At night, there were bonfires all over the Baishan Mountain Camp. The soldiers of the Ming army sat around, drinking wine and eating meat, talking to each other about their experiences on the battlefield, and each recounting the rest of their lives after the war.
Carts of rice, grains, meat and vegetables were pushed to the entrance of the kitchen, and the helpers were unloading the goods. The cooks inside were cutting vegetables and taking care of the heat of three large pots. They were very busy.
"Lao Guo, well, we still need two jars of wine."
"The wine is stored in that corner. Today, brother, you have to do it yourself. We can't get out of here."
"It's okay, I'll pick it up myself."
Youdao is a pot in Xinghua Village, Shanxi, which runs through the history of China from ancient to modern times. The soldiers who came to ask for wine followed the guidance of the cook Lao Guo, picked up two wine jars and staggered away.
What is contained in this jar is the world-famous Shanxi Fenjiu. Therefore, the wine originates from Xinghua Village in Fenzhou Prefecture, so it is also called "Xinghua Village Wine".
"Come on, drink!" Hu Mazi had a cloth bandage wrapped around his shoulders, so he had to drag the bowl with one hand, but this did not affect his drinking. After a bowl of mellow sake, the burps he made were all delicious. Hu Mazi licked them
Licking his lips, he praised: "What a damn good wine."
"Good wine." Zhao Adi, who was drinking with Hu Mazi, put down his empty bowl. The two heroes had the same opinion.
Tonight, Uncle Yang returned home to reunite with his wife and daughter. He was not in the camp, so the regiment training camp was naturally left to the attention of the two newly promoted probation officers. From the beginning of not dealing with each other, to experiencing life and death together, it finally transformed into a battlefield.
,This is the tradition in the army.
Today's regiment training camps are very rare, with less than a hundred soldiers surviving by chance, so the scene is much more deserted than at other battalion headquarters.
Hu Mazi, who was accustomed to seeing life and death, was happy with the lack of people, so he started a small affair with Zhao Adi. In his words, he was an official of hundreds of households, so how could he drink with the big-headed soldiers.
After being in contact with him for a long time, Zhao Adi could also see that Hu Mazi was a person who had a bad mouth but a bad heart. He was a straight-forward man who had nothing to say about his brothers.
"We two, we don't know each other without fighting. Hey, if you did something wrong before, don't take it personally. I'll punish myself first." Hu Mazi finished speaking incoherently and raised his head.
I drank a bowl of wine.
"without...."
As soon as Zhao Adi started to speak, Hu Mazi grabbed his hand and said, "Wait, wait, I haven't finished talking yet. Damn it! If you forget, you will punish yourself." After saying this, he took Zhao Adi's hand.
Wine bowl, drink it clean.
"without..."
"Come to think of it, from now on, we will be brothers who love each other! Let's do it first."
"There's no more wine. You drank all grandma's wine!" Zhao Adi said and punched Hu Mazi lightly on the shoulder. Hu Mazi grinned in pain and then giggled. Zhao Adi, who was pretending to be angry, was amused by him.
Then he threw his head back and laughed.
Smiling and laughing, I cried for some reason, counting the stars in the sky one, two, three, four, those are the brothers who have returned to their hometown.
........
"Long live Lord, it's time to drink medicine." Wang Chengen took the medicine sent by Yang Lianbing and gave it to Chongzhen who was talking to Sun Xuanhuai in the house.
"Well, let's leave it for now." Chongzhen responded hastily, turned to Sun Xuanhuai and said, "Xingsheng, go on."
A fire broke out in a granary in the city. Although everyone put out the fire in time, a full 40% of the stored grain was still burned.
"In my humble opinion, I am afraid it will be difficult to continue to maintain the needs of the whole city."
According to the plan, the big households in the city had to work together to raise funds for the army for half a year, but in fact only the amount for five months was collected, that is, 55,000 shi of rice grain and 40,000 shi of supplementary food."
This part of the relief food for refugee resettlement was allocated by Chongzhen from the previous seizures by the Shun army.
In peacetime, the refugees could survive on two meals of gruel a day, so this part of the captured food seemed to be barely enough.
But Chongzhen ignored one point. When Datong entered the war, these 10,000 refugee men who both acted as civilian husbands and participated in the defense of the city were no different from fighting soldiers.
As a result, the food and grass sufficient to sustain the army for five months was equivalent to being reduced by half, leaving only two and a half months.
Taking into account other expenses and losses, such as the dry food distributed when evacuating local people, medical treatment for wounded soldiers, etc., it has been nearly a month. This calculation can last for at most thirty days.
"Excluding the 40% that was burned, it will take about twenty days?"
"Only less."
Leaving aside the fact that grain is expensive in lean years, now wars are raging and divided between various parties, and Chongzhen, caught in the middle, does not even have a channel to buy grain.
"What is needed to reward the army today?" Chongzhen asked.
Talking about this, Sun Xuanhuai smiled slightly and replied: "Your Majesty has destroyed Jianlu. Even if we, the Datong gentry, tighten our belts, we will take over this matter."
"good."
"Actually, Xingsheng doesn't need to worry about the food and grass issue for the time being." Chongzhen said, taking a sip from the soup on the side, while Sun Xuanhuai waited patiently for the rest.
"Jiang Xuan robbed Jianlu's grain truck by chance and seized no less than 40,000 dan, which is enough to meet the current urgent need."
When Sun Xuanhuai heard this, he couldn't help but clapped his knees and said: "It was lost and found again, it's really God who blessed me in the Ming Dynasty."
.....
The two discussed until late at night, during which they spent the longest time on the issue of refugees killed in action. As a result, countless civilians were killed in the battle, which aroused the mourning of the relatives of the deceased.
Chongzhen was determined to support the old and weak women and children left behind. He decided to allocate all the remaining money and grain in the warehouse and asked Sun Xuanhuai to deliver it to each household personally to appease people's hearts.
"There is only so much we can do at the moment. The names of the deceased must be registered afterwards. I still need to make up for it in the future."
"Having His Majesty's benevolence and concern for this is a blessing for the little people of Shengdou. I will bring them to you one by one."
Sun Xuanhuai just left, and Chongzhen drank the decoction that had been left to cool down. Regardless of the bitterness in his mouth, he asked Wang Chengen about matters related to the Imperial Detective Department.
"Is there any reply from Taiyuan?"
"Replying to Your Majesty, Datong was besieged earlier and the news from outside could not be transmitted back, so there is no news at all. Today, I have sent spies to leave the city quickly and go to Taiyuan to contact Song Xiancai."
"Um..."
Song Xiancai, this chess piece that has always been placed outside, is responsible for two important secrets of the Imperial Detective Department.
One is to assist Jiang Xuan's troops in a surprise attack in the mountains, and the other is to go to Taiyuan to look for an opportunity to connect with Chen Yongfu.
The business going into the mountains was done well, but I don't know how the latter went. Taiyuan is a quagmire and it's very difficult for outsiders to sneak in.
"Xuan Song Dynasty Offers Strategies."
"yes."
In order to make the next strategic move, it is necessary to sort out the internal affairs first. Chongzhen, who has no one in his hands, is destined to have no sleep tonight.
The enemy spies who were deliberately released must have brought the information to them. With the news of Datong's defeat, the Jianlu captives must have taken the bait and fled in full force.
As long as it successfully involves the mobilization of Jianlu troops, Shanxi's chess game will be alive.
