On the evening of December 26, 15th year of Jianping, in a living room in a house in the inner city of Yong'an City, several people were sitting around the table and eating hot pot.

King Zhao Jian of Qin used chopsticks to pick up a piece of mutton from the hot pot, dipped it in a small bowl, and then put it in his mouth to chew it. At the same time, he said to Li Bin, "The hot pot you invented can be said to be popular in Beijing now, especially this red oil hot pot. The taste is so good. I am a little hungry if I don't eat it all day."

This house is the three-entry house given to Li Zhao and Li Lie by the Ma family. Since Li Zhao, Li Lie and Li Meng have just led their troops for a short time, they live most of their lives in the military camps in the suburbs of Beijing. Only Li Bin returns here almost every night because the military camp of the Xiaoqi Camp is in the capital.

At this time, beside the table, in addition to King Zhao Jian and Li Bin, there were Tang Yunzhao who came with King Zhao Jian of Qin, and Ma Huaizhong's eldest son Ma Renju.

Among the five princes, Li Bin was relatively close to King Zhao Jian of Qin, and among the young children of major generals, Li Bin had the best relationship with Ma Renju.

This afternoon, King Zhao Jian and Ma Renju both went to the military camp of the Xiaoqi Camp to discuss the matter with Li Bin. Li Bin casually said that he would invite the two to his house to have hot pot in the evening. Then King Zhao Jian and Ma Renju agreed without hesitation.

Ma Renju nodded and said, "The taste of hot pot is indeed awesome. Now the six Lijia hot pot restaurants in Beijing are so popular. You have to book a day in advance for dinner, otherwise you don't even have a seat, so Brother Li Bin is making a fortune."

Li Bin smiled and said, "Small money, just make a little money."

King Zhao Jian of Qin suddenly put down his chopsticks and said to Li Bin, "There is one thing I have to remind you that you have opened four gambling halls in the capital, and many people are very dissatisfied with it. However, since it has been opened, you don't need to close it. But you must not open a new gambling hall, otherwise you will definitely be the target of public criticism by then."

Li Bin hurriedly said, "Thank you, Your Highness, I will not be so rash. Except for the four Xinglong gambling halls now, I will never open any new gambling halls in the capital."

Ma Renju nodded and said, "Brother Li Bin thinks this way. Many people asked me to remind Brother Li Bin, telling Brother Li Bin that the share of the gambling halls in Beijing is full and they can never accommodate new gambling halls. As for the current four Xinglong gambling halls, Brother Li Bin should be able to keep them."

Li Bin nodded to Ma Renju again, "Brother Ma, don't worry, the hot pot restaurant is doing well now. I am planning to open a few new stores in the capital. I will never open a new casino, which will make it difficult for His Highness Qin and Brother Ma to do."

King Zhao Jian of Qin then picked up the chopsticks and asked Li Bin while eating, "I don't know what you think about what I told you in the afternoon?"

Li Bin hesitated and said, "Your Highness, I think there is no need to rush to the border of Laizhou Prefecture and fight with the Jinluo army. Now the Laizhou Prefecture can only be considered a small-scale conflict between the two countries. I feel that our top priority should be to train troops. Once the court is determined to attack Jinluo four times, my cavalry camp and your highness's left and right liberal guards will inevitably join the army of siege. At that time, there will be a chance to teach the Jinluo army a lesson."

After pausing, Li Bin continued, "What's more, the imperial court has not equipped the cavalry camp with war horses, and the cavalry camp has not yet formed its combat power. If Your Highness insists on going, I can't bring a few people together."

After the Great Yan Empire and the Jinluo Kingdom increased their troops to the border areas of the two countries, although there was no full-scale war, there were constant small-scale conflicts between the two sides, while the Great Yan Empire suffered a lot of losses in these conflicts.

Emperor Zhao Zhezheng of the Great Yan Dynasty discussed with his ministers how to teach Jinluo a lesson in the border areas of the two countries, so that he would not suffer losses so much, which affected the morale of the officers and soldiers.

King Zhao Jian of Qin was about to volunteer to lead part of the army of the left or right guards under his command to the border of Laizhou Prefecture and teach the Jinluo army a lesson, of course, mainly to show it in front of Emperor Zhao Zhe.

According to the news obtained by King Zhao Jian of Qin, King Jin, King Song and King Yue all asked Emperor Zhao Zhe for war, hoping to lead troops to the border of Laizhou Prefecture.

King Zhao Jian of Qin found Li Bin in the afternoon, hoping that Li Bin could also select a group of elite cavalry camps and go to the border of Laizhou Prefecture with him. After all, the army of Jinluo Kingdom is extremely powerful. With the followers of Li Bin and those powerful generals under Li Bin, King Zhao Jian of Qin could also feel at ease.

Of course, Li Bin was unwilling to go. If he followed the King of Qin to the border of Laizhou Prefecture, it would be equivalent to telling the outside world that he had defected to the King of Qin. This was not what Li Bin wanted to see. He was unwilling to mix himself into the vortex of the five princes.

Tang Yunzhao also spoke at this time, "Your Highness, I feel that General Li said makes sense. Now the left and right liberal guards have just been fully organized. The training time is too short and it is not advisable to be pulled onto the battlefield."

Ma Renju did not express any comment on the fact that the King of Qin wanted to lead troops to teach Jin Luo's army a lesson. After all, he just happened to come to Li Bin's house to eat hot pot, and the Ma family and the King of Qin had not yet lived in the same camp.

King Zhao Jian of Qin pondered for a moment before sighing and said, "The main reason is that the Jin Luo army is too arrogant. I heard that I have sent small groups of cavalry into our Dayan territory many times and attacked the military and civilians of our Dayan. It caused thousands of losses to just a few imperial guards. I am really angry."

After that, King Zhao Jian of Qin did not ask Li Bin to go to the border of Laizhou Prefecture. After everyone had enough food and drink, King Zhao Jian of Qin and Tang Yunzhao said goodbye and left.

After the Qin King Zhao Jian left, Ma Renju said to Li Bin, "Brother Li Bin, how do you think you will reply to the He family in Qizhou?"

It turned out that Li Bin had previously asked the He family in Qizhou for the price of the special vests made by An Puma and the He family. This afternoon, Ma Renju found Li Bin and told him the quote from the He family in Qizhou.

The price for each Anpuma to be shipped to the capital is 4,000 taels of silver, and the special vests equipped with Anpuma are 400 taels of silver per set.

The reason why Li Bin asked about the price of An Puma and Ma Vest was that he was preparing to build the eighty soldiers under his command into heavy cavalry.

Since Li Bin removed the eighty soldiers from the cavalry camp, it was impossible for the court to equip these eighty soldiers with war horses, so Li Bin had to find a way by himself.

Li Bin snorted coldly, "That He family in Qizhou is like a lion. Isn't an Anpu horse only more than 2,000 taels of silver?"

Ma Ren raised his head and said, "The He family did not ask for a price. More than 2,000 taels of silver are the local price in Anpu Country. The price of Anpu Ma in the capital is generally more than 4,000 taels of silver, and there is still a price but no horse."
Chapter completed!