In Andu County, on the official road, a large group of soldiers was escorting supplies.
These materials are all grain, and they are transferred from Yuanyang to Andu to ensure the food supply of Andu County.
Most of the grain harvested last autumn was stored in Yuanyang City, causing the supply of grain in Yuanyang to exceed demand.
At the front of the escort team, Zhao Yanxun was riding a horse at the front. He was accompanied by Lin Dagui, the commander-in-chief of the palace guard, and Baihu Wangshan, who was responsible for escorting the grain.
Although Lin Dagui was loyal, he was a boring gourd, so Zhao Yanxun didn't say much to him along the way.
This time he left Yuanyang, ostensibly to inspect local spring plowing, but in fact it was to implement his assassination plan.
Now that spring plowing has begun in various counties in Yuanyang, almost all the soldiers of the palace, including the palace guards, have been sent out of the city to participate in the protection.
Now in Yuanyang City, apart from Zhang Meng and his dozens of palace guards, the only people left in the city were the 400 recruits.
Since February 20th, the civil and military forces and civilians of the royal palace have been operating at full capacity, and this state may continue until April.
In other words, before April, it is impossible for the palace to use troops externally.
In fact, through information from Lin Quan's spies, Zhu Jinzhang's forces in the north are now also carrying out spring plowing.
Food is the most important thing for the people. Keeping the people below them full is the first priority for those in power.
At this moment, Zhao Yanxun was looking around and saw many people busy in the fields ahead.
Obviously, these are the people of Andu working.
"Wangshan!"
"I'm here!"
"You go first, I will go to the front and take a look!"
"As you command!"
Immediately afterwards, Zhao Yanxun left the group and led Lin Dagui and his party to the fields ahead.
Seeing someone coming, the soldiers in charge of the garrison immediately gathered around. The person leading the team was Liu Shan, who had been promoted to a hundred households.
When the horse came near, Liu Shan jumped off the horse and knelt directly in front of Zhao Yanxun.
"Your Majesty Liu Shan... pay homage to the prince!"
"People feel refreshed when happy events happen. Liu Shan... How does it feel to be a hundred households?" Zhao Yanxun asked with a smile.
Liu Shan was originally a small banner official, but was promoted by Zhao Yanxun all the way to Baihu. It is not an exaggeration to say that he was Zhao Yanxun's confidant.
Therefore, towards Liu Shan, Zhao Yanxun did not need to put on airs, this was to show his closeness.
But when Zhao Yanxun asked him this question, Liu Shan felt a little embarrassed and said: "Your Majesty, I feel...it's okay, but the responsibility is even greater!"
At this moment, Zhao Yanxun also got off the horse, and he said calmly: "Official rank means responsibility. I am very happy that you can understand this!"
"Get up, let everyone else go back to their places, don't waste troops around here!"
"yes!"
After Liu Shan got up from the ground, he waved his men to leave, but he himself stayed.
Zhao Yanxun also got off his horse, looked at the busy people in the distance and said, "How many people are here?"
"Reporting to the prince, there are about six hundred people!"
"How to stay safe?"
"Go back to your lord, the more than 600 people on our side are divided into three teams, each led by a general guard!"
"Just three miles ahead, there is an abandoned house that was refortified by the ministers and others. If there is an emergency... everyone can hide in the house!"
"Now Andu County has been divided into several large areas based on mountains and rivers. After continuous cleaning last autumn and winter, the number of monsters has been reduced a lot, so we can ensure safety!"
Cleaning up zombies in winter and digging ditches to form isolation zones are what garrisons everywhere are doing.
"Six hundred people, when do they start working every day?"
"Reporting to the prince, I start working at dawn every day, take a half-hour break at noon, and work until the sun sets... I work for almost five hours a day!"
“How much land can be cultivated every day?”
"It's almost five hundred acres every day. The exact number... only the supervising officials know!"
On average, each person cultivates one acre of land every day, which is already a very large workload.
According to the standards set by Chang Shisi, although intensive cultivation is not required, it is not enough to just dig holes casually.
After thinking for a while, Zhao Yanxun then asked: "It's about five hundred acres per day. In a few days, you will have to change your place of residence. Is your place guaranteed?"
"When I get back to the prince, I have to change my residence in about three or four days. After all, it can't be too far away from the place where I work. There are many abandoned villages outside the city... I will clean it up in advance!"
As farming progresses, they will gradually move places, which requires extremely high logistical support and is a big test for the county government and the garrison.
Of course, only by experiencing the test of these extreme situations can a reliable team of officials be trained and able to withstand the greater tests ahead.
"Not bad, do it well!"
After saying this, Zhao Yanxun waved to Lin Dagui, who immediately led his horse and rushed over.
After getting on his horse, Zhao Yanxun took the reins and said, "Go back!"
Immediately, the horse whip was waved, and a group of more than fifty riders galloped away. Only Liu Shan was left kneeling to see him off.
Zhao Yanxun and his party continued to go north. Whenever they encountered zombies along the way, he would ask the guards to clean them up, which would be considered as doing their best to reduce the pressure of spring plowing.
In fact, now, several hundred households in the Guard Department are all doing this job after being dispatched to the city, in order to reduce the zombie density outside the city as much as possible.
Soon, Zhao Yanxun and his party arrived at Andu County, but he did not lead anyone into the city, but continued northward.
Along the way, he met people doing spring plowing again, so Zhao Yanxun stopped again and asked about various conditions of spring plowing.
Finally, Zhao Yanxun and his party arrived at Tianma Castle.
This already abandoned fortress was now occupied by the royal army, and a hundred troops were stationed here.
The soldiers stationed here were not dispatched from the Andu garrison, but were directly transferred from the Yuanyang garrison. The leader was Qin Hao, who was also newly appointed.
As the first batch of low-level officers to be promoted by Zhao Yanxun, Yang Qing, Qin Hao and Liu Shan can be said to have stood out from their former colleagues and are particularly favored by Zhao Yanxun.
Of course, all this still stems from their own abilities.
It's not that the others are incompetent, but that the three of them are more capable.
At this moment, Qin Hao, with three general banners, honestly opened the fort gate and appeared in front of Zhao Yanxun.
On the fortress wall, there were many swords and guns, and the soldiers stood majestically, just to show their most spiritual side to Zhao Yanxun.
"See you, my lord!"
"stand up!"
After Qin Hao got up, Zhao Yanxun then asked: "Has the injury on your body recurred?"
The first thing he said was that he was concerned about his physical condition, which moved Qin Hao very much.
What a courtesy it is for His Highness King Yong, who has so many things to do, to remember the sorrow of a small family like him... Qin Hao thought secretly in his heart.
"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I have recovered a long time ago. Yesterday, I led people out of the castle to kill dozens of monsters. I am very strong!"
Zhao Yanxun smiled and said: "That's good...I will have to bear more burdens on you in the future!"
The subtext of adding more burdens is promotion, which is just used to whet the appetite of the people below and make them work harder.
"yes!"
After glancing at the words "Tianma Castle" above, Zhao Yanxun said in a deep voice: "Let's go in and take a look!"
