This time, the leather goods merchant Pi Dingqiu did not come alone. Instead, seven or eight big businessmen arrived at the General's Mansion together. When he walked into the side hall, Sima Rui frowned when he saw these businessmen. Among them were

Two or three people behind the scenes were very tight, and they were all people who had a say in the court. They looked at Pi Dingqiu and couldn't help showing a look of disgust.

"I've seen General Sima!" When a group of businessmen saw Sima Rui, they all stood up and saluted with clasped fists.

The unhappiness on Sima Rui's face flashed away. When he looked at the businessmen, a smile was already on his face. He strode forward, stretched out his hand to grab a big fat man like a ball, and said affectionately: "Shopkeeper Liu

Yes, I saw you last time at Liu Shangshu's house in the capital. Why are you here in Lucheng?" Before the fat man could say anything, he turned around and patted a young guy again, "Brother Lu, how could Mr. Lu let you do this?

You take care of these chores? Isn’t this overkill?”

Shopkeeper Liu and the young man named Lu were also full of joy, "General Sima, we haven't seen you for a long time. We are very pleased to see General Sima's military power during the day. Now, we have hope."

"Oh!" Sima Rui pointed to the chair, "Sit, sit, if there is anything difficult for you two, as long as Sima can do it, he will naturally spare no effort."

The young man named Lu clasped his fists and smiled: "With General Sima's military prowess, doing this is just a trivial matter. To be honest, General Sima said, I came here in person this time because a large number of my goods were destroyed in the desert.

The damn horse bandits were robbed. The losses were huge! In fact, the goods were just dumped, but one of my cousins ​​was also caught in it, and his life and death are unknown. My family has no food and no sleep at night!"

"Yes, General Sima, I came here this time because of this matter. A large number of goods from our store were robbed. Fortunately, no one was robbed. However, this batch of goods is also of great value. To be honest with General Sima, Liu Shangshu is quite

I was annoyed, so I was sent to deal with this matter. General Sima, I have no choice but to come and ask for help!"

"Is everyone here because of this? Your goods were also robbed by horse bandits in the desert?" Sima Rui turned to look at several other merchants and asked.

"Yes, yes, General Sima has made the decision for us!" a group of businessmen said in unison.

"There are many horse bandits in the desert. Not only are we Dayue people, but there are also Mongolian people. It is not easy to wipe them out. If my army is dispatched and they slip to the Mongolian side, there is nothing I can do.

Huh?" Sima Rui said thoughtfully.

"General Sima, the people who robbed our goods are the Yingzuiyanma bandits. It is impossible for them to sneak over to the Mongolian people. As far as I know, the Mongolian people are also thinking of suppressing them!"

"Shopkeeper Liu, how are you sure that the ones who robbed your goods are the Yingzuiyan Horse Bandits?" Sima Rui asked.

"Of course someone escaped and came back. Someone in the caravan escaped by luck." Shopkeeper Liu said.

"So that's it!" Sima Rui nodded. "But shopkeepers, there are several difficulties in this. First, our Lucheng border army has just been reorganized, and the brothers have not rested for several months. We are sending them now.

Going into battle will easily cause resentment and affect combat effectiveness, so we have to rest for a while. Secondly, if our army leaves Lucheng, it will easily cause misunderstandings with the Mongols. You know, we have a truce agreement with the Mongols.

Yes, this still requires communication with the other party, and it also takes time, so I would like to ask all the shopkeepers to be patient. When everything is settled, I will definitely send troops."

Hearing what Sima Rui said, shopkeeper Liu and the young man named Lu were all happy, "That's natural, that's natural. It's not an easy task to send out a large army. In fact, my adults just informed Sima

General, I am a great leader of Vietnam, how can we tolerate these horse bandits running amok? As long as General Sima has this plan to destroy them, we will rest assured. Isn’t that right, everyone?"

"Of course, of course!"

Pi Dingqiu came up with a smile, presented a small box to Sima Rui with both hands, and said: "General Sima, this is a small amount of money from our merchants to raise the army. When General Sima sends out troops, he can reward the soldiers to encourage them."

Morale. It’s trivial and disrespectful.”

She Wenzhuang, who was beside Sima Rui, stepped forward to pick it up and put it gently on the table next to him.

Seeing Sima Rui collect the money, the merchants all smiled, "Let's take our leave, General Sima, and we'll wait for your good news." Shopkeeper Liu smiled and said goodbye. All the merchants also stood up and saluted with clasped fists.

"Okay, okay!" Sima Rui stood up and said, "Everyone, please go back for now. As soon as there is news, Sima Rui will inform you all!"

Seeing a group of businessmen leaving, the smile on Sima Rui's face gradually disappeared, replaced by a look of displeasure, "This Pi Dingqiu is so tired of living, he actually dragged Liu Shangshu and Mr. Lu's people to suppress me.

.Wenzhuang, do you think these two adults were really robbed?"

She Wenzhuang said: "The robbery must have been robbed, otherwise these two people would not have appeared in Lucheng, but it still takes a lot of thinking about who robbed them."

"You mean someone is doing something wrong in there?"

"It's very possible!" She Wenzhuang said: "This is to suppress you, general, from above and put you in a dilemma. If we fight, there is no chance of winning. If we don't fight, there will inevitably be negative remarks about you, general, in the court.

, this will make Master Sima very passive."

Sima Rui nodded, "Yes, the person who came up with this trick really deserves to be killed. Wenzhuang, write a letter to my uncle in Tanzhou for me and ask for his attention. Now, I am really not sure about it. I just want to kill him."

I am afraid that I will trouble my uncle to mediate for me in the court, but it will be difficult for my father to come forward in this matter."

"Wenzhuang understands."

"Also, let's ask Yao Meng and the others to come in. It looks like we still have to do something." Sima Rui said.

Yao Meng, Wang Zhuang, Ding Jian, Qu Lu, and Qiao Zifang filed in. "General Sima!" Everyone saluted.

Sima Rui smiled and pointed to the box next to him, "General Yao, there is some money in this box. Take it and share it!"

Yao Meng and others were shocked, "General Sima, what is this?"

"Everyone has worked hard these days. Someone just sent me a sum of money. It should be regarded as the money for everyone's hard work. Yao Meng, don't refuse. Take it and divide it!" Sima Rui said loudly.

"Yes, thank you General!" Yao Meng stepped forward, opened the box, and exclaimed, "So much, General, a total of fifty thousand taels of silver! How dare we accept this?" Several other people also said one after another.

decline.

Sima Rui waved his hand, "Fifty thousand taels, each of you only has 10,000 taels. You still have so many generals and commanders under your command. If you share a little bit with each person, you won't have much in your hands. Take it!"

"Thank you, General!" Several people were excited. Everyone had experienced General Sima's generosity again today.

"Yao Meng, your first battalion sends more sentries out to patrol, to inquire about the recent whereabouts of the Yingzui Rock horse bandits, and to find out if they have any other footholds besides Yingzui Rock?"

"General, you want to attack Yingzui Rock?" Yao Meng was startled.

"The Yingzuiyan horse bandits robbed caravans and harmed border residents. They committed heinous crimes. They will definitely be beaten, but now is not the time. Let's do the preliminary preparations first and find out all the situations. It is really necessary.
Chapter completed!