Chapter 182 Rise to fame

As the saying goes: "Good things go hard, bad things spread thousands of miles."

Since Li Ping came to this era, except for his stunning appearance in front of the public when he rescued Zuo Menggeng's daughter-in-law, he has not had any widely known deeds.

Humans are easily forgetful animals.

In addition, Li Ping has been staying away from Zuo Liangyu's troops, which means that his name has very limited spread even within the Zuo Army, at least far less than Zhao Jin's reputation.

Although Li Ping later took on the responsibility of defending Sheepskin Beach in the Battle of Xiangyang, he was actually not that outstanding, because it was not difficult to hold on to Sheepskin Beach, and after the bloody battle of Baimadu and Zuo Liangyu's entire army, he was defeated.

The context of retreat is also more trivial.

As a result, few people cared about Li Ping, and he was gradually forgotten.

Although since retreating eastward from Xiangyang, Li Ping has rescued some officials and civilians, merchants, including gentry, in the battle against bandits, and has not committed any crimes against the officials and civilians who fled along the Han River, these people also brought intermittently the information about the orderly military discipline of Li Ping's troops.

Arrived in Wuchang and Hanyang.

However, these good people and good deeds, which were completely different from Zuo Liangyu's army style, still did not cause any waves.

Most of the officials and people in Wuchang and Hanyang, including many left army generals, chose to filter out the scattered information. Not many people believed it, and not many people took it seriously.

It was not until the news of the great victory at Huangpi that Li Ping's name finally entered the sight of the generals of the left army again, as well as the sight of local officials at all levels in Hanyang, Wuchang.

But when all the generals and officials were just beginning to appreciate Li Ping's name, Li Ping bravely broke into Fang Guoan's camp to kill his son and nephew, and then wiped out thousands of Fang Guoan's soldiers and horses who came to seek revenge in another battle.

This series of stupefying sexual acts horrified everyone who heard it, and finally began to spread violently like a violent wind. Even the people in Hanyang, Wuchang, rushed to spread the word.

The people who have been tortured by Zuo Liangyu's army for a month are very happy to see this kind of fratricide within the Zuo army, as if the suffering they have suffered these days has been somewhat comforted.

As a result, Li Ping's name spread to every corner of Hanyang, Wuchang, almost overnight, and completely exploded.

"Did you hear that? Two of Zuo Daxiong's men fought over a woman. A new general named Li Ping killed thousands of men of Fang Guoan, the god of plague." An alley in Hanyang County.

Many people inside were gathering together and discussing secretly.

The city gates of Hanyang County have been closed for a month. The city gates are rarely opened. Most of the people in the city have nothing to do. Except for participating in the labor assigned by the government, most of the time they can only gather together and chat.

"Is there such a thing? They have robbed so many women and still need one woman! And how could there be so many casualties? It must be spread randomly."

"When I borrowed the fire in the morning, I heard Mrs. He and those gossipy women also spreading rumors, saying that what happened at the mouth of Jianshui River yesterday afternoon, but the road there is difficult and the distance is long. How could it be possible so quickly?

If it comes here, it must be a rumor!"

Seeing that the neighbors either didn't know yet or were doubtful about it, the person who first made the comment deliberately coughed twice.

Seeing that everyone's eyes were focused on him again, the man said happily: "It's true, it's true. My cousin from the countryside is running errands for Assistant Liu in the county government. He said that Assistant Liu said this himself. That Assistant Liu is the one who specializes in serving people."

Those who work for Zhong Bu Kuai (horseless fastmen are often called Bu Kuai) are always the most well-informed, and there are few rumors."

In the Ming Dynasty, because there were too few official officials in the yamen, the government actually needed more yamen servants to drive them. Therefore, hiring extra yamen servants was a common phenomenon in various places at that time. From the middle of the Ming Dynasty, prefectures and counties were simply allowed to hire more yamen servants.

Set up "assistants" to help the principal officers perform official duties, also called "deputy servants" or "deputy servants".

But this still cannot solve all the problems. Many scoundrels and idle people who want to be government servants voluntarily follow the government officials to run errands to help. These people are called "white servants", or "errand runners", "horse runners" and other names, that is, those whose names are unknown.

It is listed in the government archives that there are no government servants with labor, food and money. For example, the Nanjing Wucheng Army and Horses Division once employed 341 white archers alone.

Therefore, the actual number of yamen servants in yamen at all levels includes both additional yamen servants and additional yamen servants, and far exceeds the amount stipulated by the government. Often there are two or three assistants for one official, and each assistant has another assistant.

Two or three white servants.

"When did you have a cousin from the country doing errands in the county government? Why haven't I heard you talk about it?" someone raised a question.

They have been neighbors for many years. It is generally impossible to hide this kind of thing about someone in the government, and it is generally not possible to hide it.

"Alas! Didn't I just take this job before Zuo Jun came? It was also to survive! Now the county government is a helper and there are more than ten or twenty white servants running errands. Most of them are new to the industry this month. Everyone is

I begged for it with all my strength, because I bet that the left army would not dare to enter the city to seize officials." The person who first made the conversation said helplessly.

"We are lucky that the bandits did not enter the city to plunder. Those who fled into the mountains and forests for such a long time are probably all starved to death, while those who stayed in the countryside were either captured as coolies or soldiers, even

The entire clan is not immune. Your cousin took the gamble right." Someone followed and sighed.

After Zuo Liangyu went east from Xiangyang, he burned, killed and looted all the way along the Han River. His notoriety had spread to Wuchang before he arrived. Many people living outside the city fled one after another, and even many in the city ran away.

This is also the reason why many officials, civilians and merchants who escaped from Zhongxiang and Mianyang and planned to escape from the peasant army along the Han River decided to hide under Li Ping's wings after Zuo Bing passed through. Many of them had seen Zuo Jun go crazy.

They dare not cross Hanyang and Wuchang alone.

"Yes! Yes!" Several people nodded and echoed.

Everyone not only lamented the good fortune of this man's cousin, but also felt lucky that they had decided to stay in the city.

"It's true. It's great. This dog-eating-dog thing is really satisfying. It's a pity that only a few thousand people died. It would have been better if the battle was bigger. Why not wipe out all Fang Wenshen's soldiers!"

The man said happily.

Now that there is definite inside information, everyone no longer has any doubt that they hate Fang Guoan who is stationed in Hanyang the most.

"But here comes someone more violent. The evil ones really need to be punished by the evil ones! If they continue to fight, we will have to kill them all." Someone gritted his teeth and followed closely.

"I have to go home and talk to my family and make them happy. It's so satisfying to hear that this plague god has suffered such a big loss!" Someone else thought of sharing the happiness with others.

"Yes, yes, tell everyone, let everyone be happy." People began to chatter, the atmosphere became more lively, everyone seemed to have taken revenge.

"Thousands of people have died and the battle is not big? Stop dreaming and be content! But I heard that the official named Li Ping is not very high, but Fang Wenshen is also a general soldier! This is called Li Ping

What is Ping's background and how can he be so fierce and bold?"

The commoner who had heard about it in the morning but did not spread it began to doubt again. He should be a cautious person.

The person who made the first comment quickly started showing off again and said: "It is said that this Li Ping is extremely tall and powerful, like an iron tower, and can tear strong men with his hands. He is also from Shandong and is Zuo Liangyu's nephew. Huangpi County was the

This Li Ping snatched it back from the hands of the rebels."

"No wonder! No, when was Huangpi County occupied by the rebels? Have the rebels already attacked?"

…

Unlike the common people whose information is incomplete and severely distorted, the officials and merchants in Wuchang City have much more accurate information, and they also gather together to discuss it.

Among them, in a large room with a grand courtyard, several Tsing Yi officials were chatting with several businessmen. They were also a group of brothers and sisters.

"Brother Wu, have you found out the background of Li Ping?" a fat official asked a person who had just entered the door.

This fat official came from the water transport yamen, and he was a real fat man. He was the "food and clothing parent" for many people here. However, because Zuo Liangyu robbed all the water transport grain and ships, he is now unemployed.

The man called Brother Wu who just came in was also an official, from the nearest inspection department of Hankou Town.

He sighed and replied: "It is said that Li Ping is only 20 years old. He was just a small banner under Governor Yang Wenyue more than half a year ago. Later, he followed Zuo Liangyu who retreated from Kaifeng to Xiangyang. He raised it because there was really no one available.

In general, the daughter-in-law who saved Zuo Liangyu came to light just a few months ago."

The original duties of this Inspection Department officer made him better at inquiring about information about people and he had more channels. Of course, he is now an unlucky guy who is unemployed.

"Oh? I thought he was a well-connected general, but I didn't expect him to have such a background. He is truly a master who is fearless." The fat official was a little dazed.

"It turned out to be a stupid boy! But he is really capable of fighting. In the battle of Huangpi, the elite vanguard of the bandit army was almost wiped out. It is said that they were all real veterans. Li Pingguang captured hundreds of horses. However, the amount of troops he invested was

It's not much, and the loss is very small. It's really brave!" A skinny businessman added.

This businessman actually looks more like an official in appearance, but he is really a businessman, and a big businessman. He used to have a large business, and he was always well-informed. He also had a semicolon in Huangpi, and it was he who confirmed the war that took place in Huangpi.

of.

Of course, Zuo Liangyu had basically robbed Zuo Liangyu of all the belongings of the largest businessman outside Wuchang.

"So awesome! Can you be sure?" Official Wu from the Inspection Department was a little shocked.

He was the last one to arrive, and did not hear the discussion that had been going on for a while. Moreover, he was assigned to inquire about Li Ping's personal situation, and did not learn more about or verify Huangpi's situation.

"It won't be bad. After Li Ping regained Huangpi, he treated the officials and people in the city politely and did nothing wrong. Some Huangpi people who were afraid of falling into the hands of thieves again fled here by mistake in the past two days. All of them

Everyone’s opinions are pretty much the same, so they can’t be wrong,” another businessman said.

Although the businessman only gave a supplementary reply, it can also be seen that there are always many differences between the concerns of businessmen and the concerns of officials.

"It turns out it's true!" the inspection department official surnamed Wu muttered smoothly.

"Brother Wu, what does this mean?" the fat official asked confused.

The inspection department official surnamed Wu shook his head and exclaimed: "I heard someone who escaped from the Han River said that there was a left army rear guard with excellent military discipline. I didn't believe it at the time and thought it was a rumor. In the left army

When I was inquiring about it, someone said it again, but I still didn’t dare to believe it, but now it seems to be true.”

"This is a different kind of thing, and it might be good news for me. But it's just that his temper is too fierce, and he's too bloodthirsty." The lean businessman from before sighed.

"Perhaps they have some capital that we don't know about. Zuo Liangyu hasn't punished Li Ping for any of his actions yet. This is not normal!" Another businessman said thoughtfully.

"Maybe Zuo Liangyu has a headache, hahaha. It's not easy to deal with such a subordinate and such a thing!" Someone laughed.

The inspection department official surnamed Wu rolled his eyes when he heard this, and then said hurriedly: "I forgot to tell you something. Zuo Liangyu just sent several boatloads of food and goods to Li Ping."

"What?"

"What does this mean?"

Everyone in the room looked confused, everyone was shocked, and soon fell into quiet contemplation.

The fat official was the first to come back to his senses after staring up at the roof for a moment. He said with a half-smile: "Interesting."

"Don't be ridiculous. The bandit army will attack soon, and Li Ping's soldiers are too few. Even if he has a quarrel with Zuo Liangyu, it will be useless to point him to lead troops to defend Wuchang.
To be continued...