In a blink of an eye, it has been three days since Wang Pu returned to Datong.

It was late at night, and Chen Yuanyuan and Neng Niang were serving Wang Pu to burn his feet. Neng Niang's mother died very early. Now her father has died in battle again and has no relatives in her hometown. Seeing that she was pitiful, Chen Yuanyuan happened to be short of a girl by her side, so she kept her by her side. Of course, Wang Pu had no objection to Chen Yuanyuan's decision.

Wang Pu was enjoying the massage of Chen Yuanyuan and the master and servants' feet, Xiaoqi and Zhen Youcai suddenly came together. Chen Yuanyuan knew that Zhen Youcai and the others must have something to discuss with Wang Pu, so he quickly wiped Wang Pu's feet dry, then picked up the foot basin and went into the inner room. Wang Pu waved his hand to signal Zhen Youcai and Xiaoqi to sit in the pit.

Zhen Youcai sat cross-legged in the pit, but Xiaoqi walked behind Wang Pu and stood still.

Wang Pu asked, "Is there any news?"

Xiaoqi replied: "As Mr. Zhen's instructions, he has been staring at the slaughterhouse outside the east gate these days. Yesterday afternoon, more than a dozen injured horses were sent to the slaughterhouse. While people were not paying attention, the villain sneaked in and looked at it. These horses were seriously injured by the iron sand of the firearm and were unable to recover, so they were sent to the slaughterhouse."

"Okay." Wang Pu said, "Have you traced where this batch of horses came from?"

"Checked." Xiaoqi said, "It was transported from Mount Kaneshiro."

Zhen Youcai said: "The villain dares to assert that this group of horse thieves are horse households in the area of ​​Kazuma Mountain."

Xiaoqi said: "General, do you want a villain to take people to Mount Kaneshima now?"

"No hurry." Wang Pu pressed his hand and said, "No hurry in advance. It will not be a matter of one or two days to recruit this group of slingers. It is not too late to make a decision after finding out the exact details of the slingers. Xiao Qi, has the pensions from the fallen brothers all been paid?"

"All sent it." Xiao Qi's expression turned to gloomy and said, "There were 1,107 brothers who went to Liaodong, 267 people who returned to Datong alive, and all the other 838 people died in battle. The villain followed the general's order and had already paid 500 taels of silver to the family of each brother who fell into battle, spending a total of 409,000 taels of silver."

Wang Pu asked, "Why didn't you pay any money?"

Xiaoqi said: "I've sent it all."

"No." Wang Pu said, "Bearded before in Shengjing, before the bearded man led fifty brothers out of the city, I promised them that if they could return to the Ming Dynasty alive, they would give each person a reward of one thousand taels. If they died in battle, each household would give each household a reward of two thousand taels of silver. Now that they are all killed in battle, they will pay an additional pension at two thousand taels of each household."

"Yes." Xiaoqi responded respectfully, "The villain turned around and went to reissue it."

Wang Pu said: "Go now and send the money to the house overnight."

"yes."

Xiaoqi responded and took the order.

"Mr. Zhen." Wang Pu looked at Zhen Youcai and asked, "In addition to the details of the horse thief, how did I check the other thing I asked you to check?"

"The villain has also found out." Zhen Youcai stroked the goatee beard under his chin and replied, "There are three official weapons workshops in Datong Prefecture, all of which are under the jurisdiction of Zhang Zi'an, the eunuch of Datong. There are two private weapons workshops, but the scale is too small and there are not many weapons built throughout the year."

"Zhang Zi'an?" Wang Pu frowned, "The eunuch in charge?"

Zhen Youcai whispered: "Do you want the villain to prepare a generous portion and send it to Zhang Zi'an's mansion tomorrow?"

"Nonsense!" Wang Pu said angrily, "This is not a capital, why should I give Zhang Zi'an silver?"

Zhen Youcai smiled bitterly and said, "It is easy to do things with money. If the general wants to build a new firearm, it would be impossible without Zhang Zi'an's three official weapon workshops. Besides, having a good relationship with Zhang Zi'an is only good for the general. Don't look at the eunuchs who guard the garrison do not lead troops or take care of local affairs, but they have great power."

Wang Pu frowned and said, "Do you have to give money?"

Zhen Youcai smiled and said, "General, don't worry. Although this money was given to Zhang Zi'an, he will be able to return to the banking warehouse of the Wang family compound in a few days."

Wang Pu asked, "How do you say this?"

Zhen Youcai said: "What can Zhang Zi'an do if he collects the silver? What can he do except purchase the industry? He can't bring so much money into the coffin. General, don't you want to persuade the uncle to sell the Wang family's property? It just happened to sell the industry to Zhang Zi'an. The silver will return to the bank treasury of the Wang family compound?"

Wang Pu thought about it and felt that this made sense. At this time, there was no Shanxi Piaohao, which had been connected to the world, so Zhang Zi'an had no money to go to other places after collecting the money, so he could only purchase the industry locally. Besides, Zhang Zi'an is also a native of Datong. His relatives are all in Datong, so there is even more reason to purchase the industry.

"Okay." Wang Pu said helplessly, "Then you go down and prepare."

"The villain is going to prepare."

Zhen Youcai got up and bowed to Wang Pu, and took the order.

Watching Zhen Youcai's thin figure disappear outside the door, Wang Pu stretched his waist long and lay down in the pit.

Although Datong is not the most ideal place to settle down, Wang Pu has no choice now. He is at least a former general in Datong Town, and at least has some power in the minds of the soldiers of the border. But when he goes elsewhere, he is just a prince-in-law with no real power, and he can't do anything in name only.

What's more, without the imperial edict of Emperor Chongzhen, Wang Pu could not go anywhere.

Therefore, Wang Pu can only strive for the best results in Datong. Now there are two most urgent tasks. One is to recruit soldiers and quickly pick up a well-trained elite during the 100-day Dingyou period, and the other is to build a firearm to make this elite equipment the most advanced firearm compared to this era.

Only with an elite soldier who is absolutely loyal to him can he have the foundation for his life!

But Wang Pu could not recruit a group of farmers to be his servants, because he did not have enough time to train a group of farmers into elite soldiers! The secret spies lurking in Mongolia and Korea in the court have sent back the news that Jiannu had already had a new slave chief, and Fulin, who was only four years old, has succeeded to the throne, and Dorgon and Jirhalang jointly assisted the government.

History has not changed much here, because Haoge and Dorgon constrained each other, and neither of them succeeded to the throne in the end, and in the end they could only support the young Fulin's throne.

Although Concubine Zhuang was captured and Fulin lost her mother at the age of four, Fulin also had the backstage of Empress Zhezhe, and Fulin was also Huang Taiji's only legitimate son. Although Concubine Linzhi Palace has a higher status than Concubine Zhuang, her child Bomu Boguoer was still not born in her stomach.

If nothing unexpected happens, Jiannu will take revenge on the Ming Dynasty at the beginning of next spring.

It can be imagined that this revenge will be unprecedentedly crazy! The Datong Prefecture guarded by Wang Pu will become a key area for Jiannu's revenge. If you cannot train a military force who can conquer and fight before the arrival of the Jiannu army, waiting for Wang Pu's fate will only be a battle death.

Also, after the 100-day Dingyou Period expires, Emperor Chongzhen will never let him stay in Datong. What should I do then? If Wang Pu wants to return to Beijing by not following the imperial edict, in addition to finding a suitable excuse, he must also have an elite soldier who is absolutely loyal to him! Otherwise, a mere prefect of Datong could take him back to the capital.

Wang Pu was thinking, when Chen Yuanyuan suddenly came in and reported, "My husband, brother is looking for you."

"Brother?" Wang Pu said in surprise, "Why is he looking for me so late?"

Chen Yuanyuan said: "Brother must have something to do when he comes to you, so you might as well go quickly."

"Is it true that I'll let you sleep."

Wang Pu sat up reluctantly, pulled Chen Yuanyuan into his arms and was flirting with ease, making Chen Yuanyuan panting and charming eyes. Then he got up and tidy up his clothes and headed straight for his elder brother Wang Ju's residence.

■■■

Wang Family Courtyard, main house.

Wang Ju and Wang Hua had been waiting for a long time. Wang Pu walked into the door and greeted the two of them, "I have met my elder brother and second brother."

"Forget it." Wang Ju waved her hand and said, "San, you can sit down too."

Wang Pu walked to the pit and sat behind Wang Hua.

Wang Ju sighed and said, "San, my brother invited you today because he wanted to discuss something with you."

Wang Pu said: "Brother, please tell me."

Wang Ju said: "Shanxi has been suffering in recent years, and the chaos in the wars, our Wang family's business is almost unable to maintain. This year alone, a deficit of more than 100,000 taels is lost. There is no other way for the eldest brother, so he can only borrow money from the third brother."

Wang Pu thought for a while and said, "Brother, I have silver. I deducted the salary and pensions for the brothers and the fallen soldiers. At least 500,000 taels left, but I can't lend this silver to my elder brother. I also have to recruit soldiers and build firearms."

Wang Ju said anxiously: "Is it okay to only borrow 100,000 taels?"

Wang Pu asked: "It is certainly not a problem to borrow only 100,000 taels, but I want to know what brother can pay off his debts at that time? Do I think our Wang family can still make money in various businesses in Shanxi?"

Wang Ju said in a silence: "This..."

Wang Pu said: "Brother, I don't know if I should say anything?"

Wang Ju said: "If you have anything to say, you can just say it, you are all your brothers."
Chapter completed!