Chapter 247: Shareholding (I)

The weather has gradually moved out of summer. In early September, autumn is evident, with cool breezes blowing. The high city of Bianjing is in the north, and the Bian River is like a belt in the south.

In the streets of the city, a cluster of flowers and brocade were floating around. It turned out to be a group of young men from noble families, surrounded by servants and boys, riding their horses through the long street, heading straight towards the Daxiangguo Temple.

Of course, they were not going to the Daxiangguo Temple, but to the Anle Pavilion, which was only two streets away from the temple. The group was led by several warriors in their twenties or thirties, each riding a tall horse. They had different expressions as they rode their horses, some were proud, some were frowning, some were pondering, and some were calm. Their emotions were subtle and varied.

Behind these people was a group of servants following on foot. They couldn't help but put on airs as they walked, obviously because they were proud of their masters. In addition, they were also proud of the strong horses that these young men from noble families rode.

There was a shortage of horses in the Central Plains, and the shortage was even more severe in Daliang because of the intentional strangulation of Qi, Jin, and Yan. Apart from the fact that there were few good horses for sale in the market, the majority of the imperial guards were infantrymen.

Although Hebei has been recovered and a large number of war horses have entered the capital with the Guide Army, market horses have also gradually poured into Bianliang, allowing horse dealers to make a fortune. However, these horses are just a drop in the bucket when distributed to the entire Daliang. Those that can be purchased are naturally equipped to the imperial guards first, so the mounts that flow into the market are actually just that, and the prices are even inflated. It often takes ordinary people several years of savings to afford a real war horse.

But the horses ridden by the young men of noble families in their group were quite good indeed, some could even be described as strong and sturdy, they were truly rare and fine horses, the kind that were in high demand and in short supply.

These young men are all warriors. No matter how good their horsemanship is, as the saying goes, 'clothes make the man, saddles make the horse, and a dog runs happily with a bell'. They are already well dressed, and with such fine horses, they are naturally arrogant and look down on others.

Especially when a few people dismounted in front of the main gate of Anle Pavilion and could go straight in just by reporting their names without any reservation form, their arrogant aura became even stronger.

The leader was a man in his thirties. He looked back and saw that several good horses were being taken away by the men of Anle Pavilion to be taken care of. He grinned and said, "Only good horses from outside the Great Wall can be used as mounts for you and me. The ones we usually ride are nothing. They are weak and can't even walk as fast as me."

The other man next to him was a little paler than the others. After hearing this, he walked inside and whispered, "Brother Niu, don't be too proud too soon. In the past, after the Champion Marquis entered the capital, how could we, the second-generation generals, have the opportunity to meet each other? We didn't even have the chance to invite him to dinner. Now, not only did he give us two good horses, but he also invited us. We accepted the horses, but it's hard to refuse... There must be some explanation for this."

"Don't I know there is an explanation?" The man called 'Brother Niu' waved his hand indifferently, but subconsciously lowered his voice so that only the other two people on the left and right could hear.

"I heard from my father that the Champion Marquis looks very powerful and has great favor from the Emperor, but he is actually suppressed by the Ghost King. Your Majesty has recently entered the stage of cultivation, but the Champion Marquis cannot even see him. He has long been isolated by the Ghost King. Even if he has any favor from the Emperor, it will be slowly worn away by the Ghost King... Also, Brother He, isn't your second uncle in charge of the expansion of the Imperial City? The golden nanmu wood needed for the main hall is far from enough. You know that, right?"

The fairer man nodded in surprise.

So Brother Niu shook his head indifferently: "That's it, I've heard what my father said. Prime Minister Jing has already reported to the emperor, asking the Marquis of Guanjun to go to Changsha Prefecture to mediate the conflict between the King of Chu and the King of Nanping. It sounds impressive, but in fact, it's just for the golden nanmu in Raojiang. To put it bluntly, he is just an overseer. He took this job to avoid the ghost king."

He raised his eyebrows, with a bit of disdain in his eyes, but in this place, he really didn't dare to raise his voice, and just whispered firmly: "By then, the Champion Marquis will not be here, and the Ghost King will definitely find a way to send the Guide Army to fight. At that time, he might just pick a general at random. No matter what, it will more or less split the Hebei troops in half. In the front, it doesn't matter what you do, anyway, they are not the direct line...

And we all know that Raojiang is not a place where people can go easily. How can they cooperate with a bunch of unruly people who are claiming to be kings and overlords in that remote place? Not to mention the golden nanmu, I am afraid I will have to work hard with the King of Chu and the King of Nanping. Anyway, it is not an easy job.

At that time, no matter whether this person has completed the task or not, the Ghost King may make things difficult for him to make it past the deadline. By then, hehe, the Champion Marquis has no foundation in the capital, and if the Guide Army is also split up, how can he still gain a foothold in the court? He is not stupid. Seeing that he can no longer stay in the capital, how can he not be more active? So, he has set his sights on you and me, right?"

Regardless of how Brother He reacted after he said this, the other two men on his left and right had already nodded in praise, agreeing with him deeply.

These people claimed to be the second generation of generals, and that Brother Niu seemed to be well-informed. Naturally, they were not ordinary children of noble families, but all of them were generals from the imperial guards. Regardless of their age, they all had some assignments in the imperial guards.

For example, the man with the surname Niu is Niu Zhiqian, the third son of Niu Cunjie, the commander-in-chief of the Six Armies' cavalry and infantry. Although his name contains the word "qian", he is not humble. He is thirty years old, but is no different from a young man in his twenties. He is mostly interested in sensual pleasures and is much worse than his two brothers.

As for the man with the surname He, he is He Guangtu, the eldest son of He Gui, the General of the Left Guard and the Chief of the Cavalry and Infantry of the Six Armies. He is a more amiable person.

The other two were Zhang Hanlun, the second son of the late Grand Tutor Zhang Guiba, and Liu Suiyong, the third son of Liu Xun, the commander-in-chief of the Left Dragon Army and the Imperial Guards' cavalry and infantry.

It is worth mentioning that the 'six armies' in Niu Cunjie and He Gui's so-called 'commander-in-chief of the six armies, cavalry and infantry, and Du Yuhou' are the six divisions of the imperial guards, 'left and right Longwu, left and right Yulin, left and right Shenwu', which are two systems from the imperial guards, and the latter's status is higher than that of the imperial guards.

And Liu Xun is Xiao Yan's immediate superior.

According to common sense, Liu Xun's son should be at the head of the group, but Liu Xun's family has very strict rules and he disciplines his children a lot, so Liu Suiyong is not so domineering outside. Among the group, Niu Zhiqian is naturally the leader. In fact, it was indeed the people gathered together by Niu Zhiqian that were able to get them together this time.

In this era, military strategists are naturally much richer than anyone else, especially the generals of the imperial guards. Zhu Wen dominated the Central Plains for more than ten years, and these generals were deeply rooted in Bianliang. The foundation of the army was also complicated. They had almost divided the imperial guards into half and half, and various industries surrounding the imperial guards were also controlled by them. They had already had their own tacit understanding.

But the Guide Army of 10,000 people that intruded into the army was a real foreign force. Not to mention that all the soldiers were from Hebei, the benefactor of the army, Xiao Yan, was also an outsider. He was naturally not the same kind of person as the imperial guards of the Central Plains faction. Even a fool could more or less guess that Zhu Wen wanted to use Xiao Yan to stir up the imperial guards that had already begun to take shape and were in fact deeply rooted in Bianliang.

If one is helpless, the pie will certainly be messed up. At that time, the military merits of the expedition and the foundation in Bianliang will be redistributed, which will naturally make everyone a little nervous.

Therefore, these generals would inevitably try to win over Xiao Yan, but they did not expect that Xiao Yan would either be at his manor outside the city every day, or would walk around the government office and then disappear.

There was no other way, they could only turn their attention to the generals of the Guide Army, especially the Infantry Commander Yu Zhong and the Cavalry Commander Wang Yanzhang, and they also had contact with the rest of the Hebei generals. As long as they could integrate this foreign force into them and let this share of the pie continue to be maintained as usual, so that the Guide Army would not compete with them for food, it would be enough. Even recruiting some promising generals into their ranks in the future would be an investment, which would in fact be able to split up the Guide Army.

But what is helpless is that Wang Yanzhang seems to be easy to win over. He will come to the banquet, and he doesn't mind making fun of any young lady he receives. He also drinks and jokes. However, he will never accept any money, and he will just laugh off any promises he is asked for. How can he look like a person from Bianjing? He looks just like a native of Hebei!

As for Yu Zhong from Hebei, he was silent and could not say a word. He stayed in the camp all day and could not be invited out. There was no way to get him out.

There was really no other choice but to try to win over the generals below. However, although they were from the frontier, and had followed Xiao Yan all the way from Hebei to Bianliang, and were surrendered soldiers, they had no roots in Bianliang, let alone the entire Daliang. All their interests and honors and disgraces had long been tied to Xiao Yan. Perhaps they would be divided in the future, but at the moment, they had to be wary of these imperial guards and stick together with their comrades who came from Hebei.

Therefore, after more than a month of unsuccessful attempts to win over Xiao Yan, the Imperial Guards had already given up. After all, as the most powerful Imperial Guards in the world, they naturally had a lot of ambition. If someone didn't give them face, they wouldn't care. They were just waiting for the Ghost King to trample Xiao Yan into the mud. Unexpectedly, Han Yanhui, Xiao Yan's chief aide, suddenly sent an invitation to the Niu Mansion, and specifically mentioned Niu Zhiqian.

At this sensitive juncture, Niu Cunjie did not want to offend the Ghost King, but he really wanted to know what was going on. After much thought, he decided to release his good-for-nothing third son.

The other three were mostly from families with little fame or success. Zhang Hanlun's father, Zhang Guiba, had passed away last year. They usually had nothing to do, so they accepted the invitation, received the horses, and even came to the banquet without informing their families.

A few people were chatting, and just as they went up to the second floor, they heard a loud laugh.

"My brothers, you have been so late that I have to wait for a long time. How about you punish yourself by drinking three bowls of wine later?"

When they looked up, they saw that it was Wang Yanzhang, the commander-in-chief of the cavalry of the Guide Army, and they couldn't help feeling embarrassed for a moment.

Fortunately, Niu Zhiqian was very thick-skinned and immediately bowed and saluted: "I didn't know General Wang was here, so I was a little careless on the way..."

"What are you talking about, General Wang?" Wang Yanzhang strode forward, stretched out his long arms, and directly embraced He Guangtu and the other two who had not had time to salute, and then pushed the four of them inside: "Today, when discussing matters, you and I will call each other brothers, do you understand?"

Several people couldn't stop laughing at this enthusiasm. Normally, they had no status at home and could only show off their power when they got into trouble outside. How could they be compared with a powerful general like Wang Yanzhang? Normally, people probably didn't even bother to look at them.

After all, no matter how unpopular Wang Yanzhang was, no matter how much he was scolded as a traitor, he was still Xiao Yan's top general, the de facto commander of 23 cavalry units commanding tens of thousands of cavalry. Of course, he felt a little insecure at this moment.

Even Niu Zhiqian did not have the arrogant attitude he had downstairs just now, looking down on everyone. He just smiled politely.

When they entered the house, everyone was stunned again.

Inside the room, Yu Zhong and Han Yanhui, who seldom went out of the camp, were sitting side by side, apparently having been waiting for a long time.

While they were still mumbling in their hearts, Han Yanhui stood up with a smile, holding a feather fan and bowing: "Gentlemen, you have come here at my invitation despite your busy schedule. I have only prepared a few small meals. Please forgive me. When you entertain me in the future, I will treat you with a sumptuous banquet."

Among Niu Zhiqian and his companions, only He Guangtu was more knowledgeable, but he was also a little vain after being politely treated. He just waved his hands and laughed: "No, no."

Afterwards, everyone sat down at the table. However, no matter how nervous they were or how much they grumbled, they did not talk about business at first. After three rounds of drinks, Niu Zhiqian became a little more thick-skinned and asked, "I wonder why General Wang... Brother Wang and Brother Yu invited us to a banquet today? And what about the deal that Scholar Han mentioned in the invitation?"

The words are a bit blunt, but as a warrior, he doesn't care about such things.

Wang Yanzhang narrowed his eyes and smiled, put down the wine bowl, hooked his arm around Niu Zhiqian's shoulder, and said, "Brother, I want to give Brother Niu and my brothers a great fortune."

"Great wealth?"

Niu Zhiqian, He Guangtu and the other three were subconsciously moved, but they immediately became suspicious. How could these poor guys from Hebei be rich?
Han Yanhui smiled but said nothing, but Wang Yanzhang grinned and winked at the four of them: "I heard that the fancy moves of Cuju in the capital are the best among you brothers, and they are called 'Golden Feet'?"

Niu Zhiqian was stunned at first, then he laughed and waved his hand, saying, "How can something as lowly as Cuju bring wealth and honor?"

Liu Suiyong beside him also nodded: "Cuju is a fighting game, and the business is all about gambling. It is really not worthy of being on the table, and the money you can earn is just pocket money..."

Wang Yanzhang didn't take it seriously. Instead, he laughed and patted several people on the shoulders.

"The business of Cuju is certainly not something that can be put on the table, but the fighting show that I want to invite you brothers to watch is a real big business!"

After saying that, he actually stood up immediately, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and looked as if he wanted everyone to stop eating and drinking.

"Do you want to meet our Lord?
Come on, brother, I'll take you to see what fighting is all about!"

Several people were stunned and looked at each other involuntarily, then subconsciously looked at Han Yanhui who invited them.

Then he stood up with a smile, holding up a fan and inviting everyone: "My dear gentlemen, this banquet is indeed invited by Han on behalf of my Lord, but the Lord is not here, but outside the city. Great wealth is right in front of us, as the saying goes, we can't miss the opportunity."

A few people who were already suspicious were still hesitating, and when they heard that they had to go outside the city, they were unwilling to go and declined politely.

But before they could say anything, they saw Yu Zhong, who had been silent throughout the meal, suddenly pull out a sword from under the table, hang it at his waist, and then hold the sword to look at it, his face calm and without saying a word.

Including Niu Zhiqian, the four of them were so confused that they couldn't utter a single word.

Wang Yanzhang laughed loudly, put his arm around the four people’s shoulders and walked out.

"Since you brothers have no objection, let me take you to see this fighting show and see if I can make you rich!"

(End of this chapter)