For several days in a row, official documents continued to arrive at Xiangyang Mansion. They came from various sources and were miscellaneous. Since there was no authoritative information, Wang Xiaolie only knew that Miao Fu and Liu Zhengyan occupied the court and issued various edicts. Lu Yihao and Zhang Jun did not

After receiving the order, the two men stationed themselves in Pingjiang to fight against Zhang Jun and Han Shizhong.

Wang Xiaolie stayed away from the southeast and was too lazy to pay attention to the chaos in Yangzhou. Whenever there were official documents, he discussed them with Ji Ling, Wang Ruohai and Lu Qing. The three of them had no choice but to stay in Xiangyang Mansion temporarily and wait for the chaos to subside.

In late March, the four of them chatted with Chen Yuyi in the government office about the recent situation. Wang Xiaoxian said: "Many soldiers and horses on Jingnan Road are stationed in Xinye. It was originally scheduled that I would be in Xinye on the 20th and Xiangyang on the 10th of each month.

Liu's rebellion has been going on for nearly fifteen days this month in Xiangyang."

Ji Ling said: "It's an emergency period, of course! Soldiers and horses are stationed in Xinye. As long as there is enough money and food, why bother with them!"

Wang Xiaolie shook his head after hearing this: "Sheren, I am a newly recruited soldier. I have to train day and night. If I don't take good care of myself, it will waste time. Now there are Jin troops watching outside and thieves inside, so there are no soldiers."

How can we do that? Let’s do this. Xinye is not far from Xiangyang. I will get there first, and you can just stay in Xiangyang. If there is an emergency, I will return from Xinye.”

Ji Ling still wanted to refuse. Wang Ruohai on the other side said: "Military horses are the foundation of Zhizhi's existence and cannot be left alone. We have nothing to do in Xiangyang, so we can just go with you and watch the training of soldiers and horses."

how."

Wang Xiaolie wanted to refuse. Wang Ruohai said it right. Soldiers and horses are the foundation of his life. Without an army, let alone being promoted to an official position, no one would take care of him. Logically speaking, if he does not go to the battlefield, the army

Can't be seen by others.

After thinking for a while, Wang Xiaolie agreed. He said: "It's good if you want to follow me to see nature. However, Xinye is a remote place, unlike here in Xiangyang, where everything is available. When you get there, there is everything to eat and drink.

It’s a bit worse.”

After hearing this, Ji Ling hurriedly waved his hands and said: "I am an envoy from the imperial court, how dare I leave Shenyu? Just go to the supervisory court and the head of the palace, I will stay in Xiangyang. As soon as there is news, I will report to you here urgently."

Wang Ruohai and Lu Qing said yes and did not force Ji Ling. They knew that Ji Ling was a person who did not want to endure hardship.

After crossing the Han River, Wang Ruohai saw the constant traffic of boats on the Baihe River, a tributary of the river, and said, "Zhizhi, why don't you go by boat?"

Wang Xiaoxing said: "Taking a boat is too slow. Going upstream to Xinye requires trackers to drag you all the way, which is very inconvenient. It is better to ride a horse. Even if you go slower, you will arrive the next day. When the army was stationed in Xinye,

But there is a lot of open space there and it is convenient to get to the state capitals."

An important reason why Xiangyang is so important is that the Baihe River, an important tributary that connects the entire Nanyang Basin, joins the Han River here. Water transportation in this era is of irreplaceable importance, and Xiangyang is blocked by the gate going south through Nanyang.

Xinye is located on the tributary of Baihe River, with water transportation reaching Tang, Dengzhou, and Xiangyang Prefecture. It is convenient to transport military supplies, and no matter where something goes wrong, the army can arrive quickly. To a certain extent, Wang Xiaolie chose Xinye because he chose Xinye.

a geographical center point.

It's almost April, and the grass is growing and eagles are flying. It's the best time of the year. In the paddy fields on the roadside, farmers have begun to prepare for transplanting rice. On the highlands where water is inconvenient, wheat seedlings have already been harvested. Hemp, beans, millet, etc.

The crops are all green. From time to time you can see a mulberry field, women happily picking mulberry leaves, and from time to time crisp singing can be heard.

Looking at the scene in the fields, Wang Ruohai praised: "Look at this scenery, it looks like Jiangnan!"

Wang Xiaolie nodded: "In terms of climate, this place is almost the same as the south of the Yangtze River. It was already a prosperous place during the Qin and Han Dynasties, but it was just wars in the past dynasties, the Pitang canal was in disrepair, and the population was sparse. It is not as good as before. If the canal can be reopened, there will be a lot of potential."

Wang Ruohai nodded repeatedly: "I was walking in a hurry a few days ago, so I didn't notice how rich this place is."

As they spoke, they looked at the busy people on the roadside, and the three of them talked incessantly.

We left early the next morning and arrived at Xinye when the sun was rising.

Wang Xiaolie said: "The newly built Xinye City is still in the north, and there is a Xinye City in front. Let's rest there, eat something, and get to Xinye City before dark. Things are happening now, and Xinye City is still lively."

In the system of the Song Dynasty, there should be townships and li below the county, as well as the management system established in the early Song Dynasty. Later, when the Baojia system was established, there was also Baojia. However, the most commonly used ones were towns and cities. The city was equivalent to the town. Most of the time, there were no officials, only private citizens.

Market formed.

Xinye County was abandoned early, and the most important place in the surrounding area at this time was Xinye City.

There are no city walls in Xinye City. There are just dozens of houses built on the street, doing various businesses. Several people entered the market and saw that there were crowds of people inside.

Wang Ruohai said: "It is rare for a market to have such a large population."

Wang Xiaolie said: "There were not so many people before. Recently, there has been a lot of construction and road construction around, and many new soldiers have been recruited, and this place has become prosperous. The business of the merchants here has been very good these days."

As he spoke, he pointed to a restaurant and said, "This is the best restaurant in the city. Let's go have a drink and take a rest."

After entering the restaurant, a waiter came forward to greet them and led several people to the second floor.

Restaurants in the Song Dynasty, as long as they were slightly larger, were decorated according to the specifications of the Fan Building in Kaifeng Prefecture, which was considered Fancheng style. Most of the movies and TV dramas in later generations are also of this style. The first entrance is the lobby, and the second floor is the private room. Most of them are like this.

Several people entered the pavilion, opened the window, and looked at the scenery outside the window. The willow trees along the road were covered with green, the catkins had drifted away, and the air was fresh. There was a blacksmith shop at the head of the town, and a carriage and horse shop next to it, and people were coming and going. On the street

Among the crowd, there were several people selling cherries with baskets on their shoulders, and several fishermen carrying several big fish looking for people to buy them. There were also nearby farmers who brought vegetables grown at home and placed them on the roadside.

Under Wang Xiaolie's rule, guilds were abolished, there were no fanmen, small businesses were effectively tax-free, and commerce was more prosperous than other places. Xinye City was not in the city, and there was no government-run business, making it particularly lively.

After watching for a while, Wang Ruohai sighed: "I haven't seen such peaceful days for a long time. I came back from Henan Prefecture a few days ago and passed by Ruzhou for two days. It was the same. Compared with other places under the rule of government,

, is extremely prosperous. However, I see there are no guilds here, many businesses do not collect taxes, and you have to raise an army, where do you get so much money?"

Wang Xiaolie shook his head gently: "Where is the money? To be honest with the prison, I have been holding on for the past few months, and my savings are about to disappear. I cannot afford to support the army like other armies.

We can only recruit soldiers from the private sector, exempt them from forced labor, and give them a few pennies to buy some sundries. If there are families without land, the government will organize them to open up wasteland so that they don't have to be customers - "

"That's farming? At this time, farming is a good thing. But without a salary, how many people are willing to be soldiers?" Wang Ruohai is very familiar with the military and political system and history. When he heard Wang Xiaolie's words, he knew what he meant.

Wang Xiaolie said: "Actually, it's not farming. When we serve as soldiers in the army, we don't do tattoos, we only print books. And it's agreed that if they are just ordinary soldiers, they will only serve in the army for five years. If they are recruited again after five years, they will be

Utility. After returning home from service, these people's forced labor service will also be cancelled, which is a lifelong benefit. If there are any errands in the status, these people will be used first."

Wang Ruohai thought for a while and shook his head: "Although these benefits are tempting, who is willing to believe them?"

Wang Xiaolie couldn't help but sigh after hearing this: "What the prison hospital said is good, how can the people believe it? In fact, although it has been implemented at the local level, many people still don't believe it. There is no other way but to follow the example of the soldiers,

All those who are qualified will be recruited into the army. If someone evades military service, the local authorities will severely punish him. In times of trouble, many things cannot be helped."

Lu Qing said: "There are many rules in the army. When going into battle, you must fight to the death. How can the soldiers feel at ease when they are forced into the army and have no salary?"

Wang Xiaolie said: "So the new recruits here must go to the new barracks. After three months of training, they will be divided into various armies according to their academic performance. At the same time, the local government must act in accordance with the system. Those who join the army must

Give preferential treatment. If you desert military service, you will be severely punished!"

Wang Ruohai asked: "What's the effect?"

Wang Xiaolie said: "The effect was not good at first. It has gradually stabilized over the past few months and has become much better. In my opinion, when the grain is harvested in May and June, the people will really benefit, and then we can truly win the trust of the people. No.

It will be difficult to win the trust of the people."

Wang Ruohai nodded and said nothing. He understood in his heart that Wang Xiaolie recruited a large number of new soldiers and expanded his army. Although he had the desire to resist the Jin soldiers, he could not escape from being overly ambitious. Compared with other generals, Wang Xiaolie was at a disadvantage.

The gray area between the officers and soldiers and the bandits.

This is nothing. Especially since the recent Miao and Liu mutiny, Zhao Gou was deposed, it seems normal for the people who led the troops to do this. At the turn of the Song Dynasty, the Miao and Liu mutiny was not particularly serious and was quickly put down. But this mutiny had a great impact

.It had a profound impact on both Zhao Gou and the court officials. After the mutiny, the whole world became a mess, with bandits everywhere. Zhao Gou had to go against his will and waver between the main and the main war. With the help of

Han Shizhong, Yue Fei, Zhang Jun and others spent several years to put down the rebellions in various places.

In Wang Xiaolie's previous life, he always thought that during the Jianyan period and the early years of Shaoxing, the main opponent of the Song Army was the Jin Army. In fact, it was not the case. Facing the Jin Army, except for a few battles, the Song Army fled. Their main opponents were from all over the country.

The rebels. Only after the rebels were put down and several large armies were formed did they really have the confidence to fight against the Jin army.

Several large armies can fight against the Jin army. With the addition of Qin Hui, Zhao Gou can make peace with the Jin army. Two conditions, one is indispensable. Without a large army, the Jin army will not make peace. Without Qin Hui, Zhao Gou cannot be completely eliminated and overwhelmed.

The Zhuhe faction. Later generations always underestimated Qin Hui. Some even thought that Qin Hui was just a tool of Zhao Gou. "How can a mere cypress do what he wants?" Of course it is not that simple. Qin Hui's status is high enough, and his wife Wang's

His network of relationships was large enough, and Qin Hui had enough talent for peacemaking. Only when various conditions converged did a historical situation emerge.

When the Song Army had not yet had the strength to fight the Jin Army, even if the Jin Army was willing to make peace, it just regarded Zhao Gou as another Liu Yu and as its own puppet. At this time, the imperial court had no control over the troops under its rule.

Not really strong.

The Miao and Liu rebellions sounded the clarion call. On one side, the Jin army's confidence increased greatly, and they vowed to capture Zhao Gou and search the mountains and seas. On the other side, a large number of generals lost their respect for the imperial court and occupied territories one after another. The troubled times were truly revealed.
Chapter completed!