The army left Xining City and marched for nearly seven days, and finally entered the boundary of Gaodong County in the early morning of the seventh day.
Unlike the vast plains of Liaobei County, Gaodong County is in a hilly area, and the roads are far less easy to navigate than Liaobei County.
At the same time, Gaodong County is connected to the main vein of the Yunling Mountains to the east, and is also intercepted by the branches of the Yunling Mountains to the north. A natural semi-encircled structure forms a natural barrier, allowing Gaodong County to only approach Liaobei and Nanyang to the west. And the two places southward and close to northern Jiangsu can resist the invasion of external forces with the addition of precautions.
When the border between the Tatars and the Song Dynasty was still in northern Liaoning, every time the Tatars broke through the northern pass of Liaoning, they would either go straight into Nanyang or straight into the central pass.
On the contrary, in Gaodong County, Tatars will not enter at will unless necessary.
Because that area is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it is not very suitable for cavalry attacks. Whether it is to go directly to Nanyang to Bianjing, or to enter Guanzhong to raid the hinterland of the Central Plains, the benefits that can be obtained are much greater than those in Gaodong County.
Furthermore, if the army enters Gaodong, the Song people only need to block Nanyang in northern Liaoning, and the Tatars will be cut off. As for northern Jiangsu, that area is in the south with crisscrossed waterways, which is not suitable for cavalry at all. Charging, for the Tatars with full cavalry, going anywhere is tantamount to tying their own hands and feet, let alone going nowhere.
Therefore, Gaodong has always been the safest county in the northeastern part of the Song Dynasty.
It is also one of the main grain producing areas.
But precisely because it is so safe, the family power here has been passed down for a long time. The oldest family in the Song Dynasty is also located here. That world has been passed down in the Central Plains for nearly two thousand years. No matter the dynasties change, he can be influenced by all dynasties. Kind treatment from those in power throughout the ages.
This is all because they are the descendants of the spiritual leaders of scholars. All scholars in the Song Dynasty today are the descendants and disciples of their ancestors.
Every move of their family deeply affected the entire literary world of the Song Dynasty!
The Kong family in Fu County was the only two-thousand-year-old family at that time, the top family among all the families, aloof, independent and first-rate.
Sometimes even the emperor would not look down upon him.
In the entire Fu County, the Kong family is the local emperor!
In addition to the Kong family, the entire Gaodong County also hides countless aristocratic families, large and small, which can be said to be the county with the most aristocratic families in the entire Song Dynasty.
However, compared with the Kong family, these so-called aristocratic families have only been inherited for a few hundred years and are not considered aristocratic families with a rich heritage.
All the truly well-established families have moved out of Gaodong County, because this is the territory of the Kong family. If you want the family to get closer, you must leave the Kong family's sphere of influence.
The Kong family is so domineering, this is the confidence of the two-thousand-year-old family!
Not long after entering Gaodong County, after about three or two days, the army finally arrived at the first city after entering the country after a long journey.
Lecheng is the first county seat east of Xining Prefecture and one of the gateways of Gaodong County in the direction of Liaobei County.
It is one of the largest cities in the entire eastern part of Gaoshan.
During the Liaobei Defense Line period, it was the first barrier against the Tatar invasion of Gaodong.
The city is tall and easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Although it is only a county town, its scale is indeed modeled after the Liaoyun Pass, and it is not much concessions compared to Nanyang City.
Lecheng County Government.
Lecheng County Magistrate Yu Hong is a middle-aged man with a mustache and a goatee under his chin. He has a pair of small eyes that shine like a mouse.
Every time I turn around, there will always be some crooked ideas.
The former military city gradually became an ordinary county town with the decline of the Liaobei defense line.
Although the city wall is tall, it is no longer heavily guarded by the heavy soldiers it once was. Instead, the defenders with only two or three big cats and kittens standing lazily at the top of the city every day.
When it was time to close the city gate, it was still half an hour away, but they couldn't wait to close the door.
It was a quarter-hour shift and no one was willing to stay on duty for more than a quarter of an hour, but the county magistrate Yu Hong didn't care.
Anyway, he doesn't give these soldiers a full salary. He only gives a tenth at most, so naturally he won't ask for more.
If their duty time is strictly stipulated, what will these big soldiers do about the lack of military pay?
Fortunately, it's better to just leave it like this and shut it down early. If I hadn't kept these people to deal with the superiors and kept urging them to allocate military pay for corruption, I would have driven away these freeloaders long ago.
Some time ago, the imperial court suddenly sent a batch of military rations, which made him extremely happy. Isn't this a coincidence?
The money box I just built at home is still more than half filled.
According to the usual rules, I found the local Chen Ji grain store, sold it without anyone noticing, and after a little profit sharing, this batch of military grain turned into white money and fell into my own cash box.
As for what the court said was food supplies for the Japanese army, what does that have to do with you?
What about defeating the Japanese army? Have not heard!
What?
Is there a decree from the court?
Do you have to dial?
sure? I’ll wait for ten days and a half first, but I’m not in a hurry!
Are you in a hurry and insist on it?
Better to do! It’s easy to start a fire with so much food piled in the granary!
With this fire, it’s normal for food to run out, right?
The food is gone, you can’t ask me for it anymore, right?
You have no food to eat? What does that have to do with me?
It happened that the granary was burned down, so I continued to write to the court to ask the court to allocate money to repair the granary.
Once the money comes in, the granary doesn't need to be repaired too well, it just needs to be repaired to look good. It's not really useful anyway, and it might burn down again at some point.
It's just a matter of course to get another sum of money, so happy!
Just as Yu Hong was happily counting how full his money box was, the door to the clerk's room in the backyard of the Yamen was suddenly opened, and a thin middle-aged man with a pointed mouth and a monkey's cheeks and a heavy clerk walked in slowly.
This startled Yu Hong. When he looked up and saw that it was his master, he immediately cursed angrily: "Zhou Yan! Didn't you knock on the door first when you came in? You scared the county!"
I tell you that next time, believe it or not, I will deduct your salary for this year! "
When the master named Zhou Yan heard this, he immediately smiled bitterly and said: "My county lord, you have already deducted all the student's salary this year!"
Yu Hong was stunned for a moment, then immediately changed his words: "Then next year's salary will be deducted!"
“Next year I’ll deduct all the money.”
"Then the year after next!"
"The back is also..."
"Wait! How many years have you been deducted?"
"Your Excellency, you have deducted all ten years of the student's salary!"
"Uh...then you will be detained for eleven years?"
Zhou Yan: "???"
…
Getting back to the topic, Zhou Yan smiled bitterly and shook his head. If he didn't live on his salary at all, who would be willing to be his master if he was the county magistrate?
Fortunately, the benefits of this status are far more than the salary. If the salary is gone, it will be gone.
No longer entangled in the question of which year, Zhou Yan quickly stated his purpose: "Lord County Lord, there is news from the west gate of the city that the Japanese troops from Yunzhou County have arrived outside the city. The leading general called People come to the Yamen to ask for food. Look..."
When Yu Hong heard that he was asking for food, he immediately became anxious and said directly: "What? Want food? Tell him, no! Not even a grain!"
This county is a poor county. There is no food for him, not even a grain. Let him go to those rich counties! "
Zhou Yan smiled bitterly and shook his head. Then he reminded: "Your Excellency, they have an imperial edict. The imperial edict stipulates that they can ask for food from us. And didn't the imperial court transfer a batch of military rations a few days ago?"
“This county doesn’t know what military rations are!
Also, it’s great to have an imperial edict. If there is no food in the county, can it be transformed for him? "
"well……"
Zhou Yan sighed and continued: "Your Excellency, after all, it is an imperial edict. If you disobey the imperial edict, you will be beheaded!"
Yu Hong's face suddenly turned green and white, and after a while he said: "Tell them that there is too much food, and the county is short of manpower and needs time to prepare. Let them wait a few more days."
Zhou Yan understood what his county magistrate wanted to do as soon as he heard it. After following him for so long, he knew what a fart tasted like. But the leader gave an answer and he couldn't say anything more, so he had to He replied: "Students understand."
Then he walked out and went to the gate of the county government office to find the soldiers sent by Li Dingguo and told him the county magistrate's answer.
After hearing this, the soldier didn't waste any words and ran directly back to the outside of the city and informed Li Dingguo of the county government's reply.
When Li Dingguo heard this reply, he suddenly smiled and murmured: "I thought all the officials in the customs had changed their tempers, but I didn't expect that it was just Madden and his brain.
Looks like it’s time to get to work! "
After thinking about it, Li Dingguo called the deputy general and whispered a few instructions, and waited until the deputy general left to make arrangements.
Li Dingguo immediately ordered the entire army: "Set up camp a hundred steps away from the city!"
"promise!"
The army responded in unison, and soon began to camp a hundred steps away from the city wall of Lecheng.
Before leaving the city wall, Li Dingguo turned his head and glanced at the eight-meter-high Lexian city wall and the defenders on the wall who looked as if they could be blown down by a gust of wind, and the corners of his mouth slowly raised.
Right here?
He dares to cause trouble and does not know whether to live or die!
Let me do it on you!
Let’s test whether the general’s knife is sharp enough for those behind!
…
(End of chapter)
