Delong

Chapter 394: The Country’s Destruction (12)

"Understood, I'm going to transport food." At noon the day before, at the foot of Bowang Mountain, Head Huang hurried back to the temporary camp where his own village was located, his tone visibly relieved. "There is no need to follow the camp, and there is no need to disperse the garrison."

"That's great."

"This is a good job. I can eat enough and save food for the village... I'm afraid that the food transfer is too urgent and tiring."

"It's not transporting grain with the army, it's the Liyang warehouse that was built in the front, and the grain is transported to the back! Transport it to Liaocheng and follow the general's mausoleum!" Tun Zhang corrected again, and at the same time, the corners of his brows couldn't help showing a gleam of joy. "I heard from Mrs. Cao that there is a lot of grain in the Liyang warehouse in front, and this time I am going to transport the grain."

"No wonder... I just said why we still have to send troops at this time." Han Erlang suddenly got up, and took advantage of the situation. "Then do it!"

Everyone else cheered up.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute, the superiors specifically instructed that the old rules cannot be broken, and this time is especially important." Huang Tunchang became serious. "Let me tell you, please make a note, and you have to explain clearly to each team. If you don't say it, if you are spot-checked by patrol cavalry and military law team, I will record it here, and when you are resting on the road, you will meet Wuyang and Jijun. The common people still want to talk... Don't forget, I've made a note of this as soon as the boy from Wang County Jun's family left. If it happens again, the matter of being transferred to the county captain next summer will really make Hou Bo's surname Liu proud gone."

Below Han Erlang, everyone was stunned, and immediately sat back down again. In addition, Lao Huang moved out of his own future, and they were even more patient.

"To the brothers who came together, we must clarify three things and one main point. The three things are actually the three purposes of this dispatch..."

Tunchang Huang said, and took off a black lacquered board hanging from the belt behind his back, on which were written some ghostly small characters in white lime, probably only Tunchang Huang could recognize it.

"First, it is natural to seize the south of the Qingzhang River in order to attack the violent Wei;

"Secondly, we are indeed short of food. Anyone with a discerning eye knows that we are short of food, and we can't do without taking some. This has to be admitted. We can eat enough for ourselves if we take the food, and we can make wine from bad food;

"Thirdly, this time the troops are dispatched, and it's not just for these reasons, it's not just for defeating the Dragon Gang, because it's not worthwhile to attack Ji County, Liyang Cang, and then provoke Dongdu and the Grand Master just for the sake of defeating the Dragon Gang." , to fight Liyangcang, to fight Jijun, it is for the whole of Hebei and the whole world, to let everyone have a good year, to let the violent Wei return the blood and blood of the Hebei people who have invaded for 30 years, for the sake of The benefits of the same world...

"Finally, this is the main point, that is, Liyang Cang was originally the people's fat and people's ointment that was stolen from the people of Hebei by the violent Wei who stripped their skin and flesh... We took it from the people and used it for the people. What we are doing today is real. If there is something virtuous, the three brilliance and the four emperors have come, and they all have to admit it!"

"Do you remember?" Huang Tunchang finished speaking in one breath, and asked seriously after re-painting the small black lacquer board.

"I probably remember."

"remember."

Several captains in the village nodded one after another... Different from the soldiers in the standard army, the field army who served more as auxiliary soldiers and civilian husbands was simply a village leader and captain, not a general, so they could be distinguished... In fact In the daily management of farming, they corresponded to the township chief and the chief of the village in the typical township-li system, and once the team members of the soldiers retired, they would often directly serve as county lieutenants or county officials.

"Just remember it. If you don't remember to pair up with each other, it's all old sayings leading to new things. You can't go wrong..." Tun Zhang calmly ordered, and then urged immediately. "Hurry up, and leave as soon as you finish speaking."

Several captains also got up.

As soon as everyone left, only Tun Zhang Huang and Han Erlang were left. The two looked at each other and felt a little bored. There was nothing to do. Before the team set off, there was never anything to do, and they couldn't do anything else. wait.

Of course, this matter can't delay too much time, and each team will make a loud announcement... It can't be loud, it can't be heard clearly by a team.

"Han Erlang, you have really led thousands of soldiers, how many people do you think can be trusted?" Tun Zhang couldn't help asking.

"Half of it can be believed." Han Erlang gave an answer that slightly exceeded Huang Tunchang's expectations. "For the remaining half, I am more willing to let myself believe it... Only very few smart people, scholars, people with resentment in their hearts, and people with some extraordinary experiences will keep thinking that these are empty words and clichés. "

"Are these words so powerful?" Huang Tunchang was a little puzzled.

"It's not that the words are powerful, it's because these words are combined with the momentum of the Dragon Clan, the chaos in other places in Hebei, the situation of people dying everywhere in the past few years, and the fact that everyone really hates Dawei in their hearts. So powerful." Han Erlang sighed, turning into a puff of white smoke in the cold winter. "When I was leading the army, I discovered that most of the people are still honest people. As long as you don't make trouble, don't follow those people to kill people randomly, and the people below can survive, they are willing to support you and pretend to believe what you say; if If you can eat enough, have winter clothes, and some rewards, there will be people who will believe in you wholeheartedly; not to mention being able to win battles and survive on the battlefield... These words of the Dragon Gang are so powerful that ordinary people can hold them in their hands. It’s about the same life down there, and it’s actually better than other places than at other times.”

Chief Huang nodded: "That's the truth."

At this time, the sound of preaching in the camp disappeared, replaced by noisy movements, and the two stopped talking, and got up directly, ready to lead the team to leave.

After checking his clothes and equipment, and about to set off on the road, Tun Zhang thought about it for a while, and suddenly asked again: "Does Han Erlang believe these words?"

Han Erlang glanced at the other party, without hesitation, and without putting on a show, but gave the answer frankly: "I am the kind of person who is willing to believe, but I always feel that some words are too far away, and I can't even believe it, so listen first." , and would like to do it.”

Chief Huang nodded and said no more.

Everyone set out on the road and continued westward, but this time the troops marched, and the garrison troops immediately noticed a different atmosphere and situation than before.

Leaving Bowang Mountain and heading towards Liyang, but the distance is only a few tens of miles, but almost every few miles there are many people traveling together. The local people, when they heard the news of the food distribution, gathered here one after another, some were pushing wheelbarrows, some were carrying shoulder poles, some were carrying baskets, and some were carrying bags. Can run through dry fields in winter.

Moreover, these people are speeding up, they are in a hurry, and they can't wait, because there are more and more people walking towards each other with food in front of them, and they are the first locals who choose to believe in the food... In this year, nothing compares Tangible food is more convincing.

Of course, these people, these grains, and these atmospheres naturally affected the Tuntian Army, and they also began to speed up, and arrived at Liyang Warehouse in the afternoon of the next day, and then saw the huge storage area.At this time, the smart people among them had vaguely realized that the words said by the gang this time, including some of the words they said before, seemed to be a true expression of the whole beard and the end... There is no exaggeration.

"You don't need to transport food." Mrs. Cao's husband, Dou Lide, who was actually in charge of farming affairs, canceled the original order for the newly arrived soldiers.

A group of confused village chiefs and deputy chiefs were stunned there. In this situation, why not transport food?
"I want you... to transport food." Dou Lide thought for a while, and immediately realized that he was out of words. "However, instead of transporting grain to Jiangling, it is here to dig out the grain in the cellar in the warehouse area over there, and place it in front of the warehouse city, so that other people can transport it."

Only then did everyone wake up.

So far, what is there to say?Then do it.With so many grain cellars guarding, can you still be hungry?
Of course, it is still very methodical. For example, to distinguish the year of the warehouse, the corn that is more than 15 years old has basically been scattered, so don’t worry about it for the time being; the corn that is between seven and 15 years old is the most important thing. It was placed on the official road, and the common people took it for themselves in the first year, and the stored grain will be counted and distributed according to the counties and counties in the next year; the corn within seven years is considered new grain, designated as military grain and storage grain, and is the most urgent need to move out. They will be transshipped to various warehouses.

Not to mention, the warehouses opened at the same time also include copper coins, cloth and groceries.

Of course, having said that, none of this has anything to do with Han Erlang and his gang. They have only one task for a village of [-] strong men, which is to pull out the grain from a specific cellar and send it to the open space on the official road in front of Cangcheng.

I don't know how many days I can do this job.

"There are three things now." In Liyang City, which is only a few miles away, Zhang Xing is discussing the current situation with several big leaders who have just calmed down. "One is to invade Yecheng and seize the palace of Yecheng; the other is to seize the Luokou warehouse in Xingyang; the last one is to properly distribute the storage and transfer..."

"It can't be done properly, we can only do our best." Chen Bin was in Jiangling, Wei Xuanding was in Wuyang, and Xie Minghe was the first to speak as a routine. "So much food, so many places, is more troublesome than the three expeditions to Dongyi. Just the transportation will cause big troubles... This is our current strategy. The army food is transported first, and the people take old food for relief years ago. All that remains is to see how the localities properly cooperate with the mobilization.”

"Then do your best." Zhang Xing nodded, not denying the other party's words. "How about handing over this matter to Mr. Wei? The main transportation route must go from Wuyang County."

"I think..." Xie Minghe hesitated for a moment before continuing. "It would be better for Chen Bin to take advantage of the authority of the general to do this. Wei Gong may not be able to suppress the bureaucrats in the other counties and counties in Hebei, let alone the many clerks and staff in Jiangling. This matter is indispensable. Human."

"Then let Director Chen take charge of this matter, and let Duke Wei take charge of the strategy of Ye City?" Zhang Xing asked in an inquiring manner.

"Chief." At this moment, Dou Lide suddenly spoke. "If you want me to say, transshipment and storage distribution are the most important things, how about leaving it to me?"

Someone actually recommended himself.

And Dou Lide also quickly explained: "I think it is the Tuntian soldiers who can really work on this matter, and I have been helping the Tuntian soldiers, and the geography, roads and customs of Hebei are no better than I am... this The matter is too difficult, and I dare not issue a military order saying that I will be able to handle the matter beautifully, but if the chief general Tuntian soldiers are assigned to me, and then let the local officials cooperate with the general mausoleum, I dare to guarantee that the gang will Nobody can do it better than me."

"Then you come to help Wei Gong with this matter." Zhang Xing was silent for a moment, seeing that no one said anything, he directly came to a conclusion. "Let Chen Bin continue to command the military and attack Yecheng."

"After this battle, I feel that the key to the affairs of Yecheng is not the base of Yecheng, but whether the key points of Jijun and Weijun can be quickly wiped out, forcing Yecheng to be isolated." Ma Wei seemed to have an idea long ago. "Once Yecheng becomes an isolated city, the local county soldiers will disperse in a rush, and important officials from the eastern capital like Li Qingchen will lose their confidence in defending the city, and then Yecheng will open the city easily."

"I think so too." Xu Shiying clearly agreed. "Taking advantage of Qu Tuda's defeat and Li Yang's fall, we released food in a large amount. The people of Wei County in Ji County are not stable, so we quickly sweep up the place."

"What should Wang Huaidu do?" Xie Minghe asked suddenly.

"If you are willing to dedicate the city, stay free." Zhang Xing replied immediately. "It is better to surrender without fighting."

"That's easy." Xie Minghe immediately nodded. "I'll go find him and have a chat. It's best to open the city quickly to wipe out the counties."

The matter of transporting food was imminent, and there was even competition and self-recommendation, and the matter of attacking Yecheng was already prepared, but no one discussed the Luokou warehouse in Xingyang.

Besides, the so-called Luokou warehouse is actually a wrong statement. To be reasonable, only the large warehouses that enter the estuary of the Luoshui River are the real Luokou warehouses in the narrow sense. A series of related warehouses, including Liyang Warehouse in Hebei, Xingyang Aoshan Warehouse in Central Plains, Dongjing, Jianghuai, and Jiangdong, and Dongdu Luoshui Warehouse in Luoshuikou.

However, because Aoshan Cang is very close to Luokou Cang, separated by Sishui and Sishui Pass, and belongs to the same transshipment system, those states and counties south of the big river habitually transfer their taxes through Huanshui. The end point that needs to be responsible, that is, Aoshan Cang, is called Luokou Cang.

"What did Luokoucang say?" Zhang Xing took the initiative to ask.

For a while, no one answered.

After a long while, when Zhang Xing was about to ask more questions, Shan Tonghai suddenly frowned and said, "Just talking about military affairs, I really want to take down the Luokou warehouse. Out, the north-south attack is... And, if Liyangcang is so easy, then there is no reason for the Dongdu soldiers and horses in Luokoucang to resist... But, is it really so fast? There are so many things here. Let’s do it, the food is enough, why divide the troops at this time?”

"If we can win the Luokou warehouse in Aoshan, it will also help the other two things." Zhang Xing explained. "In this way, the people in the Central Plains and the Eastern Territory can go to Aoshancang to receive relief, without having to cross the river, and we don't have to work hard to send it to the south bank... After all, no one knows when the big river will be flooded."

"In addition to what Chief Shan said, there are two more questions about the Luokou warehouse in Aoshan." Xu Shiren suddenly said. "First, how much material is there in Aoshan? After all, it is just a place for transshipment, and most of the storage essence should be in the Dongdu warehouse in Luoshuikou; secondly, the distance between Aoshan warehouse and Dongdu ... Liyang Cang is four hundred miles away from Dongdu, and we are already frightened, while Aoshan Cang is only 150 miles away from Dongdu, if Aoshan Luokou Cang is breached and Dongdu is frightened, how about calling Grandmaster back?"

Zhang Xing nodded, knowing it well...Actually, there are more than these three reasons, not to mention anything else, that is to break the Luokou warehouse in Aoshan. The biggest beneficiary is actually Li Shu, but this is not considering the Dragon Gang The overall conspiracy theory cannot be brought to the table.

"Impossible." Xu Shiying suddenly refuted. "No matter how little supplies are in the Aoshan Warehouse, who really thinks there are less after passing through the Liyang Warehouse? And this great master, it seems that we are not afraid of this because we are so anxious to move food now."

"That's right, if you're afraid of Grandmaster, why abandon Li Yang now?" Xiong Bonan also said awe-inspiringly. "Since you have started this, you are going to fight it out. How can you be afraid of this halfway? According to me, it is time to make a big fuss and set fires everywhere. In this way, if he really comes back, he will be alone. It couldn't be easier."

"Well said, that's exactly what it means." Zhang Xing suddenly came to a conclusion. "Tell Li Gong, Shan Dalang is also ready to send troops to capture Aoshan, and the rest of the places should not be idle... Everyone, the current situation must be caught off guard by our blow, and the more In this way, the more we ignite the fire, using one thing after another, one flame after another, they will be even more caught off guard. In this way, it may be possible to hold back Cao Lin who may turn back, squeeze out time, and change his luck. As much food as possible."

When everyone heard this, no one refuted it.

On the same day, they scattered in accordance with the military order.

Soldiers are extremely fast. In the evening of that day, at least [-] battalions were divided from the [-] battalions. After crossing the Qingzhang River, the "red line" that the Dragon Gang has guarded for a whole year, they began to disperse and attack the rest of the surrounding cities and counties. .By the [-]th, they had easily forced to land in at least five counties and seven cities within two counties.Among them, Shan Tonghai, Wang Shuyong, and Niu Da's three battalions even formed a front arrow and went straight to the city of Jijun.

In the evening of the same day, under the persuasion of Xie Minghe, the head of foreign affairs of the Dragon Gang, Wang Huaidu, the prefect of Jijun, chose to open the city on the condition that he was allowed to return to his hometown in Taiyuan.

On the [-]th, New Year's Eve, Shan Tonghai, Wang Shuyong, and Niu Da's three camps went westward to Linqingguan, invaded Hanoi County, and occupied Yanjin Port. At the same time, the entire Ji County had fallen into the hands of the Dragon Gang. Seventeen cities in eleven counties of Wei County also lost eight counties and thirteen cities in the storm-like advance of the Dragon Army. For a time, the prefecture of Wei County and the surrounding cities of Yecheng were crumbling, as if there were only a few pieces left in the wind. yellow leaves.

But... However, on the [-]th day of the twelfth lunar month of this year, the last day of this year, these strong advances of the Dragon Army seemed so insignificant, because the time came to this day, the entire Hebei, Henan, north from Zhao County, Xindu and other Hutuo River lines, Hanoi in the west, Bohai Sea in the east, Jiyin in the south, Fanda River and Zhangshui River Basin, plus several counties in Jinji, have all been completely out of order by a simple and intuitive thing .

Grain, the grain in the Liyang warehouse, countless grains, the grain that anyone is allowed to take by himself.

After several days of fermentation, dense trickles and finally torrents are rushing towards Li Yang, and this torrent has submerged all military activities.In fact, not only all the local officials and warlords were overwhelmed by the impact of the deposed Longbang Li Yang's grain distribution.The Chulong Gang themselves were shocked and at a loss. They had to change the rules and announced that the deadline for self-collection of food would be extended, but each person was limited to [-] catties.

Of course, chief Zhang Xingzhang’s routine operations are indispensable. He is like the master of Hebei or even Henan, issuing official documents requiring all counties and counties to maintain order, guide the people, strictly investigate criminal cases caused by food, and directly warn illegal The "government" in the area controlled by the Dragon Gang is not allowed to rob the people of relief food, otherwise it will be regarded as an attack on the Dragon Gang.

Everyone was busy, and everyone temporarily lost their rational analysis ability, just like the leaders of the Dragon Gang who came to Liyang warehouse on the first day.

But at the same time, similar to the situation that day, an inexplicable emotion began to brew on a larger scale and in the hearts of more people.

It's just that everyone hasn't noticed it yet.

In the evening, Han Erlang, who had worked hard all day, dumped another cart of ten-year-old grain in front of a millet mountain on the official road, with his shirtless arms. Reminder, today is the New Year's Eve, everyone will go to receive two bolts of silk and a string of money as a reward before eating.

Naturally, the surrounding soldiers and peasants cheered.

But at this moment, Han Erlang stopped in a little surprise, and then looked back at the mountain of corn behind him... because he seemed to hear some strange sound from one side of the mountain, as if It was crying, and it seemed to be the sound of wind.

After hesitating for a while, Han Erlang, unable to stop his curiosity, went against the current and chose to climb up the corn mountain.

There is not only corn in the Mishan Mountain, but also a lot of reeds, planks, and mats can be seen everywhere, all of which are broken transportation tools and storage accessories, which makes climbing this mountain not so troublesome.

In a short while, Han Erlang climbed to the top of the mountain easily, but saw a scene under the setting sun that he will never forget:
On the other side of the mountain, there are naturally countless ordinary people, densely packed, arriving here with various tools to fetch food. This is a scene I am used to seeing these days.But today, I don’t know if it’s because the New Year’s Eve is just around the corner, so some people are suddenly feeling sad, or simply weeping with joy, many people stop at the foot of the mountain and cry.

Holding the grain, weeping under the grain mountain.

No one knew who was leading the charge, and they didn't know what they were crying for. Han Erlang didn't see the whole story or what happened at the beginning. He stood shirtless on the top of Liangshan, staring blankly at the scene, watching the sound of crying spread. In the end, almost everyone stopped, hugged their heads and cried at the foot of the grain mountain, and on the official road of Liyang warehouse - Liyang city, which was full of grain.

Han Erlang, who hadn't cried for a long time, and who had no reason to cry again, suddenly had a sore nose and cried too, but it was just a tear, for fear of dirtying the food.

The grain mountain is actually not high. At this time, Wang Laowu noticed the situation here, and immediately reminded from behind: "Second brother Han, hurry down and get dressed, you will catch a cold standing in the wind all sweaty."

Han Erlang came back to his senses, wiped his face, responded, then turned around and came down, walked a few steps, but stopped again on the mountain, because he didn't realize until now that the setting sun just now seemed to make him The dantian of the abdomen became inexplicably warm, but it didn't feel cold.

(End of this chapter)