Chapter 22 A rising tide lifts all boats

After a long period of turning left and right, Zuo Liangyu's soldiers finally stopped their horses at the gate of a courtyard southeast of Xiangyang City.

The streets in this area are very neat, and they are all courtyards with tall walls. It should be a wealthy area.

Since walking into this place, the once buzzing team has gradually disappeared without restraint, leaving only pairs of awe-inspiring eyes.

It is not difficult to judge the dignitaries here, and it is natural that they lack confidence.

When Li Ping was still wondering what he was doing here, Zuo Liangyu's soldier deliberately puffed up his chest, then pointed left and right on his horse like a big shot and said: "There are several houses here.

Let’s stay here for now!”

The team that had been quiet for a long time became even quieter at this time. The loud and loud voice of the soldiers was heard clearly by most people, but it also made everyone who heard it confused.

They shouldn't belong here, everyone still has this common sense.

"Are we staying here?" Zhao Jin's voice sounded very hesitant after a moment, and his slightly trembling tone revealed disbelief.

Seeing that everyone's eyes were attracted, Zuo Liangyu's soldiers became even more energetic.

He continued to wave his fingers exaggeratedly and said: "Yes, it's right here. This, that, and the ones behind. There should be no one in these courtyards. It's just the broken spots inside. You should send someone to check first. As long as there is no one there,

Everything belongs to you. This is such a good place. I didn’t even say a word to several groups of people in front of it. I just brought it here because you liked it."

In the excitement of Zhao Jin's numerous thanks, Shi Ming and Li Ping, who had already approached him, no longer hesitated. They immediately ordered someone and rushed into the opposite courtyard.

If it was true as the soldier said, this was a huge advantage. They didn't want that guy to regret it again, so they had to take advantage of it first.

However, after rushing in, I found that the contrast between the outside and the inside was a bit big.

The total area of ​​several unoccupied yards is estimated to be about 20 acres. This is indeed not small for Xiangyang City with a city wall circumference of only more than 7,000 meters, but there are not many habitable houses.

In between, there was more than just rubble.

Yes, a piece of rubble.

These were several courtyards with most of the insides burned down. It was just the dim weather and rain that prevented them from noticing the damage outside for a while. Or maybe it was because they had seen so much damage in the past half day that they were a little numb.

Regarding this, Zuo Liangyu's personal explanation was rather simple.

If these houses hadn't been burned down like Prince Xiang's Mansion during the plunder of the big bandit Zhang Xianzhong last year, where would such a prestigious place have had the turn of leading soldiers like them?

And they are also very lucky. Since these houses are not among the main focus of the thieves, there are still some houses left in twos and threes, and even the tall stone courtyard walls are still there. Unlike Prince Xiang's Mansion, there are only ruins left.

.

Of course, even if Prince Xiang's Mansion was not burned down, no one would dare to occupy it.

Yes, Prince Xiang's Mansion is not far from here. This is the real residential area for dignitaries. Therefore, this place is not occupied by common people and refugees, and everything is still empty.

Everyone agreed with this explanation.

There are not enough houses, and living on open land is not a problem. People like them who have been living in the wild for so long cannot find fault with this. They are extremely lucky to be settled in the city and in such a prestigious place.

After thanking him again and again, Zhao Jin, Li Ping and Shi Ming hurriedly left with Zuo Liangyu's personal soldier.

They are going to meet Zuo Mengeng, their new direct boss.

Several people knew very well that this kind of matter should be done sooner rather than later. The key is attitude. Going with Zuo Liangzhu's personal soldiers who reported the news showed their sincerity and humility.

However, Wang Chengwu did not go this time. He was left to preside over the settlement arrangements with Song Baolai and others. This was to appease Liu Shixiong and Li Shengcai, who strongly wanted to go with them.

When meeting the boss, the more people there are, the worse the effect will be, because it will make the conversation more official, make it difficult to get close to each other, and make it easier for others to think of a familiar cat or dog.

There will be chaos when there are many people, which is a big taboo when visiting.

Regarding Zuo Menggeng, Li Ping urgently searched for a long time in his mind for his historical memory of swallowing jujubes, but could not find any valid fragments. Zuo Menggeng was completely blank in Li Ping's historical memory. He was probably not famous.

.

But no one dared to slack off at all. Not having a famous name in history does not mean mediocrity, not to mention Zuo Menggeng was still their direct boss. Therefore, they not only brought a few hundred taels of silver, but also the only money they had.

of silk.

Meeting Zuo Mengeng went smoothly.

When they met for the first time, Zuo Mengeng did not leave as deep an impression on Li Ping as Zuo Liangyu did.

In addition to good looks and a strong body, Zuo Mengeng, who is in his 20s, can only be regarded as an ordinary boy in Li Ping's eyes, and his speech and behavior are ordinary.

Moreover, Zuo Mengeng didn't seem to be very good at hiding his inner feelings. The feeling of wanting to put on airs but not being able to find any was very obvious.

But Zuo Mengeng like this has become good news to Zhao Jin, Li Ping and Shi Ming.

Zuo Mengeng probably never dreamed that the three guys he faced who were younger than him were actually old fritters with rich life experience. The one who was really immature and unexperienced was himself. He was easily taken advantage of.

Naturally, it’s not surprising at all, and I almost got deceived.

The ruthless investment and sensible attitude really made Zuo Mengeng, a young man with little scheming, very happy, and the clichéd compliments, sensational self-introductions and exaggerated expressions of loyalty made Zuo Mengeng very happy, so

The guests and hosts enjoy themselves.

When they returned, it was getting dark, but Zhao Jin, Li Ping and Shi Ming took their horses for a walk back while chatting. They were still excited. A few of them even joked.

, today’s harvest was beyond their imagination.

Zhao Jin soon talked about the words he got from Zuo Liangyu's soldiers. He did not shy away from Shi Ming, since he had heard most of them anyway.

As expected, Zuo Liangyu's soldiers and horses in Zhuxian Town did not escape very much. Although the soldiers did not have the nerve to tell them all, they are certainly few in number. Moreover, the number of defenders in the entire Xiangyang area is currently seriously insufficient, and they may not be more than

Thousands of them, and most of them are severely lacking in training.

But Li Ping still feels that this is not enough to explain why they are so reused.

Zhao Jin then continued to release information, saying that the current defenders in Xiangyang are mainly composed of a small number of original soldiers and horses who were originally peasant soldiers and surrendered troops who were urgently transferred from the surrounding areas.

The bandits and bandits that came over were very few of the real orthodox officers and soldiers.

And because Xiangyang was attacked by a surprise attack last year, out of caution, only orthodox officers, soldiers and horses are currently allowed to be stationed in the city. Anyway, there are not many in total, and they can definitely be accommodated.

Therefore, Zuo Liangyu's personal soldiers also specifically said that they all had the same background and would take care of each other in the future.

Li Ping suddenly saw the sun and suddenly became enlightened, and he felt that he had caught something. The sparse troops and surrendered bandits, what would Zuo Liangyu think? Their space seemed to be larger than imagined.

This is definitely a God-sent opportunity.

However, this happy atmosphere did not last long, and everything came to an abrupt end when they returned to their new home.

The atmosphere was tense and chaotic. Even dinner hadn't been cooked yet. Their new home was a complete mess.

Although Wang Chengwu kept explaining with a blushing face, Zhao Jin's face turned dark immediately, and Shi Ming's face was also full of embarrassment.

Because of the issue of how to live, several teams had serious disagreements.

Most of the habitable houses were occupied by Liu Shixiong and Li Shengcai, but the other teams did not buy it at all, especially the team under Zhao Jin's direct supervision. The mood was the strongest.

Everyone wanted to live in the house, but the house was far from enough. Liu Shixiong and Li Shengcai unexpectedly did not give face to Wang Chengwu, who wanted to strike a balance, and took advantage of their status to get the upper hand.

Unexpectedly, the two soldiers of Zhao Jin and Li Ping were not vegetarians. They did not give face to those who were just outsiders in their eyes. Zhao Jin was the real leader, and Zhao Jin was only a die-hard with Li Ping.

, these soldiers have become completely familiar with each other these days.

They are not stupid either. It is only natural to fight for the interests of their own masters, so they cannot lose their momentum. If they were not concerned about the status of those Shangguan, they might have started fighting long ago.

As a result, a serious and dignified internal meeting was quickly held, and a lot of time was once again spent in the debate.

But the division of land strangely became the last issue.

They actually had to divide the fruit first.

The outpost has turned into a camp, and naturally everyone has to be promoted. Some people can't hold it in anymore. And if you don't understand this, it's really hard to break down how to live there.

After compromise, the whole battalion was finally divided into 6 generals and one directly affiliated corps. Li Ping, Shi Ming, Wang Chengwu, Song Baolai, Li Shengcai and Liu Shixiong served as commanders respectively, and the corps was under the direct command of Zhao Jin.

The total number actually exceeded the Ming army's usual one-battalion-five-general system, but it was not a big deal because the Ming army's organization at this time was relatively random and not customized. It was up to the generals to decide how the troops were organized.

However, the military strength of each general group has not been redistributed, but still generally follows the original power and force structure. It is estimated that only a fool would do it to give the captured soldiers to others, and those who have objections will only be the weak, and

The opinions of the weak never matter.

Even Shi Ming doesn't want to get involved in this aspect, and maybe he doesn't want others to share the benefits.

The establishment of two more general offices was already Zhao Jin's biggest concession.

In this way, the soldiers originally led by Zhao Jin were directly reorganized into the Guards Corps, and the soldiers led by Li Ping, Shi Ming and Wang Chengwu also continued to be owned by their new generals. Only those in the Mule and Horse Corps were taken out and led by Song Baolai.

, Liu Shixiong and Li Shengcai distributed it equally, and Song Baolai obviously became the only victim.

And his only so-called compensation is that he has the power to pick people first.

The law of the jungle is clearly demonstrated at this moment.

After the troops have been divided, everyone will naturally divide the various supplies. Of course, this will not be egalitarian, but will be divided according to strength.

When it was finally decided how to divide the places and houses, Liu Shixiong and Li Shengcai's shamelessness and preemptive strike were still the biggest troubles, especially when these two guys who felt that they did not get much of the fruits of victory acted very tough, and Shi Ming also

For unknown reasons, he suddenly chose silence.

The smell of gunpowder soon became stronger.

Even Song Baolai and Gao Lei, who had been silent all this time, showed nervous expressions. Only Zhao Lanyue had been leaning next to the torch as if no one else was around, fiddling with her endless nails.

Li Ping quickly understood that someone between him and Zhao Jin had to choose to "suffer a loss", otherwise the so-called negotiation would never come to fruition. And the person who suffered the loss could only be Li Ping, because Zhao Jin was a guerrilla and was their nominal leader.
To be continued...