In the fields, spring plowing has entered the second half of the season, but that doesn’t mean there will be no trouble.
In the past three years, too many people have fled, and the timing of the Dragon Gang's seizure of the two counties was too good. There was no time to re-grant the land. Even if the Dragon Army organized more than 100,000 field troops, they could only fight in Changhe, Banxian, and Places such as Pingchang and Leling that have experienced large-scale wars have carried out rough and concentrated farming, and many violent incidents have arisen due to land disputes... The people only recognize the land they have cultivated for many years, but the army needs a large area of continuous land. land.
This is why many people increasingly respect Mrs. Dou. She is very good at handling related disputes.
At first, her battalion, which mostly consisted of military family members, only helped manage and arrange the transfer and distribution of non-ordnance materials to the general county camp. Then Zhang Xing asked her to take charge of the civilian military markets that followed the army. Later, specific formal military markets were organized in the camp. The project was also given to her.
Although everyone didn't say anything at this time, they all knew that the Hebei military-affiliated organization led by Mrs. Dou or Mrs. Cao had already undertaken certain practical work, and the group of local rebel military-affiliated soldiers in Hebei did have others taking up the specific work. If the effect is not achieved, there is actually a saying of "Gaojibo Women's Camp".
Later, it was the march after Ma Mian River. At this time, this "battalion" began to take charge of cleaning up the city as the troops advanced, and then naturally took on the responsibility of handling disputes between the deposed Long Army and the Hebei locals.
When the refugees returned to the city, they found that their fields and houses were occupied by the army. It is impossible to give them to you. They can only be allocated elsewhere according to the population, but there is no reason not to return the houses... This has a background. For example, Changhe County has suffered from wars. There are disasters, not to mention ten rooms and nine empty rooms, but there are still three empty rooms and four empty rooms. Soldiers and officers can be replaced without any effort... But there are still situations where people take advantage of the opportunity to extort money, causing public resentment.
When the matter came to a head, Zhang Xing's arrangement at that time was to send Liu Zhouchen to conduct military inspections, but this could only treat the symptoms. Some soldiers were dissatisfied, and the generals were also good and bad. Many soldiers privately vented their anger and wreaked havoc, but no one could do anything about it. The result was a lose-lose situation for both sides.
At that time, Mrs. Dou, who happened to be in Changhe because Changhe was too deserted, handled this kind of thing very well. They were natives of Hebei, and there were even many Changhe people in Gaojibo who had escaped, including military family members and women. , who used to cook, deliver food, and mend clothes, it was difficult for anyone to get angry with them. Many similar disputes, including adjusting the fields, were easily handled by them.
It is precisely because of this that, at Shan Tonghai's request, they quickly followed the troops eastward and participated in the reception work on the Bohai Sea. Shan Tonghai later asked for credit for them and vindicated the injustice.
Zhang Xing also made up his mind to give Mrs. Dou, Sister-in-law Cao, a leadership position for this reason.
But it wasn't over yet. Before the whole army was ready to hold a meeting, in the middle and late stages of spring plowing, people began to take the initiative to help mediate the fine work of spring plowing.
As mentioned before, the field soldiers occupied large areas of idle land, but at the same time, no one dared to touch the small patches of vacant farmland in many places... First, because the seeds were precious and no one dared to waste them; second, because They are worried that if they occupy the fields other than the granted fields, the whole land will be taken away by the "Deposed Dragon Officials" in autumn.
Therefore, the people in Hebei would rather remove more insects and pick up more stones from their own land over and over again, rather than touch the idle land nearby during the late spring plowing period.
At this time, Mrs. Dou, who was already skilled in operations and had some courage, took the initiative to propose that before the land is re-granted after next autumn, she could rent these lands to these neighbors in the name of the government and get a slightly higher tax rate. ...Zhang Xing naturally approved it immediately, so these people went to the fields again with some seeds to find these idle lands. They asked retired soldiers of the Dragon Army who had transferred to local villages to take the lead, and hastily established a one-year government contract. Replant these lands with something.
Cui Erlang naturally didn't know about such trivial matters, but that morning, when he rode a horse with a completely different mentality and braved the gloomy weather in late spring, he came to Qinghe again from Pingyuan County. The difference in spring plowing between the two counties was clearly noticed.
Because at this time, the earliest spring seedlings for cultivation have begun to emerge, and this difference can be detected visually.
Qinghe is patchy, while the plains are patchy, and a few patches are also being replanted.
Cui Suchen naturally read a lot, and of course he knew that no matter what the sages were, they would emphasize the importance of agriculture, and even regard it as fundamental. Therefore, on that day, the Tang Emperor inherited the legacy of his ancestor and established his career when he was over seventy years old, ending the hundred years since the White Emperor. Years of chaotic wars, at the end of the history book, only one sentence is used, "There are more seedlings in Longshang", which is enough to make people sigh.
And what about today?
According to Feng Wuyi, who once lived in his family, Huaixi collapsed and Huainan was completely fortified;
According to what Xie Minghe said, Jiangdong and Jiangxi are about to rot;
The Bai family obviously had a plan, and had already occupied Taiyuan and Xiangyang, the two major strategic points in the world, and had its own positions in the Eastern Capital and the Western Capital;
The Zhang family is firmly seated in Hedong; the Sima family controls the military and political affairs of Jiangdu and has a camp in Xuzhou;
There were constant disputes in the eastern capital, and Uncle Cao could only hold the sky with one hand;
Youzhou Daying is deeply entangled, with internal and external disputes, insufficient progress, and too much self-preservation;
Although Hejian was defeated, it still held the sacred land of several counties in Hebei;
The governors of various states and counties may be ambitious or wavering;
Northern Shanxi, Zishan, and Longxi all had so-called rebel separatist regimes;
The Seven Guards and Seven Towns of the Northland are obviously going to take advantage of the chaos to cause another commotion;
No one knows what the old lady Madam Feng in Nanling is thinking;
The eastern and central alliance of the Wu tribe should have almost completed annexing the fragmented western part at this time, and will soon move south to Guanlong and northern Shanxi;
That is to say, Dongyi was obviously exhausted by the four conquests, so he gritted his teeth and looked westward...
There is no doubt that this is actually the prelude to the extreme expansion of chaos. The intensity and chaos of the war are actually not enough... In other words, the bald fields in front of us are already a kind of fragile beauty.
Not to mention anything else, if I didn't do a good job on this trip, Qinghe County, where the ancestral land of Qinghe is located, would definitely be killed by the Dragon Army as a warning to the monkeys. Even if the Dragon Army deposed itself boasted strict military discipline, it would be the result of a river of blood.
"Who is this person and why do you come to the border to spy?"
A group of 20 to 30 light-armed sentries from Qinghe County surrounded them at some point, but Cui Suchen, who was riding alone on the ridge of the field, ignored them until the leader of the sentries, a team leader, suddenly came to drink.
"Cui Suchen, the former commander of the Xuzhou camp, was born in the Zhengzhou house of the Cui family in Qinghe. He came to Qinghe's hometown to visit relatives and friends." Cui Suchen turned around and immediately gave him a serious look.
The captain of the front sentry cavalry was surprised for a moment, and then softened. Whether he was Sima, the former supervisor of the Xuzhou camp, or he was from the Cui family in Qinghe, he was a little short of breath.
After hesitating for a moment, the team leader could only bite the bullet and ask: "Cui Sima... Erlang came to visit relatives and went back to Wucheng County and the county town. Why did he wander around the border? There is a war here, and people often die."
"I came specifically to see your family, Captain Shi." Cui Suchen answered slowly. "I have something to tell him...could you please lead the way."
When the team leader heard this, he was relieved. It was better this way, lest the other party was a spy who used Cui's name to fool him and sent him to the captain, so that he would not be responsible for anything.
After thinking about this, the gang leader was polite and just asked the cavalry to protect Cui Erlang. After all, he was rushing to send the man into Zhangnan City before the thunder.
Zhangnan City, as the name suggests, is on the south side of the Qingzhang River, but it is located in the northeast corner of Qinghe County. To the south are Licheng, Gaotang, and Chiping, which are lined up to the river. They form the opposite of Qinghe County. Gang's standard line of defense.
Among them, the person guarding Zhangnan City was Shi Huaiming, the official commander of the county. About two months ago, the situation in Hebei changed drastically. He, Cui Erlang, came over from Henan in a hurry and ran around. The two sides had met twice.
When they met again at this time, Shi Huaiming felt a little embarrassed.
They all sat down at their own tables in the backyard, and then apologized: "Cui Erlang, I'm really sorry, but it was not my intention to block the official road and prevent your family from going to the plains. It was the Lord who gave the order directly. I don't want to Dare not to obey.”
"The current situation is difficult and everyone is having difficulties. How can I blame you?" Cui Erlang's face remained unchanged and he responded calmly. "It's just that now that things have happened, both of us, the Cui family, are here. If someone wants to call, we have to pay a visit for the sake of the peace of the family... You should also be considerate."
"It's natural to be considerate." Shi Huaiming sighed helplessly. "Let's wait for a few days! When Mr. Cao's temper has subsided in the past few days, you can talk again..."
Hearing this, Cui Erlang's expression did not change, but he suddenly asked: "So, it's not you who intercepted and killed my 26th and 27th family members in the southeast corner of Zhangnan?"
Shi Huaiming immediately stood up and was stunned.
"Captain Shi, please sit down." Cui Erlang's expression remained as usual.
Shi Huaiming slowly sat back.
"Captain Shi." Cui Erlang continued. "Twenty-six and twenty-seven wanted to leave from you, but you blocked the road and turned south... but were ambushed at the junction of you, Deputy Captain Han's defense area and Pingyuan County... You said, If I don’t come to you, who will I come to?”
Shi Huaiming thought for a while, his scalp was numb, and he lowered his voice and asked seriously: "How are Twenty-sixth Lang and Twenty-seventh Lang? There won't be any accidents, right?"
"There is nothing unexpected." Cui Erlang still spoke calmly. "It's just that after this incident, the two of them just stayed in Jiangling. It looks like they are preparing to be the vanguard of the Deposed Dragon Gang..."
Hearing the first half of the sentence, Captain Shi was just relieved, but the second half felt like a glow in his chest and he stood up again.
"Captain, sit down quickly." Cui Erlang was helpless. "This is human nature... Even if you didn't do it, it was done by other officers and soldiers. After all, Qinghe is directly planning to take the lives of our Cui family members because of our going to and from the plains... Such a situation is what Qinghe is like. Fang here just wanted to ask for a peace charm at first, but now he’s totally heartbroken.”
Captain Shi sat down carefully again, and then carefully defended himself: "Isn't it possible that the deposed dragon thief did it to deliberately disturb your Cui family?"
"Is it necessary?" Cui Erlang asked seriously. "Don't think that Qinghe can really resist it!"
"The court won't ignore it, right?" Shi Duwei was helpless. "According to what Mr. Cao Fu said when he came to look for me yesterday, reinforcements from Wu'an, Wuyang, Jijun, and Weijun will definitely arrive, and it is still possible to defend the city."
"I won't tell you this anymore." Cui Erlang thought for a while and continued to ask. "Now there is no sign of foreign aid, the spring plowing is about to end, the Dragon Army is now more than thirty battalions, and the Cui family has fallen over again, the Wucheng where my uncle is located is behind you, do you think you can defend it here? "
Captain Shi was silent for a long time and then asked seriously: "The Cui family of Qinghe is the most powerful family in Hebei. Do you really want to become a thief?"
"Shi Duwei, a clan is a clan, and an individual is an individual." Cui Erlang followed the instructions. "It's just that some of the clan members decided that Qinghe could not stop the Deposed Dragon Gang, and then decided that the army was responsible for hunting down our clan's children, so they went to join the Deposed Dragon Gang... I'm just telling you the result. "
Captain Shi thought for a long time, but just shook his head: "My mind is a little confused."
"Then let me sort it out for you. I will only talk about two things now." Cui Erlang said seriously. "The first is the situation. The situation is that the Deposed Dragon Army is stronger. The so-called reinforcements from the surrounding states and counties are far away. The Wucheng behind you may be cut off. You have no hope here. The second is the interests. Don't think that you will sacrifice it when the time comes. There is a lot of food and supplies in the city, maybe you can get through without drawing lots... If you can't get through, no matter who intercepts and kills 26 and 27, this matter will definitely be blamed on you afterwards, because it happened on your territory. It’s a matter of fact, and you have blocked it before.”
"So what do you think of me?" Shi Duwei was anxious.
"Please write a letter of service, and I will give it to Zhang Longtou for you." Cui Erlang spoke softly, as if nothing happened.
But Shi Huaiming suddenly stood up again and again, dumbfounded.
"Sit down." Cui Erlang couldn't urge him enough.
Shi Huaiming stood for a moment, then sat back down, and then lowered his voice and asked in disbelief: "You, Zhengzhou Cui, actually voted for it? And you also think it's me?"
"This is the third thing I want to talk about." Cui Erlang said as he took out a brand new document that had been written long ago and only needed a signature. "As of now, it's just a matter of whether you sign or not...if you sign, it's not you, if you don't sign, it's all your fault."
Shi Huaiming was cold all over, and he only made one final struggle: "Why do I need to leave my name for something like this? I just signed it, so what if I don't acknowledge it later?"
"The purpose of this document is not to restrain you directly, but to restrain you through Master Cao." Cui Erlang said calmly. "Mr. Cao Fu has a strong temperament and regards officials and thieves as incompatible. After the defeat in Ma Lian He, he became even more suspicious and acted violently... He knows your name, and your subordinates all know that I have been looking for you before, and I am here now. After looking for you, if you dare to go back on your word or anything, I will only entrust this document to Sun Juncheng and hand it over to Mr. Cao Mansion, and you will have to peel off your skin even if you die."
Shi Huaiming was silent for a moment and was about to speak again.
Cui Erlang said again: "Don't think about it. If I are imprisoned by you, I will depose the Eighth Battalion of the Western Front of the Dragon Gang and I will come here without waiting for the follow-up."
"That's not what I meant. I'm not that stupid." Shi Huaiming said weakly. "I want to say that what you said is right. Mr. Cao Fu has such a fierce temperament. He came to my place yesterday and said that he was going to Chiping to kill people today... I will sign it."
Cui Erlang nodded, took a moment, put away the documents, and left straight away, heading south, passing through the hinterland of Qinghe, arriving in Chiping two days later, and then met Wanshou, the general of Chiping and the prime minister of Qinghe County.
After the two parties exchanged their names and family backgrounds, they sat down in their respective halls and ignored others. Cui Erlang handed over the two documents in his arms and told them about the interception and execution of his children.
After listening and reading, Sun Juncheng's expression did not change. He just asked out of curiosity: "How did you persuade Captain Shi to leave the evidence? He must be a loach."
"Since Captain Shi is a person who seeks advantages and avoids disadvantages, just talk to him about the situation and discuss the advantages and disadvantages." Cui Erlang said one thing. "It's still very simple... For example, Deputy Captain Han is said to be sincere and down-to-earth to the point of dullness, so I didn't go to ask for trouble; like Xue Wanbi, an arrogant person, I even cherished my life and didn't dare to go."
"Then who am I? Your Excellency came to the door so openly, and then took out these, and what are you going to tell me?" Sun Juncheng continued to ask.
"I've asked many people, and they all said that you are a man of Tongtuo. Because of this, there is no need to talk about reason." Cui Suchen answered seriously. "But they also said that Your Excellency is a man with benevolent intentions and would not allow blood to be shed, so he only spared my life, Cui's Qinghe couple, and Shi Duwei's lives here. It is natural for Your Excellency... The current situation is like this , The Deposed Dragon Gang is not good at killing, if you insist on letting innocent people bleed, please appeal to Lord Cao again."
Sun Juncheng just said "Huh", nodded, and said no more.
ps: Happy New Year everyone! Feel proud!
