Chapter 280: Mars on the way

The first thing Ling Hua and others asked Zhang Yue to do was very simple, that is, to ask Zhang Yue to take a large group of people to go around the counties in Qingzhou Prefecture to see how the tax collection was going. Although it is not the New Year's Eve, it is the right time.

It was an important time to collect summer taxes. Even after so many people had been killed, it would not be easy for the tax collector and Li Jia to collect taxes. Therefore, even though he knew that people were using his reputation as an imperial envoy to scare people, Zhang Yue was upset.

After laughing and scolding him, he finally agreed.

As a result, Lu Feng was weak in collecting money, and Zhang Yue was running errands until he was weak. While having to argue with many businessmen, he met some people who resisted taxes from time to time. When they returned to Qingzhou Station every night, the two of them

They all fell asleep, but got up in high spirits the next day, and even greeted each other warmly when they went out together. Seeing this scene, the postmaster Xu Sansheng and the servants thought that the two imperial envoys were working together, and they never imagined that the two imperial envoys were working together.

The two parted ways after going out.

Eight days passed quickly. During this period, Zhang Yue took time to see off Liu Da, Xu Er and others, and sent a family member to follow them south in order to bring a letter to his father Zhang Zhuo. When he arrived in Qingzhou, he should

When he was sent back by the officials, Zhang Yue glanced at Lu Feng's tanned but proud face, and couldn't help but gently pinch the pile of things in his sleeve.

It is said that middle-ranking officials love money, and the money this guy continues to receive is probably worth the summer tax of a county!

Although the dispatch of 500 people from the Beijing camp this time was the order of Emperor Zhu Di and was sent by Anyuan Hou Liu Sheng, the generals and soldiers were so few that they also wanted to make some money. Fortunately, there were naturally considerate merchants who took care of this matter, and everyone was waiting for them when they returned.

Even if he didn't get a lot of money, his withered waistline was bulging with something. So, after leaving Qingzhou City, when Zhang Yue told Zhou Bailing, who was leading the army this time, to be more careful by sending out sentries along the way, the other party immediately

I agreed without hesitation.

"I know what I should be wary of now. Don't worry, sir. These five hundred people were all those who accompanied the emperor to fight against Arutai during the Northern Expedition. They are all first-class heroes. Marquis Anyuan has already ordered you to protect me in advance.

Zhou Quan, if there are bad people who want to do harm to you, we will never let anyone go! It's not just a boast of humble position, it's not a big deal for those bastards to come with three to five thousand!"

Lu Feng, who was in the car in front, poked his head out of the car window and happened to hear these words. He immediately curled his lips and felt a little depressed in his heart. Although today's eunuchs are different from those in the Hongwu Dynasty and Jianwen Dynasty.

However, those princes and uncles never really paid attention to the eunuch, otherwise Zhou Bailing would have said these words to himself. Thinking of this, he put down the car curtain, and a trace of malice suddenly appeared in his heart.

That Qianhu boasted so much. If he really encountered a rebellion of three to five thousand mud-legged people on the road, let’s see what he would do!

Shandong has lots of water and mountains, and even the official roads usually have to go over mountains and bridges. Since the sergeants accompanying this time are all elites from the Beijing camp, they are equipped with swords, pistols, firecrackers, archers, etc., and the front and rear scouts are also well-equipped.

With enough foot power, and the flag bearers on horseback waving their flags, it was natural for everyone to retreat and pass unimpeded along the way. When they crossed Shangshan, even Zhang Yue, who was a little wary at first, let go of his thoughts, thinking that after all, what he had brought with him

He is an elite soldier in the Beijing camp, and there should be no one who underestimates his ability and takes advantage of him.

Xiaomeng Water is a tributary of Xiaoqing River. It is now the dry season in summer, and the gravel in the river bed is almost exposed in this small river. After crossing the bridge, it is the boundary of Jinan Prefecture. Looking from this side of the stone bridge, the official road on the other side of the river can be vaguely seen.

Winding through a dense forest on the opposite side. After a day's journey, Zhou Bailing had been sending scouts in pairs to explore the road ahead, and this time was no exception.

It was almost noon. Since there were no villages nearby and they had to go to Zhangqiu for accommodation in the evening, everyone stopped by the river and ate some dry food to fill their stomachs. Lu Feng was busy collecting money before leaving and actually forgot about it.

Prepare snacks. At this time, I could only eat the pancakes prepared by the two young eunuchs. After a few bites, I lost my appetite, so I jumped off the carriage to stretch my legs and feet. Slowly walking to Zhang Yue's carriage, he suddenly felt something in his heart.

I opened the car curtain and caught my first glimpse of the box on Zhang Yue's lap.

"Sir Xiao Zhang is really very particular. This colorful holding box with the pattern of the Three Friends of Suihan seems to be something from the palace. I only saw it at the Queen Mother's place. I didn't expect you to carry one with you when you go out."

Zhang Yue was used to using good things in his life, such as mother-of-pearl beds, blue and white porcelain, organs, kiln covers, bowls, carved lacquer tables and chairs, but now he didn't take the furnishings seriously. Hearing this, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then smiled.

Said: "This box was given to me by my British father-in-law before I left. I didn't know it was so precious. It was just used together with the red lacquered gold food box that was sent with it. This box was specially made for my two book boys.

How many pieces of the jujube cake you bought can you give to Mr. Lu?"

Seeing the golden snacks in Zhang Yue's box, Lu Feng couldn't help but think of his two loyal but useless little eunuchs. He couldn't help but cursed secretly, then stepped forward to take a piece, joked and went there.

He walked back. Before he could put the piece of jujube cake into his mouth, he suddenly heard a banging sound not far away, and looked around blankly. Before he could figure out what happened, there was a sudden sound from behind.

The force of the blow caught him off guard and he was immediately thrown to the ground, his nose hitting the hard ground. The severe pain at that moment almost made him cry out.

In anger, he yelled and cursed loudly. However, the next moment, he heard many banging sounds, so the anger suddenly turned into panic, and the panic turned into fear.

In the chaos, Lu Feng only felt a light movement from his back, as if someone pressing him moved away. However, he did not dare to move at all, even though there were harsh gravels under him, even though the skin on his palms was scratched, even though the skin on his palms was scratched,

His chin was resting on the sharp part of a stone, but in the final analysis, life was the most important thing. He could only hear the sound of several soldiers unsheathing their swords, and occasionally he could hear the vague sound of firearms being fired, and the sound of messy footsteps.

And there were shouts...until someone reached out and grabbed his arm, and he instinctively dug into his chest. He didn't find the dagger, but only a thick stack of bills.

At that moment, he almost regretted it. When he started on the road, he thought the dagger was cumbersome, so he had already packed it away and put it in his luggage. How could he have thought that such a thing would happen?

"Eunuch Lu, it's okay. Someone fired a firecracker in the forest just now, and Qian Baihu and his men have already chased after him. I saw a bright spark and knocked you down. Were you injured anywhere?"

It wasn't until he recognized that it was Zhang Yue's voice that Lu Feng raised his head with his elbows propped up. He saw rows of sergeants with different weapons already forming a semicircular formation, and there were still sounds of fighting in the woods on the other side of the river.

, he breathed a sigh of relief and stood up with Zhang Yue's hand, but his legs were already completely weak.

Seeing a dent in Zhang Yue's carriage and the rubble not far away where he lay down, and seeing Zhang Yue's clothes were in a state of disarray and his black gauze hat was crooked, he couldn't help but swallowed a mouthful of saliva with lingering fear, giving birth to a wave of anger.

The feeling of surviving a catastrophe. After standing in confusion for a while, he gradually remembered what Zhang Yue said and what happened just now, and hurriedly bowed deeply.

"Master Xiao Zhang, thank you very much just now!"

Zhang Yue glanced sideways at Peng Shisan and saw that someone looked like he was fine. How could he tell that he had just been pushed by someone and knocked down Lu Feng to use him as a meat mat? But for this unexpected encounter,

, he was really a little frightened. Although he was not a military general, he had veteran generals like Zhang Fu and Zhang You in his family who had experienced battles in the field, so he was no stranger to the Ming Dynasty's military system.

According to the military system of the Ming Dynasty, every 100 households had ten gunmen, twenty swordsmen, thirty archers, and forty gunmen. Private possession of long weapons and firearms was strictly prohibited, and distinguished scholars were allowed to wear swords, but they were not allowed to carry short swords or daggers.

and an ordinary soft bow. However, the one just now was clearly a fire blunderbuss, and the distance was as high as a hundred steps, so it was obviously a military weapon. However, this was not the time to think about this, so when Lu Feng bowed deeply to him, he had no choice but to step forward and shoot him.

He was helped up and comforted a few times.

Everyone waited in formation for more than an hour before Qian Baihu, who led the pursuit, brought his men back angrily. Two severely injured scouts and seven prisoners also came back with them, and a dozen of his subordinates were slightly injured.

He paid a military salute to Zhang Yue with a serious face, and then reported in a rough voice: "Sir, the first shot was fired by the injured You Daniu. He shot him immediately after he was attacked. For

We were reminded that there was an ambush, and then these dogs tried to assassinate us. Unfortunately, many of them didn't know how to use firecrackers, but a few of them exploded and injured people, and only two shots were fired. When I led the people to catch up,

Just in time to catch their tails, we fought with muskets, bows and arrows for a while, killing more than a dozen people, and captured these alive. Some of them ran north. It's a pity that we don't have cavalry, otherwise we would have to catch up and kill them.

Damn it!"

Glancing at the prisoners who were caught by a string of ropes, Zhang Yue stepped forward and looked at the two injured scouts. When he saw the injured sergeants, their faces were filled with evil spirits, and the rest were all filled with murderous intent.

He immediately took a deep breath and asked Qianhu Zhou Bailing: "When you were fighting, what would you do if you captured prisoners or killed enemy prisoners?"

"If they are noble men of the Meng Yuan Dynasty, let them be handed over to the Shangguan. Where can the rest have food to feed them? Just chop off their heads to repay their merits!" Zhou Bailing did not expect that this time he almost capsized in the gutter, and at this time his face showed

He gritted his teeth and said with a stern look, "Those idiots have brought back the gun money from Baihu. When the time comes, we will find out who did it! If I know which guardhouse dared to sponsor the enemy, I will skin him alive."

he!"

Seeing the prisoners all staring at him with resentful eyes, Zhang Yue made up his mind in an instant and immediately ordered: "Since you have been beheading people in the past to repay your merits, then behead the people you killed before."
Chapter completed!