Su Mingzhe followed Shi Songzhi to the Political Affairs Hall.
This is where the prime minister, ministers, and bachelors work.
Seeing that Su Mingzhe was still full of anger, Shi Songzhi was afraid that the newly recruited general would be alienated from him, so he comforted him again and said that after Su Mingzhe sent troops, he would give his full support, giving money and food to Su Mingzhe.
, Su Mingzhe will never be allowed to fight alone.
After receiving the guarantee, Su Mingzhe left angrily.
At this point.
Shi Songzhi was also filled with anger and immediately asked someone to prepare the sedan chair. He was going to the Yang family to inquire whether what Yang Gu did today was his own behavior or represented the attitude of the Yang family.
…
Back at the palace, Su Mingzhe didn't dare to reveal his feelings.
He waited until night, when only he and the two women were left in the bedroom, then he explained the situation and then said:
"Long'er, Ping'er, you guys pack your bags in the next two days. We'll leave here in three days!"
"By the way, Ping'er, please tell junior sister again that when we leave, we will take her back to Peach Blossom Island!"
Guo Fu had been living with Su Mingzhe for several months, and Guo Jing and Huang Rong had known about it for a long time.
However, neither of them came to find him, which is why they believed in Su Mingzhe as a disciple.
Now that Su Mingzhe is going to Jingdong Road, it is difficult to take Guo Fu with him.
Xiao Longnu and Wanyanping listened to the instructions and began to get busy.
Su Mingzhe turned around and came to Tang An'an to say goodbye.
After leaving, I don't know if Tang Anan dares to recognize him again when we meet again.
However, the son in her belly is her own. Even if she enters the palace and becomes a princess, she cannot stop herself from seeing her son.
…
Three days later.
After Su Mingzhe got the seals, ribbons and other items from Jingdong Road, he said goodbye to Shi Songzhi and took Xiao Longnu, Wanyanping and Guo Fu by boat to Peach Blossom Island.
Arrive at Peach Blossom Island.
Huang Rong was naturally indescribably happy when her eldest daughter returned.
Guo Jing, who was still angry that his daughter had run away from home, was overjoyed when he heard that his disciples were going to Jingdong and Lianglu, and thought that the Southern Song Dynasty was going to do the Northern Expedition:
"Mingzhe, are you sure you can go straight to Huanglong?"
Seeing that Guo Jing was so happy, Su Mingzhe didn't want to pour cold water on him, but he had to remind him:
"Master, the imperial court appointed me as a 'recruiting envoy', not as a marshal for the Northern Expedition. If everything goes well for me on both the Jingdong and Jingdong routes, the imperial court will definitely send someone to pick peaches!"
The joy on Guo Jing's face froze, and after a while, he lectured his disciple:
"Mingzhe, although corrupt officials are rampant in the court, and what you guessed has a high probability of happening, you can't just ignore the people of the world just because you are afraid of being robbed of your credit. Do you understand?"
"Master taught me this, and this disciple also thinks so. One of the reasons for coming back to visit you and my junior sister this time is to send my junior sister back, and the other reason is to ask the master's permission to allow my three junior brothers to follow me north!"
Brothers fighting tigers, father and son go into battle.
Last time in Xiangyang, Yang Guo, Wu Dunru and Wu Xiuwen helped Su Mingzhe, and their abilities were pretty good.
This time, Su Mingzhe went north, so naturally he had to take the three of them with him.
Guo Jing would naturally not refuse this request from his eldest disciple.
Stayed one night on Peach Blossom Island.
the next day.
Su Mingzhe originally planned to take Xiao Longnu and Wanyanping with him, but Huang Rong persuaded him to stay.
Now that Xiao Longnu's belly was starting to show, it would indeed be dangerous if she followed Su Mingzhe all the way north.
After discussion, Xiao Longnu agreed to stay on Peach Blossom Island to raise the fetus for the sake of her unborn baby.
Su Mingzhe took his three junior brothers and headed north by boat.
…
Three days later.
The boat docked in Taizhou.
Taizhou has been a horse farm in the south of the Yangtze River since the Three Kingdoms period. The price of horses here is relatively cheap.
Of course, Su Mingzhe showed his identity and easily got a few big horses without spending any money.
This time Su Mingzhe went to Jingdong and Donglu, and the court allowed him to recruit 100,000 troops in Huaihe and Huaihe.
And it was guaranteed that as long as Su Mingzhe found enough people, the court would distribute corresponding materials and salaries.
??????55.??????
Huaixi and Huaidong roads are currently the territorial boundaries between the Tatars and the Southern Song Dynasty.
Due to successive years of war, the population of these two groups has been severely lost.
Historical records record: "When the people left their original business, nine out of ten families were left. Their uncultivated fields were thousands of miles away from each other. The displaced people could not return them overnight!"
The imperial court allowed Su Mingzhe to recruit 100,000 people in a place like this, which is no different from nonsense.
There simply weren't that many strong men in Lianghuai for Su Mingzhe to recruit.
For example, Taizhou was originally a state capital on Huaidong Road. During the Northern Song Dynasty, it had a population of hundreds of thousands of households, but now it has only more than 30,000 households.
Taizhou garrison general was afraid that Su Mingzhe would recruit him. Su Mingzhe really wanted money and food, so he didn't dare to treat him badly.
Su Mingzhe did not embarrass the garrison general.
The next day we left Taizhou and arrived in Yangzhou.
Although Yangzhou was the headquarters of Huaidong Road and the military superintendent, it was a metropolis with a population of over one million in the Northern Song Dynasty, but now it has only one or two hundred thousand people.
If Su Mingzhe had not appeared, the Southern Song Dynasty would have been destroyed in a few decades, and only five or six thousand people would be left in Yangzhou.
…
Huaidong Road Institutional Envoy Li Zengbo learned of Su Mingzhe's arrival and quickly led four teams of military, political, financial and supervisory teams out of the city to greet him.
This Li Zengbo was also a member of Shi Songzhi, and was considered a ally of Su Mingzhe.
At the reception banquet, everyone had a great time chatting.
On the second day.
Su Mingzhe then took out the imperial edict and stated that the imperial court wanted to recruit 100,000 people locally. Li Zengbo was immediately shocked:
"Sir, this is absolutely impossible!"
"Why not?"
Su Mingzhe asked knowingly but looked puzzled.
Li Zengbo quickly smiled bitterly and said:
"My lord, I don't know. Last year when the Tatars went south, more than half of the people on Huaidong Road were wiped out. There were only 300,000 households left, and the young labor force was only over 100,000, which is not enough for my lord to recruit!"
Seeing Li Zengbo complaining, Su Mingzhe could only say helplessly:
"Su naturally understands what Mr. Li said, but as far as I know, when the Tatars went south last year, although more than half of the Huaidong Road was damaged, at least half of it was still safe. But the prefectures and counties on the Huaixi Road were
They were all destroyed and no one out of ten was left alive. If I didn't recruit troops on Huaidong Road, I would have to go to Haixi Road to recruit them. That would be like a clever woman can't make a meal without straw!"
Li Zengbo naturally understood what Su Mingzhe said.
However, he also knew that if he really asked Su Mingzhe to recruit 100,000 local troops, Huaidong Road would definitely be destroyed!
Just when the two were in a stalemate, Zhou Dai, the deputy general manager of this road, suddenly spoke and suggested to Su Mingzhe:
"Sir, the local people are really unable to apply for the recruitment. However, there are still refugees from the north and the south. If you don't mind, we can help recruit!"
When Su Mingzhe heard this proposal, he glanced at Zhou Dai, then looked at Li Zengbo's miserable face. He was silent for a moment, and then nodded in agreement:
“Since Huaidong Road is difficult, that’s the only way to go!”
"However, we have to go to Huaidong Road to prepare all the food and supplies for this one hundred thousand army..."
Although Shi Songzhi had promised Su Mingzhe that as long as he could find someone, he would never default on his salary, food, and other things.
However, waiting for Su Mingzhe to recruit all the people and then asking the court for food and salary would definitely waste time.
It would be better to let Huaidong Road be built first, and then return it to Huaidong Road after the court allocates food and salary.
"Of course!"
Hearing that Su Mingzhe was willing to recruit refugees, Li Zengbo, Zhou Dai and others were relieved.
How dare you argue with Su Mingzhe over money and food?
After sending Su Mingzhe away, Li Zengbo was about to order people to recruit refugees, but was stopped by Zhou Dai and others:
"Ms. sir, how should we show off this money and food?"
Since last year, the Tatars have been invading southward, and the Huaihe River and Huaihe River are key areas for Tatar plunder.
In Huaixi, the most miserable county with the most serious losses may have less than 1,000 households.
The Huaidong side is actually quite miserable.
At this time, everyone is short of food and clothing. If we are asked to scrape together the food and wages for 100,000 people, we may be starved to death next year.