Looking at Sanya Town in front of him, Ge Ding let out a sigh of relief: "Now we have seen the market! This area has been peaceful for several years, why is there still no one on this road? Sixty miles away from Lushanguan, there is no one on the road. A place to rest.”
Qu Fengxing, the governor on one side, said: "The envoy has said many times that Sanya Road must be renovated. However, Luoyang is in the hands of the Puppet Qi and is not accessible to business travel. There have been many things that need to be done in the past few years, so it has been delayed. In the past, Xijing was prosperous. When , this road is rarely used by people, isn’t it like this?”
As he spoke, he observed the terrain on both sides and slowly moved forward.
Different from other armies, Wang Xiao's hunting army has specialized engineers who are responsible for opening roads in the mountains and building bridges when encountering water. The road from Dengzhou to Ruzhou was peaceful, so the engineering troops took the vanguard and repaired the roads along the way.
Sixty-mile Lushanguan, connecting Luoyang and Nanyang, is the most important passage between Wanluo. It has been prosperous and important since ancient times. In the Song Dynasty, since the capital was in Kaifeng Prefecture, the road from Dengzhou to the north was moved eastward, taking Fangcheng and Ye County, and this road became abandoned. In the peaceful years, business travel was also rare. Most of the pedestrians are scattered merchants, as well as smugglers and bandits. The government has patrols in Sanya Town in front, specifically to hunt down smugglers.
This road goes north along the valleys of Baihe River and Langhe River, and is also called Sanya Road. It is very important to Wang Xiaolie, whose power is mainly in the Nanyang Basin, and he has always wanted to renovate it. It’s just that there have been too many things going on in the past two years, and I haven’t been able to spare the manpower and material resources. Moreover, Luoyang was in the hands of the Puppet Qi and was blocked from business travel, and it has been abandoned to this day. This time when the army was heading north, it was time for engineers to build roads.
As the engineer commander, he walked between cliffs along the way. Most of the time he didn't see the sun, and Ge Ding was miserable. Ge Ding was overjoyed when he finally walked out of the mountain road and saw villages and towns.
When they arrived outside Sanya Town, Ge Ding ordered his troops to find a flat place to camp two miles away from the town. Bian Hui, the secretary in charge of the army's food, said: "It's been really hard these days. Let's go to the town and buy two sheep to eat."
Bian Hui agreed to come to the town with Ge Ding and a few soldiers.
Sanya Town is an inspection town and is located on an important road. It is walled. However, when the Jin army invaded south, the officials had already fled. After Wang Xiaolie occupied it, he did not set it up again, making it look very dilapidated. When they arrived outside the gate, they saw several people looking behind the gate.
A man saw Ge Ding and others walking straight into the town. He said loudly: "Are you soldiers from Dengzhou? I heard that Wang Jieshuai is going to make the Northern Expedition. I'm counting the days to get here."
Ge Ding said: "That's right. Sanya Road is really not easy to walk. We are tired, so we came to the town to buy two sheep to eat."
The man inside laughed and said: "Guardian, this place is remote and there are few households. There were no meat sellers in the peaceful years, let alone now? People who raise sheep have to go to the mountains to the north. There’s none in town.”
Ge Ding said: "Don't you usually eat meat? What are they selling in the town? At least bring it to eat."
The man said: "This place is close to the Ya River and there are many ponds. If you want to eat fish and turtles, there will be some, but chicken and duck meat will not be available."
While talking, several men came out and looked at Ge Ding and others curiously.
Ge Ding said to Bian Hui: "It's good to have fish and turtles. If you cook it with more oil, the taste will be passable."
Bian Hui nodded: "That's what the commander said. We have enough oil in the army. We have made these things before, so we can trust our cooking skills."
After saying that, Bian Hui slapped his head: "I forgot! This is Sanya Town. It is a small place with few households. Where can there be meat sellers? A transshipment envoy passed by here before and found that the officials had already escaped. The town The yamen is empty. There is a poem written by the supervisor on the wall. It says that after two years of languishing in Sanya, how can one support a family without rice or money? The only two meals a day are lotus roots, and look at the lotus flowers coming out of the mouth. This story is widely circulated. Many people know."
"I see--" Ge Ding nodded and said nothing more. He could only secretly say that it was bad luck.
Several men led Ge Ding and Bian Hui into the town and to the place where vegetables were sold. Along the way, they kept looking at the clothes of Ge Ding and others, but they didn't ask too much, they just whispered from time to time.
The man is right, there is really no meat seller here. It's winter again, and there are few vegetable sellers. There were only two families selling radishes and spinach, and a man pushed a cart full of lotus roots. There was a fisherman next to him with four or five large herrings in the basket in front of him.
Seeing this scene, Bian Hui couldn't help but smile bitterly: "There are so many of us, how can we have enough to eat?"
Ge Ding said: "No matter, let's buy them all back to improve the military food and let everyone have a taste."
Bian Hui stepped forward, asked the price, and asked several vegetable sellers to pick them all back to the camp.
Several people happily packed up the dishes and followed Ge Ding and others, carrying them all the way back.
When we walked to the road, the man selling fish said: "May I ask the officials, do you really want to go to the Northern Expedition? Do you want to fight back to the Central Plains?"
Ge Ding said: "How can this be false? The army has already gone north and will arrive at Sanya Town in a few days. We are the pioneers, opening roads in the mountains, building bridges when encountering water, and walking in front of the army. I just didn't expect that this place is so remote. I want to buy it. Some meat to eat, but no one to sell it.”
The man nodded. After thinking for a while, he said: "Officials, if you are going to the Northern Expedition, how can I charge you for this fish? Since the national crisis in Jingkang, gold thieves came south in large numbers, how much suffering have the people suffered? In the past few years, everyone has looked south. Waiting for the imperial army to fight back. If you are really back, can't I afford you a few fish? You really are on the northern expedition. I will give you the fish today for free. If it is not enough, I will go to the river to catch more. "
Ge Ding smiled and said: "We are not that hard-working, and we have enough money. It will be great if we have fish to eat. We will pay you the money."
The man shook his head repeatedly: "It's really the Northern Expedition. Who wants your money? We mountain people also know the justice of the world."
The other people heard this and said together: "That's right. If you really go on the Northern Expedition, how will we collect the money? I'll give you the food today. If it's not enough, we'll go back and collect some more. If you beat away the gold thief, The people are grateful.”
Ge Ding said: "We appreciate your kindness. Our army has rules. If you eat the people's food, you must give money. And for this Northern Expedition, the money given by the commander is enough, so you can rest assured."
They talked all the way, and soon they arrived at the place where Ge Ding was stationed. Ge Ding led the vanguard, with about a command, occupying a large stretch of land by the Crow River. It was already afternoon and everyone was busy organizing tents. Just being disciplined and everything is in order.
These people had never seen such a force. After putting the things down, whisper there.
Bian Hui took the money and said to several people: "Copper coins are inconvenient to carry, and we don't have much. If you want Xiangyang Huizi, the best, we have enough. If you don't want Huizi, I will give you gold and silver."
The man selling fish said: "Officials, if you are really going on the Northern Expedition, we will never accept the money. Seeing that there are a lot of people here, I'm afraid these few fish are not enough for you. If you can wait, I will catch a few more. . - These vegetable sellers also said that their vegetables are too few, and I'm afraid they won't be enough to feed so many of you. Wait a minute, they will go to the fields to pick more."
Bian Hui said: "The Commander-in-Chief strictly ordered that the troops should be given money for meals on the way, and they are not allowed to take anything from the people for free. Don't worry, we have enough money, just accept it. The amount is indeed a little less, if you bring more, it will be counted as money." you."
