Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 291 Li Hu's Thoughts

To the south of Luzhou Wei is Yangtou Mountain. Zhu Shenzui set out in the morning and arrived at Yangtou Mountain in the evening, and reached it on the same day.

Upon hearing that someone from the mountain had come to report that Zhu Shenzhui had arrived, Li Hu hurriedly led people to greet him and was very happy to see Zhu Shenzhui.

The two men went up the mountain hand in hand, chatting and laughing along the way, and took a look at the military farms on the mountain.

It is winter now and farming has basically stopped, but Yangtou Mountain is still bustling. In addition to the daily entry and exit of private salt and other goods at the transit point set up on Yangtou Mountain, the hundred-household garrison on the Yangtou Mountain also conducts drills from time to time. Although the intensity of the drills is far less than that of the new army in Zhaowuling, it is much better than that of ordinary garrisons, and under the management of Li Hu, everything is in good order, which made Zhu Shenzui nod in praise as he watched along the way.

When they arrived at the mountain, Li Hu hosted a banquet for Zhu Shencui to drink. The conditions here were naturally not as good as those in Luzhouwei, but the wild game and delicacies in the mountains were quite delicious.

While drinking and talking, when Zhu Shenzhui talked about Li You's good performance on this trip to the grassland and how he had made great contributions as the captain by commanding the team bravely and killing the enemy, Li Hu grinned with a look of satisfaction on his face.

After three rounds of drinks, Zhu Shenzhui asked Li Hu about the time he went to Luzhouwei to find Wang Rong some time ago. Li Hu smiled embarrassedly and hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"I didn't expect that Sixth Master actually knew about this..."

"Brother Hu, why are you thinking of leaving when you are living well in Yangtou Mountain? Are you not comfortable here? Or are there some things that our brothers have not arranged properly?" Zhu Shenzhui asked puzzledly.

Li Hu shook his head quickly: "Sixth Master, what are you talking about? Back then, I took my brothers to Yangtou Mountain. If it weren't for your help, we might not have survived the winter. We brothers would have starved to death or frozen to death. Even if we didn't starve to death, we would have been killed by the government."

"Thanks to Sixth Master's kindness, not only did he forgive us, but he also gave us food and utensils, and pointed out a way out for us brothers, so we can settle down in Yangtou Mountain. Needless to say, we brothers can have what we have today because of your care, Sixth Master. Without Sixth Master, how could we have Yangtou Mountain today? Not to mention this Hundred Households Office."

"Then why?" Zhu Shenzhui was very confused after listening to Li Hu's answer. If that was the case, then why did Li Hu go to find Wang Rong?
Li Hu smiled bitterly, picked up the wine cup in front of him and drank it all: "Li Hu will remember the kindness of Sixth Master in his heart, and it will be difficult to repay in this lifetime. And now, my brothers are all working under Sixth Master. Brother Hu, needless to say, has followed Sixth Master around the country and worked hard for him. Brother Lu is currently training soldiers for Sixth Master in Zhaowuling, and the training is going well. My son has been taken care of by Sixth Master, and now he can fight in the battlefield. He may have a bright future in the future. Even Master Zhang..." At this point, Li Hu raised his eyes to look at Zhu Shenzhui and sighed again.

Li Hu told Zhu Shenzhu that he did not leave Yangtou Mountain because of what Zhu Shenzhu said, but because he wanted to repay Zhu Shenzhu's kindness. You should know that Li Hu was originally a border army officer. If he had not been framed for asking for an explanation for his superior, he would not have ended up like this.

After being accused of a crime, the father and son were sent to a mine as slaves. Later, they killed the mine manager and led their men to live in Yangtou Mountain. Li Hu originally thought that this was how his life would be. In the future, he would either become a mountain king and endure a miserable life, or one day the government might react and send troops to wipe out Yangtou Mountain.

Li Hu would die if he wanted to. Since he became a miner, he no longer cared about his own life or death. He just felt sorry for his son Li You being implicated. If he could exchange his own life for Li You's life and future, Li Hu would make this decision without hesitation.

But he didn't expect that he met Zhu Shencui by chance on Yangtou Mountain. It was Zhu Shencui's help that changed the fate of Li Hu and their group. Even Li Hu himself didn't expect that he would have a day to turn things around. Now not only his brothers and son have become successful, but he, the "thief in the army", has transformed himself into an officer of the garrison and holds the position of a centurion.

Looking back on that day, it was like a dream, and Li Hu was extremely grateful to Zhu Shencui from the bottom of his heart. But as time went by, when he saw that his brothers, including Li You, were able to work for Zhu Shencui, he, as the boss of Yangtou Mountain and the famous tiger, stayed in Yangtou Mountain doing nothing.

In the past two years, Li Hu worked hard in Yangtou Mountain and managed Yangtou Mountain in an orderly manner, but what does it matter? Li Hu was a soldier who had fought against the Mongols in the frontier army. It was okay for him to be a centurion who lived a stable life at the beginning, but after a long time, Li Hu always felt uncomfortable.

In Li Hu's heart, he wanted to do something great for Zhu Shencui. It would be even better if he could follow Zhu Shencui to the grassland to lead troops to fight. Although Li Hu was not young, he was not so old that he could not hold a knife or chop people. Moreover, he had good skills. In terms of martial arts, he was the strongest among the brothers. You know, he could fight Wang Jinwu on equal terms.

After listening to what Li Hu said, Zhu Shenzhui finally understood Li Hu's idea and couldn't help laughing. However, thinking back, it was common sense for Li Hu to think so. Li Hu arranged Li Hu and his brothers out of overall consideration. Hu Lin was the one who insisted on going down the mountain and followed Zhu Shenzhui to the grassland. As for what happened later, it was just a matter of course. As for Lu Yisheng's position in Zhaowuling, it was because Zhaowuling had just been taken. In order to occupy the territory of Zhaowuling, Lu Yisheng, who was steady in temperament, was a good candidate, so Lu Yisheng was placed there. Later, Wang Rong took over as the commander of Luzhou Guard, and Zhaowuling became a centurion, so Lu Yisheng was appointed as a centurion.

Later, considering that Zhaowuling has resources such as mines, it would be most appropriate to establish a workshop in Zhaowuling. In addition, Zhaowuling's geographical environment is located at the junction of two prefectures and is relatively remote, so they considered setting up a training ground in Zhaowuling as well.

There is no need to say much about Li You and Zhang Xijun. They were the first to come down the mountain. Li You became Wang Jinwu's apprentice and has been following Wang Jinwu. As for Zhang Xijun, he is now in the capital. He has long been Zhu Shenzhu's eyes and ears in the capital. His role in the capital is irreplaceable. He has done a lot in the past two years. Even this time, Tengger was canonized by the court and the border trade were all contributed by Zhang Xijun.

Everyone was working hard and making achievements, except Li Hu, the head of Yangtou Mountain at that time, who was doing nothing. This made Li Hu feel very unhappy.

Because of this, Li Hu felt that he was ashamed of Zhu Shencui and wanted to leave Yangtou Mountain to do something for Zhu Shencui. He felt that being a centurion in Yangtou Mountain was far from being enough to repay Zhu Shencui's kindness, so he might as well go to other places to work, even if it was to follow Zhu Shencui's caravan or to be a soldier in the new army. He was quite skilled, and even his son Li You could make contributions, let alone him as a father?

In this way, the more Li Hu thought about it, the more he felt that it made sense. At that time, because Zhu Shenzhui had been in the grassland and could not come back, Li Hu, who was a little impatient, took the opportunity to go to Luzhouwei to find Wang Rong and put forward his ideas. However, Wang Rong did not agree to him, but just told him that he had to wait until Zhu Shenzhui came back before making a decision. Li Hu waited patiently and finally met Zhu Shenzhui today.

"Sixth Master, when it comes to fighting in battle, I, Li Hu, have never lost to anyone. Even if I do something else, it is always better than staying here." Li Hu said to Zhu Shenzui frankly. Looking at Li Hu's expression and feeling the sincerity in his heart, Zhu Shenzui couldn't help but laugh.

"If you leave Yangtou Mountain, how will you settle here?"

"This is not difficult. Sixth Master just needs to rearrange the people. To be honest, there is nothing big going on in Yangtou Mountain right now. Every day it's nothing more than farming and the transport of goods. Sixth Master has a lot of people who can do these things, and some can even do them better than me. I, Li Hu, have no other ideas. I just want to do something big for Sixth Master." Li Hu stood up and bowed, saying seriously.

Nodding silently, Zhu Shenzhui understood Li Hu's idea. The main reason why Li Hu was placed in Yangtou Mountain was because most of the people in Yangtou Mountain were Li Hu's subordinates. As the boss of Yangtou Mountain, it was perfect to let Li Hu be the centurion.

But Li Hu had such an idea in his mind. If someone else could be the centurion in Yangtou Mountain, he would not only have people but also control the private salt channels and the right to enter and exit goods. Such a job would be what he wanted. But Li Hu did not have any attachment to it. On the contrary, he felt that he could not repay Zhu Shencui's kindness. He would rather not be the centurion and asked to go to the grassland to fight with Zhu Shencui. He was willing to be a small soldier.

Zhu Shenzui had never thought of such a situation. He looked at Li Hu with great satisfaction and thought secretly in his heart that he had indeed ignored Li Hu before and did not consider his ideas. But now that Li Hu brought it up directly, Zhu Shenzui had to consider it carefully.

Judging from the current situation in Yangtou Mountain, it doesn't matter whether Li Hu is there or not. In recent years, the Yangtou Mountain Hundred Households Office has long been stabilized. In addition, the role of Yangtou Mountain is no less than that of Zhaowuling. At best, the main tasks of Yangtou Mountain are to cultivate land and control private salt trade routes and the storage and entry of goods.

These things can indeed be done by other people, and they may be more suitable than Li Hu. For example, Xia Dong is a very suitable candidate. All the matters concerning private salt have been gradually taken care of by Xia Dong. Xia Dong has lived up to Zhu Shenzhu's high expectations and managed this business in an orderly manner. If Xia Dong is placed in Yangtou Mountain and allowed to take full control of the private salt channels and the Yangtou Mountain Hundred Households Office, I think there will be no difference.

But how to place Li Hu after leaving Yangtou Mountain? It is not appropriate to let him go to Zhaowuling, because Lu Yisheng is in charge of Zhaowuling now. As Lu Yisheng's sworn brother, it is not appropriate to let Li Hu go there to serve as Lu Yisheng's deputy. Putting Li Hu above Lu Yisheng would also be unfair to Lu Yisheng, which is also not appropriate.

Let Li Hu go to the tribe to partner with Wang Jinwu? This idea was rejected by Zhu Shenzhui as soon as it came up. For a while, Zhu Shenzhui couldn't think of a better way to place Li Hu. He couldn't really let him go to the new army as a pawn as Li Hu said, right? Li Hu himself might accept it calmly, but from Zhu Shenzhui's point of view, he would never arrange it this way.

After thinking about it, suddenly an idea came to Zhu Shenzui's mind. He suddenly thought of a position that was most suitable for Li Hu. Perhaps it would be most appropriate to let Li Hu go there.

(End of this chapter)