Sheng Hong fined him three months' salary, but did not change his post as commander-in-chief.
Nowadays, there are not many veteran generals in Da Sheng who have followed Sheng Jun on the battlefield and are still strong and have a good understanding of the Hu people.
Sheng Hong asked him to make meritorious deeds. He had guarded the border town very well in the past few years. Last year, the Hu people he fought were unable to cross the river in front of the border town. This year, the barbarians went crazy and successfully crossed the river, but the border town was still strong.
Sheng Hong was quite satisfied with his ability.
Just when Li Qiao was searching for news about Commander Chang, Chang Wuchang had already arrived in front of the convoy.
He jumped off the horse, and with a sweep of his copper-bell-like eyes, he immediately locked onto Li Qiao.
He laughed heartily: "Master Xiao Li, I'm glad to meet you. I can finally have a normal conversation with you, the famous person in front of me."
Li Qiao stared at his height of 1.9 meters, cupped his hands, and said with a smile: "Mr. Chang's words have devastated this junior. I have admired you for a long time. Today, I am in such close contact with you that my hanging heart is finally over." When we land, with a guard like you here, the border town of Dasheng will be worry-free."
"You are a young man who talks nicely, and I like it! However, I did not support the border town alone. It was the elites of our Dasheng who paid for it with their blood and lives."
Chang Wuchang continued to laugh, his laughter as loud as a bell.
He and Li Qiao were both in the third rank, and now Li Qiao, who was as popular as half a prince in front of Sheng Hong, regarded himself as a junior and had a humble attitude, which made him feel good.
However, what really determined his mood was the row of cars behind Li Qiao with an almost invisible tail.
He grinned and nodded his chin towards the convoy: "Master Xiao Li, I am not being polite to you. These behind you are the annual gifts given to all the soldiers by the Holy One."
"Exactly." Li Qiao nodded with a smile: "A total of 3,100 pigs, 3,000 sheep, 20,000 chickens, 5,000 jars of fine wine, 5,000 kilograms of medicinal materials. There are also 5,000 kilograms of vermicelli."
He reported the main materials he brought with him on the trip, and he also made it clear who funded each item.
The night before departure, Tao Zhu heard him tell stories about the hard life of soldiers in border towns, and offered to donate some vermicelli.
Vermicelli is still a rare delicacy for civilians. Ordinary soldiers in border towns must have never tasted vermicelli.
Now that Sheng Hong has rewarded so many livestock, the cooks in the military camp will definitely not be engaged in frying, but will only be able to stew in large pots.
Big pot of stewed meat, how can this be done without vermicelli?
Must be arranged.
The sweet potato workshop in the north of the city is open every day, so in addition to supplying the store, the family also has tens of thousands of kilograms of vermicelli in reserve.
He also thought the vermicelli was good, so he found a car overnight, reported to Sheng Hong, and successfully brought 5,000 kilograms of vermicelli over.
"Master Xiao Li is so generous!"
Chang Wuchang had a look of emotion on his face after hearing Li Qiao's words. He couldn't help but raise his big hand like a cattail leaf fan, ready to pat Li Qiao's shoulder.
The last time he returned to Beijing, he happened to bump into Da Chao. He only had time to recognize Li Qiao, a popular man, and had no time to say hello.
Now Li Qiao's generosity has finally reached the border town.
Three hundred thousand kilograms of coal and five thousand kilograms of vermicelli. What emperor wouldn't like this generosity?
He likes it even if he is not the emperor!
However, the moment before his iron palm fell on Li Qiao's shoulder, he paused.
Mr. Xiao Li's shoulders are so thin.
Even though he was wearing a fur coat underneath and a thick cloak outside, he still looked a little weak compared to his hands.
He chuckled, retracted his big palm, and raised his hand towards Li Qiao: "On behalf of the 120,000 soldiers in the border city, I thank the eldest prince, the fourth prince, the seventh prince, and Mr. Xiao Li, Mr. Xu, Mr. Meng, Mr. Zhuang."
"This batch of supplies arrived on time. The brothers below have been waiting for it for a long time."
"Of course, the one who should thank you most is the Holy One." He said and cupped his hands in the direction of Shengjing.
"Yes, the one who should be most grateful is the Holy One. Although the Holy One is in Shengjing, he is concerned about the border town every day. He personally takes care of all the affairs in the border town. The Holy One pays special attention to the soldiers' food and accommodation, silver rewards, and cash gifts. .”
"The dedication of the soldiers in the border towns is seen in the eyes of the Holy One and will be remembered in his heart."
Li Qiao also cupped his hands in the direction of Shengjing.
Chang Wuchang felt warm in his heart after hearing these words, but he was also stressed.
Sheng Hong always valued military pay, reward money earned from killing enemies on the battlefield, and shirt money, which were extremely important to ordinary soldiers, and did not allow deductions at all levels. As a commander-in-chief, he could personally feel Sheng Hong's regard for ordinary soldiers. soldiers' attention.
His soldiers were properly arranged before and after they were alive, so he was naturally happy.
But now the Holy One pays close attention to the border town and is intervening in everything. As the commander-in-chief, he is under great pressure.
"All the brothers have felt His Majesty's compassion. Mr. Xiao Li, I won't say any more nonsense. Let's quickly let Mr. Qi search and then we go into the city. A bunch of brothers are waiting and screaming." He said with a smile.
"It's natural."
Li Qiao signaled Qi Shuang to start searching quickly.
Qi Shuang's own men were too slow, so Chang Wuchang waved his hand and asked his men to step forward to help.
It took more than an hour, by which time it was already dark, and the search was finally completed.
The convoy started moving again, crossing the Dajing Gate and arriving at the boundary of the border city.
The distance between the Great Wall and the border town is only five miles. There are rolling hills on both sides. There is only one main road paved with cement road leading to the border town, and there are soldiers guarding it all the way.
After four days of running on the road against the night wind, Li Qiao and his party finally arrived at their destination.
The border town is called Kangbao County. Because of its special location, both the city gate and the city wall are built very high, more than ten meters high.
The whole city is under martial law, no household is allowed to go out, and there are only soldiers patrolling the streets.
The military camp is located due north of the border town, next to the north gate. The convoy entered through the south gate and arrived at the entrance of the military camp in less than two-quarters of an hour.
The number of permanent soldiers in the military camp was originally only 30,000, but now it has soared to 120,000. Many residential buildings have been requisitioned, and ordinary people have moved to the south gate as a whole.
Occupying part of the residential buildings, it could barely accommodate 120,000 soldiers.
There were burning bonfires everywhere in the military camp. The general's camp was brightly lit, and small groups of soldiers with live ammunition patrolled the military camp.
Li Qiao and several officials accompanying him did not live in the military camp. They lived in the post station next to the military camp.
After handing over the supplies he had brought on the trip to Chang Wuchang, Chang Wuchang warmly invited Li Qiao and the others to the inn for dinner.
All civilian shops in the city are now closed. If you want to eat at this time, you can only go to the inn or the military camp.
But the military camp is special and no one is allowed to come in or out at will. The only place to eat is at the inn.
The cooking skills of the cook at the inn were mediocre, but at least the food was hot with hot soup and meat, and it contained eggs. After a day of cold wind and two meals of dry pancakes, Li Qiao was really satisfied to be able to eat hot rice.
At the dinner table, Chang Wuchang chatted about the current situation in border towns.
In recent days, the frequency of barbarian attacks has changed from daily to once every two or three days on average. Moreover, the barbarians are not just besieging border towns.
The barbarians also wanted to sneak across the Great Wall and penetrate deep into Dasheng.
The Great Wall was so long that the soldiers defending on the Great Wall had to concentrate twelve hours a day to prevent the barbarians from sneaking attacks.
So now all the soldiers are exhausted physically and mentally from being tortured by the barbarians.
The Hu people were hit by a locust plague last year. Coupled with the sudden cold weather the year before, many cattle and sheep froze to death.
So the Hu people went crazy and several tribes joined forces.
The Hu people once occupied the Central Plains and established a unified dynasty. After the demise of this dynasty, the Hu people retreated to the grasslands and split into several tribes.
These tribes usually don't submit to each other, and they fight for each other, trying to restore the glory of their ancestors' unification.
But so far, all have failed.
The situation has been bad in recent years, especially last year, so these tribes joined forces.
Therefore, this year's attacks by the barbarians were particularly fierce and long-lasting. Since the beginning of winter last year, small-scale harassment and large-scale sieges have continued one after another.
Fortunately, the Holy Spirit sent 50,000 men to the border town before winter last year. Otherwise, we would have been able to survive this winter.
As for the interior of the border city, under martial law throughout the city, in order to protect the daily lives of the people, soldiers from the military camp would knock on the doors every three days with vegetables, grains and some daily necessities to sell.
In order to prevent internal chaos, Chang Wuchang would rather use this troublesome method than let the people move around freely.
Of course, the economy of border towns is not good to begin with. Many people have been struggling to survive all year round. Now that the city is closed, those who work on the land cannot leave the city, and those who work and do business cannot open shops. Everyone has lost their source of income.
Therefore, the vegetables, food and supplies sold in the military camp are half sold and half given away, which makes no money at all.
The money for this subsidy will come from Sheng Hong.
As for the military camp, there are enough medicinal materials and doctors, because Sheng Hong transferred a group of doctors here a year ago.
Speaking of these doctors, Chang Wuchang couldn't help but thank Li Qiao. They were trained by the medical school. Although their medical skills were not perfect, they were adequate for daily bandaging, hemostasis, bone setting, and nursing.
If Li Qiao had not built the medical center, Sheng Hong would definitely have to transfer doctors from Shengjing and Jibei Province. As a result, the people in these two places would be affected in their medical treatment.
Chang Wuchang praised Li Qiao very humbly, saying that he was himself in the beginning.
Chang Wujian was like this, so he praised him even more. Who wouldn't like such a capable, generous and humble young man?
He even mentioned the cement road just now.
With this cement road, the official road from Shengjing to the border town is much easier to walk. Even if it snows, it can be cleared quickly.
As a result, the border town's supplies were never cut off, ensuring people's livelihood, and the border town was closed for several months without chaos.
Li Qiao: "..."
He could only change the subject with a smile and asked about the soldiers' meals and keeping warm.
Chang Wuchang then stopped talking and answered his question.
The soldiers' three meals were good or bad. With so many people eating, they definitely couldn't eat white flour steamed buns, let alone meat.
At present, the soldiers' three meals mainly consist of miscellaneous grains. Whether it is steamed buns or pancakes, they are all grains mixed with white flour. There is more grains and less white flour.
Only when the battle is won will there be more white flour.
As for vegetables, the vegetables in winter are radish, cabbage and some dried vegetables. On weekdays, the oil and water are not bad, but after a victory, the oil and water will be more abundant.
As for meat, the New Year's Eve dinner for everyone consists of white flour steamed buns, pancakes and a large pot of stew with lard residue.
The Hu people knew that Dasheng had the habit of celebrating the New Year, so they attacked every day during the end of the year. Especially on the night of New Year's Eve, there was a large-scale siege.
Therefore, all the soldiers were not in the mood to celebrate the New Year. Sheng Hong had already anticipated this situation and sent Li Qiao over to reward everyone after the New Year.
After the meal, it was already late at night.
Li Qiao had a clearer understanding of the border town and the current situation of the Hu people. Chang Wuchang's report to Sheng Hong was very formal, and the things mentioned in written language were definitely not as detailed as the chat at the dinner table.
Li Qiao felt a little heavy.
