Pei Chun, the prefect of Xingyang, changed into a military uniform, groomed his beard, and prepared to go out to meet Shao Xun.
Before leaving, I even planned to apply some powder, but was dissuaded by the servant.
"Master Fu, I heard that Marquis Chen never wears powder and prefers strong warriors, so why don't you give it up?" the servant suggested.
"That's right." Pei Chun followed the good advice and immediately stopped messing around.
He left Hulao Pass without any ostentation, just two servants and an ox cart. After seeing a large group of people from a distance, he got off the ox cart and waited by the roadside.
Groups of soldiers walked over in neat lines.
They entered Hulao Pass first, and after controlling various key points, they sent people to send messages to the rear.
Not long after, another group of soldiers came and pushed the people on both sides of the road away, leaving only a few people.
After all this was completed, Shao Xun finally appeared on the post road in the distance.
"The ostentation is quite grand." Pei Chun secretly cursed.
Zheng Zun stood behind him, half a step behind, silently looking ahead.
Every one of the aristocratic families in Henan has to make a choice.
Should we stay or cross south? What kind of attitude do those who stay have? Which side should we seek refuge with?
Decisions are hard to make, but they must be made, otherwise you will be no longer human inside and out, and anyone will mess with you.
Li Ju stood further back than Zheng Zun, and his status was really too low.
A Pingyang native, a refugee commander from out of town, has now changed his job to become a Wubao commander. If he hadn't been so sophisticated and got on the same page as Yuan Fu and Sima Yue, life would have been much more difficult than it is now.
This time he also selected 300 elite troops and sent them to Hulao Pass to help defend the city. He had always been very concerned about safeguarding the Jin Dynasty.
Chen Hou Shaoxun was the most loyal minister of the Jin Dynasty and had made numerous meritorious deeds. Li Ju admired him very much and had to take a look at him from afar.
Next to Li Ju were some small scholars and local tycoons.
The scholars were relatively reserved, but the wealthy people had nothing to care about. They stood on tiptoes and reached up to their necks to look.
In fact, there are really not many powerful scholars in Xingyang.
Like Chenliu and Puyang next door, Xingyang is located on the front line of the war, and everyone who comes wants to grab it.
It has only been plundered for less than ten years, and it is already in dire straits, with a sharp decline in population - and this is despite the addition of a large number of refugees from other places.
If it takes another ten or twenty years, it is simply unimaginable.
By that time, there may only be a few large forts and manors left in the county, with large open spaces between the manors.
The open space may have been farmland that had been cultivated for a long time, but it was abandoned, and then overgrown with weeds, becoming a paradise for Hu people to graze. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, two Hu people armies competed for a certain city, and one was outside the west gate.
Grazing, one group is grazing outside the east gate. After the horses eat grass and gain some strength, they start fighting. When the horses lose strength, they stop fighting.
The powerful scholars in Xingyang now desperately hope that someone can take on the important task of protecting them from wind and rain and preserving this originally very prosperous place - the territory is mainly composed of plains, with crisscrossed rivers, convenient irrigation, and canals for business and travel.
Being close to Luoyang, can we not be rich?
However, some people may be destined to be disappointed.
Shao Xun sent many people to Xingyang, Puyang, and Chenliu counties yesterday to carefully draw maps and measure the distance from the ferry to key cities - he didn't really believe in the imperial maps.
Many people don't understand the act of measuring mileage, but a few smart people see that it is entirely for military purposes.
Xingyang, Chenliu, and Puyang may not be able to escape the fate of the front lines.
"Mr. Pei Fu."
"Junhou."
After Shao Xun dismounted, he walked arm in arm with Pei Chun, very warmly.
He is really very satisfied with Pei Chun now. He holds a sword to supervise the battle late at night and spends all his wealth to recruit strong men. This kind of decision and courage can only be achieved by ordinary people?
"Fu Jun guarded Hulao Pass and cut off the criminals' communication between east and west. He did a great job." Shao Xun said with a smile: "When I return to Luoyang, I will definitely report Jun Pei's contribution to the emperor."
Pei Chun smiled and said: "Where is it? A small contribution can't compare with the great achievements of the monarchs in helping the country."
"Master Fu is too modest." Shao Xun said.
Pei Chun shook his head and said firmly: "The water transport is protected by the princes. If there were no princes, I might have been obsessed with him when Shi Le went south in May."
Shao Xun chuckled, but also felt a little confused.
As for the Luoyang Great Famine in history, water transportation was obviously cut off, and it was just this year.
Could it be that the governor of Xingyang in history was not Pei Chun?
While the two were talking, they had already entered Guancheng.
There are almost no houses in the narrow streets. They are either military camps or warehouses, stables and the like. At this time, there are soldiers with silver spears standing guard.
Pei Chun was a little shocked when he saw it.
Chen Hou's arrogance is indeed grand. He always has a post every three steps and a sentry every five steps wherever he goes. The level of security is so tight that it even exceeds that of many governors, governors, and princes.
Some people mocked him for being afraid of death, and it was not unfounded.
"I have something to ask Mr. Fu." Shao Xun said suddenly while walking.
"Your Majesty, please speak."
"How many registered permanent residences are there in Xingyang counties?"
"Less than ten thousand households." Pei Chun thought for a while and said.
In fact, this data is just speculation.
Household registration checks have not been done for many years. And these years have been a period of extremely frequent wars. How can we have accurate figures?
The statement "less than ten thousand households" is actually just a number mentioned by many people when Pei Chun was chatting with county officials after the locust plague in May this year.
This is of course inaccurate, and is likely to be greatly underestimated—Zoli come from many places and have their own positions.
"Is that really that much?" Shao Xun asked.
"Maybe there are 20,000 households," Pei Chun said again.
Shao Xun was a little speechless. You just doubled the number. Is that so imprecise?
"Junhou, there should be 20,000 households, and I can't say how many more." Pei Chun said, "If we include the refugees from Bingzhou, Yongzhou, and Jizhou who live in Chengwu, there may be thousands more, or even
Ten thousand families.”
Shao Xun believed what he said.
Refugees are the biggest variable, because you don't know how many of them have come. With the government's incompetence at this time, it is impossible to conduct a careful inventory. When the refugee commanders and Wubao commanders report a number, what else can you do except believe it?
"If the people are moved south..." Shao Xun paused, and then said: "Do you think someone will cause rebellion?"
Pei Chun was startled and immediately advised: "Your Majesty, if you force the people to move away, there will really be unrest."
"Who is causing the rebellion? The scholars or the powerful?"
"Everything."
"It's all because the imperial court has spoiled them." Shao Xun sneered and said, "If we fight for another ten or eight years, we'll see if they can move."
"Why did the monarch move away the people?" Pei Chun asked, somewhat puzzled.
"It's only forty or fifty miles from Dahe Ferry to Guancheng." Shao Xun gestured: "Guancheng is ninety miles south to Xinzheng, then south of Xinzheng, another forty miles to Yingchuan Changsha, and another sixty miles.
Xuchang. This is a thoroughfare, with a total distance of about 240 miles, what do you think?"
Guancheng was Guan County in the Qin Dynasty. The county has long since disappeared, but the place name is still there.
Xinzheng was still a county during the Cao Wei Dynasty. Guochao Province was moved into Yuanling County, and the city was still there.
There is a large post road running from north to south. When entering Xingyang, it all passes through Guancheng and Xinzheng. On the contrary, the county town of Xingyang is not on the post road.
Guancheng has two north-south and east-west post roads intersecting, and its location is very important. Therefore, in the Tang Dynasty, Guancheng was once again established as a county and became the seat of Zhengzhou (Xingyang County).
From the ferry on the south bank of the Yellow River to the important town of Xuchang, the distance of 240 miles, whether it is far or close, can still be put to good use.
"Does the prince no longer care about Xingyang?" Pei Chun asked in surprise.
"Haha, what are you talking about? I gave up Xingyang. If it is occupied by others, wouldn't I be asking for trouble?" Shao Xun laughed and said: "Don't think too much. Next, you find an opportunity to repair Guancheng and Xinzheng.
Take a look. Guancheng may need to build a new city. It doesn’t need to be too big. It can garrison 5,000 soldiers and 1,000 horses. Cangcheng must be able to reserve military supplies for half a year. Xinzheng has an old city wall, but it is a bit dilapidated. The base site
It’s still there, try to repair it. Build another warehouse outside to stock up on food and supplies.”
"No." Pei Chun thought for a while, but for a moment he didn't understand Shao Xun's intention of doing this.
But he had a bad feeling that it would not be a good thing for Xingyang.
It seems that we have to find a way to move to another position. This poor prefect is too dangerous to be a good governor. It is best to change to a larger county that is richer and deep in the hinterland. No matter what, we have to get back the money lost this time.
After the two entered Guancheng, Shao Xun was not in a hurry to find a place to stay, but instead inspected the wall first.
The Huns have retreated, and some of the conscripted peasants have dispersed and returned to their respective families.
The county soldiers haven't had time to leave yet, and they probably won't retreat until before the Chinese New Year.
The other two thousand county soldiers in Xingyang have been lost, and only a few hundred are left.
After the New Year, they still had to recruit again, and then drive to Hulao Pass, farm near Guancheng, and guard the city at the same time - the conditions in Xingyang could not support professional soldiers at all, and they were semi-employed at best.
Hulao Pass, Guancheng, and Xinzheng are, to a certain extent, more important than the newly recovered county town.
As a last resort, Shao Xun could tolerate the loss of the county town, but it was best to defend these three strongholds.
"There will be a banquet in the evening to entertain the Xingyang elders." After getting off the city, Shao Xun ordered: "You come and bring out the wine, and I will provide the meat, horse meat."
"Father Xingyang is just trying to get acquainted with the prince." Pei Chun said with a smile, "We must make arrangements."
Now that he was in his area of ​​expertise, Pei Chun immediately felt very comfortable and agreed.
Chapter completed!