After leaving Suizhou, Hu Jiaoxiu and Zheng Chen traveled both ways. On the sixth day, they finally arrived in Tangzhou.
The two entered the inn, changed into their casual clothes, and breathed a sigh of relief. Hu Jiaoxiu said to Zheng Chen: "After driving these days, my whole body feels like falling apart. Let's go out to find a restaurant, drink a glass of wine, and feel tired."
Zheng Chen agreed and left the inn with Hu Jiaoxiu.
The society under Wang Xiaolie's rule was stable and there was no chaos like other places. The two of them came out and wandered along the street without their entourage. Not far away, Hu Jiaoxiu said: "It's strange, Tangzhou is not an important place, why are there so many people on the streets? No place along the way is so prosperous."
Zheng Chen said: "Yeah, it's a little strange."
The two of them were talking and saw the signboard of a "Riverside Restaurant" on the street, with a colorful building outside, which was extremely gorgeous. Hu Jiaoxiu said: "People who have been to Xiangyang say that the 'Riverside Restaurant' under Wang Jieshuai's management is excellent. The wine inside is mellow and the dishes are exquisite. I didn't expect it to be found here in Tangzhou."
Zheng Chen said: "Yes, let's go in and take a look."
As soon as the two of them reached the door of the restaurant, a boy came up and greeted them cordially.
Let the young man lead him to the pavilion on the second floor, Hu Jiaoxiu said: "This young man, I want to ask something. We are foreigners. We have just arrived in Tangzhou and just now we saw a huge crowd of people on the street. It was unusual. Place. Speaking of which, Tangzhou is not a big place, so why are there so many people all of a sudden?"
The boy smiled and said: "The guest must have come from far away and doesn't know what's going on here. This year, the commander-in-chief will lead the army in the northern expedition and need food and grass. Our Tangzhou is where the food and grass are shipped north. Suizhou, Xiangyang and other states and counties in the south , grain, grass and other items are all transported to Tangzhou for delivery, and from here to Ruzhou. Those who come here to deliver grain, and those who transport grain to the north, there are so many people!"
Hu Jiaoxiu nodded: "That's it! Thank you very much!"
The boy said hurriedly that he didn't dare, so he said goodbye and went out.
Hu Jiaoxiu said to Zheng Chen: "Wang Xiaolie's place here is indeed different from other places. Everything is very orderly. How many places along the way do not transport food? But there is no one as organized as Wang Xiaolie's rule in Xiazhou County." .”
Zheng Chen said: "It is indeed different. Also, if the local area is not governed well, how can we have a hundred thousand troops to go to the north?"
After a while, the food and wine were served, and Hu Jiaoxiu and Zheng Chen were drinking and talking about what they had seen on the road.
The two set out from Lin'an Prefecture, and the Chizhou and Jiangzhou they passed on the way were both attacked by Li Cheng and were quite dilapidated. Fortunately, Zhang Jun led Yue Fei's troops to drive away Li Cheng, and the road was peaceful. When they arrived in Ezhou, Kong Yanzhou was domineering, and the two of them encountered a lot of difficulties. When we arrived at De'an Mansion, it was relatively stable under Chen Gui's rule, but the atmosphere was quite tense just to guard against Kong Yanzhou. It wasn't until they entered Suizhou and came under the rule of Wang Xiaolie that the atmosphere suddenly relaxed.
After talking for a while, Hu Jiaoxiu sighed: "In today's world, the place under Wang Jieshuai's rule can be regarded as peaceful and peaceful, just like heaven."
When we came out of the "Riverside Restaurant", the sun was already setting in the west. There were still people coming and going on the streets, which seemed very lively.
Xie Hongde, the governor of the state, got the news and sat in the post house to wait. Hu Jiaoxiu and Zheng Chen came back and hurriedly came forward to greet them.
After talking about some miscellaneous things, Hu Jiaoxiu said: "Zhizhou, I wonder how the war is going on the front line? We came from Suizhou, and we were worried all the way!"
Xie Hongde said: "This time the Jin army invaded Xijing, it was divided into three routes. On the north route, Wanyan Yuying was the commander and led three thousand gold troops. He wanted to go south to help Liu Lin's army. However, in Shenshan County, he was intercepted by Jiang Min, the recruiter of Jin and Jiang. . In just a few hours, Jiang Min used 1,300 men to annihilate the 3,000 gold army! Unfortunately, Wanyan Yuying was lucky enough to escape!"
Hu Jiaoxiu couldn't help but feel shocked after hearing this. After fighting against the Jin Army for five or six years, when did you ever hear of the annihilation of three thousand Jin troops in one battle? He hurriedly asked: "Who is this Jiang Min? He is so powerful, why haven't I heard of him before?"
Xie Hongde said: "Jiang Min was originally an ordinary farm boy. After Jingkang, he lived in Tangzhou and met Jieshuai by chance. Jieshuai saw that he was smart and took him with him. Last year he was sent to Hedong Road to occupy Shenshan County. This year he has made great achievements!"
"That's it!" Hu Jiaoxiu suddenly realized. "To be taken by Commander Jie, he must be no ordinary person!"
Jiang Min was relatively silent by nature and did not attract anyone's attention when he was in Xiangyang. Xie Hongde had no idea what kind of person he was. But in the most recent battle, Jiang Min won the first victory, and suddenly everyone knew his name. Jiang Min had been with Wang Xiaolie for many years, and the officials were embarrassed to say that they had not paid attention to him. When asked, they always acted like they knew it, but in fact they could not explain the reason.
Zheng Chen said: "Zhizhou said that the Jin army was divided into three groups. I wonder what happened to the other two groups?"
Xie Hongde said: "Jiang Min won a great victory on the Hedong Road, and the other two groups suddenly became cautious. Liu Lin on the East Road led 30,000 people, but he stopped moving when he arrived at Zhongmou. Ba Lisu on the West Road was stationed in Shaanzhou, and Zheng Jianchong was in Hucheng. Zhe Keqiu is still on the road, and he is also waiting there."
"Oh——" Hu Jiaoxiu and Zheng Chen looked at each other and let out a sigh of relief. Listening to Xie Hongde's words, Wang Xiaolie was not at a disadvantage, and the war was still at a stalemate. In so many years, apart from the Sichuan-Sichuan front line, this is the first time that the Song Army has been able to stalemate with the Jin Army, which is really gratifying.
When he heard in Suizhou that a hundred thousand gold army was attacking Luoyang, Hu Jiaoxiu's heart suddenly rose to his throat. What is the concept of a hundred thousand troops? When the Jin army broke through Kaifeng Mansion, there were only 80,000 soldiers. Now that the 100,000 gold army is coming, what can Wang Xiaolie do to stop it? Only now do I know that the Jin army actually only had 20,000 to 30,000 troops, and the rest were all surrendered troops. Although the surrendered troops were an army, they were far inferior to the Jin army.
Having already dined and dined at the "Jiangbian Restaurant", Hu Jiaoxiu declined Xie Hongde's offer of wine. Go to bed early with Zheng Chen and set off early the next morning.
Before the morning sun rose, Hu Jiaoxiu and Chen Chen left the city. I saw that the road heading north was lined with wheelbarrows, like a long queue, with an endless line of cars as far as the eye could see. Every once in a while, a big flag is erected next to the car with the words "a certain county in a certain state" written on it.
Hu Jiaoxiu couldn't help being surprised. I have lived for decades and have never seen such a scene. He stopped the team, looked around, and saw an official-looking man standing next to the car. He ordered his entourage to call him over.
When the man arrived in front of Hujiao Xiuma, he hurriedly saluted.
Hu Jiaoxiu said: "My surname is Hu and my name is Jiaoxiu. I am a Hanlin scholar and a Zhizhigao. I came to Xijing under the imperial decree. Why are there so many cars here?"
The man said: "I am Wen Xiang. I am now the chief clerk of Tongbai. The trucks here are for transporting grain and grass to the north. They are organized according to states and counties and travel uniformly. Every time a train departs, it is led by the general judge from the nearby state, and the county is the leader. The chief bookkeeper is in charge of the bookkeeper, and the bookkeeper is in charge of the people and cars in the village, and they march according to the general commander's orders. Today, Zhuang Gaofu, the general commander of the Xinyang Army, is leading the team and is preparing to go to Fangcheng County. "
Hu Jiaoxiu said to Zheng Chen beside him: "I have never seen anyone transporting grain and grass like this before. Wang Xiaolie is very careful in his work here."
Let Wen Xiang go back, while Hu Jiaoxiu and Zheng Chen wait aside.
Not long after, a sharp whistle was heard. As the whistle blew, a large flag in front waved sharply, which was particularly conspicuous in the early morning sunshine. When the coachmen on the road heard the whistle and saw the flag waving, they all prepared and held on to the handlebars.
Hu Jiaoxiu said: "Just like marching to war, it is really not simple here in Tangzhou!"
Zheng Chen said: "Bachelor, this is a war! The army in front is short of food and grass, how can we fight?"
"Yes, this is a war!" Hu Jiaoxiu muttered. "Other places are still fighting, but why haven't I seen people doing this? From Suizhou to here, I saw that the transportation of grain under Wang Jieshuai's rule was different from other places. The people handed over the grain to the countryside, and the laborers transported it to the county. The county then transports it to the state city, and the state transports it to a place like Tangzhou. I heard that the coachmen here are hired by the police, and there are people from every state and county. I thought that when I came to Fangcheng in front, there was another Look."
Zheng Chen nodded and looked at the coachman who was out of sight, speechless for a moment.
This is organizational ability. In the event of a war, Wang Xiaolie's ability to organize all the people under his rule was unmatched by other places. Prefectures and counties transport grain and grass to distribution centers like Tangzhou, and then use wheelbarrows to transport them to Fangcheng. When they arrived at Fangcheng, there was a special transportation unit to transport them over the mountains to Ye County. Afterwards, a transportation team organized by Ruzhou transported grain and grass to Ruzhou. When we arrived in Ruzhou, the army's baggage troops took over, and civilian men were no longer used.
The whole process was orderly, and although the people were a little busier, there was no chaos at all.
