When they saw that the Ming army was very close to their side, Cao Ding at the bottom and Minzhuang who were serving in conscription may just be nervous, but for the escort officers of the fleet, they knew very well that this was a tacit agreement between the upper echelons and the Ming army. The officers of the Green Battalion did not know how high the top of their side was to reach the agreement, nor did they know what rank the collaborators on the Ming side were; However, they are almost certainly from Sichuan, because similar strange things have happened more than once when facing the Sichuan army.

The officer who escorted the ten boats called his henchmen together and avoided the others from a distance: "I look up to the thief of Dang Shousu, but I didn't expect him to be a gutsless rat." We can't return the silver, and if we leak the news, we will be killed. ”

If the party Shousu took the silver, the officers and soldiers of the green battalion would kill the people who were in service, throw the corpses into the river, set the grain boats on fire, divide the silver, and report that a small army of the Ming army had robbed the boat, the soldiers had all run away, and the people had been arrested, who would be able to find out? Even if the Ming army killed the brothers who escorted the two boats, they only had to pay out the money to compensate their families, and it was more realistic when they reported it - we still resisted, didn't we?

If you can't get the sealed silver, some people will feel that they are busy in vain, and they will go down in anger to tell the secret, or they will be depressed and talk to others, how to explain this? It's just that everyone kept their mouths shut, left the team for several hours, and didn't go back until dark, how to explain it?

"Big brother, do what you say." The person who had just escorted the ship to the Ming army camp was the first to express his position. When they broke up in the afternoon, he had the determination to lose his head, and after he was killed by Dang Shousu, as long as others were willing to support his family according to the oath - but it was originally a matter of wealth and danger, and the Ming army had never been sorry for the soldiers in the past two years, and sometimes they would pay severance pay. Although this person knew that he was in danger of being killed when he left, he also felt that he might not necessarily die, after all, Dang Shousu was also from the west, and his style of acting may have been influenced and controlled by Deng Ming.

However, I didn't expect that Dang Shousu was too strongly influenced by Deng Ming, and he was able to let go of the silver and food sent to the door in vain, making it difficult to ride a tiger now.

"It's better to do what we originally discussed, and the brothers can't take a risk in vain. I gave up my life to meet our guerrillas. The leader of the company, Mr. Qian, said: "You first look at the people and the boat." ”

Now, it is necessary to do it to the end, but since the party has not taken it, it is not easy to cover up the past. Since there is a tacit understanding between the top leaders of the Qing army and the Ming army, there must be a channel for information exchange. However, according to the total estimate of escorting thousands, the channel will not be very smooth: if Dang Shousu takes two boats of things, ask here and reply with the word "yes" there, and it is impossible to say how much; But if you don't take it at all, the surname may be too big, and you have to bribe the people on your side.

When everyone heard this, their faces turned pale with fright, they were a big crime of killing their heads, if they didn't think that they would be able to use the Ming army as a guise to get through, who would dare to do this business? Isn't it self-defeating to bribe Shangguan now?

"The brothers are all playing with their lives, and I can't be without responsibility." This responsible Qian always shouted: "Don't go back yet, if I don't come back before dawn, you can divide the money and run away, how many can escape." I'm just going to give it a try, and if I do, we'll still see my family. ”

In Qian's mind, the things on the ten boats were lost, and the guerrillas above had to be involved. If you want to play, you can play big, just drag the guerrilla into the water, let him come forward to report that he was attacked by the Ming army, and if it's a big deal, he will pay the big head to the general, at least a different way of life.

……

"Liu Ji, you are such a big dog." After listening to the report of his subordinate Qianzong, Wang Han sneered vigorously. Just now I heard a report from my subordinates that suddenly ten boats were missing, and Wang Han was as anxious as ants on a hot pot, with 20,000 stone of grain and 10,000 taels of silver in it. There is such a big leak, and the deputy general in charge of this Cao Yun will not spare Wang Han.

With just one order, Wang Han can push Liu Ji out and break the corpse into ten thousand pieces, but his accomplices are still outside, even if they are all hunted back, most of the food in several boats will not be saved.

And Wang Han was indeed a little moved. He couldn't help but think that when he learned that ten boats were missing, his first thought was that they had been robbed by nearby thieves, and if he couldn't find them tomorrow morning, Wang Han planned to report the suspicion that they had been robbed by the camp first. Therefore, Liu Ji's idea is actually quite reasonable, that is, the means are a bit rough and have not been seriously pondered.

However, under normal circumstances, even if there is such an opportunity in front of him, he will not let Wang Han make a move to guard and steal, he will still arrest Liu Ji without hesitation, and he will not be threatened for such a small profit.

But now the situation in Jiangxi is very abnormal, under the pressure of the western Sichuan army, Jiangxi subscribed to a large number of bonds, Zhang Chao in order to get out, but also regardless of the promise that the Ming army can use the bonds to buy Jiangxi porcelain in the future. The treasury has been emptied, and the profits from the porcelain trade have been discounted, plus the pressure of this year's transportation task...... Jiangxi's financial resources have been completely exhausted, and the phenomenon of arrears of military salaries has not occurred for several years, but now it has suddenly resurfaced in Jiangxi.

Not only that, the Jiangxi governor Yamen also openly stuffed a kind of bond to the army, and when he saw the words "Ming War Bond" printed on it, Wang Han really wanted to cry without tears. Shangfeng has already explained, not only can he not pay the silver now, he can only use the debt to make up the amount, and he will continue to pay this military salary in the next year, and the proportion may become larger and larger. Only after Deng Ming returned the silver to the governor's yamen could Wang Han use this bond to go to the governor's yamen to ask for silver.

In order to shirk responsibility, the governor of Jiangxi, Yamen, also sent a very despicable official letter to the army, in which he declared that it had been found that the Ming army had been involved in promoting a kind of "Ming War Bonds" in Jiangxi, and that some people below had embezzled military salaries to buy such bonds from the enemy country, and asked the generals of each battalion to strictly investigate whether there was such a matter internally, and then report it to the truth.

Under the coercion of the governor's yamen, Wang Han had already reported to him that there was no such thing in the army according to the intention of his superiors, and he himself was loyal to the imperial court, and would never covet a little interest (it is really very pitiful, very pitiful) and do such a crazy thing. Now the governor's yamen has Wang Han's report in his custody, and if he dares to threaten the officials with the bonds in his hand, the governor's yamen can immediately put the black pot on his head and punish him according to the crime of reversing black and white and deceiving the government.

The governor's yamen could forcibly apportion the bonds to Wang Han as silver, but to whom could Wang Han apportion them? If he sent it to his subordinates and was stabbed out, the governor's yamen would have his guarantee, and he could only die unjustly, and then make an iron case. Therefore, Wang Han not only had to worry about these bonds in his hand, but also hoped that the Sichuan army would be able to repay the governor's yamen the money a year later, so that the governor's yamen could compensate him, but also had to face the gnawing and complaints of the officers and soldiers below because of the arrears. In order to appease his subordinates, Wang Han even took out his pocket twice.

"If he hadn't been in arrears of military pay again and again, Liu Ji might not have done such a thing, right?" Looking at Mr. Qian, who was kneeling down with his head bowed, Wang Han suddenly felt a sense of sympathy in his heart: "Get up, what you said just now, I would have thought it was a dream, and I don't remember anything......"

Wang Han carefully explained to Liu Ji what he should do, that is, he was indeed robbed by the Ming army and lost everything, if something goes wrong in the future, tonight's incident was also done by him Liu Ji alone, Wang Han didn't know the inside story at all.

"Thank you, sir, thank you for not killing." Liu Ji went out with great gratitude, he knew that his life had been saved, and he could go home in the open. However, he knew that the share of silver that was filial to the guerrillas was indispensable.

"Go ahead."

After sending Liu Ji away, Wang Han pondered for a while, and asked his soldiers to call the other Qianzong under him, suggesting that each of them should report a little loss - this is not only to increase their own income, but also to make everyone wet their hands, so that no one will be angry and go to the informant.

This time, Jiangxi sent 500,000 stones of grain and 1.5 million taels of silver, Wang Han had about one-fifth in his hands, and he planned to report the loss of 200,000 taels of robbery, half of which was used to appease his subordinates, and the remaining half In addition to his own share, he also needed to take care of the escort deputy general on this trip.

After explaining the task clearly, Wang Han asked his soldiers to carry 50,000 taels of silver to go with him at night.

After meeting the adjutant general, Wang Han reported that the army had violated the tacit agreement and attacked some of his boats, of course, these attacks Wang Han was not an eyewitness, but a report sent by his subordinates. Wang Han knew that Cao Yin was taken away from the crime and was heavily responsible, so he took advantage of the night to plead guilty, hoping that the deputy general would help him say a few good words for the sake of his years of diligence. t

After Wang Han left, Jiangxi's deputy general Caoyun circled around the box of silver several times. He was well-informed, so he immediately understood that what kind of benefit fee was for saying good things, which could only be hush money for self-theft by the guards.

"You're a!" The adjutant scolded in his heart.

Just now, Wang Han complained while pleading guilty, because the military salary was insufficient, so the soldiers did not have the morale to defend the boat desperately. Wang Han also faintly mentioned that when the deputy general asked him to subscribe for war bonds a few days ago, he didn't say anything, so he hoped that the deputy general could help him tide over this difficulty.

The subtext of the lieutenant was completely understood, and it also resonated with him - it was all to blame for the hateful war bond, as a lieutenant, he had more losses than his generals.

"The political envoys have bought Daming's war bonds, can't I rob the silver for Daming?" The adjutant general snorted, and finally made up his mind: "Come on, go and call all the escort officers to me immediately." ”

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