"General manager, I just received news that the imperial court has stopped all allocation of supplies to us, and has also banned caravans from coming to Fengzhou for trade."
In the room, Du Ruhui reported the progress of the situation to Yang Yuanqing. Since Fengzhou was stationed, it has always relied on the imperial court to allocate money and food. Now that the imperial court has interrupted the money and food allocation and private trade, it has undoubtedly begun to impose severe sanctions on Fengzhou.
Yang Yuanqing walked a few steps with his hands behind his back and asked again: "What impact does Du Changshi think this move will have on Fengzhou?"
Du Ruhui was once in charge of the government affairs of Wuyuan County and knew the economic situation of Wuyuan County very well. He thought for a while and said: "In fact, starting from the seventh year of Daye, we have been able to be self-sufficient in food. This was also the main purpose of the original immigration to develop the Hetao.
Let the army be self-sufficient in food. After all, it is inconvenient to transport food long distances. In addition, every household has hemp fields, and cloth can be self-sufficient. Although silk and satin are not produced, I think the impact will not be big. The key is salt, tea and pig iron. The embargo on these three items has
Our impact is huge.”
At this time, Huangfu Xu next to him said: "In fact, salt is not a problem. Across the Ulan Desert to the west of us, about five hundred miles away, there is a salt pond called Qinglan Salt Pond. The salt reserves there are abundant, and it is completely OK.
Meet our needs, but tea and pig iron are really a big problem."
Yang Yuanqing thought more about the pig iron issue. If there is no tea, they will drink tea. They are not grassland barbarians and cannot live without tea. However, pig iron is a strategic material. The army's weapons and armor all need pig iron. War consumes a lot of pig iron.
, their current surplus equipment is only 40,000 sets of soldiers and armor brought back from Liaodong. If they want to expand their army, they will not be able to do so.
At present, in addition to the regular army, Fengzhou also has 200,000 militia groups. These 200,000 militia groups only have 80,000 ordinary weapons and no armor. According to Yang Yuanqing's idea, it is best to have all 200,000 people armed, just like the regular army.
Having a complete set of armor can not only defend against the Turks, but also become his asset in fighting for the world.
He pondered for a long time and then asked: "What about the craftsmen? Do we have enough blacksmiths and armorers?" This is also something Yang Yuanqing is extremely concerned about. There are no armorers in the Fengzhou army, and all equipment is unified by the imperial court.
Configuration.
Du Ruhui and Huangfu Xu looked at each other. They had not been in contact with local government affairs for several years and did not know much about this aspect.
"You may need to ask Cui Juncheng and the others about this."
Yang Yuanqing immediately ordered a soldier, "Go and invite Cui Juncheng, and also Zhang Sima."
Zhang Sima is Sima Zhang Ting of the General Manager's Mansion. He has followed Yang Yuanqing for many years. He is more than thirty years old and is smart and capable. He is one of Yang Yuanqing's confidants. He is in charge of the army's soldiers. He is working in the General Manager's Mansion. He arrived first. In a moment, Wuyuan
Cui Junsu, the county magistrate, also hurried over.
Yang Yuanqing told them the situation. In fact, Cui Junsu already knew about the imperial embargo. He smiled and said: "General, don't worry about the craftsmen. The population of Wuyuan County is all moved from the mainland. There are at least thousands of blacksmiths and soldiers in it."
Armor craftsmen, there are also many bow craftsmen who have escaped from Mayi County and Loufan County. Those two places are famous for making bows and crossbows. If the manager is interested, I can arrange for them to be gathered together."
Du Ruhui also smiled and said: "The imperial court has an ordnance supervisor. How about we also set up an ordnance department and gather the craftsmen to live in Jiuyuan County. What does the general manager think?"
The so-called three cobblers were better than Zhuge Liang. Everyone brainstormed and talked to each other. Gradually, many plans were carefully considered. Yang Yuanqing felt very pleased and smiled at Du Ruhui and Cui Junsu: "These plans will trouble you."
The two of you will organize and formulate it and publish it as soon as possible."
Du Ruhui and Cui Junsu nodded in agreement. At this time, Zhang Ting, who had been silent all the time, said: "Manager, maybe the pig iron problem can be solved."
Yang Yuanqing was overjoyed and said quickly: "Please tell me!"
Zhang Ting smiled and said: "I am from Yanchuan County. About fifty miles west of the county, there is a mountain ridge, which is more than ten miles long. Because the mountain is reddish brown, the official name is Chiling, and the locals call it Hong
Tieshan is rich in iron ore and copper ore, which are of excellent quality. The imperial court set up a mining supervisor there, and thousands of prisoners mined the ore there all year round and sent them to Lingwu County to smelt iron and copper."
When Zhang Ting said this, Yang Yuanqing suddenly remembered that Cihe Liujia had reported to him that two gangs, Bai Yusuo and Liu Jialun, were fighting fiercely in this area. Could it be that they were fighting for this iron mine?
?
Zhang Ting seemed to understand Yang Yuanqing's thoughts and said with a smile: "The two bandits fought fiercely in Yanchuan County just to compete for this iron mine. They also need to build weapons."
Yang Yuanqing frowned slightly. Speaking of which, this mine should now be occupied by Liu Jialun. Yang Yuanqing walked a few steps with his hands behind his back. Although the mine was not too far away from them, it was south of the Great Wall. His cavalry
Can't get through.
At this time, Du Ruhui said slowly: "General manager, if you want to get this iron mine, you must first capture Yanchuan County."
The Wuyuan County controlled by Yang Yuanqing does not only refer to the Hetao area. In fact, the vast area south of the Hetao is also under the jurisdiction of Wuyuan County, but most of it is desert and barren beach. There is also a part of grassland in the south of the desert, where a small number of Huns live.
, Xianbei, Jie, Di, Qiang and other Jihu ethnic groups and farming Han people. Further to the south are Lingwu County, Yanchuan County and Shuofang County, and to the east is Yulin County.
Due to the erosion of wind and sand, the natural conditions in this area are harsh, the land is barren, and the population is not large. Most of them are a mixture of Han and Hu.
Liu Jialun was a Huns. He led the Jihu rebellion, with Yan'an County as the center, active in Diaoyin County, Shuofang County, Yanchuan County, southern Yulin County and northern Honghua County. He had 100,000 tribesmen, led by Jihu.
For the sake of the Lord, he called himself the Son of Heaven, established the Great Era of the Yuan Dynasty, and completely became the local emperor in this area.
Of course, this area was still the territory of the Sui Dynasty, and the government still existed, but the Sui Dynasty controlled the city, and outside the city was Liu Jialun's world.
Liu Jialun has always been eyeing the fertile Hetao area, where there is a large population and sufficient food. However, he is afraid of the Fengzhou Army and does not dare to enter Wuyuan County northward.
Although Yang Yuanqing did not consider occupying the pass, Liu Jialun was a major threat to him. After controlling Wuyuan County, his eyes naturally turned to the south, to the side of the bed. How could he allow others to snore and sleep, sooner or later he would
The cancer of Liu Jia Lun must be eradicated.
Now the fight for iron ore has become the trigger for him to attack Liu Jialun. Although he does not directly occupy Yanchuan County, Diaoyin County, Shuofang County and Yulin County, these areas must become his sphere of influence.
The jurisdiction of Yanchuan County is very small. There is only one county seat within its jurisdiction, which is also the county seat. The county seat is also called Wuyuan County, which is a small county seat. It has a population of more than a thousand households and spans the Great Wall. It is actually part of the Great Wall.
It is an important pass from outside the pass into the pass. There are more than 2,000 troops stationed all year round, and it is also managed by the prefect.
Due to the rampant Jihu bandit Liu Jialun, all the Han people living in Yanchuan County fled to the county town for refuge, making the county town extremely crowded. The small county town was packed with more than 10,000 people. Fortunately, the county town wall was tall. Liu Jialun
After sending troops every time, they could not attack it. The iron mine that Yang Yuanqing urgently needed was located fifty miles west of the county seat.
The prefect of Yanchuan County is named Zhou Yuan. He is from Jingzhao, Guanzhong. He has a military background. He is about forty years old. He has been the prefect of Yanchuan County for ten years. His wife is a Han from the same hometown. In addition, he is from the Huns and Xianbei.
Each of the five Jihu, Jie, Di and Qiang married a girl as a concubine and lived a happy life. He originally planned to do it for another ten years, but the trouble of bandits at this time made his head as big as a bucket.
He didn't want to do it for another day.
Prefect Zhou Yuan's biggest headache at this time was the lack of food in the city. The daily rations for more than 10,000 people could only last for another half month at most. He sent three memorials asking for help to the court, but they all came to nothing with no response.
, which made Prefect Zhou feel a little desperate.
In fact, Zhou Yuan also knew that there was another way to survive, and that was to ask for help from Wuyuan County. With the power of Fengzhou, he could completely save him, but Yang Yuanqing was really afraid of the imperial court punishing him.
Zhou Yuan was pacing back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. He was depressed and unable to do anything. At this time, a follower reported outside the door, "Prefect, Magistrate Zhao is here. He said he has something urgent to see you!"
Now the county magistrate and the prefect are both living in the same city, and their functions are overlapping. It's just that the prefect is in charge of big things, and the county magistrate is in charge of small things. Zhou Yuan is most afraid that magistrate Zhao will come to him. Either there will be trouble here or there will be a lot of troubles.
thing.
But he couldn't help but see him, so Zhou Yuan had no choice but to sigh, "Let him in!"
After a while, Magistrate Zhao walked in, followed by a person, dressed in black and wearing a turban. This was the attire of a Jihu person. Zhou Yuan felt that he looked familiar. After staring at him for a while, he suddenly recognized him, "You Zhang Sima?"
Zhou Yuan was stunned for a moment by Fengzhou General Manager Zhang Ting. Zhang Ting was a native of Yanchuan County. He was a subordinate of Cangcao in Yanchuan County. In the first year of Daye, he participated in the public official selection examination held in Fengzhou.
He got second place in the exam and was appointed as the magistrate of Dali County. Governor Zhou knew him.
Zhang Ting bowed and saluted and said with a smile: "Prefect Zhou, I haven't seen you for many years."
A glimmer of hope suddenly ignited in Zhou Yuan's heart. He did not dare to ask Yang Yuanqing for help, but he also hoped that Yang Yuanqing could help him.
"Sima, please sit down!"
Zhou Yuan hurriedly asked him to sit down, and Magistrate Zhao also sat down. He and Zhang Ting were from the same hometown. They grew up together and had a very good relationship.
Zhang Ting sat down and said calmly: "Not long ago, a group of bandits from Liu Jialun came to Wuyuan to rob. A village was destroyed by them, more than fifty people were killed, and thousands of cattle and sheep were killed.
After snatching it away, Manager Yang was furious and determined to eradicate the Liu Jia Lun Department. Today, I came to the prefect to discuss borrowing the passage."
"Borrowing a way?"
A wry smile appeared on Zhou Yuan's face. Logically speaking, cross-border bandit suppression requires approval from the Ministry of War, but is this useful to Yang Yuanqing?
He did not dare to refuse, so he pondered for a moment and said: "The Great Wall in this area was all built in the sandy beach area. Years of wind and sand erosion have caused many sections to collapse and there is no danger to defend. Last year, I sent people to inspect along the way and drew a picture of the condition of the Great Wall.
Picture, I would like to give a copy of this picture to Manager Yang."
Zhou Yuan's implication was that the Fengzhou cavalry could cross the Great Wall from many places, and there was no need to go through the county seat.
Magistrate Zhao said anxiously from the side: "Prefect, General Manager Yang said that not only are we borrowing the road, but we can also provide us with 20,000 shi of food assistance."
When he heard that there was food, Zhou Yuan had a complicated look on his face. Food! It is their lifeblood now. How could he refuse? He asked cautiously: "Does it have to be a borrowed road to provide food?"
Zhang Ting nodded unequivocally, "This is a must."
"good!"
Zhou Yuan was heartbroken and finally agreed, but the court ignored his petition for help and said, "Let's make it a deal."