The next day, afternoon.
Guo Ning left Tunpu in person and greeted a group of guests at the bottom of the highland.
The number of guests was very large. There were more than thirty people at the head, followed by hundreds of coachmen and hundreds of escorts. There were no less than two or three hundred drivers in the queue.
The carts were all heavily loaded, the mules and horses pulling the carts were panting, and thousands of kilograms of supplies were piled on each cart. There was no felt covering on the carriage, so that people could see clearly. There was grain, salt, tied pigs and sheep, wine, cloth, silver, banknotes, and even piles of copper coins.
Over the years, the salaries promised to soldiers by the imperial court have always been discounted. For example, regular troops at the frontier fortress were required to pay two guan of money and one stone of rice. Sometimes they only received a few dollars of money and four dou of rice. Therefore, the soldiers were inevitably hungry and cold, and they increasingly looked forward to the temporary rewards issued before mobilization and battle.
These supplies are the rewards raised by the local government for the newly appointed naval governor. This is the income that Jiedu envoys in various places cannot formulate in formal documents, but must have. This amount is enough to support an army of ten thousand people.
The status of the guest is not low either. The old man at the head was Lu Jun, the Dinghai navy observation judge who had met Yang Chengzhi, the envoy sent by Guo Ning. Others also have official status, including assistants in Jiezhen Prefecture and county magistrates in the five counties of Yexian, Zhaoyuan, Laiyang, Jimo and Jiaoshui.
The five counties in Laizhou are all counties with more than 10,000 households according to the records of the imperial court. Therefore, in addition to the county magistrate, there are also county magistrates, county lieutenants, and chief books. These people also arrived in unison, but they didn't know how they could get together so coincidentally because their places were far or near from Haicang Town.
The attitude of the guests was even more humble. Dozens of steps away, these people knelt down and saluted. The judge, Lu Jun, howled even more, saying that the officials had previously benefited from the oppression of the General Military Department and the General Manager of Military and Horses, and could not help themselves in everything, which made the common government difficult and all industries in ruins. Now that the Jiedushi Envoys have finally come, the people We will be saved!
Guo Ning didn't answer, just chuckled twice, then led the way, and sent someone to lead the convoy to set up the place.
The group of people walked along the road in front of Tunbao. When they passed the camp gate, they all noticed a row of heads hanging on poles. Some people whispered, and then others lowered their voices and shouted to stop.
Guo Ning ignored them and led them forward.
The group did not enter Tunbao, but followed the road around the high ground and turned towards the port.
The road construction is going smoothly, but the high slopes on both sides of the road and the Rongtai in important places are still rudimentary. Most of them are only in rudimentary form, and a few have only foundations made of rocks and sand.
But wherever they passed, the soldiers on duty were all solemn and upright, and the checkpoints were managed in a strict and orderly manner. Even as Guo Ning, he must answer the password and register first at every Rongtai checkpoint. And the soldiers took this as a matter of course and had no objections.
From Tunpu to the port, we met two groups of patrolling soldiers.
When the soldiers saw Guo Ning, they immediately stopped walking and saluted, and Guo Ning immediately returned the salute. Although the soldiers respected Guo Ning, Guo Ning's respect for ordinary soldiers was obviously very different from the generals that everyone was used to, who drove their soldiers like dogs and horses.
So the officials did not dare to neglect and saluted the soldiers one after another. For a while, it caused quite a chaos.
After a few more steps, we will go around the high ground where Tunbao is located, then make another bend and reach the flat seawall to the south of the port.
Guo Ning slowed down slightly and said in a deep voice: "To be honest with you, before you arrived, I was at the port to greet the fleet and make arrangements to enter the port... The fleet arrived late, and I was a little anxious."
Previously, everyone in Laizhou was holding on to the supplies in their hands and standing still, not only because of Wanyan Sala's instructions, but also because of the ideas of many powerful local people in Laizhou.
After all, in the past few years, the government's administration has been chaotic, giving local powerful people more and more room for action. The more the court shrinks, the more they stretch. Once they get used to stretching, they can't tolerate anyone sent from above. suppress.
I heard before that the new Jiedushi made his fortune by killing people during the Zhongdu coup. He was originally an ordinary warrior in northern Xinjiang, but he rose to the third rank in one step. Therefore, everyone had the same idea, intending to give Jieduzhi some color in government affairs and let him know that managing local military affairs was very different from mindless fighting in the frontier army.
But I never thought that this Jiedushi was very powerful. He mobilized enough grain before going south. Not only was he not embarrassed in Haicang Town, he also boldly distributed grain and used thousands of people to work for him. . Moreover, he was extremely ferocious and casually killed the inspector general of Shandong...
It seems that he is really a warrior from Northern Xinjiang and does not understand the rules! Such people, whether in the imperial court or in local official circles, may not last long and will be easily removed from power by their colleagues. But under the rule of this person, if you don't bow your head, you will suffer a big loss on the spot!
Therefore, the people who originally gathered in Ye County, Laizhou to watch the scene, rushed here like fire under their feet, in order to appease the evil tiger.
At this moment, when they finally heard Guo Ning mention this matter, many people suddenly became sweaty and went to look at Judge Lu Jun.
Lu Jun's legs and feet were not very flexible and he was a little out of breath while walking.
He gasped and smiled: "Yes, we have all heard that the food and supplies sent by Commander-in-Chief from Zhongdu will arrive in Laizhou by sea in the next two days. But, haha, please don't be dissatisfied, Commander-in-Chief, please help the local government." Although not many came out, it was just a little bit of caution on our part. Even if the fleet arrives later, with us here, we cannot miss the supply of the commander and the soldiers. "
Guo Ning shook his head: "The more food and supplies, the better. Your supplies have really helped me a lot."
With that said, he led the people through the last bend and out of the high-slope forest.
Then everyone saw a large army lining up.
At least five thousand people!
There are a large number of cavalry, and the infantry carries a lot of equipment, and the swords, guns and weapons are all excellent. Many people's armors were wrapped and carried on their backs, and they wore helmets with piece of armor on their heads. Above the military formation, no less than a hundred flags of various colors were fluttering, and it could be seen that each row and team had its own flag. On the seaside trestle in the rear, there were soldiers who had disembarked from the ship and were marching in the direction of the team's flag under urgent orders.
Most of the soldiers who arrived under the soldiers' flags were sitting and talking to each other. Some people tried to stand up, and then staggered and fell, causing others to laugh.
But no one will doubt their identity. The posture of these soldiers holding weapons and the look of being comfortable and relaxed in the army can confirm to everyone that they are strong soldiers who have been on the battlefield and can fight tough battles!
Just when the group was horrified, the soldiers on guard at the edge of the seawall saw Guo Ning.
He immediately rushed to the front of the military formation and reported to the general in charge.
Then the general issued an order and the drums and trumpets rumbled.
As soon as the drums sounded, thousands of people stood up.
This time, no one shook, no one whispered, no one moved. The postures of thousands of people are just like one person, and this uniformity itself contains extremely terrifying deterrence. No one present has ever seen such an army before!
Guo Ning turned around, looked at Lu Jun and others, and said with a smile: "Really, your grain and materials have helped me a lot. This second batch of fleets did not transport grain. I have enough money on hand. There is really no food, only soldiers and horses."
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