Horse on the World

Chapter 236
One hundred thousand grassland troops besieged the three fortresses of Dingyuan, Zhenyuan, and Weiyuan. It lasted two months, but they could not overcome them. It was almost July, and the temperature was rising day by day. Under the three fortresses, despite the large grassland army The battalion still exists, but the fighting has not broken out for more than ten days.

Bayar changed his strategy, and the storm turned into a siege. The red flag, the blue flag, and the yellow and yellow banners were not far from the three fortresses. They planned to besiege for a long time. In addition to the army, more people came Under the three fortresses, they brought a large number of cattle, sheep and livestock to graze on the spot to ease the logistical pressure.Since Li Qing implements the strategy of fortifying the walls and clearing the wilderness in these three places, Bayar has no intention of sending troops deep into these three places. As long as Li Qing is allowed to maintain this strategy of fortifying the walls and clearing the wilderness for a long time, the hundreds of thousands of residents in the three places will become a heavy burden for Li Qing .It is not a simple problem for tens of thousands of people to eat, drink, and sleep. Thinking that Li Qing drove a large number of herdsmen to flee to the depths of the grassland the year before last, but there were less than 10 people, Bayar was very troubled.

Thus, a strange battle line was formed between Dingzhou and the barbarians. The upper forest of Dingzhou protruded far into the grassland, threatening the root of the barbarians. Under the city of Linding Prefecture, both sides seem to be very happy with this stalemate.

Bayar's strategy was in Li Qing's arms. Li Qing was waiting, waiting for a blow from the rear of the barbarians. The Shiwei people had almost finished their army. However, for the people of Shiwei, it is a supreme weapon. There is a feeling of pie in the sky. The [-] troops put on leather armor, picked up strong bows, and possessed iron knives and guns. The officers from the state helped the Shiwei people to reorganize the army and reorganized the [-] Shiwei people into ten battalions.

Since Xidu General Guo Shanfeng came to the territory of the Shiwei people, the first thing he did was to urge Tienig to send a large number of scouts to completely block all news from Congling Pass and here. However, the barbarian guards at Congling Pass still didn't know that a Dingzhou army had come here.

The 2 mountain-moving division from Xidu finally got their horses from the Shiwei people after arriving in January. It is really not a good idea to transport the horses by sea. Most of the mountain-moving division's horses died at sea. A small number of them were lucky enough to reach the Shiwei people, so when they disembarked, the cavalry of the Yishan Division turned into infantry, and it was not until the horses were re-arranged that the cavalry smiled on their faces.

The craftsmen who came with the fleet are rushing to make equipment day and night. For the people of Shiwei, these things are completely poor. The craftsmen here are completely confidential to the Shiwei people.

After the construction of the port, it was finally possible for a large ship like the Fubo to dock. Although the troops had arrived, a large amount of luggage was still gathering here.Seeing a large amount of materials being transported from the ship to the shore every day, Tienig ran to Guoshanfeng more and more frequently.

Guo Shanfeng likes Tienig to run towards him. You want more supplies, it’s not impossible, but you have to exchange something, but what do Shiwei people have?They are basically poor and white.

And Tie Nige naturally knew it well. After generously promising that the Shiwei people would be the vanguard in attacking Congling Pass, he got a batch of siege vehicles, Mengchong vehicles, and eight cattle crossbows from Guoshanwu. After that, whenever Tienig made a promise, Guoshanfeng would give him a little favor like squeezing toothpaste.

Just when Guoshanfeng was ready to go, Dingzhou was undergoing infrastructure construction in full swing.

In the three counties on the front line of Dingwei, fortified walls and clearing the countryside were implemented, and nearly 30 people moved to the inland. Of course, Li Qing would not support so many people in vain. If there is nothing to do, countless incidents will arise, so a large number of plans for Dingzhou have been released one by one, and roads and water conservancy projects have been built in the interior of Dingzhou.

With Dingzhou City as the center, all the roads extending in all directions were built at one time. The roads leading to the counties are full of bustling scenes. These folks are basically the people who migrated from the three counties. If you have a full meal, you can still get a few pennies a day. Although the salary is really less, everyone knows that it is a wartime, and it is very good to have a meal, even if a few people are dissatisfied , and dare not cause trouble, because although the people who moved inland are still managed according to the previous village divisions, Dingzhou has already issued an announcement that military control will be implemented during wartime, and troubles at this time will lose their heads.

Since the stalemate in the war, Li Qing has returned to Dingzhou City. In the entire Dingfu and Erzhou, countless things are waiting for him to make a final decision, which makes his head a little big. Owning Dingfu and the two prefectures, even if the mountain of affairs made him realize the difficulty of being the boss, it is much more complicated than simply commanding the army before. Many things affect the whole body, and he has to be handled carefully.

"Marshal, after several months of heavy construction work, the roads from Dingzhou City to the counties are about to be completed." Lu Yiming said happily.Compared with the previous Dingzhou, there have been too many changes in the current Dingzhou. There is only one road leading in all directions. As the chief civil officer of Dingzhou, he is proud of knowing the state. You know, this is all because of him. The completion of the construction under the direct command of Dingzhou, presumably, will leave a strong mark on him in the subsequent history books. The improvement of the road has driven the rapid development of Dingzhou's economy. If you want to get rich, you must build roads first. The commander said before The words are really incisive!Now Dingzhou no longer has to worry about traffic. The journey that used to take two days has now been shortened to less than one day. Even these backwaters are connected by fast roads. It can be said that there are no dead ends in Dingzhou now.

Post stations have been built, and there is a post station every fifty miles. Each post station not only provides board and lodging, but also carefully feeds dozens of good horses. Any situation in any place can be resolved in the shortest time Feedback to the Marshal's Mansion.Of course, there was another dispute in Dingzhou over the ownership of post stations. In the end, Qingfeng's Statistics and Investigation Department had the upper hand, and all the stations in the prefecture were assigned to the Statistics and Investigation Department. This made Shang Haibo unhappy. After a long time, the military intelligence investigation department promised by Li Qing was finally established, and the military intelligence was officially taken out of Qingfeng's hands. Although the director of the department has not yet been confirmed, a deputy director transferred from the army has officially taken up the post The preparations began, which made Shang Haibo shut up his mouth of chattering in front of Li Qing from morning to night.

As for the conflict between Shang Haibo and Qingfeng, Lu Yiming has always maintained an impartial attitude. Everything is done according to the matter, and he will help whoever is reasonable. For example, the post station, Lu Yiming thought Put it under the people's livelihood, but when Qingfeng said the importance of the post station for intelligence collection, he immediately turned to support Qingfeng, but he firmly controlled the financial part of the post station, which can be regarded as a statistical survey. The company has a certain restraint.His position also gave him a lot of bonus points from Li Qing. Now, when Shang Haibo and Qingfeng had an argument, he was more of a buffer.

"After the road is built, we will build water conservancy!" Li Qing said with a smile: "Let the ditches extend in all directions, Mr. Lu, the construction of these ditches can be done once and for all. Don't build it today and repair it next year. It is a waste of people and money. It's better to do it once. Sexually fix him."

Lu Yiming nodded and said: "Marshal is right, water conservancy is currently under planning, but Marshal, water conservancy is a huge project compared to roads, and it also involves the construction of large reservoirs, which requires more funds."

"Is there a problem with the funds?" Li Qing asked with concern. Silver has now become the lifeblood of Dingzhou. Whether it is the start of these projects or the hundreds of thousands of people who have moved inland, the daily cost is tens of thousands of taels of silver. , Once there is a problem with the funds, then things will be a big deal.

"No problem." Lu Yiming said categorically: "Residents who moved inland followed what we did in Chongzhou back then, organized camps and military management, and concentratedly provided food and supplies. Although they are not rich, they will not cause any civil uprisings. These people, young and strong, old and weak, women and children, have food to eat, work to do, and school to do. Compared with a few years ago, I don’t know how many times better, which greatly relieves our pressure. The business routes of the Department of Commerce and Trade are now It is completely spread out, and a large amount of money flows into Dingzhou every day, and, Cui Yicheng!" Lu Yiming coughed dryly twice, looked at the people present, and said with some embarrassment: "It is not enough to describe it as daily progress. It's too much!"

Everyone in the meeting laughed. To put it bluntly, Cui Yicheng is a private salt dealer, and he is a private salt dealer with a formal official position and yamen.After taking over all the salt farms in Fuzhou, and after a series of Dingzhou new policies were implemented in these salt farms, the salt production increased sharply, and except for a small part that was assigned to the government bank, most of it was sold by Cui Yicheng in the form of private salt , All of the huge profits flowed into the official treasury of Dingzhou.

"Although it's not the right way, the current situation can also alleviate our temporary difficulties!" Li Qing said with a smile, "After the war is over, let's adjust slowly!"

Turning to look at Shang Haibo, "Mr. Shang, how much is the income of the craftsman camp?"

Shang Haibo said with a smile: "The Craftsman Battalion is now fully supplying its own army. The sale of military equipment has basically stopped, but some household items are still on sale. It's better than nothing. The money has to be borne by Lao Lu on his shoulders!" But judging by Lao Lu's current appearance, he should still have plenty in his pocket, otherwise what we see now should be a bitter face."

Everyone laughed.

Li Qing turned his face to Qingfeng, "Is there anything new about the Statistics and Investigation Department?"

Qingfeng opened the file in front of him, and said: "According to the information sent back by Luoyang, the Xiao family has basically controlled the defense of the entire Luoyang, which means that Luoyang has fallen into the hands of the Xiao family, and several states near Luoyang His attitude is also very ambiguous, and he has contacts with the Xiao family either openly or secretly. Since the underground intelligence network in Luoyang, all forces have begun to feel a lot of pressure and have to shrink. I suspect that the Xiao family There must be something big going on, but now, we don't know exactly what they want to do?"

"Secondly, Mrs. Li sent back the news that it has now been confirmed that the rebellion in the three southern states is indeed supported by King Ning. Qu Yongjie has led his army to retreat to Gaizhou, and the remaining two states have all fallen into the hands of King Ning. And Qinglang has infiltrated Gaizhou, most likely to persuade Qu Yongjie to join King Ning. If successful, King Ning will undoubtedly become the most powerful force in Chu."

Li Qing let out a sigh, "It's going to rain, and my mother is going to get married. We can't take care of ourselves right now, but let's deal with these things later when we defeat the barbarians! Qingfeng, your statistics and investigation department general Da Chunei I have been keeping an eye on some forces to see what they want to do."

Standing up, Li Qing said: "Do our own thing well, defeat the barbarians, and manage Dingfu Erzhou well. No matter what some people want to do, but at that time, in front of our powerful army, all plots and schemes will be wiped out." It’s floating clouds, and they will disperse when the wind blows, gentlemen, let’s work hard together!”

(End of this chapter)