Chapter 2191
Of course, the Haihan people are outsiders after all, and they have made it clear that the assistance provided to them will be limited. The Huizhou salt merchants certainly do not dare to bet all their chips on this end. To properly resolve the old grudges with the Shanxi and Shaanxi salt merchants, we must ultimately rely on the Huizhou salt merchants themselves.
If the situation were not already urgent, Huizhou salt merchants would definitely prefer to send people to Zhoushan for training and then form their own musketry team, instead of spending a lot of money to ask Haihan to send people to Yangzhou to stabilize the situation. Now, due to the situation, they can only adopt a two-pronged approach and hand over the responsibility of their own defense to the Haihan people.
Yang Chengye is one of the few people who supports hiring Jin Dun as a guard. He believes that although Golden Shield is a private organization, its strength far exceeds that of an ordinary escort agency. Under the premise that Haihan is unwilling to directly send troops, this is probably the best option at present. Compared with the militia group cobbled together by the seven major surnames, he is certainly more willing to believe that the Golden Shield Escort, which has a good reputation in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, can better protect him.
However, the person responsible for connecting with Jindun was Dai Yingfan. Yang Chengye was already in a state of relying on others to seek asylum, so of course it was inconvenient for him to take the initiative to contact Jindun. So he only showed his face at the reception banquet the day before, and had no chance to interact with Yuan Tao alone for the time being.
Although Yang Chengye's situation is very bad, living in Daijiazhuang, he doesn't have to worry about his life for a while. And for the Huizhou salt merchants, he has not become a useless burden. In addition to funding self-defense measures, Yang Chengye actually also has special intelligence sources that can inform the decisions of the Huizhou salt merchants. Provide reference.
"Today my family received an unnamed note. I think Mr. Dai needs to take a look." After Yang Chengye said this, he took out a piece of paper and handed it to Dai Yingda.
Dai Yingda took it and found that it was a piece of high-quality gold-painted paper made by Suyage in Yangzhou Prefecture. This kind of high-end product was not sold on the market. Almost all of it was ordered by the user. Of course, the price was far higher. Beyond the ordinary paper used for writing. People who are willing to spend money to buy this kind of limited edition goods are often either rich or noble.
Yang Chengzhen took the initiative to explain this: "Lu Kangtai has always liked to use this kind of paper to write notes."
Dai Yingda said oh, opened the paper and read the contents inside. The main message was to warn Yang Chengye to leave Yangzhou Mansion within ten days and not to rely on anyone's protection, otherwise life or death would be uncertain. The content on the paper was not signed, but according to Yang Chengye, this was obviously a final warning specially sent by Lu Kangtai.
After Dai Yingda read it, he handed the paper back to Yang Chengye and sighed: "If you look at it from the perspective of a friend, this Lu Kangtai can be regarded as the most benevolent and righteous person."
The two sides are in hostile camps. To put it seriously, Lu Kangtai's behavior can be regarded as leaking military information. This shows that he really values Yang Chengye, a close friend.
But the problem is that it may not be Lu Kangtai who wants Yang Chengye dead now, but other salt merchants in the same camp as him. Yang Chengye dare not believe this warning, let alone fully believe it. He believed that even if he quietly left Yangzhou Prefecture, he would still not be able to stop the desperadoes who came for high bounties. Only by defeating their opponents and losing the owners of the bounties on the market could the assassination operation against him be ended. .
So even if Lu Kangtai's warning on the paper is true, Yang Chengye still has to rely on his own camp to deal with the problem, rather than following Lu Kangtai's suggestion and sneaking away on his own.
When Yang Chengye took the initiative to take out this note, he had already expressed his feelings to Dai Yingda. Therefore, Dai Yingda did not have to doubt that Yang Chengye had other ideas. On the contrary, he felt that although Lu Kangtai was hateful, he was also a kind-hearted person. .
Yang Chengye said: "He did not explain in this note what will happen in ten days, but I think this may be a signal to take some kind of action against the family, so I came here to inform Mr. Dai."
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Dai Yingda nodded and said: "Does Lu Kangtai know that you live in Daijiazhuang now?"
Yang Chengye said: "Although I have disclosed this matter to him, if he is interested in asking, it is probably not difficult to find out."
Although Yang Chengye moved out of his manor secretly at night, it was impossible to do it without any movement. Anyone who was interested would definitely notice that there were about a hundred people missing from the manor. Lu Kangtai is so smart. He doesn't need to visit the house, he just needs to send people to inquire about the news near Yangjiazhuang, and he will naturally notice something fishy.
Dai Yingda nodded and said: "That means that in about ten days, the opponent may launch a surprise attack on us?"
"It's possible." Yang Chengye added: "Lu Kangtai will not make jokes when encountering big things. I think his warning is for a reason."
Dai Yingda said: "Then Lu Kangtai must have not received news of the arrival of the Golden Shield when he wrote this. If they knew that the Haihan people had intervened in the matter, they might not have the courage to continue playing."
Yang Chengye did not agree with Dai Yingda's bold judgment: "The enemy has always been very radical in doing things. Although they have suffered losses at the hands of the Haihan people before, they may not become arrogant and dare not take action. I think they You may regard this as an opportunity for revenge. If you win the bet, wouldn’t it be a victory?”
Dai Yingda thought about it, nodded and said: "What you said makes sense. I will arrange for people to keep an eye on the opponent's movements in Yangzhou City, and at the same time, I will greet Jindun in advance so that they can be prepared. But you don't have to worry, Third Brother I have already had a meeting with the Haihan people. He said that the people here are all experts. If the opponent dares to attack Daijiazhuang, he will probably be kicked to the iron plate. "
The third child in Dai Yingda's mouth is Dai Yingfan, who is in charge of defense. Now he has almost become a fan of Haihan. If he hadn't been on a mission, he would probably have wished to go to Zhoushan for training in person.
Dai Yingda did not intend to let Jindun's men disperse to various manors to set up defenses. To do so would be to actively leave opportunities for the opponent to attack. No matter how Jindun could attack, it was never a good idea to attack more with less.
The measure he wanted to take was to gather all the major figures of the seven major surnames in Daijiazhuang to survive this difficult period. If the opponent is really desperate to attack, then Daijiazhuang has concentrated most of the power at hand, as well as Haihan, a powerful foreign aid. If it still can't defeat the opponent, then it really has no choice but to accept its fate.
If it can withstand the offensive that the opponent may launch in ten days, then it will naturally be appropriate. Even if you can't succeed with one blow, as long as you slowly drag the opponent and wait for your own training troops to return from Zhoushan in a hundred days, you can still attack together with the troops of Haihan Golden Shield to destroy the remaining weapons of the opponent. No matter how you look at it, Dai Yingda thinks that the situation at this time is far better than the days before Jin Dun came to Daijiazhuang. Of course, how to respond to the large-scale offensive that the opponent may launch requires close consultation with Golden Shield.
Dai Yingda seemed to have thought of something key, and asked Yang Chengye again: "Do you know how Lu Kangtai commanded his musketeers to fight?"
Dai Yingda stared at Yang Chengye's expression. Regardless of whether the answer was yes or no, if Yang Chengye showed the slightest hesitation, then Dai Yingda would probably doubt his credibility.
Yang Chengye had actually expected that Dai Yingda would ask this question sooner or later. This question has been asked before, but at that time Yang Chengye and Lu Kangtai were still on good terms, and the conflict between the two sides had not really reached the level of life and death, so Yang Chengye did not give Dai Yingda a definite answer, and at that time Dai Yingda also used him as a collaborator. There is no good solution.
But the situation is different now. Yang Chengye has no retreat or other options. If Dai Yingda refuses to save him, there is no need to be cruel. As long as he is expelled from Daijiazhuang in a friendly manner, there may be no need to wait any longer. On the tenth day, assassins who came for the bounty would come knocking on his door to take his life.
When Yang Chengye moved into Daijiazhuang this time, he was waiting for Dai Yingda to ask this question again. Now that he finally waited for this moment, he naturally gave an affirmative answer without hesitation: "Yes, I know a little bit about this." 2. ”
Yang Chengye paused and then said: "But these contents involve military affairs. I am not very knowledgeable about it. Mr. Dai, you are probably also half-experienced, so I have not said it out, lest it be prematurely exposed that we have this key information. On the contrary, It will be counterproductive. ”
Dai Yingda smiled and said: "Chengye is right, but you young people are more thoughtful!"
In fact, Dai Yingda could not guess what Yang Chengye was planning, but from his standpoint, he had to find ways to win this companion to his side. Otherwise, before the war started, there would be disputes among the Huizhou salt merchants, and even To kick out the head of one of the seven surnames would be to break one's arms.
The two of them each had their own little calculations in their hearts that were not obvious to outsiders. Although there was no fireworks in this conversation, they had already tested the other side's position clearly, and then they dared to cooperate with him boldly to deploy subsequent countermeasures.
Dai Yingda said: "It's already late today. It would be rude to visit Shopkeeper Yuan at this time. We think it's better to wait until tomorrow. I'll call Laosan and Chengrong with you to visit Shopkeeper Yuan and ask. Does he have any strategies to counter Lu Kangtai’s tactics?”
When Yang Chengye saw that the other party wanted to see him off, he took the initiative to leave. When he walked to the door of the study, he heard Dai Yingda call him from behind: "Chengye, if you end up harming Lu Kangtai, you won't pay this debt Remember it on our uncles and brothers with the seven surnames?”
Yang Chengye responded with a smile: "Master Dai is worrying too much. Now I just want to fight for the chance to live as much as possible. I don't care about the life and death of others. Master Dai, look, I just said a few words to beg you for Lu Kangtai." If you’re in love?”
Dai Yingda then nodded and said: "It's best if you can understand the priorities here. He Lu Kangtai is a life. We have seven surnames up and down, inside and outside, at least hundreds of lives, which one is lighter?" Seriously, I won’t be rambling anymore. Just go back and have a good rest, and we’ll talk about it again tomorrow.”
Yang Chengye walked out of the study, only to see two men in black standing on the left and right, seven feet away under the eaves, who seemed to have lost their breath. Yang Chengye was not surprised. He knew that this was Dai Yingda's dead soldier, the last barrier to protect Dai Yingda, and the evil star who took action to eliminate Dai Yingda's opponents.
If the Huizhou salt merchants were not at an absolute disadvantage and needed these people to protect them, Yang Chengye had no doubt that these dead men might be lurking in some salt merchants' mansions in Yangzhou City at this time, waiting to cut open the target with cold daggers. throat.
Yang Chengye came out of Dai Yingda's house and returned to his temporary residence in Daijiazhuang. After a brief wash, he sat on the bed and repeatedly thought about the conversation he had just had with Dai Yingda. After making sure that there was no obvious omission, he relaxed and lay down. Go to sleep.
Although the threat on the surface has been effectively alleviated during these days of living in Daijiazhuang, Yang Chengye also knows that Dai Yingda will not keep raising him in vain. If one day Dai Yingda finds that keeping him is not in his interests, then he may be in trouble. He won't hesitate when he takes action himself.
For Yang Chengye, the only person he can trust now is not his best friend Lu Kangtai, nor his companions with the seven surnames. Instead, he has made a clear price and regards keeping his group of people safe in Yangzhou as a combat mission. The golden shield protects you.
According to Yang Chengye's observation of Yuan Tao in the short period of time during the reception banquet, he believed that this person was at least not a loser sent by Haihan to deal with this task, but a senior commander with real ability and rich combat experience. Perhaps the information he knows about the opponent's musketeers will gain the commander's favor and thus provide him with more protection in dangerous moments.
As long as you can prove your worth, you will get more protection. Yang Chengye deeply realized this very practical truth after donating one thousand taels of gold.
No one can truly stand by in this battle, and Dai Yingda will not allow such a situation to exist. Providing money, providing people, and providing effort must account for one of them. Yang Chengye feels that he has achieved the second of the three, and has even become a bait to attract opponents to attack to a certain extent. To this extent, it should be I will no longer be ostracized by the seven surnames.
Early the next morning, before Yang Chengye had finished breakfast, Dai Yingda's men came to invite him to a meeting with the Haihan people. Yang Chengye did not dare to neglect. He put down his half-eaten breakfast, simply cleaned up his appearance, and then hurriedly followed Dai Yingda's men to the meeting.
When Yang Chengye arrived, he saw that Dai Yingda, Dai Yingfan, and Dai Chengrong had already arrived. He immediately confessed, but secretly wondered if all of you Dai family members stayed up at night and came here so early to wait.
(End of chapter)