Horse on the World

Chapter 249 Silver
The whole army of Zhenglan Banner was annihilated, and the flag owner Sushun was captured alive in Dingzhou. When the news came, Naben's entire army was shocked. In a rage, Naben immediately sent his troops to Zhenyuan to seek the main cavalry force with Li Qing. A decisive battle, but the battle-tested Boyan stopped Naben.

"Second prince, if we go to Zhenyuan at this time, what we will encounter will not be Li Qing's main force of cavalry, but the high walls and fortifications of Zhenyuan. Once again, we will be caught in the predicament of Shahe Town. It is what Li Qing wants, he wants to consume our main force under the fortified city one bite at a time, Sushun's entire army is wiped out, we can't repeat the same mistakes, retreat, go back to the grassland, and prepare for the next battle with Li Qing Let's fight!"

In the next few days, stragglers from Sushun Zhenglan Banner who escaped from the catastrophe continued to come back. After carefully understanding the details, Naben became even more furious. It can be said that without Fu Sen's betrayal, Sushun would never be caught in all directions. In the siege, on the contrary, if Fusen and Sushun were united, Li Qing would not dare to send troops to Zhenyuan to deal with Sushun.

"Uncle, the traitor Fusen has retreated to Yongding Lake in the north. I'm going to destroy him. He must pay the blood price for his rebellion." Di stabbed his bloody heart again, causing the barbarians who had lost their troops to suffer another heavy blow.

"No!" Boyan immediately rejected Naben.

"Second prince, I understand your current mood, but we must not turn to the north. I am afraid that Li Qing in Dingzhou is expecting us to do so! Fusen cooperated with Li Qing to eliminate Sushun, why didn't he accept Fusen immediately, but let him go to Yongding The retreat towards the lake is probably because we want us to go to Fusen to vent our anger. Now the situation in the grassland is critical, and the wolf smoke is everywhere. If we fall into the north, it will definitely be a disaster for the overall situation, not to mention, Li Qing will definitely step in. Second prince, we must go back."

"Then let that wolf-hearted thing go like this?" Na Ben roared angrily.

"Otherwise!" Boyan said with a smile: "People like Fusen, whether it's us or Li Qing, will look down on him. It's just that the timing is wrong if we don't deal with him now. It’s not going to be easy, Second Prince, don’t worry, it’s just to let him live a few more days, we need to concentrate our efforts to deal with Li Qing now.”

The coalition army on the grassland got nothing and retreated disgruntled. Wang Qinian's troops immediately gathered more than [-] people from the Xuanfeng Battalion to advance to Jingling, which is more than a hundred miles away from Dingyuan Pass. Although Jingling is called a mountain, it is actually just a hill on the grassland. The altitude is only tens of meters high, but in the grassland of Yizhan Plain, it can be regarded as a commanding height. Qi Nianshi, who set up his camp relying on Jingling, formed two huge pincers with Shanglinli. The royal court of the Yuanwu Empire on the grassland.

The existence of the Jingling garrison has begun to seriously threaten the flanks of the Langrun army in Shanglinli. Hu He began to consider how to withdraw the troops unscathed. It's really not an easy task.

When Li Qing led the Changsheng Battalion back to Dingzhou City, the streets were empty for thousands of people, and the people of Dingzhou walked out of their homes spontaneously to welcome the returning army. The barbarians are troubled. In the days to come, only the Dingzhou army will send troops to the grassland, and there will be no barbarians attacking the border several times a year.

The thundering gongs and drums, the singing and dancing crowd, the flying petals, and the endless cheering accompanied Changshengying from the gate of Dingzhou to the front of the Marshal's Mansion, in front of the Marshal's Mansion, right in front of the Monument to the Unknown Heroes. A tall wooden platform was set up, and the red carpet was spread from the platform to the Hall of Heroes. Lu Yiming, dressed in new clothes, led the officials of Dingzhou and Fuzhou, who had already been waiting there.

Li Qing climbed onto the high wooden platform and looked down at the thousands of cheering people in the square. At this moment, a huge sense of accomplishment came from his heart. He finally let these common people live a peaceful life. , will no longer become a nightmare for Dingzhou people.

The drums sounded, and the soldiers of the Changsheng Battalion walked past the wooden platform in groups. Since most of the troops participating in the war had already marched to Jingling, the soldiers of the Changsheng Battalion made a temporary guest appearance in this small military parade in Dingzhou They held the flags of these troops, shouted loud slogans, and walked neatly under the wooden platform. The soldiers at the front all carried some captured barbarian flags in their hands. When they passed the wooden platform, These flags were dropped on the ground and trampled by horses, each time eliciting loud cheers from the onlookers.

After the military parade, there was the public sacrifice ceremony. The first thing was to present flowers and incense to the Unknown Heroes Monument. After Li Qing entered Dingzhou, every soldier began to register and make a book, and every soldier who died could find his name. Monument to the Unsung Hero has completely become a nostalgia and inspiration for the past.

Walking with heavy steps, walking along the red carpet to the majestic building of the Hall of Heroes, the desolate sound of horns sounded, the passionate drums began to murmur, and sad music sounded, and groups of soldiers embraced each other. When they walked towards the Hall of Heroes, there was a low sobbing sound from the crowd. In those small boxes, there were their sons, husbands, and relatives.

The sound of the drums became louder and louder. All the flags on the square were raised flat and lowered to pay tribute to the fallen heroes. The civil servants bowed down row by row, and the military officers and soldiers raised their hands, solemnly saluting the slowly approaching soldiers Military salute, watching them walk into the Hall of Heroes row by row.

Although Dingzhou was victorious in this battle, the price paid was extremely high. Tens of thousands of soldiers were sacrificed, several senior officials at the general level were killed, and hundreds of lieutenants who were on the front line were killed.

It was night, Dingzhou City completely turned into a nightless sky, and the people celebrating the victory stayed up all night.

In the Marshal's Mansion, there is another scene. Compared with the common people, the military victory makes them ecstatic, but for the high-level officials in Dingzhou, the military victory is only the first step. Things are more and more complicated.

"Commander!" Lu Yiming stood up first, and said: "We have defeated the barbarians, and then we will start to let the people of the three counties who moved to return to their hometowns. The damage is severe, and there is no harvest this season, and it will be a huge expense to rebuild their homes and their lives this autumn and winter."

Li Qing nodded, "Well, this matter should be handled as soon as possible, so that the people can quickly return to their hometowns, plow up the fields, and harvest as many crops as there are left in the fields, which is better than nothing. In addition, if this matter is done quickly, there should be time to plant Go to Dongmai. Master Lu, are you in financial trouble?"

Lu Yiming nodded and said: "The difficulty is quite great. During the war, money was spent like water, plus the cost of relocating the people, building Chi Road, investment in water conservancy, the little money saved before has basically been spent. Now we in Dingzhou The treasury has been wiped out."

"That's right!" Li Qing rubbed his chin. The problem of silver was never a small problem. Considering that the battle against the barbarians would start soon, silver was the most important thing.Li Qing knows very well that his army is likely to be the most expensive army in the entire Great Chu. Apart from the excellent equipment, the monthly military noon and the pension after the death of the war almost account for the entire financial revenue of Dingzhou [-]% or more.

"How about Fuzhou? How much money can you transfer?" Li Qing murmured, turning his gaze to Xu Yunfeng, the co-prefect of Fuzhou.

"Commander!" Xu Yunfeng leaned forward and said, "Fuzhou's biggest source of income is the salt industry, but basically all the profits from the salt industry have been invested in the war in Dingzhou, and Xiang Xianhe, who was in Fuzhou before, Under the rule of the Communist Party of China, the people's livelihood was broken. After I took office, in order to restore the people's livelihood, the tax was reduced to the minimum. Several counties that were seriously infested by bandits even exempted this year's tax. This also left Fuzhou with no spare power , at least this year is impossible.”

Li Qing knew that what Xu Yunfeng said was true. In order to control Fuzhou, the mountain wind made waves in several counties in Fuzhou. Those counties were indeed dilapidated. Now that he was their master, of course he couldn't just fish in the marsh.

"Could it be possible to squeeze, at least let the people live and work in peace and contentment first?" Li Qing asked, "Dingzhou and Fuzhou have dozens of counties in the two prefectures. If each county takes a little, it should be a considerable sum. Let's think of a way to let the people of these three counties go back and move back, and they can overcome this difficulty this year."

"Commander, if you don't consider fighting against the barbarians, all of this can be done, but if you continue to fight against the barbarians this year, then the military expenditure will become a big problem." Lu Yiming said.

"This is absolutely not possible!" Shang Haibo immediately stood up and said loudly: "It is our Dingzhou's established policy to continue fighting against the barbarians. We will not strike while the iron is hot and completely defeat the barbarians. Once they calm down, we will The previous efforts and sacrifices will be in vain, Mr. Lu, I know that the state is in financial difficulties, but no matter how difficult it is, it must not affect this war. The military expenditure must not be less."

Lu Yiming spread his hands, "Shang Canjun, I understand what you said, but right now, I really don't have any money in my hands, and the hundreds of thousands of people in the three counties have to relocate and eat, and the burned houses have to be rebuilt. The items are all huge expenses, and I know the importance of defeating the barbarians very well, but I can't change the money."

Shang Haibo gritted his teeth and said: "I don't care about these things, Mr. Lu, you are in charge of internal affairs. It is really impossible to let the people of these three counties grit their teeth and survive this period. I think it was the same when we were in Chong County. Did you make it through?"

"At one time and another, Shang joined the army. How many people were there at that time in Chong County? How many people are there now? Food is the most important thing for the people. Now that we have won the battle, the people are happy. It's okay, but as time goes by, The common people realize that they have won the battle, but they can’t even eat. They will ask, what did this war bring to them? How should we answer him at that time?”

"Short-sighted, Mr. Lu, we let them suffer a little bit for the time being, but it is for the sake of the peace of the world, and for the sake of their grandchildren." Shang Haibo said with enthusiasm.

Hearing what Shang Haibo said, Lu Yiming couldn't help getting angry, "Sir Shang, what the common people want is to have a full stomach, and what they want is something that can be seen and touched, not your vain things. "

Seeing the glaring glaring glances of his subordinates, the literary and military generals, Li Qing could only start to do it, and felt a terrible headache, "Okay!" He shouted, "Both of you, go do your own things, Yinzi, I'll do it." Think of ways to."

(End of this chapter)