Liu Tingzhou went south to Luzhou in late July to represent Huaixi at the military and political meeting convened by Lin Fu in Juchao. At the end of July, he went to the north bank of Chaohu Lake and met Yuan Jinsheng who had come from Nanyang to discuss matters. Together they went to Juchao along the west bank of Chaohu Lake.
And go.
Chaohu Lake gathers water from the surrounding mountains and has numerous water systems, which is conducive to the Chaohu Lake Plain using natural rivers to host a large number of paddy fields. However, at the same time, these rivers have short waterways, and the rivers have little flood storage capacity during the summer and autumn rainy seasons, causing the Chaohu Lake coast to be flooded in summer and autumn.
Floods are serious.
Luzhou was not directly involved in the war in the past, but it suffered extremely heavy taxes. In addition, most of the money and food supplies for Luzhou's troops and horses were obtained from the local area, which made the local government unwilling and unable to rectify the situation.
Civil affairs, this has also aggravated the waterlogging situation in Chaohu Lake since this summer.
When Liu Tingzhou drove south to Juchao, many roads along the way were destroyed by floods.
It's just different from the past. After entering Luzhou, you can see many soldiers from Huaidong participating in disaster relief in an orderly manner. The civilian men recruited by the Luzhou government to participate in road construction and disaster relief are no longer unpaid labor, but
You can receive a certain amount of rice grain on a daily basis.
This is Huaidong's consistent "relief for work" method, but it is extremely effective. It ensures that even the affected farmers in the surrounding areas will not be forced to flee due to the disaster. It also ensures that the affected areas can quickly resume production and increase production after the water recedes.
Local resilience to flood disasters.
Of course, a prerequisite for this is that the taxes paid by Luzhou to the Ministry of Household Affairs will not be reduced, and Huaidong will need to subsidize a large amount of money and grain to Luzhou in order to accomplish these things.
Luzhou has prepared a ferry on the north bank of Chaohu Lake to transport Liu Tingzhou. Yuan Jinsheng and the others go to Juchao. Liu Tingzhou and Yuan Jinsheng want to see with their own eyes what changes have occurred in Luzhou in the half year since Huaidong was controlled by them. They insist on bringing their own carriages and horses.
Heading south. Anyway, we have to wait for someone from Jinghu to come from Juchao, so we don't have to worry about Lin Fu being impatient waiting at Juchao.
In the north of Juchao, a section of the road was washed away by the flood, and the water receded, but as far as I could see, it was all muddy, and under the grassy slopes of the fields, there were sparkling puddles.
Different from Chao Lake in later generations, which was enclosed in a levee around the lake, Chao Lake in that era was composed of a series of lakes for more than 800 miles. When the water was low, the lake area was full of sandbars, and in the summer and autumn rainy seasons, there were even
There are many wetlands, beaches and swamps around it.
When summer comes, the water rises, and the area of the 800-mile Chao Lake suddenly more than doubles.
The people voluntarily managed the embankments and formed the polders around the embankments. The polder villages stood like isolated islands in the water.
He saw a large group of people coming this way from a distance, including soldiers and civilians. Liu Tingzhou only thought they were soldiers and civilians from Huaidong who were providing disaster relief and building roads, and did not pay attention. He said to Yuan Jinsheng: "It seems that the only way to go is to change ships."
It’s a nest…”
Yuan Jinsheng looked around and saw that the road ahead had been washed away by the flood. He was afraid that the road from Luohu Mountain to the west bank of Chaohu Lake was different. He had to go around the eastern foot of Luohu Mountain. He didn't know what the road condition was on the other side of Yinping Mountain. The less said, the more
After walking for a day, they retreated to the north and changed boats at Qiting Village at the back, so that they could enter Juchao City before nightfall...
Yuan Jinsheng nodded, asked Liu Tingzhou to get in the car first, and said, "Master Liu, go first."
At this time, several military horses came galloping through the mud and asked from a distance: "In front of you is the right deputy censor of the capital, Mr. Liu of Huaixi Zuocheng Liu Tingzhou..."
Liu Tingzhou stopped, looked at the person approaching, clasped his fists and said, "I am Liu Tingzhou..."
"Chongguo Gong has invited Mr. Liu to come over!" said the visitor.
Only then did Liu Tingzhou realize that the large group of people in front of him were actually Lin Fu himself.
Liu Tingzhou and Yuan Jinsheng abandoned their carriages and rode horses, accompanied by horses, without taking off their shoes and socks, rolled up their trousers sleeves, and walked along the washed-out road through the mud.
Lin Fu sat barefoot on the mud ridge with his trouser legs rolled up to his knees. He watched Liu Tingzhou and Yuan Jinsheng coming over and said with a smile: "I have caused Mr. Liu and Jinsheng to walk this bad road. When they get to Juchao, I will ask Hua Wen to toast you."
I'm sorry..." He introduced Chen Huawen, Zhu Ai, Tang Xitai and others around him to Liu Tingzhou and Yuan Jinsheng.
Liu Tingzhou saw that Lin Fu and others were covered in mud, and knew that they were coming to inspect the disaster. They happened to meet them, but they did not intend to meet them half way - Liu Tingzhou had no hope that Lin Fu would come out of the city to greet them.
Lin Fuzheng talked with Chen Huawen and other officials about embankment repairs, road construction and disaster relief. When they thought of important matters, they casually gave orders without deliberately avoiding Liu Tingzhou and Yuan Jinsheng. After resting for a while, they returned to their nest together.
Almost all of Lin Fu's accompanying guards were on foot. It wasn't that they didn't have horses, but the horses' hooves tended to rot after walking in the flooded muddy ground for a long time. War horses were very expensive. When they entered the floodplain area, Lin Fu also dismounted and rode barefoot.
OK, you still have the support of the army and the people.
Liu Tingzhou and Yuan Jinsheng looked at each other, and they could see the surprise in each other's eyes - Lin Fu was in great power at this time, and the Jiangning court could say that he could cover the sky with one hand. If it were any other powerful minister, he would be arrogant and extravagant.
, Yi, it is difficult to control himself, Lin Fu does not change his past style. If Huai'an does not become loose inside, Huaidong will only become stronger and stronger as time goes by. Can Huaixi and Jinghu really compete with Huaidong?
?
Thinking this way will inevitably make people depressed.
Going south, Liu Tingzhou discovered that the disaster situation in the northern part of Juchao County was more serious than expected. Large sections of the dams on both sides of the Qingwei River coming down from Luohu Mountain were destroyed by the flood, and there were houses and houses soaked by the flood everywhere.
village, but the chaos was much less severe than imagined.
Walking south for five or six miles on a muddy road, Qingwei River merges into the branch mouth of Hulangzi. The ferry that was destroyed by the flood has been almost repaired. Many tents have been set up in the surrounding highlands to accommodate the victims and are guarded by soldiers.
Ferry. Three ships are docking, unloading stones to the north bank pier. It seems that the ferry will be expanded to both sides to form a stable river terminal. Except for more than a hundred soldiers in Huaidong uniforms, most of the people loading and unloading stones are
He is a man of the people, and his order is in order.
Crossing the stream to the south, the road on the south bank has been almost repaired, and it is barely feasible for carriages and horses. There are ferries at several stream mouths passing through, and there are very new traces, which are wooden bridges built after the disaster - counting the last round of heavy rain in Lunan.
The season should have ended ten days ago, and Huaidong's speed is really shocking.
"Deploy all the manpower that can be mobilized. The road from Chaodong to Pingtang will be repaired within a month." The road is no longer muddy. Lin Fu sat in the pond to wash his feet, put on shoes and socks and rode a horse.
OK, I told Chen Huawen beside me, "After that, when the water recedes, the dams of the rivers in Chaodong will be repaired first. The coast of Chao Lake should be a land of fish and rice. The situation in front of me is too far away from the land of fish and rice... As for the west of Chao,"
Lin Fu turned to look at Liu Tingzhou on the other side, "Master Liu went back and told Dong Bingbu that the Feishui River flowing out from Jiangjun Ridge in the west of Chaozhou is an important waterway connecting Luzhou and Shouzhou. Don't neglect embankment management and dredging."
.
"Of course..." Liu Tingzhou responded perfunctorily, but he was thinking about building roads in Luzhou first and building flat ponds first.
Pingtang is located at the western foot of Daishan Mountain, between Haozhou, Luzhou, and Dongyang. Within the territory, there is the Luojian River leading to Changfeng between Haoshou and Haoshou, which merges into the Huaihe River. Lin Fu ordered Chen Huawen to mobilize the power of Luzhou to repair the residence first.
The post road from Chao to Pingtang is nothing more than to strengthen the control of the northern area of Luzhou. Haozhou and Shouzhou will naturally feel the edge of Huaidong's soldiers and horses, but there is nothing they can do at this time.
After entering Juchao City, Liu Tingzhou and Yuan Jinsheng were arranged to go to the hotel to rest, and no dust-cleansing banquet was arranged.
From Chizhou, Deng Yu and Yue Duming, the son of Yue Lengqiu, were summoned. The person sent to Luzhou by Hu Wenmu of Jinghu was Wei Jinyuan, the general magistrate of Jingzhou Prefecture. Tanzhou was too far away, so there was no time to send someone over this time...
??After entering the post house, Liu Tingzhou and Yuan Jinsheng realized that they were the last ones to enter Juchao.
The relationship between Jinghu and Huaidong is the shallowest, and they have been independent for a long time. I really can’t figure out their attitude towards Huaidong. On the other hand, Chizhou, Huaixi, and Nanyang are driven by interests, and they must come together at this time.
advance and retreat.
Liu Tingzhou and Yuan Jinsheng entered Juchao, and Deng Yu invited them over for a banquet.
As soon as the banquet was held, Yue Duming complained: "I waited for more than a hundred followers to live in the hotel, but I had to pay for the expenses myself. Speaking of which, Huaidong is really a small family..."
Liu Tingzhou smiled slightly, Yue Lengqiu was a little talented, but there was no one who could do anything among his nephews. This time he asked Yue Duming to follow Deng Yu across the river, probably to increase his experience. Unexpectedly, he didn't pay attention to anything else, but only to
He was fussy with Huaidong over every detail.
Liu Tingzhou had his own identity and did not need to deal with Yue Duming. He directly asked Deng Yu: "The Privy Council is convening a military meeting in Luzhou this time. I am afraid that they are planning to use troops against Jiangxi. Does Chizhou have any plans?"
After Emperor Yongxing returned to Jiangning, the Yuying Navy was organized and returned to Chizhou, including a large number of Yuying Navy warships, which were also given to Chizhou. The money and food given to Chizhou were also based on 30,000 infantry and 20,000 navy - Cong Yu
Half a year has passed since Yingshui was incorporated into Chizhou. Chizhou still wants to use rest and reorganization and digestion of the navy as an excuse to delay the use of troops in Jiangzhou. Obviously, this cannot be done with Lin Fu.
Half a year ago, Lin Fu did not dare to cut off Chizhou's money and food, but in the past six months, Lin Fu deployed 60,000 elite combat forces, including armored soldiers and navy troops, in Qingyang and Nanling, east of the Qiupu River.
, Yijiang, the counties of Luzhou on the north bank, and the Xiping defense line of Jiangning have been solidly built. If Chizhou delays any longer, they will have to worry about Lin Fu ruthlessly cutting off their money and food.
"Chizhou is a narrow area, and going west from Chizhou, there are mountains on both sides. There are only long and narrow paths along the river, and there are many lakes and swamps. It is not easy to go westward," Deng Yu said. "Besides,
The population of Chizhou is sparse, with no more than 10,000 strong men. The military commander has suffered a slight loss and cannot replace it. These difficulties can be seen even if you come to the Privy Council. Governor Yue called me over and explained them in detail to the Privy Council..."
Liu Tingzhou nodded. After Qingyang, Nanling and other places were set aside to join Yijiang and a new government was established, Chizhou only had two counties on the west bank of the Qiupu River. After being devastated by the war, the population of these two counties was only 50,000 or 60,000.
Don't look at the fact that Yue Leng still has more than 50,000 water infantry in his hand, but it will be difficult to replenish them after they are consumed.
Unlike the Huaidong Army, which became stronger as it fought, the Chizhou Army, no matter how many battles it won and fought, would probably only get weaker and weaker - Lin Fu forced Yue Lengqiu to fight against Jiangzhou with ruthless intentions.
Liu Tingzhou also felt that Lin Fu's strategy was very familiar. When he thought about it, when Yue Lengqiu was appointed governor of Jianghuai, he not only forced Lin Fu to lead the left army in the east of the Yangtze River to fight hard against the East China Sea bandits, but he also hoped to use the hands of the East China Sea bandits to eliminate them.
Weakened the Jiangdong Zuojun who had just established a foothold in Chongzhou at that time?
Things are changing, but I didn’t expect it to come so quickly!