Of course Qian Xiangmin didn't want to tie his head to his waistband to take risks for Chen Yingliang, but he had no choice. He lost 60% of the last time he escorted the royal porcelain, and Qian Xiangmin, who was lucky enough to be promoted to four levels in a row, had already fallen into the mortal world, and was beaten to the end. Cutting his job for the people and almost losing his head in prison, the whole family needs to eat and drink, and the newly-acquired concubine also needs to support them. That meager savings can't be bothered. There are ways to go, if Qian Xiangmin wants to make a comeback and become an official again, he has no choice but to hug the thigh of his old friend Chen Yingliang tightly.
Of course, Qian Xiangmin can also insist on refusing, and would rather not become an official than take this risk, but Qian Xiangmin is in his early forties, and he has neither backing nor ability. Zhongzai’s idea of starting a new business is just a dream, and it will be poor and starving to death soon after returning home, so Qian Xiangmin finally gritted his teeth and decided to take a gamble and take the risk of giving Chen Yingliang a cow. Once in the enemy camp, I hope that I can come back alive and get the eighth-rank official position of Qiaojun soldier Cao Shenjun promised by Chen Yingliang.
So, under the protection of two of Chen Yingliang's personal soldiers, Qian Xiangmin took Chen Yingliang's autographed letter and some gifts out of the city and headed straight for the bandit camp in the east. On the way, Qian Xiangmin regretted it for a while. He was extremely timid and wanted to run for his life, but unfortunately he was stopped by Chen Yingliang's personal soldiers. Then when he reached the border of Qiaojun County, Qian Xiangmin ran into the vanguard scout sentry of the rebel team head-on, and Chen Yingliang's two personal soldiers ran away. Running, Qian Xiangmin, whose legs and feet were not good enough, wanted to run but failed. He was quickly surrounded by a team of rebels, and was surrounded by vicious rebel soldiers shouting, beating and killing.
There is no other way, in order not to lose his head immediately, the poor Qian Xiangmin, Mr. Qian, can only quickly fly out the small white flag that he has prepared, while claiming that he is the envoy of Qiao County, while asking to meet the famous Xiapi hero Miao Haichao, saying It's something important to report. But it is a pity that what Qian Xiangmin encountered this time was a low-quality mutiny army. He has never encountered such a thing before. Kicking, verbal insults, and venting class hatred—fortunately, he was not in a hurry to kill poor Mr. Qian who was desperate, and sent someone back to report to the brigade.
Fortunately, just when the scholar met Qian Xiangmin, a soldier, who wanted to cry without tears, a large group of rebels had already arrived at the border of Qiao County. Qian Xiangmin, who has become a turtle in the urn, also sent some people to escort Qian Xiangmin to contact Miao Haichao's team. At the same time, he also sent people to report the situation to Du Fuwei, Fu Gongyou and other big thieves.
In this way, Qian Xiangmin, who was already bruised and swollen, finally found Miao Haichao's team under the escort of the soldiers of the militia. Hearing that Qian Xiangmin was an envoy sent by Chen Yingliang, and he even named people to visit him. Miao Haichao, who had never encountered such a thing, was of course shocked, so he quickly stopped the team and met Qian at the side of the road. Xiang Min, still looking at Qian Xiangmin who was bleeding from his nose, asked, "Are you the envoy sent by Xiao Chen Qingzhi? What's your name? Why are you here to see me?"
"My Majesty Miao, the villain's name is Qian Xiangmin." Qian Xiangmin wiped the nosebleed from his face, and said to Miao Haichao, "The villain is currently serving as an aide for Chen Yingliang and Chen Tongshou, the governor of Qiao County. Weng Chen Tongshou ordered us to come here specially to meet you and discuss a small matter with you."
As he said that, Qian Xiangmin took out another small cloth pouch from his waist, presented it to Miao Haichao with both hands, and said respectfully: "Master Miao, this is a gift from Chen Tongshou of Qiao County, please accept it with a smile." , don’t be too humble.”
Miao Haichao took the cloth pouch suspiciously, and when he poured out the contents, Miao Haichao was a little surprised again, but the soldiers of the militia who watched the excitement by the side screamed. It turned out that the pouch contained The four pure white pearls, the size of pigeon eggs, are quite valuable—this also made the soldiers of the mutiny army who escorted Qian Xiangmin here regret it very much, wondering why they forgot to search Qian Xiangmin's body? Then, of course, Miao Haichao asked Qian Xiangmin in amazement: "I don't know you Chen Tongshou before, why did he give me such an expensive gift?"
"Of course it's a show of respect." Qian Xiangmin, who is very good at flattering, finally got the director, and said with honey on his mouth: "Although we Chen Tongshou is far away in Qiao County, we have already heard about you, King Miao. I know that you are a rich man in Pi County, King Miao. Your family has a thousand acres of fertile land and more than forty pottery kilns. Dissatisfied with the exploitation and extortion of the people by corrupt officials, he resolutely gave away all his wealth to help the people, led the kiln workers to kill corrupt officials, and acted for the heavens. Send a villain to pay respects to you, and give you a little gift to show your respect."
Hearing Qian Xiangmin bragging about his proud deeds, Miao Haichao showed a smile on his face, and asked again: "You, Chen Tongshou, sent you here just to say these good things. , give these gifts? Can he be so kind? "
"Your Majesty knows everything, and you can guess it right away." While continuing to flatter, Qian Xiangmin took out a letter from his arms and explained, "I don't want to hide this from King Miao. In fact, we, Chen Tongshou, have another one for you." A small request, I beg you to act in front of King Du Fuwei, and persuade King Du not to invade Qiao County, but to go to other counties for food. Thank you very much. This is a letter written by Chen Tongshou, please read it."
Miao Haichao was completely stunned, as were the generals and soldiers of the militia army next to him. One of the generals said, "Your Chen Tongshou, is he dreaming? Our army has already reached the edge of Qiaojun." It’s on, why should we divert the troops and retreat? Why should we listen to you?”
"Generals, don't worry, please listen to me." Qian Xiangmin hurriedly clasped his fists, nodded and bowed and said, "If the kings agree to divert their troops and stop invading Qiao County, we, Chen Tongshou, would like to give you five A thousand stones of grain, two thousand bolts of cloth, and two thousand coins are my thanks."
Since the outbreak of the peasant uprising at the end of the Sui Dynasty, although there have been numerous civil uprisings, this is the first time that local officials have bribed the rioters to pay protection fees. After hearing such strange things, Miao Haichao and others were inevitably even more surprised. Hai Chao also quickly opened the letter, and saw that Chen Yingliang made a similar request in the letter, begging himself to speak well in front of Du Fuwei, persuading Du Fuwei to give up his plan to invade Qiao County, and promised that as long as Du Fuwei would retreat and divert his troops, Qiao County gave Du Fuwei's team a sum of money and food as a thank you. In addition, Chen Yingliang naturally flattered Miao Haichao in the letter, blowing Miao Haichao as rare in the sky and unique in the earth, and told Miao Haichao straight to the point that as long as Miao Haichao persuaded Du Fuwei to retreat successfully After that, Chen Yingliang sent another batch of gold, silver and jewelry to Miao Haichao.
After reading Chen Yingliang's so-called autograph letter, Miao Haichao felt complacent besides being extremely absurd, and asked with a smile, "Don't you Chen Tongshou claim to be the little Chen Qingzhi, who is invincible? Why, you know today Scared?"
"My Majesty Miao, we Chen Tongshou are indeed a little scared." Qian Xiangmin replied respectfully according to Chen Yingliang's prior instructions: "But we Chen Tongshou are not afraid that King Du will enter Yongcheng and want his head. We Chen Tongshou Tongshou is very sure about defending the seven cities of Qiaojun. We, Chen Tongshou, are just worried that after your team enters Qiaojun, King Miao, you will inevitably plunder the people in Liangxiang. We, Chen Tongshou, have just sent a villain to visit you and beg you to facilitate this matter."
"Your Chen Tongshou still has such a bodhisattva heart?" Miao Haichao smiled sarcastically, and said, "I have seen a lot of corrupt officials who oppress the people. If you Chen Tongshou loves the people so much, I really don't care." Never seen it."
"King Miao, our Chen Tongshou is not a corrupt official." Qian Xiangmin hurriedly said, "Your Majesty Miao, you can send someone to inquire immediately, and see if Chen Tongshou has told the people since he took office in Qiao County. Did you add one cent to the rent, and have you ever blackmailed the people with a needle? If so, you will cut me off immediately, Your Majesty!"
Seeing that Qian Xiangmin spoke so confidently, Miao Haichao didn't continue on this issue, but asked with some doubts: "Since you Chen Tongshou wants to exchange money and food for us to divert, why don't you go directly to Du Fu?" King Wei Du said this? Why did you come to me first?"
I don't know if there is someone from Du Fuwei next to him, Qian Xiangmin replied timidly and carefully: "King Miao, because you are very chivalrous, you are not stained by mud, and you can understand Chen Tongshou's love for the people, so we I just came here to ask for your help. As for King Du, I am afraid that not only will he not understand our Chen Tongshou's painstaking efforts to protect the people, but he may be greedy enough to threaten the lives of thousands of innocent people, extort and force us Chen Tongshou Shou took out more money and food, such a thing, you will never be able to do such a thing, King Miao."
Quietly saw that no one from the militia around was furious, on the contrary, there were quite a few people nodding their heads. Qian Xiangmin, who had some experience in the officialdom, guessed that these people must be Miao Haichao's subordinates or even his confidantes, so he became much more courageous, and hurried again. Said: "King Miao Mingcha, in fact, our Chen Tongshou's proposal is beneficial to both of us. King Miao, your team went to Qiao County for food, and our Chen Tongshou was forced to send troops to resist. No matter what the result of the battle, your subordinates will suffer. But if you can make this happen, then you and we don’t need to die, you have food to eat, and we in Qiao County don’t need to kill or hurt innocent people, so the best of both worlds, wouldn’t it be wonderful?”
After that, Qian Xiangmin hurriedly added another sentence, "Of course, we Chen Tongshou will not let your hard work be in vain, King Miao. After the matter is completed, we Chen Tongshou will send two thousand shi of food to King Miao and your team alone. One thousand guan, and twenty fat pigs and twenty fat sheep each, to repay King Miao for your kindness."
As a rebel general who voluntarily led his troops to join Du Fuwei in history, and did not betray Du Fuwei when he was in trouble twice, and followed Du Fuwei until the end of the Tang Dynasty, Miao Haichao is of course a good character. There was something commendable about it, so after hearing what Qian Xiangmin said, Miao Haichao was naturally a little tempted—because it was indeed a proposal that had the best of both worlds. But Miao Haichao's confidantes immediately became extremely excited, and they encouraged each other: "Brother Miao, promise, this is a good thing, you don't have to work hard to get food, it's much better than grabbing it directly."
"That's right, brother Miao, please agree. Our team may not be able to grab so much food when we enter Qiao County, so we might as well just agree."
Hearing the instigation of his confidantes, Miao Haichao was inevitably more tempted, and couldn't help thinking of giving it a try, but when he was about to say yes to bring money to Xiangmin to see Du Fuwei, Miao Haichao's eyes turned to In the other direction - where the crowd was surging, a tall young man led a group of strong men in their twenties and thirties into the circle. Miao Haichao didn't dare to be negligent, he hurried forward to salute the young man respectfully, and called out, "King Du."
"King Du? Is he Du Fuwei?!" Qian Xiangmin's eyes almost popped out of their sockets, because Qian Xiangmin discovered that the legendary villain in front of him, Du Fuwei, was as young and childish as Chen Yingliang in appearance and age. It seems to be slightly younger than Chen Yingliang—in fact, Du Fuwei is only sixteen years old, one year younger than Chen Yingliang, who is seventeen years old.
"Brother Miao, I heard that the dog official Chen Yingliang sent someone to see you by name, what's the matter?" Du Fuwei asked old-fashioned.
"He is the envoy sent by Chen Yingliang." Miao Haichao first introduced Qian Xiangmin to Du Fuwei, then briefly explained the reason for Qian Xiangmin's visit, and finally submitted Chen Yingliang's letter on his own initiative, and Chen Yingliang sent him Give yourself a precious gift, treat Du Fuwei who is at least ten years younger than you with a very respectful attitude.
Hearing Qian Xiangmin's intentions and seeing Chen Yingliang's autographed letter, he had never encountered such a thing. Du Fuwei was of course extremely surprised, but the generals who turned into militiamen behind Du Fuwei laughed wildly. Chen Gouguan was as timid as a mouse, but that's all, only Tian Baishe, who had lost his left hand, didn't laugh wildly, but poked his head out from the crowd, and said to Du Fuwei: "Godfather, be careful, Chen Yingliang is always treacherous. In case of any change, in my son's opinion, godfather, you'd better kill this dog official envoy immediately, so as not to cause trouble."
"Godfather?!" Qian Xiangmin was dumbfounded again. Although Qian Xiangmin had never seen Tian Baishe, he could tell that Tian Baishe was at least in his thirties—a middle-aged man in his thirties was called a sixteen-year-old. Seven-year-old boy godfather, this is the first time Qian Xiangmin has seen such a strange thing.
"What are you afraid of? It's not easy to kill the envoy of the dog officer? It's a matter of one sentence." Du Fuwei smiled, first carefully looked at Qian Xiangmin, and suddenly asked: "You want to use money and food to ask me to retreat or change the route, then Why didn't Chen Yingliang send you directly to ask for an interview, but why did he ask Brother Miao Haichao Miao first?"
"sharp!"
Qian Xiangmin, who had been in the officialdom for a period of time, felt his heart tightened, and only then did he discover Du Fuwei's excellence. A boy of sixteen or seventeen can actually ask the key to the point. This ability is afraid of many grown men. nothing! Surprised in his heart, Qian Xiangmin just wanted to open his mouth to answer truthfully, but stopped when he reached the point of his mouth—answered Du Fuwei directly with the words just now, saying that Du Fuwei is not a good character, and Miao Haichao is a good character, that's why he said it first. Come to beg Miao Haichao, isn't this courting death? It was also at this time that Qian Xiangmin suddenly remembered an important event. Chen Yingliang forgot to teach himself how to answer Du Fuwei's terrible question!
Here I have to say, if Qian Xiangmin knew that Chen Yingliang actually forgot to teach him to answer this question to Du Fuwei on purpose, then Qian Xiangmin would cover his face and cry bitterly, how did he meet such a white-eyed wolf
"Why didn't you answer?" Seeing that Qian Xiangmin was stunned, Du Fuwei immediately raised his voice, and shouted: "Answer! Why didn't you come to me directly, but asked Brother Miao first?"
Qian Xiangmin timidly went to take a peek at Miao Haichao, seeing that Miao Haichao was embarrassed and could not answer, Qian Xiangmin hesitated again, and could only bite the bullet and said: "Go back to King Du, because we, Chen Tongshou and Miao Haichao Your Majesty is an old friend, that's why you sent the villain here to ask King Miao to intervene first, and also ask King Miao to introduce the villain to you on your behalf."
Before Qian Xiangmin finished speaking, the complexions of the dozen or so strong men behind Du Fuwei changed, and they looked at Miao Haichao with strange eyes. Du Fuwei asked Miao Haichao directly in amazement: "Brother Miao, are you old friends with Chen Yingliang?"
Miao Haichao was extremely troubled, but it was inconvenient to tell Du Fuwei what Qian Xiangmin said just now, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and nodded, saying: "I met him once when I was selling goods in Daxing the year before last, but I'm not familiar with him. , I didn’t even know his name at the time.”
The group of strong men behind Du Fuwei looked even more strange, Du Fuwei laughed and said: "Brother Miao, you should have said it earlier, your friend is my friend, in fact, I have long wanted to see it with my own eyes. I met this legendary little Chen Qingzhi, if I knew you had such a friendship with him, I would ask you to introduce him no matter what."
"It's just a chance encounter, I'm not familiar." Miao Haichao replied with a sad face: "If the person he sent didn't take the initiative to mention it, I would have forgotten that I had met this person before."
"King Du, if you want to meet us, Chen Tongshou, it's easy." Qian Xiangmin hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "As long as the king agrees to borrow troops to change the route, we will not only send the promised money, food and cloth, but also our Chen Tongshou." There will also be a banquet to entertain you and the kings."
Du Fuwei smiled and did not answer, but turned to Miao Haichao and asked, "Brother Miao, what do you think about this matter? Yes? Or not?"
Because of the small details just now, Miao Haichao, who was already tempted, hesitated again, but the old Xiapi generals around Miao Haichao didn't care so much, and said one after another: "Du Dawang, you should agree, the boy surnamed Chen agreed to give it to us." Money and food are not small, and it’s just the beginning of spring, and the folks don’t have much food. Even if we enter Qiao County, I’m afraid we won’t be able to grab so much food. It’s better to promise him as a favor, so that we can get more money and food. "
Listening to the persuasion from Miao Haichao's old department, Du Fuwei always had a hearty smile on his face, but he never spoke, just waiting for Miao Haichao's answer. But Miao Haichao hesitated for a moment, then nodded, and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, brothers are right, this is a good idea to have the best of both worlds. It is just the beginning of spring, and even if the situation in Qiao County is relatively good, the people don't have much food. How about Agree to Chen Gouguan’s request, as long as he gives us the money and food, we will retreat and divert our troops—anyway, robbing there is not robbing, so why must we rob Qiao County?”
"Okay, since Brother Miao also agrees to talk about peace, I'll discuss it with Brother Fu to see what he means." Du Fuwei nodded with a smile, and then ordered: "Sons, take this envoy of the dog official with you." Come on, go back and discuss with Big Brother Fu."
"promise."
A dozen strong men in their twenties and thirties agreed abruptly, and a few others came over and took the money to Xiangmin and left. Du Fuwei handed back the four pearls to Miao Haichao and said with a smile: "Brother Miao, You lead the team to continue marching, I will go to discuss with Brother Fu and let you know the result."
The magnanimous Miao Haichao nodded in agreement, but all of Miao Haichao's old subordinates showed dissatisfaction, and many people said: "Mom, why don't you call us brother Miao to discuss such a big matter, really think we are going to the rebel army Is it your dog?"