Jiuxi

Chapter 214 212 [Emperor Tu Hegemony is talking and laughing]

In mid-September, the envoy from the Yan Dynasty arrived quietly.

Lu Chen did not come forward, and all negotiations were completed by Lin Jie and several senior members of the gang. It was not that he wanted to be lazy, but that he deliberately downplayed his status in the Seven Star Gang in the eyes of the world.

Now that the marriage has been decided, the bond between him and the Seven Star Gang is already unbreakable. Since this place will be an independent force in the future, it is in line with the dormant strategy that he keep a low profile as much as possible. For example, when he asks for benefits from the Seven-Star Army in the future, he can speak confidently from a relatively fair standpoint without being easily suspected of his motives.

Under the banner of recruiting peace, the envoys of the Yan Dynasty made very simple demands. One was that the activity area of ​​the Seven Star Gang should not be expanded and could only be maintained within the scope of Baotai Mountain, whether it was to enter Henan Road to the west or Dongyang to the south. Road, these are actions that are unacceptable to the Yan Kingdom court.

The second is that the Seven-Star Army surrendered to the imperial court and accepted the jurisdiction of the Privy Council of the Yan Dynasty.

On this basis, the Yan Dynasty allowed the existence of the Seven Star Gang and the army, and could provide some food and grass, and at the same time relaxed the blockade of the Baotai Mountain area. If the Seven Star Gang does not accept it, the Yan army will block the surrounding traffic arteries, and may send another large army into the mountains to encircle and suppress them at any time.

Of course, the last sentence is a commonly used intimidation tactic during negotiations. If the Yan Dynasty really had that spare power, it would not send envoys to the mountains for peace talks in disgrace.

Lin Jie knew this very well, so he put forward several conditions tit for tat.

The Seven-Star Army exists as a militia and will not leave the confines of Baotai Mountain to raid other areas. It nominally submits but will not accept the jurisdiction of the Privy Council of the Yan Dynasty.

The Yan army must lift the blockade on the outskirts of Baotai Mountain and at the same time compensate the Seven Star Gang for the losses caused by this war, including silver, grain, ironware, and various living supplies.

Naturally, the envoy from the Yan Dynasty could not settle the matter in one word, so he left after talking for two days. He needed to go back and ask for instructions from the big boss in the DPRK. Lin Jie said that there was a shortage of food in the mountains. If there was no definite reply within half a month, the Seven Star Army might be forced to take the initiative to look for food outside.

Although the peace talks did not go particularly smoothly, it was foreseeable that the Yan Dynasty would definitely agree to the conditions proposed by Lin Jie, because they did not have many choices at the moment. The Southern Qi border army was ready to move, and the Jing Dynasty was attacking Zhao State and had no time to go south.

While Lu Chen secretly followed the progress of the peace talks, he used this time to lay a solid foundation for the development of the Seven Star Gang.

The construction of the base area cannot be accomplished overnight. Although the Seven Stars Gang gained a foothold through the first battle in the mountainous area, it still needs to invest a lot of effort in order to gradually transform a rough gang into a solid territory.

The key point is the construction of a defensive fortress system.

Lu Chen was already very familiar with the terrain here. He could basically count the mountains, rivers and important roads with his eyes closed. Under his command and coordination, tens of thousands of people started construction in full swing.

Before construction, the internal structure of the Seven Star Gang must first be optimized.

"Brothers, with the permission of the gang leader and discussions with the gang leaders, we have decided to make some adjustments to the gang's gangs and branches."

In the spacious and bright Juyi Hall, dozens of gang leaders gathered together. Lin Jie naturally occupied the throne of the gang leader. There was a large suspended wooden board beside him. Lu Chen stood beside it and talked to everyone.

"Brother Ran is still the leader of Lintang, who is mainly responsible for our Seven Star Gang's outside properties and money transactions."

"Brother Qi is still the leader of the Yin Hall, and it has been internally reorganized into two locations. One is located in Heluo City of Yan State, and the other is located in Nanjing of Jing Dynasty. The focus is on spying on the Imperial Court of Yan State and Marshal Qing of the South Campus of Jing Dynasty. Yu Gong’s movements.”

Ran Xuanzhi and Qi Lianfu nodded in agreement.

Lu Chen looked at Dong Mian, who looked honest and honest, and said with a smile: "From today on, Shantang is responsible for the internal construction and material management, and Brother Dong is here to take care of it."

Dong Mian said sternly: "Brother Lu, please rest assured that I, old Dong, will definitely do things with my heart."

Lu Chen nodded and added: "Fengtang, Huotang and Leitang will be merged, and the name of Fengtang will be retained. The eldest lady will be in charge of the rewards and punishments of the gang and the security of the main village."

No one doubts Lin Xi's status. Even if we don't mention that she is Lin Jie's most beloved eldest daughter, just because she has worked hard for the Seven Star Gang in the past few years and has performed countless times for the Seven Star Gang, plus she is now more and more... With superb martial arts, no one can shake her status in the gang.

Even if Lin Jie goes into seclusion now and passes the position of gang leader to Lin Xi, with the support of powerful people like Dong Mian and Qi Lianfu, there will be no trouble in the gang.

Seeing that everyone agreed, Lu Chen continued: "The Seven-Star Army currently only needs to maintain an organization of 500 cavalry and 3000 infantry, commanded by the leader and the eldest lady, and will not interfere with Feng, Lin, Shan, and Yin. . These 500 people cannot be released from work for the time being. While maintaining training, they must also work hard to build our territory. After all, they are all strong young men in their 30s and [-]s, and their strength cannot be wasted."

Relaxed laughter echoed in the hall.

Lu Chen also smiled, turned around and drew a dot on the white cloth covering the wooden board, marked it with the word "main village", and said gently: "Brothers, this is where we are now. There are three branch villages in the west and four in the south. Divide the camp. On the surface it looks like a complete and layered defense system, but in reality it is of little use because we don’t have enough troops to defend.”

After these words were spoken, the expressions of several down-and-out literati in the corner became quite embarrassed.

The first person to bear the brunt is Shi Haisheng. Although he has the affectation of a poor scholar, he does have some real talent and learning. At least the construction of the branch villages is in full compliance with the regulations stated in ancient books. Now that Lu Chen has criticized him as worthless, how can he act as if nothing happened? .

However, now Lu Chen's status in the Seven Star Gang is at its peak, and he has become Lin Jie's son-in-law. He just held an engagement ceremony a few days ago and has been recognized by everyone in the gang. How can he be a bastard? The staff who eat can be compared. Even if the other party points at his nose and scolds, he has to respond with a smile.

Lu Chen naturally noticed the awkward look on this man's face, and changed the topic: "Of course, I'm not saying that these branch villages are not well built, but there are too many of them. I only saw that the terrain was difficult and restricted traffic, but I didn't consider it. We ignored the actual needs and made the mistake of talking on paper. Having said that, these copycats themselves still have some merits."

Shi Haisheng raised his head suddenly when he heard this, a bright color appeared in his eyes.

Lu Chen smiled and said: "According to the information obtained through field inspections, coupled with our current population size, we actually only need the main village and two branch villages. Wushan Village in the west and Poyun Village in the south are three pillars of the main village. Not only are they protected by the dangerous terrain, but they can also support each other in a relatively short period of time. The three villages are integrated into one, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack."

Lin Jie interjected: "What do you mean, give up the other branch villages and renovate and strengthen these three villages?"

"Yes, Master."

Lu Chen nodded slightly, then looked at Shi Haisheng and said, "Mr. Shi, you will be responsible for the planning and supervision of this matter, and the brothers in the gang will be responsible for the execution. Do you have the confidence?"

The surprise came so quickly that Shi Haisheng felt a little dizzy. He stood up unsteadily and said anxiously: "Student... I am not a talented student. I promise to live up to the orders of the gang leader and Brother Lu."

Lu Chen smiled faintly and said solemnly: "Give you half a year, remember to use the specifications for building a military city. The scale of the two villages does not need to be too large, it must be strong and compact enough."

Shi Haisheng sobered up a little, bowed and said: "Students will do their best and serve to the death!"

After this meeting, the young laborers of the Seven Star Gang began a vigorous construction movement.

Lin Jie and the elders of the gang were mainly responsible for the negotiations with the Yan Dynasty. After several back and forths, they finally reached an agreement on the general direction.

The Seven Star Army accepted the recruitment of the Yan State government and became a militia group independent of the Yan Army. The activity area of ​​the Seven Star Gang was restricted to the west of Henan Road and the north of Dongyang Road. Without the order of the Yan State Court, the Seven Star Army was not allowed to enter without authorization. Other areas - in fact, even if the Yan State has an order, the Seven-Star Army will not obey it. The two sides only form a fragile peace, which is the result of a great victory of the Seven-Star Army.

Lin Jie got the official position of a regiment training envoy. He played with the official seal for a moment and then threw it into a corner.

The Yan army slightly relaxed the blockade on the outside of Baotai Mountain, tacitly allowing the Seven Star Gang to communicate with the outside world through the west and south directions, and at the same time compensated some of the food and grass, in exchange for the Seven Star Army to stay in the mountain.

Ran Xuanzhi and Qi Lianfu were busy on their own, while Dong Mian brought nearly [-] laborers to cooperate with Shi Haisheng in repairing the main stronghold and the two branch strongholds.

Although it is late autumn, the mountains are full of vitality.

One afternoon, Lu Chen led the farmers and craftsmen in his gang to study improved farming methods. He was thirsty but very pleased when he talked about it. In the blink of an eye, he saw Lin Xi and Li Chengen appearing not far away.

He said something to those simple mountain people, turned around and walked over there.

"Sister."

Lu Chen greeted with a smile.

Lin Xi looked at the dirt on his body, stepped forward to help him dust it off, and said softly: "There is a letter coming from the south."

Lu Chen was startled for a moment, and the smile on his face faded instantly. He immediately raised his eyes and looked at Li Chengen, who said respectfully: "Master, Governor Xiao's reply has arrived."

"Say it."

"According to the young master's suggestion, the Huaizhou Army has not launched the Northern Expedition offensive for the time being, but now that the preparations for the war have been completed, Governor Xiao asked the young master to return to Huaizhou immediately. The route is diagonally across the Pseudo-Yan Dongyang Road, the warp weaving department and our family's The manpower has been fully arranged, and it will only take the young master half a month at most to reach Huaizhou safely to secure the defense line."

"Okay, I understand. You go and notify Senior Yuchi so that others can get ready to go."

Li Chengen took the order and left.

Lu Chen turned to look at Lin Xi and didn't speak for a long time.

(End of this chapter)