My eunuch godfather

Chapter 63 Giant Bandits in the Mountains

Zhang Kun reaped considerable rewards from his crackdown on smuggled dried mushrooms in Tianjin:

Aside from the mortgaged houses, shops, and land deeds, the valuables included jewelry, silk, calligraphy, and paintings.

A fine of 46700 taels of silver and 51500 catties of confiscated goods were seized.

Zhang Kun directly distributed half of the fine to the three major government offices of Tianjin: the governor, the general, and the military commissioner.

We are grateful for the support of the three major government agencies for the Jin Yun ship; to be precise, it was a gesture of goodwill and neutrality.

Otherwise, Zhang Kun's investigation into the smuggling of tung oil in Tianjin would not have been so successful.

As for the land promised for planting tambaku, it was initially around 3200 mu.

Gao Ping of the Shengzhou and Lu Jizu of the Tongji were among those who proactively proposed various types of tampoo.

Zhang Kun only symbolically confiscated some red contracts or physical goods, and even lent back the fines collected without interest!

After learning about this, many of the penalized businesses rushed over to express their willingness to grow more basil.

Zhang Kun also returned part of the collateral to them and provided them with interest-bearing loans.

Of course, Zhang Kun also warned those who actively grow more bacon that if they only talk about it, they will be punished tenfold!

Dagu Port in Tianjin.

Dressed in men's clothing, Zhang Jingzhen rode her horse to a high point and looked out at the hundreds of ships moored in the harbor.

The sea in the distance is completely frozen over. After a few days of the coldest period of winter, large groups of people will be able to travel on the sea.

"sister!"

Zhang Zhiyuan arrived with several mounted servants, puffing out white smoke, and shouted at Zhang Jingzhen:

"Let's get going!"

Zhang Jingzhen turned her horse around and rode alongside Zhang Zhiyuan, and said:

"Zhiyuan, what do you think of Commander Zhang's performance in the battle of Tianjin?"

"indecisive,"

Zhang Zhiyuan felt that Zhang Kun's attitude was too lenient, and complained to Zhang Jingzhen:

"Why bother arguing with these lowly merchants when you have a knife in your hand? If it were me, I would have ransacked their homes and wiped out their entire families!"

"Without slaughtering countless people, how can the exorbitant profits from tampons deter newcomers?"

Zhang Jingzhen neither agreed nor disagreed with Zhang Zhiyuan's point of view, and glanced back at the harbor that was gradually receding into the distance.

Compared to mass killings, planting enough fresh rice in Tianjin would be a better way to stop the continuous smuggling by those ships!

......

Wangsheren Inn, Licheng County, Jinan Prefecture, Shandong Province.

The shop was named after a man surnamed Wang, a secretary in the Imperial Secretariat during the Zhenguan era of the Tang Dynasty, who retired and opened a shop here.

Inside a private residence, the notorious thief Zhang Jixu hummed a tune as he lay half-reclined on the bed, his feet tucked into the woman's lap.

The woman's mouth was sealed, her hands and feet were bound, her clothes were torn open, and her eyes were filled with pain and despair.

"Damn it, this family is so poor!"

The notorious thief Zhang Wenlang emerged from the inner room, pulling up his trousers. Upon seeing the bloodstains on his body, the woman couldn't stop her tears from flowing.

"Ha, this place is already very poor."

Seeing the woman's tears, Zhang Jixu laughed and asked Zhang Wenlang, "Was that young lady enjoyable?"

"Too tender, got covered in blood, kept moving around, so I strangled it."

Zhang Wenlang walked closer, grabbed the woman's neck forcefully, and turned to Zhang Jixu, asking:

"Did you say you wanted to give that person surnamed Zhou a new name during dinner?"

"Ugh, his old title of 'King of Red Pole' was so awful!"

Zhang Jixu kicked the woman hard in the chest and abdomen, and complained to Zhang Wenlang:

"We've gathered over a thousand brothers in the mountains; we deserve a more resounding title. How about 'King Ping Shi'?"

Suddenly, he screamed, "Damn!"

The woman had been strangled to death by Zhang Wenlang, and her incontinent fluids flowed out, staining Zhang Jixu's trouser leg.

"You filthy scum!"

Zhang Wenlang dragged the woman's body to the ground, stomped on her face several times, and then turned to Zhang Jixu and asked:

"The red pole refers to holding a large flag on a red pole. What does 'King Ping Shi' mean?"

"According to the storyteller, those corrupt officials who led troops into battle all called themselves 'the royal army'."

Zhang Jixu grabbed the blanket and wiped his trouser legs clean, then explained to Zhang Wenlang, "Then let's quell the royal army, quell the royal army!"

"Haha, what a great title!"

Zhang Wenlang laughed twice, then his expression suddenly turned sad. "Sigh, if Brother Guozhu were still here, how fitting this title would be for him?"

The two were remnants of Zhang Guozhu's forces who started the uprising in September. They became sworn brothers with Zhang Guozhu, and Zhang Guozhu also gave them their literary names.

Zhang Guozhu once led the refugees to break through Anqiu County, but was ultimately defeated and killed.

The two led the remaining troops of Zhang Guozhu westward into Yishan, where they met Zhou Yaode, the Red Pole King.

Now, following Zhou Yaode, they have gone to Qi Changcheng Ridge in the northern part of Mount Tai, and their scale has recovered and grown to more than 3,000 people.

The disaster and slaughter have completely eroded the humanity of these victims, turning them into wolves in human skin.

"People fear becoming famous, just as pigs fear growing fat. Have we forgotten why we've elevated this Zhou guy to the top?"

Zhang Jixu got out of bed and stood up, sneering at Zhang Wenlang:

"If the government troops come into the mountains to attack us and things get out of hand, we can have that Zhou guy take over while we run away first!"

"I haven't forgotten!"

Zhang Wenlang wiped away his tears and asked Zhang Jixu, "This place is so poor, should we rob it or not?"

"Take it, even if it's small, it's still a piece of meat. Let's go back to the mountains and call our brothers."

......

Licheng County is located in the northwest corner of Jinan City, specifically in the Jinan Weiwei City.

In the main hall of the garrison headquarters, Xu Bengao, sitting at the head of the table, looked worried. The reason was the garrison under his command:

From the capital to Tianjin, and then from Tianjin to Jinan, some fled and some were wounded, reducing the force to just over seven hundred.

This escape rate is almost catching up with the rate when Zhang Kun first established the river engineering battalion.

The main problem was the timing. We set off at the beginning of November, but now it's December, and the Lunar New Year is just around the corner.

In the freezing cold, coupled with longing for family, fleeing was inevitable.

Fortunately, the escapees were mainly horse-breeding warriors from the Imperial Stables, the Four Guards Battalion, and the Four Guards, while most of those from the Embroidered Uniform Guard were injured.

Otherwise, at this rate, it would be good if half of them made it to Nanjing!

But then Shandong Governor Li Changgeng suddenly stepped forward and asked Xu Bengao to lead his battalion to help wipe out a powerful band of bandits in the mountains.

Sending me into the mountains to suppress bandits in the dead of winter? Do they think my soldiers haven't deserted enough already?!

"Grand Commander, I believe Governor Li only wants us to go and lend some support."

With a broad smile, Zhang Kun approached Xu Bengao and offered him words of comfort:

"If we outsiders were really allowed to go into the mountains to kill bandits, they might actually be worried we'd cause trouble..."

In truth, the main responsibility for this matter lies with Zhang Kun.

It was Zhang Kun's desire to promote the Jin Yun's business in Shandong that led to the change of the route to pass through Jinan.

Otherwise, Xu Bengao and his party could have traveled south along the Grand Canal, passing through Linqing, Liaocheng, Jining, and so on, without having to go through Jinan.

The root of the problem lies with Lu Shou, who repeatedly urged Zhang Kun to advance the Shandong operations of the Jin Yun.

Lu Shou is unwilling to put in any effort; he hasn't sent a single penny to Shandong yet, and he just wants to reap the benefits without lifting a finger.

But he was the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial and concurrently the Director of the Eastern Depot, so even Zhang Kun's eunuch godfather had to kowtow and call him "Master".

Moreover, so far, they have not extended their reach into the business areas that Zhang Kun has already developed.

For example, seizing Zhenjinhao's shares was already considered quite lenient.

Therefore, Zhang Kun changed his route and went to Jinan to find Li Changgeng, the governor of Shandong, and asked him to help advance the project.

The other party was very friendly, but their conditions were very demanding. They required the battalion to assist in wiping out a large band of mountain bandits hiding in the Qichangcheng Ridge.

Since they were already there, Zhang Kun had no choice but to persuade Xu Bengao to go and support Governor Li.