Chapter 418: Sky-high price

In the 16th year of Chongzhen, at dusk, in the city of Jinan, the residence of General Zhendong...

There were constant laughter in the backyard of the General's Mansion. Since Li Meng returned to Shandong, a rare atmosphere of joy appeared on the General's Mansion in Zhendong.

The Dengzhou Army did not rush to return to the Dengzhou Prefecture's headquarters, but instead rested on the spot at the junction of Jinan Prefecture and Qingzhou Prefecture. During the busy farming season, they recruited village heads from the village guards in the Tuntian Village to supplement their troops. Therefore, senior generals such as Zhao Neng and Wang Tao also stayed in Jinan.

Their families were also taken over, which made the General's Mansion even more lively. Mu Yunyao's waist became thicker and it was already inconvenient to move. However, these noble ladies from Shandong did not enjoy the pleasure of the decrees of the imperial ladies in the capital. Instead, they gathered together to sew clothes for children about to be born and prepare supplies such as swaddling clothes. They were also happy.

Li Meng often led Li Hong around and saw that the old camp and Dengzhou army are now resting and recuperating, so the food is naturally prepared according to the level of the New Year's dinner, and the amount of training of the soldiers has also been reduced appropriately.

On the contrary, Zhou Yang and Ning Gangui's system began to operate intensively after the seventh day of the first lunar month, recruiting soldiers from various farmland villages, replenishing military funds consumed by Shandong soldiers, issuing pensions, modifying Chongzhen's budget for 16 years, and also changing the military family's family that had begun to be reorganized.

All these work are tedious and heavy, energy-consuming, and no mistakes can be made. As a result, these people are very busy. Even the chief clerk Yuan Wenhong has to handle confidential military affairs every morning and bring people to help in the afternoon. With such heavy practice, the civil servant system of Jiaozhou Camp, which is very small, has begun to expand and recruit more scholars who know how to practice into the Jiaozhou Camp system.

Unlike the hesitation before, there is now a phenomenon of taking the initiative to apply for the Jiaozhou camp. Moreover, those who had failed to live and have a career came, but those who had fame and career came one after another. It was the great victory that shocked the world, which also shocked them.

Originally, Jiaozhou Camp was accepted by everyone who was preparing to come, but who would have thought that the people would be more than expected. This was around the twelfth lunar month and the first lunar month. God knew where these scholars had such great enthusiasm.

In desperation, Zhou Yang, Ning Gangui and Li Meng asked for instructions, and then discussed with Sun Chuanting and Liu Fu, he decided to use the exam to select talents who are familiar with practice.

Unexpectedly, this exam was even greater than the sensation caused by the recruitment itself. Shandong, southern Zhili, and northern Zhili, near Hejian Prefecture, all the scholars of literati were sensational. It was rumored that Shandong would hold an imperial examination and recruit scholars from all over the world. It was difficult to become an official in this day, and his career was controlled by Donglin.

A large number of people want to find other ways. Shandong has the reputation of winning the big victory and has to recruit talents from the scholars. This is naturally heartwarming.

However, the recruitment of people was a bit surprising. This time, scholars were no longer rare, and scholars were no less than a hundred people from Juren, but the first people were admitted were all from scholars. However, they were businessmen or other people from other places. These people were not just those who studied hard and had come into contact with social practices. Such talents were the most suitable for the Jiaozhou civil servant system. These people were also urgently needed at this time.

Those juren and scholars are naturally full of opinions, but they can get a good reputation after getting a test, so they are better than ordinary people. It is time to adjust their focus in time and meet the needs of Jiaozhou Camp.

However, the result of recruiting personnel spread slowly, causing even greater shock than the previous time. The previous time was just saying that Shandong was going to create a situation and held an imperial examination under the name. It was a scholar in the world, but the practice of selecting people to value real talents and knowledge, rather than looking at all the fame and allusions, has given people who have skills but are not literati to see hope.

Those who hear this, they feel that they are qualified to be selected, no matter where they are, want to come to Shandong to try it. After all, if you want to be an official in the Ming Dynasty, you must work hard in Confucian classics. Not everyone can read books and read them well.

Compared with the nervous and laborious civil servants, the military generals were much more relaxed. After the Hejian Prefecture wiped out the Tartars soldiers, the Shandong soldiers finally realized their strength. Although there were more than 200,000 troops stationed in the northern Zhili, and although the southern Zhili was still intertwined, the Shandong soldiers could still rest step by step.

The generals also came to the New Year with a relaxed mood. After all, after this war, the body and spirit of the people and the earth were extremely tired, and they had to have enough rest.

The backyard of the General's Mansion was renovated in response to Li Meng's special request. The mansion in the ordinary nobles could not find such a spacious yard.

There are no pavilions, water pavilions, nor rockery trees in this yard. It is just flat and flat. The floor is paved with pieces of blue bricks. There are special drainage pipes under the bricks and stones. The rest are compacted with sand and gravel. People check it every day. If there are pits on the ground, they will be replaced immediately and kept flat at all times.

Matching this yard are the weapons and racks by the wall and various fitness equipment. Yes, this is a reduced-edition schoolyard. After Li Meng inspected various military camps and finished his official duties, he spent a lot of his time in this yard.

Everyone has their own foundation and trust and capital that can be relied on. Li Meng knows that he is a military general. As a military general, he cannot imagine that everything must be solved by his own wisdom. Moreover, his wisdom is not outstanding. Li Meng relies on his own strength and martial arts, as well as his army and wealth.

These things cannot be left behind for a moment. Li Meng felt that his daily training was even harder than in the army in modern times. Sometimes he was helpless when he thought about it. He thought that he had earned a fortune like a sensation, but the amount of enjoyment was more than ten years of hardship. What was he trying to do?

Then I comforted myself that I have made such a big career now. If I don’t work hard and work hard, I’m afraid I will not be able to save my life. I have to enjoy it. There will be opportunities in the future.

But on the afternoon of the 18th day of the first lunar month, Li Meng's contact was not so large, but it was relaxed and interesting, because Li Meng's son Li Hong held this slender bamboo pole in his hand to compete with him.

The thickness of the bamboo pole is just in control of the children, and the ground is polished and smooth. Cotton cloth is wrapped at the front and back, so that he cannot hurt others or himself. Just make a practice tool.

Li Hong is lively and active, and his body is much stronger than ordinary children. Li Meng and Yan Ruoran have their own business, regardless of his time, but he cannot let him run around like this every day. Yan Ruoran originally planned to hire a great scholar for Li Hong as a teacher. He asked him to read and read, and he also wanted to be arrogant.

However, Li Meng felt that it would be better to exercise your body if a child who is less than three years old to learn to write articles. The enlightenment knowledge such as reading words and sentences is not as good as Yan Ruoran and several other women to teach him, and it would not delay things.

These days, the world is full of chaos. When disasters come, learning literature may not be able to escape. If you learn martial arts, you can still have the ability to save your life. Besides, Li Meng is a general, and Li Hong will definitely inherit this great cause in the future. Maybe he will have to wear a strong and hold his sharp edge with his father and fight.

Learn martial arts and exercise your body. This is also the right thing to do, so Yan Ruoran, Mu Yunyao, Gu and Liu did not have any objections to this matter, but they also agreed quite well.

Li Meng was fighting outside and didn't spend much time at home. After staying at home for so many days, today is a place where he is happy. He wants to take Li Hong's martial arts exam. To put it bluntly, he just makes fun of his son.

Boys all prefer martial arts. When they heard that their father was going to take the school entrance exam, although Li Hong's little head didn't quite understand, it did not delay him happily following Li Meng to the school grounds. Zhao Neng, Wang Tao, Wang Hai, Tang Er and others also followed him, in the inner hall. The female family members from all over the country were busy talking there, and they didn't have to worry about it. It would be better to come out and join in the fun of the Grandmaster.

Li Meng also held a thin bamboo pole in his hand. The entire bamboo pole was wrapped in cotton cloth, and the head of the bamboo pole was even wrapped like a hammer, and he was afraid of hurting people.

Li Hong on the other side first made a gesture, placing the bamboo pole across his chest as if it was like a slight angle to adjust his feet. Although the child looked serious, he was very cute with his chubby appearance. The military generals watching the side laughed out loud.

Li Meng smiled and put the bamboo pole in his hand onto Li Hong's chest, and said:

"I beat you for my father, you lost!"

The soldiers around him did not expect that Li Meng would have such an interesting side. After a moment of being stunned, they all laughed loudly. Li Hong blinked his big eyes for a long time before he reacted. He couldn't help but his little face turned red, and he flattered his mouth and said:

"My father is cheating. My attitude has not been set yet, so my father attacks first!"

Li Meng smiled and shook his head, and said:

"If it's on the battlefield, who will pose with you? OK, let's fight again!"

After all, it was father and son. This time Li Meng made a pose first, but Li Hong stopped swaying it. He directly stabbed the bamboo pole in his hand towards Li Meng's shoulder. However, this time it was a obvious fake move. The purpose of the bamboo pole was Li Meng's chest and abdomen, but this fake move had already delayed time, and the child's movements could get there soon.

The bamboo pole in Li Meng's hand was flat and stabbed Li Hong in the chest again. Li Hong was stabbed like this and knew that he had lost the second game, but he felt it became more and more interesting and tried his best to pester Li Meng to the third game.

This is not a battle of orders of magnitude at all. Li Meng was just moving around casually for a few times, and Li Hong was already very excited.

After half an hour of trouble, Li Hong was sweating profusely. Li Meng was also worried that he would catch a cold, so he quickly called the maid to take Li Hong to find Yan Ruoran to clean up.

"You guys have been bored in watching this for the past half day. You all came down to practice!!"

Li Meng smiled and greeted the generals and personal soldiers on both sides. It was already dusk at this time. Standing in the yard, there was no sunshine, and only the afterglow of the sunset covered half of the sky.

Of course, the battle with these subordinates was much more intense, but Li Meng's years of hard work and his understanding and experience back then made the generals and soldiers below not his opponent even if they fought seriously. Zhao Neng, Wang Hai, Wang Tao, Tang Er and others were all knocked to the ground by him with wooden poles.

After playing for a while, Li Mengge blocked the thorns on the opposite side, exerted force with his arms, and the wooden pole hit the opponent's chest. This competition was a victory again. The personal soldiers who were opponents were about to give a few compliments, but Li Meng felt something and turned to the north in a daze. After a few glances, the sky was the city wall and the courtyard wall.

Seeing that something was wrong with Li Meng, everyone in the yard stopped and turned their attention. Li Meng shook his head and didn't know why he had this idea in his heart. He turned around and smiled:

"For some reason, I suddenly felt a little relieved!"

This was so stupid that the military generals below didn't know how to interfere. Li Meng threw the wooden pole in his hand aside, took the towel handed by his personal soldiers, wiped the sweat from his face, and walked towards the inner hall. The few people behind him hurriedly followed and walked into the corridor. Li Meng turned around and said to Wang Hai beside him:

"My son should be learning the fighting skills of the battle formation and what to do in those fancy ways. Wang Hai, you can choose a trustworthy personal soldier in the personal military camp. Every day I send someone to send Hong'er... Well... Our Jiaozhou camp has a total of 1,000 yuan, and a farmhouse or above. Whoever is willing to learn will also send it together. Don't learn those useless geniuses."

Wang Hai nodded and agreed. Although Wang Hai had already started a family, he had no descendants. When he heard Li Meng's arrangement, he was wondering whether to give birth to a handsome young man who was studying martial arts outside and asked the children of powerful and nobles from all over Shandong to accompany him. This was clearly a nurturing friendly relationship for his son Jiaozhou's next generation of powerful and nobles. This is a great thing. If he clings to him, he will be a confidant of the Li family in the future, and the benefits will be unlimited!

During the first month of the year, Li Mengdi was in a much easier mood. In addition to accompanying his family, he also had other fun. For example, after handling official duties in the study every day, Sun Chuanting brought him the local literature and newspapers to him. They were all arranged step by step. In the court of the capital, the emperor and the ministers reacted in a hurry. That clumsy and embarrassing way was indeed hilarious.

The resentment accumulated by Sun Chuanting towards the Ming Dynasty gradually dissipated in this continuous public opinion offensive, which was also the reason why Li Meng asked him to let go. If the number one think tank in Jiaozhou camp became biased in judgment and handling various political affairs due to resentment, there would be many hidden dangers. It would be a good thing to vent it. Now Sun Chuanting can judge and deal with it with a very healthy and neutral mentality.

"Master, if this matter is delayed, the court will lose its face, and the status and justice they occupy will be reduced, so that they will not speak out, and the people of the world will recognize their true faces more and more."

There were only Li Meng, Sun Chuanting and Liu Fulai in the study. Sun Chuanting spoke with a gloating tone, but there was no hatred in it.

Since the heads placed outside the city gate and the so-called "Flying General Fu" were released, the capital has no longer expressed any remarks about Shandong's Dasheng. The rest are all surprised by the great victory and disdain and hatred for the emperor and the court.

The later the court responded, the more unfavorable the public opinion was to them. However, during the ceremony of the war, the emperor returned to the palace with illness. The soldiers outside the city were "helpless" and could only go back to Shandong. Shandong's victory was highly treated in the capital, and it was as embarrassing as if a defeated general came to inquire about how to punish him.

The longer the matter was delayed, Sun Chuanting released the news through the intelligence system. For example, since the army formed in Shandong, except for the army of Qiu Lei and Liu Zeqing, who had never won a victory, Li Meng, who had truly won a victory, had never received a military pay.

In previous battles with the trespassers and the Tartars, they fought alone. Friends who were also the Ming army either fled or pulled back their legs, and even had enemies. Even Chen Xinjia, the Minister of War, who was imprisoned and executed, were all taken out to analyze the various methods of dealing with Shandong.

The people may not be able to see these things clearly, or even understand them, but they cannot withstand the analysis of "savvy people" in an obvious way. The more you delay the day, the achievements of Jiaozhou Camp will be found one by one and spread to the public. The people in the capital, even some officials, were surprised to find them.

It turned out that the victory against the Tartars in the 13th year of Chongzhen was actually a merit of Shandong soldiers and horses. Several times of victory against the Chuangzhang camp and Cao Cao's army were also a merit of Shandong soldiers and horses. A small group of thieves fled into Nanzhili, causing trouble to the Huaihe River. Japanese pirates appeared in Haizhou to cause rebellion. Those who quelled these were Shandong soldiers and horses, not to mention the Fifth Camp of Gezuo, which threatened Nanjing in Nanzhili. Who stopped their movements was still Shandong soldiers and horses.

Without exception, the people who led Shandong soldiers were all Shandong general Li Meng, or Li Meng's general. It turned out that the Ming Dynasty, which was in trouble, had such good generals, and the court actually treated them like this. Isn't this self-destruction of the Great Wall?

The past was released one by one, and the court's harsh criticism was raised. Public opinion became increasingly high. Needless to say, the scholars of the literati turned, even some ministers in the court turned.

In fact, after the tenth day of the first lunar month, the direction of public opinion in the capital was no longer necessary for Shandong personnel to do anything. They only need to release real news that is beneficial to Shandong and the court. Naturally, there are purgatory scholars and ordinary people who use this thing to make noise and make noise.

The civilians in the Northern Zhili and the capital were most afraid of this Tartar army. Because it was the threat that happened around them. Once someone defeated a great victory, the court could not treat it fairly. If there was a similar situation again, could someone take the initiative to fight and defeat?

Even for this worry, the capital will give Li Meng a "fair" treatment...

"Mr. Sun's plan is great, but our family is thinking that in a few days, the court will send someone over. Although Chongzhen was stubborn, there were still many mature characters in the inner court and the court, and that person might be on the way today."

Liu Fulai said slowly, Sun Chuanting did not wear an iron mask on this occasion. After thinking about it for a while, he nodded and said:

"Eunuch Liu said that the court is now being put on fire. If you want to step down, you must also send someone to ask about our Shandong idea so as not to be unable to come to Taiwan again."

Li Meng held a wine cup in his hand, but he didn't rush to drink it, and said in a deep thought:

"The four prefectures in Zhili, Guangping, Shunde, Daming, and Zaoqiang and Nangong counties in Zhending Prefecture, Chuzhou, Xuzhou, Hezhou and Huai'an, Yangzhou and Luzhou are all governed by our Shandong military commanders. The Maritime Bureau is established in Dengzhou and Laizhou. It is allowed to open ports for maritime trade."

As he was talking, Li Meng put the wine glass in his hand on the table. He slowly slapped the tabletop and said in a deep voice:

"Kaifeng City will be guarded by Shandong soldiers and horses, and Henan General Chen Yongfu will be under my jurisdiction. Kaifeng and Guide Prefecture's Yellow River must also be clearly defined as our general's defense zone!"

Sun Chuanting could almost remember Li Meng's requests silently. This was not how good his memory was, but what Li Meng said was that it had always been a need and a necessary area for Jiaozhou Camp. With these places, Jiaozhou Camp can only be clear and truly guaranteed the safety of the core area of ​​Shandong.

When Li Meng finished speaking, Sun Chuanting and Liu Fulai looked at each other, but laughed out loud. When Li Meng was wondering, Sun Chuanting smiled and said:

"The Grand Marshal is indeed not arrogant or impatient in his work, and is extremely cautious. However, the dragon soars in the sky, sometimes hiding in the clouds, and sometimes showing his figure. Thunder is everywhere. The Grand Marshal has such strength and such a career at this time, so there is no need to be so careful."

The old eunuch Liu Fulai also said with a smile:

"If you want to mention it, the guards of the three provinces of Henan and Henan must also manage their own salt administration and taxation, and appoint prefecture and county officials on their own."

After saying this, Li Meng was shocked and thought to himself that this was a blatant rebellion. Although the general trend is favorable, it is not necessary to be so urgent. He couldn't help but speak:

"There are still many unstable things, and it's a bit too rushed to do this!"

"Master, even if Shandong doesn't mention anything, the court will also deal with us. But they have no choice but to have no ability now. Instead of letting them set up all kinds of secret tricks to dirty Shandong in the future, it is better to be domineering first, make the matter clear and make their eyes lighter."

Sun Chuanting talked freely, his face full of confidence. The old eunuch Liu Fulai next to him sipped in a glass of earthy rice wine, leisurely and contented.

After the 20th day of the first lunar month, all the local servants and soldiers of the capital were sent out, strictly prohibiting the civilians from talking about Shandong with the opposition soldiers. At the same time, the officers and soldiers of the Beijing camp went out to clear out the southern gate of the Tartars' heads piled up there.

On the 25th day of the first lunar month, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue of the Capital went to Jinan to visit relatives and friends. After living in Jinan for the second day, he first asked to meet with Shandong Governor Yan Jizu, and then through Yan Jizu's connection, he expressed his purely personal respect for visiting General Zhendong and General Shandong Li Meng.

Luo Shilang of the Ministry of Revenue is a native of Hejian Prefecture. Although he is close to Shandong, his ancestors have no connection with the ground in Shandong for generations.
To be continued...