Li Xia read the letter in his hand, thinking about it and calculating the speed of A Shu's march.
A Shu sent troops at the end of last year and took away three Mongolian troops of 3,000 Tanma Red Army and more than 10,000 Dali troops. They destroyed Qi State, broke through Laocang Pass and 60,000 Song troops marched straight in.
In addition, Wanhu Baiyin from Mongolia led more than 10,000 troops out of Dali to clean up the mess in Qi State and provide support for A Shu.
Gao Qiong didn't find out the news until before the New Year's Day, and secretly sent a letter to Gao Changshou.
Gao Changshou then sent someone to tell Li Xia.
The messenger went to Junlian to see Han Chengxu, and Han Chengxu urgently sent someone to Chengdu.
When I arrived in Chengdu, I only saw Nie Zhongyu, so I had to continue to Jianmenguan, Lizhou, Hanzhong...
With great difficulty, we finally arrived at Shanheyan on March 10th.
The road is long and rugged. This letter has traveled through Wuchi Road, Niujin Road, and more than 3,000 miles of mountains and rivers in March...
Li Xia understood A Shu's fighting style, and with the swiftness and ferocity of his troops, he was afraid that the Song Dynasty would be completely penetrated, and Lin'an had not received the news yet.
There is one variable...Wuliang Hetai died.
It is true that Wu Liang Hetai was a fierce general, but he was arrogant and short-witted. In terms of his ability to lead troops, he was probably not as good as his son A Shu.
But Li Xia thought about it carefully and realized that Lu Wende was also a famous general anyway, so he didn't have to worry about it himself.
He continued to read the letter.
Gao Qiong only knew that Dali was now under the command of Mongolian Zong Wang Buhua, but Buhua had many troops. The number of Mongolian troops and the number of Dali troops was not yet known.
After thinking for a moment, Li Xia received the letter and said, "You have worked hard all the way..."
Before he finished speaking, the messenger threw his head back and collapsed to the ground from exhaustion, so he had to be helped to rest.
Li Xia read Han Chengxu's letter on the top of the mountain again and counted the time. In seven or eight days, his family would be arriving.
"The carriage and horse are slow."
He sighed in his heart and looked southward, feeling that the desolate plains of Hanzhong did not yet feel like home.
…
Among the several Shu roads heading north from Hanzhong, the exit of Ziwu Road is closest to Chang'an City.
The entrance of Baoxie Road is the closest to Hanzhong, just north of Hanzhong City.
The Baoxie Road is basically dug along the Bao River.
The Bao River flows into Hanzhong from north to south.
The Shanhe Weir was built at the junction of Baoxie Road and the Hanzhong Plain to divert the water from the Bao River flowing out of the valley into canals to irrigate large areas of farmland.
It is not easy to build water conservancy. Li Xia first planned the military settlement, and the soldiers would build the river dam, and then allocate the best fertile land to the soldiers.
Fertile land is awarded with military merit.
The rest of the fields were recruited to be claimed by people returning home. Most of them were ownerless fields, leased by the government to the refugees for cultivation.
The three-year exemption is true, and it refers to the field tax. Naturally, the field rent must be paid. The fixed quota of one stone per mu of grain is paid after the harvest.
After these fields are divided, immigrants will reclaim the wasteland.
Of course, if the refugees don’t have enough money to buy seeds and farm tools, they can borrow a green crop loan from the government, with 20% interest, which can be offset by grain...
Li Xia had no staff around him, so he could only plan to this extent by himself.
He must recruit a large number of talents to modify, supplement, perfect, and implement the entire land system.
At present, the soldiers are developing water conservancy, and the first thing they irrigate is their own fields, and they are very enthusiastic.
Li Xia is still waiting for someone who understands water conservancy to come. During this period, what he does is to set up camp at the mountain and river weir to prepare food, calculate military achievements, and clear out the land and divide it among the acres.
In addition to these soldiers, many common people came every day. Some wanted to be tenants for these soldiers, and some wanted to join the army and share their fields.
Li Xia then sent people to recruit refugees and paid wages to build the dam...
It was actually more lively than a war.
He was so busy that on March 13th, Li Xia asked Zhang Jue, "How about I ask you, Brother Yu, to arrange everything in the future?"
Zhang Jue was unhappy today because a general under his command asked if he could transfer the fields in Hanzhong to Chongqing, and said, "General, aren't you an official of the Chongqing government?"
At that time, Zhang Jue couldn't answer, because now it was Li Xia who was making the decision to allocate the fields, and it was not the imperial court that was dividing the fields. In the end, he could only curse, "Get out! You go to Chongqing and ask the envoy Lu Zhi for it!"
"The official duties are heavy and I can't handle them all by myself." Now that Zhang Jue and Li Xia are familiar with each other, they speak directly, "What's the matter with Feiyu?"
"My family is almost here." Li Xia said, "I'm going to the Golden Bull Road."
Zhang Jue smiled and asked: "Should I also bring my family members over? I heard that General Wang was promoted to Hubei's pacifier. Feiyu can help me find a position to be the governor of Xingyuan Prefecture and know Yangzhou at all costs."
This is the first time he has talked about his official position since regaining Hanzhong.
Li Xia did not answer, but said calmly: "Brother Jun Yu, please do more things while you can still stay in Hanzhong."
"Don't say things like that. When I bring my little one over, it will be a good thing for you and me to keep the whole family together. Do you have brothers in your family? My fourth sister has yet to be given the title of boudoir..."
"No need." Li Xia walked out and said, "You impeach me, I will hold a grudge."
Zhang Jue was stunned for a moment, then with a smile on his face, he shouted loudly at Li Xia: "Li Feiyu, you bastard, I am incompatible with you!"
~~
The next day, Li Xia arranged everything in order to have a few days to pick up his family.
"Report to the general, it rained yesterday and a section of the mountain collapsed, knocking down the tower at Shimenguan."
"I'll be there in a moment. Mao Yi'er, you go and resettle the remaining refugees to Hanwang Mountain; Aji, you go and see the water rising on the dam..."
Before Li Xia finished speaking, someone else came.
"Report to the general, and the Chongqing government has transferred the order, ordering General Yi to return to Lingxiao City immediately; ordering General Zhang to return to Diaoyu City immediately."
"Where's the messenger?"
"I have met General Yi in Hanzhong City."
Li Xia said: "Detain the messenger, go see Zhu Cheng and ask him to persuade General Yi that Hanzhong's defense is tight and he should not leave lightly for the time being."
"yes."
"As I mentioned earlier, Aji, please take people to the dam to have a look. If the water rises, no one will be killed..."
"Report, General, that General Zhang has taken people to Shimen Pass, saying that he will handle it."
"Okay." Li Xia breathed a sigh of relief, "That's it, let's continue..."
"Report to the general, a message was sent to Yangping Pass. Five days ago, refugees came to Chencang Road. As of the day before yesterday, more than 600 people had gathered. They claimed that it was a war in Longdi and asked to surrender. Xu Kui was afraid that there were Mongolian spies among them, so he did not dare to open the door and asked how to deal with it.
…”
"Report to the General that there are 18 people in Mian County who brought fake land deeds to claim the land..."
All in all, a group of generals under Li Xia are currently stationed in various places. They don't know how to do big or small things, and they send people to ask questions every day.
Only Yi Shiying, who is temporarily stationed in Hanzhong City, can stabilize people's livelihood and government affairs.
And Lu Wende obviously wanted to transfer people like Yi Shiying and Zhang Jue away first to deal with Li Xia... Don't worry about this matter.
But still busy.
Li Xia was busy here and there, and couldn't help but look south again.
He still had to go get his family members and wait until the shogunate arrived to sort things out.
Although there are not many people in his shogunate.
"Pass on the order. Please queue up outside the tent and wait for me..."
"Report to the general that more than a thousand troops have arrived outside the plank road, claiming that they are from Junlian and are the general's family..."
~~
"The county magistrate... is not the magistrate of the state... the magistrate..."
Bao San and Xiong Shan were leading their guards up the hillside. When they looked up, they saw Li Xia coming towards them. The two of them clasped their fists quickly, but they didn't know how to call.
I haven't seen Li Xia for more than a year. His appearance has not changed, but he is much more murderous than before.
Bao San and Xiong Shan both seemed a little frightened and were stunned.
Li Xia strode forward and patted the two of them on the shoulders.
"Alang."
Someone called out, and Li Xia turned around and saw Han Chengxu stumbling up the slippery mountain road.
After that came Li Yong.
"Mr. Han, Mr. Li."
"Why did Alang still welcome us?"
Li Xia walked over and glanced at the team. There were many Miao, Yi and Bo people among them.
There was also a group of more than 30 female soldiers in the middle, all of whom were Bo women. They all had dark faces, fierce eyes, and were holding spears with murderous intent. They seemed to be more capable than many of his soldiers.
When their team separated, they heard a little girl say "ouch".
Li Xia looked around and saw Gao Mingyue holding Han Qiaoer who had fallen on the hillside.
They were neither riding horses nor riding in cars. Gao Mingyue's skirt was already covered with mud. Han Qiaoer was even worse. She fell to the ground. Although she was not injured, her face was splashed with mud.
"This is too slippery." Han Qiaoer didn't cry, but laughed, "Fortunately, I left the little chubby boy at the bottom of the mountain."
"I'll pull you up, and when you go over this hillside, you'll see your brother Li..."
Gao Mingyue suddenly felt something, turned her head to look up the mountain, and immediately saw Li Xia.
She was stunned for a moment, already a little crazy...
~~
After exchanging pleasantries, the group headed back to the hillside.
Gao Mingyue walked side by side with Li Xia and asked impatiently: "Are you injured?"
"Don't worry, you're not hurt." Li Xia said, "How come it's coming so soon? I calculated the time, and you should be out of the Golden Ox Path in three to five days."
Gao Mingyue was looking up at him stupidly. Seeing him turning his head to look back, she hurriedly lowered her head again.
She thought for a moment and pulled the corner of Li Xia's clothes.
"Um?"
Li Xia leaned down and felt his breath as soft as blue, and a soft voice sounded in his ears.
"Because... I wanted to see you soon, so I urged you."
"Why don't you send someone to tell me?"
"I knew you were busy, so I did it on purpose..."
The two held hands.
Gao Mingyue had a medicine bottle in her sleeve, but she didn't take it out because she heard Li Xia said he wasn't hurt. When Li Xia held hands, he put it in his arms.
"A lot of people are watching."
"It rained yesterday and the mountain roads are not easy to walk on."
Li Xia had already arranged a residence in the city, but he didn't expect Gao Mingyue to come directly to the mountains.
The skirt she wore today was very beautiful. She must have dressed it up specially for the meeting. However, she was covered in mud, but she didn't say a word.
Thinking of this, Li Xia knelt down and carried her on his back.
Before he could make a move, Gao Mingyue knew what he was thinking and said with a smile: "It's okay. During the time when I was escaping, I also walked through the more difficult roads."
Taking a big step forward, she turned back and said, "Look, your wife is not a weak woman."
After being separated for a year, they reunited again. Gao Mingyue was obviously very happy and her eyes were bright.
She came here to share the joys and sorrows with Li Xia and would never cause him any more trouble.
The only thing I was a little annoyed about was that I didn’t change into clothes that were convenient for climbing, because I was in a hurry and just wanted to see him quickly...