Delong

Chapter 355 River Walk (12)

Wang Zhuo met Zhang Dalongtou, who was about to become Chief Zhang, in a ditch. At that time, the latter was surrounded by the cool ice and true energy, and he was helping a husband join the army with a cultivation level of Ningdan or Chengdan. My sister-in-law digs a hole.

Watering hole for the vegetable garden.

Because the husband joined the army, this family simply rented the land granted by the family to several cousins ​​of the natal family and husband's family. However, there is still a vegetable garden that can be supplied to the nearby Zhouqiao City in exchange for extra income. It is really reluctant, so Persist.

However, today, as the peak rain period in May has passed, the rainfall is obviously insufficient, and the river ditches used for garden irrigation are close to drying up, and it is difficult to get water from Zhouqiao Dagou. There is still deep water, but it is difficult to come and go... At this time, the role of men That's it, how do the owners of other people's vegetable gardens do it?
That's right, dig a hole.

Just continue digging down in the semi-dry river ditch next to the vegetable garden, because it is not far from the decent Heshui tributary that passes through Zhouqiao. Store water, and then you can carry water for irrigation.

Although it is still very tiring to carry water like this, it can still barely support a small vegetable garden.

However, for this sister-in-law, it is no problem to carry water, but it is very difficult to dig a pit, especially in the summer when you enter a pit full of mud, and you don’t even want clothes... But, there is really no one to help. A sister-in-law digs a hole.

The natal brothers and the husband's brothers have to dig ditches with the people in the village to irrigate the more important crops. Other gardeners also have their own fields to work on, and they don't have any extra energy.Of course, with a little malice, it may be that they are more willing to see this competitor disappear naturally because of the time.

Anyway, Zhang Xing, who was getting more and more idle during the visits to the village, found out about this problem and went to dig the pit himself...and even called the nearby children to help pick up loaches from the dug mud.

It can only be said that if you don't consider that there are dozens of knights on tall horses around you, the children are trembling, and every piece of mud wants to be sieved dozens of times, and the loach must be washed clean. love of fish and water.

"Longtou is really considerate and caring for the people."

Looking at this scene, Wang Zhuo slammed his lips, rolled up his sleeves and trouser legs and walked down. After a while, regardless of the dirt, he directly shoveled the half-caked sludge into the fence basket with a shovel, and then personally Hold it up and send it up.

Zhang Xing couldn't help being curious: "What is this for?"

"This silt is a good material for fertile fields." Wang Zhuo answered easily, but spread the silt along the bank to dry.

Zhang Xing was stunned, but noticed that the other party's clothes had been stained with a lot of mud in just a moment, and asked again: "The king's leader hasn't condensed alchemy yet?"

"It's almost there, but I'm really short of breath. I'm really ashamed." Wang Zhuo responded without thinking too much. "However, the situation is raging now, and the Dragon Gang is getting more and more powerful. I shouldn't be short of a condensed pill... I heard that there is a rebel leader in Hebei who became a battalion general. After the two wars, he shouted directly on the river Congealing Dan?"

"It's a bit exaggerated, but it's not far from it. It's just like Zhao Guang. With a whistling, both Ren and Du have been connected." Zhang Xing said while speeding up. After a little thought, the area and depth of the water pit Then it quickly expanded, and it was obvious that it encountered a spring, and saw muddy water gushing out. "But this is also related to his experience. The prodigal son was looked down upon by everyone in the past. He was born in troubled times, but he gritted his teeth again. He led a group of people to test and test repeatedly. He wandered up and down the river for two or three years. The situation forced me to join the gang, and then Lien Chanlian was the top two in military exploits before the formation, and he was forced to lead a battalion of cavalry at the head, so it was naturally clear."

Wang Zhuo nodded, thoughtfully: "It turns out that I have held this breath for many years, but after all, it was the Dragon Gang who gave him a chance to scream."

"Many opportunities are still won by others. Even if half of them are given by external forces, they should be distributed to the whole troubled times. The Dragon Gang can give up to [-] to [-]%... What about you?" Zhang Xing finished digging the hole and waved it thoughtfully. The shovel wrapped in Duanjiang's true energy slapped the steps along the puddle, and even sent it all the way to the shore. "How is Chief Wang these days? What about the internal guards? Is it okay?"

"Thanks to the leader's concern, everything is fine." Wang Zhuo, who had already started spreading the second basket of mud, looked at the true energy on Zhang Xing's shovel, thought for a while, and answered seriously. "After the incident in Huaixi, it became even better. There is no worry in all directions, and the commercial roads are smooth...People around us are rushing to buy silk from Xiayi and fruits from Dangshan. It is said that they are all sold to Dongdu and Jiangdu...I didn't expect to do it. The rebels still have to make clothes and prepare food for the same group of high-ranking officials, but who asked them to pay? When I came, I had already arranged for irrigation, and I went to the Sui River in Xiayi, and the Bian River in Dangshan.”

"It is said that the Dragon Clan is well-organized, but to be honest, there are obvious differences within the Clan. Your internal guards are the most rigorous and well-organized, and it is the easiest and most effective to do this kind of big project." Zhang Xing expressed a little emotion. "After this time, you have to pick [-] people who are good at civil affairs, engineering, and clerical work. I will use them in the desk... The few people here in Jiyin will be used by Li Longtou."

Wang Zhuo hesitated for a moment: "If they are willing, I have nothing to say."

Zhang Xing nodded, noncommittal, but continued to ask: "Is it convenient for Xuzhou to do business?"

"It's convenient, and the law and order in Xuzhou is obviously better than Huaixi, even better than Liang County, but it doesn't give food and related military funds." Wang Zhuo naturally knew what the other party wanted to know. "After Han Yingong left, the three prefectures of Xuzhou (Donghai, Xiapi, and Pengcheng) fell into the hands of Sima Zheng. It stands to reason that this person doesn't need me to talk to Longtou. Also so down-to-earth..."

Zhang Xing did not say a word, and worked in a muffled voice. After repairing the steps, he turned to help transport the sludge.

Wang Zhuo understood and continued: "The first step is to reorganize the army. Needless to say, the so-called Xuzhou camp in the three counties has a variety of sources of soldiers and horses. The logistics system is also local, and then the Guanxi garrison and Dongdu warriors who came after the Three Expeditions... The morale of the locals is low, and the outsiders are homesick... Now think about it, when the calendar mountain battle, what Han Yingong did Such behavior is certainly caused by his selfishness, but with this selfishness, how can it not be the indulgence of the soldiers below?"

"That's the truth." Zhang Xing nodded seriously. "So Sima Erlong stabilized these people? Rebuilt the Xuzhou camp?"

"That's right." Chief Wang replied while spreading the smelly sludge sent by Zhang Xing on the shore. "The soldiers in Guanlong are homesick, and no one can stop them, but Sima Erlong can at least stabilize these people... the enforcement of military discipline is fair and fair, the rewards and punishments are appropriate, and the barracks are reorganized. The county soldiers, logistics, and sergeants are more or less decent."

"Then civil affairs and finance?" Zhang Xing followed suit, as if not surprised.

"Yes, but this person did not participate directly, but intervened step by step along the military affairs, and the main thing was fairness and justice, nothing special."

"That's really down-to-earth..." Zhang Xingyi said. "And everything is fair and just. With his cultivation and background, the three prefectures of Xuzhou will naturally obey."

"If you persuade me to obey, you will naturally obey after last autumn, but it's just obedience, and from this year's spring plowing, I'm afraid it's not just an official obedience." Leader Wang suddenly put down his shovel and stood on the shore to speak. "After last autumn, he followed our example and began to inspect the land, and re-granted the land."

Zhang Xing replied with a calm expression: "If that's the case, how can we invest in land? The taxes in the three counties of Xuzhou are considerable, and they are two to three times the actual amount of land... Our fairness in granting land is based on this meaning. Come back up."

Wang Zhuo nodded: "That's the problem. Whether it's me or other people at that time, they all thought that his granting the land would only treat the symptoms rather than the root cause, and no one cared about it, but I didn't know until recently... since last autumn At the beginning, he reported to Jiangdu, saying that the six counties in Huaixi were in chaos, the commercial roads were closed, and thieves continued to intrude, and the money and grain income reported by the three counties of Xuzhou also dropped sharply. It was blatantly reduced by [-]% in the past, and today’s spring tax is reduced by half.”

Zhang Xing finally froze for a moment, because he knew what this meant.

First of all, they are not treating the symptoms but not the root cause, but it is very likely that they have really completed the tax fair reconstruction of the three counties of Xuzhou in a way that was opened up from top to bottom.The reconstruction of tax fairness is precisely the fundamental magic weapon for the Dragon Gang to stabilize the place, and it was even an important cornerstone for the rise of the Great Zhou.

To put it bluntly, once there is chaos and the return to agriculture, the fairness of agricultural taxation and corvee is the foundation of all social justice.

Secondly, this shows what method Sima Zheng used to fully grasp the local official system of the three counties of Xuzhou.

After all, compared with the Dengzhou Day Camp and Youzhou Day Camp that did not cancel the general manager state, the Xuzhou Day Camp is actually similar to the Hejian Day Camp in a broad sense. The general manager state has already been eliminated and the county has been divided. completely separate.

The reason why Xue Changxiong looks powerful, but in fact is vulnerable, is largely because he cannot effectively control the local government, and he is always out of touch with the local government. The general manager is a kind of natural opposition...but what about Sima Zheng?This guy took office in Xuzhou a year later than Xue Changxiong, but he managed to get the magistrates of the three counties to cooperate with him and reach an agreement on the most basic money and food income. He said it was because of his charisma and force oppression Well, political pressure is also fine. In short, judging from the results, he has achieved the integration of military and government.

This is troublesome, no wonder he still has the mind and ability to reach out to Langya.

Several thoughts turned in his mind, but it was only for a moment. Zhang Xing continued to help transport the last few pieces of condensed sludge. He didn't ask how the other party knew the inside information. No one came to check the partition?"

"Let's tell the leader this way." Wang Zhuo continued to work and answered at the same time. "In Jiangdu, the sage is still in charge inside the palace, but outside the palace, it's basically Sima who covers the sky..."

"The sage himself chose Sima to cover the sky with one hand." Zhang Xing sneered.

"That's the truth." Wang Zhuo rarely stopped and sighed. "After this guy arrived in Jiangdu, he was suspicious and irritable, so that no one believed him. However, the death of Sima Changying in the battle made him feel that the Sima family was a little more credible, so he entrusted Jiangdu's military affairs to Brother Sima Huada. The guards... Here in Xuzhou, at the beginning, I really felt that it was inappropriate for Sima and his son to hold both internal and external military power, so Han Yingong was used to replace Sima Zheng that day, but once Han Yingong ran away, he trusted Sima Zheng even more."

"More than that." Zhang Xing thought about it seriously. "This sage is not that confused. He probably thinks that once Sima Changying died, Sima Zheng was still young, and Sima Huada's brothers were insufficiently cultivated, had a bad reputation, and had scattered party members, so they could be used instead... It really makes me talk a lot. He Yujieluo, two veteran masters, came to take over Jiangdu's military power, but he couldn't sleep."

"There is no need to seize the military power in Jiangdu. These two are just that the front line has never been able to suppress the rebels. He can hardly bear it in Jiangdu, but this guy still knows what it means to be a master, so he is not as violent as before. He directly dealt with it." .” Wang Zhuo answered calmly. "I don't even think about it. Those two grandmasters are clearly facing each other with a grand master and the entire Jiangdong Jiangxi up and down. It's not bad to be able to maintain it."

"Speaking of this..." Zhang Xing suddenly changed the topic. "What's the matter with Lai Zhan'er? I understand that he keeps Lai Zhan'er by his side, he's afraid of death, but why doesn't he let Lai Zhan'er take advantage of the trend and take over Jiangdu's military power?"

"Why does the leader ask knowingly?" Datou Wang glanced at Zhang Xing, but did not answer directly.

Zhang Xing sighed on the spot: "Does he even doubt the confidant he single-handedly picked?"

"Who made Lai Zhaner happen to be a native of Jiangdu, and has been the governor of Xuzhou for many years and stay behind in Jiangdu?" Wang Zhuo sneered. "And what is it to come to war? In the eyes of this land supreme, apart from himself, there is nothing that cannot be abandoned? After killing his own brothers, he then killed his cousins. Now there is only one cousin left in the north." Watching the sea 'Well, my son is going to be abolished if he is a little promising. After this, King Qi is still locked in Jiangdu. Are you a palace man who is reluctant to live in the palace and is released?"

"Naturally remember."

"As soon as I got back, I killed them all in the name of colluding with the Dragon Gang." Wang Zhuo let out a long breath, looking at the sky without saying a word, but there was only a round of silent scorching sun above his head.

Zhang Xing also looked over his head, and then couldn't help laughing: "The sage calls himself the supreme being on land, which one is he trying to compare with? Sanhui or Siyu?"

"Even Bi Sanhui, there is an old saying, 'When the time is mourning, you and I are both dead'?" Wang Zhuo answered simply.

At this point, the two had already finished their work, but they put away the tools together. Immediately afterwards, Wang Zhuo went down to scrub the dirt in the puddle, while Zhang Xing shamelessly took over from a child. The fruit of half a day's labor, the so-called half-broken loach, was only given a handful of copper coins, and they also went ashore with Wang Zhuo.

Leaving Vegetable Garden, this time the two sides no longer talked about Xuzhou and Jiangdu, but began to discuss some key issues, but it was unexpectedly simple and straightforward.

"You know everything about this time, so I won't say much, just talk about your arrangement, it depends on whether Du Pozhen will come or not." Zhang Xing took it seriously and didn't mean to ask for opinions. "If he comes, I will hand over Zan County and Yongcheng to the northeast of Huanshui in Qiaojun County and Yongcheng, and let you be the general manager, and then I will be attached to Li Longtou."

"Then I would like to thank the leader for his understanding." Wang Zhuo nodded, but did not ask what would happen if Du did not come.

Of course, Zhang Xing never asked the other party, how did he know so much inside information about Jiangdu?
The two parties came to the village with a tacit understanding, met Xu Dalang who had just finished his work, had a meal, and went to the next village together.

On the same day, a group of people who had become familiar with this kind of work went directly to four or five villages. According to this posture, in two or three days, Zhang Dalong's head "Dagan Mayday, visit one hundred villages in two counties, and thoroughly clean up" moth private soldiers" action.

Calculating the time, the big decision in Jiyin City will not be delayed at all.

In fact, when Zhang Xing was wandering around the village outside, the city of Jiyin was already bustling with activity. Wei Xuanding and others arrived first after staying behind, followed by the leaders of Hebei and Qilu counties. .

Everyone has different positions and thoughts, plus Zhang Xing's confidants are also staying there, Li Shu himself is still sitting in Cangcheng in the city, especially Cheng Zhili, who is obviously in a state of anxiety because of some things, attracts invitations from some people And win over, and Shan Tonghai clearly chose to pay a visit to Li Shu when he came, which turned out to be a good show.

However, everyone seems to know that these dramas are just playful, and everyone is more concerned about the assignment and implementation of duties in the future. No one in the gang can make waves and actually prevent the emergence of the new Chief Zhang.

Du Pozhen is a huge variable, but even he can't affect the final result.

Another two days later, when Zhang Xing finished investigating a hundred villages and was about to turn back, he suddenly got definite news that Du Pozhen had arrived, so he simply turned to Zhouqiao City, ready to wait for the other party to go north together.

However, news soon came that Du Pozhen and the Wu brothers, Mang Jingang, Wang Xiongdan and others who accompanied him stopped in Chuqiu City.

Zhang Xing was baffled, should he invite him himself?So he asked Wang Zhuo to go south for a little questioning.

But Wang Zhuo turned away in a hurry, and Fu hurried over with Wang Xiongdan, and easily told Zhang Xing the original story. It turned out that although Du Pozhen promised everyone to come, he seemed obviously resentful, so when he learned about Zhang Xing, he After crossing the frontier of Jiyin, simply stop.

"Looking at what he meant, he should arrive quickly on the same day." Wang Zhuo, who was sweating profusely and rushed back to Zhouqiao in the afternoon under the scorching sun, explained this as soon as he entered the door. "Anyway, I don't want to go with Longtou."

"What right does he have to be angry?" Zhang Xing, who had been waiting at Zhouqiao all night and half the day, was speechless for a moment. "Is it like this when people's ambitions rise?"

Wang Xiongdan was on the sidelines, but stopped talking.

Zhang Xingxing realized: "Is it because I pointed out the collusion between Xuzhou and him, which affected his image of righteousness? Or do you think I am suspicious of him for no reason?"

Wang Xiongdan didn't say anything, just shook his head.

Drinking iced sour plum soup next to him, Xu Dalang couldn't listen to it, or really couldn't understand Zhang Dalongtou, Wang Datou, and Xiao Wang, three smart people pretending to be confused together, so he simply reminded him seriously: "Xu is going to pretend to be suspicious for no reason. Only then can we continue to do justice to the sky."

Everyone was speechless immediately.

After a while, Mr. Zhang still had a thick skin and took the initiative to ask Wang Xiongdan: "Since he doesn't come, he should explain some things to me...Did you tell me about Fu Boshi?"

"I said it." Wang Xiongdan hurriedly answered. "He meant that Fu Boshi could go back, but the more than 1000 Huaixi long-sword soldiers should also go back. Correspondingly, he could ask Li Zida to bring a thousand new elite Huaixi long-sword soldiers over..."

"Yes." Zhang Xing answered calmly. "Did you say that Yongcheng in Feng County will be returned to the internal servants?"

"I said, no objection."

"Mang King Kong, do I want to mention it specifically?"

"I also said it, and I didn't object. Mang Jingang is here."

"Then what request does he have?" Zhang Xing couldn't help asking.

"It's just..." Wang Xiongdan looked at the people around him, feeling embarrassed. "It's because he has a list here, the leader and the big leader, I hope it will be passed together."

This means that the face is harder than anyone else, and the inside is softer than anything else.

"Don't go back to the south again, let Chief Wang work hard for a few more days." The boring Zhang Xing instructed Wang Xiongsheng like this. "Let's go back to Jiyin together."

Wang Xiongdan knew that he didn't want to be angry with him over there, so he immediately surrendered and said yes, and Wang Zhuo naturally had nothing to say, so he immediately surrendered and agreed.

In this way, on the penultimate night before the resolution was held, Zhang Xing and Xu Dalang returned to Jiyin City, which had already been in turmoil. Then he declined all invitations and went to bed early alone.

Sleeping until the middle of the night, the summer breeze blew up, and it was slightly cool. Zhang Xing sat up and saw the stars entering the house. The night attendant went out alone, and walked to Cangcheng in the middle of the night, then climbed over the wall and entered a small courtyard.

The people in the courtyard went to bed early, but were woken up by Zhang Xing.

"You big leaders, why do you always like to find me an old man who lives under the fence?" Zhang Daxuan or Zhang Shizhao got up helplessly, full of resentment.

"The stars are shining brightly, I'm about to invite Guardian Zhang to watch the stars." Zhang Xing said sincerely.

"When will there be no stars?" Zhang Shizhao was furious. "Does it have to be at this time?"

"It's true that starry nights are common, but isn't it that I don't have the time to spare?" Zhang Xing was still sincere.

Zhang Shizhao had already walked out at this time, but he looked at the stars above his head, and then sighed: "You are too anxious!"

Zhang Xing remained silent, but sat down at the stone table under the grape arbor in the courtyard.

And after Zhang Shizhao also sat down, he just came to say: "You people are expecting me to say something, but what's the use of what I say? You are too anxious, don't look at you looking around now, as if you are invincible in the gang, But since he is forced to do something, how can it not cause people to feel uncomfortable? Li Shu is submissive, wouldn’t it be a great shame for this? Xu Dalang was involved in private soldiers and territory, and the whole family moved north, no matter how you can handle him Could it be that he has no resentment and dissatisfaction? Not to mention Cheng Zhili and Gao Shitong who are trembling, and Wu Jingfeng, who doesn't have much obedience, and those big leaders... It should be done half a year later."

"It's too urgent." Unexpectedly, Zhang Xing agreed with the other party's opinion. "But I can't help it... One thing at a time, should I consider whether there will be a big trouble in the drought? Should Huaixi intervene a little bit? Should Xuzhou be suppressed? Not to mention seeing Henan here with my own eyes, If you don't care about it for a while, you will be willing to degenerate, and you really can't bear it... If you want to do these things, who doesn't want to centralize power? Don't want to deal with it in a unified way?"

"This is the problem, this is the problem." Zhang Shizhao sighed. "You said that you are thinking about the overall situation and impatient to engage in these personnel affairs. Of course it makes sense, but will others believe it? Who knows if you just want power and can't wait? And you are always in a hurry, Always plan properly, when you come to the front, if you encounter something, you don’t care about it, and you will suffer a big loss sooner or later.”

"It doesn't matter if others believe it or not?" Zhang Xing answered, but quickly corrected it. "No matter what, I will make it clear. If they don't believe me, I have nothing to say... As for the lack of temperament, I also admit it, and I can only correct it as much as possible."

"It's not just that." Zhang Shizhao looked at the person in front of him and asked seriously. "Have you ever thought about the possibility...that you have deceived yourself? You have been in this position for a long time, and you have been infected by the desire for power without realizing it? You have long been unable to bear the desire to be the chief, so you When I had the opportunity, I found a reason for myself... to provide disaster relief, to clean up the corruption within the gang, and to deal with the surrounding threats? So why don't you just go straight to it?"

Zhang Xing was silent for a long time, and spoke in dialect for a long time: "I really can't refute Mr. Zhang's words, and they are even true words...Actually, I have been at a loss for the past few days, probably because I have also realized that Everyone in the gang bows their heads and obeys their ears, and it is rare for outsiders to be peaceful, which is actually not a good thing...Everyone is fearing me and obeying me, and at this time I can't see clearly what the real heart is like."

"It's not bad that you can vaguely realize it, at least not like Jiangdu's incorrigible." Zhang Shizhao sighed.

"Comparing me with that person, you look down on me too much, don't you?" Zhang Xing was speechless when he heard this. "Some things are indisputable, but you don't care about your deeds, just look at how I do things."

Zhang Shizhao just remained silent.

But Zhang Xing thought about it for a while, but then he laughed and asked, "Mr. Zhang, are you starting to worry about me and the Dragon Gang now?"

"I'm so anxious!" Zhang Shizhao turned his face on the spot. "Let's see how you kill yourself step by step! You must know that the collapse of a river begins with dripping. If you continue like this, accidents are inevitable!"

Zhang Xing didn't answer, just stared at the stars without saying a word.

In the afternoon of the next day, there was no need for "rare and peaceful" at all. Xiong Bonan and Bai Yousi, who were obviously a bit late, brought a piece of news that surprised everyone—after Langya stayed, Li Wenbai brought several Langya The local powerful family occupied several cities in the lower reaches of Yishui River, and surrendered Xuzhou Sima Zheng.

This is the first leader of the Dragon Gang to surrender to the official army since the founding of the gang, and it was the initial leader who was there when the gang was founded.

Moreover, when Li Liuhou fled and surrendered, he sent a document to the counties in Dengzhou, Linyi, Qilu, claiming that Zhang Xing persecuted and imprisoned Li Shu, and killed the Langya clans without restraint. In order to protect himself, he had no choice but to Seek the asylum of Sima Zheng.

That's why Xiong Bonan and Bai Yousi appeared together. Xiong Bonan stopped Bai Yousi and tried to rush back to Linyi together, but met Sima Erlong and his brother who really came to protect him. The subordinates, and then had to withdraw.

In other words, it was a premeditated, outright rebellion.

"Li Wenbai!!!"

In the hall of Jiyin County, Li Shu, who reacted the most, almost lost his composure. "I will kill this thief!"

The whole hall was silent, no one thought that Li Shu was acting, because Li Wenbai was really one of the few remaining members of his team, and his surrender at this time was of course a provocation and blow to the Dethrone Dragon Gang and Zhang Dalongtou, but to Li Shu's blow was even bigger!

However, some people are keenly aware that this is of course a bad thing, but it has already happened. If it can be dealt with from a specific angle, it may not be a bad thing.

"The matter has come to this, call Du Pozhen here immediately!" Chen Bin suddenly got up, looked around, and broke the silence. "Tomorrow will make a decision, and today we will dispatch troops in secret! After the decision, we will send troops to Xuzhou immediately. We will let the people in the world know the power of my army to defeat the Dragon Gang, and let the people in the world know that our intention to unite as one and build Wei to secure the world has not wavered in the slightest!"

"Okay!" Zhang Xing, with a livid face, immediately responded.

"That's right." Li Shu continued without hesitation. "That's right."

PS: Thanks to the new alliance leader, Master Liuli, for making the alliance!Say hello!

(End of this chapter)