It was already dark after leaving Li Shuang's residence. Since he would leave the city early tomorrow morning, Yu Zhu asked Huang Dagen to summon several fire chiefs from his team to hold a lamp all night to discuss the matter of requisitioning food. Fire Chief Chen Hu is a short, stocky, middle-aged man. He first said: "Why don't we collect grain from Jinyuan County, where the government is located?" Chongqing Prefecture has a total of four counties. In addition to Jinyuan County, where the government is located, there are three more counties. The counties are Jiangyuan, Xinjin, and Yongkang County. Yongkang County has the most extensive grain collection task and the heaviest task. As soon as he finished speaking, Cao Ergou retorted: "Jinyuan County is close to farmland and has many farms, but Pan Tongzhi has appointed his cronies to collect grain. In some villages, grain has been collected many times, and the people are miserable. How can we go to collect grain again?" ?" Cao Ergou is only twenty years old, the youngest among the fire chiefs, and has the hottest temper. "How about Jiangyuan and Xinjin counties?" The proposer was Fire Chief Wang Youfu. He was a middle-aged yellow-faced man in his thirties with a passerby face. "No, these two counties are crisscrossed by water and swamps. Although the population is large, bandits are particularly harmful. Although there are many grain fields, they are all located at the intersection of river branches. To obtain grain, we need a navy. Except for Liu Zhong, our team Fire soldiers are better at water battles and the other four fire battles are better than foot battles, and Yousi does not provide warships, so what can I do?" Huang Dagen said.
"How about we go to Yongkang County?" Ouyang Xuan suggested after everyone discussed for a long time but still had no results. Everyone was silent as soon as these words came out. Ouyang Xuan had just joined the team and made this stupid or bad suggestion. If it weren't for his outstanding performance before, if he was not the "second in command" of the team, someone would definitely stand up. This proposal was refuted.
"Brother Xuan, what are you talking about? Can we collect grain if we go to Yongkang County again?" Yu Zhu was also puzzled that Ouyang Xuan would say such useless words.
"We can't collect food from the forts along the way, we can't collect food from Yongkang City, and there's no food left in Hengyuan Town. But what if we go to the mountains? Is there no food in the mountains?" Ouyang Xuan said. In his memory, there are two townships and dozens of villages in the mountains of Huaiyuan Town, that is, Hengyuan Town. During the current war, the population should be large, and it is estimated that food can be collected.
"Brother Xuan doesn't know something. Hengyuan Town goes up the river for a hundred miles into the mountains. There are villages along the way. Although the population is large, it is a mixture of Tibetan and Qiang people. The folk customs are fierce and unyielding to the king. Where can I get food?" Yu Zhu said. "When Lord Yu Jie came to power, the military was at its peak. He also sent troops from Yongkang County to collect grain. The army of thousands of people was defeated by bandits and mountain people and returned in rout. How can we collect grain with this small number of people? And this time The bandits who robbed Hengyuan Town of food for the first time came from the mountains."
"But Jinyuan cannot collect food, and there are no warships available in Jiangyuan and Xinjin. It is better to try our luck in the mountains. The bandits have food!" Ouyang Xuan added.
Ouyang Xuan's words caused everyone to talk about it. Just as they were arguing, Yu Zhu thought for a moment and made a decision: "Tomorrow we will go to Hengyuan Town first, and then go into the mountains to try our luck."
Before departure the next morning, a military junior high school brought a few people over, saying that they were ordered by Pan Zongzhi to supplement the manpower for the grain collection team. Ouyang Xuan saw that most of them were short and thin people. However, he secretly remembered three of them. A scholar surnamed Yang was originally a military scribe who was punished for disobeying his superiors. A grocery vendor named Zhu Tiaozi was arrested and sent to the army for tax evasion and tax evasion. The third An apprentice named Li San'er disobeyed his master's instructions and damaged the blacksmith's tools by operating indiscriminately and was sent over. After dividing the newcomers into various groups, Yu Zhu led everyone to Hengyuan Town by water.
This time Chongqing Mansion also refused to send a boat, so everyone crowded into two boats borrowed from Hengyuan Town. Although sailing against the current is not fast, the advantage is saving energy. Saving energy these days means saving food. Everyone took turns paddling and arrived at Yongqu Township before noon. When the boat arrived near Old Man Wang's shack, Yu Zhu made the boat dock, let everyone stretch out, and arranged for some people to go to Hengyuan Town through the official road. The two wooden boats were a bit crowded with more than fifty people on board. There was no danger in the lower reaches of the river due to the deep water, but the water volume became smaller as you went upstream. When encountering shoals, the water-filled boats might run aground or even capsize.
While Yu Zhu was distributing people traveling by land and water, Ouyang Xuan took some horse meat and found Wang Da's shack. Ouyang Xuan has a special feeling for Wang Da. The old man is not only the first person he meets in this world, but also his lifesaver. He has secretly decided to find a safe place for the old man to live in after he has established a foothold. It was noon, and Wang Da was preparing meals in the house. When Ouyang Xuan gave the horse meat jerky to the old man to say goodbye, he told Ouyang Xuan an important news: He heard the neighing of horses and the sound of horse hooves this morning, and it seemed that there was a team of horses. Pass by the official road of Yongqu Township and head towards Hengyuan Town. Ouyang Xuan was secretly shocked after hearing the news, and he immediately went to inform Yu Zhu of the news. At that moment, Yu Zhu sent someone to sneak through the reeds to the official road to find out. Not long after, Cao Ergou, who went to check, brought back the news that there was horse manure on the official road, which confirmed Wang Da's statement. Obviously, the official road must not be left, so Yu Zhu decided that some people would still take the waterway, and some people would take the small road. Although the path is difficult to walk, the overgrown weeds and small trees can provide cover, making it difficult for Mongolian safari riders to spot it.
Just when everyone was preparing to take action, Ouyang Xuan, who had woken up from his deep thoughts, pulled Yu Zhu aside and whispered: "Brother Zhu, I don't think we can walk on the waterway!"
"Why can't I walk?" Yu Zhu asked puzzledly.
"If you are discovered by Tatar soldiers when you are walking by water, the width of the river is within the range of an arrow. The Tatar soldiers are condescending and are shooting arrows into the river. How can you resist? You can't escape as fast as a horse..." After hearing Ouyang Xuan's words, Yu Zhu broke into a cold sweat. As soon as he carried it, he hurriedly asked everyone to change to the path, and the boat was hidden in the secret place of the reeds. Ouyang Xuan's words were not unreasonable. He remembered that there were records in the history books that when the Mongolian army's marshal Niulin invaded Sichuan, because the naval force was not as powerful as the Song army, he sent cavalry to ambush in dangerous places on both sides of the river, using bows and arrows and trebuchets to attack the Southern Song Dynasty. The naval army was used many times, and this tactic was even used in the Battle of Mahujiang to defeat the commander Zhang Shi who was guarding Xuzhou. Seeing that Ouyang Xuan's words were reasonable, Yu Zhu immediately ordered the entire team to be divided into three teams: front, middle and rear, in marching formation, and move forward on secluded paths.
