roccoschili Chapter 60 Zhang Yang in the Clouds + Provisional Military Commander
Chapter 60 Zhang Yang in the Clouds + Provisional Military Commander
Chapter 62 Zhang Yang in the Clouds + Acting Military Commander (Two chapters combined, 10,000 words per day, please subscribe!)
Lu Bu summoned Cheng Lian and, along with five or six other wandering knights who were already on the roster and about to enter the training grounds as soldiers, loitered near the military camp outside the city.
They relied on their father's authority to maintain order.
Even though he was just a commoner, he acted with impunity.
He noticed that some of the county soldiers were harassing the villagers who were doing small business nearby, so he went up and punched them, making the soldiers grimace.
Faced with Lü Bu's sudden attack, these county soldiers, who were used to being arrogant and proud, were unwilling to swallow their anger.
The first reaction after being hit is either to turn around and call for help, or to get up straight and want to teach this young, still-developing kid who suddenly attacked them a lesson.
only...
The more fiercely they resisted.
The severity of the beatings only increased.
Fight to the very end.
He was almost bruised and swollen, lying on the ground, unable to get up for a long time.
Seeing the tragic state of his companions, the number of soldiers gathered increased, almost a dozen, surrounding Lü Bu.
Lu Bu, however, simply ignored him.
The more people there were, the more excited he became.
Just as he was looking at the dozen or so county soldiers in front of him, preparing to throw a punch!
Not far from the crowd.
The soldier who was knocked down by Lü Bu with a single punch yesterday for bullying Li Bo is now rushing towards this place, dragging along a young man wearing a red hat, a black robe with crimson trim, and a long sword at his waist.
Upon seeing that Lü Bu was still there, the rogue soldier was immediately overjoyed.
"Uncle Zhi!"
"That's the kid! I heard his surname is Lü!"
"Yesterday, I only ate a few dates from an old man, and this kid immediately came up and punched me with his men!"
"My chest still hurts from all that beating!"
"I thought this kid would probably run away after hitting someone, but I didn't expect him to come back today."
.
"And they even fought against so many of their comrades in the army!"
"Uncle Zhi, you're very skilled. There aren't many people in our group who can beat you! Please teach him a lesson for me!"
The better, beat him until he's black and blue, so badly that even his own father wouldn't recognize him!
"That's how I feel better!"
"I'll go back and speak to your uncle in the family, put in a good word for you, and get you back as the village head!"
Hearing the words of his companion beside him, whose reputation was never good and who liked to steal and do petty things, Zhang Yang, who had been forcibly dragged over, felt a headache coming on.
He and his companion were both from Yunzhong County. In fact, the gathering place was in Yunzhong, so they didn't need to come here to camp.
only...
After being humiliated some time ago, he acted impulsively and abandoned his post as the garrison commander in Yunzhong County. He killed someone in Jiuyuan City, fearing that he would be captured when he returned.
He then lived in seclusion, wandering back and forth in the mountains between Wuyuan County and Yunzhong County.
Since news came from Yang last month that there would be another general amnesty, he dared to set off to return to his hometown of Yunzhong County.
only...
Before he could return to Yunzhong County, he encountered his uncle, who was serving as the county magistrate in Linwo City, one of the ten cities in Wuyuan County, and who was coming to Jiuyuan City to gather.
Thinking that if he rushed back to Yunzhong County now, he might not be able to catch up with the war, and besides, since a general amnesty had been granted, his enemies probably wouldn't have much of a way to take revenge on him.
And so.
He then followed his uncle to Jiuyuan City, where they camped together in the military camp outside the city, awaiting the start of the great battle.
I spotted a particularly fierce-looking young man not far away.
He turned his head and looked at his fellow villager beside him. He thought that the man had a close relationship with the uncle who had taken him in. If he could really be reinstated as the garrison commander, he might be able to make more contributions on the battlefield.
"I'll only help you this once!" Zhang Yang took a deep breath, threw down these words, and strode towards Lü Bu.
"You'd better go back and try to persuade my uncle!"
"Definitely! Definitely!" Seeing that Zhang Yang was really going to stand up for him, the soldier who brought him there was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly.
Meanwhile, Lü Bu was inside the crowd.
At that moment, he felt that the group of county soldiers who had surrounded and attacked him were all useless, as fragile as paper, and could be killed with a single punch.
He doesn't even need Cheng Lian and the others' help; he can handle it all by himself!
It wasn't until a young man wearing a red turban and a crimson-edged black robe squeezed into the crowd from the outside, rolled up his sleeves, and threw a punch at Lü Bu that things began to unfold.
Only then did Lü Bu sense a slight danger.
He turned his head and looked at the expressionless young man, his face becoming increasingly excited.
That's how it is.
"Constable Lü, we want to follow the army. As long as you win the battle, we can buy your spoils and horses on the spot and exchange them for five-zhu coins!"
"This will save you the trouble of carrying the spoils around everywhere; they're quite heavy!"
"If you can help us get permission to follow the army, we can offer you a small gift."
Hearing the words of the middle-aged man who claimed to be Zhang Shiping, Lü Ping raised an eyebrow, but couldn't help but sized up the middle-aged man in front of him.
Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang are trying to profit from the war!
Buying on the spot is indeed convenient, but it will definitely lead to price gouging. You can easily buy some and resell them for huge profits!
No wonder he started his business after only a few years; he's really quick-witted.
Although Lü Ping had only been in this world for a short time and didn't know much, when he chatted with Shen Pei about future battles, Shen Pei inadvertently mentioned that some merchants would accompany the Han Dynasty's army on its marches.
Even after the army finished fighting, there would be special military markets for soldiers to exchange what they needed, and there would even be special officials to manage them.
The so-called Military Market Supervisor, with a rank of 600 shi, was in charge of military market transactions and collected taxes to pay military salaries.
Of course, it wasn't so simple for merchants to join the army; they either had to get permission from the army to follow the laborers and auxiliary soldiers.
Either the war wasn't intense enough, and the army commander didn't order them to be driven away, so they secretly followed along, leaving their lives and fortunes to fate.
Recalling the military market situation that Shen Pei had introduced to him, Lü Ping pondered for only a moment before slowly speaking under the expectant gazes of Su and Zhang.
"This might be possible, but I need to go back and inquire first before I can give you an answer."
Upon hearing this answer...
Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping exchanged a glance. Zhang Shiping stepped forward and grasped Lü Ping's hands. Several small, hard objects slid into Lü Ping's sleeves in an instant.
"Then I will trouble you, Mr. Lü."
Without making a sound, Lü Ping concealed the several hard objects, which he could tell were small gold cakes, into his sleeve pocket.
Then, he glanced at the many idle wandering knights of Youji outside, and then at Uncle Li standing to one side. As if he had thought of something, he asked curiously.
"Oh, right!"
"With no war recently, are your band of wandering knights just bored out of their minds?"
Su and Zhang didn't know what Lü Ping was going to do, so they just exchanged a glance and nodded, looking a little bewildered.
"That's true."
"Before the war started, the horses from the Xiongnu were still selling at normal prices. If you buy them now with your companions, you'll lose a lot of money when the war is won and the price of horses drops sharply."
"Therefore, we can only wait here for a while longer..."
Lu Ping's smile grew even wider.
"Since that's the case..."
"Brother Zhang, could I borrow your group of wandering knights for a while to escort a caravan to a Xiongnu tribe and deliver some goods?"
"As for the money and supplies needed to rent your group of rangers..."
"Let's use this little gold coin as payment for now!"
talking.
Lu Ping then took out a small gold coin from his sleeve.
Seeing that the gold ingot that had just been given away was now placed in front of him by Lü Ping, who wanted to borrow his own group of wandering knights again.
The two Malaysian business leaders exchanged a glance, both looking utterly astonished.
As dusk approached.
.
Clusters of swallows flew in from the south, where they temporarily stayed for the winter, and landed in the courtyards of every household in Jiuyuan City.
In the courtyard of the Lü family.
Lu Ping lay on his side on the bed, holding five small gold coins in his hand, lost in thought. The snow-white raccoon cat was lying beside him, snoring softly.
Today, I simply followed Uncle Li to the caravan's camp, and I unexpectedly received these five small gold coins, as well as the opportunity to borrow the caravan's wandering knights for a few more days for free.
It can be said that the harvest was not bountiful.
The gold ingots were secondary; converted, they amounted to just over five thousand coins, barely enough for the monthly wages of each of the artisans hired by Lü Ping.
In the Han Dynasty, there were two main types of gold ingots. The large gold ingot weighed a full 100 grams, which was equivalent to five iron coins and could be considered as ten thousand coins.
The small gold cakes that Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping gave us today weigh only about ten grams each, and are very thin. They can only be converted into a thousand coins.
The most profitable.
These were the dozens of wandering knights that Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping lent to him free of charge after much deliberation, who could serve as his bodyguards.
In the afternoon, Lü Ping and Uncle Li went to another caravan where Lü Ping did odd jobs and arranged for Lü Ping to provide wandering knights to help escort smuggled salt.
With just one trip, the round trip takes no more than seven or eight days, and one can easily obtain more than ten thousand coins worth of goods.
At that time.
Even if we give some to these wandering knights, we can still have four or five thousand coins in our hands! After running around two or three times before the battle, wouldn't that cover the wages of those craftsmen?!
certainly...
This is ultimately just a short-sighted solution.
Most importantly, we need to quickly improve Cai Lun paper, form a core competitive advantage, and then establish our own chamber of commerce.
Caravans can operate sustainably and be self-sufficient.
"The matter of establishing a chamber of commerce can be put on the agenda in three to five days, after the first batch of improved Cai Lun paper is produced."
"However... war is about to begin, and I will need to lead my troops to the north. I will need some trustworthy stewards who can read and write to manage the guild and help operate it..."
Thinking this, Lü Ping began to talk to himself again, but... as he spoke, his brows suddenly furrowed.
The lack of scholars is a real disadvantage of being from You and Bing regions. In a place like Jingzhou where private schools are thriving, a few students could easily be recruited from those schools.
"Who should we turn to now?"
Just as Lü Ping was deep in thought, Lü Bu's slightly joyful voice suddenly rang out from outside the courtyard.
"Father!"
"Look who it is!"
Upon hearing the sound, Lü Ping raised an eyebrow, got up and went outside, turning his head to look towards the courtyard.
Then, his own eldest son, who was being taken advantage of, led a young man wearing a red turban, a black robe with crimson trim, and a long knife at his waist into the courtyard.
Where did these soldiers come from?!
The moment Lü Ping saw the young man, he instinctively looked at his face.
Although the young man had a bruised and swollen face, looking as if he had offended someone and been punched hard by some tough guy, he looked very familiar.
Seeing that Lü Ping kept staring at his face, Zhang Yang, who was quite handsome when he wasn't injured, felt rather uncomfortable.
However, before he could step forward to pay his respects, Lü Ping recognized him through his injuries and looked on in surprise.
"Oh, it's Uncle Zhi!"
"I heard that after you killed that merchant, you fled. I never imagined you were still in Jiuyuan City!"
"As expected of Uncle Zhi! What courage!"
As he spoke, Lü Ping glanced at Lü Bu, who was standing to the side looking somewhat guilty, and sneered inwardly. Then, he looked at Zhang Yang and asked Zhang Zhishu curiously.
"By the way, don't I remember that Uncle Zhi was very strong and skilled?"
"What...where did you get those injuries on your face?"
The words were finished.
Seeing this, Yang subconsciously glanced at Lü Bu to the side, while Lü Bu, looking extremely guilty, kept his eyes down and remained silent.
Lu Ping immediately guessed the whole story.
No wonder my eldest son has been going out every day these past few days; he's been getting into fights again. The ones he fought with before were just wandering knights.
Now that they've become Cai Yong's disciples, things have changed! They've become disciples of a great Confucian scholar, their status is different, and the people they fight are different too—they've even started fighting soldiers?!
Just as Lü Ping was about to speak, to make a few sarcastic remarks about his adopted eldest son...
suddenly.
A few more somewhat familiar calls rang out from outside.
Is anyone in the courtyard?!
"Lu Bo!"
"The government officials have arrived! Several carriages have come, and they look quite impressive! It seems that Wang Fangbo, as well as Shen Pei and Shen Zhengnan, are following behind those carriages!"
"I was just passing by when Shen Pei and Shen Zhengnan recognized me and quickly pulled me aside, urging me to come over ahead of time to inform Uncle Lü!"
"What do you mean?"
"The appointment from the court has been approved! The previous memorial to the Minister of Personnel has been passed!"
talking.
People outside were still hurrying into the courtyard!
Hearing the noise outside, Lü Ping, who was about to speak, suddenly stopped talking. He looked at Cheng Lian, who had barged into the courtyard, and raised his eyebrows slightly.
"It's already evening, and so many carriages are coming looking for us?"
"Could it be... that my appointment as the acting Marquis of Qu has been granted?!"
Upon hearing this...
Zhang Yang, who hadn't even answered Lü Ping's previous question, was immediately stunned.
"Qu Junhou?!"
"No... Uncle Lü, when we met a month ago, weren't you still working as a minor official at that ferry crossing?!"
"When did you become a Qu Junhou?! Qu Junhou isn't an easy position to hold! I've been in the army for so long, relying on my clan connections, and I'm still just a hamlet leader!"
As he spoke, he seemed to realize something, and stepped forward to grab Lü Ping's arms, asking for his guidance in a low voice.
"Lu Bo!"
"You must teach me how to get promoted so quickly!"
Seeing Zhang Yang in front of him, before Lü Ping could speak.
Outside.
Another burst of noise came, gradually approaching and growing louder.
Several carriages and a dozen familiar officials on horseback slowly came to a stop at the entrance of the Lü family compound.