At the end of July, while Li Jiwen and Jia Hongyu were leading their troops in Shanxi and Xuanfu Town, General Officer Zheng Yi and Deputy Chief General Ge Cong of the Tenth Army of the National Defense Forces had also arrived in Henan. The Staff Headquarters Staff officer Hu Zongming led the southwest inspection team and also entered Henan with the army. The brigade entered Kaifeng Prefecture from Guangping Prefecture in North Zhili.
At this time, the territory of Kaifeng Prefecture was basically a white land, with no human habitation for thousands of miles, and no roosters crowing for hundreds of miles. Along the way, they passed through villages of various sizes, all of which were turned into ruins. When the army passed through the ruins of these villages, they could even see among the ruins. The piles of bones gathered in one place looked like villagers who had been gathered together to massacre!
The army passed through Fengqiu City and headed south. Jinglongkou, Yujiadian, Taojiadian and other relatively large towns were now in ruins.
Hu Zongming's face became more and more gloomy as he walked along. He had long heard that various places in Henan were being brutally tortured by bandits, but he never expected that it would turn out like this. It was a complete hell on earth!
In the Central Army of the Tenth Army, Zheng Yi and deputy commander Ge Cong rode side by side. Zheng Yi said angrily: "The people of Henan are ruined! It is not a pity that Li Zicheng died. It was really easy to let him die on the battlefield. It should be Cut him into pieces with a thousand swords!”
Ge Cong said: "Historians will record this. Li Zicheng and his bandit army are destined to be infamy for thousands of years!"
Suddenly, the horsemen from the front came to report: "Report to the main town, dozens of refugees were found in the front!"
Zheng Yi and Ge Cong were a little surprised when they heard the news. It had been a few days since the army entered Henan, and this was the first time they saw a living person. It was incredible!
"Let's go and have a look."
When Zheng Yi,
When Ge Cong and his two men came to the front of the army with a group of guards, Hu Zongming had already arrived here with several officials from the inspection team, and everyone's faces were very ugly.
Zheng Yi's eyes swept over the dozens of refugees, and he saw that all of them were young and strong, most of them were men, with a few women. However, at this time, all of them had dull eyes and haggard faces, as if they were corpses. A wheezing shell.
There were no elderly people or children among the crowd. It must be difficult for the elderly and children to survive in such an environment.
At this time, Hu Zongming walked to Zheng Yi and Ge Cong and whispered: "The soldiers just found human bones and uneaten human flesh from them!"
Zheng Yi and Ge Cong were shocked. They looked at the dozens of refugees with wide eyes. These refugees actually relied on cannibalism to survive!
"well!"
Hu Zongming sighed and said: "Henan is thousands of miles desolate. Although the imperial court's new policies and military reform orders have been issued for several months, there are not many officials in Henan. The cities in various places have been abandoned for a long time, and there are many thieves. The people really have no other choice but to eat people to survive."
"What should we do with these people now?"
Ge Cong asked, feeling very entangled in his heart.
Zheng Yi closed his eyes in pain and said, "Give them some food and let them go!"
Ge Cong's eyes widened and he looked at Zheng Yi in disbelief, but Hu Zongming nodded and said: "This is the only way we can do it. Let them settle in a nearby village and wait for relief from the court. As for whether they can survive, It just depends on their destiny.”
When the army continues to advance towards Kaifeng Fucheng, then
Dozens of refugees gathered together, staring blankly at the armored army marching neatly. Then a few people looked at the large bags of food next to them, and then looked at a few women among the refugees. A wave of excitement emerged among the crowd. A hint of restlessness.
One day later, the Tenth Army of the National Defense Force arrived in Kaifeng Fucheng.
At this time, the city of Kaifeng was extremely dilapidated, with all the city gates incomplete and the city walls riddled with holes. When the army entered the city, Zheng Yi even saw two wild wolves walking together on the streets of the city. Then he ordered people to shoot the wild wolf.
There are still some people living in Kaifeng City, but they are all skinny and have dull eyes. When they see the armored army entering the city, they all retreat to the side in fear and watch in fear.
Zheng Yi, Ge Cong, and Hu Zongming passed by on horseback. Looking at the appearance of the people in the city, they were filled with emotion.
"There are still people in the city. Our first priority next is to stabilize the people and production. First, let all parts of Henan get on the right track, and then we can talk about the implementation of the New Deal and military reform."
Hu Zongming said, Zheng Yi and Ge Cong both nodded in agreement. Judging from the current situation in Henan, that's all.
Subsequently, the Chinese Army of the Tenth Army of the National Defense Force was stationed in Kaifeng Fucheng. After consultation among the three, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Ge Cong, General of the Left Camp Chang Tianming, General of the Right Camp Zong Yuan and other generals at all levels divided their forces to station in various places in Henan. Recruiting scattered people, encircling and suppressing bandits from various places, and assisting patrol teams that also go to various places to investigate the land, population, officials, and garrison conditions in various places in Henan.
As the head of the Southwest Inspection Team, Hu Zongming naturally also sat in Kaifeng City. He and Zheng Yi were waiting for reports from all parties.
At that time, we first began to rectify the various places around Kaifeng City, including Xiangfu County in the same city, as well as Xuanwuwei, Lanyang County, Chenliu County, Xincheng and other places, to recruit refugees and provide relief to the people.
After a month of busy work, the places around Kaifeng Fucheng finally regained some vitality, and the number of people in Kaifeng City gradually increased. However, most of the large amount of money and food carried by the Tenth Army of the National Defense Force was also consumed.
In the blink of an eye, August came, and while the Ninth Army was implementing the New Deal in various parts of Shanxi and military reforms were in full swing, Zheng Yi and Hu Zongming also received news from the teams of the southwest inspection team.
Today, in various parts of Henan, due to the excessive abuse of bandits, officials are scarce in various parts of Henan. Even most of the county towns are undefended. Not to mention the county magistrate, not even a subordinate official can be found in the city.
At the same time, all the powerful gentry in Henan Province were basically killed by the bandit army. The more wealthy the family was, the earlier they were targeted by the bandit army, and in the end their families were wiped out.
Now the whole of Henan has become a white land, people can't live, and there is no one to take charge of it, so the New Deal and military reforms cannot be implemented.
At this time, Zheng Yi and Hu Zongming were stationed in the Prince of Zhou's Mansion in Kaifeng City. The originally luxurious Prince of Zhou's Mansion had lost its former glory and turned into a huge deserted mansion. The lineage of the King of Zhou in the city has now become The dead bones and even the corpses in the lonely graves in the grass have disappeared.
However, compared to a series of yamen such as the prefect's yamen in the city, the dilapidated Zhou Prince's Mansion is relatively well-preserved, and at least it can protect it from wind and rain.
"what to do?"
Zheng Yi looked at the tragic situation in various parts of Henan today.
Then he looked at the grain and grass stocks reported by the military quartermaster, and said: "With the current money and grain consumption, we can't sustain it for even a month, so we should ask Mr. Ge for help."
Hu Zongming nodded in agreement and said: "This matter will be done today, and there can be no delay. Fortunately, the court has plenty of money and food now, otherwise Henan would be a dead end!"
Zheng Yi said: "Li thieves have been poisoning Henan for a long time. How much food does the King of Zhou alone have? There are so many clans in Henan. Li thieves plundered various places, but the court did not seize much money and grain. It is really strange!"
Hu Zongming was from the staff department and knew more about these things, so he said: "Li Zicheng has millions of soldiers and horses alone, and there are hundreds of thousands of refugees with the army. There are many horses in the army, at least a dozen, Hundreds of thousands of horses, so many people and horses, the daily and monthly consumption can be said to be overwhelming. No matter how much money and food Li Zicheng collected from vassal kings everywhere, he would not be able to save it."
Zheng Yi nodded in agreement, and then he and Hu Zongming jointly wrote a memorial and sent a fast horse to Beijing.
In the blink of an eye, more than ten days later, the situation in various parts of Henan gradually improved. The refugees from various places were gradually resettled in nearby cities and villages. The relief distributed by the officers and soldiers of the Tenth Army of the National Defense Force was basically in place. People across Henan received much-needed food.
At the same time, most of the bandits in various parts of Henan have been wiped out, and the remaining bandits in remote mountainous areas are at the end of their rope. Under the powerful offensive of the soldiers of the Tenth Army, their defeat is only a matter of time.
Later, Zheng Yi and Hu Zongming received Liu Yan's
Hu Zongming and Zheng Yi were overjoyed after reading the reply sent by someone.
After Liu Yan learned about the specific situation in Henan, he immediately ordered the Ministry of Civil Affairs to immediately deploy civilian officials from all over Shandong. The Ministry of National Defense selected outstanding trainees from the garrison in Shandong, as well as from the Huangming Martial Arts Hall and the Military Academy in Qingzhou Prefecture, to enrich the staff. He served as officials all over Henan.
"First establish the imperial bureaucracy in Henan, and at the same time provide relief and appease the people in various places. Both aspects must be carried out at the same time to ensure that Henan can regain its vitality in the shortest possible time!"
This was Liu Yan's instruction in his reply. Zheng Yi and Hu Zongming agreed very much with this. They immediately sorted out the vacancies of civil servants and generals in various places in Henan and immediately sent fast horses to Beijing.
At the same time, at Hu Zongming's suggestion, the two also reported the number of subordinate staff lacking in various places in Henan. These situations had already been counted in the previous reports of each team of the inspection team.
Soon, Zheng Yi and Hu Zongming's report was approved by Liu Yan. Wang Wenzhen, the Minister of Civil Affairs, quickly mobilized a large number of personnel in accordance with Liu Yan's request. At the same time, he also selected corresponding graduates from new schools across Shandong. Or outstanding students work as grassroots subordinates in various places in Henan.
The appointment and notification of these personnel were completed very quickly by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Then, under the escort of soldiers and horses sent by the Ministry of National Defense, a large number of personnel entered various parts of Henan in batches and took up their posts.
In mid-September, civil and military generals from all over Henan, as well as subordinate staff from all over the country, were basically fully equipped. The new government policies and military reforms began to be gradually implemented. The refugees from all over Henan were basically recruited, and production began to resume in various places.
On September 16, Hu Zongming and Zheng Yi took over the financial
With the fourth batch of money and grain transported by the ministry, we began to rebuild cities in various parts of Henan and repair villages in various places.
Following Liu Yan's instructions, Wang Jing also mobilized dozens of construction merchants from the chamber of commerce to enter various parts of Henan and began to undertake the imperial projects and repair cities and villages across Henan.
In this large-scale project, a large amount of cement was used, and private merchants earned a lot of money and food. At the same time, people from all over Henan were also employed in large numbers, so they survived the difficult days and benefited from two birds with one stone.
In Kaifeng City, Zheng Yi and Hu Zongming have lost a lot of weight after being busy for a while, but their spirits are very high.
Now that Henan has been poisoned by bandits, it is basically a blank slate, and the New Deal and military reform policies can be implemented smoothly. Although it only lasted a little over a month, the progress in Henan was not that slow.
"Currently, the garrison troops are stationed at Runan Camp (Runing Prefecture, Nanyang Prefecture), Kaigui Camp (Kaifeng Prefecture, Guide Prefecture), Henan Camp (Henan Prefecture, Ruzhou), and Huaizhang Camp (Huaiqing Prefecture, Weihui Prefecture) , Zhangde Mansion) has been basically established, but there is still a lot of shortage of soldiers, and people from the Ministry of National Defense are recruiting in Henan, Beizhili, Shanxi and other places."
Zheng Yi said: "In addition, the Equipment Department has successively sent a large number of weapons. There is no problem with the weapons and equipment of these battalions. The arsenals everywhere are already full."
Hu Zongming breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the garrisons in various places can be established first, things in Henan will be much easier to handle. At least the new policy can be implemented smoothly and gradually, and there will be no need to worry about unrest in various places.
.
"This is the best!"
Then, Zheng Yi said: "Judging from the current progress, I estimate that in more than a month, things in Henan can be let go. Where should we go next?"
Hu Zongming said: "Next step, let's enter Sichuan!"
"Sichuan?"
Zheng Yi said: "I heard that Qin Liangyu, the envoy of Shizhu in Sichuan, is a hero among women. After we enter Sichuan, I really want to meet him."
