Chapter Sixty-Three
Anding County is not small.
It has jurisdiction over seven towns, 28 miles, and hundreds of natural villages.
This does not include the more than 20 miles within the town.
Just count the population.
Anding is definitely one of the few in the Zhou Dynasty, a top-tier county in the top tier.
The total population is close to 150,000.
It is almost the same as some prefectural cities in remote areas.
This conference also includes specially invited wealthy businessmen and gentry.
The entire county government office was gathered together.
More than 200 people were seated.
Even the county magistrate Wang Ruiguang, who always likes to be the hands-off boss.
Li Chengfeng, the eunuch who stayed out of secular affairs, was all present.
County Magistrate Zhou Yuan naturally cannot escape.
The person presiding over the meeting must be Xinzha County Lieutenant Shen Zhongxin.
Who calls the Shen family the largest family in stability?
He has the power to pour over An Ding County and cover the whole sky with his capital.
Wang Ruiguang first said a few words that were not nutritious.
"This time the bandits are so powerful that they have already conquered four counties in Chanzhou!"
"In their eyes, we, Anding County, are undoubtedly the biggest piece of fat."
"If you don't take a bite, that's not the nature of a bandit."
"Okay, Mr. Shen will be responsible for the specific preparations for the army!"
Shen Zhongxin waved his hand and asked a subordinate to hand out more than a dozen notices.
"Swish, swish, swish!"
In the lobby, there was a loud noise of people turning over books.
More people were indeed surprised.
Thief?
Is it true that there are big bandit gangsters?
We have captured four county towns, so what’s the point?
Do the tens of thousands of troops garrisoned in Chanzhou live on dry food?
Shen Zhongxin had an old face and a cold light in his eyes.
"Let's take a look?"
"July 14th."
"The five thousand troops transferred from Qingzhou to Chanzhou for rotation started a mutiny on the Luoyang Mountain Ancient Road!"
"Three days later, this group of rebels gathered all the more than 20,000 criminals who built the ancient road."
"Among them, there are more than 500 people sent by Anding County to serve."
"In just half a month, the rebels successively captured the four surrounding counties of Zhong, Liang, Kaicheng, and Dongshan!"
"With seven to eighty thousand people trapped in chaos, the thieves are surging and their arrogance is so high!"
Such a big movement.
Shen Lin and Wu Qi didn't know.
Who told this guy to still be busy with his own business all day long?
Maybe it has something to do with the above deliberately concealing the information.
Luoyang Mountain is the boundary mountain between Chanzhou and Xiongzhou.
The Luoyang Ancient Road that crosses the mountains naturally needs to be developed.
Not to mention the convenience of transportation.
Just repair and build some passes.
It will be of great benefit to the public security of both states.
A notification finally reached Shen Lin.
Wu Qi also came over to watch together.
"Damn, that's amazing. With Luoyang Mountain as your base, you can actually fight 30,000 Xiongzhou regular troops, back and forth?"
Shen Lin asked curiously.
"Aren't those Xiang armies made up of prisoners and refugees? How could they have such a strong fighting capacity?"
"After all, the Chanzhou garrison fought a tough battle with the Liao people, but they can't deal with a bunch of losers?"
In fact, there is nothing interesting to watch.
Shen Zhongxin also mentioned the key points that need to be said concisely and comprehensively.
Wu Qi passed the announcement to a wealthy and wealthy gentleman behind him.
The two of them are as good in stature as each other.
"Oh, Brother Lin, you don't know something!"
The boy explained in a low voice.
"In Qingzhou, there are so many poor horse farmers who go up to the mountains to weed when they can't survive."
"The imperial court wiped out their strongholds, but they were reluctant to kill them."
"These people are the main source of the Xiang army. Which one is not careless and vicious?"
Horse farmer?
Young and strong, who have been with horses since childhood, are they not born to be cavalry?
Once these guys capture enough war horses.
The danger is definitely no less than the ordinary iron cavalry of the Liao people.
Shen Lin's face turned ugly.
"This time, it's really troublesome!"
Wu Qi also had a wry smile on his face.
"Isn't it?"
"Forget about the ordinary people who were plundered by the rebels."
"Of the 20,000 criminals, which one is not a bitch in Zongheng Township?"
"It's their nature to be brave and fierce."
"With a little training, this gang of desperadoes will be more difficult to deal with than the regular army!"
Makes sense.
A group of horse thieves adapted from the Xiang army, with a large number of criminals as the core.
This is no longer a rebel.
They are just a bunch of thieves who do all kinds of evil, right?
In the Yamen lobby, the discussion lasted for two quarters of an hour.
"Crack!"
Shen Zhongxin sounded the gavel.
The discussion below subsided.
"Now, everyone knows the seriousness of the problem, right?"
"There are nearly 100,000 bandits, everyone. If they break out of Luoyang Mountain, they will attack our Anding County."
"What can we do to resist?"
"Are five hundred squad soldiers unfit for use?"
"Or do you have a mace? I have a Tianling Gai? Are you all just standing around waiting to die?"
The fat rich man behind Wu Qi stood up and cupped his hands.
"Master Shen, is this too exaggerated?"
"Didn't you say that the bandits were blocked by the Chanzhou Army in Luoyang Mountain?"
"Can't the regular army defeat a bunch of criminals? Isn't it too unfounded?"
Shen Zhongxin was not angry.
He understood that the 90% of people below must have thought so.
Anding is five to six hundred miles away from Luoyang Mountain, or about a dozen counties.
But don’t you understand?
Conquering the defenseless Anding County is far more rewarding than those dozen counties?
The largest trading market in the entire Chanzhou is in our Anding.
In the entire three northern states, I account for more than 10% of the wealth.
What a huge number is this?
Is the thief a fool?
Can't they see it?
They don't need to cross the natural dangers of the Huanglong River like the Liao people did.
"Everyone, I have to say that you underestimate the bandits too much."
"They have captured four mountainous counties."
"Is it difficult to rob so many wealthy merchants and collect thousands of horses?"
"They have excellent cavalry, probably better than Chanzhou's cavalry."
"The art of war goes like this: take the enemy by surprise and attack him unprepared!"
"It only takes three thousand horse thieves to make a big circle and appear in Anding County."
"Everyone, think about it for yourselves!"
"What should I do?"
Needless to say.
Everyone here, even the lowest-ranking village chief, has a small amount of money in his or her family.
Not to mention more than a hundred wealthy gentry and wealthy businessmen.
Li Chengfeng's face was ashen.
"Stop pushing the envelope, everyone."
"The rebels are here and they are going to rob you and me!"
"Chanzhou cannot send enough troops to stabilize it."
"Master Shen wants to reorganize and expand the squad, and Mr. Li will be the first to support it!"
Zhou Yuan said with an old-fashioned face: "I have no objection!"
Of course, the county magistrate Wang Ruiguang had no objection.
The thieves are here, how can he still live a good life?
Anding County is no longer stable.
His career was in ruins.
"Okay, this county instructs Lieutenant Shen Zhongxin to form an army of three thousand squads."
"In addition, each town will train one thousand rural soldiers, and each district will train three hundred rural soldiers."
"Weapons are self-funded!"
God.
What a big gesture.
In the county town alone, there are more than ten miles of rural soldiers plus newly trained troops.
There are seven to eight thousand people!
Where are the seven towns below?
There are three li in the wild and two or three li in the town.
After adding up, nearly 20,000 rural soldiers came out.
That sentence really comes true.
The wind roared.
Grass and trees are all soldiers.
But training troops requires huge expenses.
Money, where does it come from?
This chapter has been completed!