange for a moment and said with emotion:
"That's right. Our military tactics are still a little behind the general's. We have been bewildered by the King of Liao for a few days."
"Hahaha." Wu Fuliu laughed loudly:
"Thanks to you for seeing through the Liao king's conspiracy, otherwise we would still be wasting time here."
(End of this chapter)