Pang Yu stood on the bank of the Wanshui River in Shipaikou. In front of him was a pier. There were several grain ships and passenger ships on the waterside. There were ferries coming and going from time to time at the Catfish Head Ferry. There were many shops on the shore, and the scale was far larger than that of an ordinary small town.
It gives people the feeling of Xiacongyang Town, but on a slightly smaller scale.
The army was passing through the streets of Shipai City. The market was very deserted. Most of the shops had been closed. Some of the shop doors were broken. There were still people moving in and out to move things. When they saw the army coming, they ran away quickly. There were many people watching around.
, most of them are carrying luggage, and they should be people fleeing nearby, because this is a transportation hub, and most people running to Fucheng have to pass through here.
Shipai City is today's camp. The garrison camp queued up neatly across the streets. The camp chosen by the Sentinel Cavalry was outside the town near Matang Lake. It could have been detoured from outside the town, but Pang Yu specifically asked the troops to leave from inside the town.
Passing through, especially this Catfish Crossing. To Pang Yu's expectation, the garrison camp received enthusiastic cheers, unlike the officers and soldiers who fled before.
Although the crowd was enthusiastic, Guo Fengyou was even more nervous. He led his own soldiers to guard the side. The old men in the strong squad had all experienced the Tongcheng defense battle and knew the tactics of the rogue spies. They did not dare to be careless at all and kept their eyes on the crowd.
Scan.
Pang Yu walked leisurely on the river bank, pointing to the ferry crossing to Jiangfan Road, "You are very discerning. The place I chose to garrison is Shipaikou."
Jiang Fan hurriedly said something modestly, and when he was trying to figure out Chen Shifu, he passed by this place twice, and it happened to be on the road of this march, so he guessed this place.
At this time, Shipai City was a bazaar, also known as Shipai Kou, which was later called Shipai Town. It was located in the center of Anqing. Diving, Changshui and Wanshui met and flowed here. The surrounding land was fertile.
It is an Anqing grain-producing area. Crossing the river from the Catfish Head Ferry in front of Pang Yu to the north is the road to Susong. To the west, there are three roads leading to Susong and other places. Due to the control of water and land transportation, it has many connections with the Ming Dynasty.
The ferry and the bridge market have naturally formed such a commercial town for a long time.
The roads that the rogues passed at the beginning of the year were along the official roads of Tongcheng, Qianshan, Taihu, and Susong. Shipai City was not in the direction of their march, so they escaped. Although there was news about the rogues this time, it was due to the autumn grain season.
At the peak of the purchase, there were still many grain ships docked, and most of them had boatmen with axes sitting on their bows, looking as if they were ready to cut the ropes at any time.
Some shops were still open, and two businessmen on the river bank were negotiating prices. When Pang Yu passed by them, he heard a grain merchant lowering the price of the merchant.
Only one person said, "To tell you the truth, Shopkeeper Yang, I don't need food now. The warehouses in Anqing are full. If you insist on selling it to me, what time of year is it now? The bandits will arrive as soon as I say. I want to stay here."
Waiting for the goods to arrive is risking your life. The few boatmen on this ship must be paid very hard, and one cent and five cents per stone is already a fair price. It is not easy to get the goods down there."
Shopkeeper Yang must be the merchant of the grain store on the shore. After hearing this, his face was full of embarrassment. He received the goods for probably close to five yuan, and now he will lose half of them.
The merchant glanced at Shopkeeper Yang and said with a sigh, "That's all. I am a timid man who cares about his life. I am afraid that my flesh will be cut off by the bandits, so I am leaving now. I would like to advise Brother Yang, money and goods are all with you."
Foreign goods, don't guard this shop desperately. There are not many ships at the dock now. When the bandits arrive, Brother Yang, don't risk your life just for some grain. It doesn't matter if you don't sell the goods to me. You and I
The boat returned to Anqing together. The city was guarded by the stick god and was not afraid of bandits. I also remembered the friendship we had exchanged over the years. Brother Yang still listened to my advice and left the green mountains without worrying about having no firewood, so he quickly boarded the boat to protect him.
Peace, I am really kind-hearted."
Shopkeeper Yang stamped his feet anxiously on the spot, unable to make up his mind for a moment. The man waved his hand and turned around to get on the boat. Shopkeeper Yang quickly grabbed him and asked him in a low voice to make more concessions.
Pang Yu was a little amused when he heard about the stick god, and he was even more interested in this merchant. Even the bandits could use it as a bargaining chip. The grain merchant was also completely shady. At this time of panic, the reason why the merchant has not left must be
The goods cannot be moved away. Once a businessman flees for his life, the fleeing people can loot all the food before they arrive. The several broken shop doors over there are ready-made examples. Naturally, they cannot be sold for a penny.
arrive.
The grain merchants have ships, which can transport the grain away and at the same time settle the payment into portable silver to the merchant. In this way, the merchant can get back some of the cost, and can also go to Anqing with the grain ship without risking the money.
Yishi was indeed too dark, so I couldn't help but take a second look at the grain merchant. He turned out to be a young man with a gentle appearance. If it hadn't been for what he said just now, he would have thought he was a young man from a family of poets and writers. However, Pang Yu thought that the businessman might be more likely to compromise.
Big, because there are not many options. If he stays, he will have to endure the fear of bandits. Many shops around him have disappeared, and the roads are full of people fleeing. His fear should have reached a very high level.
Sure enough, not long after, the young man waved to the boat, and several boatmen got off the boat and began to carry the goods.
Jiang Fan didn't pay attention to listen, and after looking around, he said, "I can guess this place because of the intersection of water and land, and because there are many grain ships coming from Shengtang Ferry. I know the stone sign."
Food is plentiful and cheap."
Pang Yu no longer looked at the two people, nodded and said, "It is inconvenient to manage the troops stationed in the two places, but Anqing Fucheng is in the southeast corner of the whole territory. If all the troops are stationed in Fucheng and the center of gravity of the defense line is seriously tilted to the east, then Tongcheng Yi will be rescued.
The four counties of Susong are in trouble. If Anqing's defense line is to be restored to balance, troops must be stationed on the west side. However, there is another difficulty. Anqing's military strength is only two thousand, and the rogue bandits are often tens of thousands. If the troops are dispersed, we will be divided and the enemy will dominate. Therefore, the garrison area must be
To effectively control the western Anqing road, it should be within two days' journey from Susong and other places to curb the enemy's advance and prevent damage to the grain-producing areas. At the same time, it should not be too far away from the capital to support each other; secondly, the food supply is safe, so no
Add extra logistical burden; again, it needs to be easier to defend. Shipaikou just meets these three conditions." (Note 1)
Pang Yu took a trip to the south of the Yangtze River and had a preliminary understanding of the commercial division of labor along the river in the Ming Dynasty. Generally speaking, the goods exported from the upstream were mainly grains and beans, which supplied food to the south of the Yangtze River. The south of the Yangtze River mainly provided handicrafts, textiles and other additional industries.
Products with high value are cultivated on land and commercial crops are then sold throughout the country through the Yangtze River and canals. The entire Yangtze River is a complete economic ecology.
If rogue bandits destroy agricultural production in Huguang and Jiangbei, Jiangnan will lose both its food supply and important sales markets, which will be a devastating blow to this economic ecology. Anqing is close to Jiangnan and has abundant grain output. The invasion of the invaders at the beginning of the year
Since then, grain prices have risen this year. The bandit's route at that time was along the official road near the mountains in the north, and the main grain-producing areas in the south of Anqing were not severely affected. At the same time, they are currently affected by Jiangxi grain coming out of Jiujiang and Huguang in the south.
Grain has been stable and prices have not risen sharply. However, as the bandits leave the customs, northern Huguang may be destroyed again, and grain prices are still on an upward trend. Grain and beans are the main export commodities of Anqing and are also the main export commodities of Shengtang Wharf.
The highlight of the transaction is that once the production area is gone, the Shengtang Wharf in Pang Yu's hands will lose value. Therefore, from an economic perspective, protecting Anqing's grain production area is also extremely important to Pang Yu.
Shipaikou is surrounded by Anqing's main grain-producing areas and controls the main roads. From Shipai itself, there are three main rivers: Wanshui, Diving, and Changshui in the east and north, and Matang Lake in the west. The attack route of the rogue bandits is affected by
There are great constraints. The surrounding food is concentrated here, and the difficulty of garrison defense is lower than that in places such as Susong.
Although there are other roads leading to Anqing from Taihu Lake, Qianshan, and Wangjiang, Anqing faces the river on both sides. As long as there are troops stationed in Shipai, the rogue bandits' retreat may be cut off at any time and they may be attacked from both front and rear. The rogue bandits' fighting methods are not unique.
There is a strategy, but they will also consider risks. There are mountains and rivers near Anqing, the army has a small maneuvering space, and the marching speed is restricted by ferries and bridges.
At this time, the two of them walked to the passenger ship. Many people were crowded there, noisily negotiating the price with the ship owner. Pang Yu heard that the price to Anqing had been raised to three yuan per person.
In a blink of an eye, I saw that the flag on the mast looked familiar. When I looked back, I saw that it was on the same bow as the boat of the grain buyer just now. I wonder if it belonged to the young man's family.
There was some congestion on the river bank in front. Guo Fengyou led the horse. Pang Yu went over to take the reins of the horse and said to Jiang Fan who was following him, "Shipai City has accessible roads and controls the Wanhe River. It goes sixty miles to Qianshan and seventy miles to Taihu Lake."
It is 70 miles to Wangjiang River and 100 miles to Susong. The cavalry can reach four counties in one day, and the infantry can rescue Fucheng by boating in one day. This is the grain ship wharf, the distribution center for grain and bean trade in the three counties, and the price of grain
Cheaper than Anqing. As long as there are troops stationed in Shipai, the risk of rogue bandits attacking Anqing will be greatly increased. Not only can I threaten their retreat, but I can also transport troops through the Wan River to rescue Anqing within a day. We can attack, retreat or defend.
There is no better place to garrison than Shipai. No matter from any angle, I must garrison Shipai. As soon as Zhang Duye approves, we will proceed immediately. Caobang must be prepared. Not only must it become our garrison,
Caobang also wants to establish its foothold here."
"My subordinates understand and immediately start to deal with this matter. First establish a foothold in Shipai, and then use this as a stronghold to spread manpower to the four counties."
Pang Yu nodded and pointed to the passenger ship over there, "When you are in Anqing, pay attention to this ship sign to see which company it belongs to."
Jiang Fan didn't pay attention, wondering why Pang Yu suddenly became interested in the owner of a passenger ship, but Pang Yu was already on board, so he had to put aside his doubts.
He stood under the horse and said to Pang Yu, "In the past few days, the bandits have invaded, and there will be more people selling sales. I want to stay here to see if there are any suitable ones."
Pang Yu hesitated for a moment, Jiang Fan was determined to do his job, but the whereabouts of the rogue bandits were unknown at this time. If the army attacked in the wrong direction, there was a high possibility that the rogue bandits would appear in Shipai.
"The whereabouts of the bandits are unknown. Don't hurt my general just to save some money to buy a shop." Pang Yu said and pulled the horse's head, "Today several scholars and Li Lao in Shipai held a reception banquet. I have heard for a long time that the crucian carp in Matang Lake is very popular.
Because it’s delicious, you and I will go and taste it together.”
Jiang Fan stayed there for a moment and saw that Pang Yu was already riding forward, so he quickly got on his horse and followed him.