I

  Chapter 145 143 [March in the Snow] (addition for the lord "The past becomes smoke")

  The mountain between Anfu County and Yuanzhou Mansion is called Wugong Mountain.

  If you send troops in spring, you may be able to get over by luck if you go around in the mountains. But it is absolutely impossible in winter. After entering the mountains, they will either freeze to death or starve to death if they cannot find food.

   Then you can only take the route further east, still need to cross mountains and ridges, go straight from Anfu County to Fenyi County, which is equivalent to crossing the remaining veins of Wugong Mountain.

  At the beginning of December, Zhao Han personally led an army of 4,000 troops, without any supplies, food and grass, and set off on the snow into the mountains.

   Half of the mountain journey this time belongs to Anfu County, and the work of dividing the fields has been completed. Moreover, the land was divided after the autumn harvest, and the rent had not yet been handed over to the landlord, so it could be said that every family had surplus food.

  Every time he went to a village, Zhao Han would borrow food from the villagers to keep enough food and grass with him.

  Go all the way to Taoyuan Village, which is a relatively wealthy village, mainly because there is a small river flowing through the village, alluvial fertile and flat mountain valleys.

   "The whole army rests, don't sit down in the snow!"

  Including Zhao Han, all four thousand soldiers stood at the entrance of the village, stamping their feet on the spot to warm up.

The missionary officer went into the village alone and contacted the village head and the peasant association: "Village Chief Li, I am Zuo Zhao, the missionary officer, and I came here with Mr. Zhao on an expedition. Please arrange for the villagers to borrow food for cooking, and all the food borrowed will leave receipts. After the spring of the villagers , you can go to the county to collect grain, and you will be repaid at one cent interest. It can also be used to offset the summer grain tax, which will also be calculated at one cent interest.”

   "No interest, no interest." Li Huairen, the head of the village, was originally a boy born here, so poor that he gave up the imperial examination, and now the whole family is allotted the land.

  Li Huairen first assigned work to members of the peasant association, and then immediately went out of the village to meet Zhao Han.

   "Meet Mr. Zhao!" Li Huairen suddenly knelt in the snow.

   "Get up quickly." Zhao Han said with a smile.

  After Li Huairen got up, he quickly said, "Mr. Zhao, go to the village to rest."

   "Please." Zhao Han said with a smile.

  Fei Ruhe ordered: "The whole army advances!"

  The herald raised the command flag, and four thousand soldiers walked on the snow. Although I walked staggeringly, I tried my best not to step on the field, and I couldn't help it if I fell into the field.

  When they entered the village, every household was boiling water, mainly to soak the soldiers’ feet.

  The military clerks and heralds were too busy to issue grain loan receipts to the villagers, and the military judge repeatedly warned the soldiers not to disturb the people.

  Seeing that thousands of soldiers lived in the villagers' homes very politely without any crime, Li Huairen couldn't help feeling: "A teacher of true benevolence and righteousness, in terms of military discipline, the soldiers of Yue Wumu are no more than that."

  Zhao Han said with a smile: "I can't compare to Yue Wumu. Village Chief Li, if you cross the Taoyuan Mountain in the north, will you reach the boundary of Fenyi County?"

   "It's just turning over, but the snow is not easy to walk, and it's more convenient when the snow melts in spring." Li Huairen said.

  Zhao Han said: "No matter how difficult it is to walk, you have to turn over."

   Troops must be dispatched in winter. Once spring begins, Yuanzhou's elite will join forces with Governor Li Maofang and go straight to Jishui County by boat along the Ganjiang River.

   Moreover, sending troops in winter will definitely make the prefect of Yuanzhou unprepared.

  When I came to Li Huairen's house, I saw that the village head's wife had killed chickens and was boiling water to scald their hair. Zhao Han immediately said: "The poultry killed by the villagers will be compensated according to the price! All the meat in the village will be given priority to the sick and wounded."

   "Mr. Zhao, don't do this," Li Huairen said hastily, "Mr. Zhao is our great benefactor who divided the land for us. What's the point of killing a chicken?"

  Fei Ruhe said with a cold face: "This is a military order, don't ruin our morale."

   "Don't dare, dare not." Li Huairen couldn't say anymore.

  The chicken from the village chief’s house was cooked, and it was taken out by the missionary officer and given to the wounded and sick. Along the way, some people fell ill, some got frostbite, and more than a dozen people have been "reduced".

   Fortunately, there is no severe frostbite, so it can be rested at the villagers' house.

  Zhao Han, Fei Ruhe, Huang Yao, Huang Shun and other senior military officers all ate ordinary food at Li Huairen's house, and didn't take a sip of the wine they brought out.

  The composition of the army is simpler, and it is far easier to train than civilian officials.

   Regardless of the full-time soldiers in Zhao Han's hands, there are only a few hundred soldiers, and the rest are all half-cultivating and half-warning farmers and soldiers, but their military discipline is far superior to any current army. Those who are disobedient and who make mistakes have long been eliminated.

  Even a few soldiers who were born as gangsters became strictly prohibited after being severely punished.

  The main credit should go to the missionary officers in the army, and the soldiers are not treated badly!

  The soldiers who participated in the winter march this time not only received overpayment, but also gave each of them a free cotton coat and two pairs of cotton shoes for free.

   Cotton and cotton cloth, Zhao Han ordered a lot from merchants.

  The orphans, widows, and disabled people in nursing homes, as well as homeless women in the city, let them make clothes and shoes, and the General Military Office paid for the purchase.

  Going to bed at night, Zhao Han didn't occupy Li Huairen's bed, and slept on the floor with others. It is paved with straw and covered with straw mats. The quilts and straw mats are brought by the soldiers.

  Li Huairen saw that the main room was lying on the ground, even Zhao Han was lying in it, and was suddenly shocked beyond measure.

  He has never seen such an army, nor such an officer.

  Li Huairen thought to himself: Mr. Zhao should be the emperor, and the people in the world will be blessed.

   "Zi said," Fei Ruhe suddenly said in the darkness, "I'm a little worried about my family. Some time ago, there was news that the county town was captured by bandits."

  Zhao Han said: "The prefect of Guangxin has already recruited soldiers to suppress the bandits. Maybe the county will not be able to return for the time being, but your home is definitely fine, after all, it is so close to the city."

  Fei Ruhe sighed: "Shanglu Town is a den of thieves, it's too close to my house, and it takes less than half a day to get there by boat."

   "As long as the gentry is not stupid, they will definitely not sit idly by, so you can rest assured." Zhao Han comforted.

  Qianshan County is too rich, and the gentry can recruit a lot of townspeople with just a little money.

   And the Secret Esotericism is not something that can be accomplished. After the leader conquered the county, he has already begun to take the lead in enjoying it. Apart from killing the landlords and distributing food, the bottom-level believers' lives have not improved much, and the land has been occupied by the top leaders of the Tantric Sect.

  The prefect of Guangxin has also been replaced, and he is somewhat responsible. He immediately recruited troops after taking office.

  The rebels in Qianshan County are estimated to be wiped out by the magistrate within half a year.

  Although Fei Ruhe's house is very close to the thief's nest, it is the safest. In order to block the den of thieves, the magistrate set up a barracks at the confluence of the two rivers, which happened to be bodyguards for the Ehu Fei family.

  Fei Ruhe didn't bother to think about family matters, and suddenly said: "Li Shi Gucun, you want to marry me."

   "Li Mengan's family?" Zhao Han asked.

  Fei Ruhe said: "It's Mr. Li's grandniece. I dare not agree. Those scholars in Jishui made too much trouble."

  Zhao Han sighed: "These scholars are really wicked. Don't promise them. I will ask your sister to come forward and find you a better one."

  Some gentry are still thinking about recruiting security, while others think that Zhao Han can make things happen.

  Even though Zhao Han already has a regular wife, these guys are making insincere words. If they want to send their daughters and younger sisters here, they can be Zhao Han's concubines.

  Zhao Han kept procrastinating and refusing to agree, and they focused on other people.

  As Fei Ruhe, the number one military officer in the General Military Mansion, he has not yet officially married a wife, and he has become a sweet mom in an instant. I don't know how many gentry want to get married.

   Not only that, the high-level civil servants in the General Military Mansion, including Zhao Han's three major secretaries, are all secretly contacted by gentry.

   Zhao Han can't control those who are officially married.

   Anyone who dares to take the daughter of a gentry as a concubine, or remarry after divorcing his wife, Zhao Han will definitely not forgive him lightly!

  The next day, after soaking their feet, the soldiers left the wounded and sick in the village, and immediately set off on their way, not having time to help the villagers clean up their houses.

  The further you go into the mountains, the more difficult the road will be, especially when you cross Taoyuanling.

  This mountain is actually not steep. Later generations also built an inter-provincial highway, which is the shortest and best route from Anfu County to Fenyi County.

   It’s just that the snow is too thick!

   More than 20 soldiers who were good at mountain climbing were sent out as pioneers. They stepped on the snow to climb up, and from time to time some people slipped and rolled down, and the snow accumulated all the way, but they couldn't fall to their deaths.

   After tossing and tossing for a long time, some soldiers finally climbed up, looked for a big tree, tied the rope, and then got it down for the main force to climb.

   Zhao Han's feet were numb from the cold, and his hands were blue from the cold. His physical strength was not bad, so he grabbed the rope and climbed hard, but the knee-deep snow was disgusting.

  The soldiers who climbed to the top of the mountain first were struggling to make a fire.

  The fire was not seen, but a lot of smoke came out, and it went out after it was blowing.

   "Huh!"

  Zhao Han climbed to the top of the mountain and was pulled up by a soldier. He was so tired that he wanted to lie down and sleep.

Fei Ruhe also came up, stomping his feet and rubbing his hands, and was still in the mood to joke: "I used to read about ancient famous generals, marching in the snow, and crossing mountains and mountains, but I didn't think it was very powerful. Now that I think about it, I am worthy of being a famous general. How far have we traveled?"

   "Counting the winding mountain road, it's about two hundred miles." Zhao Han laughed.

  They started from Anfu County and walked all the way to this place. The straight-line distance is actually only sixty miles.

   "Burn, burn!"

  The soldiers who lit the fire shouted excitedly, but Fei Ruhe ordered them to silence.

  Many dead branches were picked up to dry, and then moved to the side to light a fire, and more and more fires were burned.

  The soldiers who climbed to the top of the mountain also took off their shoes and changed into dry ones, and even took off their leggings to warm themselves by the fire, because the leggings had been soaked by the snow.

   Between each other, they warmed up by the fire while helping to rub their legs and feet, otherwise they would definitely suffer from frostbite again.

  After resting for an hour and a half, the clothes had been dried, and the stomach was full to recover, so Zhao Han immediately ordered to continue marching.

  The road down the mountain is almost rolling down, and it is already half afternoon at the foot of the mountain.

   This place is under the jurisdiction of Fenyi County. The villagers were terrified when they saw the army, and they all hid in their homes and dared not come out.

   Zhao Han forcibly knocked open a residential house, asked where the largest landlord was, and quickly led his troops to the landlord's house.

   "Wrap it up!"

  There are no real big landlords in the mountain villages, and they can have hundreds of acres of land if they are exhausted. Zhao Han sent soldiers to surround the house, **** the landlord's men, asked the women to help make the beds and fold the quilts, and asked the women to fetch food for cooking.

  This house was not big enough to hold 4,000 soldiers, so many more were allocated to borrow houses from common people.

   Rest overnight and start again the next day.

  The landlords and peasants here are all confused. They can't figure out where the army came from, and it's too benevolent.

   Yes, benevolence!

  Although the whole family of the landlord was tied up, they did not do anything to the woman. I just robbed some food from the landlord’s house, really only robbed a little bit, because too much looting made it inconvenient to march—there must be soldiers who steal petty things, and this is not our own territory, stealing some small things is inevitable, missionaries and law enforcement officers There is no way to check.

  As for the common people, the soldiers did nothing but go into the house to sleep.

  Compared with the officers and soldiers, this is a true teacher of benevolence and righteousness. The landlord even felt like he was having a dream.

  (end of this chapter)