"I planted this tree, I opened this road..." Oooh, ah, ah, hand over the money quickly!"
Dozens of frog thieves, armed with iron forks and wooden spears, jumped out of the jujube forest in front of the official road, screaming, and ran towards Xu Huai and the others.
"They're all so fucking hungry! Do you dare to rob anyone?" Wang Zhang, Shi Hu and others looked at the thieves rushing out of the woods in stunned silence. They really couldn't imagine that twenty or thirty of them were fully armed.
What confidence does a thief have that he can tear a piece of flesh from their bodies?
Although they also knew that these frog thieves were desperate hungry people nearby, no matter how much sympathy they felt in their hearts, they could not allow these hungry people to approach with iron forks and wooden spears.
Shi Hu immediately took off his riding bow, led seven or eight guards, turned their horses, and galloped towards the barren fields ahead.
These thieves were so hungry that they finally caught a fat sheep passing by. When they saw seven or eight cavalry approaching with bows, they did not retreat. Wang Zhang, Shi Hu and others shouted angrily. Seeing these people, they did not retreat and could only open fire.
Shooting arrows from the bow, three people were shot down in the blink of an eye. The rest of the thieves dispersed and fled to the jujube forest to the north.
The three thieves were shot by arrows and fell in the weeds, screaming loudly.
Xu Huai ordered Shi Hu and his men to tie up the three thieves and bandage their arrow wounds. He reined in his horse and stopped on the official road, looking at the deserted fields.
After Xu Wuqi, Xu Xin'an and others led more than a thousand cavalry across the river, they went directly south along the Yiluo River and took the road from Ruzhou between Songshan and Funiu to return to Chushan for rest.
Xu Huai wanted to see with his own eyes how severe the famine was breaking out in Hehuai, so he was surrounded by Niu Er, Wang Zhang, Shi Hu, Wu Chihai and others, and after crossing the river, he went from Yanshi, Gongxian, Hulao, Xingyang
Take the road and enter the south of Zhengzhou and the east of Xuzhou.
Zhengxu is located in the heart of the Central Plains. The once peaceful singing and dancing is no longer there. There are villages and cities everywhere that have been destroyed by the soldiers.
Bianliang was besieged for nearly half a year. Several Huiping warehouses along the Cai River and Bian River were also targeted by the Chihu people and were destroyed. Hundreds of stones of grain were either looted or burned.
The two main water transport channels, Bianhe River and Caihe River, were also damaged due to the flood season and could not be repaired. The new round of grain cannot be transported northward through the rivers, and they are all blocked south of the Huaihe River.
The water transport was depleted and could not be restored in a short time. The imperial court urgently mobilized hundreds of thousands of people from Huaisi, Tangchen and other places to transport grain northward by land. However, with such a huge amount of manpower and animal power, only about two people could be transported in a month.
Three hundred thousand dan of grain were transported from Huaisi, Tang and Deng and other places to Bianliang, barely maintaining the distribution of salaries in the imperial court and ensuring that one hundred thousand imperial guardsmen would not go hungry.
The imperial court now not only fails to care about relieving the hungry people, but even casts iron coins on a large scale "one is worth ten" and "one is worth a hundred", and plunders grain and other materials from the people, further depriving the people of the few remaining grain stocks.
The people had no choice but to turn into bandits. The once peaceful land of singing and dancing suddenly became overrun with bandits.
Xu Huai and others were fully armed and walked all the way to the eastern part of Xuzhou, but they suffered several similar robberies.
This has further aggravated the turmoil in the Hehuai region.
After bandaging the three thieves and throwing them a dozen wheat cakes, Xu Huai and the others were about to set off when several fast horses galloped towards them.
However, Shi Xiong led several cavalry scouts from the south, rushed to the front, dismounted and reported:
"Sure enough, the military prince was intercepted here. General Wang Ju asked the military prince to return to Chushan quickly——"
Xu Huai separated from the main force of the cavalry, but also informed Chushan of the general route he wanted to take, in case something urgent happened and he could not be contacted.
They had not yet thought about rushing back to Chushan, but people from Chushan had been sent to look for them. Xu Huai asked doubtfully: "What happened in Chushan?"
Shi Xiong reported: "There is nothing going on in Chushan. Wang Fanlang arrived at Qingyi Ridge yesterday and wanted to meet with the military lord before going to Xiangyang..."
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Knowing that Wang Fan had arrived at Qingyi Ridge, Xu Huai stopped wandering between the Hehuai River and, surrounded by Wang Zhang, Shi Hu and others, dismounted and headed south without stopping, arriving at Qingyi Ridge early the next morning.
Xu Wuqi and Xu Xin'an led the main force of the cavalry to go south. They wanted to avoid over-driving the horses. In fact, they could not go faster, but fell behind Xu Huai and others. At this time, they had not returned to Chushan.
Xu Huai galloped directly into the Qingyi Ridge camp. From a distance, he saw Wang Ju, Xu Wujiang, Shi Zhen and others accompanying Wang Fan and standing in front of the public house waiting. He quickly turned over and dismounted. He straightened the skirt of his robe, stepped forward and saluted:
"We've only been apart for four months, and Wang Fanlang is so haggard!"
Compared with when Wang Zhen passed away, Wang Fan looked much older at this time. He was just over forty years old, but his temples were a little whiter. It can be seen that in this special period, Wang Fan wanted to inherit Wang Zhen's last wish.
How could it possibly be such an easy thing to become the leader of the main war faction in Bianliang?
"I don't know how many people I have to argue with all day long in the capital, how can I be so relaxed?" Wang Fan said with a self-deprecating smile, "Especially now, the capital is blindly eager to relieve the siege of Taiyuan before September, but we have to
The court changed its previous attitude and instead urged His Majesty and the ministers to act with caution. This made the generals who had previously stood with us a lot confused..."
Xu Huai sighed softly, whether it was Wang Zhen's previous return to the capital, or Wang Zhen's death from illness, or the Kenggong incident that forced Emperor Tianxuan to depose Wang Qi Yong and make concessions to the main war faction, the main war faction has never been able to win in essence.
North Korea and China have occupied a dominant position, let alone dominate the overall defense strategy of Hehuai, Hedong, and Hebei.
Under such circumstances, Wang Fan still insists on fighting against the wrong line of the DPRK. How can he not be tired?
In view of the overwhelming strength of the Red Husbands, the offensive and defensive strategies adopted by Dai Viet need to be adjusted accordingly according to specific changes in the situation. This is no longer a task that the court can complete at this stage, and even many generals of the main fighting faction may not be able to do so.
Can understand.
This was completely beyond Xu Huai's expectations. He also had no expectations for the DPRK, so he supported Zheng Huaizhong, Zhao Fan and others and prepared for the worst.
"How can I just be confused? It's simply turning against each other!" Zheng Shou couldn't help complaining at this time.
"Oh, who have turned against Mr. Wang Fanlang?" Xu Huai saluted Lu Xiong, Zheng Shou, Wang Kong and others and asked doubtfully.
In his opinion, Wang Fan's advice to the court to be cautious about relieving the siege, even if many generals who originally advocated a fight to the death with the Red Husbands would not understand, would not turn against each other.
"Qian Zerui came to Bianliang a month ago and asked Wang Fanlang for his support in urging the troops to go north. It was very unpleasant..." Lu Xiong said.
"Qian Zerui has returned to Bianliang. Why did he come out of Taiyuan and why didn't he go to Hedong to find us? Where is he at this time?" Xu Huai asked in surprise.
Xu Huai raided Lanzhou and rescued Qian Zerui, Wang Gaoxing and more than a hundred officials and their families from the Cao family, and finally evacuated south through Guanzhong.
Chushan is still a small pond. It is impossible for Wang Gaoxing and others to come to Chushan. However, Wang Gaoxing and others have experienced disasters and are aware of the disasters caused by the Chihu people. They will not stop for a while. Most people return home due to illness.
Already.
Dai Viet treated its ministers very favorably. It was not pleasant to be an official, and even if you deserted the army, you would not be severely held accountable. It would even be regarded as a kind of good talk, and it would not affect the next conquest.
Therefore, for Wang Gaoxing and others, returning home due to illness was the best choice at that time.
Of course, some people choose to go to Bianliang.
Before the Red Guards Manan invaded Hehuai, the imperial court still expected the soldiers and civilians of Taiyuan to hold on to the city. Qian Zerui took the initiative to volunteer and returned to Taiyuan to labor with the order. There has been no news from Qian Zerui since then.
Xu Huai did not expect that Qian Zerui returned to Bianliang from Taiyuan a month ago.
"Qian Zerui, under the protection of several dead soldiers, sneaked out of Taiyuan, crossed the Luliang Mountains and borrowed a road from Guanzhong, and endured a lot of hardships before returning to Bianliang - I have been busy planning things to go south these days, so I have no idea
Why do you care about his whereabouts? He said he would go to Hedong to find you, but I don't know if he has made it!" Wang Fan said, "I told him in detail how difficult the current situation is. To rush to relieve the siege of Taiyuan will only lead to
Dai Yue lost his last bit of life, but he was possessed and scolded me. He couldn't find you when he went to Hedong, and he would probably find Chushan. You'd better not see him. Weizhou soldiers and horses are also
We stopped in Fuyang and stopped marching westward. Qian Zerui came to find us. What can we do?"
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Wang Fan stayed in Chushan for two days, then escorted by Zheng Shou, Wang Kong and others rushed to Xiangyang to take up his post.
Lu Xiong had previously accompanied Wang Xuan to escort Wang Xuan's coffin back home for burial. Later, because Wang Fan was short of manpower, he rushed back to Bianliang. This time he followed Wang Fan south. They encountered several waves of bandits on the way, and Lu Xiong couldn't bear it.
He killed these desperate hungry people and accidentally stabbed a young man in the thigh with a wooden spear. Xu Huai left him to recuperate in Chushan Mountain and did not rush to Xiangyang to work hard.
In addition, Wang Fan also wanted to recruit three to five hundred Jianrui from Chushan to serve as the foundation of the food protection soldiers. This matter was also left to Lu Xiong to stay in Chushan.
On the third day after Wang Fan and the others left, Xing and the beggar Qian Zerui came to the door.
Xu Huai didn't know what to say to Qian Zerui, so he followed Wang Fan's advice and closed the door to Qian Zerui and refused to allow him to enter the Qingyi Ridge camp.
Qian Zerui stood in front of the gate of Daying City in Qingyi Ridge and shouted loudly: "Prince Xiaocheng resisted the decree and disobeyed the decree, and his body was missing. This is an injustice through the ages. However, there are still many people in the government and the public saying that Prince Xiaocheng died in defiance of the decree.
They deserve it. Now the one hundred thousand soldiers and civilians in Taiyuan are unwilling to live under the iron hooves of the barbarians. They resist the decree and do not sacrifice Taiyuan, and want to live and die with Taiyuan. Xu Huai, do you think that the one hundred thousand soldiers and civilians in Taiyuan are finally slaughtered by the barbarians? They deserve it.
?"
"Xu Huai is not here. No matter how much you call Qian Langjun, it's useless to break his throat. Qian Langjun, why don't you follow me to Huaiyuan City for a while and tell Xu Huai if you have anything to say after he comes back?"
It’s not too late - you’re too lazy to travel all the way. I haven’t seen you for more than half a year, and look at how thin you have become. You were imprisoned by Cao Shixiong in Lan before, but you didn’t suffer this crime..."
Zheng Tu persuaded him hard, thinking of coaxing Qian Zerui and his entourage to go to Huaiyuan first.
"No, I've begged everyone I should beg. If it's no use, it's no use. I should go back to Taiyuan, otherwise I won't be able to make the trip. Now I'm going to shamelessly beg you for some dry food so I can go on the road." Qian Zerui was frustrated.
He shook his head and said.
"Xu Huai will return in a few days, and you won't be here for a few days, or we may send someone to escort you back to your hometown to rest for a month or two." Zheng Tu grabbed Qian Zerui's arm and persuaded him. No matter what, they all
We cannot watch Qian Zerui rushing back to Taiyuan to die.
"Since we can't get any dry food, let's say goodbye!" Qian Zerui didn't want to stay in Chushan for a moment longer, so he immediately shook off Zheng Tu's hand and asked his followers to untie a few skinny horses from the elm trees in front of the city gate.
, got on his horse, and couldn't help but look back at Qingyi Ridge Camp City again...
