Late Tang

"Have you received Wang Jingwu's invitations for tonight's banquet?" Song Wei said in a tired voice, holding the invitations just handed over by the housekeeper in front of him.Song Wei's words drew chuckles from the crowd, with a hint of ridicule towards Wang Jingwu in his tone.

The flower hall in Jieshuai Mansion is not small, but it is full of people at this time.These people are all important allies and subordinates of Song Wei in Qingzhou Jieshuai's mansion.The first one on Song Wei's left side is an old man with gray beard and hair, who is over half a century old, but even though he is over half a century old, his ruddy complexion, and his figure, which is much bigger than ordinary people even when he is sitting, make him very attractive at first glance. I know he is a general.The old man smiled lightly: "Except for those scoundrels and beggars in Qingzhou City, I'm afraid that everyone in Qingzhou City has received his invitation."

Sitting opposite him is Li Jing's teacher Cui Yunqing, who is currently Ziqing Jiedu Sima and Yingkou Deputy Ambassador, only under Song Wei and Jieshuai Deputy Ambassador Kang Chenghui who just spoke.What's more, he is also the head of the Cui family, the largest family in Qingzhou, and Song Wei is not only a superior-subordinate relationship, but also an ally relationship.Cui Yunqing said: "Deputy Envoy Kang is wrong. I heard from my family that Wang Jingwu not only invited all the officials and patriarchs of Qingzhou City, but also all the merchants in Qingzhou City posted posts. He also invited those beggars and refugees. He has set up a porridge shed outside the gates of the four cities in Qingzhou, and said that he will give porridge for half a month on behalf of his son."

"Wang Jingwu is buying people's hearts. If he had been buying people's hearts a few years ago, he could have directly sued him for buying people's hearts and plotting to rule against the law." The speaker was Jiedu judge Lei Gang.

Song Wei stroked his beard, and said in a low voice, "Let him be arrogant for a few days. It's just a son, and it's neither a hundred days nor a year old. It's too arrogant to make such a fuss." After a pause, he looked at Lei Gang and said, "This time Lei Judgment personally made a hard trip to Dengzhou, and he has asked Li Jing to lead his troops here. You can tell everyone about the specific situation."

Lei Gang nodded and stood up. He is also in his 50s. He traveled from Qingzhou to Dengzhou in a short period of time, and then back to Qingzhou from Dengzhou. A few days have passed, and he still feels a little tired.

"Li Jing has obeyed the call of Song Jieshuai and Cui Sima, and has led an army to come. There are six battalions of soldiers and horses, a total of 6000 people. Coming from the sea, there are one thousand sailors and more than two thousand infantry. , the cavalry has nearly 3000 troops, all of which are the most elite troops under Li Jing's command."

Deputy Commander Kang Chenghui said with some doubts: "I remember that Li Jing was not Cui Sima's protégé just accepted last year. At that time, I heard that he was just a native villager. How come there are so many soldiers now? "Kang Chenghui is the younger brother of Song Wei's teacher Kang Chengxun. Kang Chengxun was also from the Forbidden Army. , for one side of Kang Chengxun's army to run the battalion.The relationship between the Kang and Song families is very ordinary. Kang Chengxun was later questioned by the court, and Kang Chenghui turned to follow Song Wei. For many years, he has been his right-hand man.

Lei Gang said with a sigh: "Then Li Jing is extraordinary. I didn't go to Shamen Town, Dengzhou personally, and I can't believe many things. It is indeed not a fluke that Li Jing defeated Feng Zhang successively. This time I will go In Dengzhou, I saw with my own eyes that Shamen Town is different from other places, and it is full of vitality. During my time in Dengzhou, Li Jing defeated Duli Town and Beisha City successively. Now, in addition to controlling Daxie Village, Duli Town has also been conquered, and Qingni City and Beisha City have been occupied. There are more than 40 people in the three places, and there are more than [-] soldiers."

"More than [-] soldiers? How is this possible? Li Jing is powerful, but how long has he been in Shamen Town? Where did he get the money to raise so many soldiers? Could it be that he took some civilians and pretended to be soldiers indiscriminately, pretending to be false? Bar."

Lei Gang shook his head: "I haven't seen the more than ten thousand troops that Li Jing left in Liaodong, but when Li Jing returned from Liaodong triumphantly, I saw with my own eyes the six or seven thousand soldiers and horses that returned to the division. Not only the soldiers were Young and strong, and well-armored, there are even a large number of elite cavalry."

Song Weidao: "It's not impossible for Li Jing to have so many soldiers. Didn't Feng Zhang secretly accumulate [-] soldiers in Daxie Village? Previously, Li Jing sent armaments twice, adding up to two to three thousand swords, guns and armors. It can be seen that Li Jing has no shortage of ordnance. It is a good thing for Li Jing to have more soldiers, but his appetite seems to be a bit big right now. Although Li Jing agreed to send troops to Judge Lei this time, he was not satisfied with thanking the soldiers. The horse envoy and the suppressing envoy raised the reward and made a request, Judge Lei, please tell everyone."

"Li Jing proposed that after he sent troops to help us eradicate Wang Jingwu, he demanded that he be made the Governor of Dengzhou. In addition, he asked to give his troops a military title." Lei Gang said.

"What? This Li Jing is too much, but for a small town general, he has been in the army for less than a year, and the general promoted him to be a soldier and horse envoy of Daxie Village. If you dare to open your mouth, you want the position of governor of Dengzhou. You also need a military number. In our Ziqing Town, except for the Pinglu Army, no army has a separate military number. Give him a military number, can he afford it? "Some generals said dissatisfied.In the eyes of these generals in the handsome mansion, Li Jing, who had never seen it before but only heard about it, really made people envious and jealous.After joining the army for less than a year, he has already become a military envoy and has his own territory.Generals like them, who have not been in the army for more than ten years, have fought many battles before they have the status they have today.But they have worked hard for half their lives, but in the end, they are not as good as Li Jing, a kid who spent a year.

"I received news that when Li Jing dispatched troops, he had already cut the army first and then played it. He had already issued the military number without the consent of Song Jieshuai. He organized his soldiers and horses into five compartments, and the military number was in the east. 5000 troops. At present, the soldiers led by Li Jing are the 5000 troops of the fifth battalion in the middle compartment, plus a sailor battalion in the front compartment." Lei Gang told the latest news he had received.

As soon as the news was made public, everyone in the hall couldn't help being shocked.I was surprised that Li Jing was so bold that he dared to set up his own military number and form his own army without Song Wei's consent.And I was also surprised that Li Jing had so many soldiers and horses, a total of 25 battalion heads, forming five compartments.The general army is two to three compartments, five to six thousand people.This Li Jing actually created a five-compartment 6000th Battalion with 25 troops.So shocking!

"Is this news true?" Kang Chenghui asked in surprise.

Lei Gang nodded: "It can't be wrong. The six battalions that Li Jing brought this time included two cavalry battalions and three infantry battalions in addition to a sailor battalion. There is also a cavalryman each. They are all elites, and they are all veterans who have fought several battles and seen blood, and they are by no means empty numbers."

"This Li Jing..." Song Wei sighed.

Cui Yunqing was also very surprised. He was Li Jing's teacher, and Li Jing often sent someone to bring him gifts, which were very precious every time.When he went to Dengzhou last time, Li Jing had only a few thousand troops under his command at that time, but he didn't expect that it would more than double in size in the blink of an eye.

Seeing everyone's expressions, Cui Yunqing knew that Li Jing was now feared by everyone.Involuntarily following Song Wei's words, he laughed and said: "Li Jing is still too young after all. After a few victories, he felt a little smug. In fact, he just suppressed some horse bandits and pirates. If you really want to fight with the commander-in-chief Comparing the generals, they are actually far behind. The commander and the generals are the elite among the elite who suppressed the Pang Xun rebellion and beat the Nanzhao army. I think Li Jing's request was just a moment of complacency. It needs to be taken care of. In fact, Li Jing is quite sincere to the commander-in-chief."

Cui Yunqing helped Li Jing with good words: "Not long after he arrived in Shamen Town, he sent us a lot of money and food, as well as a large amount of ordnance. This time when the commander called, he immediately came with all the elites, and he didn't hesitate for a moment. .”

In Song Wei's heart, he was quite dissatisfied with Li Jing's request. In his opinion, Li Jing didn't understand the rules.As a commander-in-chief, with so many generals under his command, he always needs to be level-headed.The other generals became soldiers and horse envoys, and none of them were 50 or 20 years old, and they spent half their lives in the army.Although Li Jing has made some contributions, he is only [-] years old, and he has only been in the army for less than a year, and he has already taken this position.Now he is not satisfied with the position of the soldier and horse envoy, and wants to be the governor.You must know that although he is Jieshuai, in fact, up to now, out of the five governor positions in Ziqing Town, he has only held three in total, Qing, Lai, and Deng prefectures.The remaining two prefectures of Ziqi and Qi have been firmly controlled by Wang Jingwu.The position of governor of Dengzhou was bought by him with Jiedu Sima, and now Li Jing is going to be the governor of Dengzhou, which is really too much.

Just looking at Cui Yunqing's attitude towards Li Jing right now, and thinking about it again, right now is the time for employing people.Think about it, and endure it.

"Li Jing is a talented person. The current situation is just the time to get rid of the chaos. The most urgent thing is to get rid of Wang Jingwu first. After getting rid of Wang Jingwu, the whole Ziqing Town will be in the hands. Talents like Li Jing, give him the position of governor It doesn't matter. As for the military number, since he has already settled everything, let his department be changed to Zhendong Army."

Wang Jingwu and Li Jing, Song Wei is still very clear about which of them is more important.Now that Li Jing is still obedient, let's get rid of Wang Jingwu first and regain the rights to Ziqing Town. By then, he will hold the entire Ziqing Town, so why should he be afraid of a little Li Jing?

Just as he was talking, the butler made a noise outside, saying that someone asked to see him.

"Marshal, a group of people came outside the gate of the house. The leader is a young businessman who claims to be Li Sanlang. He said he is a maritime merchant from Dengzhou. take over!"

"Li Sanlang?" Song Wei frowned, of course he didn't order goods from any Dengzhou merchant.But he just turned his mind, and immediately thought of a possibility.

At this time, Cui Yunqing also thought of the possibility, and said to him: "Could it be that Li Jiyu has arrived!"

Song Wei also thought it was very possible, but he was a little puzzled, why did Li Jing suddenly appear in Qingzhou City pretending to be a businessman when he should be with the army at this time.

"Invite them in!"

(To be continued)