Fenzhou City.
Li Shi'en, the deputy envoy guarding the southern Hebei army, walked quickly out of the prefectural government office.
He thought to himself, eating another soft nail.
The full name of the Military Preparation Road is to organize the military preparations of a certain Dao. Only Guanfang does not have the official seal. It can control the troops of the garrison, but it is controlled by the governor.
His responsibilities are to train the troops of the garrison and the local people, arrest thieves and suppress civil unrest, and manage the troops, money, grain, and farmland of the garrison.
At first, it was set up for accidental reasons, but in order to strengthen local defense, it has now become a permanent one.
Li Shien has been busy with one thing recently, asking for food.
His duty is to prepare troops for the army, but the status of the army preparation station in Shanxi is very embarrassing. The guard post in Fenzhou Prefecture was originally a place for thousands of herds of the vassal king, and it still listens to the vassal king today.
Simply listening to the palace is not a problem and can be easily solved.
However, the ruins of the military field made the Wei Dynasty very dependent on the palace for the economy. There was no other way.
As for Li Shien, although he was from Beizhili, he studied in Xizhou with his father in his early years and knew the situation in Shanxi very well.
Therefore, when he first took office, Li Shien knew what his military preparation was supposed to do.
Don't expect to renovate the guard house. That's not something he, a fourth-rank official, can do.
The Military Preparatory Road The Military Preparatory Road was mainly set up to suppress civil uprisings, so his mission was to prevent civil uprisings in Fenzhou Prefecture.
The drought has lasted for several years, becoming more severe year by year. Only this year has the drought situation in Shanxi eased slightly, but people's livelihood west of the Luliang Mountains is still in decline.
Fenyang, where Fenzhou City is located, is east of Luliang Mountain, but it cannot be said that the west of Luliang Mountain is not Fenzhou Prefecture.
Therefore, after discussing with many officials in the state government, he was in charge of water conservancy construction and city wall construction. He temporarily planned to build long-abandoned water conservancy facilities in Ningxiang, Shilou, and Linxian, and to raise the city wall to prevent Shaanxi bandits. Enter Jin.
It's a very good idea, but it costs money.
This is difficult. Those three counties are so poor that they can't even get a thousand taels of silver from the county government offices, so there's no way to start.
And the government office of the state government was running out of money, and things fell into an endless loop.
Today he once again went to the prefectural government office to discuss the construction of water conservancy projects and the training of people in the three counties. When others heard about it, they knew he was asking for money, so they started to live in poverty before he even opened his mouth.
In the end, I had no choice but to stay up until evening, and had no choice but to come out of the Yamen in despair.
After get off work, he planned to have a drink or two to relieve his depression.
Unexpectedly, as soon as I walked out of the yamen, I heard someone shouting next to me: "Brother Shi'en! Brother Shi'en, don't leave!"
Thinking about which friend came to Fenzhou Mansion, Li Shien turned his head.
He was a slightly older middle-aged gentleman, wearing a brocade square scarf on his head, a light blue Taoist robe with dark patterns, and a jade and sachet on his waist. He was elegant, but his clothes were dusty, and he had a sword hanging on his waist. , walking quickly.
No matter what he thought, Li Shi'en couldn't recall this person. He couldn't help raising his hand and asked, "I wonder who you are?"
"Brother Shi'en, it's me. You and I were studying together in Xizhou. There was an earthquake in the 42nd year of Wanli and the county school collapsed. You were studying in the back mountain. I went to call you out and helped you run down the mountain road. Then the landslide came like thunder.”
The old gentleman was very excited and walked up to him and said, "Forgot? Xizhou Health Officer Che Cai!"
Following his words, memories gradually emerged before his eyes. Li Shien's face looked relaxed, and then he raised his hand to hug Che and said, "It's Brother Che! I haven't seen him in many years! Are you still in Xizhou?"
In fact, Che is almost ten years older than Li Shien.
"You were still in Xizhou, and later you passed the imperial exams and then the Jinshi. After you left, I worked as a Confucian instructor in Xizhou for two years. Later... oh, it's hard to describe in a word."
When old friends met, Li Shien turned around and asked someone to prepare the carriage, held the driver's arm and walked forward: "If you can't finish talking, let's talk slowly. There is plenty of time tonight. You are in Xizhou but you don't come to see me. I'll ask you later." Have a few more drinks!”
When the coachman arrived, the two drove out of the city and went straight to Wen Lake in the east of the city. They found a seat in a restaurant by the lake, ordered three meat and three vegetables, and two pots of Fen wine. They opened the window and listened to the fishermen singing late at night, watching the sun set over the western mountains.
After drinking for three rounds, Che slowly recounted his experiences over the years: "My family is a single generation of three generations. My old father always wanted to have a grandson as soon as possible. My wife and I have been married for more than ten years. We have no children and I don't know whose business it is. I also want to Marry someone else, but I just want to think about it."
"Brother Shi'en also knows that my family has been farming in Zaowang Mountain for generations. We were not rich in the past, and it was only in my generation that I went to school. When I was studying in Zhouzhou, my classmates often laughed at my family's poverty, but I have not yet After being admitted as a scholar, Su Niang followed me."
Li Shien put down his glass and nodded, sighed, and asked, "Brother Che still has no heirs?"
"I adopted a distant nephew, but who doesn't want to have a baby of his own? Last winter, Su Niang allowed me to take a concubine, so I found a girl from Lehu in Fanjiashan, Yonghe County. She looked like a decent girl who knew how to play the piano and dance. When the time comes, he will be brought into the house.”
Hearing Che Cai say this, Li Shien cupped his hands and showed an envious smile, saying: "In that case, Brother Che has a beautiful woman by his side and enjoys the blessings of the whole family, what else can I ask for!"
There was not much joy on Che Cai's face. Instead, there was an expression of unspeakable sadness, and there was even deep hatred in his eyes: "But seven days ago, soldiers entered Zaowang Mountain, soldiers from Fenzhou Guards!"
Li Shien was picking up his wine glass and wanted to clink it with Cha Cai. Hearing this, he paused and the smile on his face solidified: "Soldiers of the Fenzhou Guard?"
"The Fenzhou Flag Guard sent troops to cross the border, but Lord Bingxian didn't know about it?"
There seemed to be blazing anger in Che Cai's eyes: "My concubine's surname is Du. I have a little sister who has not yet left the palace, and her family is really poor. Her sister came home three days after entering the house to invite relatives and friends to a banquet. I promised my little sister to find a good home for her. As for the marriage, I went to Linxian to visit friends."
"If this were not the case, if you want to have a drink and have a good time today, I would have to wear plain clothes to sleep in your dream!"
The wine glass fell.
Li Shien shook his head hurriedly and said: "Brother Che, I really didn't know that the Fenzhou Guards crossed the border. That commander Zhang Zhan was stationed at Shilou half a month ago to defend against the defeated army returning from King Qin of North Zhili. How could he dare to cross the border? "
After a brief panic, Li Shien came back to his senses and quickly asked: "How is Zaowang Mountain now?"
"Gone, Zaowang Mountain and Fanjiashan are gone, no one is left. The house in Zaowangshan was burned down, and I couldn't identify any of the corpses as Su Niang; Fanjiashan was also massacred. She is clean, and Yueniang will still wear the makeup I made for her until she dies."
The old scholar sat on the top chair with his fists clenched under the table. In fact, he didn't know why he came to Li Shien.
The war in his hometown was not the first bad thing he encountered.
In fact, he failed to find his old friends in Linxian County, and there was also military chaos there.
The big thieves from Qin didn't stick to the mud, and led a crowd to rob civilian ships from Jiazhou, set up small artillery to bombard the Kehuzhai ferry, and then the whole division crossed the border. Thousands of people gathered in Linxian for two days, and then headed north. Puxing County.
When the car came out of Linxian City, I heard that Kelan Shixi's garrison was mobilizing troops and horses. However, Hequ Shenji in the north was defeated by Wang Jiayin. The two thieves attacked Kelan Prefecture together, and the garrison may not be able to stop it.
As the car was heading south, it was also heard that Gao Yingxiang, a giant invader from Shaanxi, captured Wubao first, forcing the Mengmen Pass guard to abandon the pass and flee, and then the Qinglongdu Inspection Department was also killed without leaving any trace behind. Thousands of people swept through Yongning Prefecture.
In fact, he was tied up once on the road. More than a dozen thieves swept up and tied him up with the intention of asking for his property from home. But for some reason, they heard that he was from Yonghe County, Xizhou, so they let him go. .
He only took away his money.
At that time, Che Cai was quite happy about the rest of his life after the robbery. Little did he know that when he returned to Xizhou, what awaited him would be a broken family.
He had been in a state of despair these past few days. He had no idea what he should do. He couldn't even collect the corpse.
He tried to find the Yonghe County government office the day before yesterday, but before he could walk a few steps south, he heard villagers talking in the village where he was resting.
It is said that General Liu from Shaanxi defeated the Fenzhou Banner Guards in Yonghe County and executed more than 400 banner soldiers who participated in the massacre of Zaowang Mountain and Fanjiazhuang.
Che didn't believe it and didn't dare to go to Yonghe County.
In Linxian, he still had some money, but now his home was burned down and he had no money left. If he ran over there and was caught by thieves, he would have no money to give to others this time.
Only later did he realize that Bing Beidao of Fenzhou Prefecture was his classmate when he was a scholar in the past, so he approached Li Shien.
Che Cai told Li Shien all these things one by one, leaving Li Shien dumbfounded.
Why did it suddenly become like this?
Then General Liu came from Xizhou, General Gao entered Yongning Prefecture, General Ni went to Kelan Prefecture, and General Wang went to Hequ.
The Yellow River in Shanxi is almost undefended.
And the most important thing is what Che Cai said about Fenzhou Wei.
"Then bastard Zhang Zhan just defeated all the soldiers I was in charge of?"
One thousand seven hundred banner troops, Li Shien's heart is bleeding.
The Fenzhou Guard has always been dissatisfied with the establishment. Theoretically, there are less than 4,000 banner troops, but many of these 4,000 banner troops are scattered in the East and West Palaces and Wangzhuang in various places. Only 2,000 people can be mobilized normally.
If I had to count, there might be another two hundred.
They are all from the command to hundreds of households, and there is no real shortage of hereditary officers.
He was almost dead all of a sudden.
Li Shien had no intention of drinking anymore, and the pleasant scenery outside the window also became strange in his eyes.
He knew that there was an invasion west of Luliang Mountain.
But the experience of his former classmates made him feel unspeakable confusion.
These people are doing strange things. What are they doing?
What are the soldiers doing and what are the thieves doing?
The banner army relied on the protection of the palace and became more and more unscrupulous in the increasingly chaotic world.
The thieves defeated the officers and soldiers, but opened a yamen on the spot in the valley, where their crimes were made public and tried and punished.
What happened just a few hundred miles away was separated by Luliang Mountain and became two different worlds.
Is this peaceful and peaceful scene of fishermen singing good night outside the window still worth seeing if it is a fake scene now?
He turned to Che and asked, "Brother Che, what are your plans now?"
Che Cai shook his head with a gloomy look on his face. After suffering the unparalleled disaster, his family and his family were destroyed, what else could he plan to do.
"I'm very upset right now. I want to inform the government of this news as soon as possible. I also want to let Taiyuan and Pingyang know about it, and we can work together to set up a defense line in Luliang Mountain. Since Brother Che doesn't know his plan, it's better to stay with my younger brother to help him for the time being. , Brother Che, what do you think?"
At this point, Cha Cai also knew that this was Li Shien's self-effacing words. He had nothing to do to help him, but Li Shien was just trying to find him a place to stay.
After waiting for the car to thank him, Li Shien quickly stood up: "Without further delay, I'll go to Fucheng right now!"
The fourth day when Liu Chengzong annihilated the Fenzhou Guard's 1,700 banner troops.
March 11th of the third year of Chongzhen.
The news was first informed by Xizhou Shengyuan Checai to Bingbei Dao Li Shien.
Li Shien then conveyed the news to Fucheng. Fucheng's response strategy was to first send detectives into Luliang Shanxi to explore the intelligence of the counties.
However, Jaehyung Beido Lee Se-eun repeatedly requested and guaranteed the authenticity of the source.
The most important news was that night, Fenzhou Fucheng dispatched fast horses eastward to Hongshan Horse Station between Pingyao County and Qixian County.
However, because it was already getting late, there were no boatmen on the Fen River. The messenger was delayed in searching for boatmen along the coast. The news was sent to Taiyuan and Pingyang by the Hongshan Horse Post on the morning of the 12th.
After all, it was still a step too late.
What was late was not the defense line set up by the government, but that just the day before, forty flag troops from Zezhou Ningshan Guard escorted two Hongyi cannons loaded on four-wheeled artillery carts and had already passed Xizhou City. Entering the boundary of Yonghe County.
But the owner of these two red cannons, Mr. Huo, is no longer alive.
Liu Chengzong was sitting in the lobby of Huojiabao doing calculations with Cheng Yuan. He was not calculating how much money his eight sentry auxiliaries should get, but the vehicles needed for material transportation.
They want to establish a supply line between Yonghe County and Yanchuan County.
But instead of the rear supplying the front, the front supplies supplies to the rear in the opposite direction.
Mr. Huo is an interesting gentry in this place. His family does not have much land and only has more than a thousand dan of grain stored in his family, but he has more than 22,000 taels of silver.
Even after excluding the money distributed to the soldiers, Liu Chengzong's camp headquarters still had enough money to cast a thousand-jin red barbarian cannon.
The officers and sergeants of the Lion Battalion have received their share. Now the Lion Battalion is still in a state of having money and not knowing how to spend it, so everyone has shown extraordinary dedication.
Almost all officers below the sentinel commander spent their money on purchasing ordnance for their subordinates. They not only bought but also sold the supplies. The exchanged supplies were sold to the work sentry again.
Now the work posts have piles of various weapons, armor pieces, cotton-padded clothes, military uniforms and other items.
They could not move forward with these things, and the baggage sentries could not carry them.
Liu Chengzong planned to transport these things back to Xingzi River and ask Lin Wei to mobilize Wangzhuang craftsmen to clean them up and repair the damaged armor pieces and weapons.
At this moment, Wei Qian'er announced in front of the door, strode into the hall, and said to Liu Chengzong: "General, the flag army from Zezhou has stopped at Sangbi Mountain. The people sent over It has been detained.”
Liu Chengzong put down his pen and said with a smile: "Haha, what did the person who sent me say?"
"They came here to ask Mr. Huo to send someone to pick up the artillery, but I was worried that they would know the news about Huojiabao from the people, so I sent someone to watch them from a distance."
"Then what are you waiting for? Chengyun will do the math here and send someone to ask Li Wanqing to lead troops into Yanchuan."
Liu Chengzong stood up and rubbed his hands: "Let the left sentry break camp and get my cannon back!"
