Chapter 65: Being a Creditor to the Guard
Zhao Tinglei was not the legitimate son of the Marquisate, so he did not have to stay in the Marquisate in the capital. He followed his father to the northwest border when he was thirteen years old.
It is no exaggeration to say that I watched my third brother grow up, and the affection he has for me is no less than that for his father.
As brothers, we know even more.
Although my father loved my third brother, he was still a general of the Wu Dynasty after all, and he did not want a powerful Di tribe to be born on the border.
In order to prevent the Wuda tribe from posing a threat to the Wu Dynasty, his father always spoiled his beautiful son and never taught him about court affairs.
They even hoped that after he took over the tribe, he would marry a woman from the Wu Dynasty, and be dependent on the Wu Dynasty and loyal to it for the rest of his life.
But I don’t think so.
Although there is an old saying that "brothers united are stronger than iron."
But there is also a saying: "You can't hang yourself on the same tree."
In my opinion, it is not a good thing for the whole family to go the same way.
The third brother also has the blood of the Zhao family, and his aunt and cousin are also in the Wu Dynasty Palace.
But he is also a member of the Di tribe, and is a child that the Marquis's Mansion would never dare to acknowledge.
Moreover, if the enemy seizes this opportunity, the Zhenbei Army will once again be caught in a dilemma.
Fortunately, my third brother was obviously unwilling to live a mediocre life. He asked me for a military order and secretly ran away to study at the garrison under the jurisdiction of the Zhenbei Army. Now he proposed to migrate to the Mida River Valley.
The Zhenbei Army had long been tied to the Crown Prince, and their situation was not as solid as an iron wall.
As the future leader of the Di tribe, the third brother should find another way out.
Many times I couldn't confront my father openly, so I couldn't provide much help to my third brother.
Secretly sending him the armor and sword now is like letting the eagle fly back to the blue sky.
I hope my third brother can achieve something on the grassland. Then the two brothers can join hands to crush the Dilu royal court, expand the territory, and jointly control the northwest region.
Zhao Tinglei opened the map again and stopped his finger on Suijin Town.
Since Loren reported last time that no gold mine was found, he gave up on this place.
My third brother is right. Although the Mida River Valley has penetrated deep into the heart of the grassland, there is a Yellow Sand River connecting it to Suijin Town. As long as we don't get trapped in the siege, there is still a glimmer of hope.
But... this Suijin Town also has disadvantages as a retreat.
Located deep in the mountains, it can only house a hundred soldiers.
The river channel is rugged and difficult to navigate, and once there is heavy rain in the summer, the river water will surge and this escape route will be gone.
Suijin Town has been abandoned by local officials and is far away from the border, so the logistical and military supply support must not be able to keep up.
Thinking of this, Zhao Tinglei rang the bell to call the messenger.
"Inform the quartermaster: Shift the defense level of the Suijin, Guangbao, and Qinggang garrisons to level three. Resupply military pay and rations as quickly as possible."
"Yes, Master Qianhu!"
…………………………………………
The wage dispute at Suijinwei was temporarily ended after Captain Luo promised to pay the money one day later.
After returning to Baolinju, Song Zhenping was worried because he felt that he would not be able to get the more than 200 wen he had received as wages.
Song Dekui said carelessly, "Daping, you're in Suijin Town, and the guards won't run away. We can get it anytime, so why are you so anxious?"
Song Zhenping forced a smile. He had never seen money before and was just wondering how much grain and oil two hundred coins could buy.
After returning, Song Liyun was still peeling acorn shells, but she was thinking about how Captain Luo could raise funds.
In front of everyone, Captain Luo didn't say much, but Song Liyun could see that he could not suppress his rage.
Tomorrow, what should we do if the garrison still can’t come up with the silver?
If the garrison refuses to pay, I, a military household, will also be scolded.
Suddenly, the voices of Song Dekui and Song Zhenping could be heard talking. "Daping, I don't want the wages anymore. I'll leave it to you. You can take it when the garrison pays you. Since the garrison owes you money anyway, it will be easier for you to talk to Xiaoyun in the camp."
Song Liyun's heart moved. People here care about their face and feel ashamed to borrow money. They don't have the bad habit of "only those who owe money are the boss".
This is also an opportunity to build closer relations with the garrison.
Song Liyun now has thirty taels of silver collected from Song Laoer's family, plus three gold beans, the total should be fifty taels.
But it’s not easy to take out this money casually.
After thinking for a moment, Song Liyun found an opportunity and talked to Song Dekui alone about this.
Song Dekui's eyes widened. "Xiaoyun, did you really find a money jar in the house?"
Song Liyun nodded heavily: "Yes, Uncle Kui can't tell anyone. Even my brother doesn't know about this."
Song Dekui pursed his lips and said, "Humph, what do you think of your Uncle Kui? I'm not three years old and don't know the importance of things."
He had also heard about silver being dug out from abandoned houses, as those old houses often had silver jars buried in them.
Daping doesn’t know either, should he tell someone?
He thought about Song Zhenping's temper of losing his temper when encountering problems, and shook his head: Xiaoyun has been better than Daping all the way, she will not harm the two brothers, so we should listen to her.
"Hey! Xiaoyun, you said you wanted the garrison to issue an IOU..."
"Yes, Uncle Kui, the guards must think about this themselves. We can secretly buy the IOUs, and when we go to collect the money later, the migrant workers will have left, and the guards won't say anything."
Song Liyun told the story again. She wanted to wait for the guard post to issue IOUs and then secretly collect them from the migrant workers.
Song Dekui blinked and muttered, "What a hassle! Why don't you just lend the money to the garrison?"
Song Liyun rolled her eyes at him. "Uncle Kui, we just said we were poor and willing to join the army, and then we handed over dozens of taels of silver. Do you think the garrison will suspect we have ulterior motives?"
Besides, this house was given to us by the guards. If they claim to have found valuables and want to confiscate them, and take back the money as well, we will be in big trouble. The cooked duck will fly away."
Song Dekui expressed his understanding of Song Liyun lending the silver to the garrison. Xiaoyun, Daping and the others had just arrived in Suijin Town, and if they wanted to gain a foothold here, it would be best if they could find a backer.
But it's too troublesome to send and receive the IOU. Since I'm leaving soon anyway, I might as well help them out!
"Xiao Yun, I'll go find Captain Luo right now and tell him the silver is mine. I'm lending it to the garrison and I'll let you collect the IOU. That way, the garrison will know you're not alone.
I'll say hello to Brother Zhou and Brother Lin and ask them to take good care of you. You can also go to them if you need anything."
Brother Zhou and Brother Lin were also small flags of the garrison. The Suijin Garrison was a garrison of a hundred households, with ten small flags and ten people in each flag. Xue Zhuang was once a small flag.
These two people were from a large caravan, and they became close friends with the outgoing Uncle Kui in just twenty days.
Song Liyun was instantly moved.
This cheap uncle is really nice. He has two more acquaintances in the garrison, so it’s easier to ask them for information if there is any news.
The next second, Song Dekui's request broke her heart:
"Xiao Yun, do you still have those leftover rice sticks? Give me some so I can share them with my family when I get home. And you can also jar some acorn cakes for the road. And..."
Song Dekui said a lot of things without any hesitation. Song Liyun was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, so she naturally agreed to everything.
Song Dekui was a man who couldn't sit still. Once he made up his mind, he went to the garrison that same day.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
