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Chapter 217
After getting the answer from Li Chongjiu, Gao Yaxian and Dou Xianniang left satisfied. Half a month later, news came that Dou Jiande built an altar in Leshou County, Hejian County, and proclaimed himself King of Changle (Note One), showing its determination to dominate Hebei.

After reaching an agreement with Dou Jiande, Li Chongjiu left Su Su and Zhao Wansan as civil servants to coordinate the affairs of Shanggu County, while Gao Chu, Yuchi Jingde and other generals were in charge of training the troops.As for Li Chongjiu, he also changed the five hundred cavalry of the army to serve as the standing cavalry of the county soldiers.Li Chongjiu also paid them a piece of silk every year.These fan soldiers were all selected from the nine thousand fan cavalry who followed Li Chongjiu to the south. They were all equipped with iron armor and leather harnesses, and they had three horses per person, far better than ordinary cavalry.

These five hundred cavalry were stationed in Lingqiu County (Note [-]) in Yanmen County, fifty miles away from Feihu County in Shanggu County.

The current situation in Yanmen County has been plundered by the Turks since the Turks besieged Yang Guang in Fenyang Palace two years ago, and only a few cities have survived.Although it recovered slightly afterwards, it was rebelled by Liu Wuzhou again.After Liu Wuzhou took refuge in the Turks, he led his army to attack Yanmen.

Liu Wu Zhou's army was sharp, Chen Xiaoyi, governor of Yanmen County, and Wang Zhibian, general of Wu Benlang, lost many battles and lost Yanmen County, Chun County, and Wutai County. Now they pack up the remnants and retreat to Fanshi County.When being attacked by Liu Wu, Chen Xiaoyi repeatedly asked for help from Li Yuan who was staying in Jinyang, but the news sent in was like a stone sink, and there was no news.Now the road between Fanshi County and Taiyuan County has been cut off, Chen Xiaoyi and Wang Zhibian are alone, but even so, they still do not surrender, and continue to confront Liu Wuzhou.

Of the five counties in Yanmen County, Liu Wuzhou occupied three counties, and Chen Xiaoyi defended one county to resist stubbornly. As for Lingqiu County, it was ignored for the time being. It's not that the strategic location is not important, but that it was the most severely damaged area when the Turks invaded Yanmen. So two years later, the place is still deserted.Now Li Chongjiu decided to rebuild Lingqiu County and collect refugees here.The purpose of rebuilding Lingqiu County is naturally to wedge a bridgehead in Yanmen, on the one hand as a barrier for Shanggu County to resist Liu Wuzhou, and to ensure the smooth flow of the trade route between Feihu County and Huaihuang Town.

Of course, the restoration work is not limited to Lingqiu County. In Shanggu County, Li Chongjiu, in addition to the three counties of Feihu, Yi, and Fanyang that he currently occupies, also needs to rebuild Laishui, Suicheng, and Yongle, which were abandoned due to the plundering of thieves. three counties.The reconstruction work was not smooth. Although Song Jingang was defeated, there were still many bandits in the mountains, and many people were worried about being harassed by bandits, and would rather hide in the deep mountains than go down the mountain.So Li Chongjiu asked Yuchi Jingde, Gao Chu and others to lead troops to encircle and suppress, and it was considered to be a chance for the newly established county soldiers to practice in actual combat.

For the bandits and refugees who have surrendered, Li Chongjiu resettles them for reclamation, and strives to allow the refugees to resume farming in these three counties within this year.At this time of year, winter wheat is too late, so spring plowing should not be missed. Su Su will distribute the seeds of spring wheat to the refugees in an interest-free manner, so that they can cultivate with peace of mind this year without collecting any taxes. As for next year's tax The tax will be halved, and the full amount will be collected in the third year.Under such a policy, people in Shanggu County seek refuge in various prefectures and counties one after another every day, asking to return to the people.

Seeing this scene, Li Chongjiu couldn't help sighing. It was only a year since Wang Xuba plundered Shanggu. According to the statistics of Daye Seven Years, Shanggu County has a total of 20 households and more than [-] people. It has withered to less than [-]. Sure enough, it only takes one year to destroy it, but it takes ten years to talk about construction.

Looking at all parts of the Central Plains of Hebei, the rebel kings like Dou Jiande and Du Fuwei are busy annexing forces, vying for population, expanding the army, and plundering money and food by attacking cities and lands, so that the more troops and people under their command, the better and stronger , They believe that of course there are many people and there are many.

In terms of plunder, Dou Jiande and Du Fuwei are of course good players, but Li Chongjiu's advantage does not lie in this. Compared with the number of people, the support of people in troubled times is also important.If the people's livelihood is stable and the people in the territory are rich, their own reputation will also increase. In the future, it will be easier to digest other people's territories when they come from all over the world to invest.Compared with the power of a large number of people, prestige is also a part of power.

Of course, the disadvantages of such a development are also great, that is, the reputation rises too slowly.As the saying goes, only by making a fortune can one establish a reputation. When Zhu Chongba's rebel army was in Huaiyou, they still ate people when the army was short of food.Although Zhang Shicheng won the hearts of the people, when the city was finally broken, all the people in the city were willing to die with him.In the end, he was defeated by Zhu Yuanzhang.

If Li Chongjiu wanted to catch up with Li Yuan and Li Mi, he first had to accumulate prestige in the Central Plains and cultivate his own reputation, but on the grassland, he didn't have to worry about reputation, stealing plunder, and expanding his power.

As for Li Yuan and the others, it is necessary to adopt the method of combining vertical and horizontal to curb the speed of their movements.Now Li Mi has not gone south to attack Dongdu after he has repeatedly urged letters and explained the truth.As long as Li Mi did not attack the eastern capital for a day, the Sui army in Guanzhong would not advance eastward for reinforcements, and if the Sui army in Guanzhong did not advance eastward for a day, then Li Yuan would not dare to raise troops from Jinyang to take Guanzhong directly.This is equivalent to dominoes. Compared with history, Li Mi has delayed for half a year and did not attack Dongdu, so Li Yuan will not be able to rebel from Jinyang, so the plan to seize Guanzhong will be greatly delayed compared to history.
But Li Mi didn't reply now, but at this time the elders on the grassland began to rush again, and Li Chongjiu didn't want to make the relationship too rigid, so after arranging the defense of the garrison in Shanggu County, he led the army back to the grassland.

On the first month of the 13th year of Daye, after the end of the New Year, Li Chongjiu led the grassland cavalry to step on the snow and return to the grassland from Feihu County via Lingqiu County.When passing through Lingqiu County on the way, you can see the people in ragged clothes walking in the snow like savages in the mountains. Many people don't even have shoes, and they are bruised and purple from the cold.

When the common people saw the officers and soldiers, they all hid one after another. Li Chongjiu felt strange, and immediately ordered Wang Mahan to investigate, and later learned that the people of Lingqiu County had just received the official uniforms and sent them to the police station. The spring wheat seeds in their hands, they turned their backs and swallowed them into their stomachs in a blink of an eye.

When Li Chongjiu heard about it, he immediately ordered Wang Mahan to arrest these people. Wang Mahan immediately took hundreds of cavalry to collect them everywhere.After that, he led his soldiers to arrest more than [-] people who received spring wheat seeds but cooked them privately.Li Chongjiu looked at it in a blink of an eye, and saw that the spring wheat seeds he had handed out were simmering in a clay pot with half missing, and the rice porridge in the clay pot was already boiled, bubbling and bubbling. .

On the side, more than 30 civilians were holding ropes on their hands and feet, and watching Fan Jun on the side, all of them were so frightened that their legs became weak.Seeing this, Li Chongjiu sighed and said: "It is the responsibility of my parents and officials that the people do not have enough to eat. I am ashamed of you."

"But the laws and regulations must not be violated. If everyone is like this, no one will reclaim the wasteland in Lingqiu County. Then you will starve to death next year. It's just the difference between early death and late death. Anyone who comes will drag it down ten times. The elderly, weak, women and children will be halved, and after the criminal law, they will be given spring wheat seeds, and the criminal law will be doubled if they commit crimes again.”

After saying that, Li Chongjiu turned and left, and the sound of stripping clothes and whipping came from behind.Hearing the screams, Li Chongjiu twitched and endured for half a day before he got on his horse and left with a long sigh.

This is about to come to the time when there is not enough food and grass, and the rice merchants take the opportunity to stock up. At this time every year, a large number of people will starve to death.Li Chongjiu ruled more than [-] people, and his own food reserves were barely enough to keep his soldiers fed, and he didn't go to the people to plunder.Of course, this is countless times more than other anti-kings in other places, not to mention the army of the ogre king Zhu Can.

A few days later, Li Chongjiu led his army to Huaihuang Town and took a rest.Liu Yi, Zhou Xu, and Ji Chuan, three civil servants from Huaihuang Town, as well as Tanzong, immediately came to pay a visit to Li Chongjiu.Everyone also reunited after a long absence.

After not seeing each other for a year, Huaihuang Town is even more different. The grass market in the north of the city has now developed into an attached city that is not inferior to the original city.According to Zhou Xu's account, there were more than 3000 Hu merchants and Han merchants here, and there were even Goguryeo merchants who came to the Western Regions.Even in winter, the market in Huaihuang Town is a thriving scene.

If it weren't for the financial support of Huaihuang Town, Li Chongjiu would not be able to maintain the large-scale expenditure of the army going south this time. The city has been established for less than two years and it has brought Li Chongjiu a steady stream of support.But when Li Chongjiu heard this, he became more worried. Huaihuang Town was on the front line of the Turkic and Liu Wuzhou forces. Once the war broke out, this place would be at the forefront. Wouldn't it greatly destroy Li Chongjiu's current largest financial income?

Zhou Xu didn't see the worry on Li Chongjiu's face. Instead, he introduced the matter of Hope Mongolia to him enthusiastically.It has been a year and a half since the Hope Mongolia Museum opened, and it has basically completed the basic training of Chinese language and the work of understanding simple Chinese characters for the generals in Huaihuang Town.And for those children who read books, it is also the teaching of rhyme books, as well as the recitation, exegesis, and basic arithmetic training of Qianziwen, Analects of Confucius, etc.

Unknowingly, Zhou Xu enjoyed it, and deeply absorbed Principal Zhou's fun. He felt that the scale of teaching could be expanded.Zhou Xu even proposed to Li Chongjiu the three colleges for first-level promotion, elementary school, and county school.The reason is that Li Chongjiu has now become the governor of a county, so he can no longer use Huaihuang Township to start education, but also expand the scale and number of students.

Note 13: Biography of Wang Dou in the New Tang Book, in the first month of the [-]th year, he built a mandala in Hejian for a happy birthday, and established himself as the king of Changle.

Note [-]: Lingqiu County in the Sui Dynasty was equivalent to today’s Yu County, Lingqiu County, and part of Yangyuan County

(End of this chapter)