After the banquet, under Hu Ze's diligent arrangements, Hezhou Governor's Mansion became the headquarters of the counter-rebellion army.
After resting for half an hour, Hu Ze rode up to the camp in armor and waited. Because Yan King Li Hongji suddenly felt "abdominal distension and discomfort", Li Yuan had no choice but to abandon the deputy commander and go to patrol the city gates accompanied by Hu Ze. A group of people walked through the streets of the city, and everywhere they could see large groups of soldiers and horses coming and going, making it extremely noisy and restless. There were quite a few people there, but they all stood curiously in front of the shops on the street and looked around. Naturally, there were also some people who were carrying stones and pulling ox carts to continue to strengthen the facilities in the city.
Only after seeing it up close did Li Yuan truly realize how extraordinary this Hezhou City was. The houses in the city are all made of square stones. They are all flat and have stone railings and crenellations for shelter. It can be said that every house is a fortress that can be defended. If archers can be arranged above, it can defend a large area with a radius of dozens of steps.
It can be imagined that even if the city wall is breached, it is not the end of Hezhou City, but the beginning of the real battle, and it is a very bloody street battle.
A group of people climbed up the city wall from the south city stairs and stood on the city wall. The snowflakes were thin today, the cold wind blew past their bodies, and lead clouds hung low in the sky, giving it an atmosphere of "dark clouds weighing on the city and threatening to destroy it." But everyone knows that the wind on the city wall has actually been blocked by the mountains to the north and has become very weak. If it reaches the north of the city, it is unknown how cold it will be.
Although it is cold, standing on the city wall and looking into the city, the scene is different. Nowadays, due to the addition of 200,000 troops in the entire Hezhou City, the streets and alleys along the way are crowded with soldiers and horses, and all kinds of noisy sounds are heard in the ears, giving people a feeling of blood boiling.
The scene looking out from the south city wall is quite interesting. You can see not only the frozen and long river, but also the valley and the fortresses and beacon towers on the peaks on both sides. Li Yuan originally wanted to take the opportunity to look at Zhennan to the south. Military camp plate, but the view was blocked and had to give up.
As for the east and west walls, you can enjoy the mountain scenery outside the city, but you can see the towering mountains stretching for several miles outside the city. It's winter, everything is withered, and the green that once filled the eyes has been replaced by black, yellow and gray, which adds to the solemn feeling of the mountains.
The three walls of the southeast, west and east were inspected. There was no need to pay a special visit to the north wall because the north was the way back.
After the patrol was completed, it was getting late. Under the cover of the mountains, it seemed to be getting dark very quickly. With the drums rumbling, groups of Hezhou soldiers holding torches galloped past on the street, shouting and shouting, as if to drive away the people who were still on the street.
Hu Ze smiled and said to Li Yuan: "Generalissimo, do you know the reason for this scene?"
Li Yuan nodded and said: "Historical Hu has a law to govern the army. It is natural that a curfew should be implemented at the fortress gate."
Hu Ze replied: "Exactly, Hezhou City is an important military location in the capital. Only by implementing a night ban can order be kept orderly and chaos will not occur. This is something I deeply agree with."
Li Yuandao: "It should be more like this now. The troops and horses are more complex and there are many people. There must be strict orders to maintain order in the city. Forget it, it is getting late. I will go back to the camp to rest. Tomorrow, we will discuss matters in the big tent and plan for the march to counter the rebellion."
"Generalissimo, you have worked hard, and I will obey your orders." Hu Ze nodded, then sent Li Yuan to the cabin and said goodbye.
Li Yuan was indeed a little tired. After dinner, he took a shower and changed clothes. He summoned the generals of the Forbidden Army and said a few words, then ordered everyone to go back and rest. There will be a military meeting tomorrow morning, so I advise everyone to save their energy.
Just as he was stepping into the courtyard door of his residence, Li Yuan suddenly heard someone calling softly from behind.
"Li Yuan, Li Yuan!"
Li Yuan turned around to look, and it turned out to be King Yan Li Hongji sneaking out of the shadows behind the courtyard door, half of his body revealed, and waving to him. Li Yuan hurriedly walked over and asked in surprise: "Your Highness, King Yan, why don't you sleep so late at night? I almost thought I had seen a ghost."
Li Hongji put his finger on his lips and said, "Don't talk too much. Come with me. I'll discuss something with you."
Confused, Li Yuan followed Li Hongji to a secluded place outside the courtyard, cupped his hands and whispered: "Your Highness, what's wrong with you?"
"No need for these common etiquette." Li Hongji whispered: "Do you remember what happened at the luncheon?"
"What's the matter? Could it be that you ate too much and had bloating?" Li Yuan thought for a while and asked.
"What's wrong with this? It's in the afternoon." Li Hongji said dissatisfied.
"Afternoon? What's going on?" Li Yuan scratched his head.
"...Didn't Hu Ze tell you in the afternoon that you should order all the soldiers of the Forbidden Army not to approach the relief warehouse in the south of the city?"
"So that's what happened, yes. Your Highness, do you have any questions?" Li Yuan asked puzzledly.
"I will tell you that this afternoon I personally led people to take a look secretly. It was really strange there. It happened to be where the arrow tower stood in the south of the city. Hezhou's garrison was only ten thousand, but those warehouses were guarded by two thousand soldiers and horses. You are not allowed to even take a step closer to it. Isn't it a grain depot that Emperor Father ordered to provide relief to the people? Is it necessary to be so strict?
I have even entered the royal inner treasury, but I have never seen anything so strict. Therefore, I guess there must be something fishy there. Otherwise, why is it so strictly guarded? "Li Hongji whispered.
Li Yuan said in astonishment: "No wonder you didn't want to follow me around the city in the afternoon. Why are you suffering from abdominal distension and discomfort? It turns out you ran to the south of the city. That's strange. Why didn't I see you, Your Highness?"
Li Hongji said seriously: "Pursuing information secretly, is this king still wearing a golden crown and python robe?"
"Your Highness, are you too worried? We have an army of 200,000 in Hezhou City, and you are the prince. Why can't you be fair and aboveboard? Why bother to investigate your own city in disguise?"
Li Hongji said in a deep voice: "The war is about to begin. Although I think there is something strange there, I don't want to act rashly and alert the enemy."
Li Yuan asked doubtfully: "Your Highness, can you tell me what's weird here?"
Li Hongji frowned and said: "I tell you, if it was me before, you might not be able to tell, but this time I can be considered a blessing in disguise.
In the past six months, because I have been grounded by my father, I can only concentrate on governing the affairs of the two prefectures of Xuanrun and bringing peace to the people. However, I have also gained some understanding of the people's livelihood in Jiangnan during these six months. Hu Ze said to you, this year there is frost, the rivers are frozen, and the grain harvest is bad. The sixteen warehouses in the south of the city are all filled with grain and grass to help the people, right? That's the weird thing. "
Li Yuandao: "What's so weird about this?"
Li Hongji said categorically: "This year's frost caused the rivers to freeze. My father ordered to provide relief to the people in various states. It is true. But it is completely impossible that all the sixteen warehouses in Hezhou are used for food and grass relief. I have visually inspected the warehouses in the south of the city. It is about the same size as my warehouse in Xuanrun Erzhou and can store about 10,000 shi of grain.
Did you know that this food shortage is the most serious due to the large population of the two prefectures of Xuanrun and Run? Half a month ago, my father issued an order to allocate food and grass to the people. Because the treasury previously fully supplied the Zhennan Army for the Northern Expedition, more than 20 people under my rule In the end, the ordinary people received only 100,000 shi for food relief, and he and the people in the state only received 20,000 or 30,000 people. Where did he get the 160,000 shi for food relief? "
Li Yuan responded in a deep voice: "I understand what His Highness means. If it is true as His Highness said, it proves that Hu Ze must be hiding something, right?"
"Yes. I can guarantee that what is in that warehouse is definitely not relief food. Then Hu Ze must think that this king and you generals only know how to lead troops to fight, eat, drink and have fun, and don't understand people's livelihood and internal affairs. But he doesn't know what he has done in the past six months. What we gained..." Li Hongji said coldly.
Li Yuan thought for a long time, then took a breath of air and said: "Your Highness, have you ever thought that if even the imperial court's 200,000 forbidden troops arrive, even if your Highness comes with a status like His Highness, Hu Ze dares to hide something, which means that in his hands, or He said that there must be something extraordinary in that warehouse, enough to make him fearless."
