The Demon-Slaying Grandmaster

Chapter 81 The Source of Disaster
Seeing that Qiu Kaiwen agreed to give him half of the shares of the five shops for free.

Li Jingxiao chuckled and said, "Thank you very much, uncle."

After saying that, he snatched the ten silver notes worth 1 taels of silver from Qiu Kaiwen's hand, glanced at them casually, and made sure the amount was correct.

Putting the banknote into the sleeve actually means putting it into the game inventory.

Then he said hello to Qiu Kaiwen with a smile and left.

If he could get back double the money embezzled by the brothers Qiu Kaiwen and Qiu Kaiwu, as well as the five shops, Li Jingxiao would not continue to think about the Dingcheng Earl's Mansion for the time being.

But if the Qiu family seeks death themselves, Li Jingxiao will definitely not be polite anymore.

After going out to the central courtyard, Li Jingxiao had just entered the main hall when he was pulled to drink by the nobles headed by Niu Jizong, the third generation of the Zhenguo Duke and the current first-class Earl.

If you really want to compare, among the eight dukes back then, the two dukes Ning and Rong were the most glorious.

But now, Niu Jizong and the third generation of the Xiuguo family, Marquis Xiaokang, are the leaders of the eight dukes and twelve marquises.

Niu Jizong also had the title of first-class earl, and Hou Xiaokang was even more powerful, with the hereditary title of first-class son.

The other heirs of the Duke, Liu Fang, the third generation of the Duke Li’s family, is now the heir to the first-class son.

Chen Ruiwen of the Duke of Qi and Ma Shang of the Duke of Zhiguo also had military merits, otherwise they would not have been able to inherit the title of third-rank Weiyuan General.

Only Shi Guangzhu of the Shanguo family lost even the title of third-class general by his generation.

It has completely declined.

Shi Guangzhu didn't come today. It's not because he didn't get an invitation, but because he wouldn't have much to say even if he knew he was coming.

Li Jingxiao looked at the wine on the table, it was the Qilu Qiulubai from Guangfenglou.

I know that I won't stop until these guys get drunk.

The later Gujing Gongjiu is actually also a type of Qiulubai.

The wine-making technology of the Great Zhou Dynasty was naturally not as good as that of later generations.

But Guangfenglou’s Qiulubai can be regarded as a signature wine. It tastes good and the alcohol content exceeds 30 degrees.

At present, this is naturally considered a strong liquor.

Because my second uncle was sick, no one gave him alcohol.

This group of people had already started drinking, but there was no one from the host's family to drink with them, which really made them feel uncomfortable.

So everyone gets one cup.

After drinking more than ten cups, Li Jingxiao simply asked someone to change to a larger cup that could hold at least four taels of liquid.

I caught the ones with the highest status and asked each of them to drink three cups in a row, and they immediately stopped complaining.

Seeing this, the others dared not keep him.

What if Li Jingxiao gets drunk now and misses the wedding night? When he sobers up tomorrow, he might hold a grudge against me and the others.

As soon as Li Jingxiao left the hall, he immediately called in seven or eight nobles from four generations, including Jia Lian, Jia Rong, Niu Zhanpeng, Liu Wei, and Hou Liang, to help him.

These people saw with their own eyes that Li Jingxiao drank three or four kilograms of liquor, and they were worried that he would get drunk and not even be able to enter the bridal chamber.

So when we followed Li Jingxiao to toast, we agreed that each of us would take care of one table.

After dozens of tables, Li Jingxiao seemed fine, but Jia Lian and the others were already dizzy.

Niu Zhanpeng grabbed Li Jingxiao's arm and muttered in a drunken voice, "Jingyou, I don't submit to anyone except you.

My brother will treat me to a meal in a few days, and you must help me get those killers in the guards and the direct army drunk."

Li Jingxiao agreed after a few perfunctory words.

The imperial guards were divided into twelve guards, with 5600 men in the upper rank army and 3,000 men in the palace guards.

The army that Emperor Longde actually controlled was only the 8600 personal guards.

These 8600 people are the real confidants guarding the palace, and the emperor can't even sleep.

The Jinyiwei also belonged to the Twelve Imperial Guards. In name, they were only responsible to the emperor, but it was hard to say how many of them were truly loyal to the emperor.

The other nine guards had been gradually taken over by the Ministry of War over the past century. During the time of the Retired Emperor, these nine guards were no longer under his command. Moreover, most of them were understaffed.

In other words, the problem of generals and civil servants receiving military pay has existed for a long time.

When Li Jingxiao heard that Niu Zhanpeng was a centurion in the Shangzhi Army, he knew that the Niu family had already made their bets on both sides.

Niu Jizong had followed the retired emperor in his northern expedition across the grasslands, and was awarded the title of first-class earl after that great war.

Naturally, he cannot get rid of the label of the emperor emeritus.

But he sent his legitimate son Niu Zhanpeng to serve as a guard in the Shangzhi Army, already making plans for the future.

It is impossible for the retired emperor to not give Emperor Longde any military power.

In addition to the Shangzhi Army, the Tengxiang Left Guard and Tengxiang Right Guard, two of the four guards of the Imperial Stables, were also nominally given to the emperor.

Otherwise, the intention to suppress would be too obvious, making other princes and grandchildren feel that they have a good chance.

If there is another prince rebellion, it will be a huge blow to the Great Zhou.

No matter how much the emperor wanted power, he knew that the Great Zhou could not withstand a second rebellion.

But Tengxiang Zuowei and Tengxiang Youwei wavered, listening to both the emperor and the retired emperor.

The Five Army Camp, Three Thousand Camp, and Shenji Camp under the Beijing Camp were basically controlled by the retired emperor.

Although the name "Three Thousand Camp" gives the impression of having few people.

In fact, after several expansions, the battalion was divided into five divisions, with a total of 7 people.

The Five Army Camps had 12 soldiers, and the Shenji Camp had 8200 infantry and 5 cavalry.

Including the Twelve Guards and the Four Guards, the capital's troops were actually only around 30.

Excluding the soldiers’ salaries, there are only about 200,000 troops in the capital.

This is very rare in all dynasties.

However, throughout the dynasties in the Central Plains, the armies at the beginning of their founding were all very powerful.

However, the Great Zhou had been established for more than a hundred years, and its combat effectiveness could no longer be guaranteed.

Of course, as long as the Great Zhou does not commit suicide, it will not be so easy for the Tatars and the Oirat to invade the Central Plains again.

However, in addition to telling the story of love between young men and women and the rise and fall of a family, "Dream of Red Mansions" actually also tells the story of the decline of a dynasty.

The widespread presence of disaster victims in the later period actually indicated that the Great Zhou was indeed on the decline, and was even a precursor to the end of the world.

The party was lively until around 9pm, when most of the guests had already gone home.

There were only a few drunkards who had not drunk enough. Li Jingxiao arranged for Erfu and others to keep an eye on them and provide them with wine and food when they asked for it.

If you get drunk, you will be sent home if possible. If you can't do it anymore, you will be arranged to spend the night in the townhouse in the front yard.

Seeing that there were still a few drunkards clamoring to make trouble in the bridal chamber, Li Jingxiao simply asked someone to bring some wine and got them all drunk.

Then he walked towards the backyard with a smile.

He ordered the maid to guard the backyard door. After all, the three Jingxi sisters were also staying in the backyard tonight. If they came into contact with outsiders, especially young men, they would be in trouble.

The one who suffers the loss is the Li family.

When they entered the bridal chamber, the three Jingxi sisters were indeed there chatting with Qin Keqing.

Everyone can understand how much Li Jingxiao values ​​Qin Keqing, and the three Jingxi sisters naturally know what their eldest brother is thinking.

Although Qin Keqing came from a family of officials, Qin Ye's official position in the capital was indeed nothing.

So if the three sisters-in-law are willing to get close to me, then of course I should be more kind and build good relationships with them.

I heard the maid shouting "Master is back".

Qin Keqing hurriedly asked Baozhu and Ruizhu to cover her with a red veil and sat upright.

(End of this chapter)