However, the government office was brightly lit. Li Quan held a celebration banquet. Generals of all sizes sat at seven or eight tables, raised their glasses, and were drinking happily.

"General Han, General Wang," Li Quan drank a lot and raised his glass to greet each other again.

Han Shouzhong and Wang Xian raised their glasses to return, and they understood what Li Quan was thinking.

He only talks about celebrating the achievements and only expresses his gratitude, but never mentions the future joint war. It is obvious that he has to do it alone.

It's good that Meng Jiucheng really doesn't want Li Quan to be dragged by artillery and engineers to run around. This is the backbone he carefully trained, and he also pointed at them to cultivate more talents in the martial arts lecture hall!

Han Shouzhong and Wang Xian also knew about Meng Jiucheng's big plan and thought that this was what they were doing. At a young age, they knew how to cultivate and win over civil and military talents. The two of them secretly admired them.

Wang Xian knew that there was no need to fight again and could go back tomorrow with the seized supplies. He felt relieved and began to evaluate the wine he drank, "This wine is really good."

Han Shouzhong agreed and smiled and said, "I haven't drunk this kind of wine for a long time. I'm afraid that I will think about it in the future after finishing drinking today."

Li Quan was stunned for a moment, stopped chopping and asked, "Why, your army's military discipline is so strict, aren't you even allowed to drink alcohol in your spare time?"

Wang Xian shook his head and said, "Li Shuai misunderstood. It's not that he refused to drink, but that Meng Shuai issued a ban on alcohol, and that he was not allowed to use grain to make wine."

It is not allowed to use grain to make wine?! Li Quan immediately figured it out that it was a shortage of food. But this situation is everywhere, and no one has ever given a ban on alcohol.

Furthermore, the soldiers in the army are already generous. If you don’t let them drink, wouldn’t you cause trouble?

"No one objected to this?" Li Quan asked tentatively.

Han Shouzhong smiled and said, "At the beginning of the uprising, Meng Shuai implemented this order in the area he occupied. At that time, there were fewer people and there was indeed a shortage of food. Eating a full stomach was more important than drinking. When the territory became larger and more people were eating, the food problem had not been greatly alleviated, so the alcohol ban continued to be implemented."

After pausing, Han Shouzhong continued, "After a long time, everyone has become accustomed to it. There is not no wine on the market, but there is still fruit wine. Now if you want to drink it, you can buy good wine. They are all sold in Songland, and the price is relatively expensive."

"So that's it, Meng Shuai is so clever!" Li Quan nodded. Although he felt that this order could save a lot of food, it was difficult to implement in his own territory.

The key is that this is accustomed to being able to be implemented at the beginning of the uprising, and it also shows that Meng Jiucheng's thoughts are thorough.

"We can drink a lot, and I want to thank Li Shuai." Han Shouzhong raised his glass toast and said, "Our army will set off to return tomorrow, and there will be no need for Li Shuai to send it to you."

"Why be so anxious?" Li Quan made a move to persuade him to stay: "Is it because Meng Shuai had an explanation before his departure?"

Han Shouzhong blinked and said, "Meng Shuai didn't say anything, but it's not necessary to say that our army wants to strengthen its defense on the Western Front. Meng Shuai is still not relieved when Liu Erzu!"

Li Quan nodded and said as he said, "Since that's the case, I won't force myself to stay, so that Meng Shuai will not worry. But seeing off is still a must. I will go to the camp of your army tomorrow to give away the two generals."

Han Shouzhong bowed and said, "Then it's a blessing to Li Shuai. Thank you, Li Shuai."

Li Quan laughed, raised his glass again, and drank it all in one go.

…………….

After breakfast the next day, Li Quan took the generals out of the city to see him off.

This is politeness, the second is gratitude, and the third is that Li Quan wants to buy some weapons and ammunition from the Red Turban Army, as well as several telescopes.

Li Quan also knew that weapons, ammunition, and even telescopes should be secret weapons that the Red Turban Army relied on to win, and they might not be sold to him.

Moreover, even if it is sold, it is definitely not something Han Shouzhong and Wang Xian can do.

Therefore, Li Quan just revealed his intention to Han Shouzhong and Wang Xian, and the letter to Meng Jiucheng was the specific content of the discussion.

After saying goodbye, Han Shouzhong and Wang Xian led a team to set off. Nearly 10,000 prisoners were captured in large numbers. In the battle of Qingzhou, the Red Turban Army was rewarding a lot.

Among the prisoners, several other officials including Zhang Lin were missing. Li Quan changed his mind and believed that it would be enough to send the confidants of Zhang Lin and other officials to the Red Turban Army. Zhang Lin and other officials might have some effect on him in capturing the surrounding counties and towns.

Of course, Han Shouzhong and Wang Xian didn't know about this, and they wouldn't care if they knew it. Anyway, these prisoners were used as coolies, and if they did heavy work for two or three years, they might get rid of their wildness and become people in the base area.

"Does Meng Shuai mean to join Song?" Wang Xian accelerated his horse speed slightly, half a horse head behind Han Shouzhong, and asked.

Han Shouzhong turned his head slightly, slowed down his horse speed, and said slowly: "The future situation is most likely to be the three countries of Song, Jin and Mongolia compete for power. No matter which country it is, it is stronger than us. Needless to say, the Jin Kingdom, but if there is a way to go, we will not surrender. If there is a way to go, which one will you prefer?"

Wang Xian thought for a while and said, "It is better to become a king than to defect to others."

Han Shouzhong shook his head and said, "The wood is beautiful in the forest, and the wind will destroy it. If he proclaims himself king, he will be against the Song, Jin and Meng Kingdom. He is very passive! Meng Shuai thought about it for a long time and would never do this."

After pausing, Han Shouzhong said again: "In fact, it's nothing to invest in Song. You can get help from money and food, but it is not much different from independence."

"What if the Song court wants to transfer Meng Shuai and us to other places, or send a large number of officials to seize power?" Wang Xian thought too much, obviously he did not agree with Han Shouzhong's remarks in his heart.

"Haha, if that's the case, we have a way to deal with it." Han Shouzhong didn't care. In his opinion, Meng Jiucheng was not a person who could be controlled for a long time, so there would never be a situation like Wang Xian considered.

Wang Xian opened his mouth and finally stopped chattering.

In fact, including Yang Miaozhen, the generals and officials who later joined the army all had similar ideas. I hope Meng Jiucheng could be the king's establishment, just like Yang Aner.

But most of the people on Meng Jiucheng's side did not agree with this, even though they did not say it. Moreover, Meng Jiucheng was constantly conveying the meaning of not wanting to be the king to everyone.

Han Shouzhong and Wang Xian led their troops and horses, and arrived in Weizhou three days later.

Meng Jiucheng and Yang Miaozhen came out to greet him in person. Meng Jiucheng, who had received the Pegasus Express, had already read the material list and was extremely happy.

With this batch of seized materials, not only did the Red Turban Army's combat power improve, but Meng Jiucheng can also speed up his vision of the navy and free up funds to buy ships.

There is no need to explain the consolation, reward, and celebration. Meng Jiucheng stayed in Weizhou for several days before setting off for Muling Pass.

After the Red Turban Army took over the Muling Pass, it faced two choices: one was to defend heavily to ensure the safety of the western wing; the other was to support Muling Pass, enter Yiyuan westward and approach Laiwu.

After Li Quan's troops were in Linqu and occupied Qingzhou, they removed the threat from the north. The significance of Mulingguan's heavy troops was greatly reduced, and advancing west seemed to have become a natural choice.

However, Meng Jiucheng did not want to act too early, nor did he want to mobilize troops from other places. In this way, the more than 4,000 troops stationed in Muling Pass seemed a little thin, with more than enough defense and insufficient offense.

Therefore, Meng Jiucheng transferred 5,000 troops from Weizhou and asked Han Shouzhong and Wang Xian to select strong men from the prisoners to supplement the gap.

In this way, mobilizing scattered troops in other places will be minimized and the loss of money and food will be reduced.

At the same time, Meng Jiucheng transferred Wang Min, and Yan Tong served as military advisor and chief general, preparing to occupy the Yimeng Mountains first, and then continue to advance westward through infiltration and erosion.

"Menglang, Li Quan wants to buy weapons, haven't you made the final decision yet?" Yang Miaozhen brushed a strand of hair that was blown by the wind on his forehead and said, "It would be better to take Liu Erzu as an example and supply gunpowder bullets. At most, it would be enough to add pine tree cannons."

Meng Jiucheng nodded with a smile and said, "How can I not know what my wife thinks? I have already thought about it, so I sent letters to Li Quan as my wife said, and sold him weapons and ammunition to a limited extent. In addition, I also want to send some people to teach them how to use it."

"Yes, I have a powerful weapon but can't use it. Li Quan may not have thought of this, right?" Yang Miaozhen felt relieved and smiled happily when she saw her husband agreeing to her suggestions.

"They really don't understand this." Meng Jiucheng said: "I thought that with weapons, they could use them and anyone could exert their maximum power."

Yang Miaozhen said with a slight head, "Now those artillery and engineer backbones are all taught by Meng Lang step by step. How much time has it taken and how much hard work has it been? These are not something outsiders can know."

Meng Jiucheng smiled bitterly and said, "There are too few people who are literate and know how to calculate. If you want to teach, you can't find too many qualified students."

"Isn't Meng Lang promoting that? Popular education?" Yang Miaozhen comforted: "There are also night schools in the army. In time, our Red Turban Army will definitely be the army with the largest number of literacy."

Meng Jiucheng nodded with a smile, but was not as optimistic as Yang Miaozhen thought.

People marched through towns and villages, but they were disciplined and did not dare to leave the team privately or disturb the people.

Every time he passed through villages and towns, Meng Jiucheng carefully observed, especially in village towns, and saw that there were no signs. Sometimes he even called the village chief and asked for some questions.

Although the people are less literate and the government's financial resources are not enough to fully implement free education, it does not prevent Meng Jiucheng from adopting a flexible approach.

A signboard is set up in villages and towns, and villagers publicly recommend the word "speaker" to explain the notice to villagers, and a village teacher who teaches children to read and read for free.

In this way, the news of the people will not be too closed. We know that the army is still fighting, the war is related to ourselves, and the army is still defending this rare and stable life.

At the same time, the government can recruit teachers as soon as possible by providing subsidies or exempting taxes.

Meng Jiucheng also prepared to give the teacher and scholar and juren the title and specific headscarf to them, and give them the treatment of not worshipping the officials.

You should know that in the Song Dynasty, scholars were not considered formal fame and honor, and were usually just respectful titles for scholars; while Juren was not a lifetime system. He passed the state trial and was qualified to be a student within three years. If the three-year period passed, he had to take the exam again.

In other words, in the Song Dynasty, only those who passed the provincial examination held by the Ministry of Rites were able to make a name for themselves and could become officials.

Meng Jiucheng directly fixed the fame of scholars and scholars, and gave them to the teacher according to the teaching time. In the future, when choosing officials, the teacher who has fame will have the opportunity to refer directly to it.

In that era, the imperial examination was the only way to gain fame, but how many people could become famous after studying hard? Many people who still failed to get their hair after the exam were whiter. However, Meng Jiucheng's method made many people find a way.

Needless to say, the economic benefits are enough to make scholars excited by the plaques issued by the government, the fame and fortune that they have been longing for day and night, and the treatment that matches fame and fortune.

Of course, some people should oppose Meng Jiucheng's measures.

What is fame and fortune? It is a famous instrument of the court! How many scholars study hard and cannot get one after hardships. How can some guys who are only worthy of teaching in private schools be worthy of it?

But Meng Jiucheng was preparing to carry out the next step under pressure.

The benefits of doing this are not only to popularize education to the lower class people, but also to the gratitude and hard publicity of those who have achieved fame and fortune, which has made Meng Jiucheng gain a good reputation among the lower class people.

Reading and literacy, writing and calculating, seems to have nothing to do with war and the quality of the army. But it usually refers to wars with cold weapons, but with artillery and stone throwing machines, the technical troops in the army are indispensable.

However, a soldier who knows how to calculate the literacy must be more accurate and faster in understanding and executing commands than illiterate; he must also understand them faster when learning combat skills.

As we walked and looked, Meng Jiucheng had satisfactory places and unsatisfactory villages and towns.

Others may not understand what Meng Jiucheng should do this, but Meng Jiucheng believes that this is a reflection of the soft power of his ruling area.

If the signboard can promptly publicize the issued decrees, the movements of the enemy and us, the recent wars and other news, it will be equivalent to improving the mobilization ability in disguise.

The government orders are clear and smooth from top to bottom. This is itself a point of investigation for whether the government is efficient and whether it responds quickly.

In fact, Meng Jiucheng did not just pay attention to the inspection this time. Every time he traveled, he would do his best to carefully observe the situation in various places.

Just looking at reports from various places, Meng Jiucheng felt that not all of them were credible. The tricks of deceiving the superiors and hiding the minors have a long history in China.

Not to mention anything else, the emperor, who speaks the word of the golden words and carries the power of life and death, isn’t he still often kept in the dark and deceived by his subordinates?

In the future, if the territory is bigger, I can't get through. I'm afraid I'll be like those guys who are arrogant and listen to hymns every day!
Chapter completed!