It is already October, and the vegetation is gradually drying up.
"A good thing! A great thing!" In the suburbs of Liangxiang County, Youzhou, the news that the saint was going to let the villagers of Tutuan in Zhili Road go home spread to every corner, which undoubtedly aroused warm cheers.
The soldiers from Zhili, Henan, and Huaihai who sent troops together at the beginning have returned one after another. Only half of those from Zhili have returned. The remaining six to seven thousand people can finally go home.
.
And before going home, you can probably get some rewards, which is great - the saint may not be able to pay the money, but he can release a lot of cattle, sheep, horses and camels from cleaning up the tribe, and he can release them to pay the debt.
At the moment, everyone was beaming with joy and elated.
Zhou Dalang leaned on his spear with some melancholy. His mood was very complicated and too complicated to be expressed in words.
Li Siben recruited soldiers from the villagers of Tutu Tuan, Zhili Province, and brought them to Yingzhou. There was no limit to the number of soldiers.
Zhou Dalang was recommended by the township commander. Li Siben inspected it personally and found that he had good martial arts skills and could also assassinate on horseback. He was very satisfied.
In addition, Zhou Dalang delivered grain to Yingzhou, killing one of the defeated soldiers and capturing another on the way. He also traveled to various battlefields in Hebei for a year and a half. He had rich experience, so he was hired on the spot and given the position of team leader. He also made it clear that Yingzhou
There are a lot of wastelands, and the sky is high and the emperor is far away. You can just encircle a few hectares of land and grab a few households of herd slaves to graze for you. It won't be a problem. At worst, you can just withdraw these lands before the court inspects them. It won't be a big deal.
When Zhou Dalang came out, he saw too much of the world. When he heard the conditions promised by Li Siben, his belief in returning home was no longer so unbreakable. And this wavering itself explained something.
Zhong Jushuang, the governor of Ruzhou, also stayed in Youzhou, also for the purpose of fishing for people, but he was fishing for government soldiers.
The conditions in Ruzhou are poor, and many Tibetan people have been registered. They are all people with ulterior motives, and they are in urgent need of people with battlefield experience. They don't want to suppress the imperial army. It is estimated that no one wants to settle in Ruzhou, so they can only fight in the war.
The Tutuan folk who had gone through the war and even Youzhou's surrendered troops found a way - not all of the surrendered troops immigrated to Hubei Province, those who performed well in building the palace city and were skilled in martial arts joined the imperial army, and some were released where they were.
Li Si originally recruited soldiers, but he couldn't compete with Zhong Jushuang who recruited soldiers. The reason was simple. The saint had just issued an edict and canonized the Zhong family as Jieyu. Coupled with the treatment of two governors of the Zhong family, it was already a secret.
He is the number one official in the Hebei clique, and many people are looking forward to free riding on the Zhong family's success.
"It's hard to decide on your own in matters of this world, alas!" Zhou Dalang put the spear at his feet, raised his head and drank half a bowl of wine, and he gradually made a decision in his heart.
On the post road, people come and go.
A group of Xiangyong who spoke with a Handong accent escorted a large number of prisoners northward. Seeing that there was a post station here, the leading few immediately ordered a rest and then ran over in a hurry.
Although the post general couldn't quite understand their accents, he still figured it out through gestures and guessing.
After a while, the sound of neatly chopping meat could be heard in the backyard.
The boy trotted to the fields to pick onions, leeks, dogwood and other seasonings.
The helper gasped and struggled to pull the bellows. As he pushed and pulled, his mouth also bulged, as if there was a bellows there too.
The cook poured a few tablespoons of cold water into the pot, and there was a sting, and smoke began to rise.
"It smells so good. This is about cooking mutton." Zhou Dalang put down the dry and hard biscuits and sniffed the aroma from the kitchen.
Zhou Dalang couldn't help but look around, but saw that the other party was also looking at him, because among so many Zhili Xiangyong, he was the only one with armor.
Han Dongxiangyong smiled and said in Mandarin with a strong accent: "Come and sit here?"
Zhou Dalang was not polite and said: "Thank you very much."
"Are you guys coming from Dingzhou?" Zhou Dalang sat down.
The table was full of dried fruits and dried meats, and a group of people ate hazelnuts and were very happy.
"Look at those prisoners, haha, there are eight hundred of them, captured from Beiguan City in Dingzhou." Han Dongxiangyong said proudly: "Shuai Ge attacked Dingzhou, and Wang Chu went to the front of the battle line to persuade him to surrender. The defender was shaken and agreed to surrender.
However, there was a small school horse named Ma Rang who was able to incite the sergeants, kill the guard, and close the city gate. Ge Shuai was furious and ordered the Xiaojie Army, the Youguo Army, and the Controlling Crane Army to attack from three sides. Taking advantage of the chaos among the rebels, he captured the city in one fell swoop.
The city was broken. Prisoners? There were several thousand captured. We were ordered to take 800 of them back to Youzhou to build a palace for the saint."
"The Jiejie Army is still there? Aren't we going to change it into the Zhenjun Army?" Zhou Dalang asked subconsciously.
"I don't know about this. Maybe the changes haven't been completed. Under Beiguan City, the Xiaojie Army only has a few thousand people." Handong Xiangyong said: "But they withdrew, and the casualties were a bit heavy. Leader Han Du led
Our troops from Hubei Province have gone up, and I heard they are preparing to attack Xiguan City."
"With the Acropolis on the left and the Guancheng on the right, is Dingzhou still a dragon's pool and a tiger's den?" Zhou Dalang grabbed a few raisins and stuffed them into his mouth, sighing.
This is the most annoying thing about siege.
He once heard someone say that Yanzhou has five cities in total. The east and west cities are separated by a deep gorge. The two acropolis are still on the mountain, and one of them is on top of a desert. There is water on the mountain and a warehouse city.
It is extremely difficult to attack. When you attack the city at the foot of the mountain, no matter which direction you attack from, it is impossible to encircle it. Moreover, when attacking, you will also face flank attacks from one or two acropolis.
This kind of split-type city is expensive to build, but its defensive capabilities are extremely strong. It is the type that the siege party is most afraid of.
Fortunately, Beiguan City has been destroyed and a large part of Dingzhou's city defense system has collapsed. It should not be that difficult. Otherwise, who knows how many people will die.
"It's not like the dragon's den is the tiger's den, but a lot of people are going to die." Han Dongxiangyong knocked on the table irritably and ordered the store to serve the food quickly, and then complained: "I have heard that the warriors of the North are happy to fight and like to decide the outcome in field battles. The loser
Even if you lose, you will win if you win, why are you still playing siege and defense?"
Zhou Dalang laughed when he heard this and said: "My grandfather fought with the saint in his early years, and the fighting was really exciting. I heard that the saint often stood on a high platform, and the army lined up and rushed straight towards the thieves. The thieves also arranged themselves in the same way.
When facing each other, no one is afraid of anyone. They fight when they come up and pull them down when they are dead. Unfortunately, after twenty years of fighting, the more they fight, the more they go back. In those days, even the weak brigade dared to go out of the city to fight in the field. During the Tian Lingzi Rebellion, the Jin army entered the pass in the west.
In the middle of the war, the momentum was so great that the governor of Tongzhou dared to go out of the city to fight with only a few generals, and eventually died in the battle. It is becoming increasingly rare to see such a scene, but there is no way."
"You know a lot, are you from a military academy family?" Han Dongxiangyong asked.
"Before my father retired from injury, he was just the leader of a team, not a military academy." Zhou Dalang didn't know what he thought of, and he looked sad again.
He remembered everything his late father had said during his lifetime.
My father was actually from Cizhou. He fought with the saint in Hedong for many years and was covered in pain. However, in his later years, he still praised the saint. Especially the sentence "If a sergeant escapes, behead the sergeant; if a lieutenant flees, behead the lieutenant; ten If you are going to flee, behead ten generals; if I am fleeing, please behead me." My father remembered this until his death.
What an exciting era!
When the wine and meat were served, Zhou Dalang picked up the wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp.
In the countryside, you are submissive and cautious, and you are scared to retreat when you see a green-robed official. What kind of bullshit life is this?
What kind of bullshit life is this, digging in the soil and working all year round, with very little income in the end, and even having to be careful when buying some cloth?
On the dilapidated post road in Yingzhou, he chased the defeated soldiers into the reeds, stabbed him with a spear, and took his head to receive the reward. Everyone looked at him with awe, this is the life of a human being. !
Someone poured him another bowl of wine.
Zhou Dalang drank it all in one gulp again, then grabbed Han Dongxiangyong's hand and asked, "Where is Dingzhou?"
Everyone was shocked.
"No! No!" Zhou Dalang's eyes were red and he muttered: "It's time to go to Yingzhou. Li Siben asked me to go, so I agreed. If the sergeant escapes, you can kill the sergeant. If Li Siben escapes in front of the formation, I will fucking kill him. Killed his dog head."
Everyone in Handong was restless.
It’s only two bowls of wine, and you’ve already drunk too much. If you can’t drink enough, you should have told me earlier.
Who is Li Siben? The sage's righteous nephew, with generous rewards and honors, is it something you can arrange?
"Yingzhou?" Another group of people came to the inn and said, "Yingzhou is a good place. The imperial court has decreed that the new White Wolf, Liaoxi, Wulu, Tongding, and Lai'an counties will be established. We can also try our skills." ."
Bailang County is a new county established based on the old territory of Bailang garrison, on the left side of Karaqin in later generations.
Liaoxi County guarded the city in Yan County, which was near Yi County in later generations.
Wulu County is where Wulu Shouchuocheng was located, now Beizhen City.
Tongding County is Tongding Town in the Tang Dynasty, located in the Liaobin Tower area in the northeast of Xinmin City today.
Lai'an County did not exist before, and it was a newly established place near Suizhong County in later generations. Due to various reasons, some land was silted out in the Western Liaoning Corridor, and the imperial court also began to try to slowly open up this road. The establishment of Lai'an County was regarded as such. As part of this attempt, it will slowly expand eastward in the future and open up the Liaoxi Corridor.
There are six counties in Bailang, Liaoxi, Wulu, Tongding, Lai'an, plus Liucheng, and Yingzhou. It sounds scary, but in fact it is relatively empty. A lot of work still needs to be done, and turning barbarians into summer is even more important. The most important thing.
"Who is it?" Hearing the noise outside, Zhou Dalang looked up and saw that it was a group of furry men on their way.
From the looks of them, they seem to be going to Yingzhou?
These people didn't seem to like the imperial court very much before. Why did they run away from home one by one and go to Yingzhou to become officials?
His head was a little groggy. After thinking about it carefully, he vaguely remembered that the governor of Yingzhou was a kind of emperor. After all, the news of two governors in one school was quite sensational.
This Seed Immortal seems to be a great Confucian from Hebei. It seems that this big-haired awl is quite capable and has attracted a bunch of small-haired awls to join him. Well, maybe he is his former student.
This is just like the generals who will take their own soldiers to their posts, and Mao Zhuizi will take his students to serve as officials. Hebei scholars, are they returning home?
Thinking of the huge profit promised by Li Siben, Zhou Dalang drank another bowl of wine. Then, he subconsciously stood up, took the arm of a scholar, and said: "Let's go, I will go to Yingzhou. You just write in the Yamen
Paint, I will go into battle and kill people."
Now everyone looked at him in shock.
"Shuai Ge has conquered another city. The city of Xiguan in Dingzhou has been destroyed!" the messenger hurried into the post station and said while urging the post general to change horses.
"One more bowl!" Zhou Dalang sat down and shouted.