Late Tang

The Zhendong Army's mobilization order and the new army's call-up order were issued almost at the same time. The Zhendong Army attacked on two fronts, conquering Li Keyong in the north, and mobilized a total of 8000 troops.In the south, troops were sent to fight against Wang Ying's rebellion, and [-] soldiers were also transferred.

A total of 6000 troops were dispatched from the two routes, leaving only 5000 troops in Dengzhou and Liaodong, of which 1 were from Zhendong Army, [-] from Duli Town, and [-] from Liaonan Army.For this reason, Li Jing ordered the recruitment of soldiers and horses in the whole area of ​​southern Liaoning and Dengzhou, with a rated number of [-] soldiers and horses.In addition, [-] peasants from the four united battalions will be re-recruited in the four counties of Dengzhou to start the post-autumn training camp.

At the same time, Li Jing's plan to go south to expand business routes was also negotiated with various large merchants in Dengzhou and southern Liaoning.All major caravans fully supported Li Jing's decision.The East Army Navy of Baqian Town cleared the way, and all merchants with boats registered enthusiastically at the temporary registration point in Shamen Town.

All kinds of products produced by the workshops in Dengzhou and southern Liaoning during this period have also been fully booked.The major workshops even began to work overtime around the clock to rush to produce products.Dengzhou Port, Duli Port, Qingni Port, and Shirenzhu Port, the four major ports of the Zhendong Army are now crowded with fleets, and even fleets from Xuzhou, Haizhou, Mizhou, etc. have heard of the news and want To join Li Jing's combined fleet.

Since the mid-Tang Dynasty, maritime trade has been the most profitable business.However, due to the recent chaotic wars in Ziqi, Jipu, Caozhou, and the flood of the Yellow River, and then Wang Ying's rebellion in the east and west of Zhejiang in the south of the Yangtze River, the rebels attacked and plundered cities everywhere, and many coastal towns fell.Not only did the caravans dare not go to the east and west of Zhejiang, but it also cut off the sea trade routes to Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Guangzhou, and even Annan Jiaozhou.

Now that Li Jing sent troops to quell the chaos, and opened up sea trade routes with arms, they had known the reputation of the Zhendong Army, so they naturally wanted to follow south at this time.The trade route has been cut off for a long time, and the south is currently out of stock, and they have a backlog of goods in their hands, and they are eager to go south to make a fortune, so as to make up for the losses during this period.

The whole of Dengzhou and southern Liaoning is busy, with workshops catching up with goods, military camps sorting out equipment, and wharfs loading goods.

And the dozen or so recruiting points set up simultaneously in Dengzhou and southern Liaoning are even more crowded right now.Countless people want to be called into the Zhendong Army, even if they can't become the Zhendong Army, they must be a united soldier.

Especially in southern Liaoning, the last time the Zhendong Army sent troops to rob Youzhou, those who went to Youzhou were allotted one or two hundred guan, while those who stayed behind were allotted dozens of guan.With consistent money, you can buy [-] mu of land in southern Liaoning.Even in Dengzhou, you can buy ten acres of land.This is a huge fortune, and those Zhendong soldiers earned it after only going out for three days.Although the soldiers recruited this time did not have their share in the Southern and Northern Expeditions.But Zhendong Army's generous food and rewards are extremely enviable.

But this time recruiting soldiers is extremely strict.It's even so strict that it's unbelievable.

In Huangxian County, Dengzhou, twelve earthen cities have been built on the border with Laizhou hundreds of miles away, and between the twelve cities, a two-foot-high earthen wall has been built to connect the twelve earthen cities. .Therefore, these twelve earth cities are also called Twelve Linked Cities.

Although the Tucheng is very simple, their main function is not to defend against the enemy, but to stop the endless influx of refugees into Dengzhou.

At present, there are twelve counties in Dengzhou and southern Liaoning, but they already have a total of 150 million people and more than [-] household registrations.Although a large number of victims were resettled to those mines and workshops, Li Jing still felt the pressure of a large population influx.The first is the huge consumption of food.

Moreover, the population needs of southern Liaoning and Dengzhou have entered a period of saturation, and there is no longer a large demand as in the previous period for a while.As a last resort, at the request of Xiao Dingbang, Han Anmin, Zhang Hong and others, Li Jing ordered the construction of the Twelve Linked City and Changtu City Wall on the border of Dengzhou.Moreover, in the twelve cities, there were [-] soldiers and horses and [-] young men stationed.

Ever since she shot and killed four villains in the ruined temple that day, Lian Hua'er has relied on this boy who is two years younger than her with all her heart.That night, the excited Lian Hua'er gave her heart and soul to the young Wang Yanzhang. The sky was used as a quilt and the earth was used as a bed. The two of them were married in front of the clay statue in the ruined temple.

Afterwards, Lian Hua'er no longer mentioned going to Qingzhou to find the master's house, but followed the young man, and the two came together to the legendary beautiful Dengzhou.After wading through mountains and rivers all the way, I almost starved to death several times, and finally came to the border of Dengzhou at the foot of Qixia Mountain.

Unexpectedly, when they rushed here, they saw countless refugees gathered here, tens of thousands of people.

But in their dream of Dengzhou, where they can have enough to eat every day, there is a tall earthen city standing there, the gate is firmly guarded, and rows of bow and arrow guards stand on the city.

"Uncle, what's going on?" Wang Yanzhang pulled Lianhua carefully through the crowd, pointed at the Tucheng and said to a middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man looked at him with a hungry face, and said helplessly: "I heard that because there are too many refugees entering Dengzhou, there are 70 to [-] people. Now Dengzhou does not allow refugees to enter the city at will. Twelve cities have been built on this border."

Lianhua'er held Wang Yanzhang's hand with a pale face, tears streaming down her face: "Wulang, Dengzhou can't enter, what should we do?"

Wang Yanzhang also had a gloomy face, he didn't expect such a result to come all the way.But he pretended to be calm and patted the lotus and said: "Don't worry, Sister Lian, we can't get in here, let's go around and go over the mountain."

The man next to him said: "Someone has used this method before, but it's useless. It is said that the Baojia system has been implemented in all counties and townships of Dengzhou, and every household has to report. Once they find outsiders, they have to check the ID card and the temporary residence card." , and Luyin and so on. If there is no one, they will be sent to the civil defense team in the village, and then to the security team in the township. If it is found out that they are not Dengzhou people, but refugees who crossed the border from other places, they will send You were re-sent out of Terengganu."

"Uncle, didn't you often hear on the road that the general in Dengzhou is very kind, and treats the people with love and affection? Why, so many refugees come to seek refuge, but he wants to turn them away and ignore them?" Lian Hua asked.

"It's not that I don't care about it." The strong man said a word, stopped again, and looked at Wang Yanzhang and Wang Yanzhang expectantly, "Do you have anything to eat on you, or do you have any coins and soft things? Give me Let's share some food, too."

Wang Yanzhang said in embarrassment: "I'm really sorry, we have neither food nor money."

The man rubbed his belly and sighed, "Oh."

"Uncle, keep talking."

The man said weakly: "The county magistrate in Dengzhou is actually pretty good, why don't you think everyone can't enter Dengzhou, why are you still here and refuse to leave?" refugees. "Except that they can't get two hundred steps closer to Tucheng, the rest of them are good. The city opens twice a day, and they will come to serve porridge. One bowl of porridge for each person. Everyone has a share. As long as you are honest and don't jump in line, you will be served twice a day. A bowl of porridge is indispensable. Although two bowls of porridge a day will not starve to death, it is really unbearable."

"Is there no other way to enter Dengzhou?" Wang Yanzhang asked.If it's just one person, he'll just walk away.But now there is another wife, Lianhua, who has not had enough to eat for a long time. With her body, she has managed to survive until now. If she leaves, where can she go?

"There is a way, but I'm afraid you are not suitable."

"What can I do?" Wang Yanzhang felt hopeful.

"Although Dengzhou has built an earthen wall to intercept refugees, it doesn't really intercept everyone. They will still let some people into the city, but the conditions are higher. First of all, the first thing is to They are young and strong men and women aged 40 to [-]. The second is to be in good health, not to be sick, let alone to have infectious diseases. The third is to generally not bring a family with you, and it is best to be single." Strong man He took a look at Wang Yanzhang and the two of them, "You two are less than sixteen, right?"

Wang Yanzhang blushed, and said: "I am eighteen this year, this is my wife, and she is also sixteen."

"It doesn't look like it. Although you are very strong, you can't deceive me. Don't say you are eighteen, you are not even sixteen." Although the strong man looks like he will collapse to the ground at any time, his eyes It's very bright, and you can already guess Wang Yanzhang's real age just by looking at it.

"I'm really eighteen, uncle, I didn't lie to you." Wang Yanzhang tried hard to explain, but it's a pity that he is not used to lying at all, he stutters when he speaks, and he dare not look at people.You don't have to think about it to know that he is lying.

"Boy, you don't have to argue with me, even if I believe that you are eighteen, what's the point. When you arrive at the city gate, the recruiter will be able to tell that you are not old enough." The big man said.

Wang Yanzhang drooped his head a little dejectedly, but quickly raised his head and said, "Although I am not yet sixteen years old, I have a lot of strength. I can lift a stone lock of one hundred catties with one hand!"

The middle-aged man was a little surprised, looked him up and down, and then looked at the cloth bag on his back: "Smile, you have practiced family martial arts, what do you practice, stick or gun or soft?"

Wang Yanzhang was a little surprised, but said honestly: "I have been practicing family-inherited spear since I was a child, and I use the family-inherited iron spear."

Lianhua'er interjected at the side at this time: "Goro's spear skills are really good. Last time, to save me, he killed four villains with one shot. At that time, those villains had no time to react and died under Wulang's gun gone."

The middle-aged man was even more surprised: "Can I have a look at your gun?"

"My gun is not easy to show to others, if you shoot it, you will see blood!" Wang Yanzhang said very seriously.

"Hahaha!" The man laughed loudly, but it was a pity that the laughter was a little weak.After a while, he stopped, but his face had already changed into a serious face, he said slowly: "Well said, I believe what this little lady said. If that's the case, I can help you enter Dengzhou, but I have one condition. If you can enter Dengzhou, you have to take me in with you."

Wang Yanzhang said without hesitation: "Okay, my name is Wang Yanzhang, I don't know your name."

The middle-aged man smiled: "My surname is also Wang, and I rank seventh, so I'll be your seventh uncle."

Wang Yanzhang nodded, "Okay, now tell me how to enter Dengzhou!"

"It's very simple. Since you have good spear skills, you can just join the army. The Zhendong Army is recruiting troops!"

(To be continued)