It was getting dark, and night was falling.

The lights on Wuhu Fort are lit, the cooking smoke is curling, and the voices of dogs are no different from usual. Several butter candles were lit in the hall of the town general's mansion in the morning, and the whole hall was lit as if it were day. A banquet was being placed in the bright hall, and after Wuhu Island was under full control, Li Jing personally sent someone to invite all the merchants on the island to come to the banquet. The small merchants went outside to feast in the open air, while the shopkeepers of the large caravans with status backgrounds entered the hall to feast.

The banquet is very rich, and there are many excellent cooks in the logistics of the army, who can not only stew a good pot of dishes, but also make a lot of delicious banquet dishes. However, at the moment when the table was full of delicious food, no merchant could eat it at this time. They all sat there silently, motionless. If it weren't for the fact that the soldiers who had come to invite them were too 'enthusiastic', they would not have been willing to come to this feast.

When Li Jing and the generals came in, those merchants hurriedly stood up, but they didn't know what attitude Lu Dao should use to greet them. For a long time, as a result, these people didn't say a word, Li Jing smiled slightly, pressed his hand on them, and motioned for everyone to sit down.

Reconnaissance Captain Li Wei broke in, strode to Li Jing's seat, and said loudly without concealment: "Our army has completely controlled the Wuhu Islands, and all the five main islands are controlled by soldiers and horses. All the soldiers and horses on the island have surrendered, and the people and merchants have submitted. He had just returned from the interrogation room, his sleeves were rolled up in the cold, his hand was pressed against the horizontal knife, and his face was full of ferocity, and the merchants who looked at him were terrified.

"Any news of the fleet?"

"I've already sent my brother north in a speedboat, and I guess it won't be long before I hear back. General, do as you command. Our ships are hidden. It's business as usual on the surface of Goto. Our crossbowmen have been ambushed at all the docks, and the cannons and ballistae are in place. ”

Li Jing asked him to pour him a glass of wine, and the crimson wine was poured into the crystal clear luminous glass collected by the former owner of Wuhu Fort, which was beautiful. Ever since the town of Shamen brewed Wuliangye, a distilled liquor, the island's generals have fallen in love with it. However, Li Jing likes the fermented wine of Datang a little, the degree is not high, but the taste is very good. Especially during the war, he had to stay sober and not drink strong alcohol. It's a good choice to drink some wine in moderation.

After the wine was served, a team of soldiers from the logistics department served a famous dish at sea, dried eel.

This is a generation of Sui Dynasty left a famous dish, it is said that it was invented on the sea boat, the eel is made of fish, the skin and bone are removed, the fine meat is taken, the wisps are cut, the sun is dried for three or four days to make it extremely dry, and it is served in a new white porcelain bottle that is not stained with water. The mud is sealed, and after fifty or sixty days, it is still the same as fresh fish. When it's time to eat. Take out the dried carp and wrap it with a cloth, hold water in the urn, stain it for three moments, drain the water with a cloth, put it on a plate, finely cut the fragrant and soft leaves and spread it, mix it evenly and eat, the taste is as delicious as the fish just caught.

This dish is famous all over the world, and in the past, I am afraid that at any banquet, the host will take out this dish to feast guests, and it will be praised by all the guests. But today, although such a delicious food is in front of you, it does not attract anyone's attention at all. The merchants had no appetite, and neither did the generals of Salmon.

Lin Wu, Wang Chong and other officers of Shamen Town were all drinking honey water in small sips, and Li Jing had already ordered before the banquet that all officers and soldiers were not allowed to drink alcohol, and they must be sober and vigilant enough. Honey water replaced fine wine, and they drank glass after glass, with tension on their brows. The representatives of the merchants were even more straightforward, all of them sat solemnly, and no one even took a sip of wine.

Li Jing didn't seem to see everyone's reaction, and was very happy to taste this famous dish of the Tang Dynasty. He has eaten this dish no less than ten times, but he still can't get tired of it, and every time he feasts a guest, he must designate the chef in the logistics department to serve this dish.

The atmosphere in the hall was a little depressing, and one of the merchant representatives, a young proprietor who was not yet an adult, couldn't stand the tense atmosphere and cried softly. Li Jing asked people to send a large glass of Wuliangye to the young man who was white and thin, and had just grown a little fluff on his face, so that he simply got drunk and sent someone back after drinking it in one go.

"Tears," he said to the merchants in the hall with a smile after the woman had been carried out of the hall, "as is often said, a woman's weapon." Crying is just a performance of a girl, a man bleeds and sweats without tears, and the sword belongs to a man, doesn't it?"

"Gentlemen have to be a little bit like gentlemen, I can't stand this kind of little guy who looks like a prostitute, invite him to drink, not to cut his throat, cry and cry, annoy people, and ruin the atmosphere." Wang Chong said loudly with some irritability, and there was no news from Zhendonghai for a long time, which made him a little worried. If Zhendonghai is defeated by Feng Ming, it will be a big trouble. "Isn't it just to let you take some labor and military expenses, and don't you want to rob your wives and children, why are you picking at the rope, you don't want to give it, or do you want to keep it for Feng Zhang? General, if you want me to see, you just sent someone to raid all the warehouses on the island to count the balls, what a group of thieves, toast and don't drink and drink punishment. ”

Li Jing only drank the wonderful wine, and didn't seem to hear Wang Chong's threatening words at all. The effect of these words was enormous, and the businessmen, who had just refused to express their position and were unwilling to pay their labor and military expenses, immediately turned white with fright. They already knew the identity of this group of soldiers who suddenly captured Wuhu Island, and they were also under the command of Da Xie Yan, and they were also the only Shamen Town Army who did not obey Feng Zhang's command.

I heard that Captain Wu and Feng Liulang led the fleet to leave before, but they were preparing to fight Li Jing, but they didn't expect that now the old nest is being served. Listening to some of the meanings revealed in their words, it seems that the Shamen Town Army has also laid some trap in the north waiting for Captain Wu and them.

I really can't imagine that Da Xie Yan actually fought with himself, this is going to be chaotic. The businessmen are well-informed, and they all know that there are people behind Li Jing, and Feng Zhang's backer is Wang Jinwu, the tooth general of Qingzhou, but this Li Jing is also not small, and it is the backer of the Jiedu envoy and the Cui family. It's not clear what the outcome will be when this fights last. But they knew that if Li Jing really wanted to cut them, it was not impossible to rob their goods. Those who dare to raise troops to go to war, what else do they dare not do?

Immediately, several knowledgeable old men immediately opened their mouths and expressed their willingness to take out a batch of money, food, and labor for the army.

"Yicheng, we only need Yicheng to have the same amount of money and food as the goods." Lin Wu said lightly on the side, "Actually, you don't have to feel pain, if it weren't for the general's efforts to control the soldiers under him, how could you not suffer any losses in the battle?" If it weren't for the vigorous efforts of our soldiers to maintain order and bring to justice some scoundrels who wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to loot and cause chaos, perhaps your goods would have been gone long ago. ”

Although a group of businessmen have been convinced in their hearts, they still play the true colors of businessmen and begin to bargain. Li Jing ignored this and allowed them to discuss it with a few officials who accompanied the army.

"Come on, if we hadn't restrained our subordinates, not to mention your goods, your wives and daughters would have been raped by those blood-boiled and excited soldiers. After the battle, even the most disciplined army is on the verge of breaking out at any time. Now you are just paying some money and food to comfort the soldiers, and you have many excuses and reasons, and you are really profiteers. Wang Zhong listened impatiently to the increasingly unspeakable bargaining of these people, the entourage of the Shamen Town Army was not their opponent at all. If they continue to talk about it, it is estimated that this will be said to be half of the most successful.

There was a rush of footsteps, and Levi went and returned, "General, great victory!" ”

"But it's news from the front, tell me quickly." Li Jing stood up suddenly, saying that he was not nervous, it was just what he deliberately showed in front of everyone. In fact, this battle is very important, but he has staked all his net worth, and he cares more about the outcome than anyone else.

"Good news, great news. Tieshan reported urgently, our army's successful Tieshan Port lured the Da Xie Yan fleet into an ambush, and lured Feng Ming and the pirates into the shortlist with more than a dozen ships. The first time the Divine Fire was used, it was amazingly powerful, and it sank eleven warships, including Feng Ming's Zalou ship, and there was also a fighting ship among them. Then the enemy fleet fled, and another ambush of our army divided into two fleets to surround them, blocked them at the exit of the port, sank and captured many of their warships, and finally only eleven warships were left to escape. At the moment, the rout ship is heading towards us. ”

Li Jing was overjoyed, "Let's go, go to the dock." ”

Looking at the departing figures of Li Jing and other generals, the businessmen were frightened. They were all shocked by the news, when Feng Ming and Wu Qian set off, it was a full fifty warships, especially one building ship, two fighting ships, ten sea falcons, and eight ships, such a luxurious fleet was actually ambushed by Li Jing and only eleven ships were left? Even the building ship and the fighting ship are gone?

"Zhang Dianshi, the old man has decided to take out 10% of all the goods on our island and use them to work for the army."

"Me too, me too, and I'm willing to give a percent labor army."

"I'll have someone prepare right away"

The merchants, who were still bargaining just now, immediately changed their tone, and one by one they rushed to surround a few officials, shouting loudly for the labor army who voluntarily took out the goods. The head of a merchant's guard didn't know how to sneak into the hall, and shouted loudly: "Feng Liulang is back, fifty ships, five thousand men and horses have gone to sea, and only eight ships have returned, less than a thousand people." My lord, Feng Liulang and his men did not know what was going on on this island, and as soon as they got ashore, they were arrested, and all the people were captured, and only the remaining eight boats were also taken away. I heard that Captain Wu Qian died in Liaohai, and only a few officers came back with Feng Liulang, but now they are all prisoners and are being escorted back to the castle. ”

This news stunned all the merchants in the hall, just now they may have been a little skeptical of Wang Chong's words, but now, they finally believe that Li Jing not only captured Wuhu Island, but also wiped out the detachment sent by Feng Zhang.

This, Da Xie Yan is really going to change.

Outside the hall of the town general's mansion, there were suddenly bursts of high cheers, it was the Shamen town army celebrating this great victory! (To be continued.) )