Chapter 82: The Loyal Officials of the Border Town Strategize (2)
Li Renli was twenty-three or four years old. He was fair and fair. If he replaced his armor with a Confucian robe, he would be no different from a famous Jinshi from the Song Dynasty who was famous in the Donghua Sect.
He was welcomed into Xiazhou City by Zhang Yuanqing. He did not go into the state office to cleanse himself from the dust. He directly asked Zhang Yuanqing to take him to the four gate towers for a tour, and then went to the arsenal and granary to have a look at the defense preparations.
"How come there are only so few arrows and swords? Xiazhou is the center of iron smelting and military industry in our Henan region."
"Returning to Cao Shuai, Xiazhou can become the center of iron smelting and military industry in Henan Province, which all depends on the iron administration in the southeast outside the city, on the bank of Wuding River, at the foot of Hengshan Mountain. When it was at its peak, it could produce 100,000 kilograms of iron. However,
Yinzhou fell, and Hengshan fell completely into the hands of the Song army. They repeatedly sent troops disguised as bandits, sometimes looting and killing craftsmen, sometimes burning houses and stoves."
Zhang Yuanqing answered honestly.
"Under such harassment, the iron administration has existed in name only for almost two years. The iron-making and armor-making have been abolished long ago."
Li Renli was stunned for a moment. He was good at Chinese studies and proficient in poetry. He had never dealt with this kind of practical work. Before taking office, he went to Xingqing Prefecture's Secretariat and Privy Council to find relevant information and made up for it.
I was originally very ambitious and prepared to use my blood to repay the emperor's kindness and my talents to turn the tide in the critical moment of the national crisis. Unexpectedly, when I arrived, the actual situation was so different from what I had imagined, and I was at a loss.
He thought for a while and asked, "Why is there only so little food in the granary?"
"Captain Cao, after the fall of Yinzhou in the third year of Yong'an, the people in the area south of Wuding River were beaten and coaxed by the Song army, and almost all of them fled. No one farmed, and no matter how fertile the land there was, it would not grow on its own.
Produce food. The small amount of food in the Xiazhou granary is all squeezed out from here and there."
After listening to Zhang Yuanqing's words, Li Renli's face turned even paler, with an expression of complete disbelief, "In the area south of the Wuding River, our Xia Kingdom's granaries are all in ruins? How come such a major event was not reported to the central government?"
"I have reported it to the police a long time ago. But there is nothing the higher authorities can do, so I put it aside for the time being. Over time, everyone will pretend that this never happened." Zhang Yuanqing's confidant quickly added.
"This..." Li Renli didn't know what to say for a moment.
He also knew what was going on in the country in the past two years, but he never imagined that the situation would deteriorate to this extent.
Li Renli was well-read in poetry, books, and classics. In his view, as long as the Xia State widely spreads benevolence and educates all the people, it will naturally win over the hearts of the people. On the other hand, the Song State on the opposite side is militaristic and does not govern benevolently, and it will be doomed sooner or later.
This time, the Song State mobilized the whole country and mobilized all the troops. In the eyes of Li Renli and other Chinese civil servants of the Xia State, this was a desperate move under the huge pressure of not practicing benevolent rule and the people in the country resisting tyranny. As long as the Xia State could withstand this wave, it would definitely achieve success.
The final victory.
But he didn't expect that before he could pour out his passion for the Song army, he would be struck cold to the bone by the cruel reality.
Li Renli hesitated for a few moments and could only say: "The people of the region do not rely on the boundaries of the border, the country does not rely on the dangers of mountains and rivers, and the power of the world does not rely on the benefits of military revolution. Those who have gained the right will get many help, and those who have lost the right will get little help."
"The officials of the Song Dynasty did not govern benevolently and were blindly tyrannical and immoral. Now they are resorting to military violence and coming in force. Just like the Fu family in the former Qin Dynasty, they will be defeated by Feishui. Although we have few soldiers and food, we can work together to protect our country and we will be able to gain victory.
God helps."
Zhang Yuanqing looked like he was being taught a lot, but he was sneering in his heart.
Damn it, these are all leftovers from my play, but you dare to show off to me.
The defense inspection can no longer be carried out. No matter how united we are, the reality is that we are short of food and few soldiers. No matter how pedantic Li Renli is, he knows that without food and soldiers, it is impossible to fight a war.
I felt a little depressed for a while, so I had to call back to the state office.
Seeing that Li Renli looked like a vegetable with frost, Zhang Yuanqing and his confidants looked at each other secretly, feeling secretly proud in their hearts.
Entering the state government's custody room, Li Renli asked Zhang Yuanqing to step back. He was the only two people left in the room, and then whispered: "Gao Shouzhong's family papers came to Xiazhou?"
"Yes, it is not easy to live in Xingqing Mansion. He eats wherever he wants. Gao Gong has some connections with a certain person, so he went to Xiazhou to join a certain person."
Li Renli stared at Zhang Yuanqing and said abruptly: "Your Majesty has a secret order for you to send Gao Shouzhong's family papers back to Xingqing Mansion."
Looking at Li Renli's uncertain face, Zhang Yuanqing was shocked and quickly replied: "Yes! It's just that all the papers in the Gao family are old, weak, women and children. Please allow me to gather them together, prepare carriages and horses, and send them back."
Xingqing Mansion."
"Okay!" Seeing Zhang Yuanqing's cheerful answer, Li Renli seemed to be relieved.
"Thank you for your hard work, Commander Cao. I have already prepared a banquet to wash away the dust and welcome the wind. Please appreciate it, Commander Cao."
"Forget it. The national situation is difficult, so there is no need to be so extravagant and wasteful." Li Renli waved his hand and said, "I still have something to discuss with Weiming Phuket, so I will leave first."
2k
Weiming Puji is the commander-in-chief of the Xiangyou Army.
The Xiangyou Army Division was originally in Shizhou, in charge of Yin, Shi, Xia and other states. However, in the past two years, the Song Army used Yinzhou as its stronghold and repeatedly attacked, and the Xiangyou Army Division had long been disabled. Weiming Pu
Ji took the few defeated soldiers with him and retreated to Xiazhou.
After sending Li Renli away, Zhang Yuanqing immediately summoned his eldest son, fourth son and five confidants to discuss matters together.
He gave an overview of the situation, and Zhang Dalang said coldly: "Father, Li Renzhong must have said something similar to Uncle Gao Shi in Youzhou, asking Uncle Gao to send our Zhang family papers to Xingqing Mansion. Uncle Gao followed this example,
Knowing that Li Renli would say the same thing to my father in Xiazhou, I made up my mind."
Having said this, Zhang Dalang felt a little anxious, "Father, you must make up your mind early."
The confidant Jia also agreed: "Mr. Zhang, Dalang is right. Now that the military power of Xiazhou is in our hands, we cannot make this determination. We just learned from the military report that Shizhou was surrendered in the first battle. Wei
Named Puji, he is so clever and can run so fast. Li Renli and Wei Mingpuji are both members of the royal family, so it is good to use them as names."
Zhang Silang was also anxious: "Father, once you reach Shizhou, there is no barrier in Xiazhou. The Song army is approaching step by step. I don't know if they will come to the city tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Now Li Renli and Weiming Puji have only a thousand soldiers in their hands."
My father has arranged the remaining soldiers and thrown cups as a signal. We can capture them immediately and achieve great success."
Zhang Yuanqing's scheming eyes swept over everyone's faces and he said calmly.
"You guys are too impatient. Although Li Renli is pedantic, he is not a fool. If he has no support, he would dare to enter Xiazhou City at such a delicate time.
.Think we have taken over the situation for more than a year and are completely in control of the situation?”
The confidant's eyes flashed brightly, and he immediately understood the meaning of Zhang Yuanqing's words.
"Mr. Zhang, are you saying that after Li Renli went around with us, he immediately went to see Weiming Puji, just to gather strength and make secret arrangements to deal with us?"
Zhang Yuanqing did not comment, but said in a deep voice: "The situation in Xiazhou City is treacherous now, and we need to bring in help."
"A helping hand? What a helping hand?"
"Now that we are in the clear, the chips in the hands of Li Renli and Weiming Puji are in the dark. In order to avoid being filled into the hole, we must also find a powerful force hidden in the dark to be a helping hand."
After hearing Zhang Yuanqing's words, everyone was shocked, "Is there such a force in Xiazhou City?
Zhang Yuanqing smiled enigmatically. This chapter has been completed!
