Since it was still morning, there were not many guests in the teahouse, only three or four people. The young peddler walked over to an old man in a commoner and sat down. A guy stepped forward lazyly, "What do you want?"

"A bowl of water, a dry cake."

"Water doesn't cost money, but cakes cost five cents. Let's make a promise first, and you won't charge the bad money."

"Didn't it cost three cents two days ago?" the peddler frowned.

"Do you want it?" The guy was a little impatient.

The peddler took out a small cloth bag from his arms and slowly counted it to the servant five coins. He just covered the bag, for fear that the servant would take a look and then lose two coins.

The guy snorted, took the money and left, and brought him a bowl of water and a small dry cake for a moment. The peddler skillfully broke the dry cake and put it into the water bowl. At this time, he found that the old man opposite was looking at him with all his attention, so he smiled honestly at the old man.

The old man suddenly became fond of him and smiled and said, "I don't think you are from Wujun."

"I am from Piling County, and I have only been to Wu County for a living for a few days."

"Why did you think of coming to Wujun?" asked the old man.

The peddler sighed, "After the massacre of Piling City, almost all the people in Piling County have run away, but their lives have to continue. I think that since Wu County is the capital, I come to Wu County to try my luck."

"You shouldn't come to Wujun, it should be Danyang County. Wujun is not much better than Piling County. You have so many goods to pick up. If the soldiers see you, you will be miserable."

"No way!"

The peddler was a little surprised, "Didn't it say that the King of Wu has already restrained military discipline?"

The old man snorted, "You believe this, can dogs change their temperament? He just doesn't allow the army to massacre, but he can't stop the private looting of those tiger and wolf soldiers. Now young women dare not go out. Even in Wuxian Town, under Meng Hai Gong, there are generals who force their daughters to rob them in the streets. It happens every day. Has Meng Hai Gong managed it?"

The peddler didn't say anything for a while, and he stopped, and asked again: "I heard that Meng Haigong had exempted all taxes. Is it true?"

The old man asked back: "Are you exempted from Piling County?"

"It seems that no one collects taxes, but the food will still be taken away."

At this time, the guy came over to fill his bowl with water and said coldly: "If taxes are not collected, what will his army of more than 100,000 yuan eat?"

The old man laughed, "Brother, he hit the nail on the head!"

He said to the peddler again: "There is no taxation, and the army does not farm. What should Meng Haigong take to support them? The people of Wujun say that he still has some surplus grain now, so he pretends to buy the people's hearts. But when his surplus grain is eaten up and more than 100,000 troops are about to rebel, I'm afraid he will not even have time to collect taxes. He goes directly to each household to grab grain. He is originally a tiger that eats people, and pretends to be merciful. Young man, listen to me, hurry to Danyang County, you can't survive in Wujun."

The peddler was a little panicked. After eating the cake in three bites, he drank half a bowl of water, wiped his mouth and bowed to the old man and said, "Thank you, my father-in-law, I'll leave now!"

"Go away quickly! Try not to walk the official road, walk the small road and leave."

"I don't know the path."

The old man hesitated for a moment and took out a stack of hemp paper from his arms, "I'm giving this to you, with a trail sign on it!"

After saying that, the old man threw a few cents on the table, got up and left.

The peddler was dazed and the guy came over to pick up the money. The peddler asked him quickly, "Who is this old man?"

"You don't even know him. This is our former county magistrate Jiang Yuanchao. Meng Haigong forced him to come out and become an official, and Meng Haigong wanted to pretend, so he didn't kill him, otherwise he would have been--"

The guy slashed his palm towards his neck, "Do you understand?"

"So he is Jiang Junzhu, I don't know where his family lives?"

"Living in Jiangdun Village not far ahead, why do you ask this?"

"Just ask casually."

The peddler hurriedly carried the load and hurriedly left. The guy looked at him walking away and couldn't help but shake his head. He actually carried the load on the official road without being robbed and killed. He was really lucky.

The docks of Danyang County were busy, and large ships were constantly docking, unloading bags of grain and weapons tied with wheat poles from the big ship. The supplies on the docks were piled up like more than a dozen small hills. Thousands of boatmen on the docks drove small boats to transport grain and supplies into Jiangning City through a small canal.

The pier has been renovated and strengthened and lengthened, so that more ships can be parked at one time. Not only that, two sentry towers have been built by the river, and sentries are vigilantly watching the movements on the river surface.

At this time, Zhang Xuan was inspecting the dock under the escort of hundreds of cavalry. Zhang Xuan arrived in Jiangning three days ago. Early spring had arrived and their combat readiness had reached the last moment.

Zhang Xuan stood in a pavilion, staring at the busy small boat transporting goods from afar, but he was thinking about some details of the Jiangnan Battle in his mind.

Although most of the Jiangnan gentry were willing to surrender to the Northern Sui Dynasty, Zhang Xuan did not dare to take it lightly. He knew that the situation in Jiangnan was very complicated. Although these gentry expressed their support for the Northern Sui Dynasty, it did not mean that they were convinced by themselves or the court. To a large extent, they were forced by Meng Haigong and had to ask the Sui army for help. If they wiped out Meng Haigong, would there be any force that was dissatisfied and made a comeback again?

Zhang Xuan has been considering this issue. As the territory he occupied became wider and wider, many county and county troops could no longer control it. Once a resurgence similar to Liu Heita occurs, he may not be so lucky to kill the rebellion in its infancy. Another lesson from the Sui Dynasty was that it did not eliminate the rebellion in time. Yang Guang did not take these rebellions to heart at first, which led to the rebellion becoming more and more intense and ultimately unable to deal with it. He had to learn this painful lesson. In order to minimize the rebellion losses, Zhang Xuan decided to establish a direct rapid response force.

The most elite 1,000 people were selected from the 10,000 scouts, the best war horses were selected, and the most excellent weapons were equipped to achieve the effect of more than 5,000 people. In fact, Zhang Xuan had ordered Shen Guang to select the army, and at the same time he had thought about the head general of this army.

At this time, a personal soldier stepped forward and whispered: "Master, he is here!"

Zhang Xuan turned around and saw two personal soldiers walking up quickly with a tall and burly general. This person was Liu Lancheng who killed Liu Heita. Shen Guang and Fang Xuanling praised him very much and strongly recommended him to Zhang Xuan.

Liu Lancheng walked forward quickly, knelt down on one knee and said, "I am not good at the commander-in-chief Liu Lancheng greets the commander-in-chief!"

When Zhang Xuan saw that he had a very friendly face and was a very sunny young man. He couldn't help but feel a little affection for him, and then asked with a smile: "Where are you from?"

"Reporting to the Grand Marshal, Bei Zhi is from Zouping County, Qi County."

"It turns out that I am from Qi County. I read your resume. You have participated in Zuo Xiaoyou's rebellion, have you?"

Liu Lancheng's face was flushed, "I was only eighteen years old at that time and was still ignorant!"

Zhang Xuan smiled slightly, "This is not a big problem. As long as I can change my mind, I will let go of the past. Will Zuo Xiaoyou be appointed as the prefect of Donglai County? I just ask casually."

"The humble position will not disappoint the general."

Zhang Xuan nodded and asked again, "Have you practiced martial arts?"

"After practicing for a few years, it's a pity that the low-ranking position cannot be a powerful general and serve the general."

"Even a strong general may not be able to kill Liu Heita! This requires courage, decisiveness, courage, carefulness, calmness and resourcefulness. You can do it. As for martial arts, I think the development direction of the general is different. For example, General Li Jing and General Xu Shiji, they have no martial arts, but they can stand alone. You General Chen can't talk about martial arts, and you can also become the chief general of the scouts. Your development direction does not require martial arts."

Liu Lancheng has always been upset about his poor martial arts skills, but Zhang Xuan's words made him awaken like a morning bell and a dusk drum. The general is right. Each general has a different development direction and martial arts skills are not necessary. Why should he make trouble for himself? Liu Lancheng was grateful in his heart and said with a fist: "Thank you, the general, for his teachings, I understand the humble position."

Zhang Xuan stretched out his hand and said, "Come with a sword!"

A soldier handed over a sword. Zhang Xuan took the sword and slowly pulled it out. He looked at the black Wuhua sword body. He handed the sword to Liu Lancheng, "I heard that you cut off Meng Haigong's head with a hatchet, which will also relieve my big trouble. I will give you this sword of victory. Don't use a hatchet in the future."

Liu Lancheng took the sword with both hands, "The general knows the kindness of his encounter, and remembers the humble duty in his heart!"

Zhang Xuan looked at him and said, "I have formed a new special army called "Feng Lei". From today on, you will be the commander of this "Feng Lei" army. You will meet General Chen now, and he will give you the army and various matters."

"Abide by the orders!"

Liu Lancheng bowed and hurriedly went down.

At this time, a soldier next to him stepped forward and said, "Report to the Grand Commander, the military advisor and Ling join the army are back, waiting for the Grand Commander in the camp!"

Zhang Xuan had been waiting for Ling Jing's news, and he immediately led everyone to urge the horse to run to the camp.
Chapter completed!