Zhang Zian didn't say anything with a gloomy face. He had just learned about this problem.

He was happy for a few days. The problem came. These animals could eat grass on the grassland, but there was not so much grass for them to eat in Datong? You can't drive them to the grassland to grazing again, right? In order to feed these animals, it is an amazing number to consume grassland every day! Not to mention that there is no silver to make a payment in the past month, Zhang Zian owed the forage merchants tens of thousands of taels of silver in the grass grain money!

"Father-in-law." Wang Ju whispered, "Caomin advises you that it is best to deal with these animals as soon as possible, otherwise, I am afraid that even the money for fodder will not be able to be worth the money."

Zhang Zian frowned and asked, "How much can you pay according to Mr. Wang's meaning?"

Wang Ju said: "Dadonnacle, Cao Min just calculated that if he had sold all the animals of his father-in-law, the price would not exceed 800,000 taels. Otherwise, he would have to pay."

"What?" Zhang Zi'an said with a dark face, "800,000!"

This number is too far from what Zhang Zian expected. Wang Ju agreed to, plus the 800,000 promised by the other five companies, the combined total of only one million, but Datong owes pay and Xiaojing's land in the palace was 1.1 million taels. After all this, Zhang Zian still had to pay the silver in it?

Thinking of this, Zhang Zian really regretted it. If he had known this, why would he rush to seek credit from Master Longsheng and his ancestors?

"Father-in-law." Wang Ju said with a bitter look, "The grass people have difficulties with grass people. You can't let the grass people lose all the family business heirlooms at once, right?"

"Eighty hundred thousand is too little." Zhang Zian took a breath and said, "How about one million and a half million?"

Wang Ju shook her head and said, "A maximum of 820,000 taels!"

Zhang Zian gritted his teeth and said, "One and three hundred thousand!"

Wang Juebu said in pain: "850,000!"

Zhang Zi'an's facial muscles twitched twice, and said cruelly: "One and two million!"

"Eunuch Zhang, it's not that Cao Min, it's not that Cao Min has to lower the price. It's really that Cao Min has taken out all the money in the box, which is really only 850,000." Wang Ju said this, and suddenly seemed to remember something, and then said, "But, if you can convince your third brother to lend him money to Cao Min, then Cao Min will pay 1.2 million to buy this batch of animals."

"Mr. Prince?" Zhang Zian said in surprise, "Last time he told our family that he had no money in his hands?"

"That's the case." Wang Ju quickly explained, "When my father-in-law looked for the third brother last time, he did not have any money on hand, but he also had a batch of Liaodong ginseng and Dongzhu. This time, the grass-roots helped him take it to the capital to sell it, and he exchanged it for another 400,000 taels of silver."

"So that's the case." Zhang Zi'an nodded and said, "But, the prince consort is your brother, Mr. Wang, will he lend you money?"

"Don't mention it." Wang Ju shook her head and sighed, "If the third brother is willing to lend money to Caomin to go to Beitongzhou to stockpile grain, how could Caomin sell the ancestral property? I'm going to tell you. Before leaving, the third brother once repeatedly told Caomin that the money was exchanged for land by brothers under his command from Liaodong for land, and it can only be used for pay and pensions, and it must not be used for other purposes. Only the father-in-law, you have to say that it is for the court, otherwise he may not be willing to borrow it."

Zhang Zi'an said, "But the prince-in-law hasn't come back yet."

Wang Ju said: "But Mr. Zhen has come back, so my father-in-law can go and find him."

"Where is Mr. Zhen?" Zhang Zi'an said. "We will see him now."

"Please wait, father-in-law." Wang Ju said, "Caomin asked someone to invite Mr. Zhen to come."

Wang Ju ordered, and the pillar who was serving the other side took the order. In less than a cup of tea, he led Zhen Youcai into the living room. Zhen Youcai pretended to hold his fists and bowed a long time. He said loudly: "Little man Zhen Youcai, please see Eunuch Zhang."

Zhang Zi'an hurriedly said, "Sir, don't be too polite."

Wang Jusu said, "Mr. Zhen, please sit down."

"Thank you, Mr."

Zhen Youcai thanked him and sat down under Zhang Zi'an.

Wang Ju looked at Zhang Zi'an and said, "Mr. Zhen. I want to discuss something with you today."

Zhen Youcai said respectfully: "Please tell me, uncle."

Wang Ju said: "This is the thing. Didn't my father-in-law defeat the Tumotes in Monan with the border troops of Datong Town, and he also captured a large number of livestock. I wanted to buy these livestock, but I couldn't get so much cash for a while, so I wanted to borrow 350,000 taels from the third brother's bank warehouse. I wonder if it's OK?"

Zhen Youcai said, "It is said that the old man is the general's elder brother, and this matter is also the father-in-law's business. The father-in-law's business is the court's business. Both the villain and the private villain should agree. But before the villain came back, the general once repeatedly reminded that the money was exchanged for land for the brothers' lives. Without the general's permission, it must not be misappropriated without authorization. Uncle, the villain is also in a difficult situation."

Zhang Zian was about to laugh after listening to Zhen Youcai's first half sentence, but after listening to the second half, he immediately pulled his face down again.

Wang Ju asked in a low voice: "Mr. Zhen, can't you be more compatible?"

Zhen Youcai said carefully: "It's not that I can't be at all comfortable, but the villain really doesn't know how to say this?"

Wang Ju said: "Mr. Zhen just said it."

Zhen Youcai said: "The general's bank deposit has such a silver. This silver was originally intended to be used to pay pensions to the family of the brothers of the Zhenjiang brothers. If it is embezzled and lent to the old man, it will have to compensate the families of the fallen brothers. The villain thought the best way was to find something for them to do, which would give them a long-term hope of living."

Wang Ju said: "I don't know what the compensation method is?"

Zhen Youcai said: "The villain also learned about the situation in Datong City. There are not many people in other places. Only the three weapons workshops and two gunpowder bureaus in the name of my father-in-law are idle, and they can still place a lot of people. Therefore, the villain guesses that if the villain can come forward to take over the work of these three weapons workshops and two gunpowder bureaus, and then arrange the families of the fallen brothers to work in it, then even if the pension bank is temporarily used for other purposes, no one will tell the villain behind the scenes behind it, and the general will not blame the villain after he comes back."

"this……"

Wang Ju looked at Zhang Zian as if embarrassed.

"Our family thought it was a difficult thing, it turned out to be this." Zhang Zian said disapprovingly, "What's the difficulty? Tomorrow, our family will let those managers go to find Mr. Zhen. From tomorrow, Mr. Zhen, you will be the actual operator of the three weapons workshops and two gunpowder bureaus. But there is a saying that we have to say in front of us. It is best not to let too many people know about this matter, and we must make the account clearly, so as not to send people to investigate us. We still have to pay the annual amount of the reincarnated army according to the number."

Zhang Zian really made the decision.

Although these three weapons workshops and two gunpowder bureaus are both official workshops, who can still distinguish between official and private workshops these days? The Ming Dynasty’s towns and guards secretly handed over the official workshops to private enterprises. In fact, this was a forced one. Otherwise, the little money the Ministry of Works to the towns and guards would not be able to maintain the operation of the official workshops at all.

Zhang Zian just didn't find a suitable person to manage for a while, otherwise he would have taken out three weapons workshops and two gunpowder bureaus. Now Zhen Youcai came here himself, but he also solved the problem of livestock money by the way. How could Zhang Zian have any reason to refuse?

After resting for five days on the northern foot of Yinshan Mountain, Wang Pu led his army to march towards Datong.

The march was much smoother. First, the Mongolians who were nomadic on the prairie had already hid in their winter camps. In such a cold and cold season when water turned into ice, even if the Mongols knew that there was a Ming army wandering south of the desert, they would find it difficult to summon large-scale troops, and small Mongolian cavalry did not dare to provoke them. Second, they had grabbed enough supplies from the Chahar camps. The sleds built by Wang Pu not only saved the soldiers from the suffering of marching in the snow, but the soldiers of the entire army rode horses and returned to the border of the Ming Dynasty leisurely.

At the Mopan Mountain Pass, a hundred households in the Datong border military and area are stationed here.

That morning, two soldiers from the border stomped their mouths with long spears and stomped their mouths. As usual, when they were on duty, a strange sound suddenly came from the vast snow fields in the north. Although the sound was far away, it sounded very imposing, as if many people were yelling at the same time.

"No, it's the Mongolian Tartars!"

A whistleman's face changed. He quickly picked up a special iron rod and knocked hard on the iron plate hanging on the mercedes. In an instant, a crisp "dangdang" sounded throughout the pass. The soldiers of the border soldiers who were sleeping heavily at the Inner Mongolia head of the pass were all dressed up and got up, snatched the weapons and rushed to the pass in chaos.

"What's going on?" The Baihu Office asked sternly as he pressed his helmet on his head, "Are you the Mongolian Tartar?"

The whistleman came up and replied in a low voice: "It seems."

"What does it mean?" Zhang Chang was furious and slapped the whistleman in the face. "Yes, no, no."

The whistleman covered his face and shouted to the north of his finger: "Master, listen to that."

Without the need for a whistle, the soldiers of the border soldiers who had been snatching the pass also heard the sound, and the sound was much clearer than before. After listening for a while, a strange look suddenly flashed across their faces. Then the voice began to read: "The flag is fluttering. The horse is shaking, the gun is on the shoulder and the knife is on the waist..."

"It's not the Mongolian Tartars." The general frowned. "It's the words of our Ming Dynasty."

"Look at me, our Ming Dynasty army!"

A sharp-eyed soldier suddenly shouted under his fingers.

The soldiers of the border army looked along the direction of the soldier's fingers and saw a Ming army emerging from behind the ridge. The soldiers were all dressed in rags, their hair was as messy as chicken coops, and their beards were as messy as wormwood. However, they were full of energy, with their heads raised and their chests raised, and their steps were neat, as if they had won a great victory.

At the front of this army was a large white flag, which looked dirty and broken, with neither border nor banner, and was painted with a dark red fork on the surface. This pattern was confusing. It was obviously not the national flag of the Ming Dynasty, but it did not look like the surname of a general. Anyway, it just made people unable to understand it.

This army is of course Wang Pu's army. Because the Mopan Mountain Pass is between a mountain, several ridges have to be crossed through the pass. The horse pulls a sled and can slide like flying on the flat ground. However, when it comes to the uphill section, a horse cannot pull several adult and strong men no matter what. As a last resort, Wang Pu has to order to walk in a row.

Looking at the towering pass ahead, Wang Pu felt a lot of emotion.

It has been a whole month since we left the frontier on the first day of the first lunar month. This month is truly an unprecedented severe test for Wang Pu and his army. However, what is gratifying is that this army finally withstood the test and they are back!

Although it suffered huge casualties, it was completely worth it.

When he went out of the frontier, Wang Pu had more than 4,000 people. If we included the 1,000 team that Zhao Xin brought to assist in the battle later, the total force was actually more than 5,000, but now Wang Pu has only more than 2,400 people left. Judging from the numbers alone, more than half of the casualties can be said to be a heavy loss.

But Wang Pu did not regret it at all. In fact, this result was much better than Wang Pu expected.

Wang Pu led 4,000 troops out of the frontier to train soldiers, to temper a group of veterans and gangsters who were used to defeating battles into a confident elite soldier. And he was an elite soldier who was completely loyal to Wang Pu! In Wang Pu's expectation, he was satisfied that these more than 4,000 veterans and gangsters would be able to leave a thousand horses. As the saying goes, soldiers are more important than elite soldiers, more powerful, and more powerful. Wang Pu Ning would like to ask for one thousand elite soldiers with good training, well-equipped and absolutely obedient commands, and he would not want five thousand veterans with low morale, poor equipment, free and slow disobedient commands.

This time, the dispatch of troops outside the border was like a cruel and cold-blooded knockout match. The soldiers with weak physique and low combat qualities were all ruthlessly eliminated by cruel battles. And the remaining 2,400 veterans were all strong and extremely outstanding combat qualities, and they could be said to be the elite soldiers among the elite soldiers! Wang Pu believed that a veteran like this could be better than ten ordinary soldiers on the battlefield!

A loud roar brought Wang Pu back to reality.

"Stop!" The border army at the pass shouted the general. "Don't get closer, we will shoot arrows when we get closer!"

After saying that, with the order of the general, more than 100 border soldiers crowded at the pass pulled their bows and arrows, aiming at the group of beggar-like soldiers at the pass.

Scarface ignored the threat of military forces above, and strode to the door and shouted loudly: "Don't worry, open the door! Also, let your people put down the bow and arrow, and dare to put the arrow at me again. Believe it or not, I twist your heads off as a chamber pot?"

All the soldiers of the border soldiers on the closed side were stunned. They had never seen such a arrogant person before, so they could not help but look back at their boss. The boss was also confused and quickly waved his hand to signal his subordinates to put down the bow and arrow. When they spoke, they were not as confident as they spoke, and asked carefully: "Which ward do you belong to?"

"Which ward?" Scarface said viciously, "I'm a Beijing camp!"

"What?" Zhang Zhang was confused and said, "Why did Jingying go out?"

"Can you open the door?" Scarface was impatient and shouted. "If you don't open the door, I will bring someone in!"

At this time, a soldier was closed and ran to General Ba. He whispered: "Bao, the admiral of the Beijing camp, isn't the prince consort at home? These people are afraid they are the prince consorts."

"Yes, yes, why did I forget this?" Zhang Guan slapped himself hard and shouted quickly, "Hurry, open and close the door!"

In Datong, the mansion of the eunuch Zhang Zi'an.

Zhang Zian was staring at the twelve silver boxes lined up in front of him in a daze. The cattle, sheep and animals captured from the Tumotes finally got rid of them. Most of them were sold to the Wang family, and a small part was sold to the other five. The total amount of silver was 1.4 million taels, which was a total of 1.4 million taels of silver. Zhang Zian had never seen so much silver in his life!

However, when Zhang Zian felt a little left after deducting the rewards of the border soldiers, owed wages and pensions, and deducting the 500,000 yuan from Xiaojing Palace, Zhang Zian felt a little confused. So much money would turn into someone else's place in a blink of an eye. How could he not feel sad?

When Zhang Zi'an was heartbroken, the voice of the little eunuch suddenly sounded outside: "Godfather, I have something urgent to ask you."

"You wait outside first, and our family will come out soon."

Zhang Zi'an quickly covered all the twelve silver boxes tightly, turned to the outside room and asked, "It's so late, what's wrong?"

The little eunuch said: "Godfather, my son has heard some rumors recently. It seems that a group of people from the palace came to the Dai Prince's Mansion."

"People in the palace?" Zhang Zi'an looked moved and frowned, "Will people from the palace come to find our house, but go to the Dai Palace?"

"Godfather." said the little eunuch, "I guess someone reported the secret from my son, and the matter of the prince-consort sending troops to help my godfather, the palace sent someone to investigate the matter."
To be continued...