On the fifth day of the first lunar month, according to the local customs of Yongfeng, every family will set off two firecrackers at the door in the afternoon. After the firecrackers sound, the year will be over. After the New Year, shops will open to welcome guests, and various workshops will also start the busyness of the new year. Of course, farmers and herdsmen will continue to cat for a while. They are in the snow and ice and snow, but they have nothing to be busy.

According to the convention, the governor's office will hold a dinner that night, and officials from all over the world gathered together to celebrate their old age and exchange their feelings. On the next day, they all went to the office room to attend the duty.

The host of this year's meal was originally the Chief Secretary Yang Hao, but it was temporarily changed to Zhang Cheng. The cause was that in the early morning of the fifth day of the lunar month, Lu Benzhong, the deputy general of the Tiande Right Army, suddenly died of illness, and Yang Hao temporarily took over the position of deputy general of the Army. Lu Benzhong's sudden death caused a considerable shock in Yongfeng City, and rumors spread everywhere on the streets and alleys. But what was strange was that the Right Army camp was extremely calm. The generals and officers remained silent about the sudden death of Lu Benzhong, and Yang Hao took over the Right Army.

Zhang Cheng was appointed as the chief secretary of Yongfeng and served as the governor. In addition to serving as the chief secretary, Yang Hao also handed over the patrol battalion to Zhang Cheng and gave him an important task: the whereabouts of Hou Jie and fifty people including Hou Jie were found within three days.

On the night of the sixth day of the lunar month, the wind and snow are everywhere.

Yang Hao and two guards were waiting in front of the Beidaying Camp of the Youjun Army, which was only one mile away from the north gate of Yongfeng. At the end of the third update, six cavalry entered the north gate in snow. The man was Meng Bochang. A stick of incense had been made before Yang Hao received a secret report from the patrol outside the city and learned that Meng Bochang had secretly arrived in Yongfeng. Before that, Meng Bochang did not know that he would come.

Meng Bochang was not surprised when he saw Yang Hao. He jumped off his horse and threw the reins in his hand to the servants, wrapped his cloak tightly and walked side by side with Yang Hao into Beidaying. The Beidaying of Yongfeng Right Army covers an area of ​​more than 1,000 acres, with rectangular north and south, with troops stationed in the north, and a schoolyard in the middle, and a pool of water in the southeast. There are several courtyards hidden in the woods beside the pool. Meng Chu is rigorous in the army. He once set rules that the generals of each army can set up houses outside the camp, but the deputy generals and the military must live in the camp so that they can control the army at any time.

One day ago, Yang Hao moved his home in Hengduanxiang here. He lived in the mansion that Lu Benzhong had lived in before. Compared with the simple courtyard in Hengduanxiang, this mansion in Lu Benzhong is much more luxurious. In addition to the three-entry courtyard, there are two cross-yards in the east and west and a not-too-small back garden.

When Yang Hao accompanied Meng Bochang to the east gate of the courtyard, Qing'er came out of the doorman. She took the straw raincoat that Meng Bochang changed, handed the cloak to the doorman Mr. Guan, and handed him a hand-held thermos. Meng Bochang said woodenly, "Thank you." Then he walked straight to the front yard. Yang Hao said to Qing'er, "We have something to say, go to bed, don't worry about us." Qing'er asked Yang Hao and wanted to say something, but she stopped. She nodded silently and said, "The wine has been warm, you can drink and talk." After saying this, she walked away with a frown.

"You sit down too." There were charcoal basins in all corners of the living room, which was burning hot. Meng Bochang took off his boots and sat cross-legged. Seeing Yang Hao standing beside him, he greeted with a cold face.

Yang Hao did not sit down: "I let go of the person. If I want to punish me, I will bear it with all my strength."

"Why do you want to let someone go?" Meng Bochang took a sip of hot wine, tsk his mouth, picked up a piece of beef, put it in his mouth. The meat was stewed just right, very chewy, and it could be seen that it took a lot of time.

"Because he gave his daughter to you?" Meng Bochang looked up at Yang Hao and said mockingly. Yang Hao lowered his head and did not explain much.

The door was pushed open, and the cold wind sucked into the house with snowflakes. A girl in her red coat flashed in. She was not tall, with an oval face, with picturesque eyebrows and skin like cream. She stood in front of Meng Bochang angrily, staring at him provocatively. Qing'er then followed in, standing behind her, helpless, with a look of anxiety and helplessness.

Meng Bochang glanced at the girl in red coat and said lightly: "Yang Hao, did you let the person go because of her?"

The girl in red coat said stubbornly: "I let the person go privately. If you want to kill him, kill me."

Qing'er nervously pulled her, and Yang Hao also said with confidence: "General Lu has been fighting for the country for many years and has worked hard and made great contributions. Since he voluntarily handed over the military power, I can't figure out why he had to kill him."

"Bang!" Meng Bochang threw the wine glass to the ground with a "bang", and four murderous iron-armored warriors broke into the door. Qing'er grabbed the woman in red coat with one hand and Yang Hao with the other, and her nervous heart almost jumped out.

Yang Hao patted her hand, picked up the high-legged silver cup, and wiped it while saying, "I disobey military law and am willing to be punished."

He put the wine glass on the table and turned around to leave with the four soldiers.

The girl in red-coat "punched" and knelt in front of Meng Bochang, and said in tears: "The Lu family guarded the border for the country for three generations. The father was only fifty years old when he got his younger brother. If his father died, the younger brother would definitely not survive. The incense of the Lu family was cut off from then on. If the general was willing to leave aside, Lu Rui would like to repay the general as a slave for three generations." After speaking, he kowtowed with a sound.

Meng Bochang refused to respond with a cold face, and Lu Rui kowtowed her continuously. After twenty or thirty strokes, her forehead was bleeding. Qing'er hugged Lu Rui and shouted at Meng Bochang: "The person has been let go, do you really have the heart to force her to death? I thought the 'Death Judge' was such a hero, and it turned out to be a cold and icy heart." Meng Bochang hummed a heavy heat from his nose when he heard this. Four iron-armored guards retreated tactfully. Yang Hao winked at Qing'er and said, "Take her down, General Meng will not pursue it again."

Lu Rui was lying on the ground and wanted to kowtow again, but Qing'er stopped him, but Lu Rui was very stubborn and still kowtowed to Meng Bochang three times. After the two left, Yang Hao hurriedly poured wine into Meng Bochang's silver cup and sat cross-legged across the street.

Meng Bochang asked in a muffled voice: "Is it a bit unkind for me to do this?" Yang Hao nodded.

Meng Bochang sneered: "You saw the wrong person, and Lu Benzhong is not worth your risk of letting him go. He sent a secret envoy to Fengzhou to meet Zeng Chongyang the day before yesterday, and told you that it was a bad intention to form a patrol camp. This person seems loyal, but in fact he is an old man and a sloppy man."

Seeing that he was a little drunk, Yang Hao said, "You are tired all the way, I have arranged the room." Meng Bochang shook his head and cursed, "Mother-in-law, you are such a slut. Yang Hao, I tell you, you will suffer a great loss sooner or later." Meng Bochang put down his wine glass and held Yang Hao's shoulder and said, "Didn't you always want to know where Hou Jie and the others are? Let's go, I'll take you to find them."

...

Thirty miles north of Yongfeng City, there is a small hill called Meishan. From a distance, it looks like a giant python.

Meng Bochang pointed at the distance with a horse whip and said, "Do you know why it is called Meishan?" Yang Hao replied, "Maybe there are plum trees and plum blossoms on the mountain." Meng Bochang said, "Nonsense! There is no grass here, so there are no plum trees or plum blossoms. Meishan, which should actually be called Meishan. Coal. There is endless coal under the ground. Chang'an people burn coal to keep warm, and the Uighurs also use it to keep warm. The mine owner who runs this coal mine has long been rich enough to rival the country. His annual income is more than the total land tax in Yongfeng, Fengzhou and Feng'an."

Yang Hao was surprised. He didn't expect that there was such a large coal mine so close to the city. But what is this related to Hou Jie and the others' disappearance? Could it be that... Is it because someone trafficked it to the coal mine to work as a coolie?

"Coal is a good thing, but mining coal is a chore. There are 3,000 miners in this Meishan Mine, 90% of which are the coolies bought by the miners from the Ghost Gang. Your fifty brothers are sold here to be hard laborers. And the Zhang Cheng you trust the most is a little boss in the Ghost Gang. You expect him to find someone, but it is not the one who is entrusted to him."

This sentence made Yang Hao look sour and heard a little about the name of "Ghost Gang". This is a secret gang entrenched in Yongfeng City. He often engages in business that bullies and dominates the market and abducts the population. As the lieutenant of Zhang Cheng, if he said that it had nothing to do with the Ghost Gang, he would not believe it if he said it, but Yang Hao still did not expect that Hou Jie's disappearance was directly related to him. As for Meng Bochang's saying that he was entrusted with someone, and that Zhang Cheng could not find Hou Jie, etc., Yang Hao didn't think so. Zhang Cheng was very arrogant and wanted to have a role in the officialdom. He should do his best to do what he told him.

Yang Hao looked at Mei Shan in the misty snow again, and asked in confusion: "Since there is such a huge profit, why didn't Mengchang have an idea for him? Could he, a small mine owner, still be able to raise a hundred thousand soldiers?"

Meng Bochang smiled and said, "You are such a fool. There are also shares of Mengchang in this coal mine. Not only his, but all officials in Yongfeng City have shares. The Lu Benzhong you let go can take away 30,000 taels of silver dividends from here every year. My uncles are not good people who eat vegetarian food and chant Buddha's name, and they don't want to go to the coal mine. They are really inconsistent with interests and are all in one's way. They are just powerless."

Yang Hao said, "You brought me here in the middle of the night. Could it be that you want to make an idea?" Meng Bochang said, "You finally said something clear. If you don't take anything from heaven, you will be punished by heaven." When he spoke, he turned his horse and ran west. After walking for more than ten miles, the sky was already bright. In front of him was an abandoned ghost city. At this moment, nearly a thousand soldiers were stationed in this ghost city. This was the main force of the Right Army brought by Meng Bochang from Fengzhou.

Yang Hao asked: "Mr. Zeng went to Feng'an. Are you going to part ways so soon?" Meng Bochang snorted coldly and said: "Remember, his life and death have nothing to do with you and me from now on."

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Chapter completed!