~~~~~~

Today was obviously not a good time to drink. The luncheon did not last long and was over within half an hour.

Cao Wenzhao was able to crawl out of Guan Ning's muddy soup. Obviously, he had already passed the youthful and frivolous stage of "I have no one else".

He did not refuse Li Yuanqing's gift. After lunch, he went directly to Governor Yuan's staff and accountants to 'chat'.

After Cao Wenzhao left, Chen Zhong also relaxed a lot, but he said to Li Yuanqing with some confusion: "Yuanqing, Cao Wenzhao is just an ordinary person, why should you treat him so favorably?"

Li Yuanqing smiled: "Brother, many friends lead to many paths. Cao Wenzhao has a good character. Today, Governor Yuan is not here, so we have to speed up here. Brother, this afternoon, you will personally

Go and keep an eye on it. After the handover is completed, we will set off overnight."

Chen Zhong also understood what Li Yuanqing meant, nodded heavily and said: "Yuan Qing, don't worry. He, Yuan Manzi, doesn't want to see us, so he thinks I only want to see him? We will leave immediately after we finish here."

…………

Li Yuanqing had already sorted and sorted all the handover materials before, so it didn't take much effort for Cao Wenzhao to count them.

Especially after Cao Wenzhao had a good 'chat' with these staff and accountants, the entire efficiency immediately skyrocketed.

As dusk approached, all the handover matters were almost completed, and Cao Wenzhao finally had time to chat with Li Yuanqing alone.

The two of them hid among several chicken cars filled with soldiers and armor, and one of them lit a cigar.

Cao Wenzhao whispered: "Wen Zhao will remember Li Shuai's kindness in his heart."

Li Yuanqing smiled: "Brother Cao, my brother, you just said this and ignored others. We still have a long way to go."

Cao Wenzhao smiled bitterly, glanced at Li Yuanqing, hesitated for a moment, and whispered: "Li Shuai, to be honest, I am... a little tired of my life in western Liaoning. If possible, I, I want to

Go back to my hometown in the northwest."

Li Yuanqing's brows couldn't help but frown slightly, but after a moment, they relaxed and said with a smile: "Brother Cao, no matter what you do, you should try not to violate your own heart. If you can do something you like, it is not necessarily a bad thing.

.”

Cao Wenzhao didn't expect that Li Yuanqing would support his...this seemingly rebellious choice...after all, he had finally managed to survive in Liaodi...

After a moment, he hurriedly said: "Li Shuai, you, don't you really think that Wen Zhao is a cowardly act?"

Li Yuanqing couldn't help laughing: "Brother Cao, what is a coward? What is a warrior? Brother Cao, everyone knows many things. Yuan Qing has always believed that being down-to-earth is the most real thing."

Cao Wenzhao also understood what Li Yuanqing meant at this time, and couldn't help but nodded heavily. After a moment, he whispered: "Li Shuai, Wen Zhao will do his best regarding Liu Fei's matter. As soon as there is news, Wen Zhao will notify Li Shuai in time.

.”

Li Yuanqing nodded and said in a low voice: "Brother Cao, in this matter, we can just go with the flow. If you are in trouble, you must not go against the trend. As Yuan Qing said, our days are still long."

Cao Wenzhao couldn't help but be even more moved, "Being able to meet Li Shuai is the greatest honor for Wenzhao in his life."

Li Yuanqing smiled and shook Cao Wenzhao's hand, "Brother Cao, Yuan Qing has always believed that dark clouds cannot always cover the sun. The parting today is just to see each other better tomorrow. If there is anything or any difficulty,

You can send someone to inform me in time, and Yuan Qing will do his best within his capabilities."

Cao Wenzhao shook Li Yuanqing's big hand and said, "Li Shuai, I will."

…………

As the sun set, after a simple farewell ceremony, Li Yuanqing and Chen Zhong led more than ten thousand Liaonan soldiers and soon embarked on the return journey.

Looking at this neat and bright red figure under the warm sunset, Cao Wenzhao couldn't help but let out a long breath.

This pool of water in Liaodi is really...

When can he be as free and easy as Li Yuanqing?

On the galloping horse, Li Yuanqing looked back at the shrinking figure of Cao Wenzhao behind him, feeling a little melancholy in his heart for a moment.

It’s not that there are no good men in Liao and Ming Dynasty, but it’s a pity...

If he wants to change his own destiny and change the destiny of more people, he needs greater rights.

If we don't break this old set of old shackles, how can we talk about new life?

Even if the process is extremely painful!

…………

In a flash, more than ten days passed by, and it was already the beginning of July.

After more than a month of hard work, Zhou Zheng has basically dealt with the affairs of the seaside camp, and the last batch of Dingkou have also boarded the ship and returned to Changsheng Island.

At this time, it was midsummer and the weather was already extremely hot.

Although Wang Chengen sent another personal letter inviting Li Yuanqing to Beijing, Li Yuanqing did not agree and instead boarded the ship back to Changsheng Island.

With Wang Chengen here to maintain contact, Li Yuanqing was not too worried about Emperor Chongzhen.

There is a saying, "What you can't get is the best."

Before, Li Yuanqing had been too submissive to the capital, which made Emperor Chongzhen mistakenly think that he, Li Yuanqing, was the best candidate for surgery.

At this time, Li Yuanqing had reached a compromise with Governor Yuan, and both long-term and short-term worries were controlled to a certain extent. Li Yuanqing also had more time to properly manage his three-acre land on Changsheng Island.

He didn't have much time to play house with Emperor Chongzhen.

However, although the momentum on all fronts is relatively smooth, it has been almost half a year, and Li Yuanqing has not received any information from Mao Wenlong on the eastern front.

This made Li Yuanqing a little anxious.

Even if Mao Wenlong sends troops, at this time, the Hou Jin army has returned to the court for more than a month, and it is time for Mao Wenlong to stop. How come there is no news?

On the sixth day of July, the fleet successfully returned to Changsheng Island.

Li Yuanqing had already made precise arrangements for the disposal of these more than 70,000 Dingkou. He would first transport them to camps along the line from Yangguanbao to Nanxinkou for training.

After three or five months, when their "brainwashing" work, including discipline, hygiene habits, working skills and other aspects, met the requirements of the island, Li Yuanqing rewarded the sons and daughters as female relatives. At the same time, from these youth

In the middle, select new reserve teams and stabilize them.

As for those Tatar slaves with a size of less than 2,000, they were naturally sent directly to Zhongdao and Xidao.

Li Yuanqing can indeed spare their lives temporarily, but~, they must create enough labor value!

Returning to the most familiar official hall after a long absence, Li Yuanqing's spirit suddenly relaxed a lot.

Zhang Yunniang, Qu Minqiu, Yang Jiao~niang, Zhang Baozhu, Cong Gurun, Ren Yinger and other wives and concubines of Li Yuanqing came to meet and say hello one after another.

At noon, Li Yuanqing held a grand family banquet at home to reunite with his wives, concubines, and children.

After a comfortable lunch, Li Yuanqing, accompanied by his eldest wives Zhang Yunniang and Qu Minqiu, returned to the study room and was about to enjoy the tenderness of "a little separation is better than a wedding", but Shang Laoliu and Ma Guanjia were already there.

Come to your door.

Although Li Yuanqing was a little helpless, he had to get down to business first.

In the outer study, Zhang Yunniang and Qu Minqiu personally served tea to the three of them. Shang Laoliu chuckled and said, "Yuan Qing, Lao Ma and I have become sinners again this time."

Butler Ma also laughed: "Commander, you have to explain this matter to the ladies for us brothers."

Li Yuanqing smiled and threw a cigar to the two of them, "If you know this, why don't you make a long story short, otherwise, I won't be able to save you."

The three of them smiled and exchanged greetings, and Shang Laoliu's expression became serious, "Yuanqing, these days, Lao Ma and I, as well as my colleagues from the Political Affairs Department, after careful statistics, our harvest from this expedition seems to be,

It’s not as abundant as calculated before.”

Shang Laoliu said and handed an account book to Li Yuanqing's hand.

Li Yuanqing opened it and scanned it. Several important expenses were marked with cinnabar red letters.

For a moment, Li Yuanqing smiled: "The key problem with this expedition is that I gave too many gifts. In terms of property, it is reasonable to have only a few left. However, these war horses and armor materials are our net possessions."

Profitability. Overall, the problem is not too big.”

Hearing that Li Yuanqing had set the tone, Shang Laoliu and Housekeeper Ma felt relieved, and a big stone fell from their hearts.

Shang Laoliu said again: "Yuan Qing, in this battle, we don't have much entanglement with Yuan Manzi. Why do you still give him such a generous reward?"

Butler Ma was also a little puzzled by this and quickly looked at Li Yuanqing.

Li Yuanqing took a deep breath from his cigar and said with a smile: "This matter is just a few words, and it seems that some explanations are not clear. However, Brother Shang, Butler Ma, I have a hunch that there will be some troubles on Governor Yuan's side soon.

What a big move. At this time, we can only choose to lose money and avoid disaster for the time being."

Shang Laoliu frowned, "Yuan Qing, you mean..."

Li Yuanqing said: "Jinzhou and Fuzhou, I have decided to completely cede them to Governor Yuan. Brother Shang, Guanjia Ma, during these days, you must be prepared to receive the population and property of these two places as soon as possible."

Butler Ma couldn't help but gasped, "Commander, is this matter so serious?"

Li Yuanqing slowly exhaled a mouthful of thick smoke: "Brother Shang, Butler Ma, our ancestors have a saying that is right. Don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of what happens. At this time of year, we'd better be careful. By the way,

Hey two, has there been any news from Pidao?"

Shang Laoliu said: "Yuan Qing, I was just about to tell you about this. We have not contacted Pi Dao for two months. When we got the latest battle report from Pi Dao, it was still two months ago. Mao Shuai had already

He led the army into Fengcheng and the front line of Xin'anbao."

Li Yuanqing couldn't help but frown tightly. Mao Wenlong was indeed not idle...

This matter has become more and more complicated!

Unlike Li Yuanqing, although Li Yuanqing's contacts with the court had begun to bypass Liaoxi, on the whole, especially when there was a battle report, Li Yuanqing would still go to Liaoxi for a formality, maintaining the rules of face.

However, Mao Wenlong had already completely bypassed Liaoxi and directly contacted the court unilaterally.

Even the situation between Mao Wenlong and Denglai was not particularly pleasant.

This makes Dongjiang's situation at this time a bit embarrassing.

And Mao Wenlong has been holding his breath and wants to use a big victory to slap these factions and the system in the face.

However, even at this time, the effect is not too ideal...

After a long while, Li Yuanqing let out a long breath and said, "Brother Shang, Butler Ma, let's put this matter aside for now. Let's take care of our own affairs first. Especially the work in Xindingkou, we must not neglect it in the slightest!

"

"yes!"
Chapter completed!